#because we were so excited for it and so proud of it

[bodhrancomedy]

Update: I opened it.

(Dated cira: 2009)

To me,

Hey, how are you! There are so much I want to ask, like what is my job, At the momant, I am trying to publish a book. (I want to be an athor and star in a few plays too!) I like drawing, writing, daydreaming, climbing trees, collecting myths from all over the world, running and playing my D.S, (I just got a new game called "The legend of Zelda, Spirit tracks") do you still have Coffy? How are Mum, Dad [two sisters]? Do I have a pet? I live in [house name], where do I live now? My friends are Chloe, Davide, Hugh, Sophie and Simon. Who are my friends now? Did I get a degree? What is my house like? How much do we get payed? What is the newest tecnoligy? Have you been to Egpt, New Zeland and Norway.

Bodh

To me,

I'm well, thank you. I'm going to do my best to answer your questions even if some of the answers are probably not what you thought they'd be when we were nine or ten (you couldn't have dated this to make our lives easier?).

Currently we are a member of the gainfully unemployed, but that is due to a series of decisions on our part rather than lack of ability - don't worry! However, I think you'd be really pleased to know that we are, in fact, an actor and writing and have a few really cool projects coming up.

I'm excited to hear about the book, was that a series of short stories starting with the Magic Jug? We still haven't officially become an author (yet), but we have punished several plays, poems, and short films! We made our stage debut in Edinburgh in 2021 as a principle cast member in Redraft, but our TV debut on Hope Street in January, 2024. Our first acting job was with the BBC which is incredibly cool of us. We also just finished working for the Royal Shakespeare Company too, making a little digital series about a fake political party. We got to go to a press night in costumes from the RSC costume department complete with a crown and fill in for an actor during a rehearsal for the play we were working with!

We still like drawing, writing, and daydreaming. We have a much bigger collection of myths now, but we've been slacking in our running. We still play on the DS - down to recently replaying Spirit Tracks! Nintendo came out with an update to the DS called a Switch and the newest Zelda games of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are going to blow your mind.

We still have Coffy - it's OK we didn't have to give him up when we got bigger like you're worrying about. He sits on my bookshelf and watches over me when I write just like he does now.

Mum, Dad, and our sisters are doing very well. Your little sister is going to do a postgraduate degree and your older sister is working her dream job and happily married. We're very proud of them.

We don't have a pet, sadly, because we live in a very cold, very cramped flat in the capital. It's pretty rundown and very expensive, but we live with two very, very cool people so that's all good. You have loads and loads of brilliant friends and, while we lost touch with most of those friends, you still talk to Chloe and she even came to our sister's wedding.

You did get a degree - you got a first class Bachelors of Arts with honours in Theatre and Film from QMU in 2021. You loved the course and I'm thinking of going back to do a Masters in Acting for Stage and Screen this year.

Our last jobs as tour guides and lifeguards paid us minimum wage, unfortunately, but if you saw the pay-cheques for acting and writing your eyes would pop out of your head! They're not as much as you think they are, but they're really fun to look at.

There's loads of new technology but I think the one which would interest you the most is NASA's Parker Solar Probe which just flew only 1.8 million miles above the surface of the sun at 43'000 miles per hour which is faster than any human invention has ever gone. It's so cool.

We haven't been to Egypt, or Norway, or New Zealand, but we have been to Iceland, and Italy, and the Netherlands. We're going lots of more places, don't worry.

Thank you for writing to me, I hope this letter is what you hoped for.

Yours,

Bodh.

So I went home for Christmas and while I was there, I found this tucked away in a corner of my room which is being reorganised.

It’s a letter to my future self.

It’s clearly been opened once, but I don’t know who by or when.

From the handwriting I’m guessing it’s 2010ish because I doubt my handwriting was that good in 2005 and I lived somewhere else. 2010-2025 seems the kind of gap a teacher would assign.

So, I have 2 days before I can open this.

[genderqueerdykes]

the post you just shared about being both a trans man and a dyke reminded me of something that ive been wanting to talk about for a while now but haven't been able to so far.

im brazilian. the country with one of the biggest pride parades in the world while also being in the highest rates of violence towards lgbt people. queer culture here is weird, and maybe i missed out on it because i was able to find refuge online among the english speaking community relatively early.

ive been observing something that i wrongly assumed was our own version of the butch/femme community, and for a second i got really excited bc we all know butch loneliness, but the more i started looking into it, the more of its completely rotten entrails they showed me.

it's a disfigurement of the ideas that i have held to my heart so dearly ever since i read stone butch blues for the first time, and even more as i discovered leslie feinberg, and found out that there really were others like me. they use the term "desfem" (as in "defeminized"), and the definition explicitly states that the individual must be a cis woman, quoting some terf-tier bullshit that would make joanne proud.

hating men is their entire personality, and it's so shallow and based on cishet gender roles that there is no "femme" counterpart, because they see no way to perform femininity outside of patriarchal roles. they want the aesthetics of butchness without the hardships of living as one. the trans community carries these people on their backs and still they're more worried about how some dykes are trans too.

i don't know where im going with this, i just need to get it off my chest to someone who would at least have an idea of what im talking about. it's so disheartening to see the community head towards this direction, and i grow less and less interested in forming bridges with cis people as time goes on lol

i wanted to thank you for taking the time to send it, i really appreciate these thoughts! i get contacted by a lot of brazilian people. i think that's super cool! i've heard that despite how large your queer scene is that it's still very queerphobic and that's unfortunate, but it does happen.

"hating men is their entire personality, and it's so shallow and based on cishet gender roles that there is no "femme" counterpart, because they see no way to perform femininity outside of patriarchal roles."

i really appreciate the way you said this! i've been trying to point this out for a while now and i'm glad you've come to this realization, yourself.

for whatever reason, cis lesbian, dyke and sapphic spaces are obsessed with the butch-femme binary. it's romanced to hell and back but it's very restrictive and patriarchal. implying that romantic relationships must fall into a masculine partner + feminine partner structure is cisheteromative. there's not much representation for butch4butch, butch4all, femme4femme and femme4all people. the idea that the masculine partner must be strong and protect the weak feminine partner that can't defend themselves is a patriarchal dynamic.

all of the lesbian yearning posts are about how butches are tops and doms and how all femmes are bottoms and subs. butch becomes synonymous with penis and femme becomes synonymous with vagina. calling butches 'chivalrous knights' dehumanizes them and reduces them to being protector figures. the way cis femmes online go on and on and on about how they "need" a butch is very alarming. femmes are being framed as dependent and as though they can't function unless they have a butch in their life, which is very misogynistic.

it's just a repeat of cishet- the patriarchal relationship formatting applies here, even if the genders are slightly tweaked. it's in the coding. it's literally a copy and paste job. it's lazy and toxic as hell and it leaves out all of the diversity that comes with lesbianism and how butches and femmes can experience life and love and sexuality in a variety of ways.

the thing is, as a genderqueer person, i've never understood why people are so attached to this binary. it's so restrictive. i'm butch, but not in the way that white cis lesbians define it. the way they tlel you how to be butch is so restrictive it's not even funny. it's like you gotta pass a test. you gotta be stereotypically masculine 100% of the time or else you're not a real butch. you're expected to emulate a cishet guy, but if you identify as a guy, all hell breaks loose. if you think about it people basically force butches to identify as men and then hold it at arm's reach away. like you have to act exactly like a man but be a Woman. and it makes no fucking sense.

lesbians are some of the most gender diverse people out there. it's crazy to me that people are trying to force lesbians, people who are known for being gender weird, into a male-female cishet binary but with a lesbian Womyn coat of paint. i wish you better luck in finding community that wants to stick together instead of fight over petty bullshit that doesn't matter. take care of yourself. feel free to stop by again any time

[msfantasy-anime]

A Visit from Father

Monkey D. Luffy x Wife!Reader

Summary: Y/n’s father Mihawk has visited to check in on his daughter.

A/n: I wasn’t ever going to give Y/n parents in this AU. But someone sent a DM requesting to Mihawk to be the father and on good terms, so here we are hehe. You mother is whoever you want to picture.

Part IX

Where the hell is everyone?! One minute you were all walking down the street. The next minute everyone walked off on their own without saying anything.

Whilst you begin to wonder the back streets yourself, you came across someone you expected the least.

“Dad?!” You shout with pure excitement, jumping into the arms of Dracule Mihawk, who is suddenly standing right before you in a random back alley. “What’re you doin’ here?”

“Saw your wanted poster.” Mihawk answers, holding up the newest edition. “Came to check in on you.” He answers, his demeanour remaining void of emotion, but the corner of his lips twitch ever so slightly at his daughter. “I just wanted to check in on you...“

“Huh? What about it?” You grumble, unable to resist making a sour face.

“You know, I never wanted this life for you.” Your heart plunges, unable and uninterested to be lectured by your father. It’s rare to cross paths and you just want to enjoy him being there whilst you can until he rushes off like he always does.

“Ugh, are you serious right now? Let’s not talk about it let’s just go and-”

“Listen.” Mihawk says, grabbing your shoulders and forcing you to listen. Your eyes darting away, unwilling to have a heart to heart with your father who you haven’t seen in a long time, next to some garbage. “After the Marines took your mother from us, simply because she was my lover, made me realise that you could never live a normal life with my name attached.”

“Yeah I know. You made the hard decision to leave me to be raised by others and your sacrifice was all for nothing because I went and became a pirate anyway- well I’m sorry to disappoint you-“

“Stop. You do not disappoint me.” Mihawk said sternly, his fingers digging into your shoulders and gives you a slight shake as if shaking you would bring you back to your senses. “You would never disappoint me. But since you now have a bounty, I see no reason to hide you from the world anymore.”

Your heart begins racing at your father’s words. “So what are you saying?”

“I’m saying, I want you to come live with me, I can teach you, spend time with you, take you on adventures.” He offers. “And I want the world to know you are my daughter. There’s no reason to hide you anymore.”

You missed out on being with him in your early years and now is your chance to spend time with him. But…

“It’s a dream come true dad… but…” Mihawk had some suspicions before, but he’s certain now.

“My offer doesn’t expire my girl.” He says, pulling you into a hug. “When you are finished with your adventures, the front door will always be open, ready to welcome you home.” Your eyes welled up but you swallow back your emotions, too embarrassed to cry.

Mihawk holds your face one last time before turning to leave. “Dad, before you go, I just wanted to thank you for leaving me in the east blue all that time ago.” Mihawk pauses, his eyes widening, his back remaining turned to you. “I could not have imagined what life would’ve been like without Sabo, Ace and of course … my husband, Luffy.”

“Your mother would be so proud of the woman you grew up to be.” Mihawk smiles at your bittersweet fair well. “Take care of my girl for me Strawhat.”

“Will do.” Luffy answers making you jolt from your spot.

“Ah! Seriously?! How long have you been standing there?!” You screech making Luffy cackle.

“Still afraidy cat huh?” He teases but quickly shuts up when he sees your serious face.

“I’ve just been thinking.”

“Yeah?”

“My dad won’t hide me from the rest of the world anymore, which means I’ll be known as Dracule Y/n.”

“Yeah and?” Luffy asks, picking his nose.

“I know I shouldn’t care but I do! You’re my damn husband and I want people to stop questioning it! Take me to the courthouse so we can hurry up and make this official already!”

“Huh?! We already talked about this damnit! We don’t need papers! We already had the wedding and everything!” Luffy protests but you stomp off on a mission.

“I don’t care! We are doing it again!”

[userautumn]

i didn't have a big post planned and, in fact, actually forgot it was new year's eve because i've been working but i NEVER miss an opportunity to reflect so 💕 hmm let's see. 2024 was a Character Development year for sure. this year was for the plot. from april onward, this was one of the hardest years of my life, if not the hardest, but the people i love... oh, the people i love. you guys kept me going this year. thank you for allowing me to spend this life with you. and now, a few love notes, because i can <3

@bigassbowlingballhead - jon words cannot express how grateful i am that this year brought you and i together. you have been one of the most comforting presences in my life and i love you so deeply. thank you for always listening, for making me laugh out loud, for holding all of my secrets in the palm of your hand, and, as always, for your unrelenting kindness. i adore you and can't wait to scream about snw3 with you.

@malinaa @meyhew - seedlys, we've been in each other's lives for many years but this year i felt like i became friends with you guys all over again. you provided me a safe space to share the thing that's most precious to me in the entire world (my book) without judgement and words cannot express how much i do not take that safety for granted. thank you for holding my hand and listening to me be an annoying perfectionist about it, thank you for being excited and screaming with me, for being supportive, for letting me ramble. thank you for being in my life. i love you. i worry sometimes you guys don't know how deeply that love runs but please know that the fountain of my adoration is infinite and without bottom, even if i seem awkward or don't always show it / express it. i grow more and more thankful for you guys every day.

@godlightbuckley @ontoheartache - not to be all like "finding light in the darkness" but the fact that liam's death brought me closer to you guys truly is the one (1) bright spot out of that whole thing. annie and katie, you two are so beloved to me. your kindness, your compassion, your inner beauty — both of you have become such lights in my life in such a short time and i, with full sincerity, couldn't have made it through without you. thank you for being exactly who you are. i love you.

@dadbodbuck - jay dadbodbuck, i would trust you with my life. thank you for being a BIG part of the reason i made it through this year alive.

@texasbama - you already know, friend. thank you. for all the large and small things, thank you. ily.

