#I'm both very happy and very much horizontal

[firenati0n]

thank you to everyone for reading / subscribing / commenting on / supporting the full spectrum of human emotion. i am spinning through the comments feeling very warm and mushy and grateful. 💛

i was honestly super afraid to write my first longfic, and y'all made the whole experience worth the many doc-induced freakouts. thank you for sticking with me since december when i first entered the writing space, nervous and sweaty and hopeful...i am so thankful for my little community of friends and readers and lurkers. i am also proud of myself for trying something new!! every fic has been an exercise in experimentation with genres, and that won't stop anytime soon. 😏🥰

anyway. as always, much love. 💛💛💛

[heartofbusan]

Is this right? As long as it's with you, it is.

This great blog post got me thinking 🤔...

It got me thinking about timelines.

I'll be extremely curious to see if, at any point in the show, we get to see them react to the news of their buddy enlistment. That might honestly break the internet.

I wonder if the enlistment played any part in the way the trip is framed at the start, middle and end of it. Because, that news could be like a sword of damocles hanging over their heads for 2/3's of it...

*queue dramatic music*

KM started their travel show in NY in July of 2023.

They went to Jejju, either in August or the end of September.

October is allegedly when they found out they got approved for the buddy program.

We got a happy JK TikTok around this time. I'd insert the gif, but it's hella distracting 😔 he's naked, it's bouncing..and well, I'm only human.

OK FOCUS.

They went Japan, Tokyo and Sapporo in November.

If the first two trips are possible 'last time we get to spend free time together' trips, and the Japan trip is a celebratory one, wouldn't that make the experience that much more loaded?? It would be a different vibe in Japan compared to NY, for sure! But will we see that?? Is that part of the dramatic arc of the story..or is that part of what gets censured to spare the guys their real human feelings for the sake of a friendly buddy travel cop show?

I'm fine either way, but it would feel like a lost opportunity in storytelling. The again, IS STORYTELLING EVEN PART OF THE REASON THEY WENT IN THE FIRST PLACE?

Was the 'spontaneous' nature of the trip, as per Disney really what happened? A curious turn of phrase for bangtan. When have they EVER able to be spontaneous when it comes to work? When it comes down to official content we often joke that BPD has been planning things since 1756.

What do we know, aside from the Disney press blurb? JK himself said on Suchwita that the plans for the trip were formulated rather out of the blue.

I wonder if this 'f*ck it, I guess it's now or never' kind of plan was born out of a real fear of missing out on the other for nearly 2 years. After a year in which the two had both been busy AF, and missing eo AF, they pinned one last hope on togetherness on the buddy program, but if that plan failed to materialize, then they would face a challenge unlike any Jikook have had to face before. Living apart for a year was also new, sure. But being able to beg and plead (while nakey in bed) for the other to come over for drinks, chicken or horizontal tango is quite impossible once you're enlisted.

I'd be very curious to see if this conversation, this fear is talked about during their trip. Because applying for the buddy system was a gamble. Traveling together was a wild plan. It's a type of content we've never seen any of the tannies do before. And once they knew they had it in the bag, that's when they get to breathe easy. That's when it goes from being an excuse, to becoming a statement.

[body-face-words]

"How does it feel to be dating someone who is only five years older than your daughter?"

Below will be the analysis for this question! This is NOT the interview so don't click on it.

Here are just random timestamp for this segment: 3:59 - 5:23

Something to keep in mind for any interview: Michael and David are actors. They know how to act when need be, but they also let many things slip through. It's close to impossible to control and be aware of your body language and facial expressions 100% of the time.

"How does it feel to be dating someone who is only five years older than your daughter?"

Surprised at the question, then thinks about it (you can see it in the video). Because of how his head is positioned, chin tucked, eyes up, the look of surprised isn't all that noticeable, but if his head was positioned normally, then the upper sclera (white part of the eye) would be exposed.

Before he says 'um' there's a flash of a smile. This could mean nervousness, he found the question amusing, or he found the reaction of the people around amusing. Probably the third option.

"Because of the age difference, I think both of us were quite surprised when we got together."

Nods meaning he agrees with the statement. Throughout the interview (and in this statement as well), you'll see Michael raise his brows and open his eyes while staring firmly at the person. This means he's trying to get his point across "I'm telling the truth/This is true."

"I don't think either of us -" shakes head 'no' meaning that his head is being congruent with what he is saying "-were kind of looking for that - it's not like it was the easiest thing to do."

He shrugs ONLY his right shoulder, widens his eyes, blinks multiple times, and looks away; the first incongruency. When only ONE shoulder is raised/shrugged it means the person is lying. To Michael, one of them or both, were looking for the age difference or could be one of them were looking for something else.

The wide eyes, blinks, and loss of eye contact could mean nervousness/fast thinking/ or a mixture of the both with the stuttering he does.

"It's not like I've dated lots of people who were much younger than me."

Shakes his head no multiple time with brows raised and wide eyes - Michael believes he hasn't dated people much younger than him and tries to get his point across ('I'm telling the truth/I'm not hiding anything').

"We were very aware of - you know - what difference there might be and also how people might respond to that."

Frantically nods his head (raised brows & wide eyes) trying to show/prove that they were aware.

"So it's not like it was the easiest thing to do."

Fake smile at the end. The smile stretches horizontally not curving up. As he continues to speak, the smile looks frozen/tense when you look at his lips. The lower eyelids do barely come up, but it doesn't make his eyes noticeably smaller like when he genuinely smiles. There also isn't that softness in his eyes. The 'do' at the end also falls in tone.

"Ultimately (nods) we felt it was worth it because of how we felt about each other-" blinks "and now we have two beautiful children together."

That 'blink' during the pause between sentences, wasn't a blink. They are fast and not very noticeable. What Michal did was noticeable and a lot slower than a blink.

Shutting your eyes, obscuring your vision, or for a 'blink' to last too long mean several things: wanting to disconnect from what is being said/seen, distancing/putting a barrier between ourselves and whatever is causing is discomfort, or waning to disconnect and think about someone else.

Michael doesn't want to see or wants to disconnect from what he's saying and takes a split second to collect himself, then pivots the conversation to his children.

"Yeah I'm really happy." - nods and continues to talk about his children and continues to try and show he's being honest.

"If you find someone who brings you happiness and you make then happy-"

Right shoulder goes up, head turns/leans to the right - he's lying. Because he's indirectly talking about himself and AL, this means Michael doesn't feel that AL alone brings him happiness.

This might just be me so let me know what you see and think: when Michael says "& you make them happy" I see a little head shake (meaning no). He feels/thinks that he doesn't make AL happy.

"-you gotta go - you gotta go for that I think and so that's what we decided to do."

In between these two statements, he licks his lips by curling his lower lip in. Brows are up, eye lids relaxed, and starring off - in this case he's thinking and concentrating.

"That's what we decided to do and I'm so happy we did (said with a dead tone) because we have this wonderful family now."

Shakes head no two times - he's not happy they went for it and doesn't believe they have a wonderful family.

The smile at the end - to me - what caused it was Michael seeing the person smile. They sort of giggled and smile widely. Michael was already looking at them so to me, his smile is a reaction to seeing the other smile.

In conclusion; Michael felt like he was lying a lot. He doesn't think him nor AL make each other happy. He doesn't feel like they have a wonderful family. He does think/feel one or both of them were looking for something when it came to being in a relationship.

Let me know if I missed anything!

[inmate62763]

Thanks for answering some questions about your prison time! I've seen photos of what some British prisons look like and the older ones look really interesting and quite old fashioned!

From within your cell could you see much going on outside? Was there much of a view out of your window?

Hey no problem. Always happy to answer questions and thanks for the message.

Yes apart from when I was on remand, I did most of my full prison sentence in one of the much older built British prisons and was a very old fashioned building. Yes it had been modernised inside to some degree but the fabric and look of the building was still very old. I do actually read quite a bit of the history of UK prisons including the one I was in (HMP Liverpool prison but years ago was also known as HMP Walton prison). Reading up on prison history can be quite interesting.

