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onceuponastory · 5 months

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closer - tattooartist!bucky barnes x female!reader

Plot: Y/N's feelings towards her tattoo artist intensify the closer he gets to her. Pairing: TattooArtist!Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader Warnings: A few mentions of needles - specifically tattoo needles - and the sensation and pain of getting tattooed (specifically when it goes over a bone). If that sort of thing gives you the squick, I wouldn't read. Notes: Welcome to... whatever this is. I just missed tattoo!artist Bucky and I hc him as a flirt and a slight pain in the ass so here we are!

Not beta'd, so any mistakes are my own.

“Alright.” Bucky grins, loading up his tattoo needle with ink. “You ready to start?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“You’ll be fine.” Bucky reassures. “Besides, it’s not like it’s going to be any different from the other ones I’ve done for you.” He chuckles.

He’s right, of course. This is not her first tattoo by Bucky Barnes. In fact, by this point, Bucky’s done most of Y/N’s growing collection of tattoos, and claims to be the very reason she was ‘bit by the tattoo bug’. And he’s right. Since she got her first tattoo from him, Y/N’s been itching to get more. She doesn’t see skin on her arms anymore, she sees empty space, a canvas for Bucky to fill with his art. And if she could, she’d have him cover her entire body with it.

Of course, the fact that her favourite tattoo artist (his words, not hers... although she agrees with him) is the most gorgeous man she’s ever seen is also why she keeps rushing back whenever she can. And he's also a massive flirt. Yet although it’ll never amount to anything, it never does… that doesn’t mean she can’t spend their sessions hoping for it. That one day he’ll notice her, really notice her, and tell her he’s just as much in love with her as she is with him.

As Bucky gets to work, Y/N turns her head, watching him. Of course, a lot of her sessions are also spent oogling her tattoo artist. Multicoloured tattoos of various designs and sizes cover Bucky's arms, piquing her curiosity. She's always wanted to ask him about them, to tell her the stories behind them, what was going on in his life back then to make him choose that design.

The familiar warm feeling of love begins to pool in her gut again, and Y/N sighs.

There's a lot of things she wants to know about Bucky.

"I can see you staring, you know."

"Just checking you're doing a good job." She lies. Bucky rolls his eyes.

"Oh, please." He looks down at her, trademark smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. "You use that excuse all the time. You just can't resist me."

Asshole.

Thankfully, Bucky soon drops it, going back to working on her tattoo. Today, he’s doing a piece that snakes up her arm and onto her shoulder, meaning he’s frequently getting up close and personal, more so than she’s used to. However, she doesn’t mind that at all.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As Bucky works, Y/N occasionally glances over at him, still watching him curiously. Both because she actually enjoys seeing Bucky at work, and because again, he’s gorgeous. Thankfully, Bucky doesn't seem to have noticed this time. Or if he does, he doesn't call her out on it.

Some of Bucky’s brunette strands escape his man bun, framing his face. Y/N has to stop herself from reaching up and tucking it behind his ear. Despite how close she and Bucky are, that gesture is too intimate, too close for them… even as he moves further up her arm and onto her shoulders.

At one point, she glances over again, not realising he’s a lot closer than expected. So much so that her skin almost brushes against Bucky’s hair. For a split second, a flash of pink crosses Bucky's cheeks, and she frowns. Was he...blushing? Because of her?

“Oh, sorry.” She murmurs, her cheeks burning. How does he even look hotter up close? “Just tell me to move back if you want… or just move me out of the way.” She jokes awkwardly, only adding to her embarrassment. Hopefully, this session will be over before she makes even more of a fool of herself in front of Bucky.

“It’s okay.” Bucky smirks, running a hand through his few strands of hair, a sight that makes Y/N glad she’s laying down to witness. “You’re perfect, actually.” He chuckles. “Don’t tell the others I said this… but you’re my favourite client.” He winks.

She swears this man will be the death of her some day.

As Bucky continues the tattoo, he suddenly goes over a tender area, and she winces in pain. “You okay? You’re doing great, but let me know if you wanna stop, alright?” Bucky says. Gritting her teeth, Y/N nods.

“I’m good.” She gasps. "I just forgot how much that hurts."

It’ll all be worth it. It always is.

At least, getting to see Bucky makes it worth it, anyway.

“Good girl." Bucky smirks.

Fucker.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The remainder of the session passes in silence, and Y/N’s head swirls. If she told him the truth, laid her heart out on the line… would it be so bad?

She braces herself, opening her mouth to speak. But Bucky gets there first.

“You know Y/N, we’ve known each other for long enough that I feel like we’re friends. So the trust between us is solid enough.” He chuckles, refilling his ink.

In actuality, she and Bucky have known each other for almost three years. Not that she’s been counting or anything. And despite Bucky doing most of her tattoos, she’s been at the shop infrequently enough that she wouldn’t consider themselves ‘friends’. But the thought that Bucky considers them friends makes her heart do that funny thing it always does whenever she sees Bucky - when it somehow beats too fast and almost stops.

God, she wants him so badly.

“Yeah, that’s true. And besides, you’ve been up close and personal with me a lot.” She chuckles, another batch of heat spreading across her cheeks. Bucky laughs brightly, and Y/N grins just as wide.

“You’re right, I have.” He nods. “To be honest, by this point I’m convinced I could say or do anything, and you’d say ‘yeah!’, tattoos or otherwise.”

“Yeah!” she giggles.

“Okay.” Bucky muses, looking up at her with a smirk. “Go on a date with me then.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

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starsworldd · 11 months

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🎀mc ruler in houses🎀

take with a grain of salt + take what resonates only

in case you don’t know where to locate your mc, in your natal chart there is a point located towards the top of the chart abbreviated to “mc” which is short for “medium coeli” which translates to “middle of the sky” in latin.

the midheaven angle in astrology tells you about the legacy you leave on this earth and how you can achieve personal success. to clarify, success doesn’t always have to mean money or fame or anything to do with the capitalist sense (however in modern society and therefore in how we interpret the mc, it can correlate).

remember that astrology has been around for thousands of years, and goes deeper than that explained above. the mc is about personal alignment with your purpose and the role/contributions you make to society. (creds to @astrosky33 blog for info)

✧.* ✧.* ✧.* ✧.* ✧.* ✧.* ✧.* ✧.* ✧.* ✧.* ✧

mc ruler in 1st house: 🌺

your contributions and legacy have to do with demonstrating your identity and precense. your career/calling/vocation may have to do a lot with physical activity or something to do with your physical body or appearance. autonomy is a priority for you. you are best aligned with your purpose when you can share yourself, your perspectives/stories with the world.

mc ruler in 2nd house: 💕

you may find that you are best suited towards careers that allows you and others to feel comforted and/or confident. something to do with your voice maybe. your career may rely heavily on the skills that you’ve already acquired. you are best aligned with your purpose when you can provide resources and stability (doesn’t have to be physical) for others.

mc ruler in 3rd house: 📚

cliché, but you might be well-known for writing, words, or your social media. this can also be an indicator for having to juggle multiple responsibilities/projects at once for your calling/vocation/career. you may find that you are known you contribute to society by sharing your stories and information with others.

mc ruler in 4th house: 🌊

this is an indicator that you pursued your career/responsibilities/calling pretty early in life. if not that, you are known for being able to bring emotional comfort and stability to others. maybe you have a passion for homes/buildings/real estate. your purpose may have to do with nurturing and taking care of others

mc ruler in 5th house: 🪅

showing off your inner child is key to your purpose. you are known to be energetic and lively. you make your contribution to society by sharing the things that make you happy and joyful like your hobbies, music, art, dancing, romance, etc.. you may also be known to work with children. you are aligned with your purpose when you can shine :)

mc ruler in 6th house: 🎗️

whatever it is that you do for your calling/career, you are known to aim for being the best of the best. health, diets, and/or fitness can be topics that you are deeply passionate about. pets an animals as well. you contribute to society by helping others with their problems and obstacles. personal take, but could indicate demanding responsibilities in career/calling/everyday life

mc ruler in 7th house: 🥂

usually an indicator for working with people one on one for your career/calling/reputation. you may be known for your work with allies and opponents, whether that be with your own or helping to reconcile others. you are known to be a diplomat and aim to hear both sides of the story. personal relationships + partnerships may give you purpose as well.

mc ruler in 8th house: ⛓️

you may be known for your sex appeal. if not your sex appeal, you trigger change and transformation in others by revealing intense and/or dark truths. this house also deals with tangible things like money, so you could also be known to transform how people manage their resources (debt, loans, etc…). although you may be known to have a polarizing effect on people, you are the game changer ;)

mc ruler in 9th house: 🔮

you are aligned with your purpose when you can expand people’s horizons. you want to restore people’s faith and optimism and help them establish their own. maybe you do this through being a teacher or being a lawyer. you also inspire others to be an lifelong student and to never stop exploring. the legacy you leave on earth is one of expansion, adventure, and hope.

mc ruler in 10th house: 🏆

you contribute to others by being a leader and demonstrating to the public how to be one too. you leave people feeling inspired because of how far you've gotten with your accomplishments. you are known to be someone who is able to put their best foot forward in whatever they do and aim to be the best of the best. you are also known to be someone who takes no bs!

mc ruler in 11th house: ☘️

you may be known to be a very social person with a multitude of communities and social groups. you could also be known as someone who advances society forward with your work and accomplishments. you could also be known to be particularly unique and different. your purpose is to inspire the masses <3

mc ruler in 12th house: 🐚

you can go to great heights when you use your imagination and creativity. you may seem to have a lot of mystery around you because you come across elusive and hard to connect with. you aim to create a fantasy world in order to provide others an escape from reality. you demonstrate to the public that it’s important to rest and to foster your own sense of peace.

✧.* ✧.* ✧.* ✧.* ✧.* ✧.* ✧.* ✧.* ✧.* ✧.* ✧

hope you enjoyed!

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thekingofwinterblog · 8 months

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The Problem with Trespasser

So there has been said a lot about the flaws of tresspasser as a finale to Inquisition, as it can basically be divided into two sections.

There is the lore, the character stuff with your companions, and the actual titular trespasser section of the story, which is generally liked.

Then there is the Exalted Council part of the Story which is generally greatly disliked for the way it portrays Arl Teagen as an ungrateful arse, who even though he's in the right that the Inquisition really does need to disband, is such a bitch about it that a player might feel the desire to keeping it intact just to spite him, despite all the reasons that is a terrible idea(Such an organization being doomed to become the templars 2.0 being the single biggest). Not to mention the way it makes Thedas's nations look like they have the memory capacity of a goldfish, given how instrumental the inquisition was in stopping the last massive threat and might be so again against the plenty of obvious threats on the horizon(and sure enough, the stop the Dragon breath terrorist attacks that would have happened with or without them being there).

However, looking at the big picture, i don't think the actual writing of Arl teagen was the problem here.

No the problem is that Arl Teagen and the rest of the world's reaction to the Inquistion is very, very clearly taken from an older draft of this story, where the Inquisitor was far less... An unambiguous force for good, lets say.

The concept art for inquistion tells a story that is very, very different than what we get in game, with a lot more emphasis is put on the inquisitor very obviously being a dick, that is not well liked by anyone around them.

There is also the way said inquisitor could be far, far more pragmatic and morally grey or dark, like here, where the Inquisitor could force the Venatori to serve after defeating them.

Way more emphasis is built on the idea that the Inquisitor is creating a cult of personality around you, personally.

Essentially a dark mirror to the Hero of Ferelden and Galahad's journeys to defeat their own crisis'.

The option of letting celine die was always gonna be a part of the game, but rather than a pragmatic, move of standing aside and let it happen, your companions would have very negative reactions to this choice, with you having to force Blackwall in particular to stand back as he curses you.

And of course, it would all cuminate in the logical endpoint for the herald of andraste, the living embodiment of the Andrastian reformation as you took your place on the sunburst throne, and usher in whatever changes you want.

This outcome... makes perfect sense. Frankly speaking, this is a much more narratively fitting ending for the inquistior, that has a clear climax from where they start.

Of course we all know this didn't actually end up happening. The Inquisitor ended up being the most passive of all the PC's by a wide margin(you could shape them into having a personality, but not one with a true backbone like Hawke and the Warden), and all these very morally dubious options was taken out of the game in favor of a much more morally simple story.

The most evil thing you can do in DAI is to choose the templars over the mages... and rather than being portrayed as the clear evil choice as it should have been(and still been a legitimate and pragmatic option for you to take) there is instead attempts at making it more nuanced.

Other than that, you don't have the kind of options that the Warden had, and even hawke did(like selling Fenris into slavery), to be a dick.

With all this in mind, it's blatently obvious why Teagen and the world is so damn afraid of the Inquisition.

Because this part of the story was written from before this change in the direction of the game, and was never updated to fit the final product.

