#which really isn't that long but i was a kid and those were two very long years honestly

[cptkitten]

Rammstein - Feuer Frei!

[sairenharia]

MK's First Dad

The snakes represent my many, many dads!

Why yes, MK, they do represent your many, many dads.

Or rather, one dad, many times.

This dad.

So very clearly, the world of Lego Monkie Kid has been experiencing timeloops. Nuwa made MK to collect the stones and when the cycle of the world ends, he yeets himself into the pillar, and restarts everything from the beginning. Without outside factors, everything happens the same as it always did.

The Celestial body establishes itself, demons run amok, the journey happens, society builds, further and further until at least the Jade Emperor and maybe the other Guardians reach the end of their life and the Heavenly Pillar starts to crumble and has to be rebuilt and start the cycle.

Until THIS cycle where the Nine Headed Demon decided to wake MK up early.

And you know what?

I believe every single word the NHD said after he revealed himself was one hundred percent the complete and utter truth. He never ONCE lied to MK or any of the others, at least not from his perspective.

From the explanation of his motives, to the idle comments.

We see this in what he says he's doing. NHD said he isn't trying to push MK to a choice. What he wants is for MK to MAKE a choice. If MK chooses to sacrifice himself, NHD said he's going to save everyone, affirming his choice. By that same token, when MK comes back out of the pillar, he says he choose to face the end together in a supportive tone, affirming his choice again!

NHD didn't lie. Whatever choice MK made, he supported and encouraged MK in it.

His tune only changed, ONLY changed when he was terrified he was going to be trapped in the cycle again. And even then, it was only a brief moment. Once he saw he didn't have to be trapped, he was back to supporting MK, and he was relieved.

Even with the way NHD interacts with the others shows this. NHD allowed them to SPEAK. He only interfered when they tried to PHYSICALLY take MK's choice from him. NHD was fully enabling them to convince MK to make the choice they wanted him to make. They were allowed to persuade, because it was still ultimately MK who got to decide what he was going to do.

From start to finish, NHD had two goals. One was to leave the cycle, which he saw as happening either way. Either everything fell apart, or he had a way out when the cycle reset. MK's moved changed his gateway and that's when he got upset, but he had no issue with MK's CHOICE, just the fact he would be trapped again.

And two, that very choice.

But why? NHD manipulated Azure. He manipulated the Yama Kings. Potentially a lot of people in heaven and those below, which is pretty against people making choices. So why does he care so much about MK's choice?

Because the cycle wasn't supposed to end for another eon.

Because this cycle wasn't the first, it wasn't the second, and it likely wasn't even the hundredth.

Which means MK didn't have Pigsy. He didn't have Tang, or Mei, or Sandy, or anyone else in his life. They were long dead by the time the Harbinger is released in every other cycle.

Now with MK having longer to cook, he may be fully grown. Or he may be a kid again, but I think with what NHD said about wanting to give the Harbinger a chance to have a life, the Harbinger is usually grown enough to be able handle the trials.

But he's probably not got a lot of personality going on. Nuwa may have chosen an extreme way to maintain the pillar, but she does seem to be trying her best to minimize suffering. She is repeating the cycle because its the only way she can see in protecting the world from chaos. She makes Harbinger because a sacrifice is necessary for the pillar, to remain as a building block like I think she is. Harbinger has to be someone who EXISTS, but if he's largely a blank slate, then the loss is not so great.

Harbinger lives to sacrifice himself. He has no family. He has no life to lose.

But this means someone who is blank and potentially easy to lead astray.

This is why the trials. Because really, Harbinger is suppose to just live, grab the stones, yeet. Why does he need TRIALS? But then there is what the trials actually teach, as we know them.

A trial of resolve, to push through to the end despite the dangers. To endure danger and hardship to the end. Then the other trial, of focus on self, on what he needs to do in the present. But what's interesting is the DANGER of this one. Its not to Harbinger, but whoever is with him.