Regarding the view from my cell window, no couldn't see much really. I moved cells a couple of times whilst I was there but the layout was the same. My cell window was a fairly standard type for older British prisons (I will include some photo examples of the type of window I had if I can find any). My cell window was covered with horizontal barred slats which were original I guess then also vertical steel bars on top of those. During my time there in 2015 and 2016 they also added a extra wire mesh cover to the outside of the cell windows. So no couldn't see that much out. Also I'm quite short and my window was just above head height and my cell window faced onto a closed yard area where the refuse bins were so there wouldn't be much to see anyway. The only other window of sorts in my cell was the little observation window slot in my cell door which officers can open up to look inside but normally when I was in my cell i couldn't see through that because it was closed and locked up shut most of the time.

You did get a reasonable amount of natural light in through the cell window but it could have been better because as I mentioned earlier, over the years they obviously had added extra bars or wire mesh to the windows which impedes natural light a bit more. I will include some photos of what my cell window looked like from both inside and out. These aren't the actual photos of my cell window but are the closest I can find and are virtually the same as what I had so will give you some idea.

[tesseractrave]

The Happy Mask Salesman's design makes me wonderfully crazy, and I have to talk about the way my brain processes it because it's a big part of why I love him so much.

[Analysis is under the cut]

——————————————————————–——

The first detail I'd like to point out would be the color theory.

He has the bluer purple on both his tunic and trousers, or the whole piece if you consider it a jumpsuit (I personally don't draw it as a jumpsuit, but I do admit that it might be the most game-accurate interpretation), and it gives him a very direct foundation and center for the outfit's base.

The vest and shoes are a darker magenta, however, which adds hue variation while staying analogous with his tradmeark purple shades, and the light grey is a value used to balance the more saturated purples as an accent.

The golden accessories are a complimentary (opposite) color to purple, which Nintendo seems to be very adept at in general (cough, Splatoon, cough).

Of course, we can't forget his hair. Whichever specific shade you see it, it's always agreed that the color is at least somewhere along the ginger spectrum. The red, orange, auburn, etc. hues are analogous between the contrasting gold and purple, adding a transitional color to link them.

His skin serves the same purpose with the varied addition of having a lowered saturation and a lighter tone to aid the grey in balancing the depth of the color of his clothes and hair.

Though we unfortunately have no canon answer to what his eye color is, Ember Lab's creative decision to make them green may have been the best choice from a design standpoint because it balances out the purple in his clothing and makes his face stand out more.

The distribution of color in this design as a whole is pretty genius to me, as well.

His hair, being the only part of him that's that ginger color, directs the eyes upward to his face, while the main, deep purple is focused on the direct center.

The gold is arranged widthwise across the center, most heavily on the neck once again to direct the eyes upward while also distributing down to both of his wrists for balance on either side, almost like a scale.

The magenta and grey both run lengthwise down (and wrap around) the center and sit in mostly horizontal detailing at the bottom of his legs like the base of a pillar.

It's not something I added to the example image or spoke about before, but his white teeth in his smile are another aspect that is, of course, very eye-catching for his face and important for his design.

There's also the topic of the geometry.

I'm using my own art as an example because this is the way I interpret it, but the first image is just a breakup of how the edges of each section line up with one another in a way that fans out from the center, and the second image is the addition of marks measuring the estimated centers of each section.

Looking closely, you quickly realize how his gorget makes everything line up geometrically, and as a whole, the design is entirely symmetrical apart from the way his hair is parted, which adds all the asymmetry needed to make him feel natural, albeit incredibly well-groomed and organized.

The color of the inner edge of his vest and the the soles of his shoes is the same as the two rows of stitches running down the front of his torso, which gives the otherwise separately-coloured pieces of the outfit a common detail to link them as a set.

(At one point, I think I had an exact estimation for the number of stitches in each row, but I think I started ignoring it in my art to save my sanity. I know it's on my cosplay, though.)

His gorget and bracers also have a matching scallop pattern (though it seems to be debated on whether the scallops of the bracers face up or down), which adds an additional sense of uniformity.

The majority of details follow the lengthwise median, and everything suggests an overall polished feel and a balanced center of gravity. All in all, it's a fantastic design. I've seen so many wonderful takes and artistic adjustments on it, and I've even made my own, but the character designers at Nintendo really popped off with this one.

[whinlatter]

Also how do you think ginny and Harry's marital life was? Did they get married early?Did Ginny sometimes resent her husband's profession? As a couple do you think they fought often?

Thanks so much for always replying to all the asks so wonderfully! You're so amazing!!!

I think Harry and Ginny's marital life was happy, of course! I think their marriage was a singular source of stability and renewing joy throughout their adult lives. (can you imagine if I was like... nah, it was garbage, divorce)

Without further ado... here's too many words and thoughts on Harry and Ginny's married life and careers, and some fic recs that have helped shape how I think about it dotted throughout. Come for the twee house descriptions, stay for the rant about neoliberal feminism at the end I guess!

On married life and the Potter household:

I love the idea of the Potters presiding over this ramshackle chaos household in big house near the sea, with a great big garden and treehouse for their kids and the cousins and various pets to maraud about all over the place. I actually think quite a lot about the house they'd be in. I love the idea of them building it from scratch, a big house with modern comforts but rustic, cosy, English country features, more horizontal than vertical (kind of farm/barn conversion vibes). In my mind, their house has lots of light, lots of beams and soft wood furnishings, and then a few quirky features and colours that are all Ginny's idea (Luna paints beautiful murals on each of the kids' walls). I imagine their house has lots of big windows with window seats so the adults can sit out and watch the kids play outside. I think the kitchen/dining room would be the heart of the house. Harry's doing the cooking, Ginny's writing at the table, kids are streaming in and out, it's just a real thoroughfare of teenagers and family friends and grandparents streaming through with the wireless on.

On marrying and having kids young:

I do really think Harry and Ginny got married early and had kids young. As I get older I only get more ok with that as a timescale for them. I think the intensity of their wartime experiences, their very involved role as godparents to Teddy (especially thinking maybe it might be nice for Teddy to have younger god-siblings), and their family reference points (both being from families where marrying young is quite normal, and where babies and toddlers are increasingly around a lot) are all factors that lend themselves to these two locking in in their early twenties. The pieces I love most on their marriage/babies etc are all ones that have a lot of humour and spontaneity and walk this gorgeous line between flippancy and total certainty - acesofdiamond's version of their wedding in Arran, Scotland, is canon to me, and also quickfire by flagpoles, on them having a shotgun wedding, is just so so so good and so them.

On Harry's career:

I think Ginny would understand why Harry chose the career he did, but I think it would be a source of tension for them. I'm thinking a lot about this at the minute for some writing (👀), but I think Harry as an adult would have to confront the fact that he intends to keep choosing to get back in the arena and fight Dark magic, this thing he does it to keep the people he loves safe but that also asks so much of the same loved ones who have to watch him do it. I think Ginny would try to push him to see that, but I don't think those would be easy conversations, and I do think it would be one of the things they argue most about on the occasions when they do, properly, fight. On the day to day, things they bicker over include: whose fault it is that the house is a mess (obviously it's both of them, plus the three messy children those two messy kids created); whose fault it is that the Potters are literally always late to everything (Harry blames Ginny, Ginny says the only reason he was ever on time before was because of Hermione, and he chose not to marry the punctual one so he just has to lump it); and Ginny losing her wand around the house/not keeping her wand on her (it takes Harry a long time to say it, but he's always just thinking of James on the sofa the night he died).

On Ginny's career:

I know this is a bit controversial, but I'm honestly happy with the idea of Ginny quitting playing professional Quidditch young. I think she quits after she has James, or maybe between Albus and Lily, so by the time she's about twenty four, twenty five. This is a bit of a soapbox one for me, and maybe one day I'll write about it in some form, but I think there's quite a lot to be said for freeing yourself from being accountable to career decisions and dreams you once had for yourself when you were seventeen, especially career plans that served as escape hatches from traumatic teen years (for the same reason, I like the idea of Ron quitting the Aurors after a few years). I think, as teenagers, we imagine futures for versions of ourselves we haven't met yet. Renegotiating your hopes and aspirations for yourself can be a real sign of growth; holding yourself hostage to who you thought you'd be can make you very miserable.

