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noxiatoxia · 2 years

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IMS O GLAD U LIKE MY IDEAS!!!! ITS LITERALLY SO MUCH FUN TALKING ABT THEM W U!!!!!

i just love sick character tropes, im more partial to angst but i love the cute stuff too,, those kinds of stories are my favorite

thought of a kind of sad ending where hikaru's desperate and trying to get help but no one believes him, but he finally gets someone to come up to their room and see that kaoru's sick. kaoru is feverish and scared, so when he sees hikaru bringing in the maid thats gonna separate them+ put him on bedrest and force him to take medicine, he feels betrayed. even though he feels awful, hes too delirious to understand how dire his situation is and how he needs the maids to take care of him. he just sees hikaru bringing in the maids to take him away. so they're trying to pull kaoru out of bed to carry him to the doctor but hes fighting it and crawling to the opposite side of the bed to get away from them, crying for hikaru to help stop them despite his voice being nearly gone.

hikaru is absolutely distraught, nearly in tears because he really was just trying to help. and now the maids are telling him he was awful for keeping it from them and trying to take care of his brother himself, and kaoru's crying and begging him to not let them take him and he doesn't know if he ever did the right thing to help him. he just wants his little brother to be okay !!!!!! he's just a kid he doesn't know what to do !!!

made myself sad with this one,, pain and suffering

BUT then once he's better and allowed back, kaoru asks hikaru why he did that to him...hikaru bursts into tears, sobbing that he really was just trying to help and that he didn't know what to do, pleaded with his brother not to be mad at him. kaoru still doesn't understand the gravity of the situation he was in but forgives his brother anyway because their medicine really did make him feel better. hikaru throws his arms around him and hugs him tight, still crying. kaoru hugs back just as tightly and tells him he still loves him, that he's not mad. they spend the rest of the day playing together like they hadn't been able to during the time kaoru was sick. they run around in the gardens together as well as doing a much better and dramatized recreation of the last dinosaur. (this is a big occasion because usually hikaru gets to be the dinosaur but this time he lets kaoru be the dinosaur)

btw i loved the fluffier ideas you had too bc i just know that even if he couldn't make kaoru feel physically better, hikaru would do everything he could to make sure he wasn't sad or alone. hikaru, the most adhd brained little boy there ever was, would hardly ever leave his brothers bedside, even if it was boring just sitting there. playing with him (if kaoru was feeling up to it), talking to him, reading to him, cuddling him... he feels terrible that he can't do much more to help him, but kaoru says it's more than enough for hikaru to comfort him the best he can

i love little hitachiins,, they're so cute... wails and cries

HI ANON HI!!! Sorry I didn't reply all day I was busy (having many much fun with a friend but busy nonetheless) but I have been periodically thinking about this ask thru out the day!!

Kaoru would feel very betrayed, esp after Hikaru said he wouldn't. But Hikaru couldn't help it; he didn't want Kaoru to get worse, and he had no clue what else to do...

At the very least, Kaoru is understanding once he's not bogged down with a fever and Hikaru explains it to him. He understands how scared Hikaru must have been, so he forgives him.

Also, them reenacting Hikaru's story (lol'd at "hikaru, the most adhd brained little boy there ever was" bc it's true) is SO adorable. I imagine them causing a ruckus in the yard, Kaoru standing on his tippy toes to be taller "like a dinosaur" and doing dinosaur hands. I dunno how the story goes but however it does, I'm sure it ends up with the boys roughhousing playfully, getting covered in dirt, and then they have to take a bath where they inevitably roughhouse some more and make a huge mess and get water everywhere <3 the maids hate them for it but they don't care. They wanted to play submarine god damn it.

A cute idea I have is Kaoru never really grew out of those stories. He kinda thinks they're cute and they're very nostalgic. I can easily imagine, on the rare occasion he gets sick by himself in their highschool years and he's in bed resting, he asks Hikaru to tell him a few stories. Hikaru thinks it's childish and embarrassing but he does it anyways bc it makes Kaoru happy, and tbh, he thinks it's fun to. He likes coming up with these funny small stories, he likes creating something that makes his brother laugh. He likes being the reason Kaoru is smiling and having a good time despite feeling miserable and sick, and knowing he did it himself and made something up that was uniquely his... it's so cute. I think Hikaru is pretty good at doing a few different voices, and he uses that to his advantage with story telling. Despite not being a fan of books, Hikaru can create some interesting and fun plots with decent voice acting. Well, I'm sure he watches a ton of movies and shows to make up for it.

(Although, Hikaru having to go to school alone without Kaoru, past and present, is a whole different story. I think as a little kid, he flat out refused to go to school if Kaoru couldn't come with him. And if they forced him anyways he'd throw a tantrum bc he was panicking so bad)

Oh, and not to be That Guy but about a previous scenario we discussed, about Kaoru suffering from severe depression? I already said Hikaru would hang out by his door, talking to nothing for hours by himself because Kaoru wouldn't respond, but he still wanted to be there for him and feel like he's there...imagine if one of those visits, all he does is tell old stories they made up as kids. The ones he'd tell Kaoru when he was sick. The last dinosaur included. And the thing is, he tells them perfectly. His voice is upbeat and theatrical. He does all the voice acting perfectly. He doesn't want his own anxiety and sorrow to show through and ruin the story. He wants Kaoru to have a good time, because at the end of the day, that's why he ever made up these stories and that's why he even tells them: to make Kaoru smile. So, he wants to put in his best effort to do just that. And though Kaoru didn't say anything, he sat close by the door that day just listening, trying to stop himself from getting overworked with emotions. Because Hikaru is clearly trying so hard to cheer him up, even though Kaoru thinks he doesn't deserve it. It's very cute but also really sad...

#hikakao #ohshc #i love hikaru's little stories he should write some #maybe when he was a little kid he made a comic on paper #and kaoru finds it when theyre older and teases him about it #but he really thinks its cute #;noxiatalks2ya

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haikyuu-and-more-haikyuu · 4 years

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if your fave hq characters had pets, what sort of animals would they have?

Ah! This sounds like so much fun! I’ll just do karasuno, tell me if you want my take on the others teams too or background characters! Sorry if there are any spelling mistakes or weird sentences- I am over stimulated from work and it hurts to think! But I wanted to get this out before bed :D

Daichi: He’s a big doggo person. He likes big dogs becuse he can rough house with them and take long road runs with them. He is gets a Alaskan Malamute named Wakana, since she is so vocal. And even when the dog grown up, she still thinks she is a lap dog, Daichi literally have to push her off if he wants to get things done. Wakana always puts up a light fight. Such a drama queen.

Sugawara: He doesn’t have time for much and doesn't want a high energy animal since he deals with 30+ monkey since he is a elementary school teacher, so he gets two bunnies. Both boys, a white one and a grey one. The grey one is named Mitsou and the white one is named Masa. Mitsou has a temper and will often stump his feet if he is disatisfied (when Suga doesn't give him cuddles) while Masa is just happy to be there :D

Asahi: He get’s a St. Bernard's dog and just looks scarier than he already does. But that big doggo is the cutest dog. He liked cuddle and get attention and will often just sit by Asahi or visitors sides until he get’s the attention he wants. He also is quick to snatch up food that has fallen on the ground and often begs for left overs. He rarely gets some. His name is Sora

Nishinoya: He doesn't get a pet until late into adulthood. He traveled around the world and wouldn't have had the time to care for a pet. But when he eventually does settle down, he gets a greyhound. He needed a partner that was just as playful as him and also a challenge. His name is Tsuyoshi, which means strong.

Tanaka: Get’s a dog like a light brown bull terrier. His name is Arata, and he is just as rowdy as his owner. But also really cuddly and attention seeking. He chews up his toys in minutes, so Tanaka has to by really strong toys so they actually last. He also liked to by clothes to the dig since Arata doesn't mind.

Ennoshita: This chill dude gets a chill catto. they like laughing together and just take a nap. The cat goes out and comes back after a few hours. That is how they both like it. He names the cat Rina. She got kind of too lazy at one point and gained a little bit of weight. So Rina had to learn to walk on a leash with Ennoshita and it works well.

Narita: Is allergic to cats and dogs. (if you guys didn’t know, its the enzymes in the spit that people react too, not the fur itself) Taking shots and medications for it is too much of a hazzle for him, so he gets a big fish thank and fills it with fishes and a few eels and snails too. They don’t do much but it’s exciting to see them swim around minding their own business. He also likes to by new items and sea weed for them so their tank gets decorations and a little personality. Some of them follow his fingers when he is close.

Kinoshita: Got a sphynx from a family friend that just had a littler. His was surprised to see how cuddly and playful they were. His cat is also curious and talkative. The cat, named Sushi, becuse Kinoshita tried to make sushi one time and the cat jumped up and tried the almost done roll, often greets him when he comes home. he also like to sleep with Hishashi in the same bed. Kinoshita also buys him winter and summer clothes so the cat doesn’t freeze to death or get sun burned when he is out. Kinoshita has fallen greatly in love with that wrinkly monster.

Kageyama: That video I reblogged of that volleyball playing doggo, that is Kags doggo. (lol jk) He gets a dog, a little, fluffy pomeranian, to everyone surprise. The old lady next door died and when she didn’t have any family members that could take in the dog, Kageyama offered to take the two year old dog into his care. Her name is Yoko. She is playful and often nibble on his sock when he is relaxing. She has a blanket she likes to sleep in and is really cute when she does so. Kageyama has tried to take the small dog on road runs, but the little Yoko gets too tired and needs to be carried the rest of the way; (small dogs doesn’t need as much exercise as bog doggos)

Hinata: I saw this pintrest post about Hinata owning a mimi turtle (or baby turtle) and yes! He get’s a lil turtle that he names Hikari (light). He likes to feed her berries and often talks to her when he rambles on about his days and need some company. She is often walking by herself in the living room and it took Hinata a few times before he was smart enough to tie a long red yarn around her for him to know where she was. He once lost her and didn’t find her until two days later. He though he had killed her. Hinata likes to think that Hikari likes to be on his head (but to the turtle, it’s the same)

Tsukishima: He and Akiteru tried to convince their mother to let them have a tiger or a bearded dragon. But Mrs Tsukishima said no and that was it. When he gets older, he gets two birds. Named Rex and Strawberry (named after a dinosaur and his fave dessert). Birds are actually very cuddly and often likes to be with their human and play or just relax. So they wouldn't be in their cage when Tsukishima is just home. If he has visitor they need to be in the cage for a few hours. He also learns them words and always whistle when its feeding time. Birds pick up on that too. They have leaned Tsukki, since Yamaguchi calls him that, and now Tsukishima can hear his nickname 24/7.

Yamaguchi: It’s canon that Yama is a dog person, so he would defiantly have a doggo (or two when he grows up) His family currently have a Shiba Inu that they got then he was in middle school. Yama wanted to name it french fry, but Tsukki didn’t let him. So he named it Yukiko since the dog likes winter so much! Like him! He gets his how dogs when he is well into adulthood.

Yachi: When she lived with her mom, before she moved out, they didn't have any pets since the complex didn’t allow pets and her mom were too busy taking care of a pet. She get’s a hamster names Sho. (It means to fly) she named it that because his fur his black and it reminded her of karasuno. He doesn't do much except for run in his wheel-thing and relax in his tunnel. She likes re-decorate his thank and by new stuff for him. It’s a little spoiled hamster.

Shimizu: Get’s an isle cat that like to sun bathe and cuddle with her on the sofa. the cat has a running wheel and uses it sometimes when Kiyoko is in the room with there. She is brown, black and white. The cat also likes to sit on the counter when Shimizu makes food, just to observe. He name is Aki, and Kiyoko named her that becuse her fur remained her of autumn.

Ukai: Gets a mop that becomes the next store pet. He got the dog when it had trend three years and was put out for adoptions. His name is Hibiki he is often seen relaxing on his bed by the counter in the store. He doesn’t bark much, but when a few rowdy school kids passes through the store, he can get a little worked up. Most of the time, everyone is fine with the little helper Sakanoshita has gotten.

Takeda: Gets a dog after a few years. He gets a cocker spaniel that is playful and rowdy and stick his nose into everything. The garbage, his closet or cabinets; you name it. His name is Dai. He once got so excited of seeing a bird outside, that he ran straight into a glass door. He was fine and so was the glass. Takeda was surprised when he saw how energetic the dog was becoming.

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crusherthedoctor · 4 years

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Jungles may commonly appear earlier than other environments on the sliding scale of video game geography, and Viridonia is no exception to that cliche. But in this case, I purposefully used a jungle as the setting for Zone 2 to make a point.

Jungle levels are full of greenery, just like with Green Hill-esque levels, which means if done poorly, they can risk ending up blending together despite the different climate. By going all out with Tricky Tropics however, and giving it its own distinct qualities, the different (yet still upbeat) atmosphere compared to Gleaming Meadows would further my point about how you can breathe new life into any level trope if you know what you're doing. And if these two zones can feel unique when compared to each other, despite all that green between them, it sets a good precedent for the potential it suggests for later zones...

Creating Zone 2: Tricky Tropics

2-1: Luscious Jungle

When comparing Luscious Jungle to previous jungles and other foresty areas in the franchise, one of the two biggest inspirations was the very first of its kind: Jungle Zone from the Master System version of Sonic 1. Specifically, how the green REALLY pops out, and gives off a warm and inviting atmosphere despite the dangers present.

The other main inspiration being, as you'll already know from reading the fic, Frog Forest from Sonic Heroes, what with taking the idea of using fruit as a gimmick for obstacles and platforming, and heavily expanding on it. Unlike in Frog Forest however, they don’t require giant frogs to activate them. They’ll help or hinder you by their lonesome.