These trials are to make sure Harbinger has the nerve to go through danger and hardships to get to the end of the quest...and to keep his focus to PROTECT OTHERS.

Harbinger is made to be a sacrifice. He is made to protect. He is made to save. What happens if he sees people in danger on the way to the pillar? He would get distracted, but in delaying, he puts them in MORE danger. He has to be able to ignore those in smaller danger, and focus on his inner task, to make sure he focuses on the greater goal of sacrificing himself to keep them ALL safe.

I'm sure the dragon and tiger would have something similar.

So the trials help train Harbinger into some personality, but he still has to GET there. More over, he needs to have SOMEONE for the Black Tortoise.

The Yama Kings also know about the Harbinger. They know when he should be released and what he is supposed to do. They likely know what he is supposed to be like, and likely they are also how MK is supposed to even GET to the Jade Emperor.

The Harbinger needed a guide.

And I think that is the Nine Headed Demon.

Because here is the thing. NHD says he's not a monster. And he's tired of being the hero. And he isn't lying.

Here is the cycle.

The world starts. The Celestial body establishes itself. Demons run amok. The Journey happens. Society builds. Nuwa at some point puts the Harbinger in the stone. Eons pass. The Jade Emperor hits the end of his life.

The Harbinger is released.

And NHD is there, as a representative of the Yama Kings who know enough to know this will happen and what is expected. NHD helps the Harbinger to the trials. He helps him to the pillar. He watches the Harbinger sacrifice himself.

The cycle begins again.

He is there again.

The Harbinger dies again.

Over and over, until at some point, perhaps after the first time, perhaps later on, NHD is exposed to chaos. Likely when the cycle is ending and resetting, there is a window that chaos seeps in and NHD is able to see all that is beyond the world.

This is likely why he thinks he's fine regardless of MK's choice. Either he left during the brief window of a reset, he everything fell apart, so he was freed. He didn't account for continuing on beyond the reset.

NHD sees beyond and he sees beauty. NHD sees beyond and now he can REMEMBER. Why is hard to say. Likely he made a deal with whoever "he" is, but regardless, NHD loves chaos and he retains his memories.

But NHD was chosen to help the Harbinger for a reason. He is not cruel. He is not heartless. He loves the masses. He wanted to save and protect them, even at a cost, so he was chosen to help the Harbinger.

It is why even after he saw chaos, he chose to return. He had seen something so GOOD in his eyes, and he wanted to see if he could change the mind of those in the world. To convince Heaven to LET the chaos in. To end the resets and allow chaos and life to CHANGE beyond.

But no one listens.

They reject him.

Call him a monster.

The cycles continue.

He tries. He tries persuasion. He tries trickery. He likely tries force, but the Harbinger is too strong to stop and he will fulfill his destiny. He asks for help.

He even asks the one person who might stop the Harbinger.

Sun Wukong.

NHD said they were old enemies and old friends. NHD sought a solution, so he would ask who he could for help. Sometimes he could convince Wukong to help him. Others, he couldn't. And sometimes, he managed to get Wukong enraged enough to become an enemy. But unfortunately even with Wukong's power, he's never quite strong enough to keep the Harbinger from the pillar.

Likely because the Harbinger wants nothing more than to get to the pillar, and ultimately, the Harbinger is just some kid getting used, and Wukong can't bring himself to kill him. Allowing the Harbinger a moment to get through regardless of how the fight is actually going.

Which could be going far in Wukong's reaction to MK.

NHD said that MK is a remnant of chaos. Which means either the clay he was made from...or from Wukong's stone. And since the Celestial Primates are ODDITIES, its likely Wukong's stone that has that bit of chaos in it that Nuwa is using in her sacrificial building block. No one is gonna be able to make Wukong do anything he doesn't want, and likely none of the other primates, and Nuwa doesn't want to ask anyone to end their life either. Start anew is better.

