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mollyrealized · 3 months

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How Michael Met Neil

original direct link [MP3]

(Neil, if you see this, please feel free to grab the transcript and store on your site; I had no easy way of contacting you.)

DAVID TENNANT: Tell me about @neil-gaiman then, because he's in that category [previously: “such a profound effect on my life”] as well.

MICHAEL SHEEN: So this is what has brought us together.

DAVID: Yes.

MICHAEL: To the new love story for the 21st century.

DAVID: Exactly.

MICHAEL: So when I went to drama school, there was a guy called Gary Turner in my year. And within the first few weeks, we were doing something, having a drink or whatever. And he said to me, “Do you read comic books?”

And I said, “No.” I mean, this is … what … '88? '88, '89. So it was … now I know that it was a period of time that was a big change, transformation going through comic books. Rather than it being thought of as just superheroes and Batman and Superman, there was this whole new era of a generation of writers like Grant Morrison.

DAVID: The kids who'd grown up reading comic books were now making comic books

MICHAEL: Yeah, yeah, and starting to address different kinds of subjects through the comic book medium. So it wasn't about just superheroes, it was all kinds of stuff going on – really fascinating stuff. And I was totally unaware of this.

And so this guy Gary said to me, "Do you read them?" And I said, "No." And he went, "Right, okay, here's The Watchman [sic] by Alan Moore. Here's Swamp Thing. Here's Hellblazer. And here's Sandman.”

And Sandman was Neil Gaiman's big series that put his name on the map. And I read all those, and, just – I was blown away by all of them, but particularly the Sandman stories, because he was drawing on mythology, which was something I was really interested in, and fairy tales, folklore, and philosophy, and Shakespeare, and all kinds of stuff were being mixed up in this story. And I absolutely loved it.

So I became a big fan of Neil's, and started reading everything by him. And then fairly shortly after that, within six months to a year, Good Omens the book came out, which Neil wrote with Terry Pratchett. And so I got the book – because I was obviously a big fan of Neil's by this point – read it, loved it, then started reading Terry Pratchett’s stuff as well, because I didn't know his stuff before then – and then spent years and years and years just being a huge fan of both of them.

And then eventually when – I'd done films like the Underworld films and doing Twilight films. And I think it was one of the Twilight films, there was a lot of very snooty interviews that happened where people who considered themselves well above talking about things like Twilight were having to interview me … and, weirdly, coming at it from the attitude of 'clearly this is below you as well' … weirdly thinking I'm gonna go, 'Yeah, fucking Twilight.”

And I just used to go, "You know what? Some of the greatest writing of the last 50-100 years has happened in science fiction or fantasy." Philip K Dick is one of my favorite writers of all time. In fact, the production of Hamlet I did was mainly influenced by Philip K Dick. Ursula K. Le Guin and Asimov, and all these amazing people. And I talked about Neil as well. And so I went off on a bit of a rant in this interview.

Anyway, the interview came out about six months later, maybe. Knock on the door, open the door, delivery of a big box. That’s interesting. Open the box, there's a card at the top of the box. I open the card.

It says, From one fan to another, Neil Gaiman. And inside the box are first editions of Neil's stuff, and all kinds of interesting things by Neil. And he just sent this stuff.

DAVID: You'd never met him?

MICHAEL: Never met him. He'd read the interview, or someone had let him know about this interview where I'd sung his praises and stood up for him and the people who work within that sort of genre as being like …

And he just got in touch. We met up for the first time when he came to – I was in Los Angeles at the time, and he came to LA. And he said, "I'll take you for a meal."

I said, “All right.”

He said, "Do you want to go somewhere posh, or somewhere interesting?”

I said, "Let's go somewhere interesting."

He said, "Right, I'm going to take you to this restaurant called The Hump." And it's at Santa Monica Airport. And it's a sushi restaurant.

I was like, “Right, okay.” So I had a Mini at the time. And we get in my Mini and we drive off to Santa Monica Airport. And this restaurant was right on the tarmac, like, you could sit in the restaurant (there's nobody else there when we got there, we got there quite early) and you're watching the planes landing on Santa Monica Airport. It's extraordinary.

And the chef comes out and Neil says, "Just bring us whatever you want. Chef's choice."

So, I'd never really eaten sushi before. So we sit there; we had this incredible meal where they keep bringing these dishes out and they say, “This is [blah, blah, blah]. Just use a little bit of soy sauce or whatever.” You know, “This is eel. This is [blah].”

And then there was this one dish where they brought out and they didn't say what it was. It was like “mystery dish”, we had it ... delicious. Anyway, a few more people started coming into the restaurant as time went on.

And we're sort of getting near the end, and I said, "Neil, I can't eat anymore. I'm gonna have to stop now. This is great, but I can't eat–"

"Right, okay. We'll ask for the bill in a minute."