Relatedly, I do think Ginny in her mid-twenties might have a different relationship to her playing Quidditch than she has a teen. I think lot of her wanting to play professionally is about her having something to prove (I have also totally adopted the headcanon from this fantastic piece on Ginny wanting to be outdoors and in the air as a rejection of the chamber). It feels right to me that Ginny might reconsider her attitude to physical risk and injury by her mid-twenties, particularly if her children are watching her play an extremely dangerous sport week-in week out. I also think she might reconsider how much time she wants to spend away from her family. I wonder if Ginny would also develop a different relationship to the sport outside of a school context, especially the press scrutiny and the big business of sport on the outside. We know that when she quits playing, it's not the end of her professional life, and I think her writing about the sport, and being a voice in the culture of the sport but also in the Wizarding World at large, makes a ton of sense for her. But I think it's good to change jobs because what you want for yourself changes, and I really think it's not a feminist failing to want to spend time with your family and to look for jobs that are interesting and help give your life meaning but that also let you have a family life. It's boardroom girlboss neoliberal nonsense feminism that says wanting to spend time with your friends and family is less of a route to happiness than climbing up some horrendous hyper-individualist career ladder in pursuit of success (especially, in Ginny's case, in professional sport, where careers only ever end on a downturn).

Thank you anon for wanting to hear me bang on about all of this!

Fics mentioned here include:

dancing on to your heartbeat by aceofdiamonds - H/G wedding fic

quick-fire by flagpoles - H/G proposal and pregnancy fic

Little Sugar Men by dopeythedwarf - H/G, on Ginny and flying

[dead-rabbit-comics]

i have found the problems i was anticipating or maybe they have found me.

sidenote: was hoping this colour would be a little more olive and a little less military, i'll see what i can do about that. that'll be interesting.

anyways since everything was going very well i decided to change the tie-up to a satin - because i can weave that now!! exciting!!

as you can maybe tell from the photo, it works. but i have trouble with the last shaft, which wants to have its neutral position lower than everyone else. it's pulling down. i suspected this might be correlated with the cords of the last shaft/last treadle holes being taught, while all others have progressively more slack towards the front. so in rest position, these last cords are what hold the treadles up from the floor, the treadles rest on these cords, ergo the last shaft pulling down.

my non-weaving friend suggested yesterday that this might be an issue of me being perfectionistic and having reached a workable shed, to work with what i have achieved. that this tie-up may in fact be impossible to improve. however, i strongly feel it is not good enough to have a solution that: has a single treadle sticking up too high (making it difficult to operate) as well as a shed that is just barely workable. countermarch looms became widely used because they could do the exact thing i'm trying to do here (says allen fannin)

He also describes the issue i'm having quite nicely when talking about the balance required for the countermarch system and then he says this:

"[...] the weight of the treadles equalizes the pull on the ties to both the riser and sinker lamms, thereby canceling the resultant movement of a differential force between risers and sinkers."

when talking about how the treadles need be ≥ the weight of the harness.

overall i still don't feel like i quite understand. i suppose i can try taking out all the connections to the last shaft and see what happens. ok have tried that, 1 is still hanging low, 2 has joined it. uhm. conclusion?

the way i understand the countermarch system now, or try to picture it, is as a scale. the sinking and rising of each shaft is related to a piece of wood with a hole in the middle: when at rest, it should be horizontal. when you pull down on one end, the other rises and vice versa. to control this, both ends are attached to an upper and a lower lamm - one will raise the shed, one will lower it. which is pretty cool! because now you can make connections between these lamms and the treadles to store any combination of rising and sinking shafts. once i have done that tie-up, i can now step on the treadle, which will pull down the combination i have selected, which in turn brings up the remainder of the unconnected combination of lamms. yay, shed!

so anyways, i'm spending a lot of time sitting and staring and contemplating pivot points and feeling how much force it takes to lift pieces at different points and sighing a lot and generally feeling a little like the worlds dumbest creature. but we'll see.

in a way i am also happy to run into this issue, because if it just works, there's nothing to fix and i always feel like i don't really understand what's going on when that happens? i genuinely do prefer trying to work through issues rather than gliding along seamlessly (because that's where the learning happens yes, but also) because that is concrete, then the things i don't know take form and i can prod at their edges and try to get an idea of the shape of what i don't know. whereas if i'm unaware of not knowing something i certainly won't be able to do anything about it.

[kimberly-stocks]

I have a literati prompt! 😁 Jess and Rory’s movie dates or the distillers concert date. We never got to see or hear much about their dates so this would be so cute to read (damn you Amy!)

The Distillers concert is gonna be in the next chapter of Thing I'd never say, so I'm not gonna write that as a prompt. But their movie dates is a fair game 😎 so here it is, a little vignette or whatever it is, about their movie date from season 3, when Lane said they were a cute agoraphobic couple.

Movie date

They were watching Almost famous, again. After the third time Rory lost count how many times they've seen this movie. But Jess loved it, it made him happy, so she didn't mind, even though she put on a show of being annoyed with it. She suspected he could see right through her act, but it was just a game they played, a little ritual of theirs both of them enjoyed. And really, how can you not enjoy a movie date with Jess? Rory was snuggling against his side on the couch in her living room, full on delicious indian food, warm and content. His sweater soft against her cheek, her arms wrapped around his middle. She wasn't paying attention to the screen, but to the boy in her arms. Her ear was pressed against his chest listening to the steady beat of his heart. They were well into the second half of the movie, so their postures slacked, he was slouching, and she was on her way to horizontal. This moment in their movie dates was her favorite, because he was fully relaxed, comfortable, and she felt really close to him, and very warm and cozy, and it felt like she could spend forever just wrapped around him like this. It was this lazy post-dinner sluggishness where they could just relax against each other and just be. No witnesses, no crazy townies, just them, Rory and Jess.

She felt him kiss the top of her head, and smiled to herself. This tender side of Jess that rarely came out was something she cherished dearly. She entwined her fingers with his, and he immediately went to stroke her palm and thumb softly, sending goosebumps up her arms. As much as she loved these tender moments with Jess she couldn't deny the physical reaction her body had to his touch. Maybe one day one of these movie nights will turn into something different entirely. One day when he's not working so much, and she doesn't have a lot of homework, one day she'll be ready for more. And it will be amazing. She was sure of that.

[fizzingwizard]

Played the Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley demo

teehee will the real Snufkin please stand up??

First of all the art and music are so gorgeous. The watercolor effect and paper texture are enchanting. I felt soothed just watching the intro. It's very moomin-y and made me remember how I felt when I first discovered the books. When you walk through puddles, there's the sound of splashing water, and when you cross a log bridge, it sounds like hollow wood. Ideal vibe.

I did try *cough* to jump off the cliffs and stuff... but no, you can't kill yourself in this game, bahahaha. Unsurprising but Idk I've played Sims too long and "how can I kill everyone" has become my modus operandi. Not even Moomins are safe.

You pretty much just use space bar, S, and A, so playing was easy. I encountered some trouble when jumping at times, but Idk if that was jumps being glitchy or just me still getting the hang of it.

Snufkin in this is freakishly strong. Able to carry rocks while jumping across a rushing river and push a giant boulder around. Superstrength!! But it is a lot of fun, really, running and jumping everywhere, climbing things... I got stuck at one point where you have to climb behind a waterfall, because I didn't think you could climb horizontally!

Now this game stars Snufkin, but don't be fooled, it's really a Snufkin roast. You watch Teety-woo (who is leading the tutorial basically) follow Snufkin around getting ignored for ages x'D and he's so complimentary the whole time that it morphs into an insult. The rest of the time, in the name of helping, he does a lot of nothing and you stop feeling bad about ignoring him bahahahaha.