But likely this bit of chaos may be why Wukong feels a draw to MK. Some part of him remembers the Harbinger. Remembers his strength. Remembers he's a kid being used, who hadn't been allowed to live, who did so much for the sake of others. A kid who idolizes him. A kid who can use his staff.

I think it says something with how much Wukong focuses on MK becoming self confident and choosing things for himself and why he steps in with the Spider Queen because its a fight MK desperately doesn't want even though he SHOULD be capable of handling it, instead of thinking the fights are too much for MK like the Lady Bone Demon. Wukong wants MK to decide things for himself, he wants MK to LIKE himself. Wukong wants MK to choose to. There is a bleeding of the timeline because of Wukong's connection to chaos by being a Celestial Primate.

The Harbinger is a blank slate...but he is a person. NHD, at first, just wants to help the world. He wants to be the hero. He wants to move beyond the cycle. But in trying to find that path, he introduces new elements to the Harbinger.

The Harbinger starts to show signs of development. Of change. The Harbinger starts to laugh. The Harbinger starts getting cheeky. The Harbinger starts crying when fights break out at the end. There is LIFE in the Harbinger.

Yet another beautiful thing this cycling world rejects for the sake of continuing to spin.

NHD tries to find a third solution. He tries over and over again. He knows the Harbinger will continue to the pillar, to save the world, over and over again, and he doesn't have the power to stop him. The Harbinger will always choose to sacrifice himself. He cannot end the cycle by preventing the sacrifice. He looks for a way to move past the eon. Maybe if he had more TIME, he could convince people to give chaos a chance. Perhaps he could allow the pillar to crumble more slowly, allow the sun to peak in over time. If he could just get the box to OPEN, then that would be enough.

Except nothing works. He can't fight anyone strong enough to replace the guardians. He can't find another means to fix the pillar. He tries over and over again.

There are several consequences to this and I'll get into one of those in another post. (Red Son has some INTERESTING things going on.)

NHD cannot find a means to move beyond the cycle. He is getting disillusioned. He wants to save everyone. He wants to bring them to the sun. He just can't.

He knows...he knows he doesn't HAVE to keep trying.

He sees it every reset. He has a window. He can LEAVE the cycle himself. Let everyone stay in their cave forever.

Except.

He sees the Harbinger throw himself into the pillar. The one he's sees sacrificing himself countless times for a world he never gets to truly experience. He only gets slivers of it. Moments of joy. Moments of triumphant. Moments of pain. Moments of truly being alive, when he deserved so much more.

NHD is tired. His sanity is fraying. He could simply go...

But he decides one more time.

He would live the cycle one more time.

Because the Harbinger deserved to fully experience the world. The Harbinger deserved to DECIDE whether or not to keep the cycle going, or let the world fall apart.

He manipulates the world in a different way. He's lived this cycle countless times. He knows much of what happens. He chooses a time.

He knows DBK gets released. He knows in short order, the Lady Bone Demon also gets freed, whether this is by the Demon Bull Family, the Mayor, or perhaps even Macaque (I haven't gotten a solid theory on what Macaque's deal is YET, but I have a suspicion his revival may not be a consistent thing.) Either way, DBK getting freed gets Wukong off his mountain because DBK is running around with HIS staff and while Wukong isn't interested in being a hero, that is HIS staff, thank you very much.

And the Lady Bone Demon is simply too big of a threat to ignore.

Its the first time where Wukong HAS to be active.

Its also the first time, in a while, where Wukong leaves his mountain. At times, visiting this city because its the first time in a while where the incarnations of the pilgrims are in close proximity and Wukong can't help himself. He just has to check things are okay.

Its the perfect set up.

The danger of releasing the Harbinger early is people noticing him. He will feel compelled to help people. NHD is pretty sure there is no way to be rid of that. So he needs something to justify this powerhouse running around.

This is the perfect time. Pigsy is a family man. If he leaves the Harbinger nearby, he will at least take care of the kid, and hopefully take him in. NHD can't be sure, but perhaps he has an idea depending on if Mei always finds Pigsy and Tang independent of MK's existence.

