#Will K Yates

[pedroam-bang]

"Yorki?" "Jojo!"

Jojo Rabbit (2019)

[dw-tma]

The Magnus Archive wiki describes the Eye as

“The fear of being watched, exposed, followed, having secrets exposed. Can also pertain to the drive to know and understand, even if your discoveries might destroy you. Manifests as eyes, security cameras, a creature or figure that keeps constant watch. Often manifests in libraries and books.”

[tronodiferro]

I've always wanted to use that spell.

Sound the horns!

[rachelbethhines]

60 Years of Doctor Who Anniversary Marathon - T. Baker 11th Review

Fourth Doctor FMV Playlist - Fan Music Videos

The video editing community on Youtube is near and dear to my heart. I started way back in college with Non/Disney crossover videos, and while I’ve since moved on to other pursuits, I still like to go back an watch old videos or go tracking down old internet friends to see what they’re up to. 

Basically, what I’m getting at, is that this is one area of fandom that I love a lot, and I had real nice time exploring the Classic Who video community and finding new stuff to enjoy. Especially as I can’t help but feel that this era of Who is under represented compared to the revival series. 

Therefore, given the short nature of the media, rather than talk about one particular video, I compiled a playlist of Fourth Doctor themed videos that stood out to me.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLclHBNP5fz2C1TuvbZU18OyDKvNYOImal

I tried to get a variety of styles and themes; from character tributes to angsty ship videos, from simple edits to flashy effect-fests, and a slew of various music. I also restrained myself and prevented my Sarah Jane bias from over taking the entire playlist, so you’re welcome. 

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Philip K. Dick - Solar Lottery - Arrow - 1972 (cover art by Chris Yates)

[gallifreyanhotfive]

Random Doctor Who Facts You Might Not Know, Part 10

After the Doctor left Gallifrey, the Master and the Rani were so desperate to find him that they kidnapped and interrogated a retired CIA agent named Maris, who had been hired to find him. Maris unfortunately had no idea where he went, but before they could kill her, she was extracted from the situation.

Sabbath Dei cut out the Eighth Doctor's second heart and put it in his own chest.

In an alternate timeline, the Sixth Doctor was imprisoned in the Tower of London for a hundred years and had both of his legs cut off. By refusing to give the Dalek also imprisoned an order, he ensures that the Dalek will kill him.

William Shakespeare and Richard III swapped places in history, so anything "Shakespeare" did from 1597 onwards was actually done by Richard III.

After regenerating, the Ninth Doctor smashed every mirror in the TARDIS, swearing that he would never look at what face he was wearing after killing billions of people. He would eventually look in a mirror again after meeting Rose Tyler, and his meeting with Rose actually occurred after much more time had passed than you might think.

In the UNIT Black Archive, there is a photograph of Mike Yates and Sara Kingdom, suggesting that they interacted at some point.

The Fifth Doctor was once paralyzed from the waist down in a spaceship crash and remained that way for most of the adventure. By the end of the story, he had been healed by nanites.

The Doctor's older brother Braxiatel was Lord Burner at one point, the personal assassin of the President who burned people out of history. After being ordered to burn an old man and his granddaughter running away from Gallifrey, he let them go, and the President who gave him the order mysteriously died when one of the power relays in his office overloaded. Braxiatel led an inquiry on the matter and declared it to be nothing more than an accident.

River Song believes that the Doctor had a crush on the Rani while they were at the Academy.

At the summit of Mount Cadon on Gallifrey, one can see the whole of time itself, but people hardly ever reach it because a hallucinogenic compound in the snow stops them. While a TARDIS can materialize at the top, this is apparently "cheating" according to the Doctor. The Academy is at the foot of Mount Cadon, and it is also the site of the House of Lungbarrow.

The Doctor remembers attempting to climb Mount Cadon several times. On one such attempt, Vansell broke his leg.

When the Eighth Doctor ran into the Brigadier again after regaining his memories from another bout of amnesia, he said he felt much safer with him.

The Third Doctor's tattoo was given to him by the Time Lords to mark that he was in exile. It is basically the equivalent of a brand or a big scarlet letter.

Mustard gas can be fatal to a Time Lord.

Kamelion and K-9 can both be damaged by water.

As Time Tots, the Rani and the Doctor would play hide-and-seek. She was incredibly irritated by the Doctor's exceptional ability to find her hiding spots.

The physical appearance of a Time Lord is but a small aspect of their true forms. In reality, Time Lords are vast, multi-dimensional beings existing in the metaspace realm. These forms are completely invisible to humans.

