#the wonderful world of journalism

[tarragonthedragon]

so I'm in the office when I hear it. the EIC, in the corner, my manager's manager, lights up the batsignal and voices a cry for aid:

"is anyone here who speaks Welsh?"

immediately, all heads turn to Charles' desk. Charles is Welsh. Charles takes several days to recover from the shock every time someone on a National Trust podcast mispronounces Llanidloes. surely Charles will answer the call.

Charles, the bloody nerve of him, is on Annual Leave to spend the Easter holidays with his son.

at this point I realise that several heads, including my manager's, are turning to me.

I do not speak Welsh.

I was brought up by a Welsh speaker, my grandmother, but given that we live in London and noone else in the family speaks Welsh, I only really picked up the most basic of family pleasantries. I can say cheers and goodnight, I can offer and order hot beverages, and I can answer the six questions people immediately ask when they find out you speak even a little bit of Welsh (the answer to all of these is as far as I can tell, yes but nobody says that. yes but it's baby talk. yes but it was a marketing scam. you know the ones)

I also have a master's degree in, amongst other things, medieval Welsh. as attention turns to me, I weigh up the possibility that the EIC needs someone to urgently translate Culhwch ac Olwen into modern English.

it seems unlikely. however, my CV says I have basic Welsh, and I need this job, so I head to the EICs desk with the thudding tread of someone bound for the gallows

further context-- 90% of my job is combing through business documents for aside phrases indicating business changes. this takes a lot of cross-referencing and close reading. I find this hard in my native language. I find it extremely hard in languages I'm fluent in. the idea of doing it in Welsh, a language where my conversation options are limited to "good morrow sir! the English advance on our left flank!" or "Mr fishy likes to swim", fills me with fathomless dread. in my head, I am writing my application to the next job.

the EIC turns a page around on the desk. "how do you pronounce this?"

I look at the word, relief beginning to sink in. Welsh is phonetic. even if I don't know this word, I can read it.

I do a double take. "Dai?"

"are you sure?" the EIC asks. "should I call Charles on his holidays just to check?"

"it's Dai," I repeat.

"it's not different if it's Welsh?"

I have absolutely no idea what she thinks the Welsh are doing to innocent vowel sounds that the English are not already doing. "it's Dai. like Dai Llewellyn."

"it's the same every time?"

"... yes"

"oh good." the EIC puts away her sheet and lets me go back to my desk.

as I sit down, the news editor at the next desk looks up. "so," he asks. "is it true that the Welsh for jellyfish is

[triangular-static]

okay this is one of those things that i imagine people who read journal 3 a while ago already knew but i'm just reading it now so.

static when a dimension is destroyed that's fun huh :] when the cause is a dimensional rule being broken :] i wonder if the same kind of rule would apply to whatever bill did trying to show a 3d reality to a 2d world :]

[chronicblackdespondency]

why do all my dads play guitar

[angrycatlovesfandoms]

I low-key wanna do a sort of varian and the 7 kingdoms musical.

Like this is way out of my league but I can theoretically write music and I'm steadily learning how to draw.

Like it could happen, we'll see.

[rexscanonwife]

Against my better judgement I'm watching more of the 2016 ppg reboot and lemme tell you something. I HAAAAAAATE the way they write Utonium I HATE IT!!!

But sometimes there'll be a little moment here or there where he's kinda...cute > ^ <

[aeide-thea]

i know i don't have to convince any of you guys that ~cats are capable of love~ or whatever, like obviously What Love Means to an Animal is a little different than What It Means to a Person (Whatever That Is) but also they for sure want to be buddies, but like

if you were on the fence about that, i'd offer you the image of nefret cat following me very pointedly around the house after i got back from the grocery store, very clearly impatient for it to be Poäng Time

[luzho]

@chitsangenthusiast tagged me (thank u so much😭🥺i love participating) but i thought i wouldnt be able to do it because i dont really use spotify… but i was able to use the last six months instead of just this last one!! so here are my Receipts. featuring clippy covering my last name:P

and at this point idk who has already done this or who even uses spotify…. but i like seeing yalls music recommendations!! so please continue to share your music:)

[beastsovrevelation]

Like I said, I haven't seen Season 2. And, this storyline is far from being uploaded (though, it's my favorite among my Good Omens WIPs).

Still, I'm frustrated, and feel like rewriting a few things (perfect time, I suppose).

I read some comment on Pinterest that Crowley and Beelzebub have sibling energy, and was hooked.

I now want to make them sisters in this one especially. The problem? Beelzebub is supposed to be Crowley's biggest detractor. They despise each other. And, my Antichrist despises Beelzebub, because she's an enemy to her mother. And, I'm very much in the "blood means alliance regardless of feelings" camp.