It works though. The Harbinger becomes MK and he's in place to be noticed by Wukong, who NHD already KNOWS experiences some bleed. Has seen Wukong react to the Harbinger with familiarity. Knows Wukong will be intrigued by MK enough to stay close.

Then DBK's freeing comes and Wukong is acting on suspicions, and maybe NHD is manipulating other things, but MK ends up with the staff, and Wukong is declaring MK his successor and NHD is thrilled.

MK now has the perfect smokescreen. The Celestial court has no say of what goes on with Celestial Primates without direct force. They don't know how they WORK. If Wukong says MK is his successor, then clearly he's done some weird primate magic on the boy and that's why he's powerful. The fact DBK and the Lady Bone Demon appeared, it screams of potential destiny to Wukong to. Throw in a few more of Wukong's enemies, keep him thrown long enough to not risk him thinking too much. Not like its hard, Wukong doesn't often think too much.

Even if this set up did present a few unexpected challenges NHD didn't account for. Macaque was largely an unknown because without MK's influence, IF Macaque is ALWAYS revived, Wukong and him likely never make up. They have too much bad history and too much stubbornness to actually work through their issues without MK calling Macaque out on his bullshit and enabling them to have to be around each other without turning into a huge fight. NHD got lucky that it took as long as it did because while Wukong doesn't overthink, Macaque certainly does and his plan may have been in more danger if Macaque had longer to explore those questions from episode one.

But no one knows MK is the Harbinger.

MK is allowed to experience life and what is means to save and have people to care for and he gets to make decisions on the scale of restoring the pillar and its perfect!

MK not only can make a choice, but will have the experience to do so.

Its all NHD ever wanted for him.

He's likely been doing something to the Jade Emperor to hasten his decline, or perhaps an eon really counts for the end of the man's life. Either way, he just has to free someone who is strong enough to take on the Jade Emperor in that state, but isn't strong enough to keep the stone functional.

The cycle can finally end.

MK can make a choice.

He can be free.

NHD never lied to anyone. He wanted to save everyone. He wasn't a monster. He wanted MK to have the freedom to chose, whatever it was.

He was only ever against MK the brief moment when he realized the world would continue and he wouldn't have his gap to escape. He didn't know WHAT would happen after that moment. Chaos had a chance to come in. There was a chance chaos wouldn't be able to, or at least wouldn't be able to for a very long time and he was so TIRED, he just wanted out, and for a moment, he was afraid to lose the thing he wanted for HIMSELF.

But as he stands on those stairs, as he sees the chaos, he is relieved.

He is HAPPY.

His words to MK are genuine. They are full of care and perhaps love. The child he had sent to die was finally alive. He was brilliant and clever. He found a third option that he hadn't been able to do for eons past.

He knows chaos is coming and that there will be a battle. The chaos MK feared may still be allowed through. So he warns him there is danger, that he will have to deal with the consequences of what happens Next.

He wishes him luck and thanks him. Sends him to a home he is glad his Harbinger is allowed to experience. For better or worse.

[satsuha]

i'm always really interested in how the characters call each other in japanese games, so i laid out a few differences between the japanese and english versions of some ace attorney games that particularly interest me. this isn't meant to be an exhaustive list but it did get really long 😭

i highlighted english nicknames/etc in blue while japanese nicknames/etc are orange just to make reading a little easier

AA1-2

while only playing the english version i liked that maya called phoenix nick, it's a nickname that makes sense and phoenix is annoying to say and write anyway (lol) but the reason maya gives for this nickname in english is that it's what larry uses for him, which pales in comparison to maya in the japanese version opting for how mia used to call him: naruhodo-kun.