@kitkatpancakestack - k, i consider it one of my greatest privileges and highest joys to be in your life, to be considered a friend by you. the amount of trust you've shown me, the number of times you've made me laugh, your kindness, the way you put me at ease from literally the moment we started talking, all the times you message me randomly just to say hi — these are all special little treasures i hoard deep inside my chest. i love you, yes, but i also love being loved by you. your friendship is a warm balm on a cool day. thank you for taking a chance on me. you are an incredible human being and i'm excited to see where life takes you because i know in my soul you're going to flourish at everything you do.

@rewritetheending - morgan, you and i are cut from the same cloth in a lot of ways and that makes you one of the few people i feel totally at ease with. watching you become a Writer(TM) this year has made me so proud and i know it's only up from here. thank you for all the long talks about life and characters, for speaking my language, for letting me love you and your family, and for always being a message away.

@bucksboobs @freewayshark @kinardbuckleys - cedric, brittany, and jess, fellow survivors of the 911blr descent into purgatory and the reason i'm not a bigger bitch on main. i love you guys. thank you for letting me be a cunt in peace.

@mistletouchunderthetree - amber, you were a friend to me in a very specific way when literally no one else was. i can't really articulate what that meant to me, especially considering how vulnerable i was and the layers of emotion wrapped up in that particular moment. but. you know what i'm talking about and i hope you realize how grateful i am for you. i'm so thankful for this year because it allowed us to become a deeper part of each other's lives. i am so lucky to know you and to have the opportunity to exist in your orbit. you and i are locked in for life, sorry, no takebacks. i love you, girl. i hope 2025 brings you nothing but peace and bliss.

@letmetellyouaboutmyfeels - lincoln. ough. man. thank you for being a part of my past and my present. i hope to be a part of your future for as long as you will have me.

@flaming-phoenixes - you are always the best part of every year. thank you for riding out 2024 with me. i love you down to the marrow of my bones, down to all the molecules and atoms that comprise my being, and i promise i always will.

there are so so so many more people i can name here who, in some way and with full sincerity, made this year worth living. to name a few more:

@comfortingevanbuckley @kirkaut @apassingbird @catdadeddie @nydoorin-lionett

@mistchievous @louferrignojrofficial @jdeanmorgan @nubuckleather @ohithankyou

@newtkelly @mellaithwen @libraryofloveletters @gayhoediaz @lemmeaskthedevil

@alex1424 @bigfootsmom @honestlydarkprincess @buckxtommy

i'm still forgetting so many people, but if you think i'm talking about you, i probably am. thank you for walking with me through the labyrinth, for lighting up my night sky, and for being my joy when i couldn't find any.

happy new year, guys. i hope it's kind to you all 💕

[faithsotherhouseofchaos]

Carlos sains in a relationship with driver!male reader who's one of those people you just can't get mad at, like he's smart but has the emotional comprehension of a over excited puppy, point is that after a really bad race for reader, like 2 laps away from winning only for your hydraulics to snap (or something of the like i have no idea whats viable on those car's) and he's still all happy go luck because he's really only in raceing for the fun of it, considers it more of a hobbie, the drivers on the other hand in their interviews mention that reader has their condolences for that race cause if it were them theu probably would have raged hard, but the only thing reader did was ask if the other drivers were okay and that none of the parts that might have fallen from his car hindered anyone and carlos is like so proud reader handled things comes to him for cuddles cause it was still a shit race even if reader didn't care for the results.

Unshakable sunshine|| Carlos sainz x Male!Reader

Word count 627

The paddock was abuzz with post-race chaos. Journalists scrambled for interviews, cameras zoomed in on exhausted drivers, and teams analyzed every second of the race. Among all the noise, one story stood out: your near-victory-turned-DNF. With only two laps to go, your hydraulics failed, forcing you to limp off the track.

For most drivers, it would’ve been a career-shattering moment. The adrenaline, the effort, the sheer heartbreak of coming so close, only for it all to fall apart. But you? You were smiling.

After climbing out of the car, you walked straight to your team, offering reassuring pats on backs and a thumbs-up to the engineers. By the time you reached the media pen, you looked like you’d just finished a leisurely Sunday drive.

“It happens, right?” you told reporters with a grin. “Racing’s unpredictable. I just hope none of the parts from my car got in anyone’s way. Last thing I’d want is to mess up someone else’s race!”

Your unshakable positivity left everyone stunned. Max Verstappen, in his post-race interview, shook his head in disbelief. “If that happened to me, I’d probably throw my helmet across the garage. But him? He’s just smiling. I don’t get it, but honestly, I respect it.”

Charles Leclerc chimed in during his segment, laughing softly. “He’s like… the golden retriever of Formula 1. I’d be fuming, and he’s out here checking if everyone else is okay. I think we all need some of whatever he’s got.”

But Carlos knew you better than anyone. He could see the subtle signs—the extra-long hug you gave your engineer, the way your shoulders sagged slightly when you thought no one was watching. You never liked showing frustration, and you’d perfected the art of brushing off disappointment. But Carlos wasn’t fooled.

He waited in your motorhome, pacing slightly as he thought about how to approach you. When you finally walked in, the mask was still up.

“Hey, Carlos!” you greeted cheerfully, dropping your bag by the door. “Did you see that race? Wild, right? Shame about the hydraulics, but hey, at least I got to watch the last two laps from the best seat in the house!”

Carlos didn’t say anything right away, watching as you flopped onto the couch and kicked off your shoes. You were smiling, but it didn’t quite reach your eyes.

“Cariño,” he said softly, sitting beside you. “How are you really feeling?”

You blinked, caught off guard by his gentle tone. “I’m fine. Really! It’s just a race. There’s always next time.”

He gave you a look—a mix of disbelief and affection. “You don’t have to pretend with me, you know.”

Your smile wavered for a moment before you sighed, leaning back into the couch. “Okay, maybe it sucks a little. But not for the reason you think! I’m more annoyed that I couldn’t finish because I was really having fun out there. That’s what matters, right? Having fun?”

Carlos chuckled softly, reaching out to pull you into his arms. “You amaze me, you know that? Anyone else would’ve been furious, but you… you’re just happy to be here. It’s one of the reasons I love you.”

You relaxed against him, letting out a soft laugh. “Thanks, Carlos. I mean it. I guess… yeah, it does sting a bit, but I don’t race to win. I race because it’s fun. That’s why I’m here.”

His arms tightened around you, his voice low and tender. “And that’s why I’m so proud of you. But just because you don’t let it show doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. So tonight, it’s all about cuddles. No arguments.”

You tilted your head up to look at him, grinning again. “Cuddles do sound nice.”

“They fix everything,” he teased, pressing a kiss to your forehead.

[irl-batsignal]

The Bee Movie.

According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Ooh, black and yellow! Let's shake it up a little. Barry! Breakfast is ready! Coming! Hang on a second. Hello? - Barry? - Adam? - Can you believe this is happening? - I can't. I'll pick you up. Looking sharp. Use the stairs. Your father paid good money for those. Sorry. I'm excited. Here's the graduate. We're very proud of you, son. A perfect report card, all B's. Very proud. Ma! I got a thing going here. - You got lint on your fuzz. - Ow! That's me! - Wave to us! We'll be in row 118,000. - Bye! Barry, I told you, stop flying in the house! - Hey, Adam. - Hey, Barry. - Is that fuzz gel? - A little. Special day, graduation. Never thought I'd make it. Three days grade school, three days high school. Those were awkward. Three days college. I'm glad I took a day and hitchhiked around the hive. You did come back different. - Hi, Barry. - Artie, growing a mustache? Looks good. - Hear about Frankie? - Yeah. - You going to the funeral? - No, I'm not going. Everybody knows, sting someone, you die. Don't waste it on a squirrel. Such a hothead. I guess he could have just gotten out of the way. I love this incorporating an amusement park into our day. That's why we don't need vacations. Boy, quite a bit of pomp... under the circumstances. - Well, Adam, today we are men. - We are! - Bee-men. - Amen! Hallelujah! Students, faculty, distinguished bees, please welcome Dean Buzzwell. Welcome, New Hive City graduating class of... ...9:15. That concludes our ceremonies. And begins your career at Honex Industries! Will we pick our job today? I heard it's just orientation. Heads up! Here we go. Keep your hands and antennas inside the tram at all times. - Wonder what it'll be like? - A little scary. Welcome to Honex, a division of Honesco and a part of the Hexagon Group. This is it! Wow. Wow. We know that you, as a bee, have worked your whole life to get to the point where you can work for your whole life. Honey begins when our valiant Pollen Jocks bring the nectar to the hive. Our top-secret formula is automatically color-corrected, scent-adjusted and bubble-contoured into this soothing sweet syrup with its distinctive golden glow you know as... Honey! -

That girl was hot. - She's my cousin! - She is? - Yes, we're all cousins. - Right. You're right. - At Honex, we constantly strive to improve every aspect of bee existence. These bees are stress-testing a new helmet technology. - What do you think he makes? - Not enough. Here we have our latest advancement, the Krelman. - What does that do? - Catches that little strand of honey that hangs after you pour it. Saves us millions. Can anyone work on the Krelman? Of course. Most bee jobs are small ones. But bees know that every small job, if it's done well, means a lot. But choose carefully because you'll stay in the job you pick for the rest of your life. The same job the rest of your life? I didn't know that. What's the difference? You'll be happy to know that bees, as a species, haven't had one day off in 27 million years. So you'll just work us to death? We'll sure try. Wow! That blew my mind! "What's the difference?" How can you say that? One job forever? That's an insane choice to have to make. I'm relieved. Now we only have to make one decision in life. But, Adam, how could they never have told us that? Why would you question anything? We're bees. We're the most perfectly functioning society on Earth. You ever think maybe things work a little too well here? Like what? Give me one example. I don't know. But you know what I'm talking about. Please clear the gate. Royal Nectar Force on approach. Wait a second. Check it out. - Hey, those are Pollen Jocks! - Wow. I've never seen them this close. They know what it's like outside the hive. Yeah, but some don't come back. - Hey, Jocks! - Hi, Jocks! You guys did great! You're monsters! You're sky freaks! I love it! I love it! - I wonder where they were. - I don't know. Their day's not planned. Outside the hive, flying who knows where, doing who knows what. You can't just decide to be a Pollen Jock. You have to be bred for that. Right. Look. That's more pollen than you and I will see in a lifetime. It's just a status symbol. Bees make too much of it. Perhaps. Unless you're wearing it and the ladies see you wearing it.

Those ladies? Aren't they our cousins too? Distant. Distant. Look at these two. - Couple of Hive Harrys. - Let's have fun with them. It must be dangerous being a Pollen Jock. Yeah. Once a bear pinned me against a mushroom! He had a paw on my throat, and with the other, he was slapping me! - Oh, my! - I never thought I'd knock him out. What were you doing during this? Trying to alert the authorities. I can autograph that. A little gusty out there today, wasn't it, comrades? Yeah. Gusty. We're hitting a sunflower patch six miles from here tomorrow. - Six miles, huh? - Barry! A puddle jump for us, but maybe you're not up for it. - Maybe I am. - You are not! We're going 0900 at J-Gate. What do you think, buzzy-boy? Are you bee enough? I might be. It all depends on what 0900 means. Hey, Honex! Dad, you surprised me. You decide what you're interested in? - Well, there's a lot of choices. - But you only get one. Do you ever get bored doing the same job every day? Son, let me tell you about stirring. You grab that stick, and you just move it around, and you stir it around. You get yourself into a rhythm. It's a beautiful thing. You know, Dad, the more I think about it, maybe the honey field just isn't right for me. You were thinking of what, making balloon animals? That's a bad job for a guy with a stinger. Janet, your son's not sure he wants to go into honey! - Barry, you are so funny sometimes. - I'm not trying to be funny. You're not funny! You're going into honey. Our son, the stirrer! - You're gonna be a stirrer? - No one's listening to me! Wait till you see the sticks I have. I could say anything right now. I'm gonna get an ant tattoo! Let's open some honey and celebrate! Maybe I'll pierce my thorax. Shave my antennae. Shack up with a grasshopper. Get a gold tooth and call everybody "dawg"! I'm so proud. - We're starting work today! - Today's the day. Come on! All the good jobs will be gone. Yeah, right. Pollen counting, stunt bee, pouring, stirrer, front desk, hair removal... - Is it still available? - Hang on. Two left! One of them's yours! Congratulations! Step to the side. - What'd you get? - Picking crud out. Stellar! Wow! Oouple of newbies? Yes, sir! Our first day! We are ready! Make your choice. - You want to go first? - No, you go. Oh, my. What's available? Restroom attendant's open, not for the reason you think. - Any chance of getting the Krelman? - Sure, you're on. I'm sorry, the Krelman just closed out. Wax monkey's always open. The Krelman opened up again. What happened? A bee died. Makes an opening.