If the original vision of the game had to to pass, Teagen's extreme reactions to the Inquistion would have been far, far more understandable, and in it's own way a way of calling the player out on their bullshit.

However, the final product just makes it appear he's way overreacting, rather than maybe questioning that maybe Teagen is right, maybe it is time to end this inquisition for the good of all.

Its one of the biggest problem with what is otherwise a very good epilogue to Dragon Age Inquisition.

#dragon age inquisition #meta #concept art #original story direction #inquisitor #what could have been #arl teagen #teagen #ban teagen #trespasser

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zazima · 4 months

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im rusty. so rusty. and also extremely late for christmas. i may as well have waited 350 days until the holidays came around again, but im trying to write more this year, so hear you go? eek im nervous. please pardon any grammatical errors or spelling mistakes. enjoy! also tumblr doesn't seem to have line breaks so sorry if any time jumps are confusing.

also a warning for language and mentions of wanting to step in front of a bus as an extreme response to being embarrassed. i swear this is all fluff otherwise.

Harry doesn't know what to get Sirius for Christmas.

Well, to clarify, Harry doesn't know if he can get Sirius anything adequately worth a damn. Because how can a game (magical or not) or piece of art or trinket or any sort of anything say hey Merry Christmas and by the way, thanks for saving me from my horrible abusive household where I lived in a cupboard and for wrangling a fucked up wizarding judicial system so that it both exonerates you from a murder you didn't commit and lets you adopt a kid you only properly met six months ago.

Harry would also like the gift (if he ever manages to find something) to say also thank you for giving me my own bedroom and for making pancakes every Saturday morning and for letting me visit my friends and for playing two-man Quidditch with me and for ruffling my hair and for always letting me pick the film that we watch and for telling me stories about my parents and for always being just enough and for not pushing me when I have nothing to say and for calling me by my name instead of shouting boy angrily-

Harry figures that he should cut himself off there. Any more gratitudes and the gift will literally be impossible to find, lest it be the size of Hogwarts in an effort to cram any and all unspoken messages Harry doesn't have the courage to voice out loud.

So Harry does what he usually does in a sticky situation. He turns to his friends.

No clue mate, Ron writes. I normally get Mum perfume and Dad whatever Muggle trinket he's been obsessing over. So unless Sirius wants a rubber duck, I probably won't be much help. But you could probably give him one and he'd be ecstatic. You're pretty much his favorite person right now.

Ah bloody hell. Do you think I should get Sirius something as a thanks for Pig?

Even though he's sure Ron's right (although Padfoot might enjoy a rubber duck more than Sirius), Harry doesn't have time to add Ron's own gift conundrum to his list of problems, so he turns to Hermione, who ends up being a bit more helpful.

I know you said that Sirius was interested in curse-breaking and how it can be used to help with cleaning up Grimmauld Place, so maybe something pertaining to that? A book or starter kit? Or perhaps something a bit more personal, something he couldn't just buy in a shop. Don't worry too much, Harry. He'll love whatever it is you give him because it's you.

Harry disregards the book suggestion immediately. Sirius does read; over the holiday break the two of them have taken to sitting quietly on opposite sides of the couch in the sitting room, reading books from the Black family library and munching on the latest treat Mrs. Weasley has sent them while flames blaze in the fireplace, only breaking the peaceful quiet occasionally to share whatever interesting passage has just been read. But Harry doesn't want to give a present that reminds Sirius of the exhausting work they do every day trying to make Grimmauld Place a habitable home.

Hermione's other suggestion, however, gets Harry thinking. Something he couldn't just buy in a shop. That obviously eliminates all of the last-resort items Harry had on his mental list, as they were dumb things he had planned to frantically order by mail once he gave up on the idea of finding something good enough for Sirius. But it also opens up a new idea, something that Harry himself had appreciated when he had received it a few years ago.

He begins firing off letters and mail-in order forms with an efficiency Hermione would admire. The owls return in quick fashion, up to three or four a day. Sirius doesn't notice anything at first, but when Hedwig taps on the kitchen window for the second time that day during breakfast, he gets up and lets her in with a raised eyebrow at Harry.

"Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment?" he asks, somewhat incredulously, peering at the label on the package. "Harry, love, you know we can just go to Diagon Alley whenever you'd like. No need to rely on owl post if you're running low on supplies."

Harry flushes and snatches the small, soft package from Hedwig, stuffing it under his armpit and looking determinedly at his porridge. He hopes he doesn't have ACTUALLY IT'S PART OF YOUR CHRISTMAS PRESENT written all over his face.

"It's fine," he shrugs, aiming for casual nonchalance with his tone. "It's just a small thing. No point in going all the way down to Diagon Alley. Besides, the crowds would drive you crazy. They'd probably give you a concussion trying to get a picture."

Sirius grimaces, probably thinking of their last attempt to go for an ice cream at Fortescue's shortly before Harry had left for the fall term. They'd returned to Grimmauld Place ice cream-less and with a giant tear down the front of Harry's robes.

"Nothing a Glamour Charm wouldn't fix," he responds, grabbing his own empty bowl and bringing it to the sink. "Anyway, it's not fair for us to be shut up in this damned house because some people can't behave themselves in public. You just let me know whenever you want to go out, alright? I promise I won't breathe down your neck while you look at potions ingredients and whatnot. Even if they all suspiciously happen to be ingredients for an Enlarging Potion."

He manages to ruffle Harry's hair before the boy squawks out a "Sirius!" and darts out the kitchen, cackling in response to Harry's sputtered "I'm not... I wouldn't... SIRIUS!"

As Christmas approaches, Harry begins to stay up later and later into the night, working frantically to finish Sirius' present. One late night (or early morning, really), he hears a gentle knock on his door. He jumps and shoves the half completed project under his comforter.

"Come in!"

Sirius peeks his head through the cracked open door. "Are you alright? I was getting a glass of water and noticed your light was still on."

Harry nods, trying to convey a casualness he doesn't feel beneath the stress of wanting to have the present ready by Christmas morning. "Yes. Fine. I was just... reading." He reaches for his nightstand and holds up the latest book he's knicked from the Black family library for this exact purpose.

Sirius raises an eyebrow. "You sure? I've read that one before. Couldn't last more than thirty seconds at a time without falling asleep."

Harry glances at the cover. He hasn't even cracked it open yet. "It's actually quite interesting. I've always been fascinated by... the evolution of wizarding legalese from 1500 to 1800." He internally winces as the subject matter is finally made apparent to his sleep-deprived brain.

Sirius pauses, clearly sensing that something's up. He must decide that now's not the time to probe further because he says, "Alright. You're stronger than me, then. Let me know if you need anything though." He begins to retreat and close the bedroom door but stops right before he actually does. "I forgot, " he murmurs, opening the door wide and stepping fully into Harry's bedroom. He approaches Harry where he's sitting on his bed. Harry tries to discretely shove the half-finished present further under the covers. "You had a letter downstairs. We must have missed it earlier. I only saw it when I was getting water." He hands over a rather thick envelope to Harry, who flips it over, notes the name of the sender, and smiles, relieved.

Sirius lets out a small puff of air, and Harry looks up at the sound. Sirius pastes on a rather strained smile. "Do you often write to Mrs. Weasley?"

Harry's brain scrambles for a response. "Erm. Not really."

He doesn't say anything else, unsure how to explain away the situation convincingly. A rather awkward silence settles between them. Sirius looks as if he's summoning the courage to say something.

Sirius takes a deep breath. "I'm here if you ever want to talk, Harry. I know the Weasley's have always been great to you, and I never want to feel like you're getting that taken away. But, I just want you to know that I'm also here, in addition to them. For anything. No questions asked or judgement cast. Alright?"

The letter slips out of Harry's grip, as he frantically waves his hands in front of him, desperate to correct Sirius' perception of the situation. "Oh, no, Sirius, I know! I swear it. We were just... planning Ron's birthday present this year. They wanted to throw him a party." The fib comes easily.

Sirius visibly relaxes. "Oh. Ron's birthday's not until April though."

"Yes," Harry's brain scrambles for an explanation. "But you know how Mrs. Weasley is. Always trying to stay ahead. She's already starting to plan the menu. Fretting between bacon sandwiches or chicken legs for the main course."

Sirius shakes his head, a genuine smile starting to form on his face. "Well you know my vote is always for chicken legs. Assuming I'm invited of course."

"You know you're always invited. Mrs. Weasley always wants an opportunity to make sure you're feeding me properly," Harry rolls his eyes. "And Ron thinks you're pretty cool too. Even though you broke his leg."

Sirius gives him a mock scowl. "Hey now! I wasn't in my right mind that night. And I gave him an owl to make up for it! Even though I was probably doing myself more of a favor than him. That damned owl was driving me mad."

Harry giggles, and Sirius' smile grows wider at the sound. He lets out a dramatic sigh and leans over to ruffle Harry's hair, ignoring the sounds of protest that come in response to the action.

"Alright then, love. I'm off to bed. Shout if you need anything, and I'll be here in faster than you can say chicken legs. You hear me?"

Harry nods. "Yes sir."

Sirius scowls for real this time. "None of that now, remember?"

Harry nods again, this time rather sheepishly. Sirius bends over to kiss his forehead before heading out of the bedroom, shouting a "Good night!" over his shoulder before he closes the door behind him.

Harry sighs in relief, pulls the present out from underneath the comforter, tears open Mrs. Weasley's letter, and gets back to work.

The morning of the 25th is bright and cold.

Harry is a ball of nerves as the breakfast plates get cleared away and the two of them prepare to go to the sitting room to open presents. Padfoot had barged into Harry's room at half past seven, barking loudly and leaping onto the bed, nearly giving Harry a heart attack in the process. He'd only finished Sirius' present in the wee hours of the morning and had barely managed to shove it into his desk drawer before he'd fallen asleep.

Sirius had dragged Harry into the kitchen for special Christmas chocolate chip pancakes and hot chocolate but had only allowed Harry to start eating once he agreed to don a ridiculously oversized Santa hat that matched the one Sirius had on his own head.

"If I'd known you liked Christmas so much, I'd have taken you to the Muggle mall to get a picture with Santa," Harry grumbles only half-heartedly as he watches the milk heat up on the hob. Sirius was adamant about making hot chocolate the old-fashioned way.

Sirius laughs loudly and hooks his arm around Harry's neck, pulling him close and planting a kiss on his forehead with a loud smack. "It's our first Christmas together, kiddo! First of many. You can get past your anti-morning attitude for that, can't you?"

"I gueeeeeeees," Harry mock-whines, drawing out the word as he adds the chopped chocolate to the steaming milk. He's secretly pleased that Sirius seems to somewhat enjoy his company. It shows he's not such a terrible charge.

"Thank you for your sacrifice," Sirius states dramatically. He gives Harry one last squeeze before releasing him. "Now come on, let's get to presents. I call going first!" He darts off to the sitting room where, overnight, a large pile of presents has piled in front of the eight-foot tall tree Sirius had dragged home one afternoon (with lots of swearing).

Harry gulps nervously as he pours hot chocolate into two mugs and tops them both with a handful of marshmallows. His hands are slightly shaking as he brings them both to the sitting room. Sirius is poking around the heap of gifts as he enters the room, and Harry spots the hastily wrapped, lumpy package he completed only a few hours ago.

Please like it, please like it, please like it, he silently begs as he sets the mugs on the coffee table. The sight of the gift is almost nauseating, and he keeps his eyes fixed on the hot chocolate.

Sirius turns at the sound to spot Harry and grins. "Alrighty, kiddo, what do you want to unwrap first? I did go a bit overboard this year, you'll have to forgive me. But there's plenty here from your friends!" He's practically vibrating with excitement.

Harry straightens his back and clears his throat. "Actually, do you mind if you do the opening first?"

Sirius pauses. "Are you sure? I swear mine are quite good."

Harry nods vigorously. "Yes. You can start with mine. It's right on top. The green wrapping." Let's just get this over with, he thinks.

Sirius picks up the package and shakes it gently. It makes no noise, and Harry can't help but let out a chuckle despite the knots in his stomach. Sirius grins at him and begins to carefully unwrap the gift.

Harry's legs suddenly feel like treacle tart filling. He lowers himself onto the couch so he doesn't pass out.

The wrapper paper gently falls to the ground, revealing a mound of knit material. Sirius unravels the pile to reveal a rather lumpy, oversized navy blue sweater with a slightly misshapen black dog woven onto the front.

Sirius doesn't say anything.

Harry's heart drops to his stomach. He opens his mouth, desperate to explain away the situation. "It's uh... it's... erm... it's a sweater? I made it?" As if that wasn't fucking obvious, he internally snarls at himself. He shakes his head, trying to organize his thoughts. "Yes, I, um, I made it. That's uh... that's Padfoot. On the front of it. I knitted it."

Sirius doesn't say anything.