to me, this is a LOT more meaningful and informative than the english nickname because it not only is evidence of how much maya heard about phoenix from mia using that nickname, it also gives us a glimpse of maya's personality and her relationship with phoenix. -kun is an honorific that's usually used for either male classmates or for teachers/superiors to use with their students/subordinates. maya falls into neither of these categories with phoenix, but it also lines up with how she acts like the boss of the office a lot of the time. SO LIKE... ultimately the nickname nick just does not hold up in terms of both maya's reasoning for using it, and phoenix's apprehension at her calling him that... which i just think is a shame!! in the same vein, this nickname is passed down to pearl, and again you see phoenix having a Reaction to it which makes sense considering it's funny that a kid is calling him naruhodo-kun...

i don't only want to talk about changes in english that i don't prefer, so i also want to mention that i'm very impressed that they managed to get phoenix and edgeworth referring to each other by their surnames in english to sound natural... because it's also exactly what they do in japanese except there, the idea of male friends using their surnames with each other is a very very normal thing. i AM torn on the fact that in japanese larry also refers to the two of them by their surnames, which means all 3 of them are on equal grounds in that respect. AT THE SAME TIME... english makes larry's "nick" and "edgey" work so well that i really can't say we missed out with this localization, but i do like the relationship between these 3 so i do like that the japanese is indicative of it too :)

AA4

i'm skipping ahead to aa4 because trucy's also a very interesting localization to me... the first time i played aa4 i felt like trucy wasn't sufficiently differentiated enough from maya's character which is like. debatable but those were my initial thoughts anyway. in japanese though she uses third-person pronouns (calling herself by her own name, minuki) which is VERY distinct from maya. there are a number of ways to interpret this choice but i like the one that indicates that it's part of her stage persona. aside from that though, she also has a very normal nickname for apollo (odoroki-san, with -san indicating general politeness) while polly is um well canonically the name of a parrot LOL

i do find it pretty interesting that the above exchange is the first instance trucy uses the polly nickname, because it's entirely different in the japanese version. phoenix says "if this onii-chan over here can't help you..." to which trucy responds by saying "how could you, onii-chan!" this exchange is hilarious to me because phoenix referring to apollo as an onii-chan is pretty normal? it's common to refer to any young man as that and in this case he's also referring to apollo from trucy's perspective. but trucy DIRECTLY calling apollo onii-chan (brother) is just so funny because HERE it's a lot closer to how an actual younger sister would refer to her older brother; there's a difference between saying "this onii-chan" and just "onii-chan". now i'm not saying this was direct foreshadowing because onii-chan is also used between close friends/acquaintances but like... the possibility is there.

AA5

now onto simon because i don't actually have a problem with the localization making him a british weeaboo i think that's really funny but i DO wish the nicknames he uses for the defense attorneys were more... appropriate? the honorific -dono that he uses in english does complement his samurai look but it's usually used in contexts where there's some respect involved, which is... not simon's intention in japanese. i'm admittedly not too familiar with the nicknames he uses in japanese; he uses "[kanji] no ji", while using a kanji from phoenix/apollo/athena's surnames. by searching it in japanese, i'm finding answers that it was medieval slang used by men usually in red light districts and such, and was used to refer to those with equal or lower status to oneself but never to those of higher status. this is kinda the opposite of what -dono is which is used for those of equal or higher status!!

i also find it pretty amusing that despite him using the first kanji in phoenix's name; 成 (turn into, grow), he uses the second kanji in both apollo and athena's names; 泥 (mud) and 月 (moon) respectively. i can only imagine that he did this because the first kanji in their names; 王 (king) and 希 (rare, hope) respectively, were too positive/complimentary for him? LOL

AA6

now i want to to talk about apollo in aa6 because NNGNRHGH i'm not normal about this one. because like, similarly to what i said up there about phoenix, edgeworth and larry's relationship, it's completely normal for close male friends to use their surnames with each other. phoenix, being apollo's boss, refers to him as odoroki-kun (mirroring how mia and maya call phoenix). trucy uses odoroki-san, indicating general politeness and athena uses odoroki-senpai, because he's her senior in their workplace. clay uses odoroki (no honorific), which is the same "level" as phoenix/edgeworth/larry's relationship.

a male character never being referred to as their first name is pretty normal, which is also the case in the aa games. franziska calls edgeworth by his first name reiji which is SUPPOSED to stand out because it's notably impolite/informal for someone who is younger than him, which suits the idea of her thinking of herself as the elder sibling. for additional reference, phoenix is only referred to by his first name by dahlia/iris; ryuu-chan ("feenie" equivalent) and desiree; ryuuichi-kun ("nicky boy" equivalent). so apollo is referred to exclusively by his surname, because there isn't anyone who's associated with him who would feasibly use his first name.