Though I suppose the wildlife hanging around in all shapes and sizes means there's a slight touch of Dinosaur Jungle in there as well, at least in spirit... if you replaced the dinosaurs with elephants, tigers, zebras, and all the rest.

Aside from the oversized fruit, as well as the deep brown trails of soil on the ground, additional flowers and other plant life help round off all the green, with the flowers in particular taking a page or two from the most striking ones in the Amazon rainforest. This doesn't just apply to the gimmick-related flowers either, it applies to the ones that are just part of the scenery as well.

Viridonia does not half-ass its vegetation. What motivation is there to saving the place from Eggman’s insidious influence if it doesn’t look as aesthetically pleasing as possible?

And obviously, the savannah area would be considerably more yellow, though its appearance and gimmicks would prevent it from feeling like a repeat of Yellow Hills from the previous zone. The beaming sunlight peeking through the clouds mixed in with the sprawling landscape may go as far as to bring back nostalgic memories of... LEGO Racers 2?

Um, sure, okay.

And before you ask, this isn't Trudy's family either.

First Section (jungle): Jungle Classic Tiny Temple (Crash Nitro Kart)

Second Section (savannah): Rock Star (Kirby 64) Jungle Falls (Diddy Kong Racing)

2-2: Temple Village

Remember the echidna village from the ancient past, before Chaos activated his trap card and sent them all to the Shadow Realm? Violently?

Well, we've got a similar schtick here, but different at the same time. The Mayan influence remains, as evidenced with the blocky pyramids sprinkled around, but you also have huge idol structures keeping them company, not unlike the ones you see in Idol Springs from Spyro 2.

The camp site and its explorer NPCs also help to liven up the place. But then, so do the Badniks, for a certain definition of “liven up”. (By which I mean, the intention to do the exact opposite of that.)

Then you have the wooded blockades, which are similar to those in Sonic '06, but with much more colorful paint markings, despite the rust accumulated over the years. They're also less prone to making the Havok physics engine shit itself. So they wouldn't make it into Tracy Yardley's good graces.

Meanwhile, up in the trees, the process of going through carved paths within the trees may bring Honeycomb Highway from Sonic Lost World to mind. But there's plenty of wooden walkways as well, and rope bridges of varying rickety quality, with all that risk that implies. Whoever designed them may not have the most advanced skills, but they’re still more qualified than Bioware.

And going inside the pyramids themselves will cause another bout of cultural whiplash, as instead of keeping up the Mayan feel, it's more reminiscent of the Ajanta Caves in India, gold lighting and all.

Perfect for somewhere so mysterious and potentially deadly, yet still early on in the adventure, and thus nowhere near as oppressive in sheer tone as Eggman's factories or what have you.

First Section (outside): Planet Wisp (Team Sonic Racing) Golden City (Bug Bunny & Taz: Time Busters)

Second Section (inside): Leading Lights (Sonic Adventure) Deku Palace (The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask)

2-3: Gloomy Bog

Gloomy Bog's rivers have been corrupted by Mega Mack. I assume you know what Mega Mack is; it's purple, it's unhealthy, and it gets a No from Trudy.

Despite this setback, the swamp otherwise has a laidback mood. The vegetation may be a darker green than two acts ago, comparable to the dark green present in the original Dreamcast version of Mystic Ruins...

...but that's to be expected for a swamp. And even so, the blue and white flowers still add some complimentary brightness and - say it with me, boys and girls - contrast.

As does the omnipresent white glow in the air, which even reflects off of some of the plants as well. It brings cloud forests to mind, except in this case, it's not actually fog.

Shining and hovering over the Mega Mack-infected rivers, it almost seems like there’s meaning to it, as if the swamp itself knows that despite its current predicament, the light will overcome and ultimately vanquish the dark. Very George Lucas as far as visual metaphors go, but whatever works, right?

As for the boardwalks, they were inspired by this concept art for Sonic Saturn, AKA one of the many decapitated heads of the video game hydra that was Sonic X-Treme(ly doomed to fail).

Fortunately for Sonic, his nose wouldn't be mutilated this time.

First Section (walkways): Misty Bog (Spyro 1) DK Jungle (Mario Kart 7)

Second Section (lake): Salad Plain (Sonic CD) The Great Boggly Tree (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)

2-4: Hornet’s Nest

In the fic proper, I compared the exterior of the giant mecha bee hive with Great Megalith from Sonic and the Black Knight. This is because it shares similar thorny fortifications on the outside, albeit in a more modern and industrial form, as you'd expect from man who will conquer the world with his tools.

Even comes with the flags and banners! Though they too have been given the Eggman flavor. (Maybe he's getting revenge for not being in that game?)

As for what's inside... well, what do you expect the inside of a giant bee hive to look like, mechanical or no? Since Donkey Kong has probably one of the most famous examples in a video game, we'll turn to his franchise again to get the gist.

It wouldn't be all yellow though. Remember, this is the plant that's producing all that Mega Mack, so among all the honey and honey-associated gimmicks, there's some purple contrast as well.

And the area outside the hive entirely? There's still a bit of honey (and Mega Mack) here and there, and though the white glow from the previous act has largely disappeared, the blue flowers and dark green plants and trees remain. So in that regard, you could say it's akin to Honey Marsh from Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly.

Less buggy, though.

Probably.

First Section (outside): Mushroom Hill Act 1 (NicoCW) Wizard Peak (Spyro 1)

Second Section (inside): Minty Mines (Spyro 2: Season of Flame) Zip Line Shrine (Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze)

#Creating Viridonia #Sonic the Hedgehog #Fanfiction

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satans-helper · 5 years

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A Colored World

Pairing: Josh Kiszka x (F) Reader

Word Count: 1136

Warnings: none--pure candy fluff, we love our sunshine boy~

This comes to us by an outside request--thank you! I’m always flattered to be entrusted with all of your requests and I hope this one delivers. This is also for Josh himself, though I know the boys don’t read this stuff (nor should they, let’s be real), I know we’re all sending him some major love right now & I hope, in some fantastical and cosmic way, the love from this gets to him, too.

---

You loved your kids--well, “your” kids--but the lack of sleep and their, for whatever reason, more exuberant energy than normal was draining you little by little. It had to be because the school year was ending soon. Still, you imagined if you were 4 years old again, you wouldn’t ever feel like you were bogged down by schedules or even the comings and goings of the sun and the seasons, and you envied that sort of blissful ignorance they had.

Today it was all about creativity--that was sort of the thing every day actually, but you’d made a point to bring in various CDs you thought the kids would like, and simple sheet music for certain songs so they could follow, so all of you could sing together. Not that singing was a great skill of yours, but you enjoyed doing it with the kids when you could. They were always enthusiastic and fun, always eager to try something new and never too fearful to just belt it the hell out.

The jingling of something--you couldn’t discern what yet--as you started up the computer and readied your collection of CDs caused you to turn to the doorway where, like a daydream come to life, Josh was there, the gold in his ears glimmering as he turned his head. He looked to the kids first, a big smile on his face as he tapped the tambourine against his knee, then he met your eyes and the smile became an open-mouthed grin.

The tambourine jingled louder when he wrapped his arms around you and squeezed. “Hey, pretty lady,” he said, that warm voice you’d missed so much gentle in your ear. “I missed you.”

You squeezed him back. “I missed you too--what are you doing here? I didn’t know you’d be back in town.”

“We took a detour,” he told you, pulling back and kissing your cheek. “And I remembered you said today was music day, so I sort of invited myself, if that’s okay.”

You were blushing, feeling like you must be as exuberant as your kids. “Yeah, are you kidding?” you replied and ruffled his hair. “They’ll actually have a real musician teaching them.”

Josh laughed, tipping his head back. “Well, we’ll see. What did you have planned?”

“Okay, don’t laugh,” you began, turning to rifle through the CDs. “I was gonna start with a classic: ‘We Are The Dinosaurs.’”

Josh did laugh, but not at you, nor at the song choice. He moved in close and looked it over with you. “That’s great--who doesn’t love dinosaurs?”

“I feel like you could easily incorporate your tambourine into it,” you said, gently flicking a bell with your fingertip. “And it’s really easy to sing along to, obviously.”

He smiled again. “I’ll try to follow along.”

You both sat in front of the kids, all of them in a circle on the bright blue and purple carpet, the music just beginning and Josh readying his tambourine, smiling at the kids. You loved that Josh was like a kid himself, with his wonder and amusement seemingly unwavering, and him in this particular environment just seemed to work.

He did quickly work with the song, establishing his rhythm and interjection of the tambourine easily, and the lyrics were even easier to attach himself to. You knew the song by heart, having listened to it a thousand times, but with Josh playing and singing next to you, it felt like an entirely new experience.

One of your kids was already very taken with Josh, which you weren’t surprised by. He’d always reminded you of Josh a little, with his boisterous energy and loud laugh, his vibrant silliness and affinity for music, too. He looked up at Josh with big, awe-struck eyes, moving them down to the tambourine whenever Josh tapped it, and started to clap along to that same tambourine playing.

You giggled but kept singing, getting a kick out of the whole thing. When it ended, no one seemed too eager to have it all end, so you turned to Josh and asked, “What if we did ‘Anthem?’”

He grinned at that and squeezed your knee. “It might not be the same without Jake’s guitar, but I think you and I could make up for it.”

And you felt you both did--Josh’s voice was as beautiful as ever and he made sure you were in sync, swaying side to side in your chairs, him tapping the tambourine against his knee and into his hand. You both managed to corral the kids into singing the chorus in unison--just like in the actual song--with you getting them started and Josh doing his classic vocalizations, his free hand moving in the air with each note.

The kids were super into it and you were too, glancing over at Josh continuously, your heart swelling with adoration. He caught your eye and smiled, then winked, and your heart melted.

“Anthem” had always been your favorite Greta Van Fleet song. You loved its endearing simplicity, its uncomplicated message and authenticity, and singing it alongside your most favorite person felt like yet another daydream. Whenever you heard the song, you felt like maybe the world really could go back to being vibrant and colorful, full of love and tenderness, and the kids singing with you made that daydream feel more and more like a real possibility.

After giving the kids their snacks, you handed a juice box to Josh and smiled, taking one for yourself too. He smiled back and you both sat on the desk, his tambourine motionless at his side for now.

“You’re so cute,” you told him as he took the first sip, watching his lips pursed around the tiny plastic straw. “Thank you for coming in and surprising all of us.”

“It was really for you, Y/N,” he said, leaning into your side. “But I had a lot of fun. You think they like me?”

You laughed. “Yeah, no doubt--did you not see them staring at you?”

“It’s the tambourine,” he insisted and rested his head on your shoulder. “I really missed you.”

You sighed and rested your hand on his leg. “I missed you too, Josh.”

“We’re leaving tomorrow,” he said, placing his free hand on top of yours. “So can I see you after school today?”

There went your heart again, swelling to the point of bursting. “Yeah, I’d love that,” you said, smiling a little to yourself at the purple stain on Josh’s lips.

Josh glanced out at the kids, all seeming to be distracted by their own juice boxes and the song “Down By The Bay” playing from the speakers, then leaned into you and kissed your lips--a lingering, gentle kiss that tasted like sugared grapes, his tambourine jingling quietly as you moved closer to one another.

---

Tagging: @jeordinevankiszka @mountainofthesunn @bigthighsandstupidguys @camomillacatalina @saywecanart @dreams-madeof-strawberrylemonade @kiszkawagnergvf

#love you sunshine boy!#you loom so large in my heart forever and always #josh kiszka #josh gvf #gvf fic #greta van fleet #gvf fluff #josh fic #josh fluff #greta van fluff #greta van fan fiction #josh x reader #josh kiszka x reader

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b-grademoviemonsters · 4 years

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The Velocipastor

Premise according to IMDB: After losing his parents, a priest travels to China, where he inherits a mysterious ability that allows him to turn into a dinosaur. At first horrified by this new power, a hooker convinces him to use it to fight crime. And ninjas.

Premise according to us: Every so often, in an otherwise ordinary life, a movie comes along that is so visionary, so transformative and so ahead of its time that your life is never quite the same afterwards. It probably goes without saying that this is not that film. But damned if we didn’t enjoy the heck out of it anyway.

Wow, that’s high praise there. Honestly, coming across this gem after some of the dross we’ve sat through of late was like going to sleep beside the Trumpster (you nestled in your comfy bed, him prostate and unblinking in his cryovac chamber) and waking up to see a shirtless Justin Trudeau standing over you holding a breakfast tray piled high with croissants and a huge bowl of Nutella.

Mmmm, Nutella. That’s so good smeared across croissants! Right... yes... croissants. Because that would definitely not be the only place we would be smearing Nutella in this scenario. But moving right along…

Ah yes, back to The Velocipastor. Now, where were we? Well, I was about to share my general rule of thumb about this kind of movie. Which is that if the words ‘WTF’ come out of my mouth within the first five minutes, followed by vigorous thrashing of the rewind button, then we’re onto a winner. And these guys managed it with the below shot. *cue supermassive spoiler alert*

You see, during the film’s first few minutes or so, a horrific car bomb kills the family of the film’s hero priest right before his very eyes. But instead of a glorious explosion of sound, violence, body parts and middle aged parental polyester across the big screen, the director merely added a descriptive tile in a font I think came standard with Windows Office 98. I mean, have you ever seen a more excellent manifestation of having no budget than this?