See? He's dead. Another dead one. Deady. Deadified. Two more dead. Dead from the neck up. Dead from the neck down. That's life! Oh, this is so hard! Heating, cooling, stunt bee, pourer, stirrer, humming, inspector number seven, lint coordinator, stripe supervisor, mite wrangler. Barry, what do you think I should... Barry? Barry! All right, we've got the sunflower patch in quadrant nine... What happened to you? Where are you? - I'm going out. - Out? Out where? - Out there. - Oh, no! I have to, before I go to work for the rest of my life. You're gonna die! You're crazy! Hello? Another call coming in. If anyone's feeling brave, there's a Korean deli on 83rd that gets their roses today. Hey, guys. - Look at that. - Isn't that the kid we saw yesterday? Hold it, son, flight deck's restricted. It's OK, Lou. We're gonna take him up. Really? Feeling lucky, are you? Sign here, here. Just initial that. - Thank you. - OK. You got a rain advisory today, and as you all know, bees cannot fly in rain. So be careful. As always, watch your brooms, hockey sticks, dogs, birds, bears and bats. Also, I got a couple of reports of root beer being poured on us. Murphy's in a home because of it, babbling like a cicada! - That's awful. - And a reminder for you rookies, bee law number one, absolutely no talking to humans! All right, launch positions! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Black and yellow! Hello! You ready for this, hot shot? Yeah. Yeah, bring it on. Wind, check. - Antennae, check. - Nectar pack, check. - Wings, check. - Stinger, check. Scared out of my shorts, check. OK, ladies, let's move it out! Pound those petunias, you striped stem-suckers! All of you, drain those flowers! Wow! I'm out! I can't believe I'm out! So blue. I feel so fast and free! Box kite! Wow! Flowers! This is Blue Leader. We have roses visual. Bring it around 30 degrees and hold. Roses! 30 degrees, roger. Bringing it around. Stand to the side, kid. It's got a bit of a kick.

That is one nectar collector! - Ever see pollination up close? - No, sir. I pick up some pollen here, sprinkle it over here. Maybe a dash over there, a pinch on that one. See that? It's a little bit of magic. That's amazing. Why do we do that? That's pollen power. More pollen, more flowers, more nectar, more honey for us. Cool. I'm picking up a lot of bright yellow. Could be daisies. Don't we need those? Copy that visual. Wait. One of these flowers seems to be on the move. Say again? You're reporting a moving flower? Affirmative. That was on the line! This is the coolest. What is it? I don't know, but I'm loving this color. It smells good. Not like a flower, but I like it. Yeah, fuzzy. Chemical-y. Careful, guys. It's a little grabby. My sweet lord of bees! Candy-brain, get off there! Problem! - Guys! - This could be bad. Affirmative. Very close. Gonna hurt. Mama's little boy. You are way out of position, rookie! Coming in at you like a missile! Help me! I don't think these are flowers. - Should we tell him? - I think he knows. What is this?! Match point! You can start packing up, honey, because you're about to eat it! Yowser! Gross. There's a bee in the car! - Do something! - I'm driving! - Hi, bee. - He's back here! He's going to sting me! Nobody move. If you don't move, he won't sting you. Freeze! He blinked! Spray him, Granny!

What are you doing?! Wow... the tension level out here is unbelievable. I gotta get home. Can't fly in rain. Can't fly in rain. Can't fly in rain. Mayday! Mayday! Bee going down! Ken, could you close the window please? Ken, could you close the window please? Check out my new resume. I made it into a fold-out brochure. You see? Folds out. Oh, no. More humans. I don't need this. What was that? Maybe this time. This time. This time. This time! This time! This... Drapes! That is diabolical. It's fantastic. It's got all my special skills, even my top-ten favorite movies. What's number one? Star Wars? Nah, I don't go for that... ...kind of stuff. No wonder we shouldn't talk to them. They're out of their minds. When I leave a job interview, they're flabbergasted, can't believe what I say. There's the sun. Maybe that's a way out. I don't remember the sun having a big 75 on it. I predicted global warming. I could feel it getting hotter. At first I thought it was just me. Wait! Stop! Bee! Stand back. These are winter boots. Wait! Don't kill him! You know I'm allergic to them! This thing could kill me! Why does his life have less value than yours? Why does his life have any less value than mine? Is that your statement? I'm just saying all life has value. You don't know what he's capable of feeling. My brochure! There you go, little guy. I'm not scared of him. It's an allergic thing. Put that on your resume brochure. My whole face could puff up. Make it one of your special skills. Knocking someone out is also a special skill. Right. Bye, Vanessa. Thanks. - Vanessa, next week? Yogurt night? - Sure, Ken. You know, whatever. - You could put carob chips on there. - Bye. - Supposed to be less calories. - Bye. I gotta say something. She saved my life. I gotta say something. All right, here it goes. Nah. What would I say? I could really get in trouble. It's a bee law. You're not supposed to talk to a human. I can't believe I'm doing this. I've got to. Oh, I can't do it. Come on! No. Yes. No. Do it. I can't. How should I start it? "You like jazz?" No, that's no good. Here she comes! Speak, you fool! Hi! I'm sorry. - You're talking. - Yes, I know. You're talking! I'm so sorry. No, it's OK. It's fine. I know I'm dreaming. But I don't recall going to bed. Well, I'm sure this is very disconcerting. This is a bit of a surprise to me. I mean, you're a bee! I am. And I'm not supposed to be doing this, but they were all trying to kill me. And if it wasn't for you... I had to thank you. It's just how I was raised. 

That was a little weird. - I'm talking with a bee. - Yeah. I'm talking to a bee. And the bee is talking to me! I just want to say I'm grateful. I'll leave now. - Wait! How did you learn to do that? - What? The talking thing. Same way you did, I guess. "Mama, Dada, honey." You pick it up. - That's very funny. - Yeah. Bees are funny. If we didn't laugh, we'd cry with what we have to deal with. Anyway... Can I... ...get you something? - Like what? I don't know. I mean... I don't know. Coffee? I don't want to put you out. It's no trouble. It takes two minutes. - It's just coffee. - I hate to impose. - Don't be ridiculous! - Actually, I would love a cup. Hey, you want rum cake? - I shouldn't. - Have some. - No, I can't. - Come on! I'm trying to lose a couple micrograms. - Where? - These stripes don't help. You look great! I don't know if you know anything about fashion. Are you all right? No. He's making the tie in the cab as they're flying up Madison. He finally gets there. He runs up the steps into the church. The wedding is on. And he says, "Watermelon? I thought you said Guatemalan. Why would I marry a watermelon?" Is that a bee joke? That's the kind of stuff we do. Yeah, different. So, what are you gonna do, Barry? About work? I don't know. I want to do my part for the hive, but I can't do it the way they want. I know how you feel. - You do? - Sure. My parents wanted me to be a lawyer or a doctor, but I wanted to be a florist. - Really? - My only interest is flowers. Our new queen was just elected with that same campaign slogan. Anyway, if you look... There's my hive right there. See it? You're in Sheep Meadow! Yes! I'm right off the Turtle Pond! No way! I know that area. I lost a toe ring there once. - Why do girls put rings on their toes? - Why not? - It's like putting a hat on your knee. - Maybe I'll try that. - You all right, ma'am? - Oh, yeah. Fine. Just having two cups of coffee! Anyway, this has been great. Thanks for the coffee. Yeah, it's no trouble. Sorry I couldn't finish it. If I did, I'd be up the rest of my life. Are you...? Can I take a piece of this with me? Sure! Here, have a crumb. - Thanks! - Yeah. All right. Well, then... I guess I'll see you around. Or not. OK, Barry. And thank you so much again... for before. Oh, that? That was nothing. Well, not nothing, but... Anyway... This can't possibly work. He's all set to go. We may as well try it. OK, Dave, pull the chute. - Sounds amazing. - It was amazing! It was the scariest, happiest moment of my life. Humans! I can't believe you were with humans! Giant, scary humans! What were they like? Huge and crazy. They talk crazy. They eat crazy giant things. They drive crazy. - Do they try and kill you, like on TV? - Some of them. But some of them don't. - How'd you get back? - Poodle. You did it, and I'm glad. You saw whatever you wanted to see. You had your "experience." Now you can pick out your job and be normal. - Well... - Well? Well, I met someone. You did? Was she Bee-ish? - A wasp?! Your parents will kill you! - No, no, no, not a wasp. - Spider? - I'm not attracted to spiders. I know it's the hottest thing, with the eight legs and all. I can't get by that face. So who is she? She's... human. No, no. That's a bee law. You wouldn't break a bee law. - Her name's Vanessa. - Oh, boy. She's so nice. And she's a florist! Oh, no! You're dating a human florist! We're not dating.

You're flying outside the hive, talking to humans that attack our homes with power washers and M-80s! One-eighth a stick of dynamite! She saved my life! And she understands me. This is over! Eat this. This is not over! What was that? - They call it a crumb. - It was so stingin' stripey! And that's not what they eat. That's what falls off what they eat! - You know what a Cinnabon is? - No. It's bread and cinnamon and frosting. They heat it up... Sit down! ...really hot! - Listen to me! We are not them! We're us. There's us and there's them! Yes, but who can deny the heart that is yearning? There's no yearning. Stop yearning. Listen to me! You have got to start thinking bee, my friend. Thinking bee! - Thinking bee. - Thinking bee. Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! There he is. He's in the pool. You know what your problem is, Barry? I gotta start thinking bee? How much longer will this go on? It's been three days! Why aren't you working? I've got a lot of big life decisions to think about. What life? You have no life! You have no job. You're barely a bee! Would it kill you to make a little honey? Barry, come out. Your father's talking to you. Martin, would you talk to him? Barry, I'm talking to you! You coming? Got everything? All set! Go ahead. I'll catch up. Don't be too long. Watch this! Vanessa! - We're still here. - I told you not to yell at him. He doesn't respond to yelling! - Then why yell at me? - Because you don't listen! I'm not listening to this. Sorry, I've gotta go. - Where are you going? - I'm meeting a friend. A girl? Is this why you can't decide? Bye. I just hope she's Bee-ish. They have a huge parade of flowers every year in Pasadena? To be in the Tournament of Roses, that's every florist's dream! Up on a float, surrounded by flowers, crowds cheering. A tournament. Do the roses compete in athletic events? No. All right, I've got one. How come you don't fly everywhere? It's exhausting. Why don't you run everywhere? It's faster. Yeah, OK, I see, I see. All right, your turn. TiVo. You can just freeze live TV? That's insane! You don't have that? We have Hivo, but it's a disease. It's a horrible, horrible disease. Oh, my. Dumb bees! You must want to sting all those jerks. We try not to sting. It's usually fatal for us. So you have to watch your temper. Very carefully. You kick a wall, take a walk, write an angry letter and throw it out. Work through it like any emotion: Anger, jealousy, lust. Oh, my goodness! Are you OK? Yeah. - What is wrong with you?! - It's a bug. He's not bothering anybody. Get out of here, you creep! What was that? A Pic 'N' Save circular? Yeah, it was. How did you know? It felt like about 10 pages. Seventy-five is pretty much our limit. You've really got that down to a science. - I lost a cousin to Italian Vogue. - I'll bet. What in the name of Mighty Hercules is this? How did this get here? Cute Bee, Golden Blossom, Ray Liotta Private Select? - Is he that actor? - I never heard of him. - Why is this here? - For people. We eat it. You don't have enough food of your own? - Well, yes. - How do you get it? - Bees make it. - I know who makes it! And it's hard to make it! There's heating, cooling, stirring. You need a whole Krelman thing! - It's organic. - It's our-ganic! It's just honey, Barry. Just what?! Bees don't know about this! This is stealing! A lot of stealing! You've taken our homes, schools, hospitals! This is all we have! And it's on sale?! I'm getting to the bottom of this. I'm getting to the bottom of all of this! Hey, Hector. -

You almost done? - Almost. He is here. I sense it. Well, I guess I'll go home now and just leave this nice honey out, with no one around. You're busted, box boy! I knew I heard something. So you can talk! I can talk. And now you'll start talking! Where you getting the sweet stuff? Who's your supplier? I don't understand. I thought we were friends. The last thing we want to do is upset bees! You're too late! It's ours now! You, sir, have crossed the wrong sword! You, sir, will be lunch for my iguana, Ignacio! Where is the honey coming from? Tell me where! Honey Farms! It comes from Honey Farms! Crazy person! What horrible thing has happened here? These faces, they never knew what hit them. And now they're on the road to nowhere! Just keep still. What? You're not dead? Do I look dead? They will wipe anything that moves. Where you headed? To Honey Farms. I am onto something huge here. I'm going to Alaska. Moose blood, crazy stuff. Blows your head off! I'm going to Tacoma. - And you? - He really is dead. All right. Uh-oh! - What is that?! - Oh, no! - A wiper! Triple blade! - Triple blade? Jump on! It's your only chance, bee! Why does everything have to be so doggone clean?! How much do you people need to see?! Open your eyes! Stick your head out the window! From NPR News in Washington, I'm Carl Kasell. But don't kill no more bugs! - Bee! - Moose blood guy!! - You hear something? - Like what? Like tiny screaming. Turn off the radio. Whassup, bee boy? Hey, Blood. Just a row of honey jars, as far as the eye could see. Wow! I assume wherever this truck goes is where they're getting it. I mean, that honey's ours. - Bees hang tight. - We're all jammed in. It's a close community. Not us, man. We on our own. Every mosquito on his own. - What if you get in trouble? - You a mosquito, you in trouble. Nobody likes us. They just smack. See a mosquito, smack, smack! At least you're out in the world. You must meet girls. Mosquito girls try to trade up, get with a moth, dragonfly. Mosquito girl don't want no mosquito. You got to be kidding me! Mooseblood's about to leave the building! So long, bee! - Hey, guys! - Mooseblood! I knew I'd catch y'all down here. Did you bring your crazy straw? We throw it in jars, slap a label on it, and it's pretty much pure profit. What is this place? A bee's got a brain the size of a pinhead. They are pinheads!