THAT IS. UNTIL we meet datz who is the first (!!) character to use apollo's first name in japanese. this moment doesn't stand out in english because i KNOOWWW datz uses the AJ nickname which is very cute but he doesn't actually use that nickname the first time he indicates that he knows apollo in case 6-3!! phoenix's momentary confusion here is also explained because while he obviously knows apollo's full name, he's never heard anyone refer to him with it!!!

so phoenix's thoughts in japanese here were originally "housuke... wait, that bracelet! that's odoroki-kun!"

dhurke and later nahyuta (during the last moments of the 6-5 trial) also refer to apollo with his first name, which is... really nice!!! they're family!!!! i mourn the fact that this distinction isn't visible in english because most characters just call him apollo but it's special in japanese... it's only dhurke, nahyuta and datz who use his first name.... i'm normal i promise

funnily enough i sort of have the opposite issue with nahyuta, who is generally referred to as prosecutor sahdmadhi in english but nayuta-kenji (prosecutor) in japanese. i'm assuming this is because his name is written with his given name first unlike japanese names, so they just used his given name instead of his surname...? unfortunately we don't have an example of any other foreign prosecutor as reference (i'm excluding van zieks here because they DO use his surname but it's also an entirely different time and place) but i prefer the english here since it also makes it stand out when apollo, dhurke and datz (with yuty hehe) use his first name with him.

but then again... rayfa also refers to him as prosecutor sahdmadhi in english, but just calls him nayuta in japanese. there aren't a lot of characters rayfa refers to by name but generally she's either overly polite (with ga'ran and inga) or overly impolite (with phoenix and apollo). it makes sense that the way she calls nahyuta is a little unique, since he's of lower status than her but not enough to get a rude nickname fdjhja... and then of course at the end of the game she tries to call him onii-(chan? san? sama? we just don't know) which nahyuta interprets as oni (demon) i think the localization here is really impressive actually. they somehow managed to seamlessly fit braid head into the mix of barbed head and horn head (both nicknames that refer to their hairstyles) while braid also begins with the same letters as brother... anyway i think i slightly prefer that rayfa (and ga'ran) call nahyuta by his first name rather than by his prosecutor title, it's indicative of their higher status because of the lack of an honorific but by the end of the game it fits in with the idea of them all being family...

TGAA1-2

you would think that because tgaa opted to leave japanese honorifics in the dialogue that there wouldn't be any differences in how the characters refer to each other but there are... first of all kazuma and ryunosuke are once again male friends who refer to each other by their surnames without an honorific in japanese, but the english has them use their first names with each other instead. i can understand this change because characters using only their surnames with each other feels oddly distant in english, and while it worked for phoenix and edgeworth's relationship it definitely doesn't suit kazuma and ryunosuke's.

additionally, the way susato calls ryunosuke was also changed from naruhodo-sama to naruhodo-san. this is... also an interesting change since it requires the player to have some basic knowledge of japanese honorifics but for some reason decided to change it anyway, despite the fact that susato also uses -sama with kazuma... one thing to note is that susato does use kazuma's first name instead of his surname like she does with ryunosuke, which helps indicate their closer relationship despite her still showing respect with the -sama honorific. in that sense naruhodo-san feels like an interesting middle ground because she's still using his surname but doesn't seem to view his position with her as equal to kazuma's? i assume that was the intent of the localization, similarly to how the way kazuma and ryunosuke call each other was changed to indicate closeness to the english-speaking player