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🌈 Queer Books Coming Out in February 2024

🌈 Good afternoon, my bookish bats! Struggling to keep up with all the amazing queer books coming out this month? Here are a FEW of the stunning, diverse queer books you can add to your TBR before the year is over. Remember to #readqueerallyear! Happy reading!

❤️ We Ate the Dark by Mallory Pearson 🧡 The Paper Boys by D.P. Clarence 💛 Skater Boy by Anthony Nerada 💚 Your Shadow Half Remains by Sunny Moraine 💙 A Vicious Game by Melissa Blair 💜 Clarion Call by Cayla Fay ❤️ Relit: 16 Latinx Remixes of Classic Stories edited by Sandra Proudman 🧡 The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton 💛 Truthfully, Yours by Caden Armstrong 💙 Outsider by Jade du Preez 💜 Cross My Candy Heart by A.C. Thomas 🌈 The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

❤️ An Education in Malice by S. T. Gibson 🧡 The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Ann Older 💛 Never a Bridesmaid by Spencer Greene 💚 The Rewind by Nicole Stiling 💙 Good Christian Girls by Elizabeth Bradshaw 💜 The Fox Maidens by Robin Ha ❤️ The Terrible by Tessa Crowley 🧡 Blood Rage by Ileandra Young 💛 Call of the Sea by Emily B. Rose 💙 Sign Me Up by C.H. Williams 💜 Ways and Means by Daniel Lefferts 🌈 Peaceful in the Dark by A.A. Fairview

❤️ We Are Only Ghosts by Jeffrey L. Richards 🧡 Dead Ringer by Robyn Nyx 💛 Somacultural Liberation by Dr. Roger Kuhn 💚 Stormbringer by Erinn Harper 💙 A Saga of Shields & Shadows by A.J. Shirley 💜 Ghost Town by R.E. Ward ❤️ I Heard Her Call My Name by Lucy Sante 🧡 The Night Alphabet by Joelle Taylor 💛 Remedial Magic by Melissa Marr 💙 Bloom by N.R. Walker 💜 Entwined by Alex Alberto 🌈 Queer Newark edited by Whitney Strub

❤️ Tristan by Jesse Roman 🧡 How to Live Free in a Dangerous World by Shayla Lawson 💛 Daniel, Deconstructed by James Ramos 💚 Of Socialites & Prizefights by Arden Powell 💙 Lost Harbor by Kimberly Cooper Griffin 💜 Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair by Laura Piper Lee ❤️ Bunt! Striking Out on Financial Aid by Ngozi Ukazu & Mad Rupert 🧡 How You Get the Girl by Anita Kelly 💛 Blackmailer’s Delight by David Lawrence 💙 Tile M for Murder by Felicia Carparelli 💜 Impulse Buy by Jae 🌈 Live for You, Die With You by Kalob Dàniel

❤️ Fairest of All by A.D. Ellis 🧡 Goddess of the Sea by Britney Jackson 💛 A Taste of Earth by Nico Silver 💚 The Moorings of Mackerel Sky by M.Z. Emily Zack 💙 How the Boogeyman Became a Poet by Tony Keith 💜 V is for Valentine by Thomas Grant Bruso ❤️ Crushed Ice by Ashlyn Kane & Morgan James 🧡 When Tomorrow Comes by D. Jackson Leigh 💛 Bugsy & Other Stories by Rafael Frumkin 💙 The White and Blue Between Us by Kiyuhiko 💜 Guide Us Home by CF Frizzell & Jesse J. Thoma 🌈 The Friendship Study by Ruby Barrett

❤️ Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender 🧡 Heart2Heart edited by Annabeth Albert 💛 No Time Like Now by Naz Kutub 💚 Bless the Blood by Walela Nehanda 💙 Vengeance Planning for Amateurs by Lee Winter 💜 Who We Are in Real Life by Victoria Koops ❤️ Prove It by Stephanie Hoyt 🧡 Mewing by Chloe Spencer 💛 Awakenings by Claudie Arseneault 💙 Born of Scourge by S. Jean 💜 Disciples of Chaos by M.K. Lobb 🌈 To Cage a God by Elizabeth May

❤️ Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly 🧡 What Feasts At Night by T. Kingfisher 💛 You Had Me at Merlot by Melissa Brayden 💚 Turning Point by Cathy Dunnell 💙 For the Stolen Fates by Gwendolyn Clare 💜 Season of Eclipse by Terry Wolverton ❤️ These Haunted Hills by Jana Denardo 🧡 Samson & Domingo by Gume Laurel III 💛 Lies that Bind by Rae Knowles & April Yates 💙 We Got the Beat by Jenna Miller 💜 The Diablo's Curse by Gabe Cole Novoa 🌈 Blessings by Chukwuebuka Ibeh

❤️ Out There by Iris Eliot 🧡 At Her Service by Amy Spalding 💛 Green Dot by Madeleine Gray

[arminreindl]

Kambara

Here I go again with croc stuff. Back to dealing with stuff thats longer established, let me tell you about Kambara, the oldest named mekosuchine and a genus that surprised me with the bulk of information behind it.