Pinhead. –Check out the new smoker. - Oh, sweet. That's the one you want. The Thomas 3000! Smoker? Ninety puffs a minute, semi-automatic. Twice the nicotine, all the tar. A couple breaths of this knocks them right out. They make the honey, and we make the money. "They make the honey, and we make the money"? Oh, my! What's going on? Are you OK? Yeah. It doesn't last too long. Do you know you're in a fake hive with fake walls? Our queen was moved here. We had no choice. This is your queen? That's a man in women's clothes! That's a drag queen! What is this? Oh, no! There's hundreds of them! Bee honey. Our honey is being brazenly stolen on a massive scale! This is worse than anything bears have done! I intend to do something. Oh, Barry, stop. Who told you humans are taking our honey? That's a rumor. Do these look like rumors? That's a conspiracy theory. These are obviously doctored photos. How did you get mixed up in this? He's been talking to humans. - What? - Talking to humans?! He has a human girlfriend. And they make out! Make out? Barry! We do not. - You wish you could. - Whose side are you on? The bees! I dated a cricket once in San Antonio. Those crazy legs kept me up all night. Barry, this is what you want to do with your life? I want to do it for all our lives. Nobody works harder than bees! Dad, I remember you coming home so overworked your hands were still stirring. You couldn't stop. I remember that. What right do they have to our honey? We live on two cups a year. They put it in lip balm for no reason whatsoever! Even if it's true, what can one bee do? Sting them where it really hurts. In the face! The eye! - That would hurt. - No. Up the nose? That's a killer. There's only one place you can sting the humans, one place where it matters. Hive at Five, the hive's only full-hour action news source. No more bee beards! With Bob Bumble at the anchor desk. Weather with Storm Stinger. Sports with Buzz Larvi. And Jeanette Chung. - Good evening. I'm Bob Bumble. - And I'm Jeanette Chung. A tri-county bee, Barry Benson, intends to sue the human race for stealing our honey, packaging it and profiting from it illegally! Tomorrow night on Bee Larry King, we'll have three former queens here in our studio, discussing their new book, Classy Ladies, out this week on Hexagon. Tonight we're talking to Barry Benson. Did you ever think, "I'm a kid from the hive. I can't do this"? Bees have never been afraid to change the world. What about Bee Columbus? Bee Gandhi? Bejesus? Where I'm from, we'd never sue humans. We were thinking of stickball or candy stores. How old are you? The bee community is supporting you in this case, which will be the trial of the bee century. You know, they have a Larry King in the human world too. It's a common name. Next week... He looks like you and has a show and suspenders and colored dots... Next week... Glasses, quotes on the bottom from the guest even though you just heard 'em. Bear Week next week! They're scary, hairy and here live. Always leans forward, pointy shoulders, squinty eyes, very Jewish. In tennis, you attack at the point of weakness! It was my grandmother, Ken. She's 81. Honey, her backhand's a joke! I'm not gonna take advantage of that? Quiet, please. Actual work going on here.

Is that that same bee? - Yes, it is! I'm helping him sue the human race. - Hello. - Hello, bee. This is Ken. Yeah, I remember you. Timberland, size ten and a half. Vibram sole, I believe. Why does he talk again? Listen, you better go 'cause we're really busy working. But it's our yogurt night! Bye-bye. Why is yogurt night so difficult?! You poor thing. You two have been at this for hours! Yes, and Adam here has been a huge help. - Frosting... - How many sugars? Just one. I try not to use the competition. So why are you helping me? Bees have good qualities. And it takes my mind off the shop. Instead of flowers, people are giving balloon bouquets now. Those are great, if you're three. And artificial flowers. - Oh, those just get me psychotic! - Yeah, me too. Bent stingers, pointless pollination. Bees must hate those fake things! Nothing worse than a daffodil that's had work done. Maybe this could make up for it a little bit. - This lawsuit's a pretty big deal. - I guess. You sure you want to go through with it? Am I sure? When I'm done with the humans, they won't be able to say, "Honey, I'm home," without paying a royalty! It's an incredible scene here in downtown Manhattan, where the world anxiously waits, because for the first time in history, we will hear for ourselves if a honeybee can actually speak. What have we gotten into here, Barry? It's pretty big, isn't it? I can't believe how many humans don't work during the day. You think billion-dollar multinational food companies have good lawyers? Everybody needs to stay behind the barricade. - What's the matter? - I don't know, I just got a chill. Well, if it isn't the bee team. You boys work on this? All rise! The Honorable Judge Bumbleton presiding. All right. Case number 4475, Superior Court of New York, Barry Bee Benson v. the Honey Industry is now in session. Mr. Montgomery, you're representing the five food companies collectively? A privilege. Mr. Benson... you're representing all the bees of the world? I'm kidding. Yes, Your Honor, we're ready to proceed. Mr. Montgomery, your opening statement, please. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my grandmother was a simple woman. Born on a farm, she believed it was man's divine right to benefit from the bounty of nature God put before us. If we lived in the topsy-turvy world Mr. Benson imagines, just think of what would it mean. I would have to negotiate with the silkworm for the elastic in my britches! Talking bee! How do we know this isn't some sort of holographic motion-picture-capture Hollywood wizardry?

They could be using laser beams! Robotics! Ventriloquism! Cloning! For all we know, he could be on steroids! Mr. Benson? Ladies and gentlemen, there's no trickery here. I'm just an ordinary bee. Honey's pretty important to me. It's important to all bees. We invented it! We make it. And we protect it with our lives. Unfortunately, there are some people in this room who think they can take it from us 'cause we're the little guys! I'm hoping that, after this is all over, you'll see how, by taking our honey, you not only take everything we have but everything we are! I wish he'd dress like that all the time. So nice! Call your first witness. So, Mr. Klauss Vanderhayden of Honey Farms, big company you have. I suppose so. I see you also own Honeyburton and Honron! Yes, they provide beekeepers for our farms. Beekeeper. I find that to be a very disturbing term. I don't imagine you employ any bee-free-ers, do you? - No. - I couldn't hear you. - No. - No. Because you don't free bees. You keep bees. Not only that, it seems you thought a bear would be an appropriate image for a jar of honey. They're very lovable creatures. Yogi Bear, Fozzie Bear, Build-A-Bear. You mean like this? Bears kill bees! How'd you like his head crashing through your living room?! Biting into your couch! Spitting out your throw pillows! OK, that's enough. Take him away. So, Mr. Sting, thank you for being here. Your name intrigues me. - Where have I heard it before? - I was with a band called The Police. But you've never been a police officer, have you? No, I haven't. No, you haven't. And so here we have yet another example of bee culture casually stolen by a human for nothing more than a prance-about stage name. Oh, please. Have you ever been stung, Mr. Sting? Because I'm feeling a little stung, Sting. Or should I say... Mr. Gordon M. Sumner! That's not his real name?! You idiots! Mr. Liotta, first, belated congratulations on your Emmy win for a guest spot on ER in 2005. Thank you. Thank you. I see from your resume that you're devilishly handsome with a churning inner turmoil that's ready to blow. I enjoy what I do. Is that a crime? Not yet it isn't. But is this what it's come to for you? Exploiting tiny, helpless bees so you don't have to rehearse your part and learn your lines, sir? Watch it, Benson! I could blow right now! This isn't a goodfella. This is a badfella! Why doesn't someone just step on this creep, and we can all go home?! - Order in this court! - You're all thinking it! Order! Order, I say! - Say it! - Mr. Liotta, please sit down! I think it was awfully nice of that bear to pitch in like that. I think the jury's on our side. Are we doing everything right, legally? I'm a florist. Right. Well, here's to a great team. To a great team! Well, hello. - Ken! - Hello. I didn't think you were coming. No, I was just late. I tried to call, but... the battery. I didn't want all this to go to waste, so I called Barry. Luckily, he was free. Oh, that was lucky. There's a little left. I could heat it up. Yeah, heat it up, sure, whatever. So I hear you're quite a tennis player. I'm not much for the game myself. The ball's a little grabby. That's where I usually sit. Right... there. Ken, Barry was looking at your resume, and he agreed with me that eating with chopsticks isn't really a special skill. You think I don't see what you're doing? I know how hard it is to find the right job. We have that in common. Do we? Bees have 100 percent employment, but we do jobs like taking the crud out. That's just what I was thinking about doing. Ken, I let Barry borrow your razor for his fuzz. I hope that was all right. I'm going to drain the old stinger. Yeah, you do that. Look at that. You know, I've just about had it with your little mind games. - 

What's that? - Italian Vogue. Mamma mia, that's a lot of pages. A lot of ads. Remember what Van said, why is your life more valuable than mine? Funny, I just can't seem to recall that! I think something stinks in here! I love the smell of flowers. How do you like the smell of flames?! Not as much. Water bug! Not taking sides! Ken, I'm wearing a Chapstick hat! This is pathetic! I've got issues! Well, well, well, a royal flush! - You're bluffing. - Am I? Surf's up, dude! Poo water! That bowl is gnarly. Except for those dirty yellow rings! Kenneth! What are you doing?! You know, I don't even like honey! I don't eat it! We need to talk! He's just a little bee! And he happens to be the nicest bee I've met in a long time! Long time? What are you talking about?! Are there other bugs in your life? No, but there are other things bugging me in life. And you're one of them! Fine! Talking bees, no yogurt night... My nerves are fried from riding on this emotional roller coaster! Goodbye, Ken. And for your information, I prefer sugar-free, artificial sweeteners made by man! I'm sorry about all that. I know it's got an aftertaste! I like it! I always felt there was some kind of barrier between Ken and me. I couldn't overcome it. Oh, well. Are you OK for the trial? I believe Mr. Montgomery is about out of ideas. We would like to call Mr. Barry Benson Bee to the stand. Good idea! You can really see why he's considered one of the best lawyers... Yeah. Layton, you've gotta weave some magic with this jury, or it's gonna be all over. Don't worry. The only thing I have to do to turn this jury around is to remind them of what they don't like about bees. - You got the tweezers? - Are you allergic? Only to losing, son. Only to losing. Mr. Benson Bee, I'll ask you what I think we'd all like to know. What exactly is your relationship to that woman? We're friends. - Good friends? - Yes. How good? Do you live together? Wait a minute... Are you her little... ...bedbug? I've seen a bee documentary or two. From what I understand, doesn't your queen give birth to all the bee children? - Yeah, but... - So those aren't your real parents! - Oh, Barry... - Yes, they are! Hold me back! You're an illegitimate bee, aren't you, Benson? He's denouncing bees! Don't y'all date your cousins? - Objection! - I'm going to pincushion this guy! Adam, don't! It's what he wants! Oh, I'm hit!! Oh, lordy, I am hit! Order! Order! The venom! The venom is coursing through my veins!

I have been felled by a winged beast of destruction! You see? You can't treat them like equals! They're striped savages! Stinging's the only thing they know! It's their way! - Adam, stay with me. - I can't feel my legs. What angel of mercy will come forward to suck the poison from my heaving buttocks? I will have order in this court. Order! Order, please! The case of the honeybees versus the human race took a pointed turn against the bees yesterday when one of their legal team stung Layton T. Montgomery. - Hey, buddy. - Hey. - Is there much pain? - Yeah. I... I blew the whole case, didn't I? It doesn't matter. What matters is you're alive. You could have died. I'd be better off dead. Look at me. They got it from the cafeteria downstairs, in a tuna sandwich. Look, there's a little celery still on it. What was it like to sting someone? I can't explain it. It was all... All adrenaline and then... and then ecstasy! All right. You think it was all a trap? Of course. I'm sorry. I flew us right into this. What were we thinking? Look at us. We're just a couple of bugs in this world. What will the humans do to us if they win? I don't know. I hear they put the roaches in motels. That doesn't sound so bad. Adam, they check in, but they don't check out! Oh, my. Could you get a nurse to close that window? - Why? - The smoke. Bees don't smoke. Right. Bees don't smoke. Bees don't smoke! But some bees are smoking. That's it! That's our case! It is? It's not over? Get dressed. I've gotta go somewhere. Get back to the court and stall. Stall any way you can. And assuming you've done step correctly, you're ready for the tub. Mr. Flayman. Yes? Yes, Your Honor! Where is the rest of your team? Well, Your Honor, it's interesting. Bees are trained to fly haphazardly, and as a result, we don't make very good time. I actually heard a funny story about... Your Honor, haven't these ridiculous bugs taken up enough of this court's valuable time? How much longer will we allow these absurd shenanigans to go on? They have presented no compelling evidence to support their charges against my clients, who run legitimate businesses. I move for a complete dismissal of this entire case! Mr. Flayman, I'm afraid I'm going to have to consider Mr. Montgomery's motion. But you can't! We have a terrific case. Where is your proof? Where is the evidence? Show me the smoking gun! Hold it, Your Honor! You want a smoking gun? Here is your smoking gun. What is that? It's a bee smoker! What, this? This harmless little contraption? This couldn't hurt a fly, let alone a bee. Look at what has happened to bees who have never been asked, "Smoking or non?" Is this what nature intended for us? To be forcibly addicted to smoke machines and man-made wooden slat work camps? Living out our lives as honey slaves to the white man? - 