--

anyway while i do prefer the original japanese version most of the time, my general view of original vs localization is like wow! two cakes! i might prefer one of those cakes more, but the english version usually provides enough that i like that both canons exist. because of this i can't agree with the idea that all localization is bad nor the side that believes the original doesn't matter because you're engaging only with the english side of the fandom. both are good and can reveal interesting things about the characters, story and setting!!

and thank you for reading if you got this far 🙇 i'm not an expert at japanese so i try to do my research and use multiple sources to get a better view of things, so please let me know if i got anything wrong! i also recommend checking out this post if you haven't seen it already since it's where i got some pointers on the trucy and simon segments

[restinslices]

Angst Idea: Headcanons or one shot is up to you; but the idea of Bi-Han’s kid died awhile ago prior to the games events(probably do to a rival clan wanting to take out the next heir of the clan) and it fuels a lot of his resentment towards liu Kang and stuff. It’s not until he meets one of the versions of his kid from a different timlime( probably during Khaos regins or during one of the many invasion seasons) and he ends up desperately trying to connect with this version of his kid even if it’s not really his original version of them.

Oh this is delicious.

I'm writing this on the tumblr website so I can’t check the word count, soooo to prevent this from being stupidly long, Imma split this into two parts (if ya’ll want the next part).

CW: Angst, child death, non canon storyline

(He so damn fine. The red flags just looking like flags~)

Bi-Han knew he had his faults. He was ill tempered, dishonest, untrusting, held grudges, the list could go on and on. All those flaws disappeared when he was around a special someone, tossed in the wind and floating about, waiting until he was away from them.

He wouldn't blame anyone for assuming he'd be a strict father who took issue with everything his child did. He knew Kuai Liang and Tomas assumed he'd be just like that, only to be surprised when he proved himself to be the gentlest of souls when it came to his baby.

"Aw man!" The seven year old pouted as they kicked at a rock, "okay, you hide next and I'll try to find you!". Hide and Seek had been their favorite game for years now, for reasons he didn't know. He just chalked it up to one of the many things they found intriguing that he personally didn't care for. They covered their eyes with their hands, "one! Two! Three-!

Bi-Han's rough hands pulled theirs from their eyes, "playtime is over". He had already let them skip out on the last hour of their lessons. He had to be somewhat sensible and at least get them to bed on time. "We'll play again tomorrow"

"But I wanna play now"

"Yeah? Well-"

A gasp followed by a squeal left them, which honestly could've meant a number a things. Children were excitable by nature but he swore they had more energy than any normal child did.

"Daddy look!" his eyes followed where they pointed, eventually seeing…

A butterfly.

A butterfly?

That's what got them excited? "Isn't it pretty?

Not necessarily. It was just a butterfly. A little insect with wings. Whatever caused them to squeal, he didn't see it. But he also wasn't a child anymore. His mind had been reigned in by the reality of being an adult long ago, his childish wonder dripping out of him until there was nothing left. "It's a butterfly"

"But isn't it pretty?". He shrugged. "You don't like butterflies?

"I don't care for them"

"Why not?

"I just don't. Come on, let's go home"

His extended hand went ignored, his child instead choosing to slowly approach the flower the butterfly sat on. "I think you should start liking butterflies. They're small, but small things keep us happy". Ugh, what cereal box did they read that from?

"I'll considerate it" he said, trying not to sound as uninterested as he actually was. "Let's go home"

"Hey dad" you looked over at him, "I'm gonna make history when I'm Grandmaster. Wanna know how?

Hmm... Your intellect maybe? You'll be known as the wisest Grandmaster the Lin Kuei have had so far. Or maybe your strength. You'll crush the bones in someone's body without even thinking. Or maybe you'll be fast enough to kill 1000 men within the blink of an eye. Or maybe-

"I'm gonna be happy"

Happy? How would being happy make history?