Kambara (which simply translates to "crocodile") is a genus of early mekosuchine that as of July 2023 contains four species, all from the Eocene of Queensland.

The first of these are Kambara murgonensis (Crocodile from Murgon) and Kambara implexidens (Interlocking Teeth Crocodile), both of which found at the same locality in Murgon, Queensland. The bones of both were in fact so intermingled that it was initially assumed that they represented a single species with highly variable anatomy, before the second species was recognized 3 years later.

There are a couple of differences between, but two are easiest to point out. For one, although being in the same size range (3-3.5 meters as adults), Kambara implexidens was a little more gracile. Furthermore, and the defining difference between them, K. implexidens (left) had interlocking teeth like a crocodile (bottom left), but K. murgonensis (right) had an overbite like an alligator (bottom right).

The next species named after these two was Kambara molnari (Molnar's Crocodile), but it's only known from much more limited material, the holotype being a lower jaw. Still some interesting information from this can be gathered. Which is that K. molnari seemingly represents an intermediate between interlocking dentition and an overbite. K. molnari wasn't found near Murgon, but in a different basin in Queensland, in the lower layers of the Rundle Formation.

Also from the Rundle Formation we have the most recently named and geologically youngest species, Kambara taraina (Crocodile Crocodile). Yeah the name is a bit redundant, but the logic of basing the species name on the  Darumbal dialect as a proxy for language of the Bailai People is a nice one. Anyhow, K. taraina is a return to form as it is also known from good material like the first two, stemming from yet another large fossil bed possibly representing a mass death site. It had interlocking dentition like K. implexidens, BUT, unlike the oldest two species it did not coexist with the other Rundle Kambara. Instead, K. taraina came after K. molnari had presumably gone extinct.

Shown below the paratype of K. taraina, the holotype of K. implexidens and the holotype of K. molnari.

I won't get into phylogeny too much other than that its usually thought off as one of the earliest branching mekosuchines, but details vary. Lee and Yates found that Australosuchus may be more basal, while Ristevski et al. recover Kalthifrons as the earliest branch, in both cases Kambara is only the second branching. There is one slightly odd alternative. Rio and Mannion do find it as the oldest branching mekosuchine....but also regard neither Quinkana nor Australosuchus as members of the clade...and further seemingly find "Asiatosuchus" germanicus to nest within Kambara? And then there's 2 out of the 8 trees by Ristevski, which show Kambara as a close relative to modern Crocodylids. But neither of those results match the current concensus and Rio and Mannion in general has a lot I disagree with.

Much more interesting is the postcrania and the implications for the lifestyle of Kambara. Now while we have a lot of bones from the rest of the body, given they were found in literal bonebeds, we don't know much about it. Crocodile fossils that aren't skulls are rarely described in detail. But there's still some information out there. Important here are Stein et al. 2012 and Buchanan's PhD thesis (which included the description of K. taraina, the one part that was formally published). Both looked at the postcrania and found that there are some differences to modern crocs. To keep things brief, while the anatomy is not nearly as derived as in a fully terrestrial croc, it does seem to suggest that Kambara would have had an easier time performing the crocodilian highwalk (shown below).

Again, this does not necessarily mean it lived on land, if anything the circumstances of the animals death seems to imply the opposite, but its still interesting. Buchanan suggests that this could have been used to walk through shallow water or bottom walking, and Stein et al. do point out that some adaptations of the limbs could also be advantages while swimming. The most important part to suggest that Kambara still lived in the water is the skull tho (well and it being found in freshwater habitats). The skull looks still remarkably like that of your generalist croc, somewhat flattened, nostrils on top, raised eyes, all that kind of stuff. So it presumably hunted like a modern croc and lived like a modern croc.