Wait, so there was no explosion, no body parts and no gore... and that’s a good thing? YES! A very good thing. Because it shows they get the essence of B-grade monster movie making, which is that the budget may be small, but the tongue-in-cheek ideas don’t have to be. Talk about happy days!

Still, exploding parents is a pretty awful thing to happen to someone so young, right? Totally. But luckily our hero priest Fr Doug has the wise words of mentor Fr Stuart to ponder as he mourns his loss while sipping - nay sculling - the blood of Jesus Christ in a way we’re fairly certain the Vatican would not be keen on. “Your parents died Doug. That’s what parents do. They die on you.” Dibs putting that on a commemorative T-shirt.

So how exactly does a shattered soul such as Doug then rebuild from there? Well it’s simple. You go to the place where, in the words of Fr Stu, “you think God will not follow.” In this case, China*. And we know it’s China because, despite its resemblance to an everyday tract of north American wilderness, we are offered a few subtle clues. Namely the word ‘China’ appearing on screen in massive type and the sudden arrival of a warrior chick in a white martial arts suit and a vaguely racist bamboo peasant hat. Mind you, we don’t get too much of a look at her since she’s busy copping an arrow straight through the chest from a random ninja in the forest. Then comes the indignity of spending her final moments with our hero priest, who takes one look at the gushing bloody wound and arrowhead embedded prominently in her torso and reaches for the obvious question only a man anyone would ask in the circumstances: “Are you hurt?” Honestly, in her shoes, we would have passed him the cursed dinosaur tooth of the Dragon Warrior too. *note this film predates the arrival of the coronavirus.

By the way, just rewinding matters for a second, I couldn’t help but notice that Doug somehow managed to drive to China ... from the US: Yes, we clocked that too. But rather than get bogged down in logical exploration, let’s just assume Sarah Palin was the film’s geography consultant and move on.

OK, done. Next minute, we’re suddenly back in the US, where Doug is having some bad dreams and feeling hungry* and a prostitute called Carol is being roughed up by her pimp Frankie Mermaid, whose subtle moniker refers to the fact he’s “swimming in bitches”. Frankie old mate, you are so going to die. But not, apparently, before sending Carol out into a dark forest to drum up some business. *if you get what we mean

Wait, is that really where hookers hang out these days? #askingforafriend Well not if they want to make any money, no. But hey, no sacrifice is too great in the pursuit of #plotdevelopment. And just as we type that here it comes, in the form of an armed offender keen to separate Carol from her cash. If only there was someone, anyone, who could just randomly stumble into the forest and rescue our damsel in distress. Oh wait. Is that Fr Doug? Boy, he looks kind of hungry* *if you get what we mean

Next minute: It’s the next morning and a surprisingly buff Fr Doug is in the hooker’s bed. But not like *that*. Because she just wants to chat. Or at least to engage in some very unsophisticated single entendres about how “last night was amazing” even though “it all happened so quickly”. Fortunately her blow by blow* account sets Doug’s mind at ease, except for the bit where he turned into a dinosaur and ate someone. Which he does not believe. Because, and say it with me here religious zealots, “Dinosaurs never existed.” * Wash your mind out with soap - this is a common expression, not a sexual euphenism... yet.

Of course they didn’t. Well I assume she eventually convinces him he’s part velociraptor and that they should use his powers to rid the world of evil. But we don’t want to give away the rest of the movie do we? No, we most certainly do not want to spoil the sure-to-be-hugely-unexpected plot twists of a movie called The Velocipastor. And honestly, half the fun is in the surprises. So instead, let’s just share a few of the queries we asked each other along the way: * Did that guy really just say he’s going to survive the Vietnam War without taking a single hit? I mean, has he ever seen a war movie? * Really? You bought nunchakus to a fight with ninjas? Really? * Wait, does that exorcist have goblin ears? * Are they honestly going to boink for the first time under a chenille duvet? * No, I mean seriously, under a chenille duvet????

Wait, if our hero is a priest, then who is the prostitute boinking? Sorry, can’t answer that. But *cough* The Thorn Birds *cough*.

Well at least tell us Frankie Mermaid bites it bad: Again, mum’s the word. But let’s just say confession isn’t always good for the soul, especially when you may or may not be confessing to a certain earlier car bomb murder.

Intriguing. Well to something you can tell us, did the film get good reviews? To answer this let’s turn to our beloved critics over at the IMDB: “This movie cured my cancer and my acne, my asthma is gone and I don't need my glasses anymore.” Nuff said. Final verdict? Yep! And that’s without even mentioning the best ninjas versus dinosaur fight scene EVER committed to film. EVER. Which I really wanted to film and post here but #respectforcopyright.

Vanilla vodkas needed to sit through it (out of 10): None. And that would be true even if we hadn’t just drunk our own body weight in sugar-free soft drink.

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koreanling · 5 years

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Korean Media with Cultural Impact

I had the thought of what korean shows and movies are really important in korea; things like the simpsons, star wars, friends, etc. where its important culturally and influnced korean society. Getting two birds with one stone of practicing korean and getting some cultural information as well.

This is quite a big list and I dont want to bog down anyones feed so it will be under the cut

note the english and korean might not match up, I’m just putting the english title and the korean title so not all are direct translations

VARIETY

Running Man - 런닝맨 easily the most popular variety tv show, popular internationally as well. great to learn about popular celebs PLOT MCs and guests complete missions to win the race. The show has since shifted to more focused on games

Master in the House - 집사부일체 recently becoming very popular variety show. great to learn about celebs important in korea but outside of the popular hallyu wave PLOT The cast spends 2 days 1 night together with ‘masters’ of various fields in hopes of gaining knowledge and wisdom

Infinite Challenge - 무한도전 predating running man its been called "the nation's variety show" and "Korea's real first variety" PLOT similar to a challenge-based reality television programs but the challenges are often absurd or impossible, so the program takes on a more satirical comedy aspect

I Live Alone - 나 혼자 산다 PLOT showing celebs daily lives living alone

The Return of Superman - 슈퍼맨이 돌아왔다 PLOT celeb fathers have to take care of their young children without the mothers help while she takes a much needed break

DRAMAS

Boys Over Flowers - 꽃보다 남자 started hallyu wave in 2009 within asian countries, probably the most popular kdrama PLOT a normal girl attends a rich prestigious private school after saving a student's life. She stands up the popular rich well loved bullies and ends up developing a relaionship with them

Sky Castle - SKY 캐슬 highest rated kdrama in history PLOT wealthy housewives try to make their husbands more successful and to raise their children like princes and princesses

Reply 1988 - 응답하라 1988 second highest rated kdrama, the rest of the reply series are well recieved as well and showcase different eras in modern korean history (1997 and 1994) PLOT Set in 1988, it revolves around five friends and their families living in the same neighborhood

My Love From the Star - 별에서 온 그대 another hugely successful kdrama PLOT An alien who has been stranded on Earth for more than 400 years is almost able to return home, but finds himself developing feelings for a famous actress

Descendants of the Sun - 태양의 후예 so popular it caused resoration projects for filming locations from the show PLOT love story between the captain of the korean special forces, and a surgeon in a war-torn country

Guardian: The Lonely and Great God - 쓸쓸하고 찬란하神 - 도깨비 or just Goblin - 도깨비 first cable kdrama to surpass 20% ratings. It was also popular to parody it on various social media sites PLOT Kim Shin, a goblin and protector of souls, wants to end his immortal life but the only way he can do that is find a human bride

CHILDRENS TV SHOWS

good for beginner practice because of the easy to follow plots and simple dialouge and story

Pororo the Little Penguin - 뽀롱뽀롱 뽀로로 most popular recent childrens tv show

Dooly the Little Dinosaur - 아기공룡 둘리 late 80s to 90s kids tv show, also dooly is an official south korean citizen

Anpanman - 안판만 popular childrens show about a bread super hero, its japanese but still big in korea, also referenced in a BTS song

OTHER TV SHOWS

That's what I want to know - 그것이 알고싶다 popular journalistic program, goes really indepth and shows facts, not swayed by corruption PLOT analyzes corruption, society, religion, and unresolved cases in Korea

TV Animal Farm - TV 동물농장 koreas most popular animal show PLOT talks about animal rights and promotes connections between animals and humans

Please Take Care of My Refrigerator - 냉장고를 부탁해 PLOT chefs compete to create impromptu dishes that feature ingredients found inside the guest stars' personal refrigerators

MOVIES

The Admiral: Roaring Currents - 명량 - 鳴梁 the most watched film in South Korea PLOT based on the historical Battle of Myeongnyang, where Joseon admiral Yi Sun-sin's led the only 12 ships remaining in his command to a heroic victory against an invading Japanese fleet numbering 333 vessels

Old Boy - 올드보이 most praised korean film internationally (please dont watch the american remake its terrible..) PLOT On his daughters fourth birthday Oh Dae-su is suddenly imprisoned in a hotel room for 15 years without knowing anything about the reason why. When he is finally released he dedicates his time to finding his captor

Extreme Job - 극한직업 highest grossing Korean comedy film of all time PLOT undercover detectives start a chicken restaurant for a drug-bust operation, but end up busier than ever when their food becomes famous

Ode to My Father - 국제시장 korean history! also fourth highest-grossing film in korean cinema PLOT depicts modern Korean history from the 1950s to the present day through the life of an ordinary man

A Werewolf Boy - 늑대소년 the most successful Korean melodrama of all time PLOT a teenage girl is sent to a country house for her health, where she befriends and attempts to civilize a feral boy but the beast inside him is constantly waiting to burst out

A Tale of Two Sisters - 장화, 홍련 highest-grossing Korean horror film with american remake ‘The Uninvited’ PLOT inspired by a Joseon Dynasty era folktale “장화홍련전” The plot focuses on a recently released patient from a mental institution who returns home with her sister, only to face disturbing events between her stepmother and the ghosts haunting their house

My Sassy Girl - 엽기적인 그녀 popular within korean and asia, inspired japanese, english, chinese, nepali, and indian remakes PLOT A college student becomes involved with a self-centered young woman who humiliates him at every turn.

A Taxi Driver 택시운전사 more korean history! based on a true story, shows the gwangju uprising which really set off democracy in korea PLOT widowed father working as a taxi driver gets a german customer who is looking to report on the political unrest in Gwangju, they end up getting caught up in the gwangju uprising

Since this list is under a read more cut I can add more anytime so if you guys know of any influencial korean media just tell me and I can add it! Likewise if something here isnt actually that influencial within korea I can remove it, especially because of the hallyu wave its possible something could be well known internationally but actual koreans couldnt care less about it

#korean langblr #korean studyblr #korean media #resources #movies #tv shows #mine #culture #korean

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closetofanxiety · 5 years

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Fyter Fest: SUCCESS

I liked this show a lot! Not everything was to my taste, but there was plenty to enjoy. Briefly:

* The Cody vs. Darby Allin match was one of the best wrestling matches I’ve seen in 2019. The crowd was a little subdued for long stretches of it, perhaps being accustomed to more of a flashy style, but I loved the whole thing. Cody, who liked like a giant compared to Allin, was trying to wrestle and old-school (dare I say, Southern) style match, while Allin was trying to shift it to a more familiar indie style, which would be to his advantage. It was a genuine collision of two different approaches to wrestling, and it worked incredibly well. Darby took at least two completely insane bumps I’ve never seen anyone do, and after one of them, Cody contemptuously did push-ups in the ring. THAT’S GOOD OLD SCHOOL VILLAINY. I also loved that this was a time-limit draw, another old school story device. Neither guy lost any face in the match, and the crowd was still excited by the end, which they timed very well (Cody hit his finisher with two seconds left, and thus couldn’t get the three-count). Cody, derided in his initial indie run as “The Three-Star General” for his supposedly pedestrian matches, has stolen the show on both AEW events so far.

* I did not love the post-match run-in by Shawn Spears! Without getting into any of the piping hot takes about unprotected chair shots, I thought it pulled focus from the great wrestling match that just happened, with Darby Allin being turned into kind of an afterthought. I get that they need to advance storylines and right now they don’t have weekly TV to do that, but this felt almost Russo-esque.

* The Moxley-Janela match was really good! Going into it, I wondered how much different an AEW hardcore match was going to be from the WWE template. Like, would they go full indie and have shopping carts and pizza graters and barbecue skewers? The answer is no: we didn’t see any items in this match that would be outside the bounds of a WWE match (except maybe the barbed wire), but it was how the two wrestlers used them that made the difference. The barbed wire spots were wince-inducing without being truly gruesome, the tables were swiftly destroyed, and the barefoot thumbtacks spot at the end was a stroke of sadistic genius. What a first match for Moxley in AEW!

* The women’s triple threat match was a little sloppy at parts, but the whole thing was redeemed by Nyla Rose totally playing against type down the stretch and hitting a truly insane flying guillotine knee drop from the top turnbuckle. She then snapped off a truly brutal German suplex to solidify her status as the early badass of AEW. Yuka Sakazaki and Riho looked a little out of step a few times, but mostly they did well in the role of competitors who also have to compete against the monster opponent.

* One thing AEW has managed to do well so far is put on three and four-way matches that don’t get bogged down the way they do so often in other companies. You know: there’s a three-way match and invariably one person spends most of it outside the ring, effectively turning into a two-person match with occasional run-ins. In the women’s match and in the four-way, AEW’s agents managed to produce matches that actually felt like all the competitors were involved throughout the course of the contests. The four-way was particularly good, and should go a fair distance toward making Jungle Boy a breakout star in the company. He’s got a great look, he’s got unique offense, and his friendship with giant dinosaur man Luchasaurus is the stuff of a marketer’s dreams.