What are we gonna do? - He's playing the species card. Ladies and gentlemen, please, free these bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! The court finds in favor of the bees! Vanessa, we won! I knew you could do it! High-five! Sorry. I'm OK! You know what this means? All the honey will finally belong to the bees. Now we won't have to work so hard all the time. This is an unholy perversion of the balance of nature, Benson. You'll regret this. Barry, how much honey is out there? All right. One at a time. Barry, who are you wearing? My sweater is Ralph Lauren, and I have no pants. - What if Montgomery's right? - What do you mean? We've been living the bee way a long time, 27 million years. Congratulations on your victory. What will you demand as a settlement? First, we'll demand a complete shutdown of all bee work camps. Then we want back the honey that was ours to begin with, every last drop. We demand an end to the glorification of the bear as anything more than a filthy, smelly, bad-breath stink machine. We're all aware of what they do in the woods. Wait for my signal. Take him out. He'll have nauseous for a few hours, then he'll be fine. And we will no longer tolerate bee-negative nicknames... But it's just a prance-about stage name! ...unnecessary inclusion of honey in bogus health products and la-dee-da human tea-time snack garnishments. Can't breathe. Bring it in, boys! Hold it right there! Good. Tap it. Mr. Buzzwell, we just passed three cups, and there's gallons more coming! - I think we need to shut down! - Shut down? We've never shut down. Shut down honey production! Stop making honey! Turn your key, sir! What do we do now? Cannonball! We're shutting honey production! Mission abort. Aborting pollination and nectar detail. Returning to base. Adam, you wouldn't believe how much honey was out there. Oh, yeah? What's going on? Where is everybody? - Are they out celebrating? - They're home. They don't know what to do. Laying out, sleeping in. I heard your Uncle Carl was on his way to San Antonio with a cricket. At least we got our honey back. Sometimes I think, so what if humans liked our honey? Who wouldn't? It's the greatest thing in the world! I was excited to be part of making it. This was my new desk. This was my new job. I wanted to do it really well. And now... Now I can't. I don't understand why they're not happy. I thought their lives would be better! They're doing nothing. It's amazing. Honey really changes people. You don't have any idea what's going on, do you? - What did you want to show me? - This. What happened here? That is not the half of it. Oh, no. Oh, my. They're all wilting. Doesn't look very good, does it? No. And whose fault do you think that is? You know, I'm gonna guess bees. Bees? Specifically, me. I didn't think bees not needing to make honey would affect all these things. It's not just flowers. Fruits, vegetables, they all need bees.

That's our whole SAT test right there. Take away produce, that affects the entire animal kingdom. And then, of course... The human species? So if there's no more pollination, it could all just go south here, couldn't it? I know this is also partly my fault. How about a suicide pact? How do we do it? - I'll sting you, you step on me. – That just kills you twice. Right, right. Listen, Barry... sorry, but I gotta get going. I had to open my mouth and talk. Vanessa? Vanessa? Why are you leaving? Where are you going? To the final Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena. They've moved it to this weekend because all the flowers are dying. It's the last chance I'll ever have to see it. Vanessa, I just wanna say I'm sorry. I never meant it to turn out like this. I know. Me neither. Tournament of Roses. Roses can't do sports. Wait a minute. Roses. Roses? Roses! Vanessa! Roses?! Barry? - Roses are flowers! - Yes, they are. Flowers, bees, pollen! I know. That's why this is the last parade. Maybe not. Could you ask him to slow down? Could you slow down? Barry! OK, I made a huge mistake. This is a total disaster, all my fault. Yes, it kind of is. I've ruined the planet. I wanted to help you with the flower shop. I've made it worse. Actually, it's completely closed down. I thought maybe you were remodeling. But I have another idea, and it's greater than my previous ideas combined. I don't want to hear it! All right, they have the roses, the roses have the pollen. I know every bee, plant and flower bud in this park. All we gotta do is get what they've got back here with what we've got. - Bees. - Park. - Pollen! - Flowers. - Repollination! - Across the nation! Tournament of Roses, Pasadena, California. They've got nothing but flowers, floats and cotton candy. Security will be tight. I have an idea. Vanessa Bloome, FTD. Official floral business. It's real. Sorry, ma'am. Nice brooch. Thank you. It was a gift. Once inside, we just pick the right float. How about The Princess and the Pea? I could be the princess, and you could be the pea! Yes, I got it. - Where should I sit? - What are you? - I believe I'm the pea. - The pea? It goes under the mattresses. - Not in this fairy tale, sweetheart. - I'm getting the marshal. You do that! This whole parade is a fiasco! Let's see what this baby'll do. Hey, what are you doing?! Then all we do is blend in with traffic... ...without arousing suspicion. Once at the airport, there's no stopping us. Stop! Security. - You and your insect pack your float? - Yes. Has it been in your possession the entire time? Would you remove your shoes? - 

Remove your stinger. - It's part of me. I know. Just having some fun. Enjoy your flight. Then if we're lucky, we'll have just enough pollen to do the job. Can you believe how lucky we are? We have just enough pollen to do the job! I think this is gonna work. It's got to work. Attention, passengers, this is Captain Scott. We have a bit of bad weather in New York. It looks like we'll experience a couple hours delay. Barry, these are cut flowers with no water. They'll never make it. I gotta get up there and talk to them. Be careful. Can I get help with the Sky Mall magazine? I'd like to order the talking inflatable nose and ear hair trimmer. Captain, I'm in a real situation. - What'd you say, Hal? - Nothing. Bee! Don't freak out! My entire species... What are you doing? - Wait a minute! I'm an attorney! - Who's an attorney? Don't move. Oh, Barry. Good afternoon, passengers. This is your captain. Would a Miss Vanessa Bloome in 24B please report to the cockpit? And please hurry! What happened here? There was a DustBuster, a toupee, a life raft exploded. One's bald, one's in a boat, they're both unconscious! - Is that another bee joke? - No! No one's flying the plane! This is JFK control tower, Flight 356. What's your status? This is Vanessa Bloome. I'm a florist from New York. Where's the pilot? He's unconscious, and so is the copilot. Not good. Does anyone onboard have flight experience? As a matter of fact, there is. - Who's that? - Barry Benson. From the honey trial?! Oh, great. Vanessa, this is nothing more than a big metal bee. It's got giant wings, huge engines. I can't fly a plane. - Why not? Isn't John Travolta a pilot? - Yes. How hard could it be? Wait, Barry! We're headed into some lightning. This is Bob Bumble. We have some late-breaking news from JFK Airport, where a suspenseful scene is developing. Barry Benson, fresh from his legal victory... That's Barry! ...is attempting to land a plane, loaded with people, flowers and an incapacitated flight crew. Flowers?! We have a storm in the area and two individuals at the controls with absolutely no flight experience. Just a minute. There's a bee on that plane. I'm quite familiar with Mr. Benson and his no-account compadres. They've done enough damage. But isn't he your only hope? Technically, a bee shouldn't be able to fly at all. Their wings are too small... Haven't we heard this a million times? "The surface area of the wings and body mass make no sense." - Get this on the air! - Got it. - Stand by. - We're going live. The way we work may be a mystery to you. Making honey takes a lot of bees doing a lot of small jobs. But let me tell you about a small job. If you do it well, it makes a big difference. More than we realized. To us, to everyone. That's why I want to get bees back to working together. That's the bee way! We're not made of Jell-O. We get behind a fellow. - Black and yellow! - Hello! Left, right, down, hover. - Hover? - Forget hover. This isn't so hard. Beep-beep! Beep-beep! Barry, what happened?! Wait, I think we were on autopilot the whole time. - That may have been helping me. - And now we're not! So it turns out I cannot fly a plane. All of you, let's get behind this fellow! Move it out! Move out!

Our only chance is if I do what I'd do, you copy me with the wings of the plane! Don't have to yell. I'm not yelling! We're in a lot of trouble. It's very hard to concentrate with that panicky tone in your voice! It's not a tone. I'm panicking! I can't do this! Vanessa, pull yourself together. You have to snap out of it! You snap out of it. You snap out of it. - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - Hold it! - Why? Come on, it's my turn. How is the plane flying? I don't know. Hello? Benson, got any flowers for a happy occasion in there? The Pollen Jocks! They do get behind a fellow. - Black and yellow. - Hello. All right, let's drop this tin can on the blacktop. Where? I can't see anything. Can you? No, nothing. It's all cloudy. Come on. You got to think bee, Barry. - Thinking bee. - Thinking bee. Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Wait a minute. I think I'm feeling something. - What? - I don't know. It's strong, pulling me. Like a 27-million-year-old instinct. Bring the nose down. Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! - What in the world is on the tarmac? - Get some lights on that! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! - Vanessa, aim for the flower. - OK. Out the engines. We're going in on bee power. Ready, boys? Affirmative! Good. Good. Easy, now. That's it. Land on that flower! Ready? Full reverse! Spin it around! - Not that flower! The other one! - Which one? - That flower. - I'm aiming at the flower! That's a fat guy in a flowered shirt. I mean the giant pulsating flower made of millions of bees! Pull forward. Nose down. Tail up. Rotate around it. - This is insane, Barry! - This's the only way I know how to fly. Am I koo-koo-kachoo, or is this plane flying in an insect-like pattern? Get your nose in there. Don't be afraid. Smell it. Full reverse! Just drop it. Be a part of it. Aim for the center! Now drop it in! Drop it in, woman! Come on, already. Barry, we did it! You taught me how to fly! - Yes. No high-five! - Right. Barry, it worked! Did you see the giant flower? What giant flower? Where? Of course I saw the flower! That was genius! - 

Thank you. - But we're not done yet. Listen, everyone! This runway is covered with the last pollen from the last flowers available anywhere on Earth. That means this is our last chance. We're the only ones who make honey, pollinate flowers and dress like this. If we're gonna survive as a species, this is our moment! What do you say? Are we going to be bees, or just Museum of Natural History keychains? We're bees! Keychain! Then follow me! Except Keychain. Hold on, Barry. Here. You've earned this. Yeah! I'm a Pollen Jock! And it's a perfect fit. All I gotta do are the sleeves. Oh, yeah. That's our Barry. Mom! The bees are back! If anybody needs to make a call, now's the time. I got a feeling we'll be working late tonight! Here's your change. Have a great afternoon! Can I help who's next? Would you like some honey with that? It is bee-approved. Don't forget these. Milk, cream, cheese, it's all me. And I don't see a nickel! Sometimes I just feel like a piece of meat! I had no idea. Barry, I'm sorry. Have you got a moment? Would you excuse me? My mosquito associate will help you. Sorry I'm late. He's a lawyer too? I was already a blood-sucking parasite. All I needed was a briefcase. Have a great afternoon! Barry, I just got this huge tulip order, and I can't get them anywhere. No problem, Vannie. Just leave it to me. You're a lifesaver, Barry. Can I help who's next? All right, scramble, jocks! It's time to fly. Thank you, Barry! That bee is living my life! Let it go, Kenny. - When will this nightmare end?! - Let it all go. - Beautiful day to fly. - Sure is. Between you and me, I was dying to get out of that office. You have got to start thinking bee, my friend. - Thinking bee! - Me? Hold it. Let's just stop for a second. Hold it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, everyone. Can we stop here? I'm not making a major life decision during a production number! All right. Take ten, everybody. Wrap it up, guys. I had virtually no rehearsal for that.

[timeclipsed]

Hello hello hello to all my mutuals, and to all the ones I haven't followed back too! The last few days have been so hectic that I haven't had the chance to sit down and properly articulate my thoughts until now, so I hope you can forgive me for missing the mark a little here.

With this bummer of a year finally coming to an end, I know a lot of people are scrambling to find something hopeful to hear to give them faith for 2025. Reassurance, acknowledgement, kindness— anything to at least put a pretty bow on top of everything. Maybe some of you received that of which you were looking for, maybe some of you didn't and were saddened by it.

If I could, I would send every single one of you a personalized message telling you how much you mean and how happy I am that you are here with me. I suppose something more generalized doesn't have the exact same sentiment, but regardless I want to tell you that I see you, and that I care for you. Even if nobody else in the world has made you feel valued or seen, I promise that I do. You are so real, and so, so rare.

In the short time I've been here, this silly little community has become a home to me. It's always fun when things get chaotic, or when we're sharing promos, or talking about the same topics. Every single presence on my dashboard matters to me, because it creates an entirely new verse in this big, endless orchestral song we're all performing together. And every time we get a new player, with their own new instrument, I get so happy! No matter how minimal or fickle you think your contributions are, I hope you know that I appreciate them. You are beautifully articulate writers with intricately wonderful portrayals and uniquely valuable concepts/ideas. And you, in your own little ways, help to cultivate this community and make it into the exciting, welcoming place it is now! Whether you're an AU writer, or you're so canon divergent that sometimes your character doesn't even seem like the original thing, or you're entirely about OCs, or even all of the above, everything you do here is great! Thank you for being brave enough to share your thoughts with the world; with us, with me!

I may not know any of you very well, or have an idea of what you face in your real lives day-to-day, but beyond a shadow of a doubt I know that you're so brave for waking up every morning to face it and even still having the motivation to come online everyday and show us your most creative thoughts and visions! You're tenacious, resilient, and best of all you're you! You can take whatever this wacked out life throws at you and still stand tall to come back for more!

You know the craziest part? You faced that uphill battle head-on, a conflict you can only take one day at a time, and you won. Every single fight this year threw at you, you overcame. I am so proud of you! So, so extremely proud! Maybe you had days that didn't feel great or nights where you made mistakes that you regret, but those are leaps and bounds away now! Because you're still growing every single day! And now you're here, in the future!