Harry's words start coming out faster and faster, hoping something comes out that remedies this clusterfuck of an event. "Mrs. Weasley helped me. She sent me instructions. And the patterns? That 's why she was sending me so many letters. I didn't know how to do it. They aren't throwing a party for Ron."

Sirius still doesn't say anything.

Oh fuck! Harry thinks wildly. He's probably livid I lied. Oh fuck fuck fuck. "I'm sorry I lied to you! I just wanted it to be a surprise," he manages to get out. "That's why I was ordering so much through owl post. I had to get the yarn and the needles. And I kept having to order more yarn because I kept getting frustrated and messing up a lot. I didn't want you to know. Until now, that is. Obviously."

Sirius. Still. Doesn't. Say. Anything.

Harry wants to crawl into a hole and die. But for some stupid, idiotic reason, he keeps speaking. "I wasn't sure if you'd like the color? I actually realized that I don't know what your favorite color is. But whenever Mrs. Weasley makes one for me or for the Weasley kids, she usually does our favorite color. Or house colors. But I figured you have lots of things in Gryffindor colors? Like your wand holster. And then I noticed that you wear a lot of navy. So I thought that might be nice."

If Sirius doesn't say anything, Harry just might call the Knight Bus so he can step in front of it. He decides to get everything off of his chest before he has to do so.

"Mrs... uh... Mrs. Weasley made me one," he explains softly. "My first year. And every year after that. It means a lot to me. I think it was probably the first gift I ever got. And it kind of made me feel like part of their family? A little bit at least. So... so I wanted to give you one. Not from her, of course. But from me. So you could feel like a part of... our family?" His sentence embarrassingly ends like a question, so he hastily tacks on, "If you want to, of course."

Sirius finally moves, and Harry shuts his mouth. He gently sets the sweater down on the armchair next to him, walks over to where Harry is sitting, and pulls him up into the tightest, fiercest hug Harry has ever experienced.

Neither say anything for a few moments. Until Harry can't deal with not being able to breathe and squeaks out, "Uh? Sirius? I can't really inhale."

Sirius releases him quickly and takes a step back. "Sorry."

Harry feels awkward again. He clears his throat, hoping to fill the silence with something. "I hope you like it. But I know it's not done very well. So I can take it apart if you'd rather that. The shop said they'd take the yarn back as long as it wasn't too worn."

Sirius' head snaps up. "What? Harry, my love, I don't not like it. I love it."

Harry's mouth goes dry. "What?"

Sirius gives him a small smile. His eyes look suspiciously glassy. "Harry. You made this for me. You made this for me! It's my favorite color, and it's got me on it! Of course I love it. Not just because you took the time and the effort to make something for me. Because, my goodness, how do you even start with something like this? It must have taken you ages. But also because, well, you said it yourself. I mean, I already felt like part of the same family with the whole adoption bit and knowing you since you were a baby and whatnot, but it's always nice to know you feel the same. And I'm so honored to be a part of your family. Always will be. You have to know that, alright?" Sirius presses their foreheads together. "Alright?"

Harry nods, feeling a little something catch in his throat. He nods.

"Thank you for my gift," Sirius says softly. "I love it. No talk about talking it apart. I'll be proper mad if you do, you hear me?"

Harry nods again. Sirius releases him. He grabs the sweater from the armchair and pulls it over his head. The hem is uneven and the dog looks more like a cat once the sweater settles on his body, but Sirius only looks down at it and grins.

"Now come on, it's your turn to open presents. I don't think any of mine are as good as a handmade sweater, but I hope you like them anyway. And that's got me thinking, we ought to do a Christmas card no? Especially now that I've got a nice sweater on. Mrs. Weasley might tear up at the sight of a photo of the two us. Come on, come on, pick a present."

Harry rolls his eyes without any real heat behind the action. And he doesn't say anything later when he feels a burst of pride when he sees the photo they take in front of the Christmas tree that afternoon, Sirius wearing the sweater with the biggest, proudest smile Harry has ever seen.

He just bottles the feeling and hopes to remember it forever.

#hi i write sometimes #sirius and harry #sirius black #harry potter #good godfather sirius black #dadfoot #sirius raising harry #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter oneshot

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caw4brandon · 1 month

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Zutomayo: Mystery of Cool

Foreign Music has always been a strange thing both for the world and for myself personally. While everyone can appreciate a good Taylor Swift or some English indie. The world has a strange obsession with exotic musicians of a different language.

In retrospect, the K-pop boom: Super Junior, Girls Generation and Blackpink showed that music, doesn't matter in terms of the language. (not really)

It values the cool factor and the massive influence it causes to the internet. Just look at how [K-Pop artist; PSY] managed to unite the world. For me. My "Blackpink" is this faceless group?

- 「私もそうだよ」 -

Translation: [Everything is fine with me]

Debuted in 2018, Zutomayo (full name: Zutto Mayonaka De Iinoni) is a Japanese rock group. Translates as: I wish it was midnight all the time.

On June 4, 2018. Zutomayo released their first song on YouTube, [Byōshin o Kamu/ 秒針を噛む] becoming an immediate hit. Having 200,000 views within the first week. Assisted with an animated music video with a cast of peculiar characters.

Over the last seven years, the group has progressed from using just traditional instruments to adding non-traditional instruments.

Based on their live concerts. The group is seen using something called; [Electronicos Fantasticos/ Nicos] which is a collection of used electronic equipment turned into a pseudo instrument.

ZTMY's group members is uncertain since a lot of their talents alternate song by song. Their only consistent member is vocalist and songwriter; ACA-Ne/ ACAね an unidentified singer whose range is described as; energetic, expressive, and delicate.

- 今��どうしよ？-

Translation: [What should I do today?]

If we were to describe Zutomayo's type of music. It would be difficult to narrow down as to what ZTMY's genre fall under. The general belief is that they are rock based but is riddled with techno on the side.

Whatever the case, the group's music has its own unique identity. Upon listening to their songs (for multiple times) the group prioritizes on the bass guitar, the chaotic slams of the keyboard and the Nicos. Lyric wise, its rather difficult to paint a discernable picture since its of a different language. According to some Japanese listeners, ZTMY's songs to have a lot of wordplay and double meaning in its phrasing.

In the song, [お勉強しといてよ/ STUDY ME] the song spews a jumble of nonsense. However, the music video tells a unique story. STUDY ME follows a girl who is stuck in a perpetual cycle where she is somewhat complacent with her being a background character. Until she realizes that she can make a difference in defiance of her program.

Another song, [勘ぐれい/ Hunch Gray] its lyrics share the sentiment of chasing one's dreams but is uncertain about the venture. Trapped in a distorting world where the answers are unclear.

Still, the author wants to continue. Confronting problems one at a time. The video however, is about two childhood friends who got separated by dark entities of authority and is in the midst of a rescue mission.

- 3,2,1...Mirror Tune! -

Its worth mentioning the iconography found in ZTMY's music videos. For the most part, the main characters are mostly human. Nira-chan is the girl seen in both [STUDY ME] and in another song; [暗く黒く/Darken] although she is more cyborg than human in the latter.

The videos are animated by several independent artists such as; [tvchany] for their stylish and sharp style on [ミラーチューン/Mirror Tune] and [残機/Time Left] Another artist, [sakiyama] uses a rather messy and incredibly expressive style seen in [勘冴えて悔しいわ/ Kansaete Kuyashiiwa] which played this meta joke of its main character attempting to save the characters from the other videos.

I could honestly go on about the various art styles found in Zutomayo's MVs. There is also an official [Card Game] for them all. On the topic of consistency, The one creature seen in all of its videos is the adorable Hedgehog; Uniguri-kun.

With that said, Zutomayo is a mysterious group of talents shrouded in shadow. Both the musicians to ACA-Ne herself. It adds excitement to the identity of the alluring talent but it also enhances the variety of genres found in their music. Allowing its audience to explore and experience a type of music they rarely listen to.

ZTMY takes away the popularity because, unlike other bands. They don't exactly have a "face" to refer to. Rather, they let their songs and the MVs speak to the fans both in Japan and overseas.

Zutomayo is not just music but also an exploration of style. As seen with their clothing line. It's an inbred of Easter eggs with its upbeat songs filled with messages of melancholy. That is what makes ZTMY mysteriously cool~

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violynt-skies · 9 months

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Rottmnt Theatre Arts AU

one of my close moots on twitter @/lynngu1n1 created a band au the other day so now im here to add onto it with a rottmnt theatre arts/performing arts au bc now i can’t stop thinking abt it let’s go!

Leo:

This first one should surprise nobody, leo is a born and raised theatre kid. He loves the performance, he loves the drama, and he loves the spotlight. Leo is often lucky and skilled enough to be cast in lead roles however he’s almost ALWAYS type casted into the love interest role. Not that it bothers him though as he takes the role with stride. He loves playing it and he knows he’s good at it.

Off stage however he’s often regarded as a leader type within the cast. people admire him and with his natural charisma he tends to take charge in helping the cast by hyping them up and setting morale high as well as almost always being on top of things when it comes what changes might've occurred when rehearsing scenes and dance numbers.

He’s the one that sets up the cast parties and after show dinners and often leads warm ups within the cast and introduces the new members to old theatre kid traditions. and despite his chill personality he actually takes his acting roles pretty seriously and works hard to learn his lines and choreography.

Things are always fun when Leo's around, you'll find him dancing in the wings when not on stage w other cast mates and pulling the most ridiculous expressions as everyone silently holds in their laughter and is the one thats got the best drama and gossip stories to tell while blasting music backstage as everyone gets ready.

Donnie:

Donnie is on crew, he helps build the sets, hang the lights, watch for cues, handles mic checks and sound and controls everything from the booth during shows, wearing headsets during the show is one of his favorite things ever, it’s makes him feel like the guy in the chair.

Donnie doesnt interact with the cast that much as he’s constantly busy with the tech side of things but everyone on the cast knows him because he’s e v e r y w h e r e . And while he tends to keep to himself when working, people quickly learned to stay out of his way when he’s doing so

He absolutely loves his job though and enjoys all the intricacies that goes on behind the stage that makes the show run smoothly. Will absolutely infodump to you about certain tech aspects if you ask him about it tech week is absolute hell tho. nobody bother him.

There’s still so much to be done before opening night and trying to get these damn theatre kids to work with him can be such a nightmare sometimes. he likes them most of the time he really does, but not right now especially during mic checks, of which leo is CHRONICALLY late too

Raph:

Raph is a stage manager! though over time has quickly been adopted as the cast and crew mom. While he does everything the stage managers typically do, watching cues, helping move set pieces, keeping track of props, he’s always extended himself to helping even more backstage.

Raph's got whatever you need at all times. throats sore? come on he’ll show you where we keep the throat coat. want a mint? here you go. yes call time is at 5:30. you blanked and forgot ur line before ur scene? here’s the script u got this bud

instead of getting into the tech aspect like Donnie during the rehearsal periods, raph actually goes to help with the costumes instead! he’s making the alterations to help make ur costume fit better and finding you the right accessories for it.

In his spare time he’ll go to the shop and help build sets under donnies guidance, being able to easily move heavy pieces from place to place as well as painting them the main reason raph works so well as a stage manager tho is that he CAN wrangle the wild antics of theatre kids. and while it mostly isn’t an issue as the majority of people already respect him for his kindness. He knows how to deal with them when the chaos starts to set in where donnie couldn’t. when he needs people to get out of his way they MOVE. and while raph usually has a handle on things, the cast has seen him snap at times and have since then avoid it at all cost. When raph tells you to do something you do it.

But otherwise he’s pretty chill! he helps you with quick changes and fixes ur costume if it rips on stage. just dont touch the props, that PISSES him off

Mikey:

Mikey is an ensemble kid. He enjoys theatre but hes totally content just being part of the group and experience and doesnt need to be in the spotlight. Mikey’s the kid that gets along with everyone, cast & crew, he comes to the after parties and is thoroughly engaged in warm ups

However! His skills for dancing are no joke, having previous experience with it before joining the theatre fam. as a result he ends up with a role as a dance captain! quickly picking up the choreo and then relaying it to his fellow cast mates and helping anyone who needs it

He’s the one that ALWAYS remembers the steps. and his the kid that helps remind the choreographer what came after this segment and yeah we go right then left! he’s also the one that tends to do a large amount of the stunts within the big dance numbers. Yes he can do a round off backhandspring! Need someone who can do cartwheels? He’s ur guy. Can anyone do a triple turns? That’s him.

As a result he ends up becoming well known among the cast which eventually lands him some small supporting roles in following shows as well! Not to mention he's the one that everyone goes to for help with makeup. That kid's eyeliner skills are def on another level.

April:

April is part of the yearbook committee at school, which as a result has her coming in during hours of rehearsal to take some pictures for it as well as the show. However, with the combination of this and also being friends with the guys, which led her to start working with them more.

This ends up with her taking an unofficial role as their marketing committee. April is the one who promotes the show on social media and is also the one that puts together the programs for the show and takes the cast headshots as well as their bios.