* The six-man tag was fine. I know this is going to sound like I’m complaining that a buffet is too good, but I think I’m full up on matches pitting the Young Bucks against the Lucha Bros for a while. They’re fun, they involve incredible athleticism and exhibitions of timing and skill, but you know what to expect. The bright spot of the match for me was the underappreciated luchador Laredo Kid, who got a lot of quality time as the Lucha Bros’ partner.

* I really did not like the pre-show. The three-way tag match was very good, and I was really happy to see people online reacting with astonishment at Private Party. Those guys are fantastic, and they’re so young. They’re only going to get better. Everything after that match was extremely not my thing. I appreciate they’re trying to do something different with the comedy, and it’s going to be important for them to have something that connects with non-wrestling fans or wrestling-curious fans who aren’t going to want to watch two hours of matches every week. And I certainly don’t expect a company that has two shows under its belt to have a foolproof formula in place. But if they’re going to do comedy, they should really hire actual comedy writers, as much as the idea of writers has become a taboo in non-WWE wrestling. The jokes were flat and most of them centered around the Fyre Fest documentaries, which are really yesterday’s news at this point.

* The librarian thing really died a death with the crowd. I don’t watch Being the Elite or The Road to, so I missed the explanation for this gimmick, but it does not come across well. The constant shushing is so bad it feels almost avant-garde after a while, like it’s actively confrontational with the audience over our expectations for a wrestling show. Then Leva Bates cut a heel promo in defense of books and I wanted to check out. Her match with Allie was decent for a match on a Shine midcard, but Leva’s limitations as a wrestler are pretty much what they’ve always been. The match ended with a totally blown spot that was supposed to be the pay off for the whole “the librarians love books” thing. Terrible.

* I hated the last pre-show match. Every once in a while, you’ll see a super local indie show where one of the sponsors gets to “wrestle,” usually meaning the crowd is treated to the owner of a car dealership standing on the apron for most of a tag match, until getting the chance to throw a weak clothesline and cover a hated midcard baddie for the three count. AEW, though, decided they should do that same thing but with the non-wrestler sponsor being put in a 10-minute hardcore match. I’m sure some people liked this. I am not among them. This match inadvertently featured the gnarliest spot of the night (until the Darby Allin coffin drop onto the edge of the apron JESUS DARBY WHAT ARE YOU THINKING DO YOU WANT TO DIE YOU HAVE A LOVING SLEAZY WEIRDO SPOUSE PLEASE THINK OF HER) when the fighting games convention organizer guy did a German suplex that dumped Nakazawa directly on his neck. Thank God Japanese wrestling training involves constant neck bridges! This is why super local indies only let the sponsor guys throw a weak clothesline: because they know that non-wrestlers doing wrestling moves endangers everyone’s safety.

* Other things: Commentary seemed to be markedly better for the most part, thanks to the addition of “Goldenboy” who might be a video game person? (sorry video game people I am no use here) ... JR is really straying into Grampa Gaffes territory with his praise of “Oriental” wrestlers and blurting out that the women wrestlers all seem like his daughters ... the camera direction still needs work, with the director missing a number of big spots ... Kenny Omega running in to pummel Moxley after the final match was good stuff ... the Super Smash Brothers’ “Dark Order” thing is treading perilously close to Black Scorpion territory ... this was just shy of four hours, counting the pre-show, and I found myself wanting more when it was over ... a friend was over watching with me and we found ourselves yelling at the screen in a way we haven’t done with televised wrestling in a long time

#AEW #Fyter Fest #show reviews

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josjournal · 5 years

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Sterek Valentine Week - Day 2 - Bear/Bare

Derek hated carnivals, but Stiles loved them, so he was spending his Saturday night trailing after his boyfriend as he ran from booth to booth eating everything he could get his hands on before riding on every ride until eventually the combination of activities caught up with him. Stepping off the Zipper, Stiles’ skin was waxy and his eyes dulled, the acrid smell of nausea wafted off him as Derek led him to a picnic table, forcing him to sit while he went to grab a bottle of water.

The line for water was longer than he’d planned and by the time he’d returned to the table, Stiles was gone. With a sigh, Derek followed his scent which was less toxic than it had been when he’d walked away. He finally found Stiles standing in front of one of those milk bottle games, bouncing a ball in his hands as he glared impressively at the stack of bottles behind the counter. He pulled back and tossed the ball, missing the stack completely and pouting when the guy running the game laughed at him.

“C’mon, give me another three,” Stiles said, handing over a five dollar bill which the guy took eagerly.

Derek watched as Stiles went through all three balls and pulled out another three balls before handing over another five dollars. When Stiles was down to one ball, Derek stepped up and took it from him and threw it without really looking, chuckling when the three bottles spilt off their table with a loud clatter. The guy behind him grabbed down one of the giant dinosaurs that were hanging above the tables.

Derek tried to hand the purple triceratops over to Stiles, but he had disappeared. With a shrug, Derek tucked the giant orange triceratops under his arm and started walking.

He found Stiles at a dart game booth, tossing darts and missing every balloon. One of the darts flew so far off target, it almost hit the girl working the booth. With a huff, Stiles handed over more money and took three more darts from her before she backed away and hid in the corner. Even going so far as to grab a giant red gorilla from above the dartboard and holding it in front of herself.

Just as Stiles held a dart up to shoot, Derek grabbed it out of his hand and tossed it at the board, popping a balloon. He smiled at Stiles who dropped the last two darts on the counter in front of him with a huff before turning and striding away, a peppery scent he’s always associated with Stiles’ irritation following behind him. Confused, Derek picked up the last two darts and threw them at the board listening to the quick ‘pop-pop’ of two more balloons bursting. He took the gorilla the girl shoved at him before taking off to tail Stiles through the crowd.

He found him standing in front of a basketball throw game, digging in his pockets and pulling out cash before handing it to the bored looking teenager running the game. The guy quickly made the change in his apron before handing Stiles three basketballs. Derek watched in interest as Stiles came very close to making the first basket bouncing it off the backboard, but it managed to bounce off the rim and hit the ground. He didn’t have better luck with the next two balls, but he just reached into his pocket again to buy three more balls.

Before he could throw one, Derek stepped in and grabbed the ball out of his hand with a smile, setting the gorilla and dinosaur on the ground before turning. He looked at the basket and the ball in his hand, sizing it up and realizing that the rim of the basket was exactly the same size of the all in his hands. Werewolf powers would do nothing to help him get the ball in the basket unless he did something about the size of the ball. Focusing, he let one claw pop out and scratch into the ball, feeling and hearing the slight release of air. Before the ball deflated too much, he threw the ball with accuracy learned from his years on the Beacon Hills High School basketball team and watched it go through the hoop. The teenager behind the counter’s jaw dropped as Derek repeated the move with the next three balls.

Taking the enormous yellow dolphin from the teenager, he turned to hand it to Stiles, surprised when the boy looked at him with wide, wet eyes and stormed away. Exchanging a glance with the guy behind the counter who shrugged and turned his attention to another person waiting to play the game, Derek picked up all of the stuffed animals, beginning to feel a bit bogged down with the toys. It was harder to move through the crowds with the animals in his arms, but he had won them for Stiles and didn’t want to get rid of them.

He decided to take the toys to the car before continuing to search for Stiles, eager to find him and figure out what had set him off. He was passing the kids rides when Stiles’ scent reached him, the negative smells tempered by the apple spice scent of his excitement. Looking around, he found Stiles kneeling next to a kiddie pool underneath a booth. He was waving his hand overtop it, wiggling his fingers in indecision. Just as Derek walked up, he plucked a plastic duck from the water within, splashing water as he lifted it into the air and flipped it over.

“Yes!” he shouted, jumping to his feet and doing a ridiculous dance making the girl working the booth laugh and give up a scent of interest at which Derek growled.

Stiles handed the duck over to the girl and took something in exchange. He turned to Derek, his eyes bright with happiness and a smile so large it looked like it hurt. Holding his hand out, fist closed over whatever he had been handed, he waved it at Derek. “I won you something!”

“You...you won me something?” Derek asked, setting the toys down on the ground to take the item from Stiles.

“Well, I kept trying and you kept taking over and winning everything, but I wanted to win you something because you came to the carnival with me even though you hate them.” He shrugged as Derek stared down at his hand. “And it took playing a game that everyone wins and it’s only the consolation prize, but I still won it!” His voice was losing confidence as Derek’s silence went on. “It’s stupid.”

Stiles only got a few steps away, shoulders slumped and feet shuffling before Derek grabbed him by the arm and whirled him around in his arms, kissing him before he could even make a noise of alarm. When the kiss broke, Derek held up the small white teddy bear key chain that Stiles had won so it was next to their heads. “I love it,” he told Stiles.

“Yeah, right,” Stiles said, kissing him quickly on the lips before pulling away. “I’ll meet you at the car.”

Derek gathered up the toys and followed Stiles, wracking his mind for something to say to fix the situation. He kept the soft bear clutched in his hand, feeling the softness of the fur and the hard plastic of the keyring. He really did love it because it was a gift from Stiles and even more because he’d worked so hard to win something for him. His guilt over letting his instincts to provide take over was eating away at him as he arrived at the car, spotting Stiles leaning back against the passenger door, staring down at his phone, but Derek could tell he was just looking at a dark screen.

He glanced down at the prizes in his arm and then looked up as he saw a family passing by, a small boy crying between his parents. He was whimpering, but Derek could make out his words. He was disappointed he hadn't won the giant dinosaur at the ball toss. Smiling to himself, Derek approached the family, doing his best to look unassuming, but as the man moved to stand between him and his family, he knew he hadn’t completely succeeded.

He held out the orange triceratops with a smile. “Would I be able to give this to the little boy? I won it, but I don’t have room for it in my car,” he whispered. He gestured with his head towards the Camaro.

The man looked suspicious for a moment before nodding and moving so that Derek could squat down and smile at the little boy who was holding his mother’s hand and rubbing at his eyes, watching Derek suspiciously. “Hey, little man. My name’s Derek, do you think you could do me a huge favour?” After a glance up at his parents, the boy nodded. “Well, I have this dinosaur here who needs a good home. Do you think you could take care of him?”

“Yes’sir!” the boy shouted, holding out his arms and letting Derek place the toy inside them. He squeezed it tightly, burying his face in the frill around the neck. “Thanks, Derek!” The boy said, smiling at him, two front teeth missing.

The parents thanked Derek as they followed their excited son away towards the car. Feeling warm, he turned to see Stiles watching him, a strange look on his face. He was about to approach when he heard a small voice commenting on the giant yellow dolphin. Looking around, Derek saw two little girls pointing and giggling as they pointed at Derek.

Approaching carefully, spotting an adult on their phone near the girls, he held out the stuffed dolphin to the girls. “WOuld you like this?” They both nodded and held their hands out and taking it from him before turning and running towards the adult. The smaller girl stopping and running back to hug Derek around the legs and muttering, “Thank you,” before returning to the others.

Smiling, Derek tucked the gorilla under his arm and made his way back towards Stiles when he overheard two teenage boys talking. “I really wanted to win something huge for her. Try to impress her, but I suck,” one of them said. “I knew it was a mistake asking her out; I can already tell she thinks I’m lame.”

Smirking, Derek shouted out. “Heads up!” The two boys whirled around to face him just as he tossed the gorilla, laughing as they fumbled it before managing to catch it. “Good luck with the girl,” Derek told him before he shoved his hands in his pockets and returned to Stiles.

Stiles was still leaning against the car, but now he was watching Derek. “That was pretty cool, Sourwolf,” he said when Derek stopped right in front of him. “Gonna do something with the bear, too?” he asked, chewing into his lower lip.

“Yep,” Derek responded, moving around the car to the driver’s side and climbing in. He heard Stiles huff before getting into the car as well just in time to see Derek hanging the bear from the rearview mirror. He tapped it and watched it swing. “Perfect.”

“You know that’s illegal, right?” Stiles pointed out.

Derek shrugged. He knew it was, but he also knew that he wanted to see this small proof of Stiles’ love every time he got behind the wheel. “Worth it,” he said before leaning into the kiss Stiles gave him.

#sterekvalentineweek #sterek #sterek fic #my writing #worth it

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moodyharold414-blog · 5 years

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Tried and tested robot toys for kids?

1. Cozmo

My test panel of four fell in love with Cozmo straight away. Designed by Pixar animators it is impossible not to fall in love with him. He is capable of picking up on emotions, and to prove he’s more boy than toy, he sulks when you don’t give him enough attention.

Like your average kid he’s curious and playful, he plots and plans and explores, and is always up for a game. The more you interact with him the more emotions he shows and playing with him unlocks new games. Using robotics and AI, Cozmo might be small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, but personality-wise, he’s larger than life.

Recommended Ages: 8 years and up, although it was impossible keeping any of the kids away from him.

Ozobot Evo vs Bit

2. Sphero SPRK+ STEAM Educational Robot

I never thought I would be talking about a ball-bot in my lifetime, but here I am. Sphero 2.0 is one of the most sophisticated and programmable robot toys for kids, and dare I say, adults too. With over 23 games and apps available to download, there is no way you can get bored playing with it.

New apps are being added all the time, allowing you turn your Sphero into a fireball shooting zombie killer in the game Rolling Dead or a cupcake-eating beaver in the crazy Sharky the Beaver game.

3. VTech Cogsley Learning Robot

Cogsley is one of the most versatile robot toys for kids and toddlers from 3 all the way to 6-years old. He isn’t only a constant companion, he helps develop your little one’s language skills, introduces them to manners as well as the concept of cause and effect. He also improves memory along with hand and eye coordination and encourages educational exploration.