And then the door opens and some very official people come in. And it was the Feds. And the Feds came in, and we knew they were because they had jackets on that said they were part of the Federal Bureau of Whatever. And about six of them come in. Two of them go … one goes behind the counter, two go into the kitchen, one goes to the back. They've all got like guns on and stuff.

And me and Neil are like, "What on Earth is going on?"

And then eventually one guy goes, "Ladies and gentlemen, if you haven't ordered already, please leave. If you're still eating your meal, please finish up, pay your bill, leave."*

[* - delivered in a perfect American ‘serious law agent’ accent/impression]

And we were like, "Oh my God, are we poisoned? Is there some terrible thing that's happened?"

We'd finished, so we pay our bill. And then all the kitchen staff are brought out. And the head chef is there. The guy who's been bringing us this food. And he's in tears. And he says to Neil, "I'm so sorry." He apologizes to Neil. And we leave. We have no idea what happened.

DAVID: But you're assuming it's the mystery dish.

MICHAEL: Well, we're assuming that we can't be going to – we can't be – it can't be poisonous. You know what I mean? It can't be that there's terrible, terrible things.

So the next day was the Oscars, which is why Neil was in town. Because Coraline had been nominated for an Oscar. Best documentary that year was won by The Cove, which was by a team of people who had come across dolphins being killed, I think.

Turns out, what was happening at this restaurant was that they were having illegal endangered species flown in to the airport, and then being brought around the back of the restaurant into the kitchen.

We had eaten whale – endangered species whale. That was the mystery dish that they didn't say what it was.

And the team behind The Cove were behind this sting, and they took them down that night whilst we were there.

DAVID: That’s extraordinary.

MICHAEL: And we didn't find this out for months. So for months, me and Neil were like, "Have you worked anything out yet? Have you heard anything?"

"No, I haven't heard anything."

And then we heard that it was something to do with The Cove, and then we eventually found out that that restaurant, they were all arrested. The restaurant was shut down. And it was because of that. And we'd eaten whale that night.

DAVID: And that was your first meeting with Neil Gaiman.

MICHAEL: That was my first meeting. And also in the drive home that night from that restaurant, he said, and we were in my Mini, he said, "Have you found the secret compartment?"

I said, "What are you talking about?" It's such a Neil Gaiman thing to say.

DAVID: Isn't it?

MICHAEL: The secret compartment? Yeah. Each Mini has got a secret compartment. I said, "I had no idea." It's secret. And he pressed a little button and a thing opened up. And it was a secret compartment in my own car that Neil Gaiman showed me.

DAVID: Was there anything inside it?

MICHAEL: Yeah, there was a little man. And he jumped out and went, "Hello!" No, there was nothing in there. There was afterwards because I started putting...

DAVID: Sure. That's a very Neil Gaiman story. All of that is such a Neil Gaiman story.

MICHAEL: That's how it began. Yeah.

DAVID: And then he came to offer you the part in Good Omens.

MICHAEL: Yeah. Well, we became friends and we would whenever he was in town, we would meet up and yeah, and then eventually he started, he said, "You know, I'm working on an adaptation of Good Omens." And I can remember at one point Terry Gilliam was going to maybe make a film of it. And I remember being there with Neil and Terry when they were talking about it. And...

DAVID: Were you involved at that point?

MICHAEL: No, no, I wasn't involved. I just happened to have met up with Neil that day.

DAVID: Right.

MICHAEL: And then Terry Gilliam came along and they were chatting, that was the day they were talking about that or whatever.

And then eventually he sent me one of the scripts for an early draft of like the first episode of Good Omens. And he said – and we started talking about me being involved in it, doing it – he said, “Would you be interested?” I was like, "Yeah, of course." I went, "Oh my God." And he said, "Well, I'll send you the scripts when they come," and I would read them, and we'd talk about them a little bit. And so I was involved.

But it was always at that point with the idea, because he'd always said about playing Crowley in it. And so, as time went on, as I was reading the scripts, I was thinking, "I don't think I can play Crowley. I don't think I'm going to be able to do it." And I started to get a bit nervous because I thought, “I don't want to tell Neil that I don't think I can do this.” But I just felt like I don't think I can play Crowley.

DAVID: Of course you can [play Crowley?].

MICHAEL: Well, I just on a sort of, on a gut level, sometimes you have it on a gut level.

DAVID: Sure, sure.

MICHAEL: I can do this.

DAVID: Yeah.

MICHAEL: Or I can't do this. And I just thought, “You know what, this is not the part for me. The other part is better for me, I think. I think I can do that, I don't think I could do that.”

But I was scared to tell Neil because I thought, "Well, he wants me to play Crowley" – and then it turned out he had been feeling the same way as well. And he hadn't wanted to mention it to me, but he was like, "I think Michael should really play Aziraphale."

And neither of us would bring it up. And then eventually we did. And it was one of those things where you go, "Oh, thank God you said that. I feel exactly the same way." And then I think within a fairly short space of time, he said, “I think we've got … David Tennant … for Crowley.” And we both got very excited about that.