The exact lifestyle remains obscure tho. Again, generalist seems like the best supported hypothesis, but we don't know what kind of difference interlocking teeth and the overbite make. Theres some speculation of course. Mook for example proposed that an overbite functions like carnassial teeth in mammals, slicing and breaking, whereas interlocking dentition is better for gripping. While the difference in robustness between K. murgonensis and K. implexidens isn't that great, it could be suggested that the more robust species sliced and broke larger prey while the more gracile one dealt with slippery fish or struggling animals. Muscle attachments are also important, and those seem to show that the most recent species, Kambara taraina with interlocking teeth, had the greatest bite force and thus may have fed on larger prey than all its predecessors. But again, a lot of this requires further looking into.

We do have one singular piece of evidence for diet. The shell of a turtle from the Rundle Formation clearly bearing the tooth marks of Kambara. The bite marks show that the turtle was bitten multiple times, likely in an attempt to position it better in the mouth to bring it into position with the crushing back teeth or to swallow. Fun fact, this behavior is referred to as "juggling". But as you can see from the first figure, the Kambara in question was a bit cocky and picked a turtle way too large, eventually giving up. Sadly the turtle was very injured, and tho the wounds healed slightly, it eventually died from an infection.

For the last section I briefly want to cover some last notes on Kambara murgonensis and Kambara implexidens, more specifically their coexistence. Now I covered the potential difference in hunting and prey preference already, but theres some other stuff to consider. For example, although found in the same locality, it is possible that this cohabitation was not the status quo. Given it is a mass death site at a locality that is known to have undergone wet and dry seasons, it is not unreasonable to assume that these animals died during a drought (another point against terrestrial life too, as they could have just left otherwise). Now even today crocs will gather in large groups in such situations, trying to make the most of dwindling water sources. This could mean that both species typically inhabited different biomes and only came together because they were forced to. The same might have also happend to Kambara taraina, causing increased aggression and explaining the many injured specimens found. Anyhow, it is also a possibility that they weren't divided by species, but by size, age and maturity. Buchanan points out that there are different habitat preferences between nesting females and juveniles, subadults and adult males in modern saltwater crocodiles. Big males prefer open water, nesting females areas with denser vegetation and subadults should avoid both as they threaten hatchlings and could be eaten by cannibalistic males. So that could also factor into the distribution of Kambara. And notably, it is pointed out that the Murgon site preserves both hachlings and egg shales, but seems to lack animals of intermediate size, which could suggest it was a nesting site. Below a picture of an American Alligator and an American crocodile, simply because they remind me of Kambara and are an example of crocodilians that overlap in range, yet aren't super different like lets say Muggers and Gharials.

Alas Kambara suffers the mekosuchine curse, which is to say even with overwhelming material not much is actually published. Two bonebeds with all sorts of material, yet only 5 papers to its name, generally just accounting for the type description of each species + the humerus paper. A lot of the info presented is actually from L.A. Buchanan's PhD thesis, which did include the description of Kambara taraina. However, since the completion of the thesis in 2008, only the description of the species was actually published. Entire chapters dealing with pathologies, postcrania and potential ecological inferrence are all are only present through the thesis, which has thankfully been uploaded in 2017.

Nevertheless, its a fascinating animal and I hope I made some people curious. Wikipedia page: Kambara - Wikipedia

[dw-companion-bracket]

Brackets Masterpost

THE FINAL

Rose vs Donna

Round 1: Groups

Group 1: Ian, Barbara, Susan, Vicki, Steven, Katarina, Sara, Dodo

Group 2: Ben, Polly, Jamie, Victoria, Zoe

Group 3: The Brig, Liz, Benton, Yates, Jo

Group 4: Sarah, Harry, Leela, K-9, Romana I, Romana II

Group 5: Adric, Nyssa, Tegan, Turlough, Kamelion

Group 6: Peri, Mel, Ace, Grace

Group 7: Frobisher, Evelyn, Charley, Lucie

Group 8: Rose, Adam, Jack, Mickey, Martha, Donna, Wilf

Group 9: Amy, Rory, River, Vastra, Strax, Jenny

Group 10: Clara, Nardole, Bill, Kate, Osgood, Missy

Group 11: Graham, Ryan, Yaz, Dan

Losers Round 1

Katarina vs Adam

Dodo vs Nardole

Yates vs Ben

Sara vs Mickey

Losers Semi-Final

Katarina vs Nardole

Yates vs Mickey

Losers Final

Nardole vs Mickey

Round 2

Susan vs Peri

Missy vs Jo

Nyssa vs Martha

Jamie vs K-9

River vs The Brigadier

Sarah Jane vs Rose

Ace vs Dan

Vicki vs Tegan

Clara vs Ian

Charley vs Zoe

Liz vs Donna

Rory vs Romana II

Barbara vs Amy

Polly vs Bill

Yaz vs Turlough

Frobisher vs Jack

Round 3

Susan vs Missy

Martha vs Jamie

The Brigadier vs Rose

Ace vs Tegan

Ian vs Zoe

Donna vs Romana II

Barbara vs Bill

Turlough vs Jack

Round 4: Quarter-Finals

Missy vs Martha

Rose vs Ace

Ian vs Donna

Bill vs Jack

Round 5: Semi-Finals

Martha vs Rose

Donna vs Jack

[imaginarycyberpunk2023]