Cogsley plays more than 50 melodies and makes loads of silly sounds while his animated LCD screen encourages play too. But that’s not all. Watch his head light up and join in as he sings the “Robot Rock” —no one can resist his rather unique dance moves.

Recommended Ages: 3–6-year-olds, although the older children on the testing panel were more than happy to show the younger ones what to do with him.

robot toys online

4. OWI Hydraulic Arm Edge Kit

In an age where resources are becoming scarce, it’s not a bad idea to get kids excited about being ‘off the grid’, and what better way than with the Hydraulic Arm Edge. Enthusiastic engineers will have an absolute blast piecing together over 220 parts to build a fully functional robot arm, powered with water.

When completed it has a vertical reach of about 16″ and a horizontal reach of 12″. The base rotates, the shoulder moves, and the elbow and wrist bends. The gripper hand rotates and it can be removed to activate a suction mechanism. The arm can lift up objects, either with the gripper or suction function.

5. WowWee CHiP Robot Dog

Finally, a pet pooch that doesn’t poop everywhere. CHiP is one of the most adorable robot toys for kids, with the lovable qualities of a real dog. He learns new tricks, loves to play, and is as affectionate as Fido, but without the shedding. The cyber-mutt has an adaptative personality that changes and develops over time. As if that wasn’t enough, his AI algorithms help him see, listen, feel and respond, all in real time.

CHiP comes with his own SmartBall and SmartBed. TPlus, his SmartBand allows him to recognize you as his owner. Just like a real pup, he follows you around, nuzzles up to you and plays with you. He also lets you know when he’s hungry.

Recommended Ages: The manufacturers recommend 6–15 years old but the youngest member on the test panel (4-years old) warmed to him and treated him well.

programmable robot kits for beginners

6. 4M Tin Can Robot

4M is one of those robot toys for kids that teaches the value of recycling while building a moving, functional robot. The kit includes all the necessary bits and accessories, as well as easy-to-follow instructions. All you need is a soda can and a “can do” attitude to create walking, bog-eyed robots that actually move.

Suitable for all ages, older children, or younger ones with the help of an adult, can build a motorized monster, a silly robot, or a combination of the two. There are a few sets available in the range, so they can spend an entire afternoon showing off their skills and impressing each other with their creations.

Recommended Ages: 8 years old+, although enthusiastic 5 and 6-year olds were very excited to see what they could do.

7. OWI 14-in-1 Solar Robot

When I pulled the 14-in-1 solar robot out the two older kids on the test panel lit up. This is one of the most versatile robot toys and is able to transform into 14 different types of robots. As the manufacturer explains it can go from a “wagging-tail-dog-running beetle-walking-crab” to a “surfer-speedster-zombie chaser” plus a whole lot more.

I’m all for robots toys for kids that introduce the concept of alternative energy while encouraging them to create without any limitations. There are two levels to the solar robot. The first level is easier and allows children to explore the designs. Level two is more challenging and allows them to build things like an Auto-bot, a Surf-bot, a Zombie-bot and even a Row-bot. This would be a very cool addition to any class- or playroom.

Recommended Ages: 8–15 but an older child with some patience will be able to help younger children.

robot dinosaur zoomer

8. Fisher-Price Bright Beats Dance & Move BeatBo

BeatBo is somewhat of a celebrity, appearing on pretty much every ‘must-have’ list since he was first launched. He is a fun animatronic mini robot that shakes his hips and nods his head to the music he plays. He’ll introduce your baby to colors, counting, letters, music, and cause and effect, plus a whole lot more.

A simple press of his tummy or any of the buttons on his feet gets Beatbo shaking his ro-booty. You can also record a phrase and he’ll remix it into a very cool song. He has 3 modes: Dance ‘n Move, Customized Sing-Along and Learning & Games, and they have been designed to “grow” with your little one, which means he’ll be a faithful pal for quite a while.

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sciencespies · 3 years

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Ask Ethan: How Can A Non-Expert Evaluate Conflicting Claims By Actual Experts?

https://sciencespies.com/news/ask-ethan-how-can-a-non-expert-evaluate-conflicting-claims-by-actual-experts/

Ask Ethan: How Can A Non-Expert Evaluate Conflicting Claims By Actual Experts?

If this past year has shown us anything, it’s how thoroughly we rely on high-quality expertise. As the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe, it wasn’t the voice of science that stood out above the fracas, but rather the machinations of politicians, only a small fraction of whom followed the best scientific recommendation available at the time. It put into context a number of related issues — vaccines, climate change, and fluoridated drinking water among them — where society’s policies don’t align with what science indisputably indicates. Even worse, you can often find people with expert credentials who advocate for either sides of an issue, further muddying the waters. If you yourself aren’t an expert not only in a particular field but in the relevant sub-fields to the issue at play, how can you know whom to trust? That’s what Dr. Larry Moran wants to know, writing in to ask:

“I assume that you are not an expert on fluoridated drinking water, climate change, or COVID-19 and yet you feel confident that you can identify the correct scientific position on each of these topics. How do you do that and is it something that the average intelligent person can do as well? Isn’t that the real question?”

The answer to the second question is yes, but it takes a lot of hard work for each and every issue you want to evaluate. Here’s how we do it to the best of our ability.

While there are a number of science-and-society issues where the general populace and scientists … [+] have differing opinions, there are many such issues where their viewpoints align extremely closely. The hope is that, by better equipping the general public to make informed decisions, they’ll make decisions that better align with the best recommendations of science.

Pew Research Center

There’s some “pre-work” that goes into any sort of investigation like this, where you have to first identify what you think you know about the issue at play. What are the different things that you’ve heard various people say, and how credible do you think each of those statements are? Before you even begin to evaluate the credibility of the claims at play, you have to identify what the various claims are, as well as your preconceptions about them.

Are vaccines safe and effective? How safe, quantitatively, are they, and how effective are they? What are the side effects and who is at risk of them? Will they alter your DNA, and if so, in what way?

What about the science of wearing masks? How effective are they, and what is the role that surfaces, droplets, and aerosols play in the transmission of the novel coronavirus and its variants?

What about fluoridated drinking water? Or GMO crops? Or climate change?

Identifying the relevant issues — the ones that need to be addressed in order to reach an informed conclusion — has to be your starting point.

Plant Biotechnologist Dr. Swapan Datta inspects a genetically modified ‘Golden Rice’ plant at the … [+] International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), which is a genetically modified variant of rice that could end Vitamin A deficiency and protect hundreds of thousands of children from blindness annually, and many more from death.

David Greedy/Getty Images

Once you’ve identified the various facets of a complex but important issue, you’ll want to identify all the areas of universal agreement. Vaccines have, quite obviously, been a fantastic public health advance. Diseases that once ravaged populations across the world — measles, polio, diphtheria, pertussis, etc. — have been brought to the brink of eradication, largely due to vaccination efforts.

Vaccine side effects are rare, but they do exist, largely in the form of allergic reactions. However, a number of vaccine trials fail because of potentially deadly side effects; the blood clots associated with the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca are prominent examples, while the CDC has catalogued a number of well-documented historical incidents.

If practically all legitimate professionals on all sides of an issue can agree on a set of facts, you can safely take those as a starting point where you’re unlikely to get anything wrong.

If you decide to argue against the scientific consensus, you’ll have a very large suite of evidence … [+] to overturn, explain, and supersede. If you yourself are not an expert in the specific sub-field of science that you’re seeking to overturn, the odds are very much against your success.

MacLeod / Union of Concerned Scientists

Then you come to the next step: identifying false claims that are either completely unsupported or directly contradicted by the science. This is a step that you must take, or you’ll forever be bogged down by disingenuous arguments that are designed to distract you from the actual hard work of figuring out what is true and what is false.

However, not every issue is as easy to resolve as “person #1 says the sky is green and the grass is blue, while person #2 says the sky is blue and the grass is green.” Some issues take a lot of research to unpack, particularly when there are a number of voices — especially if at least one of those voices comes from a source you generally respect and trust — that are actively working to spread misinformation.

And yet, a good non-expert can cut through a large amount of that misinformation simply by either talking to or listening to the conversations that a number of credible experts have had in various public forums.

A Somali boy receives a polio vaccination in 1993. Although there are many contrarians out there who … [+] deride the safety and efficacy of vaccines, the consensus position is that they are humanity’s greatest defense against preventable infectious diseases.

PV2 Andrew W. McGalliard, U.S. Military

For example, consider the following questions:

Do vaccines cause autism?

Is the Earth’s temperature warming?

Is fluoride a waste by-product of the aluminum industry?

Are organic, non-GMO crops healthier for you than non-organic, GMO crops?

Will an mRNA vaccine alter your DNA?

Of course, there are many other examples, but these are ones where the information should be particularly easy to obtain simply by sifting through the internet. Vaccines definitively do not cause autism, and there are no large-scale, non-fraudulent studies that show that. Earth’s temperature is not only warming, but the warming is accelerating and is now at the 5-sigma level: where there’s less than a 1-in-7,000,000 chance that this is a fluke of the data.

And we can go on.

The global surface average temperature for the years where such records reliably and directly exist: … [+] 1880-2019 (at present). The zero line represents the long-term average temperature for the whole planet; blue and red bars show the difference above or below average for each year. The warming, on average, is by 0.07 C per decade, but has accelerated, warming at an average of 0.18 C since 1981.

NOAA / climate.gov

Fluoride is used in the aluminum smelting process as a catalyst, and it is true that the aluminum industry is the largest consumer of fluoride compounds. Once upon a time, America’s largest aluminum company (ALCOA) did acquire a sodium fluoride production plant, and sold sodium fluoride. However, their last sale occurred back in 1952, because it became cheaper for ALCOA to buy fluoride compounds elsewhere than it was to manufacture it themselves. None of the fluoride in municipal water supplies has ever participated in the aluminum manufacturing process for the past 59 years.

While there may be environmental differences in the impacts between organic and non-organic farming, there is no nutritional difference, and that has been studied at length and in-depth. Fascinatingly, GMO crops are often far more nutritious than their non-GMO counterparts, with golden rice and vitamin A (and its ability to prevent hundreds of thousands of cases of blindness annually) a stunning counterexample to the non-factual claim.

And when it comes to mRNA vaccines, they only instruct your cells to produce a protein, which your immune system then attacks; your DNA is never altered. In an ironic twist, contracting COVID-19 and suffering its ill effects can, and perhaps often does, alter your DNA.

The novel coronavirus COVID-19, as illustrated here against a backdrop of a DNA molecule, contains … [+] only approximately 30,000 base pairs in its entire sequence, yet is capable of infecting and killing millions of people across the globe. Our best defense, at this point in time, lies in our own behavior and compliance with vaccinations, physical distancing, mask wearing, not touching our faces, hand washing, and other similar interventions.

GETTY Images

But that’s simply the low-hanging fruit. There are plenty of issues where you yourself lack the necessary expertise to discern between various viewpoints, even after doing your homework and fact-finding to the best of your abilities.

In those instances — and this is where, in my personal experience, many science writers go wrong — it’s vital to find the correct, relevant experts. It’s very easy to find a number of scientists who support positions that, even if they haven’t quite reached full-blown crackpot territory, are certainly contrarian positions that are well out of the scientific mainstream.

Could the dinosaurs have been wiped out by a comet, instead of an asteroid?

Could today’s temperature increase on Earth be a temporary effect, to be followed by a cooling period?

Could masks actually increase the transmission of certain viruses, rather than reducing the spread?

A comet or asteroid that struck Earth because it wasn’t detected quickly enough is one of humanity’s … [+] greatest natural threats, and could potentially be even worse than the extinction event of 65 million years ago. Whether these extinction events are periodic or not has long been a point of contention. But new analysis may have finally laid this speculative area of science to rest: it is not, and it was an asteroid, not a comet.

NASA / Don Davis

Even though studies supporting each of these positions have been published by prominent scientists, passing peer review in the process, the answer is a resounding “no” in every one of these instances. The reason isn’t because I trust “expert B” and not “expert A,” nor is it because I myself know enough to evaluate the claims on their own merits for myself, even though I do, in fact, earnestly attempt to understand these issues as deeply as I can.

Instead, it’s because I know — and contact — a number of experts that I trust in a variety of general fields: physics, astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, climate science, etc. When there’s a contentious issue I don’t fully understand, or a novel claim that appears to conflict with what I know, I:

ask them about it,

listen to what they say,

ask follow-up questions to better understand the claims and the different lines of evidence pointing towards the conclusions,

ask about errors, uncertainties, and conflicting interpretations of the data,

ask about different methodologies and what the drawback or omissions are in each case,

and to learn about where the boundary is between what’s established, what’s suggestive, what’s speculative, and what is untenable nonsense.

An unmasked individual doing something as simple as exhaling (top) can send droplet particles large … [+] distances, with a high potential for spreading the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Wearing a mask (bottom) significantly reduces the distance that droplets travel, offering some measure of protection to others as well as, to a lesser extent, the wearer.

MATTHEW E. STAYMATES / NIST

In all of these three aforementioned cases, the claim in question, despite a copious amount of reporting suggesting that it’s plausible, is robustly ruled out.

The combination of Chicxulub crater’s magnitude in size, the energy required to create it, and the high abundance of elements like iridium found in the ash layer that blankets the Earth from 65 million years ago thoroughly rule out a cometary nature for the ancient impactor.

The stadium wave hypothesis, which noted oscillations (rises and falls) in the temperature at various places, like in the Atlantic Ocean, hypothesized that these oscillations were driving the apparent temperature rises seen around the globe. By hypothesizing that temperatures would fall and sea ice would regrow throughout the 2010s, and with the data clearly showing that not only was the hypothesis itself ill-founded but that both global and oceanic temperatures rose and accelerated during the past decade, the claim has been definitively falsified.