And then all these extraordinary people started to join in. And then, and then off we went.

DAVID: That's the other thing about Neil, he collects people, doesn't he? So he'll just go, “Oh, yeah, I've phoned up Frances McDormand, she's up for it.” Yeah. You're, what?

MICHAEL: “I emailed Jon Hamm.”

DAVID: Yeah.

MICHAEL: And yeah, and you realize how beloved he is and how beloved his work is. And I think we would both recognise that Good Omens is one of the most beloved of all of Neil's stuff.

DAVID: Yes.

MICHAEL: And had never been turned into anything.

DAVID: Yeah.

MICHAEL: And so the kind of responsibility of that, I mean, for me, for someone who has been a fan of him and a fan of the book for so long, I can empathize with all the fans out there who are like, “Oh, they better not fuck this up.”

DAVID: Yes.

MICHAEL: “And this had better be good.” And I have that part of me. But then, of course, the other part of me is like, “But I'm the one who might be fucking it up.”

DAVID: Yeah.

MICHAEL: So I feel that responsibility as well.

DAVID: But we have Neil on site.

MICHAEL: Yes. Well, Neil being the showrunner …

DAVID: Yeah. I think it takes the curse off.

MICHAEL: … I think it made a massive difference, didn't it? Yeah. You feel like you're in safe hands.

DAVID: Well, we think. Not that the world has seen it yet.

MICHAEL (grimly): No, I know.

DAVID: But it was a -- it's been a -- it's been a joy to work with you on it. I can't wait for the world to see it.

MICHAEL: Oh my God. Oh, well, I mean, it's the only, I've done a few things where there are two people, it's a bit of a double act, like Frost-Nixon and The Queen, I suppose, in some ways. But, and I've done it, Amadeus or whatever.

This is the only thing I've done where I really don't think of it as “my character” or “my performance as that character”. I think of it totally as us.

DAVID: Yeah.

MICHAEL: The two of us.

DAVID: Yes.

MICHAEL: Like they, what I do is defined by what you do.

DAVID: Yeah.

MICHAEL: And that was such a joy to have that experience. And it made it so much easier in a way as well, I found, because you don't feel like you're on your own in it. Like it's totally us together doing this and the two characters totally complement each other. And the experience of doing it was just a real joy.

DAVID: Yeah. Well, I hope the world is as excited to see it as we are to talk about it, frankly.

MICHAEL: You know, there's, having talked about T.S. Eliot earlier, there's another bit from The Wasteland where there's a line which goes, These fragments I have shored against my ruin.

And this is how I think about life now. There is so much in life, no matter what your circumstances, no matter what, where you've got, what you've done, how much money you got, all that. Life's hard. I mean, you can, it can take you down at any point.

You have to find this stuff. You have to like find things that will, these fragments that you hold to yourself, they become like a liferaft, and especially as time goes on, I think, as I've got older, I've realized it is a thin line between surviving this life and going under.

And the things that keep you afloat are these fragments, these things that are meaningful to you and what's meaningful to you will be not-meaningful to someone else, you know. But whatever it is that matters to you, it doesn't matter what it was you were into when you were a teenager, a kid, it doesn't matter what it is. Go and find them, and find some way to hold them close to you.

Make it, go and get it. Because those are the things that keep you afloat. They really are. Like doing that with him or whatever it is, these are the fragments that have shored against my ruin. Absolutely.

DAVID: That's lovely. Michael, thank you so much.

MICHAEL: Thank you.

DAVID: For talking today and for being here.

MICHAEL: Oh, it's a pleasure. Thank you.

#neil gaiman #michael sheen #david tennant does a podcast with...#good omens #aziraphale #crowley #sushi #whale #the cove #oscars 2010 #coraline #mini secret compartments #howneilmetmichael #howmichaelmetneil

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sainamoonshine · 1 year

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Okay but so much of the character of Sam Vimes is influenced by him being a former alcoholic tho. I don’t think it’s possible to discuss his unbreakable moral code without also discussing his addiction.

There is significant parallels between how he does not touch alcohol EVER starting from Men at Arms and every other ways that he holds himself accountable in the books.

One minute late to storytime with his child would be one minute too much, because once you excuse one minute late then you can excuse five, ten, and then fifteen minutes late. -> one drink is too many drinks because one drink « tends to arrive in five glasses ».

« If you do a bad thing for a good reason you’ll do it for a bad one », « If one part of the machine breaks down it all breaks down » and « who watches the watchman? Me. » are all different ways of saying that Vimes cannot allow himself to make even one exception in how he behaves. Will not, yes, and that’s very admirable, but this will not is the result of a CAN NOT because what would happen if he did is not, in fact, unthinkable. On the contrary, he knows very well what would happen if he did break one of his many rules, and this is exactly why he doesn’t break them.