Your "mighty" harmonica x'D has the ability to calm and charm other creatures and make them fall in love with you. I don't care what anyone says, I love this whole music therapy angle. I also like finding inspiration in random bushes. It WAS a bit weird to use the harmonica on this Creep only so he could give me a boost up the cliff lol what was wrong with stacking rocks?

But the harmonica's best use is DEFINITELY hypnotizing birds and then launching them at a target. Who need guns when you have birds?? Seriously this was way too much fun, who knew Looney Tunes humor would be this amusing to me as a full grown adult :P

You get quests, like "rescue all the baby birds." But whenever you feel like it you can fuck off and go fishing for a while. Sorry mama! I didn't notice any game-related effect from it, like catching actual fish. So idk if that's the way it's meant to be, for relaxing, or if I'm just stupid.

I was a little confused when I got like three quests and didn't see how I'd made any progress on any of them. Then all of a sudden the mama bird, who says "woo" when she's sad and "teety" when she's happy, led to the completion of the "Find a name" quest. And I love Teety-woo praising the existential beauty of his own name, and then fucking off to pay some bills. The great Snufkin who?? I've got responsibilities!

Oh no... signs! Oh no... a park! Being asked to look after it is pretty funny! But the ensuing complete and total property destruction is even funnier!

Not even kidding, Snufkin demolishes this park. It was really fun! This game isn't hard, but for someone who doesn't play games, it wasn't too mindlessly simple for me either. I enjoyed dodging the park keepers, launching birds at their heads, and yeeting signs into oblivion.

And we end with the discovery that Moominvalley has dried up and Moomintroll is nowhere to be found! An excellent prologue. I'm definitely looking forward to this game. I like the idea of a game that has both relaxing elements and more energetic ones without being too terribly kiddie (of course it's perfect for kids, I'm just saying, as an adult, I wasn't bored), as well as one that is whimsical and silly without losing emotional depth, with manageable, personal stakes. The demo definitely didn't take me very long to get through and I have no idea how long the full game will be. But long or short, the story seems promising.

[pbandjesse]

We really got a lot out of our Saturday. We lived so many lives. And I am so excited to be horizontal. We both have blisters on our feet and are way to much at dinner. But it was such a wonderful day.

I struggled to fall asleep last night. But it wasn't terrible sleep. I woke up a few times. But Jess let me sleep while she got up and got dressed. I appreciated that.

When I woke up at 8 I would take a quick shower and got dressed. I felt cute. My hair looked great this morning but would get wild from the humidity and fog outside. That's alright. I was feeling pretty good. Not terribly nauseous. I was in a good mood.

We went for breakfast at Uncle Bill's pancake house. And it was a nice walk over there. We got sat right away and the food was very good. But man did my stomach hurt. I seem to be back to only being able to eat half of meals. But I enjoyed people watching and seeing the fog outside and talking to Jess.

We made a plan for the day. After breakfast we would go get Jess a coffee and then walk through the Octoberfest market for a preview for later. Then we would go back to the car to drive out to the farm. And then when we got back we would go to the beach.

And this ended up being such a lovely morning. Breakfast was good. The walk back was a little tough. But it was fine. My thighs hurt so we would pop into the hotel to put Jess's leftovers in the fridge and I could throw some shorts on under my dress. It was 100% the correct choice and made me way more comfortable.

The farm was barely 10 minutes away. And it was so precious. We would park and there were chickens running around everywhere. We would look through the farm market. Jess and me would pick up a few things before we left. Jams and things. But first we went to feed some pigs some turnips and radishes. They were so cute. Stinky but cute.

On the walk out of there I found a snake sticking out of a log! A grey rat snake. It was such a good find.

We walked around the gardens and it was so pretty. They were getting ready for a wedding to do there was some set up for that happening and it was so cute.

We went back to the farm store. Where I found an adorable green tree frog. I wanted so much to share him with others and I stopped an older couple to show them and they were so excited and it made me feel so good. Such a cute little froggie.

After we got our little treats we went to feed the chickens. They had quarter machines for feed and so Jess got her little handful of feed and let the chickens eat out of her hand. They only picked her a little. She was so happy and it was so cute.

We left there and headed back to the hotel to get changed for the beach. And it was still foggy and grey but warmer. And it was perfect for most of the first hour we were on the beach. I would go run in the water up to my knees. The storm last night made the current really strong so it was a bit to dangerous to actually go in it but this was fun.

I read a couple chapters of my book. Jess had her book too. And eventually I would lay out a towel and lay down. But the sun came out!! And it was so hot.

Jess went back to the hotel to get sunscreen. And I'm glad she did because the sun was a bit intense. It was also a little hot. So around noon we packed up and decided to go sit in the pool back at the hotel.

This was awesome. I'm so glad we got a hotel with a pool. No one else was there. And it was really cold but we got used to it pretty quick and just enjoyed sitting on the steps and talking and it was great. One of the owners of the place came over and chatted with us about Octoberfest. We said we were going to go over there after the pool. And that's just what we did.

I noticed that Jess was starting to get a little red. And we both ended up with some sunburn. Her on her arms and chest and me on my back. But it's not to bad. Just a little uncomfortable.

We got back inside and showered and got dressed to go over to the market. And it was great.

We would walk straight through the festival first so we could go to the fancy ice cream shop Jess liked last time we were there. And on the walk there I saw someone eating a soft pretzel with mustard and a diet coke and I was like. That's what I want. I need that.

So after ice cream (Jess got honey lavender) we went to find the pretzels and I was so happy. It was everything I wanted.

And we went to buy my teddy bear a new dress. And it turned out it was from the same lady I bought his other dress from like 8 years ago. So cool. And she was a really nice guy.

It was pretty busy and hot. But it was really fun. I really enjoyed my time there and looking around. But we would both get pretty worn down in the sun. So after I got a sticky bun parfait, we headed back to the hotel.

When we got back here we would strip down and put the AC on and we were both so overheated and exhausted. We had enjoyed walking around and looking at the houses but I ended up with a blister on the top of my foot and I had to take my sandals out to walk back for most of the walk. And when we got back here I just felt really bad. I tried my best to cool off. Braided my wild hair to get it off my neck and out of my face. And we would lay down.

I fell asleep for a bit. And we would watch TikToks and chill for a few hours.

And then around 6 we got ready to go to dinner.

We would go to the fancy marina place we went to last time we were here. Where Jess had gotten oysters. And it was just so ridiculously pretty as the sun went down. Everything around us smelled so good. The only real issue I had was our waiter sucked. He just never checked on us.

Jess's margarita was incredibly weak but he never came back so she walked herself to the bar. Our appetizers were great. I got a whipped feta and pita and she got oysters. Including their fall blueberry ones which were very fancy. But then there was a full half an hour before our mains came out. And they were not amazing.

My salad was super wet. Jess's muscles were small and sandy. But at least the fries were good. But he never came back to check on us. And when he finally dropped the check it took almost ten minutes for him to come back to get it. It was just so weird.

But I still had fun. We were just both overly stuffed and ready to go back to the hotel and lay down.

And that's just what we are doing. My stomach hurts still but I will sip some water and hopefully it'll calm down soon.

Tomorrow we are going to an antique store and then the zoo. I'm excited. I haven't been to this zoo since I was a kid and I had really positive memories of it so I hope it holds up. I also just hope it's a fun day. And then we will go home.

I miss James a lot. And I'm really glad this has been such a lovely trip but I'm glad it's short. I miss my husband to much.

Now though it is time for rest. I hope you all have a great night. Sleep good.

[paperstorm]

I'm skipping this missing moment because I don't like d/s stuff, but I just want to say thank you for always giving the fandom nice things with your fic and your kind words, they make the difficult days so much brighter for everyone 💜

Very fair! I will say it’s very light d/s, but totally respect if you want to skip. I will include the last few lines below a cut because the set up at the end of this fic is all you really need to know for the plot going forward

“Hey.”