And the idea that cloth masks could increase virus transmission was from a 2015 study that compared cloth masks with medical grade masks, not with an unmasked population. That claim never had any teeth to it, but you wouldn’t know it unless you had dug deep enough into the literature (and understood the context of the study) to pick that information out.

If you have the bright idea to explain how a certain specialized field works to an expert working in … [+] the field, follow this helpful flowchart to determine the proper course of action.

E. Siegel

The unfortunate fact of the matter is this: there are a lot of people — scientists, science writers, reporters, and laypersons alike — who think they’re doing a good job of separating fact from fiction, proving “the experts” wrong when, in fact, they are not. There are a number of reasons for this, and they include:

hubris, where they think they know more than they do,

succumbing to shortcuts, where they don’t do a sufficient amount of the necessary background research to put these new claims in their proper context,

falling for the fallacy of “telling both sides” to a story, even when the scientific weight of the evidence is firmly on one side and not the other,

or, to promote a favored conclusion, they simply lie.

There are red flags that you can look out for, of course. Someone who tells you to “do your own research” is almost always deliberately attempting to undermine established science. A claim that “evidence for [this new position] is increasing all the time” is almost always advocating for something that the weight of the evidence doesn’t, in fact, support. People who use a single, personal experience as a counterexample to a scientific consensus are following anecdotes, not data. And if someone has to appeal to a conspiracy theory, that “the truth is being suppressed,” you can fairly safely conclude that no amount of scientific data will convince them.

You may not ever be able to reason someone else out of a position they didn’t reason themselves into, but you can reason yourself into a more accurate position anytime you choose simply by doing the necessary work. Hopefully, if you’re so inclined, you now have the necessary tools — and humility — to go and do so for yourself.

Send in your Ask Ethan questions to startswithabang at gmail dot com!

#News

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kellykadesperate · 7 years

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oh and i wouldn’t miss a thing:

Robert’s forgot the milk, he realises it as soon as he slams the door shut and his eyes fall on Annie’s bottles on the side. It makes him wince and then Aaron’s coming towards him, Jacob on his hip looking half asleep as he has his head buried deep in his dad’s shoulder.

Robert’s eyes flicker softly and then Aaron’s looking at him as if he’s mad or something for staring at them. Aaron still doesn’t know how this makes him feel, coming home to them every day.

Maybe he’ll never know, Robert’s okay with that.

“Forgot the milk?” Aaron’s asking, all light and soft as he has a hand running through Jacob’s curly locks. “Isn’t daddy giant a silly billy.” He whispers down to Jacob who is still wriggling about.

Robert steps forward, pouts a little. “Don’t teach him that, he’ll get ideas.” He says, presses a kiss to Aaron’s head and then gently strokes Jacob’s cheek. It manages to coax him away from Aaron and into his arms instead.

“Silly billy daddy.” Jacob gurgles, has mastered the art of swiftly taking out his dummy and pushing it back in again before either of his dads can make a grab for it in time. He knows he’s too old for it now, but that’s a battle Robert keeps telling Aaron they’ll win another day.

Robert playfully raises an eyebrow and Aaron’s laughing, knows he shouldn’t but he can’t help it when he thinks about how cheeky Jacob is becoming. Chas keeps saying it’s because of him because apparently Robert was soft at that age, Aaron can believe it though. Whenever Jacob isn’t running around like a mad man, he has a book out in front of him and he’s soft and sweet and he’s how Robert was. That always tugs at Aaron’s heart.

Robert looks at Aaron and notices something strained in his expression, like he’s worried about something.

He takes a guess. “Liv not back yet?” He asks, smiles a little at Jacob’s reaction to her name. He’s besotted with her and all her wild adventure stories which almost always keep him up at night planning trips back in time to when ‘dinosaurs and dragons roamed the village.’

Aaron gulps, starts doing what he does when he’s nervous (which has somehow become furiously washing plates) and then sighs. “Look I know she’s practically an adult now but she’s with Gabby isn’t she? There’s bound to be trouble.” He bites down on his lip and then dries his hands.

“If there is, we’ll know about it soon enough.” Robert says, tries to keep up with his whole relaxing over Liv now that she is at her first year in Uni. “Anyway, you’ve got this little rascal to keep ya occupied.” He reaches down and grabs Jacob causing their little one to squeal before batting Robert’s large hands away.

There’s a gurgle coming from the baby monitor and Aaron raises an eyebrow at his husband, and his son who now has his hand over his mouth and looks actually guilty about waking up his little sister. “Look what you’ve done now trouble? Sleeping beauty is awake.” Aaron teases before shaking his head and coming towards the stairs.

Jacob’s bouncing around like he usually does whenever anyone talks about Annie in front of him. His little miracle baby sister who was too early, too small to hold for a long time. He’s big enough now to climb the stairs himself, hands down like paws when he gets to the top just because he enjoys sliding around the landing and watching Robert recoil in horror at the state of his floor as he starts rolling cars along it with a grin on his little face.

Robert grabs Jacob’s hand as they approach Annie’s room and softly open the door wide enough for them to come through. The walls are lilac, soft and almost sparkling after Aaron attempted to by the cheap glitter shit that Robert did not approve of. But who cared? Jacob was in awe of the idea that tiny little stars were trapped in the walls and Liv was game too.

Annie’s got a blanket thrown over her little body, she’s better now, bigger too. But they still count days, it’s hard but Aaron can’t seem to grow out of the habit and Robert doesn’t seem in a hurry to let him. She’s got Robert’s hair, it’s all dusty and blonde and has streaks of brown running through it. She’s nearly a year old, presents already starting to pile up at the scrapyard because Jacob’s too nosy for his own good so they can’t be kept anywhere near where his little hands can reach.

“Hello darling.” Aaron’s voice is soft, gentle and slow as he rubs a hand over Annie’s stomach and presses his finger down on the button which begins the magical illumination of the room and starts the low hum of a nursery rhyme playing. “Daddy’s home.” He whispers, bends down and then feels Robert do the same, a finger circling her little stomach.

Robert’s in awe of her. The way her eyes are big and alive, green just like his but with a ring of blue to match Jacob’s. She has his freckles too, their faint but when the sun is shinning they clutter her cheeks and Aaron’s heart skips a beat.

Jacob’s coming closer and on instinct Aaron turns around and picks him up so that he doesn’t stick his head through the wooden bars and get stuck for hours again until Paddy can successfully prize him out. “Annie! Annie! Hi Annie, daddy giant is here look!” His hands pulls Robert’s face towards his own and he kisses him almost excitedly on the forehead making Aaron laugh.

Robert smiles warmly at his son, the boy who always made his Aaron laugh. He would always be grateful for that and it sounded mad but he would because for a long time he was scared about what having children would do to them. It tore couples apart didn’t it? Robert knew that all too well. So he was scared their own children would be too much for them, overwhelming, cause Aaron grief and make him feel bad but -

Aaron’s smiled everyday because of their little boy, and now because of their little girl too.

“Don’t get her as excited as you now baby.” Aaron whispers lovingly, attempting to pull Jacob down from him as Annie starts trying to clap her hands together. Robert looks at Jacob, grinning and doing that crazy thing with his eyes where he rolls them so far back you can only see the whites, and Robert knows instantly.

“You gave him chocolate before dinner or something like that didn’t you?” Robert whispers, shaking his head as Aaron exchanges a guilty look with his own son and then looks at Robert.

“He just looks at me with those little blue eyes and I melt.” Aaron presses Jacob’s face towards his own and kisses at his son’s cheek before letting him slide down and settle himself down on Annie’s play mat.

Robert’s eyes flutter and there’s this familiar tug at his heart. “Yeah, I know the feeling.” He whispers and Aaron’s rolling his eyes and coming closer towards him. They’re inches apart and Aaron finds his stomach almost swirling with something passionate as Robert places a hand on his face.

“Annie, daddy and daddy are kissing!” Jacob’s got into the habit of both telling tales and screaming at the top of his lungs whenever it’s the least bit appropriate to do so.

Robert’s eyes widen and he shakes his head before bending down and looking Jacob. “What did we say about being shouty?” He says, looks out the window and up at the sky.

Jacob huffs out a little sigh and pulls a hand through his curly hair. “The moon doesn’t like when I’m shouty.” He relents after a few seconds because his love for astronomy is the best way to get him to behave apparently.

There’s the sound of the door clicking open and Jacob has to pull a hand over his mouth to stop himself from screaming out Liv’s name as she comes through the door with a finger over her lips.

Robert shoots Aaron a look when she smiles at them both, does something she rarely does nowadays considering she’s bogged down with work and Gabby and whatever they are up to nowadays. She’s wearing all black, a top a little too cropped and a tight pair of black jeans. Her hair is down for once and she’s got the whole winged eyeliner thing going on.

Robert would compliment her but he’s not stupid.

“Alright daddies?” Liv laughs breathlessly and quickly Robert realises that she’s very much tipsy too.

Jacob clambers up her like usual and she tells him she was chilling with the dinosaurs for a while and Robert undoes his tie as he listens.

“Did the dino’s have any special drinks there?” He’s asking, arching an eyebrow and seeing Liv become self conscious and awkward.

Aaron’s breath is steady as he leans down and kisses Annie’s head. “As long as you were safe and you’re not sick in your room then it’s fine.” He tries to say, but then he’s looking up and she’s just a little girl to him and he feels old and weird about it but she cannot grow up. He keeps thinking about looking at Annie like that one day and suddenly he’s picking her up out of the cot she holding her close to him. “You’re all grown up now, ya weirdo.” He tries to be cool about it but then she’s sloppily coming closer and kissing his cheek and then disappearing again.

It’s nearly half eleven and Jacob’s still rolling around on the floor like a mad man, singing to himself and playing with his hands whilst Robert holds Annie close to him and rocks her a little as she makes moaning sounds. “I know baby, I know.” He tries, kisses her head softly and remembers how it felt to hold her in his arms after all those scary months. It had nearly broke him, and Aaron, and their family but it hadn’t, they’d grown stronger and kinder with each other in the end.

“Jacob Patrick Sugden-Dingle, would you like me and daddy fluffy to call nanny Chas and tell her to come and get you into bed because you’re still a baby?” Robert asks, knows exactly what to say to make his son horrified at the thought of his words.

Jacob’s only four but he is well aware of what that means. Nanny Chas thinks kissing him a thousand times before finally letting him sleep is the way to go about bed time and it always makes Jacob moan. That’s why his little body is moving towards his own room and then he’s running back and Robert’s kneeling so that Jacob can give Annie a kiss good night.

It makes something almost burst with happiness inside Robert’s body and he feels alive. He feels like his life has this meaning to it now that it never did before, because he has Annie and he has Jacob and he has Liv and Aaron and it’s all his.

“We’ll check on you in a sec okay bud?” Aaron let’s Jacob know with a smile.

“Love you buddy.” Robert says to him, all overcome with emotion for a reason he doesn’t even know. “To the moon and the stars and -

”All the way back.“ Jacob practically sings, twirling himself around and making Aaron laugh again before he’s running to his room.

Aaron wipes at his eyes, clears his throat and then he’s watching Robert place a sleepy Annie back down in her cot and start to stroke her forehead lovingly.

"Wonder what she’s dreaming out.” Robert mumbles a few minutes later, has a hand outstretched over Aaron’s waist and his head in Aaron’s shoulder for support.

Aaron looks down at their little girl and watches her almost smile in her content sleep, the blanket Diane knitted for her is tucked to her body tightly and it makes him smile. “You. Her brilliant daddy.” He has a hand on Robert’s back and means it because it’s been on his husband’s mind recently, thoughts about her being premature and poorly and it somehow being down to him.

Robert blushed softly and then smiles. “And you, you’re the brilliant one, you always have been ya know.” He blinks quickly and then feels Aaron kissing at his neck and a tingle races through him without warning.

It doesn’t last though because Jacob’s dropped his night light and Liv’s laughing her head off and they’ve got to clear it up.

They put Jacob to bed, kiss him lovingly and tickle him with his monkey before they see him come down from his sugar rush and slowly drift off to sleep.

Robert smiles down at him, thinks himself lucky as he lays in bed and feels Aaron come closer to him. All smiles, showing teeth and all sorts.

“Hello.” Aaron whispers, has moved so that he’s practically laying on top of his husband and resting his chin on Robert’s chest.

It dawns on Robert quickly that they hadn’t even given each other a proper greeting when he came home. It means something, it means that they’re a proper family he thinks because long gone are the days where he’d only have to shut the door and undo his tie and Aaron was climbing the stairs with glee already.

This is a new normal, a welcomed one.

“Hello.” Robert whispers back before kissing Aaron softly and then more hungrily before actually yawning in between their embrace.

“Ah,” Aaron pulls back and playfully hits Robert’s arm. “Sugden, are you getting old and boring on me?” He teases and then suddenly Robert’s gripping him hard and pressing down on the mattress sending a thrill through his husband’s body as they kiss and tug and -

Jacob’s running through the door and there’s only enough time to explain that sometimes daddy and daddy play fight and it’s fun. The whole trying to take off each other’s clothes in the process thpugh is going to have to wait until morning.

#some well needed fluff #:)#robron fics #my work #sorry but just the thought of aaron holding his son by his waist is making me weak soi had to write this

30 notes · View notes

martyslittleusedblog · 7 years

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A Record of Wasteland’s Should-Be Residents, Locations, etc.