Well, I could go on, but I won't take up any more of your time. I don't know if this is anything, or if it will matter much in the long run... but I do hope you all recognize that the sentiment is here, and that it's not going away any time soon (much like you, heheh, go you go!).

Thank you for being here, and for being you. Happy 2025!

[peachhcs]

alright blarie and sammy meeting? and sammy is like oh she’s adorable 🥺

i feel like those novels where the author writes their books in the same universes and then their characters from different books end up meeting and everyone is like omg it’s all connected

any au i do is almost always gonna connect and be in the same “universe” hence the samy + will universe i’ve started LOL

au masterlist

“just don’t freak her out, okay?” mack said as he led will and samy to where blaire was waiting. the brunette pinched her eyebrows together. “freak her out? why would i do that? we literally know each other,” the girl laughed, her arm clinging to will’s as they walked.

“i don’t know, she’s really nervous to meet you though,” mack shrugged and something inside samy was flattered that mack’s girlfriend was nervous to meet her because she’s never thought she was someone that people got nervous around.

after mentioning to blaire that samy was coming back to san jose, the figure skater sort of begged mack to meet her. she’s heard so much about the soccer player from both mack and will and from the little she remembered when they met so many years ago, she wanted to properly meet the girl that her boyfriend considered a sister.

“sometimes you get a little too excited..” will half teased, only being allowed to say that because he was her boyfriend.

“hey! i just love meeting new people,” the girl rolled her eyes.

the three rounded the corner and caught sight of blaire leaning up against the wall waiting for them. she heard their footsteps and their voices, immediately straightening herself up when she met their gaze.

“hey, pretty girl,” mack greeted her first with a loving hug and peck on the cheek. she giggled at his affection and will and samy watched like proud parents.

“hi, great game tonight,” blaire cheered and then her gaze slid to the couple standing a few feet away.

“wow, you must be samy. it’s good to..re-meet you?” blaire laughed at her choice of words, sticking her hand out to the girl in front of her.

samy was a hugger though. she detached her arm from will’s to bring the dirty blonde into a gentle squeeze. “it’s good to see you again, blaire. i didn’t even know you went here.”

“yeah, it was such a coincidence. i can’t believe you’re like some star soccer player now,” blaire was surprised by the hug, but she quickly squeezed samy back. when they pulled away the two girls exchanged friendly smiles.

“yeah, i definitely did a 180. i really love it though. i’m so glad you’re still figure skating though, that’s awesome. mack says you’re really good,” the older girl glanced over at the younger brunette who flushed.

“he’s just saying that,” blaire blushed, shaking her head. she always got warm and bubbly whenever mack praised her talent.

“i promise i’m not. you’re the best i know,” mack praised her again and samy smiled seeing blaire so blushy around the boy. she remembered how blushy she was around will when they first got together and how blushy she still got.

“so how about we grab dinner together? i’d love to get to know you more since we last saw each other when we were like twelve,” samy chuckled and everyone quickly agreed.

samy got herself into will’s car while mack rode with blaire. the brunette was grinning from ear to ear, “i already love her.”

“it’s weird seeing him so happy, right?” will chuckled as they pulled out of the lot after blaire who led the way to the restaurant.

“yeah, but he’s happy. i’ve never seen mack that happy before. i mean he’s always happy, but that was really happy,” samy emphasized making her boyfriend laugh.

“i think mack’s glad you like her. he’s been waiting for you to meet her all week,” the blonde hummed which further proved how much the younger brunette looked up to the the couple and wanted their approval. the thought made both of them smile.

dinner went really well. samy and blaire talked the entire time about life and their boyfriends and their sports while will and mack just sat back and listened. it was pretty safe to say blaire and mack were getting an invite to the lake house next summer.

when they finished and walked back onto the sidewalk samy pulled the younger rookie aside for a moment.

“i really like her. she’s adorable,” the girl said quietly while blaire chatted with will about something. mack quickly smiled.

“you do?”

“i can see how much she likes you and you like her,” the brunette pinched his cheek and the boy flushed.

“i’m glad you like her. i’m glad will likes her too,” they eyed the other two laughing about something.

“i hope i see her everytime i come back,” samy squeezed his arm before joining into blaire and will’s conversation.

[burntheedges]

Pas de Deux Chapter 12

Din Djarin x f!reader | 2.2k | fic masterlist | main masterlist | ao3

chapter summary: on the morning of the Gala, you were finding it harder than usual to shake off your nerves.

a/n: Happy New Year! Thank you for reading! I have a little something coming up this weekend (between chapters) for y'all for this fic. 👀Thank you @katareyoudrilling for being the best beta, as always!!

chapter tags/warnings: fluff, a teensy bit of angst, flirting, touching, pet names (sweetheart), hand-holding, feelings

Chapter 12

The week before the gala was so busy, it actually helped take your mind off the simmering tension between you and your partner. It was as busy as the week before a big performance always was, but it had the additional pressure of Karga’s obvious excitement. He dropped in and out of rehearsals more than usual and didn’t stop until Alexa told him it was putting everyone on edge.

It distracted you enough to put some distance between you and the memory of Din kissing you. Enough distance for you to wonder what, exactly, Din had meant by “this” when he said he wanted it. 

Does he want the same things I do? What do I want? You knew you wanted him. And you knew you didn’t just want him once.

Whatever connection you’d slowly and carefully built between you, brick by brick, you knew it was something more than that. 

The question occupied you through your rehearsals that week, all the way through your final rehearsal with Kuiil in the studio on Wednesday. On Thursday you would begin rehearsals in the theater with the full orchestra.

At the end of your final rehearsal with Kuiil, he came to stand between you in the center of the room. You could see on his face that he was more than satisfied – he was happy with what you’d created in this room together.

“Both of you know that I am proud of you. You have created something special, between the two of you. Something that will surprise and delight and awaken the audience through your performance. I cannot wait for your fellow dancers to see it, and then to see it on stage.” He looked at Din and smiled. “You have truly grown, Din. In this role and as a dancer. I can see you finding yourself, not who you were told to be. Finding something new.” Din nodded, ducking his head and smiling. You grinned. “And you, my dear. You have been given bigger roles this year because you deserve them. You have surpassed them. This pas de deux is only a success because of you.” He looked back at Din. “Both of you.”

You felt your face burn and wished you could step closer to Din, or hold his hand. You stayed where you were.

“Remember to trust each other. To rely on each other. Dance as you have this week and you will simply fly across the stage.” He nodded once more and turned to leave. “Now, get some rest before tomorrow. We will meet early to block it on stage.”

Kuiil stepped out and you turned to find Din already looking at you. He was smiling. “He’s right, you know. This only works because of you.”

You shook your head. “This is a pas de deux, Din. A dance for two people.”

He laughed and stepped towards you. He reached for your hand and laced your fingers together. “It is. But I never would have been able to do it with someone else.” His gaze was dark and sure as he met your eyes. “I could only do this with you. I trust you. And you…” he trailed off and squeezed your hand. “You see me.”

You reached for his other hand and smiled. “You let me see you,” you countered, and he sighed. 

He leaned forward and murmured in your ear, “let me say nice things about you, sweetheart.”

You shivered. Sweetheart. That was new. You liked it. He pressed a gentle kiss to your cheek before stepping back and releasing your hands. “Also. I wanted to tell you… for Saturday.”

You nodded. Saturday was the night of the Gala. “Saturday?”

Din looked suddenly nervous, tapping the fingers of one hand against his leg. “Grogu is going to stay with Peli. After the show.”

You blinked, and then you grinned. “You mean…”

He nodded, smiling back with more confidence when he saw your reaction. “Would you, um. Would you like to–”

“Yes,” you said, not even letting him finish. He smiled so wide his eyes crinkled. 

“Good.”

For a moment you just smiled at each other, but then he stepped away. “I should go, before I’m tempted to hold your hand again.”

You laughed. “Get out of here, Din Djarin. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” he promised, and stepped out of the door.

…

On Thursday, pre-dress rehearsal, with the orchestra but without costumes, went just fine. Everyone was excited to see the pas de deux and their excitement was infectious, affecting you and Din and your performance. Their cheers from backstage made you laugh as you took your bow to the empty theater. 

On Friday, before dress rehearsal, you tugged Din into a corner when you saw his face go a bit expressionless after he put on his costume. 

“Hey,” you whispered, taking his hand. “What are you thinking?”

He shook his head and smiled wryly. “The practices helped. But I feel…” He looked down at himself and you struggled not to follow his gaze. “Exposed.”

You nodded. “Well, it is just shorts.” He huffed a laugh and then looked surprised at himself. “Hey, it’s just you and me, right? Just look at me. It’s just us. No one else but me.”

His face turned serious as he met your eyes. “I’m always looking at you.”

You weren’t sure what your face did in response, but it made him smile again. You watched as his shoulders relaxed and you smiled back. The feeling that welled up inside of you at his words carried you through your performance.

After dress rehearsal, Adrian swept you up in a hug after the third movement, exclaiming how amazing it was and how much he loved it. You grinned at Din over his shoulder and saw some surprise on the faces of the dancers around you when he smiled widely back. A few of them stopped him with compliments and it warmed you, to see him more at ease. 

…

On Saturday, the day of the show, you woke up with unexpected nerves. 

It was normal for you to feel a bit jittery before a show, but usually morning class or a short rehearsal settled you. It didn’t seem to work that day, though. Maybe it was because Alexa took it easier on all of you that day, or maybe it was something else. Either way, you finished morning class just as full of nerves as when you’d arrived. You could tell Adrian had seen it, but for the first time, he wasn’t the one who noticed first.

You sat down to pull off your shoes and a familiar dark outline appeared to your right. Din sat down next to you and nudged you with his shoulder.

“Hey,” he said, voice low. “You alright?”

You nodded, eyes on your shoes. “I always get a little nervous before a show, but I just…” you trailed off, looking around the room. Almost everyone was gone and Adrian was not-so-subtly ushering the rest out. It made you smile. “I can’t seem to shake it today.”

He looked at you without replying for long enough that you turned to look at him. He looked thoughtful. 

“Come have lunch with me,” Din said.

You tilted your head. “Shouldn’t we–” 

“Kuiil said no rehearsal today. Just stay warm and stretch. So come have lunch with me, and we can mark it later to stay warm until call time.”

You nodded. “Ok. Lunch.”

Din stood first and extended his hand to lift you to your feet. You followed him out the door and down the hall and then, to your surprise, to the front door of the building. You stopped him just inside to put on your jacket and sweats, to keep your muscles warm. “Where are we going?”

He smiled at you over his shoulder. “I’d take you home, since my apartment is close by, but I don’t quite trust us there yet.” He winked – winked – and you laughed. You felt a little bit of your tension ease. “There’s a place around the corner that I like.” 

You figured he meant the diner, and smiled when you saw you were right. “I like this place, too.”

Soon enough you were seated and facing each other in a small booth in the back corner of the restaurant. 

“So,” he said after you put in your orders. “What’s different about today?”

You turned that question over, considering it slowly. “I think…” you fiddled with your straw. “I’ve been thinking about what Kuiil said. About me taking on bigger roles. I’ve been trying not to analyze it too much, and what it could mean. But Adrian has been telling me all year they’d promote me next year, and I just don’t want to get my hopes up for it.” You glanced up at him and saw he was listening with a small frown on his face. “I don’t want to put that pressure on our performance tonight but I can’t seem to shake it.”

He considered you for a moment before reaching out and covering your hand with his, stilling your movements. 

“You know,” he said, and the warmth in his tone caught your attention. “When we moved here, those first few days, I didn’t think this was going to work.” 

You blinked, surprised. “What?”

He shook his head. “It seemed… like a bad fit. I was pretty sure I’d made the wrong decision. Worried I’d have to go crawling back to Concordia, or somewhere else.”

You thought back to those first few days, when he’d been around but hadn’t yet joined your classes. What had he been doing? Talking to Karga, maybe Kuiil? You thought back to his expressionless mask that he hadn’t dropped even for a moment for weeks and something clenched in your chest, imagining how unhappy he’d been. How lonely he must have felt. And no one had known. You flipped your hand and laced your fingers together with his.

“What changed?”

The corner of Din’s mouth lifted in a smile. “I saw you.”

“What? Where?”

His smile grew at your obvious shock. “In class, that first day. I was… overwhelmed, to put it mildly. I was trying to focus on doing my best, on making the best of everything, but I couldn’t stop looking at you.”

“I…” you thought back to that first day, when everyone had been watching him from across the room. “Me?”

He shook his head and huffed a laugh. “Yes, you. You’re beautiful, you know. And your dancing…” He closed his eyes, and you watched as he obviously pictured you dancing. Your mouth dropped open. “I told you why I left. What I wanted, and what CBC didn’t. It all came to a head earlier this year, when they cast me in Don Quixote and then took it away when they didn’t like my performance. I’m not sure that ever got out. That’s why I left so suddenly. Well, it was that, and it was because of Grogu.”

You blinked, surprised. “Grogu? Why?”

Din sighed. “I adopted him last year. They didn’t… they don’t approve of anything that takes your attention away from ballet. Even kids.”

“What?” you were shocked. Karga would never do that. “So no one has families?”

He shook his head. “Sort of. People do, and there’s the school with kids studying ballet, which is important to them. But for the company you have to prove that it won’t ‘distract’ you. And I wanted to spend too much time with him, according to them.”