She and leo tag team the ticket selling, with her passion and his natural charisma they make an extremely compatible team when it comes to encouraging people to go see the show. She’s the one that helps set up the concessions at intermission and is the one who records the show and takes plenty of pictures for it for their social media.

OUTSIDE of musical theatre season:

These boys got some other electives they’ve got lined up (which sometimes overlaps with theatre which makes things a little stressful but it’s all good)

I thoroughly believe leo is that one kid that does sports within the cast, and while ik he’s big on basketball, he also gives me some major soccer vibes- the kid def has the speed and agility for the offense position, and while he knows it’s not, half the time playing the game feels like putting on a whole ass performance and he thrives on the adrenaline of it all

Now don’t think i forgot about donnie’s overly big dramatics because i didn’t. Donnie DID actually audition for theatre, and while he’s got a huge passion for musical theatre just like leo, he later found out that he did not inherent the same talent for acting rip.

Therefore! he found something else to fill his need for dramatization and ended up in harmony show choir! a group that involves both singing dancing and performance with no need for much skills in acting, a perfect fit for him.

ofc he was a little awkward when he first joined and he’s not the best in the group but he thoroughly found himself enjoying it as a side activity and found friends in the group as well.

Raph is a choir kid! Initially he didn’t have much interest in it and ended up taking the class as a needs for an art elective but after a semester he found that he really liked it! fitting in the bass section extremely well and actually found stage managing through choir. (since half the choir kids overlap with theatre) and many of his classmates encouraged him to try it out! Especially since tech was a little short-staffed at the moment

Raph kept up w choir after a while and started auditioning for all state each year! He sometimes has some difficulties with reading the music but donnie always helps him out when he needs.

Outside of arts though, Raph is also an og sports kid like leo and is on the wrestling team

Now mikey as the arts kid of the group obviously has been in plenty of art electives that change from semester to semester, ranging from 2D and 3D drawing to sculpting and painting. Outside of those however he also found himself on the drill team!

Mikey has been in dance for a long time and quickly impressed his coaches with his dance audition which resulted in him being able to jump straight into the varsity team., and after a while he was eventually able to build himself up to becoming the team captain too

Mikey only ending up in theatre after some poking and prodding from leo who encouraged him to join in knowing he’d end up liking it which he did

As for April, outside of theatre/yearbook she also works for the school's news reporting team as well as helping w morning announcements, practicing her journaling skills in hopes of one day joining an actual news station.

#rottmnt #save rottmnt #rottmnt leo #rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt raph #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt april #rottmnt au #rottmnt theatre au #theatre

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scienceoftheidiot · 3 months

Note

I've grown way too unhinged with these "asks", but I've been meaning to send you this one for a while, so please indulge me!

From what I've noticed, a lot of the Royai fan artists I follow tend to prefer drawing Riza, when they're not portraying her with Roy. But I've noticed that a number of your pieces focused on Roy only, which I find very interesting! Would you say that his character inspires you more than Riza, artistically/creatively speaking? If so, in what ways?

Please tell us more! And thank you, as always <3

Lol not unhinged at all I love to receive asks, I just always forget to reply 🥲🥲 sorry 🥲 so, first, thank you very much for asking ! 🥰❤️

And lol yeah, sometimes I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb among the Royai people. But eh, healthy ecosystems need biodiversity 🤣

I hope my answer isn't too long.

I do have a preference for Roy in drawing, for a number of reasons.

I precise in drawing, because I do love writing Riza, not more than I do writing Roy, but they're relatively even for me - even if, yes, I tend to favour Roy because he's easier for me, there, too.

I like to draw him, because I like his face, expressions and postures, and I like to explore them. He's a fun little guy to draw, when I think Riza is cool AF (and I have a lot to say about her character, too!) but she's not as fun to draw for me (once again I love her and she's in fact the female character I have drawn the most I think, because I have a hard time drawing women, but still, if I'm looking for a quick doodle, I'll go towards Roy).

But yes, they're more or less indissociable for me, and for proof my first fan art for FMA was indeed Royai (here!).

Anyway. While Royai is my favourite ship and I love Riza to bits, my favourite character in FMA is Roy. Roy first. (And my husband has understood that well, he's calling me when we do a rewatch and Roy appears on screen and I'm not watching. Like HURRY ROY IS THERE).

Now, if anyone who knows me from earlier than my FMA obsession reads this, and I describe the utter mess that is Roy, they'll understand that it couldn't have gone any other way. Here's a man in a position of power, who hides everything behind a façade, who's a nerd and highly intelligent (I admit I'm often irked by some posts in the royai fandom. This guy is smart. He's goofy, he's a dork, but he's smart. Book smart, he's a fine tactician, and he can command. Erasing that is erasing part of his identity, and I'm sure part of why Riza loves him, too), has a weird sense of humour even though he can also be intense af, is crushed by unbelievable guilt from his past actions (I admit Roy and Roza both beat all of my previous fixations in that, good job being war criminals, guys 🙃) and intends to repair what he's done as much as he can, one way or another, whose sole goal is to make things better for others/his place/his country, whatever he has to give up for it to work, who inspires others doing that, and who gets badly injured/disabled during the story and keeps going and fighting teeth and nails through it and beyond?

WELL. There is no question I will fall for this dude instantly. This is like. Checking all the boxes for me to be instantly in love with this guy. Like. I think he's actually the only one who checks ALL of my boxes.

I do think however that Roy isn't complete without Riza, and that it's the same on her side (like. I've only tagged my current fic with "codependency" but that's how I write them whatever I write). I'm just fixating on him first, but I still find Riza an awesome character, there's no debate there 😊

Here you go! I've written a novel again lol but I hope I've replied to all your questions. I can talk more about how I see Roy and Riza, I always have more to tell, but really that would just make this even more unpalatable 😅 thank you again for asking 😊

#ask #replies #aicasey

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popcornforone · 10 months

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The Interview

Part of the Attending Mr York Fan Fic Series

Master list

I just couldn’t put the Dave I created down. You got the last chapter in April of the original story but I actually finished writing it in March, & I missed him & the little world I created for them. So here I am back with my Stabby… ready for more fun.

Synopsis: You’ve applied for a housekeeper & Nanny job that you know you won’t get, but the perks & money were to tempting to not go for. So your shocked when your asked to come & be interviewed at the York residence, & meet the family who’s needs you will be attending.

Word count: 3200

Warnings: this is tame for me & Dave. Swearing & alcohol, pining, imagining what Dave might do to you, descriptions of oral sex are mentioned, along with blood, cuts, injuries & sick.This is the first time you come across Dave so it’s rather soft. However the rest of the series won’t be & as always DAVE YORK COMES WITH HIS OWN WARNING!

Thanks as always for the read people, all feedback is always welcome

Job interviews are never the easiest thing in the world, for a normal job. You never know if the vibe is going to click & if you will just get on, & be the person they are looking for. However this interview is one that you don’t think you will get, not in 100 years. You’re not really qualified for it but the perks that come with the job are most intriguing & you knew it was too good an opportunity to miss out on applying for. You were shocked when you got a phone call from them to say they wanted to speak to you. Obviously The Yorks have seen a quality in your cv that they think will suit this role.

Finding The York residency is easy. Considering what they want & how on the application they have described their lives, you thought they would have a much grander house in a much more affluent area. But here you are on a Wednesday afternoon, pulling up across their drive looking at this family home, which doesn’t look like it’s rather special but does seem homely from the outside. You make sure your hair is okay & that your outfit isn’t creased. You’ve worn a day dress but one that’s easy to move about in, if they tell you to go & interact with their kids. After all this is a job for a Nanny & House Keeper, surly whatever kids they have, must like you if your to get the job, not that you think you stand any chance of getting it at all.

You hear the doorbell echo across the house as you press it & wait patiently for someone to greet you, admiring the pot plants by the path. The front door opens & you are greeted by name “welcome, im Carol, we spoke on the phone last week, thank you for coming to listen to us” she says as she welcomes you in & you shake her hand. “My husband is just finishing a phone call but he will join us shortly, come with me to the kitchen, would you like water, tea or coffee?” Mrs York asks ushering you in & taking your coat. The house is homely but there’s no art on the wall, everything is very clean & white & in its right place. Clearly Mrs York likes this, it’s all very to the point & perfect. Until you get to the kitchen.

It’s a grand kitchen. A walk in pantry, an island counter with low lights hanging down, perfect for entertaining, a little kids play area a few steps down, a sofa & a round table which you can tell has been cleaned for this chat today. It’s too clean. This is clearly where their life happens & you suddenly feel very at home in this room. This is where memories are made for the Yorks. You watch as Carol makes you coffee & just have a nice chat about your drive & the weekend thats been & the next one to come.

“Sorry darling, you know how Daniels gets in the phone” a voice bellows from behind you which came from nowhere. It’s deep & sharp & you turn around to introduce yourself & shake his hand, but instead you almost drop your coffee cup. You’re frozen to the spot. You don’t believe in love at first sight, but you now think lust at first touch might be true. Large & broad, towering above you. His eyes dancing across you looking for any hit of weakness & vulnerability. His light blue shirt & dark pants are crisp, that belt buckle is polished & shoes so shiny you could see your face in them. Those eyes that are giving you the once over, are dark pools of delight. Rich caramels, taking in every inch of his prospective house keeper. Clean shaven as his large hand goes around his neck into this thick dark short hair. Those lips probably smile & seduce but the sternness in his face makes you think they haven’t smiled in a while. He has a mysterious aura around him, one of danger & to not get too close. But you can’t help it, the second his hand firmly shakes yours, you are his. It doesn’t matter his wife is standing next to you answering him back, you’re transfixed on her husband & you need to snap out of the trance quickly. “I’m Mr York… David York”

The next few minutes are a blur, watching this powerful man, who has somehow in all of 5 words, got all the power in the world over you. You’d do anything for this man, & you have only met him for a few minutes. The way he hold his mug, that chiseled jaw extending, the way he slurps his coffee. Seeing his lips kiss his wife’s cheek, you feel jealous. & that’s what makes you snap out of your trance, that & Carols voice asking you “come sit down deary, we can then go though your cv together.” You remember where you are & you join Mr & Mrs York at the circular table to discuss why you are even a candidates for this job. This does mean facing David & making eye contract as you answer his questions. Maybe you can just focus on Carol, not that you think you can actually concentrate on anything at all.

You take your seat ready for their questions. You look nervous but you can easily pass it on for interview nerves, not the fact that the man sitting opposite you is stunningly handsome & that you are wondering how good his plump lips would feel on your pussy, lapping away at your clit as you beg him for more. You need to remember why you are here, for an interview, not to gawp at your possible employer.

“So…” Carols starts with some pretty mundane questions about your back ground & education, all the old chestnuts from a classic interview. You answer them well & you see David roll his eyes a little at them. At question 5 he interjects.

“Why apply for this role?” He asks “clearly your into art, graphics & design, your cv screams it, why apply to be a house keeper?” He has a very good point & it throws you a little bit, but you have a prepared answer which probably isn’t one that they will appreciate but is honest.

“The job said beck & call but free time & support whenever it’s needed. Most normal jobs want a 8:30 to 6 that I apply for. Once you add a commute & eating in, that’s no home time. Here you have said weekends & yea there are early starts but you said support in whatever else I need. I’m sure that there will be days you just need me to pick your kids up & do dinner & some days when you need me to stay over, but I’m sure that when I’m not needed I would have the time to create some art, get my creative juices flowing again. I also think it would be good for your kids if you allowed them, to join me working on my art. A good creative outlet from them, let them find another type of inspiration.” David looks inquisitively at you looking you up & down “I know that wasn’t the answer you wanted, but I’m honest & im here to support you. I want to make sure that when I’m here, all you need to stress about is what’s going on in your own mind, not a grocery run or cooking pasta or running errands. I want you to stress about just your work & normal life like the rest of the world does” that’s when you see a small smirk across David’s face as you finish this statement with “I’m here for all your needs & to attend to you all”. His eyes dart across you not impressed just by your words but by your attitude & willingness.

“Art?” Carol chirps up before he can respond, he mouth & sentence hanging in mid air before he could even get the words out “that would be good for the kids for sure” she then talks about how she like minimal art but can’t find the right thing for the house to put up. A few more mundane questions happen before David then asks “Do you have first aid or life saving courses under your belt? Obviously with 2 small girls who you will meet another day, if we think you’re suitable, bumps & bruises happen all the time. You’re okay with looking after them if they cut themselves? you’re not going to freak out at a bit of sick or blood?” David is asking this because it’s part of the interview, but he knows it’s likely at some point you will find out what he does for a living. He’s an assassin, one of the best in the world, & he knows there maybe a day soon when he needs your help to stitch him up or take him to hospital.