Carlos looks up, moves further back up the bed when he finds TK’s eyes a little shiny.

Softly, TK blinks at him and whispers, “I just … really, really love you.”

“Oh.” Emotion blooms in Carlos and he strokes TK’s face, lowering his hips again so they can kiss. “Yeah. I really, really love you, too.”

“It’s good, right? Lately?” TK asks.

“The best,” Carlos confirms.

“You’re happy?”

Swallowing, Carlos takes one of TK’s hands gently and moves it. TK wraps both arms around his neck, pulling Carlos into a tight, horizontal hug. Carlos inhales him, nose tucked into TK’s neck where his familiar scent is the strongest.

With so much honesty it nearly chokes him, Carlos answers, “I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my whole life.”

“You are?” TK’s eyes glitter like it’s the best news he’s ever heard, and that has thunderous applause exploding in Carlos’s heart.

“Yeah. I am.”

[cometomecosette]

Review: Les Misérables, US National Tour, Orpheum Theatre, San Francisco (July 15, 2023) (long)

This review is very late, but better late than never.

This was my first time seeing Les Mis live onstage since 2018. While YouTube has kept me well supplied with performances in the meantime, I was overjoyed to finally see it live again.

The production, of course, is still Laurence Connor and James Powell's "25th Anniversary" production that premiered in 2009, and which is now the official "replica" production all over the world. My views on it are still the same: it can't hold a candle (or a silver candlestick) to the original Trevor Nunn/John Caird production, but it's still effective, still handsome and atmospheric, and still a good, solid way to experience the musical.

I did notice some changes from when I last saw the show, however:

*Once again, I noticed that a few costumes have been redesigned. The convicts' uniforms now feature historically accurate red smocks. Fantine's factory dress has been redesigned yet again (not to my liking – I preferred the solid turquoise dress from the previous tour). Mme. Thénardier now wears a red bodice at the inn. Éponine no longer wears her overcoat before Act II. Both Thénardiers' "Beggars at the Feast" costumes have also been slightly altered: her skirt is now trimmed with a pattern of ruffles instead of feathers, and his trousers are slightly less poofy (both improvements, IMHO – the costumes are still gaudy, but not cartoonish anymore). And in the final scene, Éponine's spirit now wears a floor-length version of her overcoat, giving her a subtly more "angelic" look, much like the train added to Fantine's nightgown.

*There seemed to be more spoken ad-libs from the cast than I remember from past performances. Not to the extent of, say, the 2014 North Shore Music Theatre production, but notable. For example, this exchange between the Thénardiers just before "Master of the House": Thénardier – What time is it? Mme. T. – Time to get to work! Thénardier – There she is! My daily reminder that you can be happy, or you can be married!

*The "Waltz of Treachery" gave comic business to Young Cosette, of all people! On "That would quite fit the bill..." the Thénardiers picked her up and held her horizontally, stiff as a board, and then on "...if she hadn't so often been ill," she dramatically went limp. It seemed as if they had trained her to play sick in this way, presumably to earn charity from rich travelers. I didn't care for it, though: Young Cosette isn't a character who lends herself to slapstick comedy.

*Grantaire didn't scream "No!" when Gavroche was killed. Instead the whole barricade went deathly silent, as they used to in the old days of the classic Nunn/Caird production. I'm not sure if this was a change in direction or just an acting choice, but I'm assuming the former, because every past Grantaire I've seen or heard in the Connor/Powell production has done the "No!"

*The gag from the previous tour of Mme. Thénardier stuffing her face with cake in the wedding scene is gone. Just as well: it was goofy slapstick at best and fatphobic at worst.

*In "Beggars at the Feast," instead of "This one's a queer, but what can you do?" Thénardier sang "This one's a queer. I might try it too!" then grabbed the man and "romantically" dipped him.

One thing I definitely like about the current tour is the commitment to diverse casting, which wasn't seen nearly as much in the classic Nunn/Caird production until its last few years. In this particular performance, Jean Valjean, Fantine, Marius, Éponine, Cosette (both older and young), and Gavroche were all people of color.

But of course, diverse casting would mean little if the performers didn't give good quality performances. Fortunately they all did. Some performances I liked better than others, but there was no denying how talented the whole cast was.

Randy Jeter (Jean Valjean u/s)

How ridiculous it is that in the musical's 37 years of existence, this man is only the third black actor to play Jean Valjean in an official Cameron Mackintosh production! While I was a little disappointed at first not to see Nick Cartell again, I'm very glad now that I saw Randy. His voice was rich, clear, and alternately powerful and sweet: excellently suited to the music. And he did full justice to Valjean's journey, with all its transformations and wide range of emotions, making every one of the believable. My only reservation about his performance was that physically, he was a little bit youthful and slight for the role. I hope that either in this tour or in future productions, more people get a chance to see his Valjean.

Preston Truman Boyd (Javert)

One of the best of the last several Javerts I've seen live. He was a solid, imposing stage presence, who sang with a rich, handsome baritone voice with a bite to it that almost recalled Philip Quast, and was an appropriately inexorable force of the law until he was ultimately broken. I was relieved that he wasn't too aggressive or neurotic, but gave a traditional, hard and stolid characterization.

Haley Dortch (Fantine)

A lovely and passionate Fantine, with a beautiful, powerful voice. Past Fantines whom I've seen in the Connor/Powell production have tended to be slightly too delicate and passive for my taste, so I was glad to see her bring a good amount of fire to the role.

Matt Crowle (Thénardier)

A talented, enthusiastic performer, but not quite ideal for this role. Besides seeming slightly youthful for the part (not uncommon), he was a flamboyant comic Thénardier, without the edge of nastiness or realism that other actors bring. Still, as I discovered from an interview, he's read the novel, and he did do a good job of creating a ferret-like stage presence and a "scratchy, vermin-like voice" (in his own words). I've seen better, but he was fine.

Christina Rose Hall (Madame Thénardier)

A decent Mme. T., but like her onstage husband, she wasn't as nasty as she could have been. This might have been intentional on her part, though: she often seemed as if she was trying to play a more sympathetic, comically put-upon Thénardiess. But to make that portrayal fully work, I think her husband should have been more of a domineering emotional bully than Matt's Thénardier was. Overall she was good, but both Thénardiers needed more of an edge.

Christine Heesun Hwang (Éponine)

A good Éponine whom I'd like to see again sometime. Her voice was rich and powerful, and while she wasn't particularly wild or gritty, she brought good, solid toughness to the role that I like to see, as well as plenty of feeling. Her "On My Own" went beyond mere pining into desperation, as if she were on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and "A Little Fall of Rain" was beautifully gentle and tender.

Christopher James Tamayo (Marius u/s)

I liked him very much. His voice was a warm, rich baritenor, which I prefer to the thin, high tenors of so many recent Marii. His characterization was excellent too: gentlemanly and dignified, yet youthful, innocent, and tender, and believable in all his many emotions. He deserves to be the regular Marius, not just an understudy, either in this tour someday or in a future production.

Devin Archer (Enjolras)

Until after the show, I had forgotten that I saw him as Marius in a regional production back in 2015. He's definitely grown up nicely from a Marius into an Enjolras. While too "human" and "manly" to be Hugo's "marble lover of liberty," he was an appropriately strong, dignified, courageous leader, staunchly dedicated to the cause, yet a caring friend too, with a reserved yet commanding stage presence and a handsome, powerful voice to match.

Addie Morales (Cosette)

Good, but not a favorite. Her voice was light, pure, and slightly thin, but pretty. Acting-wise, she was a very lively, bubbly Cosette, often giggly in Act I, and an angry "rebellious teen" toward Valjean (though still with all-important moments of affection). I used to favor that characterization because it made Cosette "stronger," but now I have mixed feelings about it, because it's not really true to her upbringing or to the novel. Still, as a whole, she was good.