You frowned, but he smiled. “Anyway. I knew I had to leave in the moment, but by the time I got here I was sure I’d fucked everything up. And then… there you were, doing everything the way I only dreamed was possible, after Kuiil told me there was more out there for me.” He opened his eyes again and when his gaze met yours you suddenly felt like you were flying. “You have the technique and the artistry. The feeling. I wanted to dance like that.”

Your mouth dropped open. “Just from that first class?”

He reached forward and grabbed your other hand. He brought both up to his mouth and kissed your knuckles. “Yes, but then I watched you perform, and then we danced together, and even when it wasn’t working I was so happy to have found you. I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”

You felt your face start to burn and wished you could hide it in your hands, but he was still holding them, and you didn’t want to let go. “Din–”

“You know what I think about this – they should have promoted you already. But don’t think about that today. It’s just you and me, right?” He echoed your words from before dress rehearsal and squeezed your hands. “It’s just the two of us out there. And all we have to do is be there for each other.”

“Just us,” you repeated. You took a deep breath and smiled. You felt your shoulders drop and the tightness in your chest ease. “How did you know just what to say?”

He winked at you again. “I learned it from you.”

“Ok. It’s just us. We can do this. We know we can do this.” 

He nodded, agreeing. “Good.”

...

prev | next

a/n: next week -- the Gala! keep an eye out this weekend for something special. 👀

Dress rehearsal/etc.: I've mentioned this before, I think, but in the week before a show with live musicians, you'd have at least one or two practices with them before the show most of the time. So they have one practice without costumes and one with (dress rehearsal). A lot of companies would do morning class in the theater on those days but in my head NBT is literally next door to the theater, if not on the same block. So they have morning class on Saturday and then a few hours before they have to be at the theater for call time.

For a piece like this it's possible some of the other dancers would have seen it, but Din has been so nervous, I decided he would probably not have wanted any guests in their rehearsals.

I'll touch on this more next week, but again for a piece like this, it's not uncommon for two dancers to need to get into a headspace for the performance that is just about the two of them. So others would not necessarily be surprised at them mostly talking to each other the day of the show.

[marauders-fanfilm]

Hey everyone, We had hoped to write a very different update for everyone this year, but unfortunately that wasn’t quite in the cards yet. We’re still here, and still working away on the project, but it has been slow-moving. We wanted to begin by saying how much we appreciate everyone’s patience and continued support for this project. Obviously it has taken longer than any of us had anticipated, but our team is committed to seeing this project through. Unfortunately 2024 has been especially difficult for everyone, and progress has reflected that. I do apologize for the lack of updates this year; there were several personal setbacks as well as difficulties within the production. We kept hoping for something more tangible we could share but the biggest things we’ve been working on are highly spoilery.

One of the biggest updates this year that we can share has been on the score composition front. We spent a lot of years working with our talented composer, and while we loved the work we accomplished together, his schedule was simply unrelenting and never left time for TGS. Late last year we decided that it was in the best interest of the project to find another composer who could join the team to finish the remaining sections and polish up the drafts of what had been previously written. We are incredibly excited to welcome talented French composer Thomas Kubler to our team. This is actually Thomas’ second venture into the Wizarding World, having composed the scores for all three of the Warren Flamel fan films, which if you haven’t seen before, we highly recommend!

Thomas joined the film early this year, and immediately got to work. Due to some technical issues, it took our previous composer several months to send over the work he had done to date, so Thomas began by recreating the first few tracks by ear. After we eventually received the work in progress files this summer, he was able to start moving through the material much more quickly. Thomas has worked hard to incorporate much of the beautiful work that was done on the score by his predecessor, and the work he is doing sounds incredible. Unfortunately in October, Thomas was in an accident that shattered his right arm and put him out of commission for several months while he recovered. We are incredibly glad that he has now made a full recovery and are excited to resume progress on the rest of the score!

Things on the VFX front have been a bit slower but progress has continued. VFX Supervisor Martin and artist Seb have been hard at work on two of the most difficult sequences of the film, that I so desperately wish I could share more about, but as previously mentioned are highly spoilery moments in the third act finale. These are particularly complex effects that several previous artists have attempted and thrown in the towel on over the years or that weren’t coming out to the level they needed to. Both are still in progress but they are looking absolutely incredible, and we are so excited to see them finished!

We also brought on another talented American artist, Daphne, this year, who has come on for a specific finale sequence. While her schedule has been incredibly demanding, I am told that the shot is going well and I should have a version to review in the coming weeks.

That said, the VFX team has had a lot to deal with as well. The rest of the team has for the most part left or been unavailable to work on the project this year, be it because of busy work schedules, industry layoffs, political unrest, or medical recovery. It's been a really difficult year for almost everyone on our team. We are currently in talks to hopefully welcome some of them back in the coming months, and are working on bringing on some additional new recruits. The majority of the film is done but there is a good bit, primarily in the third act, that needs to be wrapped up. That said, we are incredibly proud of how things are looking and are so excited to share the film with you all.

We’ve said it before, but as long as she continues, we will too: The Cast & Crew of The Gathering Storm: A Marauders Fan Film stand with the Trans and Nonbinary communities against the continued harassment and bigotry from JK Rowling. To say working on this project over the last few years has been challenging while the creator of the world spews so much hate and misinformation is an understatement. We all have struggled with the knowledge that we, in some small part, continue the legacy of the franchise, and completely understand and respect the members of our team who could not continue working on it. Despite this, we stand committed to seeing this project through to the end, and creating something made by the fans and for the fans, as a farewell to a world we all loved so much.

Our team is hard at work to make this project the best that it can be, and we are so excited to share it with you. We appreciate everyone’s continued patience and understanding, and wish you all a happy New Year. Sincerely, The TGS Team

[henchmaniac-ford]

Stanford frowns holding a stack of papers "what the hell is this crap?"

The papers read: According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly.

Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground.

The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible.

Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black.

Ooh, black and yellow!

Let's shake it up a little.

Barry! Breakfast is ready!

Coming!

Hang on a second.

Hello?

Barry?

Adam?

Can you believe this is happening?

I can't.

I'll pick you up.

Looking sharp.

Use the stairs, Your father paid good money for those.

Sorry. I'm excited.

Here's the graduate.

We're very proud of you, son.

A perfect report card, all B's.

Very proud.

Ma! I got a thing going here.

You got lint on your fuzz.

Ow! That's me!

Wave to us! We'll be in row 118,000.

Bye!

Barry, I told you, stop flying in the house!

Hey, Adam.

Hey, Barry.

Is that fuzz gel?

A little. Special day, graduation.

Never thought I'd make it.

Three days grade school, three days high school.

Those were awkward.

Three days college. I'm glad I took a day and hitchhiked around The Hive.

You did come back different.

Hi, Barry. Artie, growing a mustache? Looks good.

Hear about Frankie?

Yeah.

You going to the funeral?

No, I'm not going.

Everybody knows, sting someone, you die.

Don't waste it on a squirrel.

Such a hothead.

I guess he could have just gotten out of the way.

I love this incorporating an amusement park into our day.

That's why we don't need vacations.

Boy, quite a bit of pomp under the circumstances.

Well, Adam, today we are men.

We are!

Bee-men.

Amen!

Hallelujah!

Students, faculty, distinguished bees,

please welcome Dean Buzzwell.

Welcome, New Hive City graduating class of 9:15.

That concludes our ceremonies And begins your career at Honex Industries!

Will we pick our job today?

I heard it's just orientation.

Heads up! Here we go.

Keep your hands and antennas inside the tram at all times.

Wonder what it'll be like?

A little scary.

Welcome to Honex, a division of Honesco and a part of the Hexagon Group.

This is it!

Wow.

Wow.

We know that you, as a bee, have worked your whole life to get to the point where you can work for your whole life.

Honey begins when our valiant Pollen Jocks bring the nectar to The Hive.

Our top-secret formula is automatically color-corrected, scent-adjusted and bubble-contoured into this soothing sweet syrup with its distinctive golden glow you know as... Honey!

That girl was hot.

She's my cousin!

She is?

Yes, we're all cousins.

Right. You're right.

At Honex, we constantly strive to improve every aspect of bee existence.

These bees are stress-testing a new helmet technology.

What do you think he makes?

Not enough.

Here we have our latest advancement, the Krelman.

What does that do?

Catches that little strand of honey that hangs after you pour it.

Saves us millions.

Can anyone work on the Krelman?

Of course. Most bee jobs are small ones.

But bees know that every small job, if it's done well, means a lot.

But choose carefully because you'll stay in the job you pick for the rest of your life.

The same job the rest of your life? I didn't know that.

What's the difference?

You'll be happy to know that bees, as a species, haven't had one day off in 27 million years.

So you'll just work us to death?

We'll sure try.

Wow! That blew my mind!

"What's the difference?"

How can you say that?

One job forever?

That's an insane choice to have to make.

I'm relieved. Now we only have to make one decision in life.

But, Adam, how could they never have told us that?

Why would you question anything? We're bees.

We're the most perfectly functioning society on Earth.

You ever think maybe things work a little too well here?

Like what? Give me one example.

I don't know. But you know what I'm talking about.

Please clear the gate. Royal Nectar Force on approach.

Wait a second. Check it out.

Hey, those are Pollen Jocks!

Wow.

I've never seen them this close.

They know what it's like outside The Hive.

Yeah, but some don't come back.

Hey, Jocks!

Hi, Jocks!

You guys did great!

You're monsters!

You're sky freaks! I love it! I love it!

I wonder where they were.

I don't know.

Their day's not planned.

Outside The Hive, flying who knows where, doing who knows what.

You can't just decide to be a Pollen Jock. You have to be bred for that.

Right.

Look. That's more pollen than you and I will see in a lifetime.

It's just a status symbol.

Bees make too much of it.

Perhaps. Unless you're wearing it and the ladies see you wearing it.

Those ladies?

Aren't they our cousins too?

Distant. Distant.

Look at these two.

Couple of Hive Harrys.

Let's have fun with them.

It must be dangerous being a Pollen Jock.

Yeah. Once a bear pinned me against a mushroom!

He had a paw on my throat, and with the other, he was slapping me!

Oh, my!

I never thought I'd knock him out.

What were you doing during this?

Trying to alert the authorities.

I can autograph that.

A little gusty out there today, wasn't it, comrades?

Yeah. Gusty.

We're hitting a sunflower patch six miles from here tomorrow.

Six miles, huh?

Barry!

A puddle jump for us, but maybe you're not up for it.

Maybe I am.

You are not!

We're going 0900 at J-Gate.

What do you think, buzzy-boy?

Are you bee enough?

I might be. It all depends on what 0900 means.

Hey, Honex!

Dad, you surprised me.

You decide what you're interested in?

Well, there's a lot of choices.

But you only get one.

Do you ever get bored doing the same job every day?

Son, let me tell you about stirring.

You grab that stick, and you just move it around, and you stir it around.

You get yourself into a rhythm.

It's a beautiful thing.

You know, Dad, the more I think about it,

maybe the honey field just isn't right for me.

You were thinking of what, making balloon animals?

That's a bad job for a guy with a stinger.

Janet, your son's not sure he wants to go into honey!

Barry, you are so funny sometimes.

I'm not trying to be funny.

You're not funny! You're going into honey. Our son, the stirrer!

You're gonna be a stirrer?

No one's listening to me!

Wait till you see the sticks I have.

I could say anything right now.

I'm gonna get an ant tattoo!

Let's open some honey and celebrate!

Maybe I'll pierce my thorax. Shave my antennae. Shack up with a grasshopper. Get a gold tooth and call everybody "dawg"!

I'm so proud.

We're starting work today!

Today's the day.

Come on! All the good jobs will be gone.

Yeah, right.

Pollen counting, stunt bee, pouring, stirrer, front desk, hair removal...

Is it still available?

Hang on. Two left!

One of them's yours! Congratulations!

Step to the side.

What'd you get?

Picking crud out. Stellar!

Wow!

Couple of newbies?

Yes, sir! Our first day! We are ready!

Make your choice.

You want to go first?

No, you go.

Oh, my. What's available?

Restroom attendant's open, not for the reason you think.

Any chance of getting the Krelman?

Sure, you're on.

I'm sorry, the Krelman just closed out.

Wax monkey's always open.

The Krelman opened up again.

What happened?

A bee died. Makes an opening. See? He's dead. Another dead one.

Deady. Deadified. Two more dead.

Dead from the neck up. Dead from the neck down. That's life!

Oh, this is so hard!

Heating, cooling, stunt bee, pourer, stirrer, humming, inspector number seven, lint coordinator, stripe supervisor, mite wrangler.

Barry, what do you think I should... Barry?

Barry!

All right, we've got the sunflower patch in quadrant nine...

What happened to you?

Where are you?

I'm going out.

Out? Out where?

Out there.

Oh, no!

I have to, before I go to work for the rest of my life.

You're gonna die! You're crazy! Hello?

Another call coming in.

If anyone's feeling brave, there's a Korean deli on 83rd that gets their roses today.

Hey, guys.

Look at that.

Isn't that the kid we saw yesterday?

Hold it, son, flight deck's restricted.

It's OK, Lou. We're gonna take him up.

Really? Feeling lucky, are you?

Sign here, here. Just initial that.

Thank you.

OK.

You got a rain advisory today, and as you all know, bees cannot fly in rain.

So be careful. As always, watch your brooms, hockey sticks, dogs, birds, bears and bats.

Also, I got a couple of reports of root beer being poured on us.