I mean, the situation could be interesting to explore. They're sisters, and they loathe each other. Beelzebub resents Crowley, for treason, as well as for not appreciating the honour she's endowed with (being the one to first tempt humankind, then becoming the Queen of Hell), and slacking on her duties. They're at a conflict, then reconcile. In truth, they had always loved one another. They'd kill and die protecting one another... Yes, of course, they'll still want to cut each other's throat a lot of the time. 😈

I think, I could add moments of tenderness in the timeline set around the Antichrist's birth, too, just to show they indeed love one another. For example, Beelzebub being by Crowley's side during the key moments, like the birth. Hell... In the later timeline, I had planned a scene where Beelzebub attacks Crowley with a dagger. But, it might as well still happen, then they reconcile. Satan wouldn't even be surprised, he has the same dynamic with Michael. Meanwhile, Maxine would simply be thankful she's the only child (not completely true, but true enough), as siblings in her family are... Yeah.

Beelzebub could get knocked up by Gabriel. Crowley would get incentive to be protective of her sister, like she had been of her. I don't know about this story, but in some story, probably, that'll hapen. It's very beneficial... Politics-wise. I doubt any child would benefit from having these two

as parents...

They (Crowley and Beelzebub) will definitely be siblings in the dream scenario I had talked about (I said I'll put it aside, but I picked at the birth scene already, because I was inspired 🤡). But, siblings with a twist... Think, Crimson Peak AU (this isn't the one, but still). I guess, in this one I can explore actual tenderness between them, far before their relationship takes a turn towards... Well, incest.

All in all, I'll make them siblings in some of my WIPs, but about others, I'm not certain. I guess, it would thicken the fucked up layer in one of them... No, that has nothing to do with incest.

I wanted to put my thoughts into a somewhat coherent form, but, if you stumbled upon this, do tell me... I don't know, what you think. There's so much potential to this dynamic. The sibling one, I mean.

P.S. - Beelzebub is always female in my works, but she's still addressed as "my Lord". Just a random... Headcanon?

[ijustkindalikebooks]

Interesting things I read this week.

[lucky-draws]

ʕ·ᴥ·ʔ - - - - - ʕ·ᴥ·ʔ

[yuukimiyas]

⊂( ˶ᐢᗜᐢ˶)⊃⁺⊹˚.⋆ hello hello!! good mornin & happy thurs!! we’re just a quick sleep away from the wknd!! & we’re so so close to the new yr!! holy WOAH!! ૮꒰ྀི ´∩∩` ꒱ྀིა thats so crazy to think ab!! i hope this thurs is a gentle one to help ease you into this wknd <33 ilya today, tmrw & always!! :3

[madigoround]

💜

[esonetwork]

The Earth Station DCU Episode 352 – War Journal

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/the-earth-station-dcu-episode-352-war-journal/

The Earth Station DCU Episode 352 – War Journal

This Week on Earth Station DCU! Drew Leiter and Cletus Jacobs continue to review the war in Gotham as well as welcome back John Stewart in a story we have possibly read before. Jackie and Bryce team up with Riot to save Jack Napier, while Harley must deal with being captured by the FBI in Batman: White Knight Presents – Generation Joker #5. Batman joins Hawkgirl’s investigation which leads them to a mysterious Nth Metal feather older than Hawgirl’s and to the Court of Owls in Hawkgirl #3. In orbit around Earth, a space station is attacked by a purple ring which is being investigated by a Lantern from another dimension. On the Earth below, John Stewart is being questioned by a Lantern from the United Planets accused of possessing a power ring in Green Lantern: War Journal #1. With Batman trapped in the Phantom Zone, Superman must take on Jax-Ur by himself in Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #19. Catwoman teams up with Red Hood to rob a gala, but when Batman intervenes, things change for Red Hood in Catwoman #57. Ric Grayson’s past returns as Nightwing investigates the mysterious Hold’s vault for whatever awaits him there, but he’s not the only one interested as Heartless also wishes to make a withdrawal in Nightwing #106. Superman unleashes a secret that Lex has kept hidden under Stryker’s Island in Superman #6. Nightwing and Beast Boy sneak into the Church of Eternity to find thing haven’t changed, but Brother Eternal is not behind it, but a victim to be sacrificed to Trigon in Titans #3. When nineteen men are killed by an Amazon in Montana, the United States passes a law banning Amazons from American Soil in Wonder Woman #1. All this plus, DC News, Shout Outs, and much, much more!