Ciaran Bowling (Grantaire u/s)

In a US tour performance, I wasn't expecting to see a British veteran of the London production who also had a minor role in the 2012 film! But he was a welcome presence: appropriately funny and boisterous in "Red and Black," angry and despairing in "Drink With Me," and touching in his reconciliation with Enjolras and his death.

(Though I must admit, I'm not the biggest fan of the current staging of Grantaire's "Drink With Me" solo, where he goes to center stage, sings the solo angrily and aggressively, and then pushes Enjolras away when the latter tries to talk to him. It annoys me that every replica-production Grantaire now performs it that way. I miss the variety from the old days, when individual actors and resident directors were allowed to do what they liked with that moment and bring all sorts of different emotions and nuances to it.)

Milo Maharlika (Gavroche)

An excellent, lively, likable young presence.

(I do like the fact that in the current staging, Gavroche is everyone's emotional support at the barricade, comforting both Marius after Éponine's death and Grantaire in "Drink With Me.")

Vivian Atencio (Young Cosette)

An appropriately sweet little girl.

The ensemble was excellent all around.

Going to see this performance was such a wonderful experience. It would have been a thrill no matter what, because I've been waiting five years to see the show in person again, but the good performance quality made it truly shine. I hope that within the next few months, while the show is still in California – most likely when it comes to San José in October – I can see it again.

[tokidokitokyo]

Hello!

I saw the word "誤植" in one of your recent post and I have a question, hope it's ok ;;; I checked both the kanji on Jsho, how the kanji are written, each one presents two different forms of writing. It's not the first time I noticed this and I know it's because a form of a kanji can change based on the writing font (on pc/different sites/how it is written by hand). The question is, usually, what is the most acceptable form of the two? If a japanese person were to write "誤植" down for example, would they write this version we can see here on Tumblr? Or the other version? Is there a version that is preferable to study over the other? (I'm studying both but it can be a bit confusing sometimes when these versions differs much)

I hope I'm making sense and that I'm not bothering, thank youu and have a nice day~

Hello, thanks for your ask! I'm always happy to answer questions if I can ^.^

If I understand your question correctly, I think you are talking about the difference between writing the character in handwriting and how it appears when you type it on the screen, particularly for the kanji 誤. (The handwriting for 植 is a little less noticeable of a difference, but the following applies to this character too!)

When you type it on the screen it looks like:

誤

However, when you write it by hand it looks like:

So why do they look different?

Well, to put it rather simply, the typed character is a font, whereas the handwritten one comes from calligraphy.

If you study Japanese formally, stroke order is emphasized quite a bit. The stroke order for characters is generally top to bottom and left to right. So when you write you learn the handwritten form, such as the one you find in the clip above from my dictionary app.

When you read the character in a text, however, it is a typographical font and sometimes they are changed from handwriting. The gonben radical on the left side of this particular kanji (言 = gonben radical, "word" radical) is not written by hand as it appears in a font. Therefore if you write it by hand as the font shows, your handwritten character will look off (and your Japanese teacher will circle it in red ^^;).

There are certain characters that appear differently in fonts than they do handwritten, so it's best to check how to handwrite a kanji when you are learning. You can often do this in a dictionary app on your mobile or you can always look it up online. There are rules with writing kanji that you pick up along the way, such as the first stroke of the 誤 character that looks horizontal but is actually written in a downwards left to right motion.

A quick example: 人 vs 入:

When typed, the characters for person (人) and enter (入) can look very similar (depending on font), but when handwritten (above) they look very different. You can also see the difference in stroke order.

Whereas sometimes when typed (above) the font can make them appear very similar.

Another Example:

Here is another difference in typewritten vs handwritten kanji:

...

So, in the end, basically it's like writing letters by hand vs typing them out. Fonts can do strange things to certain kanji and sometimes kanji can appear very different when compared in handwriting vs typing, so be aware!

I hope this helps ^.^

[drstonetrivia]

Chapter 214 Trivia

The two-part connected covers are so cool, I'm happy we got two colored ones in a row!

There's a sneaky rat (or mouse?) on the cover! Unfortunately I have zero idea what this could be alluding to. It could be nothing, or it could be implying that Ukyo (same colors) is the t(ra)i(t)or…

The inside of Xeno's scar is also colored white! New petri-scar theories?

The name of the chapter is a reference to the Earth Defense Force (地球防衛軍) video game series. Its plot is that radio waves from deep space are picked up by scientists on Earth, and a multinational military is formed afterwards in case the aliens are hostile. Sound familiar?

Suika's helmet has a top part! I am wondering where it appeared from though.

Before this moment, they'd always revived whole statues. If it's possible to revive an incomplete statue, and the missing pieces don't grow back as part of the healing effect of the depetrification, it means it's not the end for someone if they're missing a limb.

Senku is using his arm wrappings to pick up the device. I wonder why he suddenly felt the need to use them…

When glass containing a vacuum breaks, the pieces get sucked in along with the air suddenly filling the space at very high speeds. They then smash into the middle before shattering outwards again. Think of what happens when you drop a rock into a bucket of water!

You may have noticed that the resulting glass doesn't quite follow what should have happened there, so the other possible option for how the glass shattered is thermal shock. Cracks of this type begin perpendicularly to the edge of it, which we can sort of see here.

In both cases, glass would have ended up on the inside of the container, but we see none. Could the medusa's pressure wave have thrown all the glass away from itself? And if that's the case, why are the glass walls still standing?

Chelsea: somehow stealing Suika's job and traits as much as possible. Why is it detective Gen!? Bring back detective Suika!

There's now a third boat donning the "Perseus" name: Perseus D. Monkey. This one is heavily inspired by One Piece, specifically the protagonist Monkey D. Luffy. The head of the ship is painted like a monkey: a reference to One Piece, the steam gorilla, and the old Perseus design.

The ship design itself is a smaller, more maneuverable version of the original Perseus. It's also a hybrid with an engine, and rather than having the whole mast rotate, they've designed it as a sailboat with a rotating boom.

The Kagoshima prefecture mine they probably went to is the Kushikino mine, which is the only one that has selenium-silver ores (naumannite & aguilarite), but also has ores containing both arsenic and tellurium. Because the area is volcanic, there's likely several skarn deposits.

Kagoshima's mines are in fact most known for their gold deposits, so Senku is probably finding more to replenish Chrome's gold stash.

Senku's video camera tube is based off Japan's saticon from 1973. The "SAT" in its name is derived from "SeAsTe"; the symbols for the selenium, arsenic and tellurium used on its photoconductive (not photoelectric) surface.

Remember the fax machine from chapter 207, how Senku said matching up the timing was important? Well the horizontal distortion in the image here is exactly the same concept: the horizontal lines are shifted to the left or right due to minor errors.

Before anyone says that Whyman can hack their television signal from the moon, remember that these are basically cable TVs, where you'd have to rewire it for a new input if you wanted it to display a different image. Anything sneaky would have to be an inside job…

We have the (Stan)Lee vs Xeno baseball game happening on the field outside the castle. Since the ball smashes through the window of the TV room, and the world record for longest baseball hit distance is 177m, you can tell the batters take after Stanley. (They can.)

A reference to 20th Century Fox, one of the many names for one of the biggest American film studios.

Obviously, the 58th is a reference to their current year.

We got a better location on the computer's house, it's a lot closer to Roppongi than I first thought! I wonder how close it is to Senku's grave and Tsukasa's pile of statues that he wanted to revive…

[scenetocause]

NOT to be greedy but i would kill & die for ur take on max & lando informing the following people about the impending baby: 1) jon malvern 2) tom bale 3) random f1 driver of your choice (lewis? daniel??)

o alright then

(mpreg, some nsfw, ambiguously trans max)

This - they should have known this plan was not going to work. What was supposed to happen was Max just saying he was driving and so couldn't drink on Oli's birthday . Except Oli had immediately said he'd get them a cab and fuck the money, let's have a big one and then they had to think fast, which neither of them is good at so Lando just got them a hotel room and then got distracted by the bed.