“Yes I can do that, I have a friend who has fits, we as a group all make sure we stay up to date with as much as we can. I’m happy to take more courses if you need me too.” Is your reply. Firm & confident. You know it’s been a while since you’ve done a course in this but you still know what to do. Nothing your innocent king think, that an ice pack or a plaster can’t solve.

The interview starts to draw to a close & they start talking to you about your life in general. “Obviously there maybe a few days when we need you to stay over if you get this job to take the girls to nursery & school early if were not both back, or if you’ve stayed late” Carol implys “would that be okay? Are you comfortable with that? We have Cctv in every room so you will always be safe here without us”

“Yes Mrs York” your mind wonders why they have cctv but that’s a question for another day, not one when your trying to get a job “would my boyfriend be able to stay over, if I needed him too? It wouldn’t be something I would do until we were all completely comfortable with each other & you trust me & id let you meet him first” David raises an eyebrow when the word boyfriend is brought up “how serious is your boyfriend?” He asks “David!” Carol scoffs & playfully hits him “that’s none of your business” she say before he reply “if he’s a serious man in her life, I see there being no problem, stability means loyalty & trust, but if he’s just a fuck buddy then that raises more questions for me” you look a bit shocked. You’ve never been to an interview before where the interviewer has sworn let alone use the word fuck. He clearly is testing you to get a reaction from you. “I’ve been with him 18months” you reply calmly like you have done every question. “Harry & I have talked about moving in together soon, so that’s how loyal I am” David nods “well answered” he states writing the word not available on his own notes, which you don’t see.

The final question they ask you is if you have any questions for them at this stage. They have been clear throughout the interview that there would be a second interview with the girls on Sunday, if today went well to see how you get on with them & they have been very frank about what they expect from you. You sit there for a second & then ask something bold, which might mean you don’t get a call back for another day. “why interview me? You said yourself I’m not a house keeper or have nanny experience, why ask me?” Carol has a small chuckle & goes to answer but David buts in.

“We’ve interviewed 4 other people before you, all Nanny’s or house keeper, but none had any idea of what the real world is. We want our kids to have some of that in their lives & your CV was the next one on the pile. You have life experience & from what you’ve told us about you today, you have had some struggles in the past & you just bring across this soothing calm approach now we’ve met you, don’t you agree darling?” He asks his wife stroking her hand looking lovingly at her “yes dear” she says “we wanted to see what the rest of the world offered, not just those that fall into that bracket” you all just nod in agreement with each other. There is a very strong vibe & connection here & you think that maybe you do stand a chance, just as long as you connect with those girls. Or maybe you are just falling deeper for the talk dark & handsome man sitting opposite you. Each time those large rich brown eyes glance at you, you feel seen.

The Yorks then finish up & David looks at his phone. Carol shakes your hand & asks if you’re free at 3pm on Sunday to meet the girls & have early dinner with them, which you accept. You have a second interview in the bag. David nods. “I’ll walk her out honey, I need to make my way to the actual office” David says & you thank Carol, grab your coat & have David walk you out of the house. His hand pushes you forward touching the lower of your back. Not to low but enough to make you blush, but enough that to yourself it shows that this man has an effect on you. Thank god you are walking in front of him & he can’t see the true effect he has on you.

“I just want you to know…” David says as he locks the front door behind him & stands next to his car “that we’ve been looking for a house keeper for a while & a nanny more recently. Carol has hired some but most of them just aren’t what they say they are at the interview. You on the other hand, there’s something about you. Your normal & I think you will bring stability to our house & help influence our kids as they grow as well. I don’t tend to trust people, my line of work doesn’t allow me to, but there’s something I can see in you, that makes me know that I can trust you with my families & my own life.” He states.

“Wow Mr York” you’re a little stunned at that revelation “that means something that you’ve picked that up so quickly, thank you”

“Please it’s David, I actually prefer Dave but David or Mr York is fine” he says shuffling a bit. “I’m good at picking up on peoples strengths & weaknesses it’s part of the job I do, & from the last hour, the only weakness I see in you, is that you care too much & that’s what I need for my family” you blush as he says these words to you. No one’s ever said that a weakness of yours is what they need. This desirable man has a way of making you feel so much in so few words. He’s very to the point & direct. You can tell he’s a man who gets what he wants, no matter what.

A few awkward moments of silence happen between you before you both snap out of it. Daves been thinking about how well you’re going to look after his family. He finds you attractive & wonders how loyal & good your boyfriend really is to you & if he might, one day, be needed to pick up your emotional pieces should it all go wrong with him. “I should really get going now Mr York & you said you needed to get to your own office, so please don’t let me keep you” you offer you hand which he firmly shakes & through that connection of his large palm on your dainty hand, a small soft smile comes from his dark brown eyes. “Thank you for the opportunity” you say “ooh no the pleasure is all mine, sweetheart” he responds. That cute nickname makes you smile which he can see as bright as the sun. “I’m already looking forward to seeing you meet the girls on Sunday, im sure you will be the most attentive person we’ve had so far, I can just feel it in my bones.” He says, hands parting & you both sigh & get in your separate cars. You head home & Dave heads to the office.

1 week, later the phone rings while your out for lunch with friends. “Sorry guys, be back in 3minutes” you leave them & head to the bathroom of the cafe to take the call.

“Hello”

“Ahh it’s Mr York”

“Mr York… hi how are you?” Just his voice down the phone has you feeling flush & warm, how can he do that.

“I’m even better now, I’ve just hired a new house keeper”

Your face drops down the phone.

“It’s you”

“What!?” You let out an over the top excited screech

“All the girls have talked about since Sunday, has been making art & playing with you & your pasta was half decent on Sunday night, so what do you say… are you free tonight to come & see us to sign & be our house keeper & nanny & discus when you will start?” He asks, he himself is also excited to have you work for him. He’s not lying when he says how excited the girls have been, but he is drawn to you & he can’t explain why.

“Yes Mr York, what time?” You just about get the word out.

“7pm, don’t worry it’s Wednesday, I cook on Wednesdays, you’ll always have that night off from cooking” he laughs a little down the phone.

“Sounds perfect Mr York, I will see you tonight”

Once the call is over, you rush back to your friends & tell them you got the job. Suddenly the orange juices you were all having are now Buck’s Fizz as your friends celebrate your new job with you. “To attending the needs of the Yorks” you toast & your friends cheer. You have no idea exactly what needs you are about to attend, ignorance for now is completely bliss & will remain that way for a little while.

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gravegrime · 8 months

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WRITEBLR INTRODUCTION

👻 Welcome to the graveyard 👻

Hello! I’ve never realized that there was a wealth of passionate storytellers sitting right under my nose this entire time. I kinda figured this community was more for novelists and not… well whatever the hell you’d call me. Figured I’d outstretch a gnarled hand to see if anyone’s brave enough to take it.

ABOUT MY WRITING

I’m not a huge fan of sticking the things I make into boxes as most of them sit in weird nooks and crannies that make labeling them specific things feel a tad inaccurate. As a general trend however most of my stories have some flavor of horror influence in them. Something is never quite right, but to what degree depends on the story. They’re often set in completely original fantasy settings bearing little resemblance to what we would consider normal. I have a trend of child or young protagonists (probably the cartoon influence coming in there) figuring out their place in the world or something fundamental about themselves. Coming of age stories, stuff like that. Found family is also abound in many shapes and flavors across my many half developed stories.

My stories are almost exclusively long serialized affairs focusing more on character development than plot intricacy. I won’t claim them to be simple but the thrust is definitely on character motivations. I like to write stories about people being people without a looming calamitous threat or great quest they must go on. There’s something charming about normal people dealing with the cards they’re dealt the best they can. I definitely have stories about fantastic quests and imposing dangers it’s just a bit of a coin flip which one you’ll be getting with me!

I also have a small list of concepts I make a point of not attempting in any of my writings. Time travel, prophecies, immortality, and resurrections are all things I avoid for various reasons. You’ll likely never come across them in any of my stories. No hate towards any of these concepts, except time travel, they are just some ideas I don’t find any real enjoyment in including in my works.

ABOUT ME

Oh what’s to tell? Name’s Alex, but if real names wig you out Grave or Grime work just fine. I’m a twenty eight year old professional animator, but you won’t be hearing much about that here. I like to keep work and hobbies separate. Here I’m mostly an artist but I’m going to be trying to branch out to share more about my stories. Keeping all this nonsense up in my noggin has got to be a bad idea, ya know?

Regardless, despite my focus on art on the social medias my real passion has always been storytelling! Stories have been my life blood for as long as I can remember. From my mother reading me stories before I went to sleep, to trying to write my own short stories in middle school, to a brief but passionate fling with filmmaking back in highschool. The latter serves as the base for a lot of my writing practices and techniques to this day! In truth my switch to comics/animation/arts was primarily a practical choice as I feel those mediums allow me to best express my ideas with the least reliance on other people.

I’m a fan of the weird and strange with an emphasis on the fantastical and horrific. Cartoons are my bread and butter, they’re something I can talk endless hours about the merits of them as a medium, but there isn’t a medium of storytelling I really shy away from. I love the craftsmanship behind the construction of stories and characters and am always very eager to go on long conversations about the fundamental structure of storytelling. Also a big fan of hypotheticals and working out plot/character/world points with anyone willing to put up with me.

MY WIPS

Time for the meat and potatoes, let's get into it! I have a lot of stories, all receiving a varying level of attention, and because of this I tend to run two or three stories I’m actively working on at this moment. I’ll be detailing two of three stories that I’m focusing on right now. The third is a new work that I haven’t unveiled to anyone yet. I’m giving it time to cook before I show it off, but rest assured it’s shaping up very well!

Grimm Deeds (GD)

A long form story following the adventures of Corny, a young boy with the ability to interact with ghosts, ghouls, and spirits, after being taken under the Grimm Reaper. Though there seems to be an ulterior motive behind the reaper’s tutelage. Tons of crazy and macabre escapades await the relatively normal boy as he learns what his abilities truly mean.

Grimm Deeds is like a love letter to halloween and all things a little bit spooky. It’s jam packed with magic, monsters, and all those spooky delights I love! I really think it shines through in its characters though. Without tooting my own horn too much I think they have a surprising amount of depth given how goofy the whole thing appears on the surface. It being about the Grimm Reaper and his position in the world it also deals with death as a concept quite a bit. Something I always have a good deal of fun exploring!

In the Dominion of Hate (DoH)

An animatic style story about the unfortunate misunderstanding that befalls Lilium of Bliss leading to her being cast from her home into the Dominion of Hate. Wishing to prove her innocence, and encouraged by the abstraction Query, she embarks on an epic quest across the black sea of turmoil to find a way back home! Primarily a story about self discovery, even if Lilium isn’t fully aware at first, in the Dominion of Hate is a swashbuckling adventure across the strange and surreal sea of turmoil. Watch a young lady with no conception of the world but a willingness to learn befriend horrific monsters and gods of conception because she’s just so darn charming!

I’m sure people don’t like to play favorites like this but Lilium is actually my favorite character I’ve ever made. She’s got a very unique but fascinating way of thinking thanks to her equally bizarre upbringing and I can’t wait to share that with you all!

FINAL WORD

I have so many stories that I’ll likely be creating a master list as an intro to them all at some point soon. If this writeblr intro strikes your fancy please feel free to stick around! I’m always down to talk shop with anyone and really don’t care how people interact with me! I’m just kinda here to hang out and have a good time. We vibin’.

#writeblr #writeblr intro #writers of tumblr #writing #storytelling #intro

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tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 2 months

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I listened to Elis James and John Robins on the Comedian’s Comedian podcast, as I somewhat recently passed the point in their radio show when they recorded it. It was a really good episode, even by the standards of that podcast, which are high. Very little messing around with basic explanations of stuff that we could find on their Wikipedia pages anyway, they jump straight in with analysis.

I cut out a few clips as I was listening. I meant to write a paragraph or so about each of them. I am coming back here after finishing the post to say I ended up writing a lot more than that. This one gets out of hand. It mainly stays on the topic of the podcast episode and the radio show, occasionally veers off into some personal stories of my own, makes tenuous connections between the two. That's what's below the cut that I'm adding because not everyone needs to be subjected to that.

I particularly liked this one, from the very beginning:

First of all, Elis James definitely has met another person who will start a radio episode by sighing and just saying whatever's actually in their mind instead of trying for slick broadcasting. Elis knows him very well, the mother of his children is frequently recording lines to put in that other broadcaster's shows. However, there is the key difference that Daniel Kitson's doing that on an obscure radio station (well, two obscure radio stations as he used to do Triple R in Melbourne, but hasn't for a long time, so I mainly mean Resonance FM in London) that doesn't pay him any money, while John Robins is doing it on a commercial radio station that was presumably a significant source of his income and is definitely the main source of his career success. It's definitely more a risk to try in that context.