Murphy's in a home because of it, babbling like a cicada!

That's awful.

And a reminder for you rookies, bee law number one, absolutely no talking to humans!

All right, launch positions!

Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz!

Black and yellow!

Hello!

You ready for this, hot shot?

Yeah. Yeah, bring it on.

Wind, check.

Antennae, check.

Nectar pack, check.

Wings, check.

Stinger, check.

Scared out of my shorts, check.

OK, ladies,

let's move it out!

Pound those petunias, you striped stem-suckers!

All of you, drain those flowers!

Wow! I'm out!

I can't believe I'm out!

So blue.

I feel so fast and free!

Box kite!

Wow!

Flowers!

This is Blue Leader, We have roses visual.

Bring it around 30 degrees and hold.

Roses!

30 degrees, roger. Bringing it around.

Stand to the side, kid.

It's got a bit of a kick.

That is one nectar collector!

Ever see pollination up close?

No, sir.

I pick up some pollen here, sprinkle it over here. Maybe a dash over there, a pinch on that one.

See that? It's a little bit of magic.

That's amazing. Why do we do that?

That's pollen power. More pollen, more flowers, more nectar, more honey for us.

Cool.

I'm picking up a lot of bright yellow, Could be daisies, Don't we need those?

Copy that visual.

Wait. One of these flowers seems to be on the move.

Say again? You're reporting a moving flower?

Affirmative.

That was on the line!

This is the coolest. What is it?

I don't know, but I'm loving this color.

It smells good.

Not like a flower, but I like it.

Yeah, fuzzy.

Chemical-y.

Careful, guys. It's a little grabby.

My sweet lord of bees!

Candy-brain, get off there!

Problem!

Guys!

This could be bad.

Affirmative.

Very close.

Gonna hurt.

Mama's little boy.

You are way out of position, rookie!

Coming in at you like a missile!

Help me!

I don't think these are flowers.

Should we tell him?

I think he knows.

What is this?!

Match point!

You can start packing up, honey, because you're about to eat it!

Yowser!

Gross.

There's a bee in the car!

Do something!

I'm driving!

Hi, bee.

He's back here!

He's going to sting me!

Nobody move. If you don't move, he won't sting you. Freeze!

He blinked!

Spray him, Granny!

What are you doing?!

Wow... the tension level out here is unbelievable.

I gotta get home.

Can't fly in rain. Can't fly in rain. Can't fly in rain.

Mayday! Mayday! Bee going down!

Ken, could you close the window please?

Ken, could you close the window please?

Check out my new resume. I made it into a fold-out brochure. You see? Folds out.

Oh, no. More humans. I don't need this.

What was that?

Maybe this time. This time. This time. This time! This time! This... Drapes!

That is diabolical.

It's fantastic. It's got all my special skills, even my top-ten favorite movies.

What's number one? Star Wars?

Nah, I don't go for that... kind of stuff.

No wonder we shouldn't talk to them. They're out of their minds.

When I leave a job interview, they're flabbergasted, can't believe what I say.

There's the sun. Maybe that's a way out.

I don't remember the sun having a big 75 on it.

I predicted global warming. I could feel it getting hotter. At first I thought it was just me.

Wait! Stop! Bee!

Stand back. These are winter boots.

Wait!

Don't kill him!

You know I'm allergic to them! This thing could kill me!

Why does his life have less value than yours?

Why does his life have any less value than mine? Is that your statement?

I'm just saying all life has value. You don't know what he's capable of feeling.

My brochure!

There you go, little guy.

I'm not scared of him.It's an allergic thing.

Put that on your resume brochure.

My whole face could puff up.

Make it one of your special skills.

Knocking someone out is also a special skill.

Right. Bye, Vanessa. Thanks.

Vanessa, next week? Yogurt night?

Sure, Ken. You know, whatever.

You could put carob chips on there.

Bye.

Supposed to be less calories.

Bye.

I gotta say something. She saved my life. I gotta say something.

All right, here it goes.

Nah.

What would I say?

I could really get in trouble. It's a bee law. You're not supposed to talk to a human.

I can't believe I'm doing this. I've got to.

Oh, I can't do it. Come on!

No. Yes. No. Do it. I can't.

How should I start it? "You like jazz?" No, that's no good.

Here she comes! Speak, you fool!

Hi!

I'm sorry. You're talking.

Yes, I know.

You're talking!

I'm so sorry.

No, it's OK. It's fine.

I know I'm dreaming. But I don't recall going to bed.

Well, I'm sure this is very disconcerting.

This is a bit of a surprise to me. I mean, you're a bee!

I am. And I'm not supposed to be doing this, but they were all trying to kill me.

And if it wasn't for you... I had to thank you. It's just how I was raised.

That was a little weird. I'm talking with a bee.

Yeah.

I'm talking to a bee. And the bee is talking to me!

I just want to say I'm grateful.

I'll leave now.

Wait! How did you learn to do that?

What?

The talking thing.

Same way you did, I guess. "Mama, Dada, honey." You pick it up.

That's very funny.

Yeah.

Bees are funny. If we didn't laugh, we'd cry with what we have to deal with.

Anyway... Can I... get you something?

Like what?

I don't know. I mean... I don't know. Coffee?

I don't want to put you out.

It's no trouble. It takes two minutes.

It's just coffee.

I hate to impose.

Don't be ridiculous!

Actually, I would love a cup.

Hey, you want rum cake?

I shouldn't.

Have some.

No, I can't.

Come on!

I'm trying to lose a couple micrograms.

Where?

These stripes don't help.

You look great!

I don't know if you know anything about fashion.

Are you all right?

No.

He's making the tie in the cab as they're flying up Madison.

He finally gets there.

He runs up the steps into the church.

The wedding is on.

And he says, "Watermelon?

I thought you said Guatemalan.

Why would I marry a watermelon?"

Is that a bee joke?

That's the kind of stuff we do.

Yeah, different.

So, what are you gonna do, Barry?

About work? I don't know.

I want to do my part for The Hive, but I can't do it the way they want.

I know how you feel.

You do?

Sure.

My parents wanted me to be a lawyer or a doctor, but I wanted to be a florist.

Really?

My only interest is flowers.

Our new queen was just elected with that same campaign slogan.

Anyway, if you look... There's my hive right there. See it?

You're in Sheep Meadow!

Yes! I'm right off the Turtle Pond!

No way! I know that area. I lost a toe ring there once.

Why do girls put rings on their toes?

Why not?

It's like putting a hat on your knee.

Maybe I'll try that.

You all right, ma'am?

Oh, yeah. Fine.

Just having two cups of coffee!

Anyway, this has been great.

Thanks for the coffee.

Yeah, it's no trouble.

Sorry I couldn't finish it. If I did, I'd be up the rest of my life.

Are you...?

Can I take a piece of this with me?

Sure! Here, have a crumb.

Thanks!

Yeah.

All right. Well, then... I guess I'll see you around. Or not.

OK, Barry.

And thank you so much again... for before.

Oh, that? That was nothing.

Well, not nothing, but... Anyway...

This can't possibly work.

He's all set to go.

We may as well try it.

OK, Dave, pull the chute.

Sounds amazing.

It was amazing!

It was the scariest, happiest moment of my life.

Humans! I can't believe you were with humans!

Giant, scary humans!

What were they like?

Huge and crazy. They talk crazy.

They eat crazy giant things.

They drive crazy.

Do they try and kill you, like on TV?

Some of them. But some of them don't.

How'd you get back?

Poodle.

You did it, and I'm glad. You saw whatever you wanted to see.

You had your "experience." Now you can pick out yourjob and be normal.

Well...

Well?

Well, I met someone.

You did? Was she Bee-ish?

A wasp?! Your parents will kill you!

No, no, no, not a wasp.

Spider?

I'm not attracted to spiders.

I know it's the hottest thing, with the eight legs and all. I can't get by that face.

So who is she?

She's... human.

No, no. That's a bee law. You wouldn't break a bee law.

Her name's Vanessa.

Oh, boy.

She's so nice. And she's a florist!

Oh, no! You're dating a human florist!

We're not dating.

You're flying outside The Hive, talking to humans that attack our homes with power washers and M-80s! One-eighth a stick of dynamite!

She saved my life! And she understands me.

This is over!

Eat this.

This is not over! What was that?

They call it a crumb.

It was so stingin' stripey!

And that's not what they eat.

That's what falls off what they eat!

You know what a Cinnabon is?

No.

It's bread and cinnamon and frosting. They heat it up...

Sit down!

...really hot!

Listen to me!

We are not them! We're us.

There's us and there's them!

Yes, but who can deny the heart that is yearning?

There's no yearning. Stop yearning. Listen to me!

You have got to start thinking bee, my friend. Thinking bee!

Thinking bee.

Thinking bee.

Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee!

There he is. He's in the pool.

You know what your problem is, Barry?

I gotta start thinking bee?

How much longer will this go on?

It's been three days! Why aren't you working?

I've got a lot of big life decisions to think about.

What life? You have no life!

You have no job. You're barely a bee!

Would it kill you to make a little honey?

Barry, come out. Your father's talking to you.

Martin, would you talk to him?

Barry, I'm talking to you!

You coming?

Got everything?

All set!

Go ahead. I'll catch up.

Don't be too long.

Watch this!

Vanessa!

We're still here.

I told you not to yell at him.

He doesn't respond to yelling!

Then why yell at me?

Because you don't listen!

I'm not listening to this.

Sorry, I've gotta go.

Where are you going?

I'm meeting a friend.

A girl? Is this why you can't decide?

Bye.

I just hope she's Bee-ish.

They have a huge parade of flowers every year in Pasadena?

To be in the Tournament of Roses, that's every florist's dream!

Up on a float, surrounded by flowers, crowds cheering.

A tournament. Do the roses compete in athletic events?

No. All right, I've got one.

How come you don't fly everywhere?

It's exhausting. Why don't you run everywhere? It's faster.

Yeah, OK, I see, I see.

All right, your turn.

TiVo. You can just freeze live TV? That's insane!

You don't have that?

We have Hivo, but it's a disease. It's a horrible, horrible disease.

Oh, my.

Dumb bees!

You must want to sting all those jerks.

We try not to sting. It's usually fatal for us.

So you have to watch your temper.

Very carefully.

You kick a wall, take a walk, write an angry letter and throw it out. Work through it like any emotion: Anger, jealousy, lust.

Oh, my goodness! Are you OK?

Yeah.

What is wrong with you?!

It's a bug.

He's not bothering anybody.

Get out of here, you creep!

What was that? A Pic 'N' Save circular?

Yeah, it was. How did you know?

It felt like about 10 pages. Seventy-five is pretty much our limit.

You've really got that down to a science.

I lost a cousin to Italian Vogue.

I'll bet.

What in the name of Mighty Hercules is this?

How did this get here? cute Bee, Golden Blossom, Ray Liotta Private Select?

Is he that actor?

I never heard of him.

Why is this here?

For people. We eat it.

You don't have enough food of your own?

Well, yes.

How do you get it?

Bees make it.

I know who makes it! And it's hard to make it!

There's heating, cooling, stirring. You need a whole Krelman thing!

It's organic.

It's our-ganic!

It's just honey, Barry.

Just what?!

Bees don't know about this! This is stealing! A lot of stealing!

You've taken our homes, schools,hospitals! This is all we have!

And it's on sale?! I'm getting to the bottom of this.

I'm getting to the bottom of all of this!

Hey, Hector. You almost done?

Almost.

He is here. I sense it.

Well, I guess I'll go home now and just leave this nice honey out, with no one around.

You're busted, box boy!

I knew I heard something.

So you can talk!

I can talk. And now you'll start talking!

Where you getting the sweet stuff? Who's your supplier?

I don't understand.

I thought we were friends.

The last thing we want to do is ups

"Was suggested this book"

"Let's see if it works"

[rxttencaviar]

kinda sad in a way thats hard to articulate. not because i cant, but because its hard to say it in a way thatll come out right and no one will get upset at me for.

[polycraftory]

Some Saturday NYCC cosplay photos! I was so excited to meet another Danny! We have so so many photos to post from this weekend (especially from the Friday Critter Meetup!) but we'll be posting more once we've slept (and after we go feral buying books today).

If you met us at comic con (or just love cosplay and want to talk shop), feel free to shoot us a message! We need more cosplay & crafting friends 💜

🪡 Danny Phantom Jacket & Trafalgar Law One Piece Overalls from Kiki's Attire.

👻 Ghost Thermos & Flame from Givewave Studios. Thank you so much for the custom Danny flame color 💚

[unawakening-float07]

i had one beer with one of my closest friends and my bf while we watched a country singer preform at a biker bar and it has been the greatest night of my life

[insanelyadd]

Hello! We were wondering if you were planning to host the "Let Papyrus Say Fuck Day" again this year. If you are, will it be on June 16 like last year? We are hoping to include it in our monthly events updates. Thank you!

Yep! I'm super excited for it! Really looking forward to it because I've actually managed to draw something this year (I do feel bad about not personally participating in previous years) and I'm hoping to get another thing done for it. And yes it's on June 16th, where it will remain every year that I do this (for clarity's sake, that way no one is stuck thinking it's that day if I were to change it to another). I will be doing this perhaps every year until the end of time (I do not plan to die).

I hope a bunch of people will be able to participate again this year. :>

[hanzajesthanza]

you guys… we did it!!!

just wanted to thank you everyone for being a part of this blog… “big things to come soon”