Credit to @wasteland-unused for doing the research! I’m hoping that if these ideas are all compiled into one place, it’ll be easier to think of a story involving them. There’s a lot of stuff, so look below the cut. They’re supposed to link to their respective pages, but something’s gone screwy with my blog’s theme...

Residents

The MixUps

Phoebe the SeaBee

Fear, Shame, and Ignorance

The Lost Boys

Zeke Holloway

Lucky, Madame Mim’s cousin

Atticus Thorn

Pink Elephants

Mousercise / Ossercise

Vermithrax Pejorative

Wienie

Toby Bear

Max Hare

Supai

The Hunter (from The Black Cauldron)

Major Domo and Minor Domo

The kid from A Cowboy Needs a Horse

Terrible Tom

Waldo C. Graphic

The robots from Modern Inventions

Blackbeard, the original central pirate captain in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride

Looking-Glass Land Chess Pieces

Double-O Duck (a prototype of Darkwing Duck)

The White Rabbit’s Monkey gardener

Moana’s nine brothers (and maybe prototype!Moana)

The Cape Dogs

Casey and his daughters, the Caseyettes

Scrapped Dumbo crow designs

Captain Hook? (the version from the Peter Pan peanut butter commercials)

Concept art Dash

The characters of Fun with Mr. Future (possibly including Mr. Future himself)

Snug the Pilot

Winnie the Pooh characters (jerkass comic versions)

The Broken Toys

Redfeather the Turkey

Creepy Thanksgiving parade floats (from the ‘70s!)

Eilonwy

The Argumentative Grasshopper

Neverland Mermaids

Scrapped worm-like monster from Hercules

Scrapped versions of Elsa and the Queen of Arendelle

The Music Box

Spink

Windwagon Smith and his love, Molly

The original Hatbox Ghost

Old King Cole (Would he still be a king? Because Oswald is king...)

Early version of Lady

Bucky Bug, June Bug, and Bo Bug

Early Captain Hook

The Magic Mirror

The Skeleton Crew from James and the Giant Peach

Nasira

Stromboli

The Fair Folk

The Horned King

Orddu, Orwen, and Orgoch

Patricia and Percy Pig

Mheetu

Clarice

Slimy the Weasel (as a Blotling)

Giant dinosaur mouse

Herbie the Love Bug

George Geef (and maybe Goofy Jr, too)

Push the Talking Trash Can

Expedition Everest’s animatronic yeti

Kat Nipp

Trudy van Tubb

Experiment 000 (Cyber)

Zeus / Jupiter and Vulcan (Fantasia versions)

Yeti animatronic

Fifi the Pekingese Dog

The mice in Great Guns and All Wet

Babkak, Omar, and Kassim

The Crows from Dumbo

Scrapped!Gaston(s?)

Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and Brer Bear from Song of the South (and Splash Mountain)

Keelhaul Pete

American folk tale characters (protagonists, primarily)

Fifinellas (female Gremlins) and Widgets (baby Gremlins)

Lyth

The Dreamfinder and Figment the Dragon

Drossel von Flügel and Gedächtnis

Master Control Program (MCP)

Rejected Sleeping Beauty fairies

Various obscure Disney robots

9-Eyes

Kopa

Sheriff Crabb

Rocky the Rhino

The Lion and the Unicorn

Woody Pride (scrapped version)

Inspector Javert (from That Missing Candelabra)

Yzma (scrapped version)

Francine “Fanny” Cottontail

Maleficent (scrapped versions, plus disguise!)

Julius the Cat

Belle’s extended family

Previously-scrapped Beetleworx

The pirates from the King Neptune short

The Mechanical Cow

Eega Beeva

Willie the Whale

J.P. Whiskers

Sora (scrapped version)

Miklos Mouse

Sylvester Shyster

Burrito

Señorita Cactus

The Mariachi Butterflies

Donna Duck

The Aracuan Bird

Miguelito Maracas

Scrapped Peter Pan pirates

Maximilian (already has a Beetleworx, but perhaps put the real one in?)

Elvira (and scrapped version of Edgar?)

The Fujitas

Banagi

Captain Gore and Priscilla

Scrapped “Drink Me” bottle

The White Knight

The Gryphon and the Mock Turtle

The Duchess and company

The Golden Harp?

Scrapped Dwarfs (with, um...certain exceptions...)

Bootleg Pete

Dentist Pete

Robin Williams lost boy from Back to Never Land

Lucky the Dinosaur

Sunflower and/or Otika

The Jabberwock

Characters from Mistress Masham’s Repose

Humphrey the Bear (He made a cameo in 2, apparently, but how about a proper appearance?)

Clara Cluck

The Nutcracker Sentries

Don Quixote

Arawn

Captain Cleaver

Gendarme

Locations

Wintertime Park

The Tick Tock Croc Aquarium

Oswald’s Barrel House

Mickey’s Kitchen (possibly re-opened in Wasteland as Oswald’s Kitchen)

Cannibal Cove/Pirates’ Cove

Mission to Mars

Videopolis

The factory on top of the beanstalk

The Walt Disney Story

“Disney’s America” (or, as I like to call it, Americaland)

World of Motion

El Rio Del Tiempo

Discovery Island (see here if you’re wondering about the Adventurer’s Club)

Pooh’s Playful Spot

River Country

Disney’s Dark Kingdom

Disneyland New York?

Time Keeper

Silent Film Stunt Show

Previously-scrapped Wonderland area

Back to Never Land

Demon Jungle

Beastly Kingdom

Music

Feed the Birds

Arabian Nights Reprise #1

Wherever You Are

Mickey Mouse Disco

We’re Gonna Get Outta this Dump

Chimpanzoo

Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim

Laughing Place

Proud of Your Boy

The Cinderella Work Song

Dancing on a Cloud

If You’ll Believe in Me

I’m Odd

Snuff Out the Light

Beyond the Laughing Sky (which may sound kind of familiar...)

Warrior Face

You’re Never Too Old to Be Young

Music in Your Soup

Beta Epic Mickey tracks (known so far)

Blue Oak Tree

Beware the Jabberwock

Dream Caravan

Misc.

World War II Insignias

Pack Mules?

Photo Cutouts

Booze

Duck Pimples

Cranium Command

Stitch’s Great Escape

Beacon of Souls

Mickey Mouse Club Circus

Flubber AKA Flying Rubber

Wind-Up Mickey Toy

The Star of Astoroth

Plaza Swan Boats and Mike Fink Keel Boats

Guns and other military equipment

Cigars

Scrapped Content from Epic Mickey

The characters, concepts, etc, from 10 scrapped Disney and Pixar films

The collar of the Cat from Outer Space

1930′s Horace X Clarabelle Valentine’s Day card

Mickey’s Army Uniform

Animatronic Hook’s Flying Ship

A very hurtful (to Oswald) quote from Walt (WARNING: angst)

Disney Animator Memorials

Tom Oreb “stylish” 50′s redesigns of classic Disney characters

Spectrobes

What’s this about ICP!?

Unproduced Disney TV shows

The magic sword from The Black Cauldron

The Golden Pelydryn

The Crypt

The Black Cauldron concept art by Tim Burton (potential Bog Easy Blotling ideas?)

The Great Movie Ride

Indicators of the fallen of Wasteland

Peter Pan’s Shadow (either a Pete Pan’s shadow or Blotlings resembling Peter Pan’s shadow)

The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter

The Jug Pump

Disney Princess Academy

Blotlings inspired by The Army of the Dead from The Black Cauldron

Chernabog’s Minions (as Bog Easy Blotling designs)

Splashtacular

Maelstrom

America Sings

Polyps

More about Gremlins (Read the PDF of the book here!)

Pig Head / “Toonarooned”

Scrapped Blot ideas

Tapestry of Nations Parade

Creepy vintage Oswald merch

20′s slang

The Shadow King

Blot!Mickey (could be used for a Blot!Miklos or something)

More creepy vintage Mickey merch

Gas flares

#epic mickey #wastelandunused #creativity fuel #imagination fuel

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theclarkystuff-blog · 7 years

Text

E3 opinions ( Nintendo)

Not the last show of E3 but possibly the last big one of the event, Nintendo strut into E3 with their usual pre recorded segment although I have seen people either dead excited for what a future Switch line up or seem to have no faith in Nintendo at all with only a half hour slot, so let’s review and see how it fares.

Opening the show is what appears to new a new advertising campaign maybe for the Switch but indie sensation Rocket League appears to take the opening slot and even showing off Fifa, neither games necessarily interest me but it seems to show a change in Nintendo, where they would usually promote one of their own works first usually it is nice to see them throw a bone to third parties. While Nintendo may not be able to boast having the kinds of support Sony and Microsoft receive at least Nintendo looks like they are trying to garner support now.

Xenoblade 2 gets a re-introduction with a new trailer in English which showcased some story elements including game-play which shows that it will play similar to the last two entries in the series and also include some incredible looking worlds to explore once again, although it looks like someone turned up the anime inspiration to the max, mind you. The biggest surprise for me being that Nintendo are still aiming to release this Fall, despite earlier rumors stating that it had slipped into early 2018 so that is cool.

Kirby comes crashing back with his Switch debut looking like follow up on his 2D adventures in the style of the ever classic Kirby’s Dreamland. While I don’t expect this to be a blockbuster seller, Kirby plat-formers are usually a solid experience and with Switch’s multiplayer possibilities which could allow you to play co-op on a single Switch or maybe even over multiple Switch’s via wireless

Yoshi also makes a Switch debut in a new game which appears to be continuing with the Wooly World theme with worlds that appear to be made of cardboard and moving away from the 2D plat-former mold by allowing Yoshi to move in the back and foreground. One of the biggest surprises about this game is that it will be built on the Unreal engine as confirmed by Epic Games spokesperson, Dana Cowley.

Fire Emblem Warriors while looking nice i felt a little disappointed in as the trailer appeared to mostly show cut-scenes over game-play as I would have liked to have seen how the game preformed in action , with the Switch specs in mind and being able to handle hundreds of enemies and big maps and also wondering how the N3DS port will handle, I expect similar results as seen in Hyrule Warriors on Wii U and N3DS respectively but with the game aiming to release this year I get the feeling we may see a dedicated Direct for this later in the year.

Breath Of The Wild’s DLC was revealed showing some visual for the previously talked about and upcoming content, the first of which is dubbed The Master Trials will add a hard mode and new quest which will enable players to power up the Master Sword to deal out double damage, this DLC will also include some new costumes based on previous entries into the The Legend Of Zelda series such as Tingle’s costume and the infamous Majora’s Mask. This first expansion reminds me a little bit of Dark Souls in some respects but I guess we will get to find out in a matter of weeks The second DLC being dubbed The Champions’ Ballad focuses on the Champions in BOTW which makes me wonder if they have unfinished business after the game concluded or if this is set 1000 years before Calamity Ganon’s appearance or something?

The big close out of the show was given to Super Mario Odyssey, opening with perhaps the oddest trailer involving a dinosaur but in this short trailer we get to see many of the game-play elements which displayed massive worlds to explore, going into walls playing as an 8 bit Mario in a similar style to The Legend of Zelda : A Link Between Worlds and what appears to be Mario’s gimmick in this game, being able to take control of enemies and NPC like citizens found in New Donk City or a tyrannosaurus-rex by throwing Mario’s hat at them. This game sent me over the top and into hype mode, this game looks fantastic, looks to be amazing fun, looks like it runs at a solid 60fps and oozes a confidence that it isn’t afraid to embrace with its big band styled title song delivered with some beautiful vocals. Super Mario Odyssey looks like it will be the successor that Super Mario Galaxy 2 deserved, having everything you could hope for packed into a Mario game alongside a October release, coming sooner than I expected, this may well be my game of E3.

The other big talking points and announcements I feel I have to address for most part seem to come about after the presentation into the Tree-house broadcasts so let’s address them, Nintendo listened to the uproar over Metroid in recent years and not only talked about giving us one new Metroid game, but 2 of them. Nintendo confirmed that Metroid Prime 4 is in development but having nothing to show for it, not even any concept art or a teaser trailer. While this is a little disappointing I am sure the announcement of the game will bring many tears of joy to fans of Retro Studios trilogy it appears that Retro Studios themselves will not be returning to the series, that ponders the question of who is making it? and what the hell has Retro been working on then for the past 3 years? The other reveal being Metroid : Samus Returns for 3DS, a modern remake of the Game Boy sequel to Metroid being made by Mercury Studios, famous for Castlevania : Lord of Shadow. This reveal looked cool in concept although I felt like it was missing polish despite its launching within months, hopefully the next time we see this game it will be looking better.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle which had its official unveiling at Ubisoft’s event on Monday already looks like one of the strangest concepts with these 2 big franchises coming together for a game which plays like X-Com. The game looks like it could be some massive fun although I may hold out until I see some reviews to help decide if and when i will buy into this.

Mario and Luigi - Super Star Saga DX was another remade gem for the 3DS which looks to be running on the modern M&L engine as seen in Dream Team and Paper Jam, this remake will include a new mode based around a trio of Bowsers Minions which I guess will add a humorous alternative view of the story that many maybe familiar with. Being a big fan of the original Game Boy Advance version I look forward to trying this remake out soon.

I guess I should address Skyrim coming to Switch as well despite it only having a small segment in the presentation but it is cool to see Nintendo willing to allow Bethesda to include BOTW costumes, shields and armors. Despite Skyrim feeling like it is getting ported to anything and everything, including a VR version, the idea of being able to play a grand expansive adventure like Skyrim in a portable form without hopefully getting an entry as bad in performance as the infamous PS3 port, the motion controls looks like they could add some fun interesting ways to play this game but I imagine many will probably default to the regular controls.