————————

Table of Contents

0:00:00 Show Open

0:01:04 DC News

0:06:24 Batman: White Knight Presents – Generation Joker #5

0:08:55 Hawkgirl #3

0:15:28 Green Lantern: War Journal #1

0:26:07 Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #19

0:30:35 Catwoman #57

0:35:30 Nightwing #106

0:40:00 Superman #6

0:42:56 Titans #3

0:44:46 Wonder Woman #1

0:57:35 Show Close

Links

Batman: White Knight Presents – Generation Joker #5

Hawkgirl #3

Green Lantern: War Journal #1

Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #19

Catwoman #57

Nightwing #106

Superman #6

Titans #3

Wonder Woman #1

Villains United #1 (Cletus’s Read More Comics Pick)

Earth Station DCU Website

The ESO Network

If you would like to leave feedback, comment on the show, or would like us to give you a shout out, please call the ESDCU feedback line at (317) 455-8411 or feel free to email us @ earthstationdcu@gmail.com

[of-galaxies-and-black-holes]

cream puff so good.

[doctors-journal]

18 June

It was a long, hot day, and now it’s late. We spent the day pretending to inspect the power lines again—yesterday’s work having been interrupted by the rain. I would have preferred more rain. Today, there were hardly any clouds. Though now the sky glitters with stars and far off galaxies.

But we spent the day pacing in the sun. I finally saw the detective’s client’s wife—an ordinary middle-aged woman, also with glasses, in fine health. She went out to run some errands in the afternoon. The detective threw our hardhats and reflective vests in an alleyway, and we hurried after her to the bus stop.

She didn’t seem to notice us at all, not when we were panting at the bus stop or sitting a few seats away, and not even when we got off at the same stop and slowly strolled after her to the grocery store. We grabbed some lunch while we were there and then followed her back. The detective pointed out that she had also bought a bottle of good wine, but she just brought it home with the rest.

At least it was cool in the bus and in the store. When we got back to her house, we picked back up our hats and vests and resumed meandering out in the sun. It beat down on my head and shoulders, and I was already tired from a long night. The rain is nice, but the thunder echoed in my dreams.

At least the evening provided some relief. I was hoping to just collapse when we got back to the flat late in the afternoon, but as we stepped inside, the detective declared, “Dress for dinner in your finest, Doctor. German music is introspective, and I mean to introspect.”

I don’t know where he gets all that energy. It took my tired mind a few moments to process what he was suggesting. “You’re asking me on a date? Now?” Sluggish and sweaty, I’ve been less attractive, but it was hardly a high. “You know I’m not-”

He silenced me with a wave. “There is nothing more to be done today, and it does not do to theorise without all of the facts. Let us instead occupy ourselves with a higher pursuit.”

I could only shrug, and he hurried me up to my room to change into something nicer.

I do have a suit, but I haven’t worn it in a long time. At work it’s usually scrubs, and I’m not nearly as sharp as the detective at home. He took one look at me in my old suit jacket and ducked back into his room to get something that he deemed more fitting.

“It’s not a perfect fit, but it’ll do,” he said, examining me from all angles, not entirely unappreciatively, and I did a little turn for him.

It definitely fit a little more snugly than my old jacket—I’ve lost weight, and I’m not in football form anymore.

I wasn’t sure what to expect as we left the flat. It was still a bit hot in a suit, but we weren’t outside for too long. The restaurant was fancier than any I’ve been to before. The detective insisted on paying, and I didn’t argue, just tried to keep my order small. The food was good, but neither of us had a large appetite anyway.

The concert was nice. I’ve never listened to much classical music, but it was pretty. The star was clearly the beautiful young woman on violin in a very dramatic dress, backed by the orchestra. I think there were just a few long songs. My mind wandered through most of it, but it was nice having the music to guide my thoughts, sometimes light and airy, others deep and heart wrenching, or even thunderous. I’m afraid I don’t really have the vocabulary to do it justice.

The detective slept right through all of it, almost from start to finish. He was slumped over in his chair, his eyes closed, oblivious to the music around him, and I might have heard him snore a little. I just gently woke him up when it was over. He seemed like he needed the rest.

He was a little startled at first but hastily recomposed himself. “There is nothing like a foray into violin-land, where all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, to forget the miserable ways of our fellow men.” He stifled a yawn behind his hand.

I just shook my head.

On our way back home, he tried to talk for a bit about violins and music, but he clearly didn’t have that much to say, and at my sceptical glance, he admitted, “Perhaps you are right. I have no talent for the violin nor the proper appreciation for music. No, I am more a man for the theatre, and in that light, my violin is naught but a prop. Still, you cannot deny that there is something romantic about a pair of gentlemen enjoying a night of beautiful music amidst the intrigue of a difficult case, letting it take them away from the vulgarities of life and then walking home arm in arm without a care in the world.” He let out a wistful sigh, his gaze so distant I wondered if he was in the same reality.

[aeide-thea]

+ went 4 long walk (wld of course have been nicer in daylight but in the dark i get 2 Equip Adorable Headlamp so like. win some lose some) + came back only 4 cat climb promptly onto lap + am having a pleasingly weird cider