Anyway, I'd like to put the above clip next to this one:

I'm now three years into following this radio show/listening to various podcasts and other things they've done alongside it, trying to go mostly in chronological order, and I would say they do this in one form or another approximately every six months. Just explicitly state the status dynamic between them, which is that Elis is more successful but John is funnier, this creates a couple of sources of mild tension that can be funny to listen to and give them something to play into as a double act, but it also balances out enough so their entire relationship isn't going to implode like Jon Richardson and Russell Howard. It's always a bit weird when they actually say that out loud, comedians aren't really supposed to tell us what level of status they've decided to assign themselves/each other for any given moment.

Elis James frequently says John Robins is a better comedian than him, which also a bit weird because it's the sort of thing you'd say as a joke, but he never sounds like he's joking, and it's... I mean, I was going to say it's objectively true, I guess it can't be given how subjective comedy is, but it is pretty clear cut. And it seems to genuinely not bother Elis James, which I used to think was odd, but I guess it makes sense. I've been teammates with people whom I know are better athletes than me, and we can still be friends, and if anyone asks who's better I can be honest about that. It sure would make that easier if I also somehow won more medals than they did (to continue the somewhat stretched analogy of Elis James having more TV work so that balances the scales), though sports tend to be more of a meritocracy than arts so that doesn't really happen.

There's also truth in the thing John said about how one of them has to come up with content for the radio show - they're on the same official footing, co-hosts rather than calling anyone a sidekick or whatever, but the vast majority of the funniest stuff gets said by John, and more than that, John drives most of the discussions. He usually comes in with more features and stuff prepared, he establishes a lot of the running jokes and keeps them going, he's the one who will lead most of their offshoots into weird little sketches and characters. His timing is incredible sometimes, every once in a while he'll have an episode where he's got Lee Mack levels of being able to jump on everything that gets said almost immediately and be funny every time. He seems like he can decide, pretty much based on how he's feeling at the moment but possibly also based on a sense for how much potential something has, whether to wrap up a thread in one incisive sentence or to draw it out. And it's almost always John making that decision (if it isn't the producer telling them to get on with it, that is, but it's rarely Elis' decision). Sometimes I can hear John work out the comedic potential in something they're talking about before Elis does, and Elis will start to move on but John will bring it back and guide him toward it, and eventually manage to push Elis into whatever joke John had figure out would be funny but only if Elis said it.

Having said that, and this is a tangent but discussing whether Elis James is funny just made me think of it, I've been wanting to give him credit for something. At some episode sometime in 2016, Elis James was telling a story about someone he admired, and the story was about something fairly serious, and at the end of it, John asked "Is he a laugh?", which was quite a funny thing to say in the context, it's annoying me that I can't remember the exact story but it was something like that. And it was funny to hear John be so efficiently dismissive of the sort of weird story. But later in the episode, John told one of his stories about one of those vaguely depressing things he does, like obsessively do his taxes four months in advance or drink rum alone at 2 AM and get sad while watching Queen documentaries - one of those types of stories - and at the end of it, Elis asked "Are you a laugh?" And after that, for several months, Elis James brought that back the exactly perfect number of times. I don't know how he did it, how he got it so perfect every time. He didn't drop it for long enough for regular listeners to forget that he'd made this a running joke, so it would lose its power as a callback. But he didn't say it often enough for it to start to get overused and less funny (not that those guys would ever try to milk more from one bit than it should be expected to bear... but of course we're all on email). There is such a small sweet spot, such little room for error in the frequency with which you can bring back a joke and not fall into either of those traps, and he got it perfect every time. Every time he'd said it, I'd have a moment of surprise because he'd left it just barely past the point at which it had been long enough since I'd heard it for it to get really funny again, and every time, I'd take a moment to admire his timing. He kept it going for quite a while, occasionally responding to John's depressing anecdotes from his own life with "Are you a laugh?" So, well done to Elis James, he can be funny too. Also, I mean, obviously he is regularly quite funny on the radio show, just not as funny as John Robins. It's fine, most people aren't as funny as John Robins. I'm not as good at underhook setups as my friend I hung out with the other night, but it's fine, we manage to get on with our lives.

Anyway, that was only very tenuously related to the topic of this post, let me see if I can find my way back. John Robins and Elis James having an odd balance of tensions created by John being funnier but Elis being more successful. I'm not sure that's as true now as it was in early 2014 to early 2017, which covers the period of radio episodes I've heard so far. At that time, Elis had recently had major roles in two sitcoms (Crims and Josh). He'd had one Welsh-language stand-up special released on the BBC and I think was working on recording another one. He'd done some panel show spots, more than John I think. I think he's started on his BBC television travel show with Miles Jupp. He'd gone to Europe to do TV and radio things about the Welsh football team. John Robins, meanwhile, had released the audio from a couple of his stand-up shows himself on Bandcamp, had been on Mock the Week twice and one of those times was a fucking disaster, a couple appearances on As Yet Untitled, and I think he occasionally got on things like The News Quiz but less often than Elis James did. I think he had a pretty good stand-up career going by then, but it hadn't really translated to other stuff. And John complained at times that he didn't get as many reviews and publicity as his stand-up profile deserved, though it's hard to tell if that's true or just his bias. He had a job for a while doing TV warm-up gigs, but then he got fired for what sounds like a combination of drinking too much and being too harsh for the "keep it light" atmosphere. The disparity between his profile and Elis' was probably for two main reasons: 1) Elis has the significant USP of being one of the only comedians who's fluent in the Welsh language so that gets him some stuff, and 2) the reasons outlined in that second audio clip about John having pissed everyone off.

I think their positions are different these days, though. I'm into the March 2017 episodes right now, in a few months John Robins is going to win a Perrier Award, so he can't keep complaining about not having a significant enough stand-up profile after that. That turned into a Netflix special, a significantly bigger deal than Elis' Welsh-language BBC iPlayer special. And then in 2018 he hosts a panel show, which I have downloaded but haven't watched yet, I'll wait until I get there chronologically. To be honest I'm slightly dreading getting there because I have a feeling it might be terrible. I don't think it was hugely successful because I'd never heard of it before I started looking up John Robins things this year, and I went really deep down the panel show rabbit hole in the last few years, I watched some quite obscure ones but never came across this. It also only lasted one season. But still, he hosted a panel show on Dave. That's a TV career.

And now, obviously, he's on Taskmaster. And seems to be playing large rooms in his latest stand-up tour. A tour that I'd assumed would get filmed for another TV special, though he's mentioned recently that he's planning to put it on Bandcamp like his earlier shows, and I do appreciate him keeping it real for us despite now being a Taskmaster star with a huge tour (as much as this shouldn't make sense because there can be visual humour in stand-up, I tend to prefer audio-only stand-up that's usually closer to how it actually sounded in the room, over filmed versions that get more edits). On the other hand, Elis had a TV series about Welsh comedy a few years ago. A podcast with some football players. I've just looked it up and apparently he hosts a football-based TV show on Sky, so that's nice. But the gap in TV-based success has probably closed.

But that discussion they had in that second audio clip - about John Robins not getting stuff because he's (rightly and justifiably) reaping the consequences of being a dick with a substance abuse problem, and Elis James valiantly taking on the role of Robins Apologist - that really nails, for me, what I enjoy so much about their dynamic. I think that my favourite dynamic. I fucking love anywhere where two people get that one going. That dynamic that's summed up by this post htat I remember from ages ago and have somehow just managed to find because Tumblr's terrible search function decided to work for me today:

It was about a year ago that I had the extremely clever idea of adding that Taskmaster screenshot to that other person's text post, but I maintain that it's hilarious. Guy Montgomery and David Correos were so much fun because of this. At the time, I considered instead using a screenshot from Taskmaster UK season 5, with the speech bubble pointing at Mark Watson looking at Nish Kumar. There are so many example of two people whose comedy show interactions have been hilarious because they're based on one person making terrible decisions and the other person looking at them like "I'd follow him to hell and back but I wish he'd just stop going there." And not always a him, it doesn't have to be a him! Danielle Ward and Margaret Cabourn-Smith had some good "I'd follow her to hell and back but I wish she'd just stop going there" energy on Do the Right Thing (with Danielle Ward, of course, in the Correos/Kumar/Robins position).

I'm sure I realized until right now, as I write this, how much this might be my favourite dynamic in comedy because it also characterizes my favourite relationships in my own life. And I am genuinely not sure whether that's a me thing or whether most people can slot most of their relationships into one where someone's the David and someone's the Guy, in terms of who keeps driving things to hell and who follows out of loyalty but also apologizes. When I was in high school, and also for most of my twenties, my nickname among my friends was "loose cannon" because when they were trying to be careful and diplomatic in the political battles within the increasingly high levels that we reached in the sporting world, I was the person who once yelled at my coach in a hallway because I was so angry at the way he treated the athletes, and had a letter in my coaching file by age 22 that accused me of not caring about common courtesy. A letter from a coach who refused to work with me anymore because I was insufficiently courteous, so my best friend had to liaise with him on everything while asking me to please not upset more people and further alienate our team. And I have wonderful friends who tell other people that I don't hate them, really, I just seem standoffish because I'm shy, and later on they tell me that I really need to work on my poker face/ability to be around people I hate without making it incredibly obvious that I hate them. In addition to being genuinely shy. When we tried to get someone from my team elected to the provincial board, we knew from the beginning that 1) I would do all the actual work for both the election campaign and, if successful, the role itself, because I know and care the most about the issues and am good at admin stuff, and 2) I could not be the candidate because I hate most people and everyone I hate knows I hate them because I have no diplomacy skills.

Though I do also have one friend who coaches a team in another city and he knows he can call me pretty much any time and ask me for pretty much any favour and I will do it, and I will edit his emails and do his research for him to help him fight his stupid pointless battles and to try to keep him on top of things even though he can't keep track of anything and keeps making wild badly planned decisions, and people ask me why I don't just let him fail and walk away, and I say I know he seems like a brash asshole with no ability to think ahead, but he's a really good guy, really, once you get to know him. It's got back to me that most people in our sports community assume I am or was sleeping with him, as that seems like the only explanation for why I would stick by a guy who's clearly an idiot. The truth is much weirder, he was my university teammate in 2013 and one time he was in my corner when I had a panic attack in the middle of a match at the university national championships, and he saved me and got me through it and I managed to go back and win, and that's why I had to do things like sleep on a hotel room floor for a week in Atlantic City because he'd talked me into going on a provincial team trip where he hadn't booked enough rooms (or planned anything), because he'd earned my eternal loyalty. Oh God, I just remembered how during that trip he stopped to gamble in front of children, and I ended up yelling at him in the middle of the street in Atlantic City, "You know, I argue with people about you!" And he said, "What people?" And I said "People who think you're not responsible enough to run a provincial team trip! Which is everyone! I get into big arguments with them and you make it hard when you do shit like this!" But a few years later he was the first person I called when our mutual friend died because I realized in that moment, that's the person I trust most in the world.

Anyway. What was I talking about? Elis James and John Robins. I think I was talking about Elis James and John Robins. Okay, turns out listening to people talk about the friendships that you base on blind loyalty and apologism brought some stuff up for me. I think I have, in recent weeks, at times blamed my overly emotional posting - my posts that start out as comedy analysis but then go into oversharing about my person life - on the fact that I'm going through some emotionally difficult stuff as I'm trying to avoid drinking. But that's not the case here, I think I was always going to go on that tangent. I haven't seen my friend from out of town in a while, I'm a bit worried about him. I think he might be ruining his own life again. Something was going to connect to that. Rhod Gilbert reminds me of him.

Anyway. Anyway. Elis James and John Robins. Solid double act dynamic. Weird balance of status and tensions, enjoyable running thread of loyalty and apologism. Amazingly, I'm not done, here's another clip I cut out of that ComCom interview:

This is the second time I've heard John Robins tell this story, and I had the same reaction as the first time, which was: Oh my God oh my God oh my God, how were you ever able to sleep again? The horrible sharp pain of this story keeps me awake at night, just imagining what it would be like if that happened to me, and it didn't even happen to me. How could you ever sleep if it did? John Robins frequently tells stories from what he calls the "shame well", those things that happen where you obsess over how you did something wrong and regret it. John is constantly making jokes (or just statements) about how he lives a life mired in shame and regret. But still, I don't see how he can just casually throw this one out there like it's just another shame well story. It's so much worse. It's the worst one I've heard. I would hide under my bed for the rest of my life.

John Robins went on Adam Buxton's podcast in 2016, I have listened to that episode and it's not great. You want to talk about dynamics created by a differential in status - I think that one went way too far, to the point where nothing could really happen. There was this huge discrepancy of John Robins meeting his hero, which will often make someone sort of adorably giddy but not in this case, he just seemed a bit out of it and subdued. While on the other side, Adam Buxton appeared to have no idea who John Robins was, so not much discussion got generated. It wasn't a complete disaster, but I could understand why John didn't plug that one on his radio show, despite plugging most of his podcast appearances.