« One drink is one too many » is basically the center of his character’s moral code. And it hits so hard because he’s not being rigid for the fun of it, he’s like that because he knows. It’s a sliding slope and he’s been on it and at the bottom of it and he KNOWS how quickly it slides.

And it’s so interesting to see how he applies that core concept to all other aspects of his life, cultimating into the guarding dark.

#samuel vimes #sam vimes #i wish there were more characters in media like this #I feel like Leverage kind of lost sight of the plot around Nate’s addiction at some point

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raygirlramblings · 5 months

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I don’t know what compels me to draw things that are absolutely never going to happen. Maybe the fact that they won’t drives me to make them real.

Just experimenting with shading, lighting and negative space.

Dolph makes for an excellent night light watchman

#captain laserhawk #Ramon #Bullfrog #my arts

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slothspamsstuff · 5 months

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The Robins on their patrol with Archer Jason "accidentally" putting a few arrows on poor Archmage Timmy's head.

Meanwhile, Knight Stephanie is leading the troupe with Rogue Grayson as the watchman and Warlock Damian using his Clarity to clear their route of any obstacle that might come their way. P/s: This was already done a few months ago but I went back and forth thinking if I should post it or not cuz I wasn't too comfortable with drawing chibis and I thought this whole thing needed to be all polished to perfection, but in the end, I accepted that if I was going to antagonize myself over a piece, I'd never be able to move on, thus I would struggle with my inner monologues again. Plus, I know for a solid fact that I suck at drawing backgrounds so youknowwhatthatmeans I'm scared of backgrounds

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yuurei20 · 1 month

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Idia Facts Part 1: Family (pt1)

Idia’s grandmother Aidne is the former head of the Shroud family, and now the family head is her son, Idia’s father.

Lilia and Malleus explain that back in the old days people believed that overblots were disasters that occurred without warning, and the Jupiter family sealed those “disasters” away on the Island of Woe, appointing the Watchman (a title given to his family, not meant to refer to a single person) to keep them from escaping: the Shroud family ancestors.

Over time the Watchman faded from history books but the group continues their research on the disasters (now known as blot) to this day.

Idia explains the reason why his family has been appointed into the role was because the first head of the Shroud family took the original phantoms (the Titans) and led them in a revolt against the Jupiter family.

The family’s punishment was being tasked with managing the prison for the phantoms (Tartarus) and the phantom graveyard (the underworld).

Trein says that, while was aware that Idia was the son of the famous Shroud family, he had not known of their connection to STYX, the formal organization into which the Watchman role was converted about 100 years ago (possibly by Aidne herself, but this is unconfirmed).

STYX is explained as being an organization that operates independently on any nation or government, that shows up whether a country asks them to or not when a blot disaster strikes.

Leona explains that it is known that they study magic and blot, but no one knows who they are, who works there or what their research actually entails, while it is generally assumed that they are based on the Island of Woe.

Vil reveals that Idia’s family runs the Jupiter Conglomerate, an organization that made its fortune in offshore oil and rare metals and is the parent company of Olympus Inc.

#twstidia #idia shroud #twisted wonderland #twstfacts #idiafacts

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dizzy-n-busy · 10 days

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All the boys w/ their partners but make them fishes? (Art beneath the line break + hard launching my listener designs at you/lh)

Boy Toys/j

—————

Charlie - Watchman Goby

Finn - Squid

Lucien - Bull Shark

Alphonse - Great White Shark

Seth - Short-fin Mako Shark

Auron - False Killer Whale

Faust - Peacock Mantis Shrimp

Jack - Wahoo

Listeners

—————

Boo - Manta Ray

Angel - Angel Shark

Sunflower - Dolphin

Casper - Pistol Shrimp

Rook - Beluga Whale

Starlight - Nurse Shark

Bestie - Blue Shark

fun facts; Pistol Shrimp’s and Watchman Goby’s rely on each other due to the fact that Pistol Shrimp’s are practically blind and Goby’s can’t fight — Sharks eat Squids — and False Killer Whales merge in small groups of those trusted ^^

#i complained that this took so long while being the reason why it took so long #i think too much #also yes Lucien kept his horns #he looked odd w/o them #yuurivoice #yuurivoice alphonse #yuurivoice boo #yuurivoice seth #yuurivoice auron #yuurivoice charlie #yuurivoice lucien #yuurivoice angel #yuurivoice finn #yuurivoice faust #yuurivoice jack #yuurivoice rook #yuurivoice casper #yuurivoice sunflower

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chiropteracupola · 8 months

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fan-fiction wip guessing game! song, sword, and rest :)

from my second fic for The Wolf and the Watchman, an Anna Stina/Johanna fix-it:

She still wears mourning for a man she had hardly known, but sometimes catches herself stepping quicker to see her skirts spin out. Even if her dress is steadfast charcoal black, it’s finery the like of which she has never had before, rich even in its grimness. If she is a widow, she is by no means the merry one out of the plays and songs, but she has her happiness, and of that, more than she had ever expected. Anna Stina does not know where her mother was truly laid to rest, and as for Kristofer Blix, who had chosen to make his grave at the bottom of a wintered-over harbor, there remains very little with which to make a funeral. The man who she had married had not been dredged from the icy water, and Anna Stina had been perfectly satisfied to place a churchyard stone over an empty grave rather than to dress his cold blue body for the coffin.

from the foth wormsfic:

He had never seen himself fully since his death, but the house had all the accoutrements that it ought to, silver and carved wood and antlers above the fireplace, books and worn leather and a mirror hanging in the hall. Keith pauses there in passing, having gotten a flash of his own reflection out of the corner of his eye. The man who looks back at him is recognizable, but only just. The whites of his eyes are yellowed and bloodshot, rolling glazed and dull in dark-circled, red-rimmed sockets. What is visible of his hair beneath the binding around his chin is lank and lifeless, dark against his pale, damp face. And his face itself — it barely looks like the one he remembers as his own. There is more wear on his face than he had recalled that his years of sword-service had laid on him, the scars on nose and chin and brow turned stark and silken with the years.

from the sharpe ladyhawke au:

Harris had heard poets describe love as a thing that glowed, bright and warm as a second sun. Having had but little experience of the sort of love that wasn’t paid for out of scraped-together small change, he had consequently never put much stock in such descriptions. But now, watching Sharpe and Teresa, he saw what was meant by a sort of joy so radiant that that they shone with it. Steadfast, sure-footed Teresa… Sharpe had lifted her off her feet, and she leaned into him and laughed like a waterfall of light. He spun them once, twice, Teresa’s boots swinging out into space, and then dropped her back to earth with an oath and a grimace, and pressed his hand to his lower back. And so it was that his face was caught in a mixture of surprise and pain and delight when Teresa reached up and kissed him there, and it was that expression that Harris thought he’d remember for the rest of his days.

#em writes stuff #the wolf and the watchman #heronposting #worms time #em is posting about sharpe #wow my organizational tags are Inconsistent across these pieces of media #but also I will not change it #I would normally not have posted something so near to the end of a fic like that but I wanted to give you something with teresa in #and currently I only have One fic with her (altho' also I have one where The Painful Absence of Teresa Moreno is a major character)#strangely for a series with many a song and many a sword those are not words I have used terribly often in sharpe fic just yet #perhaps a symptom of the fact that I have a terrible habit of leaving fight-scenes to the very last while writing

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neonscandal · 4 months

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What are your satosugu fav moments? And what are your fav personal headcanons about them?

Those sweet, egotistical, baby angels. 🤍🖤

For an insane retelling of their whole deal, I kinda talk incessantly about it. I also kinda did a little head canon exercise with a template before? but wasn't sure what you might be in the market for. In any case, roll the tape!

HEAD CANONS

Gojo has been spouting nonsense all his life but Geto was the first person to try to understand it, even when he couldn't. I'm not going to fault Geto for not being able to catch up on all that Digimon lore. But for the most part, he'd make it a point to ask clarifying questions or brush up on topics Gojo mentions in passing just to keep up with conversation.

In fact, they hated each other when they first met but bonded over one off the cuff comment Gojo made about a band, book or something and, suddenly, they found common ground. After that, they bonded over making Yaga and, later, Nanami's lives interesting ✨

Gojo is the prankster, Geto is the watchman/getaway driver. No one suspects Geto's role in Gojo's tomfoolery. Stealing Maki and Nobara's uniforms with Inumaki and Panda was a rewash of a stunt he pulled when he was in high school (with Geto's help). He fashions a lot of the pranks he pulls as a teacher off the hijinks he and Geto used to get away with. He wears a mirthful smile for his students but the modern times don't hold a candle to the good old days.

They were only children and both of their parents sucked. Actually, maybe Geto had a sibling who was either significantly older or younger (hence how he learned to be so considerate) who passed. Subsequently, Geto's parents were emotionally distant/neglectful starting when they got creeped out by the inexplicable things he could see that they couldn't. It's why he jumped at the chance when he was scouted for Jujutsu High, why he was triggered when he saw the twins, and why he always sought family elsewhere. Gojo's parents seemed to dote on him but didn't bother to get to know or nurture him, just placate him.

They make it a point to tease and call Ieri the little sister they've always wanted... though she is the oldest in the trio. Even so, they spoil her (to the best of Gojo's ability obviously). Example: if her feet hurt on a mission, Geto is giving her a piggyback ride but Gojo's goofy ass is trading shoes. Never mind the comical disparity in shoe sizes. They'd just be clopping around together much to Shoko's faux chagrin.