Which is why their back-up plan was Lando drinks all of Max's drinks too. It is, Max is coming to realise, possibly the worst plan in history. He's managed to dispatch a couple into plant pots and one into the sink in the loo and Oli's drunk enough now not to notice.

The problem is Lando is also so drunk he's quite hard to control. And Max would kind of like to go back to their room and sleep because he's crotchety and tired and drunk Lando is just unbelievably annoying at the best of times.

Which is what makes him make a huge mistake and leave Lando with Tom while he goes to the loo because apparently he can't drink more than half a glass of water without needing a piss, these days.

When he gets back, Tom looks a) very drunk, b) confused and c) like he's scrutinising Max. To be fair, the second two of those can be explained by the first but something about the way Lando looks both deliriously happy and sort of sheepish tells him some kind of shit has gone down and it's 2am and he wants to go home.

"Alright, what the fuck?"

"I mean..." Tom takes a big swig of a drink he definitely doesn't need. "I mean, I could say that - I didn't know you were. Y'know, that Lando had. I thought you were just-"

"Lando," Max hardly ever uses his real name to him and he knows it's a bit of a mum tactic to do it when he's telling him off but, well, whatever, they're going to be dads soon aren't they?

"I'm sorry!" Lando hiccups pathetically and it's nearly enough to make Max forgive him except he is hormonal and he can already guess what's happened here. "I just - I love you and. And I wanna tell people and it just, I'm really drunk."

Lando emphasises it by falling over and only just catching himself on the table, before reaching a sticky hand for Max. "You're just soooooo-"

There's a very strong possibility something absolutely terrible is going to come out of Lando's mouth, so Max shuts him up with his. It's a bit reckless, given they're in public but Lando's apparently in the mood to make announcements.

Except Lando's mouth somehow tastes of pineapple and ginger beer and at least three types of alcohol and Max has to reel back immediately and cough. "Jesus, what have you been drinking?"

"Everything," Lando says, woefully and slumping on the table. "I'm gonna feel so bad."

Tom is looking at them like he's making calculations except he's too drunk to make the maths add up and Max is too tired to help him. "Mate, I'm gonna take Bob somewhere to throw up. Speak to you tomorrow?"

He gets a nod, Tom looking like he hasn't blinked for several minutes and Max manages to shoulder Lando enough to find their jackets and maneuver him out. Thank fuck their room's only a walk away, Max trying to stop Lando tripping him up before he manages to get him into the lift and then onto the bed.

"Max.," Lando sounds very small. "I'm sorry. I tried to drink all the- I wanted to, I like you so much."

Max sighs. "I like you too, buddy. But you gotta brush your teeth before bed or I'm gonna throw up more than you."

Lando hiccups, in reply. Wobbles to his feet and takes some steps towards the bathroom. He's just about to shut the door when he turns back and goes. "Maxy, no one's thrown up more than you."

He throws a pillow at the door and finally, finally gets into bed, instantly feeling better for being horizontal.

Max wakes up with Lando curled round his back, holding him and if it hadn't been so sweaty he could've forgotten they're going to need to share toilet time this morning, Lando groaning as soon as Max unlocks his phone.

There's a text from Tom, which doesn't really surprise him but it's from this morning, not last night, so actually contains coherent words not just a symbol keysmash.

Should've said congrats to you and Bob. Gotta let me be a godfather.

Max is too close to the time he's gonna need to throw up to reply to that, so just rolls over a bit, into Lando. "Y'know you told Tom we're having a baby?"

"Yhhh." Lando sighs. "We are."

-

Lando agonises over it, for some reason. Says it's not his thing to tell Jon and Jon doesn't really need to know, except that Jon sort of has to know everything about Lando and also clearly has guessed something is up with the way Lando keeps having to make time for things and then Max is suddenly moving to Monaco.

He doesn't want to credit Lando with having taken one for the team by getting blasted and telling Tom but maybe it is Max's turn. And Tom knowing has helped, it's taken the teasing down a notch and let Max relax a bit more, not feel like he has to wear baggy clothes or can't go swimming.

There's a lazy morning (well, for him) in Monaco when he gets out of bed late and realises Lando must be in the office on a Zoom call, finds Jon sitting in the lounge. He's fairly confident he doesn't need to explain why he just walked out of Lando's bedroom because Jon seems easily intelligent enough to count the number of rooms in a small flat and do that particular bit of maths but he does hesitate for a second, only wearing a robe that sort of makes it obvious.

In the end, Lando's been saying it's his to tell and he doesn't think Jon's judgemental enough to be an ass about this, so he walks across to the breakfast bar, starts trying to find a mug in the dishwasher.

Jon looks up at him and gives him a grin, friendly as ever and then Max straightens up and. He could just be getting fat, to someone who didn't recognise anatomy but Jon does, knows what Max's body looks like, knows he doesn't normally have a small curve from his crotch to his waist.

To his credit, he doesn't stare at it, looks more like he's filed it away somewhere in wherever he keeps information about Lando. Just says "hey" and asks Max how he is.

Max shrugs. "Lazy, this morning."

He could try and excuse it all as that. Jon would give him an out. If Max had a baby that looked exactly like him and Lando in his arms, Jon'd let him say as much as he wanted to.

But he wants to tell.

There's a pause. "I've been, y'know. Morning sickness, for ages and it's just worn off, which is mega so I'm just, y'know. I probably shouldn't be lazing around but it's nice getting the bed to myself."

Jon nods, solemnly, then smiles again. "How long?"

"To go?" He gets another nod and Max looks at the chart stuck to the fridge, realises they maybe aren't as subtle as they think they are. "Uhm, like two months now? D'you wanna see the scan?"

He hasn't shown anyone. Well, apart from his mum and he made her swear not to tell anyone, except he knows she told his dad to stop him taking Max golfing. He misses it, the baby's gonna have to get used to whatever a child seat for a buggy is.

Jon doesn't ask any awkward questions, lets Max show him everything because once the dam's burst it turns out he really wants to talk about their baby. About all the kinda exciting things, like how he's counting the kicks like the doctor told him and they're small but they're healthy and that's ok because Max is pretty small and Lando's not much bigger. And they're gonna get them a crib, at first, when they're little and then Lando's office is moving into the gaming room and they've been buying, just the last week or so, stuff for when the baby's here.

"Wow," says Jon. "You've really got it all figured out."

It's the first time it's occurred to Max they actually kind of do. Having no one to help them's kind of made it their problem.

He subconsciously puts a hand on the sort-of-bump, soothing. "I hope so."

"Listen, mate, I don't think anyone has everything sorted. But you look like you're doing alright and they're gonna have two great dads." Jon gives him a pat on the shoulder. "If you need more time with Lando I can make him actually concentrate instead of trying to avoid sets."

Max shakes his head. "Nah. You're alright, he only fusses over me anyway - which, like, it's nice but sometimes I just wanna do things for myself."

He sets about making the tea he'd abandoned, as well as one for Jon and by the time he's finished Lando comes out of the office, visibly doing a double-take at Max being there and obvious about it.

"Congratulations, mate, you didn't tell me." Jon says it with a little bit of reproach. "Thought you were just sneaking off, not going to ultrasound appointments."

Lando blushes, reaching for Max and slinging his arms round him from behind. "Yeah, well. It's - not just Max's thing but, y'know. It's his news."

Lando kisses his ear, soppy and wet and Max should fight him off but actually Jon just gives them a very affectionate, indulgent look before getting back to whatever he's working on. Max leans back on Lando, lets him take his weight for a second, kneading at Max's back where it's started aching.

-

Max assumed Oscar was going to be the first driver to find out and then he was going to have to go through some sort of various stages of career-grief, explanatory cringe and finally, hopefully, baby excitement. That was because he was thinking about it from his perspective, though and he knows Oscar.

From Lando's perspective, it is not at all surprising that it's Carlos.

He lets Lando bring him to all the European races and Miami. Although in retrospect, just as well that one was early enough in the season no one could've told anything. By some insane coincidence the baby's due in the August break, which there's no way they would've been able to plan.