Okay, @wanderingaldecaldo , the KitKat date has to happen. I agree. Also let's talk about 👉👈 bc I actually have an idea and maybe it would work with Val 👀

@chevvy-yates yes. And also YES. Vijay coming over for dinner bringing KitKat assortments as dessert 🧡🙏

I also wanna add after all your astonishment in the tags - this is just how I pronounce her name, it doesn't mean that it is the RIGHT way to pronounce it and I'm noticing that is the exact thing that Macha would say if someone called her "Masha" or "Matcha" 🧡

If Macha had to pick a Kit Kat flavor, what would it be?

What a fun question. Thank you! 😄

She would say: "There's different flavors? And why would you want a different flavor than the classic one?"

She is picky with sweets and mostly sticks to the standard flavors because that's what she's used to from her childhood in Germany - they usually only had the classics there.

[raenef]

♫♪ On Repeat

Rules: Shuffle your On Repeat playlist and list the first five songs in a poll, then have your followers choose their favorite!

Tagged by @desertpirate77 and @lokiina ♥

tagging @stirdauntsandrehaunts, @vendaxa, @deacons-wig, @astarionhistears, @thelealinhypehouse, @chevvy-yates

I'm sorry it's all obscure synth rock. I've been listening to the same artist for the past week it was hard for spotify to not keep recommending songs from them oop

OUTSIDE - breakk.away

To Die For - The Birthday Massacre

GO - The Anix

As My Heart Explodes - I Will Never Be The Same

Nights of Future Past - Julien-K

I'm sorry my music tastes are obscure as hell

[pedroam-bang]

Jojo Rabbit (2019)

[dw-tma]

The Magnus Archive wiki describes the Slaughter as

“The fear of pure, unpredictable, unmotivated violence. The fear of pain coming at sudden, random moments. Manifests as people driven "mad with Slaughter," soldiers, music that either induces Slaughter or warns that Slaughter is coming. Often manifests in imagery of war or murder, and can appear wild like a frenzied killer or calm and regimented like soldiers firing on the battlefield.”

[grandmaera]

AI Gender Swapping Companions in Doctor Who from 1963 to 2023 Pt.1 : Classic Who

Susan Foreman (i really don't see it) :

Ian Curling-Chatter-Chubbing-Chesterton (personally I just see the surprise, that's all) :

Barbara Wright (uhh maybe the shape of the face ?)

Vicki (looks like a male greta thunberg)

Steven Taylor (omg looks like a 2014-fied version of River Pond)

Katarina (awww babyface)

Dodo Chaplet (looks like a youtuber in 2007)

Polly Wright (is that polly's grandchild ??)

Ben Jackson (spinoff Jodie Whittaker)

Jamie McCrimmon (it took me 7 tries bc ai thought he was a woman but i mean Jamie is literally a barbie girl)

Victoria Waterfield (gives off vibes of side character that 20 year old niche Tumblr girls are obsessed with in a 2012 BBC historical show)

Zoe Heriot (NPCs literally I prefer Queen Zoe)

Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (NAH THAT'S JUST MY AUNT ELISAH 💀💀💀)

Liz Shaw (any londoner NPC)

Jo Grant (GAH THAT'S KING ARTHUR FROM BBC MERLIN)

Mike Yates (gives off vibes of a music teacher)

John Benton (basically female Mike Yates's sister)

Sarah-Jane Smith (any bass player from the 90s as a matured grown up in 2013)

Harry Sullivan (this woman could've been the mother who lost her son in a 2015 BBC original reality tv detective show)

Leela (nah this guy give so much gay jungle boy from the edwardian era which is sooo fitting with Leela)

obviously we can't do much gender swapping K-9

Romana I (bro is probably the underrated hero who died in a heroic death from a supernatural drama from 2018)

Romana II (any guy who would sit across you in a library, but without the round glasses)

Adric (she looks like the indigenous version of Dora)

Nyssa (I can finally clearly see how it's just the characer gender-swapped !!!)