The three of them would absolutely bed rot together. It may have started with Gojo slinking into Geto's room for attention but they wouldn't leave Ieri out, even if it was a twin size bed. Just listless days between missions and classes where they would languidly ignore the weight of their responsibilities. Some days all contorting to fit on the bed, other days strewn about the room. It was always in Geto's room, Ieri almost always brought face masks (at Gojo's insistence).

Gojo, quite literally, did not understand the concept of personal space when it came to Geto (or Ieri, really). But, most specifically, with the way he'd casually and absently be all over Geto. Arms over his shoulders, tilting his head inward when addressing him, leaning on him during respites in the day, elbowing him in the side to punctuate a joke.. he just never became conscious of it. That is, until he was no longer around. Geto was always like second skin until he wasn't. In addition to the absence of his company, Gojo felt that physical absence so painfully that he used Limitless more and more to distance himself from the idea that anyone had ever been so close.

When Haibara and Nanami come along, Geto takes his role as a senpai really seriously because the stakes are high at the school. Gojo? Does not ✨ but he does force Nanami to use proper honorifics because he knows it drives him up a wall. He makes it a point to tell Haibara to call him whatever, right in front of Nanami. For the record, Haibara does not obey him but still.

Gojo has a name for all of Geto's favorite or most commonly used curses. The same way girls will refer to their crushes with silly little code names, almost. Like Geto knows that the Rainbow Dragon curse is "Rainbow Dash" or "My Little Pony" whereas other curses might have silly names like "Garfunkle" or "Steve" for no other reason than Gojo felt like it, but he's consistent. So once a name is bestowed, Geto refers to them accordingly. He, of course, never approaches them with fear and he's just as endeared to them as he is to Geto.

Before Gojo got the hang of how to optimize his cursed energy, overuse would leave him... not weak but just not agreeable. Clearly cranky and suffering the drawback, Suguru clocked the difference and that's actually when he started to pamper Gojo. It's also the only reason Gojo ever articulated the downsides of his CT to anyone. I don't know if Geto ever told Gojo the extent of his discomfort with his technique. He either felt like he was being burdensome/ungrateful in sharing or he was embarrassed about what it would say about him (re: regularly ingesting things that tasted like vomit). It's one of the only things he remained furtive about when it came to Gojo though he always wondered if Gojo already just knew.

Supported by canon, but, Suguru absolutely carried candy for Satoru (and a lighter for Shoko) because he's just that considerate. Mans was swallowing vomit rags and still concerned about appeasing Satoru's sweet tooth.

Without realizing it, this gesture inspired a Pavlovian effect and made Gojo super clingy. He associates sweetness with Geto and, in his absence, always overdoes it. Especially after he left the school for good. Nothing fills the void.

We know Gojo became a teacher because of Geto but... Geto would have been an excellent teacher.

You see it in the way they raise kids, Gojo makes sure Megumi and Tsumiki don't simply die. They have lavish accommodations but he has no idea how to parent. I love the Papa-Gojo agenda but know he was out of his depth. He was more like a "cool" but irresponsible (read: unstructured) older cousin if anything, not a father figure per se until maybe his late 20's which was a little too late. I think Geto specifically raised Nanako and Himiko like "normal" kids (ironically, humans) instead of the in the misogynistic, classist way of traditional jujutsu society because they deserved a lifetime of young revelry after everything they suffered. It cost them their lives so maybe everything Geto touched was meant to crumble.

As a fandom, I think people like to think they met up in those ten years of separation and I do too? But, realistically, I think Gojo just kept a forlorn bead on Geto and his whereabouts, too uncertain to go to him. 10 years of absence didn't change how he felt about him though.

FAVE MOMENTS

I'm sorry but every single time Geto's Japanese voice actor purrs "Satoru"? Does that count? Allow me to do a cartwheel on a bed of nails because OH MY GOSH they nailed that. You feel the teasing, the intimacy.

Gojo acting a fool on the beach with Riko in Okinawa and Geto looking on affectionately. Geto really allowed space for Gojo to be a kid and gave him some of his youth back.

Every time Geto's facade of calm relaxed or broke entirely because something was going on with Gojo. Like checking in in Okinawa, when Toji initially got the drop on him, when Toji announced he'd killed Satoru Gojo. Every time you see what writhes beneath the surface.

Geto, in a sea of despair and perhaps a sprinkle of bitterness, still thinks to ask Haibara to bring back something sweet to share with Gojo. Attentive to a fault and crazy how Gojo still manages to occupy his thoughts in that way, even then.

Every tantrum Gojo threw for Geto. Gojo was literally stabbed and didn't break character. Gutted and killed but showed nothing until he comes back an overconfident mess. But just hearing about Geto's crimes, confronting him on the streets of Shinjuku and he's shaking with rage and disbelief. Not so confident then.

Realizing that Gojo saw the day he confronted Geto as a dark and mournful day when, in actuality, it was a perfectly normal, sunshine-y day.

The moment after Geto's dramatic ass is like "I could never smile from the bottom of my heart in this world!" and Gojo says something to immediately recant that by making him smile so genuinely. Just going to do The Worm across a busy highway.