What that means, though is that by Spa he's fucking waddling or at least feels like it. Maybe they got the dates wrong? Maybe the baby's gonna turn up during Q2. It's wet and Max hates Spa (and feels bad for hating Spa) and he hates it even more when it's raining and the baby seems to hate it too, kicking him viciously all the way through quali and not even slightly soothed by a hand inside his hoodie pocket.

He looks odd, now. It's still mostly hide-able in big enough clothes and the weather makes it easy to layer up both his and Lando's rain jackets, bundling himself up. But he's got a bit of a weird glow to him and he can't walk or sit normally anymore, struggles with getting up or sitting down without losing his balance.

Of course Lando has to put it on fucking pole so he hauls himself up via the arm of the McLaren sofa and does his own coat up, shrugs Lando's round his shoulders, to trudge to the interview pen.

He doesn't want to lean on the fence, that feels way too much like looking over a stable door, barefoot or some shit. Which Lando would probably love, especially if Max wore a milkmaid dress but he's not indulging that on the first baby. Or thinking about the fact he's already accepted there will be a second. Wants that.

He leans against the pit wall, instead, watching Lando do his interview and feeling proud of his man. Lando works hard for it, on himself and the team and Max does want to get back to doing his own thing one day but it's nice, knowing this is who provides for them. The baby flips over or something, makes him stuff a hand in his pocket to stroke the bump but at least they've been pacified by their other dad doing well, no longer trying to bruise Max's kidneys.

It's only when Lando catches his eye that Max feels a bit of panic. He'd been expecting a smile and a wave, the usual thing that happens when they see each other at the podium, when Lando's done well. Instead, Lando frowns, gets out of his interview as fast as possible and then vaults the metal fence, straight through his mechanics, to get to Max.

"Whoa there, Bob, what the fuck-"

"Nono, you need to be in the warm." He tries to say he really needs not to be bundled by Lando but it's pointless, already being lovingly but forcefully marched back to the McLaren garage and motorhome. "I told them not to let you come down, I even said it on the - I hope they didn't broadcast my radio but like, it wasn't too weird but you should be resting."

"Mate, I'm fine," Max tries to protest and Lando gives him a very strong Look.

"I know because you've been resting and staying warm, not standing in pit lanes where there's - oh god, there's so many things, what if you catch fire-"

"I'm not going to catch fire-"

"But what if you breathe in oil or something? Fuck. Please stay in the warm? They'll make you anything you want to eat and Andrea knows, he can pull me out of the race if it starts."

Max swallows, as Lando manages to nudge him over the threshold of the McLaren motorhome. "Bob, I'm alright. I just wanted to see you."

Lando swallows, too and maybe they need to talk about whether paddock kissing is something they should work up to, before they bring their baby to a race.

"Just, please? I can't - my head's all over the place and I want you to be safe."

Max pats his arm, then grips Lando's bicep, through his race suit, reminds him he's not that far off the same strength. "Ok, buddy."

"Lando!"

"Oh, fuck." Lando leans his head on the doorframe for a second. "Uh. I'm not sure how I'm gonna explain this."

Max touches his cheek. "You don't have to. Just tell him, he's your friend."

Lando grimaces, then leans over and kisses Max, extremely quickly and half-hidden by his own hand.

"Lando! What the fuck? We have to go to the press conference." Carlos grabs Lando's other arm and for a second Max panics that they're going to have a weird fight over him. Before he realises he can just let go, that Lando ought to go with Carlos.

"Yeah, sorry." Lando closes his eyes, takes a deep breath. "Just, the baby's nearly due and I panicked."

"What?" Carlos' huge eyes make comic confusion look even more ridiculous. "The baby?"

Lando exhales again but more deliberately, like he's grounding himself. "Yeah, come on, I'll tell you on the way."

He slings an arm around Carlos' shoulders, steers him away from Max, before looking back and mouthing "Go inside, I love you."

Carlos gets Kit a 1-2 month old romper in yellow and black. It's not branded but it looks like the Renault suits, when they were both there. Something that's Carlos and Max, not Carlos and Lando. He appreciates it more than he could've expected, so many of the gifts coming from one side.

It takes nearly three months for Kit to grow into it but Max maintains it's ok for babies to be tiny. And it gives him time to fit back into one of his old junior academy shirts so they can match, Kit cuddled against his chest on their sofa during Lando's birthday party.

[hotarutranslations]

Sawayaka Goro-san~~

Evening

Goro-san from the Sawayaka family! Happy birthday!

I visited the birthday event! Its been 4 years since I've been a guest! Its the same cycle as the olympics!

I was quite looking forward to it, staying light like, I wonder what we'll do~~

Wow, it was too funny the whole time, I laughed too much😂

Overlaying my timeline, Over Goro-san's timeline,

Like, meanwhile Goro-san was.. We made a timeline like that, Both Goro-san and Keita-san, Joined Upfront when I was 3 years old, They're great seniors…😕😕

Its scary to be a guest at their event…😕😕

Goro-san was standing the whole time, and I was sitting…😕😕

Excuse me…😕😕

These 2 could be more pompous() but they are not at all, they always play around a lot, thank you very much as always

With the overlapping timeline, The day I released my photobook Goro was.. just that, Was a mystery to me being asked to look back on my photobook! lol

I thought I was the only guest, Celebrating Goro-san,

Somehow,

Um,

Suzuki Keita-san!!

He appeared like, surprise lolololololol, It was really wonderful surprise lolololololol It was a good surprise lolololololol

Ishida was bursting out in surprise lolol at the appearance

I'm still only doing the full stomach side jump, I thought, what is that? but,

(a fitness tes where you eat a piece of candy for each repetitive horizontal jump)

Since I really like persimmon peas, I'm glad I was able to eat a lot🤤 lololol

After that, I rehearsed with my proper blue t-shirt🕺

Really, it was super fun!

Although its at the frequency of the olympics, I'll come back whenever I'm called✌🏻

Congratulations Okami-san!

Thank you very much for the ceremonial pitch, at Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi⚾️

Play▶️List

Debut song 48th Pyoko Pyoko Ultra~

I danced a lot on my own..

🕺

Graduation Announcement Blog🐣🪽

Hello! Station #531 I also talk about my graduation in this video

📺TV Tokyo "Premier MelodiX!" September 9th (Mon) 2:50~3:20AM Morning Musume '24 will be performing🤍 …and there will also be a talk🤍

📺The MusiQuest 2024 They're airing a live digest from that day!

̗̀📣 Over-Air Broadcast September 14th (Sat) 4:00~4:30AM~ ̗̀📣 CS Broadcast September 28th (Sat) 12:00~5:00PM 📺Sendai Broadcast "Ara Ara Kashiko"

I appear once a month as part of the AraKashi Family

The previous shows, and makings, are on OX VIDEO STORE!

📺Hello Pro Dance Every other Thursday at 11:30PM~

Season 12 will start airing, On October 17th (Thurs)🕺

Thank you for following.. Instagram💙🩵

💿 August 14th new single✨ "Nandaka Sentimental na Toki no Uta/saiKIYOU"

🪩"Morning Musume '24 Concert Tour Autumn WE CAN DANCE!"

Its Ishida Ayumi's last tour💙 I'm looking forward to seeing you

🪩"ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2024 in HITACHINAKA" September 22nd GRASS STAGE 10:30AM~

→Tickets are on general sale

📚SCawaii!

Releasing September 17th

Ishida and Oda will be published in it We had a shoot~

📻Morning Musume '24 Morning Jogakuin ~Houkago Meeting~

Airs Every Saturday, On Radio Nihon at 12:00AM~

Past Broadcast Episodes Are Available →Program Details

I visited as a guest🪽 "Sayashi Riho and The Time From Now On" presented by Meiji Bulgarian Yogurt

📻I visited as a guest🤍 Harami-chan no Harami Fan Radio♪

Web The Television

see you ayumin <3 https://ameblo.jp/morningmusume-10ki/entry-12866834842.html