Tegan Jovanka (an NPC tbh I prefer slay Queen Tegan)

Vislor Turlough (why does she seem healthier than male Turlough tho ??)

We can't really gender-swap Kamelion either

Peri Brown (I CAN SEE FEMALE PERI IN MALE PERI AM I DELULU)

Melanie Bush (male mel is wayyyy younger than female mel that's for sure)

Ace McShane (Bro looks like a side-character teacher in a teacher's life)

Grace Holloway (is bro in a viking netflix "documentary" ??)

IF THIS POST IS SUCCESSFUL, I'LL DO NEW WHO :)

[super-predictable98]

Glass and Gold Child (There She Goes AU)

Chapter 1: One Day in the Life of Alex Yates

Word Count: 2 k

Warning: Strong language, alcohol abuse

a/n: Hello everyone! In my mission to write as many Michael and David characters as I can, here's another effort: a wee rewrite of There She Goes with my OC.

2015:

Simon had been trying to get Rosie to calm down all morning. Ben just watched that disaster unfold while their father tried to drag her back from the park to have dinner.

"Where's your sister when we need her?" Simon groaned, pulling Rosie away from a car that she ran to because the license plate had a big X on it, her absolute favorite.

"What's going on?" Alex asked when she came back from her judo practice. She still wore her white trousers with a black tank top and her brown belt wrapped around her waist.

"Fuck, Alexandra, there you are! Can you…?"

"Hey, Rosie!" She greeted with a big smile.

"X! X!" The little girl called.

"That's me, come on, are you gonna be good or will I have to give these wotsits to Dad?"

Rosie let out a happy screech when she saw the blue package and reached for it. It was never too quiet around her, she was always making noises to communicate, but those happy noises were always welcome.

She took the snack from Alex and gave her older sister a clumsy hug.

"Can you say thank you?" Alexandra asked.

In response, Rosie did the sign in BSL and her sister ruffled her hair.

"You're a miracle worker," Simon sighed as they walked from the park. "You can't be going around and leaving us alone. She needs you."

"You hear how insane that sounds, Dad?" Ben chuckled. "She's not her mum, besides, she was at practice not even hanging out."

"Not helping, Ben," he hissed.

"It went well then?" Emily, the matriarch of the family, asked while she prepared the food.

"As well as it can go," Simon murmured, watching the kids get around the table. "I was thinking, what if we never send Alex to college?"

"What? Are you insane?"

"You know what I mean! Sometimes she's the only one who can calm Rosie down and can you imagine the epic meltdown that Darwin's little exception is gonna have when her big sis moves out?"

"Simon, we can't just ask Alex not to live her life. We're their parents, it's our job to look after them, not hers."

"Now you just sound like Ben!"

"Because even an 11-year-old boy has more common sense than you! She's 17, she'll leave eventually, we're gonna have to make it work."

"Remember when it was just her?" Simon smiled.

"When you were not a total prick? Yeah, I remember."

*

2001:

"Where's Daddy?" Alexandra asked, crawling on the floor, even after she learned how to walk, she still loved to crawl.

"He's coming home, remember when I told you about Daddy working to buy your Christmas presents?" Emily picked up her little girl and kissed her forehead. "Why do you love Daddy so much? Can't it be Mummy?"

"No! Only Daddy," Alex laughed at her mother's expression when she said that.

"Where are my girls?" Simon opened the door and opened his arms to take his daughter. "There's my little princess! How you doing, sweet pea?"

"Good! I missed you!"

"I missed you too!" He bounced her and kissed all over her chubby little cheeks. "Oh, there's my queen."

"Good one," Emily laughed. "She's been talking about you all day, she's a little chatterbox."

"Aww but that's cute! Remember when she'd speak full sentences before she could even walk? It was a nice party trick."

"I know, and it's cute, but I do hope our next daughter is less chatty. For my sanity."

"I heard that!" Alex gasped.

"See, now you hurt my little princess!" Simon joked. "Can you get me a beer, Em?"

"Noooo I don't like beer Daddy," the little girl cried.

"Wow, that is not concerning at all…" Emily arched an eyebrow. "Did Daddy ever hurt you after drinking beer?"

"Only on the inside…"

"No! I'm not-! You meant your heart, right? I hurt your feelings?" Simon asked, panicked.

"Yeah, you were mean."

"See, Em? Never say that again, sweetie, people might get the wrong idea and then they'll take Daddy to jail. Is that what you want?"

"No! We need to watch Barbie and the Nutcracker!"

"Good girl, if Daddy's in jail he can't watch Barbie and the Nutcracker with you."