Geto defying all reason to strangle Kenjaku despite hundreds of years without a fight from a host. Just as Gojo never forgot Geto's scent, Geto's body never forgot it's inclination to protect Gojo. Even if only for a moment.

⚠️ Spoiler warning through JJK chapter 236.

Geto's face being the last face Gojo saw before he was sealed and the first face he saw upon being freed. Then agreeing to fight Sukuna on the anniversary of Geto's death because he was sentimental right until the very end.

At the close of Gojo's life, imagining an afterlife where he sees Geto and all of the people he cares about during the point when he was the happiest. After all that time, more than a decade later and he still reflects so happily back on that era despite how grisly part of it was. Not only that but, in a perfect outcome, he imagines full blown cult leader Geto congratulating him because he would take Geto in any form over not having him around at all.

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fishyfishyfishtimes · 1 year

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Daily fish fact #469

Spotted prawn goby!

They form symbiotic relationships with pistol shrimp! The shrimp lets the goby live in its burrow, and in exchange the goby acts as a kind of watchman for the nearly blind shrimp, alerting it of predators. This kind of bond will usually last for the entire life of both animals!

#fish #fishfact #fish facts #fishblr #marine biology #marine life #marine animals #sea creatures #sea animals #sea life #biology #zoology #spotted prawn goby #spotted shrimp goby #blackchest shrimp goby #goby #goby fish #mutualism #symbiosis

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max1461 · 1 year

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Problem is, because of my way that I am I can only work productively after 2pm, and I can only work really productively after 8pm. I am at my absolute best at 3 in the morning. But despite the fact that I would have been a killer night watchman in caveman times, our present society is organized around a tyranny of the early-risers, so I am forced to wake up at 8am and spend the whole day in a stupor.

#personal

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it-happened-one-fic · 4 months

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Ink and Magic-The Watchman of the Underworld

Author Notes: Part 6 of this sort of halfway non canon compliant what if with the overblots and their aftermath! A lot of what I said for part 1 counts for this section too. This isn't exactly romantic. in fact, I would say it counts as more platonic, but it certainly can be taken as shippy. This will also be a series, though the Diasomnia section won't come out until that entire matter is resolved in game. As per usual, reader is gender-neutral. I hope you enjoy!

Spoilers for Book 6: The Watchman of the Underworld!

[Heartslabyul] [Savanaclaw] [Octavinelle] [Scarabia] [Pomefiore] [Ignihyde: You're Here] [Diasomnia: To be released]

Type: Gender-neutral reader/ fic series/ Can be platonic or romantic/ fluff/ angst/ comfort/ Spoilers for Ignihyde overblot.

TW: Character death mentioned.

Word count: 1504

Vil was barely able to haul Idia and Grim up and to safety with me, Rook, and Epel, all surging forward at once to help the now-aged model as soon as we could.

Rook managed to catch Vil as the Pomefiore housewarden stumbled, all but crumpling to his knees before Rook grasped him. Grim fell from Vil’s arms, with Epel catching him desperately.

I reached out, wrapping my arms around Idia’s prone body, which all but fell onto me and pushed me down and toward the ground under the weight of his limp body. His armor was already fading away, though, and turning back into the dark Styx robes.

Idia himself was still out cold, but he curled almost instinctively around me, with his hands knotting themselves in the long sleeves of my robes. Smearing the dark ink that still clung to his hands in a gruesome reminder of his overblot all over the once pristine Pomefiore robes.

I strained to look around his lanky form and at Vil and Grim, but I felt myself going oddly numb as the others looked over at me. Epel’s eyes widened with alarm as the world started to blur, and I felt myself buckling under the weight of both Idia and the exhaustion that swept over me.

“Oh no! Rook, look! They’re-!” Epel’s panicked cry was one of the last things I heard before I succumbed to the darkness without hardly any fight. All other sounds faded away until there was only silence.

But the silence was almost welcome after everything that had just occurred. I found myself glancing around the empty space nonetheless, though. Waiting for the film of Idia’s life to start, just like I knew it would.

But before there was any brilliant flash of light, I heard Idia’s solemn, quiet voice from right next to me.

By now, I knew better than to search for him; I wouldn’t be able to see him anyway. I never could find those who shared this dark world with me.

So instead, I just listened to his morose narration that came from somewhere within the darkness, “My life has been set in stone even before I was born. ‘The Island of Woe’s Gatekeeper.’ That was the path laid out for me.”

A scene flickered to life, briefly blinding me as people from Idia’s past began to talk excitedly. Slowly unraveling the mystery of what exactly had led up to Idia overblotting.

“Young Idia is truly exceptional. He excels in both magic and his studies. He’s even impressed experts with his technomatic engineering work. That boy’s a bona-fide genius.”

“It’s true. Styx’s future is in good hands.”