Anyway though, if I can manage to get past the sheer horror of the first part of that clip, the second part was sort of nicely validating. Because I am slightly weary of how much my trip down the Elis and John rabbit hole has got quite intense quite quickly, even by my standards of comedy obsession, and possibly taken a turn for the parasocial. I mean, I am currently writing a multi-page post about an interview they gave and it includes several paragraphs about my own life that are only tenuously related, in a way that I can say "Look I do the same thing as these guys I've never met."

The intensity of that has definitely been accelerated by the fact that I happened to, by a genuine coincidence, get into this show at the same time as I decided to try to slow down and/or stop drinking, and God, a lot of the ways in which John Robins talks about alcohol and anxiety resonates. And yep, I'd feel weird admitting it because I know it's sort of inherently creepy to say "they feel like my friends" about some people you've never met, but since John Robins said it first I think I can admit those headphones do make a difference. Might be another reason why I prefer the Bandcamp comedy to a Netflix special.

They touch on this throughout the ComCom interview - not so much in the clips I cut out but throughout the whole thing, it really is worth a listen if you're interested in this - the way their radio show gets so many letters from people who thank them for talking so honestly about mental health issues, people who say they've dealt with their own difficult shit and find this radio show has helped. Probably lots of shows get similar letters, but I think it's safe to say this one gets more than most. The Bugle used to read out their correspondence and Andy Zaltzman wasn't getting people every day saying "Thank you for making me feel less alone in my depression."

They really are good at that, at hitting the exact right balance of honest without being overbearing about it. For a show that spends so much time talking about symptoms of mental health problems, they almost never use the words "mental health". They never sit down and say "let's have a talk about what it's like to live with anxiety." They just describe their week, in more honest detail than you would normally hear on commercial radio. And leave in the parts where they panic about every decision they've ever made and get drunk alone in the middle of the night and cry because they think they've done everything wrong. And by "they", I mostly mean John.

I do like their word, "darkness". I didn't realize, when I first watched The Darkness of Robins in 2022 (a show John first performed in 2017, won a large award for it, released as a Netflix special in 2018, but I watched it in 2022), that that title's been around for ages. Elis James made a joke in an early radio episode, from 2014, about how someday, John should do a show called The Darkness of Robins, where he just lays bare all his anxieties, all his weird toxic quirks and control freak tendencies and oceans of shame and regret and various addictions/self-medication and cynicism and bitterness and anger and deep self-loathing. Elis said this as a joke, the joke being that you can't just put all that in a comedy show. But they kept the joke going for years. John did the Richard Herring podcast, in which he talked a bit about some of the more difficult mental health struggles he's had, and when he plugged it on the radio show, instead of saying "I talk about some of my more difficult mental health struggles", he said, "There's a fair bit of the darkness of Robins in it." And then he started casually referencing it on the show, describing a night when he might have drank too much and had a panic attack with a causal and sort of joke-y "I got overcome by the darkness for a little while." And then they started describing those emails from listeners who say it resonated with "[Person] has emailed in to say they've been afflicted by a touch of the darkness, sorry to hear that." And I just love that word. It's used with enough genuineness to make it clear that they're not making fun of mental health problems, they really do have them and it does feel dark. But also with enough irony - obviously there is irony in using a term as grandiose as "The Darkness of Robins" to describe panicking at 3 AM about something bad you said in school - to make it feel like it's not an after school special. I also like that they found a way to let that word mean no one has to name a diagnosis, to narrow their issue down to a loaded term like "I suffer from clinical depression", when not everyone who has that is diagnosed, not everyone is comfortable naming it, not everyone finds it easy to separate their symptoms into clear-cut causes. They can just use a shorthand like "the darkness".

It has been good, to have this radio show for the last couple of months that have brought some darkness into particularly sharp focus, as I decided to quickly remove the maladaptive self-medication. I've tried to stop writing about it so often the way I did earlier in the year, but as a little update on how that's going, still bad. Not enjoying it. Getting mildly parasocial about some guys on the radio might not be hugely healthy, but it's a healthier coping mechanism than whiskey, I guess. I'd really like some whiskey. Anyway I'm fine.

I do think that's why I find that Adam and Joe story so incredibly painful, though. I get paranoid about whether I get too parasocial about the comedians I like, I try really hard to be self-aware about it and be super clear that I know what I'm getting is a curated public persona and I do not actually know these people, and I am mortified at the thought of being one of those fans who thinks they actually are my friends and therefore they should know something about me. No one should know me. I hang out on Tumblr because it's the one social media platform where I know no famous people are searching their own name or anything, everyone's just an anonymous nerd. The thought of anyone knowing me makes me want to hide under my bed for the rest of my life. Though having said that, John Robins and Elis James are always very nice about people who write in with darkness emails.

Amazingly, I'm still not done this post:

Throwing this in just to say, once again, that I'm sorry for having also thought this but in my defense it's not just me. I am truly sorry that when I first heard John Robins got sober, my first thought was... but he's still going to be bitter and angry and annoying and plagued by regret and self-loathing, right? Because that's kind of the cornerstone of his comedy and is what I love so much about it. I mean obviously I want him to be happy, but could he release a couple more stand-up hours first?

I feel genuinely guilty for having thought that, especially because I do hold the sort of political belief that it's bullshit to say one must suffer to make great art, van Gogh did his best work once his mental illness was being treated, and all that. I do believe it applies to more contemporary things too. Jason Isbell made his best music after getting sober. I think James Acaster's best stand-up show might be his current ones, and it's a "let me tell you how therapy has made me healthier" show. But John Robins did base a lot of his comedy on being bitter and angry and annoying and plagued by regret and self-loathing. That's sort of my favourite thing about it.

I felt slightly better when I re-listened to his 2014 show (recorded in 2015) This Tornado Loves You, and was reminded that he admitted that himself:

That's John Robins talking about how his comedy has suffered because he's too happy in his relationship with Sara Pascoe, a relationship that has ended a 20-year search for happiness. And it goes with the clip I posted before that from the ComCom episode, of Elis James saying it's nice that John's relationship with Sara Pascoe recently ended, because it's given the quality of his comedy a real boost. And maybe they should just ruin John's life regularly to keep it that way. So it's not just me who had that horrible thought.

I'm feeling the need to clarify, once again, that of course I don't genuinely think that's a good thing. Obviously it's good that he got sober, for his sake but also, reports suggest his latest show Howl is excellent. I think Howl was written partly while he was drinking and partly while he wasn't, but performed after he'd quit, and the fact that it's done so well suggests that people can, in fact, make their best stuff after getting their shit together (I haven't actually heard the show, he's said he'll release it on Bandcamp sometime soon-ish, probably). And even if his comedy did get worse, which it clearly hasn't, it would still be best that he quit drinking because suffering wouldn't be worth great art, even if it were required for it. That's how it works. Drinking is bad for you. I definitely don't want to drink any whiskey right now. It's fine.

But. But. I recently re-listened to John Robins' episode of Isy Suttie's podcast, The Things We Do For Love. This is a rare instance that I've heard of a comedian being genuinely drunk while recording something. It's happened before that comedians will claim to be a bit loose and tipsy, but not usually so drunk that they're slurring their words. John Robins on Isy Suttie's podcast was slurring his words. He kept losing track of the question and interrupting at inappropriate moments. It's one of those things that makes me say "Oh, yeah, you really needed to quit drinking. This really was affecting your career, that's just a guy who showed up to work too drunk to effectively do his job."

But it was really funny. It made me laugh so many times. At one point he gets furious because Isy Suttie asked him whether he knows how to drive a car. Later on he threatens to murder her and Elis for their sitcom money, which would have been an okay joke but tbere was a bit of a sense of line crossing when he also threatened their child. (Fun side note that has nothing to do with John being drunk: at one point Isy tells a story about her ex-boyfriend, John Robins asks what the ex's name is but she refuses to say, which is weird because I know. It's weird that I know something about Isy Suttie that John Robins didn't, at least on that day.) It's a mess. It's hilarious. I feel vaguely guilty for finding that so funny, the same way I do about the episodes of No More Jockeys where Mark Watson gets properly drunk - that guy's probably got a problem too, I probably shouldn't laugh at it so much, but I also find those the funniest episodes. I have the say, the episode of Adam Buxton's podcast where John Robins was sort of awkwardly reserved would probably have been funnier if John had gotten drunk before it.

My best defense for that is I would not want John Robins to actually be drunk when he performs stand-up, or certainly when he writes it. Being drunk made him funnier on a podcast interview where he's supposed to tell off-the-cuff stories, because off-the-cuff stories get better when someone's filter has been broken down. But also, in his actual stand-up, or even his actual radio broadcasting, John Robins is doing a thousand little things at once to make what he's saying funnier. He's the master of the well-timed pause and the carefully chosen word. None of that would be any good drunk. So I maintain that you don't need to suffer addiction to make great art. It might help a bit to make funny tangents on an interview podcast, but not the actual substance. Also, however funny I found it, I don't think he was proud of that one. On the radio show, John plugged his appearance on Isy Suttie's podcast before he did it, but not one word about it on the radio after it had been recorded, even though most of those things he'll plug both before and once they're released. Though in a later episode of her podcast, Isy mentioned that the first guest she'd had on was a very drunk John Robins, who called her the next day desperately asking her to cut out the sexually explicit story he'd told using an old girlfriend's real name.

And she did cut it out, it's not in the podcast, as it shouldn't be, because it's not responsible to tell sexually explicit stories in something that's being recorded and will be published, if the audience knows the real name of the person you're talking about. Having said that, I've finally reached the point in the radio show where John's doing WIPs of The Darkness of Robins, where he does just that about Sara Pascoe, and I'm having a bit of trouble morally justifying how much I like the show in spite of that. I think I'll re-watch that show tomorrow, for the first time in nearly a year and a half. I'll see how that goes. I remember it as being very, very good. But also, in the last few weeks, I've had three different people watch it because of my posts about John Robins, and all of them came back to me to point out that the stories about Sara Pascoe are pretty inappropriate to tell on stage. I'm still holding out hope that I'll hear him clarify on the radio show that he did run that stuff by her before saying it publicly, or at least before recording it for Netflix.

Anyway, this post got a bit out of hand. I've tried for the last couple of weeks to slow down on my posting about the Elis/John radio show, and the posting about my personal life, but I seemed to have built up a lot to say and put it all in this one. I'm doing fine.

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nowis-scales · 1 year

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Ryoma Birthday Headcanons

It’s the first day of May, and so that means that it’s Ryoma’s birthday! Per the usual when there’s a Hoshidan royal with a birthday, I have to write a set of birthday headcanons to celebrate them. Hopefully you enjoy this year’s round!

‣ So you know how for years, there’s been that joke about that Ryoma’s probably like, really annoyed that Xander is taller than him? My hot take on this is that initially, he didn’t really care. Whatever, right? It’s not like he can control his height by sheer force of will, and Ryoma quite likes not having to duck through the average doorway. However, once everyone else started pointing out as a big deal to him… yeah, admittedly, he started to get more grumpy about it. Only problem is, he won’t admit to being grumpy about it, so he’s just standing there like “yeah whatever, I don’t care” when it is just so, so painfully obvious that he cares.

‣ You remember how last year, for Sakura's birthday, I mentioned that one of her siblings lost a tooth by falling down the stairs when they were little? Yeah, that was Ryoma. He was about six when it happened, and of course it was on one of the big stair cases leading up to Castle Shirasagi. Thankfully he was one of those kids that was just like, strangely durable, so he didn’t really cry when it happened. He was far more excited that one of his teeth had been knocked out, and kept trying to excitedly show Sumeragi and Ikona, who were so busy checking him over for cuts and bruises and whispering to each other “oh my gods we’re such terrible parents” to initially understand what their son was trying to show them. Sumeragi used to love to tell that story to people. Fuuga still laughs about it.

‣ According to the 4koma anthology comics, Ryoma is for the most part pretty honest, but he’ll still soften the blow on a lot of things if he can. However, if you really want to see Ryoma at his peak honesty, just talk to him when he’s sick. He doesn’t have the energy to put things into a nicer delivery. Oh, you want him to do politics with a fever, chills, and upset stomach? Fine, but you’d better be prepared to paraphrase literally everything he said in response to that daimyo’s questionable idea, because there’s no way you’re going to be able to deliver anything Ryoma said upfront. And don’t even bother asking about Ryoma’s general symptoms unless you’re the healer — he’ll tell it to you in grouchy, pouting detail.

‣ One of Ryoma’s worst fears is being helpless in any situation. When he’s put into a position where he can’t do anything, he’ll start to panic. This often means that he will do anything he can get to get out of it, even if it means doing something underhanded or against his typical moral code. That's also part of the reason why he can be characterized as impulsive or stubborn at times: he cannot give into a helpless situation. He needs to be able to take some sort of action to make things "right". If he doesn't feel that he has sufficiently acted, then he can never make peace with what happened. In the back of his mind he knows that this is probably a trauma response from Corrin's kidnapping in childhood, but he doesn't really want to have to confront the idea that it might be the wrong thing to do sometimes.