*

2006:

"HIYAAAAAA!" Alex jumped on her father's stomach after bringing him to the floor with a rather flawless valley drop.

"Jesus Christ! That's what we're paying for? For you to learn how to kill your father in karate?" Simon groaned, curling up into a ball.

"It's judo, Daddy!" She laughed.

"Oh pardon me, I wouldn't wanna be rude to the little girl who just broke my ribs. You're always complaining I'm not home enough and when I am, you just wanna punish me."

Alexandra frowned and wrapped her little arms around him, kissing his cheek. She did complain because ever since her mum got pregnant, she would barely see him at all.

He was always 'at work' or with his friends and whenever she saw him, it was beer Daddy, not the one she loved.

"I'm sorry, I didn't wanna hurt you."

"Hey, sweetheart, it's okay," Simon assured, kissing the top of her head. "Daddy's sorry, okay? I wish I could be home more, but- it's hard to explain, my baby. Sometimes grown-ups do silly things even when they know it's wrong and then when they try to undo it, they can't right away. But I promise I'll make it better."

"Are you and Mummy getting divorced?"

"Why did you have to be such a smart girl?" He sighed. "I don't know, darling, I don't want to, but sometimes it's what's best for mummies and daddies."

"And then we'll never see you again?"

"Of course you'll see me, Alex! Even if one day I'm no longer Mummy's husband, I'm still your and your siblings' daddy, that'll never change. You're stuck with me for life, kiddo. Is that okay? You being stuck with your old man?"

"That's okay," Alex smiled. "I wanna come live with you if you leave."

"Why is that, princess?" Simon sat up, a bit worried that she'd given that whole thing so much thought. She shouldn't be pondering on that sort of thing.

"Because Mummy loves Rosie more. She only ever holds Rosie and talks to Rosie and about Rosie."

"Awww Alex, that's not true," he took her in his arms, stroking her long dark waves. "Mummy is only busy with Rosie because she was just born. She's just a little baby and she was born really small, she needs attention."

"I know, but when Ben was born, it wasn't like that. Mummy still loved me when he was a baby."

"Mummy still loves you now, sweetie, don't worry. But if you ever wanna come live with me, that'll be okay and… I mean, not that we're actually getting divorced. That's not happening as far as I'm concerned. Okay?"

"Okay… is it time to go to judo yet?"

"Yeah, it's time, come on."

Simon grabbed her Barbie backpack with her uniform and a little snack.

"Are you gonna stay and watch me?" Alex asked hopefully.

"I can't, sweetie. Daddy's meeting Aunt Helen, but I'll be there when you're done," Simon picked her up and looked up the stairs. "Em! I'm taking the little monster to judo!"

Father and daughter took the train, as Simon wouldn't learn how to drive to save his life, and he dropped her off at her class.

Alex saw Daddy leave and wanted to cry, to scream about how he never sat to watch her practices anymore like the other parents did, but she didn't. She was brave and put on her uniform all by herself.

She diligently got through her class and changed back into her street clothes, excited to tell her father that she was getting a new belt soon.

"Hey, I'm getting the yellow-orange belt, Daddy. It means I'm halfway to getting my orange belt which is my favorite color! I can't wait!" She whispered to herself as she sat right outside the dojo with the other kids.

One by one, the kids were picked up by their parents, but Alexandra stayed there, swinging her little legs and rehearsing what to say to Dad when he finally arrived.

"Yeah, she's still here," the sensei said into the phone. "Don't worry, I know you have a new baby at home, Mrs. Yates, I can drive her. It's no problem."

Alex never got to say her perfectly rehearsed lines celebrating her new achievement. She sat in silence the entire car ride back to her house and when her mother opened the door, she burst into tears.

"Hey, hey sweetie, it's okay," Emily hugged her after putting Rosie down in the crib. "Don't cry, baby. I'm sorry you were scared."

"I wasn't scared! He didn't come and he told me he would! Why won't anyone love me anymore?" Alexandra hit her head on the wall a few times before her mother could catch her.

"Mum? Why is Al hurting herself? Don't hurt yourself, Al!" Ben whispered, bringing her a pillow.

"Hear that? Your brother is worried about you, he loves you and so do I, so does Rosie, so does Daddy. And your grandparents, Aunt Soph…"

"Daddy doesn't love me, he left me there. He's not my daddy anymore!"

"It's not true, Al, you're his precious little princess and he just made a mistake. He forgot he was supposed to be there or he missed the train- the point is, everyone makes mistakes," Emily said even though she was also furious with her husband and that was far from his first fuck up. "Tell me how was class, let me make you something to eat."