A bona-fide genius… Yet another weight description for someone as young as Idia seemed to be in this scene from his past.

I found myself frowning already, but it was beyond clear even without Idia’s somber, apathetic words that no one even bothered to wonder what this young genius might want to do for himself.

No one… except for maybe one.

I found myself smiling at the sight of a young Idia and another boy, the original Ortho, playing games alongside each other. It was obvious the two had been beyond close, even from just this tiny tidbit of their lives together.

The perfect image of two little boys who were each other’s favorite playmates.

It was also obvious that, even at this young age, Idia already thought highly of himself. A side effect of being a so-called ‘bona-fide genius’ I suspected.

It was jarring, though, to realize that I'd never really seen Idia smile with such genuine, innocent joy.

I frowned slightly though as, snickering mischievously, the two boys began to sneak out as Idia’s narrated ominously. His words putting me on edge as I listened to him, “It was just childish curiosity. We wanted to go on an adventure. I didn’t think of the consequences. I didn’t know what would happen.”

My hands were soon flying to my mouth in helpless horror as everything played out in front of me. The security went down and monsters broke loose, immediately finding the two young boys. And then….

Idia didn’t have to say anything. Ortho’s panicked little voice, followed by the inhuman growl of the monster and then jarring darkness as the scene went out like a candle in a gust of wind said everything.

But he spoke anyway. His voice hollow with numbness as I slowly pulled my hands from my mouth, “I didn’t remember much after that. Ortho was already gone when I woke up.”

At first, I watched in silent, almost stunned horror as the researchers discussed what happened.

“Unbelievable… A 10-year old managed to hack into the world's most reinforced security system…”

“He was too smart for his own good. His intellect brought such tragedy about…”

“The escaped Phantom was apparently sent to the Underworld.”

“Sadly, the inevitability of the event can’t erase the tragic truth…”

The scene shifted back to young Idia, and I felt tears start to well up in my eyes as he begged for someone to give him back his little brother. All but screaming in a raw voice that was perfectly at odds with the numb, quiet tone the Idia I knew usually spoke in.

“Give him back…. Give Ortho back to me… I want him all back… His body, his personality, his memories…. GIVE HIM BACK!!”

I felt myself going still, my eyes widening as the thoughts of the young boy played out before me, though. Almost like they were predicting the future that I’d already known would come.

…I know. If they won’t give him back, I can just make a new one….

The next thing I saw was an adolescent version of Idia introducing his creation. The new Ortho.

This one was more stilted than the one I got to know, as it spoke in an undeniably robotic, monotone voice and recommended rest as the adolescent Idia broke down in tears.

A part of me wanted to reassure him. Tell him how much further he’d come and how the Ortho I knew couldn’t just be written of a robot. Not when he was so real.

But I knew it wouldn’t help. Not only could I not speak to him, it was obvious that he already knew perfectly well that no matter how groundbreaking this Ortho was, it couldn’t change the past.

His brother had died.

Slowly but surely, everything began to fade back into a darkness that, now, after having seen all of that, felt comforting.

Soon the only thing present in this abyss was Idia’s voice. Lamenting his past choices with an apathy that practically had me wincing.

Had he been this unenthused about everything… about his very life, ever since the tragedy of his youth? The only sign of emotion, of the pain that I now knew rested deep beneath it all in his memories and guilt, was the way his voice faltered and he corrected himself.

“How did things end up this way? I just … We just… We just wanted to be like everyone else.”

Even now, he was bearing far more than what he himself wanted. He also bore Ortho’s wishes with him, never forgetting his brother’s dreams, just as he never ceased in blaming himself for his brother’s untimely death.

I still couldn’t agree with his choices, but I did understand them now. I had no doubts that everything me and everyone else had just gone through was rooted in the wish to give his brother another chance to realize his own dream.

I opened my eyes slowly, finding that I was still lying on my back from where I’d fallen. Idia was stretched out with his head resting on my stomach. His arms curled around my waist, tight enough that I doubted I could pull myself free.

He was still past out, murmuring Ortho’s name in a pained tone that had me swallowing thickly. After everything I’d seen, I understood why Idia was the way he was.

He’d gone through a tragedy, and apparently those around him had failed him. They’d let him lock himself up as he poured all his efforts and genius into recreating Ortho, even though deep down he knew he could never correct his past mistake.

I looked over to see the Pomefiore trio resting, my eyes slowly meeting Vil’s. And even despite his appearance, those amethyst of his were the same as ever.

And my heart broke a little as he smiled at my wearily before speaking in a voice that was raspy with old age that should not be, “I see you’re back.”

Rook and Epel both looked up wide-eyed as soon as he spoke. Both of them smiling in relief and standing as soon as they saw me looking at them.

I smiled slightly as I did my best not to cry simply for Vil’s sake.

But at odds with my emotions, Vil merely looked down at Idia with characteristic distaste, “Now to wake this one….”

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