‣ Loves dogs. Loves them. When he was little, he was always pestering Sumeragi to let him have one. Obviously, because of his age, Sumeragi didn't think it was a good idea, but said that he might let him have one when he got older. Unfortunately, he passed before he could see that promise through. For a long time Ryoma largely forgot about getting a canine friend, too focused on other things to consider that that was something he could do for himself... but after the war drew to a close, he finally adopted that pup we see in the art piece Kozaki did of him.

‣ Though Ryoma’s hair may look like it’s spiky, it’s actually more so fluffy than anything. That of course doesn’t make it any easier to work with, but the texture probably isn’t as bad as you’d expect. Unfortunately, this still means that it gets all matted and tangled at the drop of a hat, so Ryoma is constantly wrestling with it to keep it under control. Most of the time he just ties it up to keep it out of the way, but he leaves it down in battle because he’s been told it makes him look more intimidating. It has led to the occasional embarrassing moment when it’s been caught in parts of his armour, though.

‣ His position makes him kind of emotionally distant at times. It's not necessarily something he wants to be, but the whole being a prince thing/being the "head of the family" by Hoshidan standards does kind of make him feel isolated. He tends to act on that in turn, and though there are times where he does try to connect with those around him, it still comes across as awkward and stilted from time to time. He finds it difficult to have close friends, and can never seem to connect with Takumi and Sakura the way that he wants to. To some people, this comes across as him not thinking much of them, but he honestly just doesn't know the right way to engage a lot of the time so he just... doesn't. It's something he would like to improve upon.

‣ One of Hoshido’s most eligible, if not the most eligible, bachelors. He’s not particularly crazy about this status. It’s not like he never wants to get married — he knows some day he’s going to have to, for the good of the kingdom and whatnot — but he hates being in a room full of people or corresponding with people he knows are just trying so desperately to impress him. The entire experience just feels terribly inauthentic, and he’s worried about if any of this is really enough to found a relationship on. Tack on the fact that he barely notices flirting from the average woman, and it just becomes overwhelming to even think about choosing a partner in those circumstances. He would much rather fall in love where it's possible.

‣ When it comes to pettiness, the man is like a crow. If you have wronged him or his family, he can and will remember it. And he doesn't hesitate to take revenge for it at times, either. There's still one nobleman who can't figure out why the crown prince seems so much colder than him than to everyone else. Hinoka asked Ryoma about it one time. Apparently, when they were younger, the nobleman mocked Hinoka's interest in battle and suggested she was a faulty woman. He apparently did so when Hinoka was in earshot, but she doesn't remember a thing. Ryoma, however, has kept this little grudge of his close to his heart and refuses to let go because how dare you talk about my sister that way!!

‣ While we know his English and Japanese VAs can both sing quite well, I feel like Ryoma is just not a very good singer. He's not necessarily always out of tune, but he just... sounds awkward. I don't really think of him as the singing type, to be honest, so whenever he tries it's probably more of that mumble-singing you do in the car anyways. He tends to stumble over lyrics or occasionally hit the wrong note, and when that happens once it's just going to throw him completely and keep happening, so it just tends to be a very mediocre performance. He probably once got Shiro to stop crying as a baby by singing to him, but purely because Shiro was so focused on Ryoma's second-rate lullaby that he couldn't remember to be upset.

#fire emblem #fire emblem fates #fire emblem ryoma #fe ryoma #fire emblem fates spoilers #fire emblem fates birthright #fire emblem fates revelation #FE headcanons

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whoreviewswho · 2 months

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Wokeness, Responsibility and if RTD is problematic - Introduction

Is Russell T Davies a problematic figure? Is he too woke or not aware enough? Is he doing something wrong to illicit negative responses from the progressives as well as the conservatives? Is it something in the programme, something in the marketing or is he doing nothing particularly bad at all? Well, perhaps you and I, faithful reader, can come to some sort of conclusion. Let's find out together as we take a dive into the controversial choices behind RTD2 and the mind of the man behind them.

There is an extremely telling moment in issue 599 of Doctor Who Magazine in their feature on The Giggle, specifically the climax. On page 18, the magazine printed some conversation between Benjamin Cook, Ncuti Gatwa and Russell T Davies (RTD) which you can read below;

"When you wished for it," Russell asks [Ncuti] now, "there wasn't a part of you thinking, but there's no point, it's not going to happen, because I'm black?" "Never," says Ncuti. "I love that," says Russell. "Because here I am, as a 59-year-old white man, assuming that would weigh heavily on your mind." "Yeah, no, completely," says Ncuti. "When it was announced and everyone was saying, 'He's the first black Doctor!' - that was insane. Slowly I was like, '... ohh." "Yes, it's hard to know what to do with that."

I find this to be a very revealing exchange and an invaluable insight into RTD's mind. RTD thinks. He thinks a lot. It is very clear not only that he thinks a lot and is very conscious of his decisions and responsibilities as a showrunner but also that he wants us to know that. And, you know what, perhaps he is a little too conscious. Perhaps RTD thinks too much.

But of course RTD thinks. He is a writer and a storyteller. He is, in fact, a very good storyteller and, in order to be so, one has to be continuing to engage with new art, meet new people and be connected to the world around them. This is not conjecture, this is how art works; it is a expression and representation of how the artist relates, reflects and responds to the world around them. RTD is a wickedly intelligent, queer man and you need look no further than his own work to see how passionate he has always been about depicting a diverse range of characters and stories that are firmly rooted in the political and social climate of his day. In fact, he explicitly said as much himself in a December 2023 interview for Rolling Stone;

"From my point of view, whatever I make on television, I try to embrace queerness and queer politics and that’s like breathing to me because that’s my world. That’s how I live.”

At the time I am writing (two months away from season one's debuting), RTD's second stint as show runner of Doctor Who, RTD2, as it has come to be known, has proven to be as divisive for longterm fans as his initial tenure, if not more so. No surprises there, of course, but what was unforeseen however, at least by me, was the vocal backlash from the progressive crowd.

Perhaps it shouldn't have been though. After all, we are talking about a sixty year old white cis man. As well researched and intentioned as he may be, the scope of his experiences will inevitably reach their limits regarding gender, sexuality and cultural backgrounds. Even ethically, to hold somebody of quite a different generation to the exact same standards as your own, a significantly younger or potentially older audience member, is a pretty dubious and flawed thing to put into practice.

Still, backlash from the progressives might also have been foreseen if we took more than half a glance at his original time on the show. The quality and impact of representation in 2000s Doctor Who was certainly varied, and something worth discussing in more depth in some other entry. That does not make it any less significant that it was Russell who spearheaded the first openly queer companion, its first black supporting character and then first black companion as well as the oldest leading lady to date. And these things were not simply acts of ticking boxes. Jack Harkness, Mickey Smith, Martha Jones and Donna Noble were strong, fully-realised characters who were regularly recurring across almost five years of television. One of them even led a TV show of his own for half a decade. Combine that with more than a handful of overtly political storylines across the episodes that he produced and you have a revived Doctor Who that is quickly established as one of the most progressive television programmes of its kind in the 2000s.

But mistakes were made, particularly regarding racial background. YouTuber Princess Weekes has made a particularly articulate video outlining RTD's pitfalls in representing black communities in Doctor Who a couple of months ago and I strongly encourage you to go and check that out. This article is not about the 2000s though. This is about the present day and the world surrounding RTD as he re-entered the role of showrunner in 2021. So, in order to contextualise that, let us tackle that frustratingly large elephant in the room; let's briefly discuss how Doctor Who became too woke.

This will be a very short discussion because, of course, this didn't happen. Yet, somehow, this narrative, that Doctor Who has become more occupied with pushing its progressive political agendas than telling compelling stories, is a bizarre claim that has been looming over the series for far too long now. It is a line of thinking that I first remember hearing around 2016 with the announcement of Bill Potts as the first openly lesbian companion. Y'know, because having an openly lesbian character must surely mean the Moff was out of ideas. But it really seemed to become a thorn in the fandom's side in the year following when Jodie Whittaker's casting was revealed. Together with Chris Chibnall's casting of two people-of-colour in his main cast and hiring the most diverse writers the show has ever seen to tell stories that reflect their varied life experiences and backgrounds CLEARLY indicated the show was on a downward spiral. The writing was on the wall*.

Okay, so, let's break this down for a second because obviously Doctor Who of the past seven years has not been too woke. But, even if that were the case, what does that even mean? Well, let's be blunt here, this is a form of cultural appropriation. The usage of 'woke' as a slang term for being attentive to social issues originated in African American Vernacular English. As Marriam-Webster defines it;

"In [African-American Vernacular English], awake is often rendered as woke, as in, 'I was sleeping, but now I’m woke'".

In the mid-2010s, "stay woke" became a watch word in the black community eventually becoming entwined in the BLM movement. The term has since been co-opted by conservatives, in another harmful display of white aggression, as an insulting short-hand for people and works that challenge their comfortably ignorant view of the world in really any way at all.

TLDR; to level the accusation of a television programme being "too aware of social and political injustices", especially a show with as long a history in of engaging with those sorts of ideas as Doctor Who, as if it were some kind of negative is one of the most laughable criticisms that the show has ever seen.

It is actually even more laughable when you consider that one could take less than half a glance at Chibnall's version of the show and realise that it was, in fact, doing remarkably little actual engagement with contemporary social and political issues at all. Hell, 10.96 million people tuned into the first episode of his run to learn that for themselves. But this article is not about Chris Chibnall either. This is about Russell T Davies. The man who walked into the office while Chris Chibnall was still in the job and was revealed as such before Chibnall's final season, the Flux storyline, had even gone to air. As nasty a move this was from BBC, seemingly attempting to sabotage their own show, they knew how big of a deal this was. This is Russell T Davies ! The OG showrunner !! The guy who turned a dead cult TV show into an enormous national, and eventual, international franchise !!! This will be 2008, all over again !!!! RTD was going to save Doctor Who !!!!! Praise be to Russell T !!!!!!

Of course, this did not happen.

It was a pretty dumb call from the conservative crowd to claim RTD was going to swoop in and be their champion. There was truly no reason at all to suspect that he would come back to Doctor Who and not bring his established brand of mindful, inclusive and socially charged writing to the programme. After all, in the years since writing regularly for Doctor Who, Davies produced works like Years and Years and It's a Sin, two incredibly thoughtful though quite different series, the former being a speculative work of science-fiction envisioning the next fifteen years of human history through the eyes of a single family and the latter an intimate and tragic retrospective on the UK AIDS crisis. For a certain crowd of people, this was actually the most appealing aspect of RTD's return. The man was going off the heels of some of his most acclaimed work of all-time, works that spoke to harsh realities of the world we live in and told compelling stories of any number of diverse characters. And, for some people, this was somehow a red flag.

There are longtime fans of a certain generation who have been vocal of RTD's flaws as a social-justice champion from day one. Diamanda Hagan is one such person who comes to mind. I have a great deal of respect for her and her opinions which are often much more articulate and interesting to engage with than my own. If you are unfamiliar, I encourage you seek her out. For the purposes of this article, there are two recent(ish) tweets of hers that I will be citing and the first is as follows;

"[In reference to the polarised reception to The Church on Ruby Road] I continue to be amused by people watching RTD being RTD, now disliking it and thinking that RTD or his work is the one that changed." - December 26, 2023

I would like to use this quote to springboard into a more in-depth discussion of RTD's choices onscreen (strap in, everybody 'cause this'll be more than one post) but, before I do, allow me to note that I find myself only half-agreeing with Hagan's assertion here. Onscreen, Davies' work is distinctly his own. His style has evolved, certainly, insofar as his language and the presentation but the overall package, the flavour and spirit of RTD Who, is much the same as it was from 2005-2010.

But I would insist that something has changed and that something is what Davies is saying behind the scenes and in promo material because, and this is a crucial point, regardless of how 'woke' RTD2 actually is, and we will get into it, he certainly wants you to think that it is. I do not think that this is an out of arrogance or some kind of saviour complex. I don't believe that RTD is sitting at home rubbing his hands and thinking 'hehehe look how progressive everybody thinks I am". No, I think that Russell is drawing attention to how progressive the show is in the media because he genuinely believes in making socially conscious choices and their impact and consequences. He wants audiences to be talking about disability and race and queerness and class and acceptance and bigotry. RTD is asking us to talk about the topics highlighted in his productions.

So, let's do that then....

To be continued in part one; The Regeneration Question and Davros with Legs

*The fact that Chris Chibnall's version of Doctor Who was ultimately lacking in compelling storytelling for most audiences is extremely unfortunate but obviously unrelated to his diverse cast and crew.

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