"I get a yellow-orange belt next week, I'm not hungry," Alex said while she stomped up the stairs to get to her bedroom.

She hid in there all afternoon and when it was almost time to sleep, the door slowly opened and Simon came in stumbling over himself.

"Mummy just told me what happened, I'm so sorry, my pumpkin pie. I lost track of time, when I realized it was already eight," he slurred.

"Get out of here! You stink, I hate beer Daddy! I hate all daddies! I hate you!"

"I understand, I get it. I love you though and I'm really sorry," he said, too embarrassed to look her in the eye. "Mum told me you're getting a new belt? That's exciting, you're one closer to orange, your favorite."

"Whatever, if you cared you would've watched me."

"I swear, I promise next week I'll be there to see it."

"No, you won't! I don't believe you anymore. Go away, I'm going to sleep."

*

2015:

"That is my monster, its ears are so fluffy!" Alex read and closed the book. "Now, my little monster Rosie, it's time for bed."

The noise her sister made was indication she wasn't happy about it.

"I know, I know you don't want to. But let me tell you something. I know you can't talk, but you understand me, right? You get what X is saying?"

Rosie didn't nod or give any proof that it was true, but she stared directly at Alex, she was listening.

"If you close your eyes and fall asleep, you can play with the nice monsters and Hippo in dreamland. Right here," she touched Rosie's head. "Don't you wanna play with Hippo and the monsters from the book? Yeah, I know. So please, close your eyes and sleep, alright? I love you, pretty girl."

When Alexandra put up the gate to stop her sister from leaving the room, she noticed her parents were watching from afar.

"Sorry, I'm gonna go wash the dishes now," she chuckled, knowing she was behind on her chores.

"No! Don't you dare, Alex," Emily hugged her tightly. "You help more than enough and honestly I feel bad about it sometimes. Daddy will do the dishes."

"What? Why me?" Simon yelped. "I mean, yeah, I agree she shouldn't have to after getting Rosie to sleep, but why me?"

"Because you're a lazy arse," Alexandra laughed.

"You know what? Let's just order some pizza and relax while we have a little time," Emily suggested.

"Ah come on! We order pizza every week, let's have something different," Simon wrapped his arms around each of them.

"I don't think lazy arses have the right to decide," Alex laughed. "Come on, let's play a game while we wait. Oh! And remember tomorrow everyone needs to come to the gym, I'm getting my black belt!"

"Don't worry, princess, we'll all be there for you," he smiled.

[florasletter]

Oppenheimer leads with 13 nominations for the Academy Awards 2024

Best Picture

American Fiction Anatomy of a Fall Barbie The Holdovers Killers of the Flower Moon Maestro Oppenheimer Past Lives Poor Things The Zone of Interest

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Bradley Cooper (Maestro) Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers) Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)

Best Cinematography

El Conde (Edward Lachman) Killers of the Flower Moon (Rodrigo Prieto) Maestro (Matthew Libatique) Oppenheimer (Hoyte van Hoytema) Poor Things (Robbie Ryan)

Best Directing

Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest) Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things) Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer) Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon) Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction) Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon) Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer) Ryan Gosling (Barbie) Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)

Best Costume Design

Barbie (Jacqueline Durran) Killers of the Flower Moon (Jacqueline West) Napoleon (David Crossman & Janty Yates) Oppenheimer (Ellen Mirojnick) Poor Things (Holly Waddington)

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Golda  Maestro  Oppenheimer  Poor Things  Society of the Snow

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

American Fiction (Cord Jefferson) Barbie (Noah Baumbach & Greta Gerwig) Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan) Poor Things (Tony McNamara) The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer) Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple) America Ferrera (Barbie) Jodie Foster (Nyad) Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)

Best Original Score

American Fiction (Laura Karpman) Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (John Williams) Killers of the Flower Moon (Robbie Robertson) Oppenheimer (Ludwig Göransson) Poor Things (Jerskin Fendrix)

Best Production Design

Barbie Killers of the Flower Moon Napoleon Oppenheimer Poor Things

Best Film Editing

Anatomy of a Fall The Holdovers Killers of the Flower Moon Oppenheimer Poor Things

Best Production Design

Barbie Killers of the Flower Moon Napoleon Oppenheimer Poor Things

Best Sound

The Creator Maestro Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Oppenheimer The Zone of Interest

The 96th Academy Awards will air live coast-to-coast on ABC on Sunday, March 10 from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

While Jimmy Kimmel is set to return for the fourth time as host, the 2024 Oscars will air at a new, earlier time of 4 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. ET.