I was overall impressed with Nintendo’s presentation despite the short presentation, although they did not waste much time promoting games releasing within the next few months like Arms or Splatoon 2 but they are being given special competition events at E3 to act as promotion there, it is nice to see we wasn’t bogged down with more info about it at the presentation. While I am confident Yoshi and Kirby will be good games they hardly seemed like big announcements I was expecting for the Switch at its first E3 but with Metroid Pime 4 and a new RPG Pokemon being confirmed in development I would only wish Nintendo had more to show really, many have been hoping for ports of Mario Maker, Super Smash Bros 4 or Bayonetta 2 to Switch or even talk of the Virtual Console service coming to Switch but it feels like we are getting small servings for this year. While Nintendo has it’s Directs to spread awareness of upcoming titles which they can use any time of the year I can see why Nintendo maybe holding back some announcements for a later date, similar to how I feel Sony may have been holding back on announcing new stuff for its PSX expo later this year but overall I was happy with what I saw Nintendo seem to employ an unusual method of unveiling games as a few were presented through the Tree-house segments instead of the presentation which strikes me as weird as some of these would have been more than welcome during this brief conference.

This years E3 I felt was only mediocre for most part this year, while we got some interesting updates to games announced in previous years I felt like there was a lack of anything really new or fresh at least for most part throughout the whole show. I feel Microsoft while having an impressive new console had a serious lack of impressive software to make it stand out like BOTW did for Switch or Uncharted 4 did for the PS4, Forza 7 could well be that game for all I know, but I get the feeling it won’t be. Sony and Nintendo had good presentations but neither really felt like they ignited a fuse, while not every E3 can be an amazing one, this one certainly wasn’t a bad one, until next year I guess, have fun.

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rockrevoltmagazine · 6 years

Text

Why don’t you guys go ahead and introduce yourselves?

I’m Jake, I’m the vocialist.

I’m Andrew, I play drums.

Josh, I play guitar.

I’m Sam, lead guitar.

Cool! So you guys just got off of playing a show at Warped. How’d that go?

Jake: It was incred-ulous. Incredible and fabulous.

Andrew: It was a dream come true for us.

Jake: OH MY GOD IT WAS SO COOL! No but it was cool, we played the big amphitheatre, the Xfinity center in Boston which is actually his [Andrew’s] hometown Warped show. Andrew is actually from New Hampshire. It was great because he got to show us around and it was cool, the whole week leading up was like a weekend at Andrews. We got to play the amphitheatre, a lot of people, it was awesome.

Awesome! That’s very nice. You guys are just now kicking off a tour right? I think this is the second show of the leg. You guys excited?

Jake: Yeah this is the second. Yeah! We’re ready.

Where all are you going?

Jake: We are going to Indiana, Iowa, I think Oklahoma.

Andrew: Minnesota and Washington.

Jake: Yeah Minnesota and Washington, actually so it’s crazy because halfway through the tour we’re gonna end in Houston, then fly out to Washington to play a show, fly back to Houston, then finish out the leg working back to Ohio.

So obviously you guys have toured a lot, do you have any interesting tour stories? Or tour nightmares?

Jake: Oh boy yeah there’s a lot… actually we didn’t preface this with anything, am I allowed to swear or anything?

You can say whatever the fuck you want to say.

Jake: Oh fantastic. Well, now I have to be a gentleman in this interview.

Andrew: I won’t.

Jake: Ok good Andrew won’t, cause he’s not anyway haha. So there’s so many stories. There’s the mosquito story… which we almost died, it was really hot. Long story short we were in Louisiana in the middle of July. Josh and I have this thing where we like to drive until… We’re so polite. We drive until 3 or 4 in the morning until we’re seeing stuff and Bigfoot’s like humping a deer on the side of the road and we’re like “that looks cool!” Then we swerve into it because we don’t want to miss it. So we started seeing stuff and I’m like “Hey Josh we should probably pull over man. I’ve been seeing Puff the Magic Dragon for the last half hour dude… We need to pull over. So here’s the thing: When you wanna pull over it never works out so there was like 70 miles and a little gas station in this swamp bog in Louisiana, then nothing for like 80 miles after that. There were signs that said like… “Stop now or forever hold your peace. And you’ll die or something.”

No gas for like 300 miles sort of thing.

Jake: Yeah exactly haha. We govern ourselves out here haha. So we pull over it was like 4 in the morning, we got a can of bug spray for like 9 dollars. We sprayed the bus down and tried to go to sleep, but two minutes later all the guys are just smacking every 5 seconds you just hear [repeated smacking on arms sound]. We got up, turned the lights on our phones, and it was mosquitos EVERYWHERE. Alllllll over the van. It was Egypt all over again.

Josh: We weren’t able to clean our blood off the roof.

Jake: Yeah haha. Full disclosure there’s blood from one of us… or all of us.

Andrew: Lots of health code violations.

Jake: Yeah our health code is noooot up to date but… whatever.

You literally put your blood, sweat, and tears into it.

Jake: Yeah exactly! That’s right hahah.

Josh: Literally… blood haha. Yeah.

Jake: Yeah that’s just one of them, crazy. Oh and we had to drive because we couldn’t stay there so we drove for a good two more hours…

Josh: We finally found somewhere to stay or something. Like a Walmart or something.

Any shows that stand out as particularly memorable or as awesome shows? Or are they all pretty awesome?

Andrew: Firebird was pretty sweet.

Jake: Yeah absolutely, Firebird was awesome. We met some friends, hung out with some old friends that we went on tour with a while ago. That was cool to see them further in their careers. And we had a new lineup and stuff. And OH it rained too.

Andrew: It… poured.

Jake: Yeah it was The Day After Tomorrow in like, 30 minutes because it rained, then it hailed, then it was like, sunny again, then God was like “I hate you” annnnd yeah. Fun day.

Talking about the origin of your band for a bit, how did you guys meet? Like Andrew you said you were from Boston?

Yeah I grew up there. I moved to Cleveland because I had family here, and I just wanted to get back into a touring band and stuff so I went onto Craigslist. I found an ad that they had put up, I was just checking it out. I started talking to Josh and it just kind of came together. It was weird; I had actually already watched their music video, randomly. I was just looking for new bands and music while I was in Florida once…

Jake: This is my favorite.

Andrew: When we were talking, they sent me a link of the music and I was like “Oh dude I’ve already watched that, crazy small world.”

What were some of your inspirations for music? How did you guys decide on the direction of the band?

Jake: I think all of us love rock, obviously, we all came from different areas of rock.

Sam: Definitely.

Jake: When I was in middle school I was really into grunge and I was like “oh you know what? This can get happier.” Then I started listening to bands like All Time Low, and stuff like that. I was like “That’s what I want to do!” Bands like Blink-182. Like, oh you don’t have to want to die, I mean we all want to but we can be funny about it. So that’s where I like the whole, Top 40s like, pop-punk sound and the guys listened to… well go ahead guys!

Andrew: Yeah, my bands growing up, I was always into like, The Who, The Beatles, Zeppelin, and stuff like that. Their drummers mostly. Avenged Sevenfold, Motley Crew, I just go everywhere with it, but 60s through everything.

Josh: I’d say like, throughout my teenage years the music I listened to really made me wanna do this. Bands like The Used, AFI, Taking Back Sunday, those kinds of bands are what I wanted to do.

Sam: Me, I come from a mostly metal background. I’ve always been into heavy metal since I was a kid. 13 years old and homeschooled. Then I started playing guitar when I was 16 and I just played metal the whole way through, but recently I got bored of it, tired of it, I stopped playing guitar for a month, then branched out into punk and pop-punk and ska and stuff like that. Then I found Morning in May, I was like “yeah you guys sound awesome!” I started listening to more of that stuff.

Awesome!

Andrew: Yeah we should preface that by saying he [Sam] did some tech work for us and he’s a good friend of our guitarist who actually left the band.

Sam: This is my first tour.

Jake: Sam lived the dream. He went from like working to this, yeah.

Andrew: Yeah he went from working it to being IN it.

Jake: Yeah Tyler unfortunately had to leave. He got engaged, we had a good talk.

Andrew: He went to pursue other things. Going to school, doing some other things.

Good for him, good luck.

Andrew: Yeah exactly.

Where did the name Morning in May come from? It’s quite unique.

Jake: Thank you! Thank you very much, that was the best compliment I ever got haha. It’s very unique…

Not like, in a bad way!

Jake: Haha no no, ok so Morning in May, I love this question. Ok so there’s a band called Ludo.

Oh! Hell yeah! I love them.

Jake: Yeah Ludo! Ok so they came out with the Broken Bride EP back in 2003 and I loved the storyline. When I was getting in and trying to shape what I wanted the band to be when I was just doing it by myself, I listened to Ludo and they do all this crazy stuff, and funny stuff…

Yeah they’re very theatrical.

Jake: Yeah! They don’t really… care… what they’re trying to do they literally just make music they love and all kinds of stuff which is what I always wanted to do. The whole story of this EP is this guy loses his wife in a car accident. He stumbles on a time machine and he tries to get back to her on that ‘morning in May’ to save her! So he overshoots it and goes to like… apocalyptic times, then he goes back to dinosaur times, and it’s this whole crazy rock opera thing that’s only like four songs long. It’s awesome and I really liked it, and the message behind it. They did so much stuff and it was… I don’t want to say inspiring but I liked it enough to mush that into my life… so… inspired! Yeah! That’s pretty much it.

Yeah that makes sense! That’s cool. What is your process for writing music? Who writes the songs and whatnot?

Jake: This is really cool but we pretty much all.. Well, while Andrew and Sam are a little newer, but Josh and I usually would just go back and forth. I’d write a rift and Josh would be like “no that sucks, how about this?” and I would be like “okay.” Josh would have rifts, we’d always go for the feel and say we want it to be like ‘bouncy’ and stuff. We want to do this, that, and this. Josh and I literally like, go back and forth. It’s really cool. I’ll write a line and we just build songs together. Josh does a lot of the production work and records all of our stuff. He has a really good producing mind. I just throw ideas and he just says “no” for the most part but the ones that stick really get ya! He just goes “okay, we’re gonna do this.” We have a formula. I don’t know if we wanna disclose but we have a formula and a way to write everything that corresponds to other things in life. It’s very natural, I like it. Josh! You can talk man, go ahead.

Josh: This is all highly classified, by the way.

Ok cool, I’ll burn my phone after this interview.

Josh: Haha yeah, thank you.

Something I always like to ask everybody, if you could have one superpower, what superpower would it be? Going down the line.

Josh: Someone else go first, I need to think about this.

Jake: It has to be one?

Andrew: Just one, don’t bend the question.

Jake: I’m not gonna do that haha.

One superpower… Go!

Jake: I would love the power… to move you (looks at Andrew). That’s it.. Or Spiderman is pretty cool. I’d like that. I don’t wanna fly cause that’s like… I don’t know.

Spiderman is like 5 different powers in one.

Jake: Exactly!

Andrew: I would like… probably invincibility. You can do anything.

Jake: You are invincible… You’re young dude.

Andrew: Uhhhh… Nah.

Sam: Yeah I got something. I’d like to be able to shapeshift. I’m like way too self-conscience about my appearance for some stupid reason. I’d like to be like… you know what if it doesn’t work, just shift it out. Just make me an octopus, that’s cool. Go ahead Josh.

Josh: I don’t know I’m trying to think of something that would benefit us on tour, but…

Andrew: Dude… invincibility, you can’t die.

Josh: True, I don’t know. Never needing sleep would be cool.

Jake: Oh yeah that’s a good one!

Andrew: The thing is I don’t think that’s a superpower, that’s just insomnia.

Never sleep with no downside, how about that?

Andrew: Ahh yeah haha that would work.

Josh: Yeah there it is. That’s what I’d want.

Cool, just wrapping up, where can finds find you specifically in the next couple of days? I know we talked about your tour earlier but specifically.

Jake: The Irving Theatre in Indianapolis, The Pin in Washington, The Acadia in Houston. Uhh..

Josh: Oh and I think Groundswell in Cedar Rapids, Iowa?

Jake: Yeah! South Carolina, The Radio Room, Suzie’s in Youngstown, Jack Rabbits in Jacksonville… They’re not in order but those are some of them.

Andrew: Yeah haha, look on Instagram or Facebook and you can find the specific dates.

Segwaying into that, want to go ahead and shamelessly plug your social media?

Jake: Oh, I got it. Ready? We are available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Pandora, Amazon, and YouTube, of course. You can be updated at @morninginmayoh on Instagram and Twitter, facebook.com/morninginmayband would be our facebook, obviously. Annnnd one of these guys has Tinder so I don’t know. You’ll have to find out. Start swiping.

Any closing remarks or shoutouts?

Jake: Absolutely. Anything you want to do in life, be the best at it and build a story. That’s what we’re here for. We only have a little bit of time so do as much as you can with that little bit of time. If you’re afraid, that’s the best fuel there is.

Andrew: That’s what I run off of. Straight fear.

Jake: Hahah yeah. Anything you do, don’t go in with a half heart, because like gas tanks, if you don’t have a full tank you’re not gonna make the trip.

Awesome! Thanks so much guys!

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Interview by Dan Cornelius, RockRevolt Journalist Live photos by Devon Keller, RockRevolt Photojournalist

An Interview with Morning in May Why don’t you guys go ahead and introduce yourselves? I’m Jake, I’m the vocialist. I’m Andrew, I play drums.

#concert photography #Concerts #interviews #mahalls #morning in may #Rock Revolt #Rock Revolt Magazine

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