"Grandpa was pretty grumpy sometimes. You are too. Maybe Grandmasters are always grumpy. I won't be though. I'm gonna be the very first happy Grandmaster. You wanna know how?". You fully turned to face him, arms outstretched "like this. I'll have open arms"

As smart as Bi-Han was, you had fully lost him by now. "Open arms?

You nodded, "yeah. That means I won't be all angry and violent all the time. I'll be kind. That's what I wanna be when I grow up; kind. I think everyone would be a lot more happier if everyone was kind. Everyone doesn't have to be sad and angry". The butterfly began to flutter away, catching your attention. "Maybe I'll inspire others to greet the world with open arms. You think I can do that?”

No. As harsh as it sounded, Bi-Han knew what you wanted was impossible. People would always yell, fight and kill. The world would continue to be ugly because that's just how the world was. There was no "greeting the world with open arms". That wasn't realistic. No Grandmaster was happy because being a Grandmaster meant carrying a heavy burden. You'd see.

But he couldn't tell you that. You looked too sweet and innocent, eyes full of light when thinking about a future that couldn't be.

"I think... " he began, setting his hand down on your shoulder. "I think you can do whatever you set your mind to"

That smile was worth the lie.

"Can we play one more round of hide and seek before we go home? Please please please? I won't even choose a super good hiding spot, and we can use the clap rules! Please please please please pleeeeeasssee?”

No! You need to get to bed!

"Alright, fine"

Dammit Bi-Han. Just one more round, then you'd be off to bed. Then he swore he'd be more strict with you.

"Close your eyes!”

Yeah yeah, he knew how the game went. He closed his eyes before covering them with his hands (because you always sword he was peeking if he didn't cover his eyes), then counted loudly. 1, 2, 3, he shouted each number until he got to 10. "First clap!”

Clap clap!

East.

His feet carried him while his eyes scanned the area. The faster he found you, the faster you could both be inside. He wouldn't admit it, but damn, he was tired. A mix of both physical and mental exhaustion, but he tried his best to hide all that from you.

"Second clap!”

He waited a bit.

Silence.

"Second clap!" he shouted louder. Still, all he got was silence in return. There was no way you didn't hear him. You always heard him when he called for you. "Clap or we're going home!".

More silence.

Then a ear piercing scream.

"DAD, HELP!”

You were a jokester, yeah, but this was no prank. You'd never play like this with him, and that scream, it was of genuine horror. It was a tone he had never heard you use before. A tone that scared the hell out of him, and caused him to run in the direction where he last heard you clap.

He kept running, calling out for you, heart thumping faster than it ever had before. A snake. Let it be a snake that frightened you. Or a spider. Anything but you actually being harmed. “WHERE ARE YOU?!”.

“DAD!”.

He was getting closer.

He could hear you crying.

All these stupid fucking trees were in his way. He kept having to finagle his way through them, which only added to his panic. Seconds wasted on trying not to run straight into one. “I’M COMING!”.

“DAD!”

“I’M-“ he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw you. A nightmare. That’s what he wanted this to be. This couldn’t be real. You couldn’t actually be laying on the ground, blood seeping from the several stab wounds you had. How? He had just saw you!

Someone had been watching you. How hadn’t he noticed?!

“I have you” he ran to your side, heart tearing into two when he heard you cry in reaction to him sitting you up. “Daddy’s here. I have you”. Who would do this to you?! Who would attack a child just trying to play with their father?!

“I’m scared” you managed to get out in between your heavy breathing. So was he.

“Don’t be. I have you”.

“I don’t wanna die”.

“You won’t! I’ll get you home!”. You blinked, but it lasted too long. He had to get you home now! “Stay awake. I have you”. That’s all he wanted you to do. Just stay awake and let him get you help.

Your breathing changed almost at an instant. Your hyperventilating slowed, which was the exact opposite of what he wanted. “Dad…”.

Bi-Han watched as you let out your last breath.

Your eyes were still open, but they lacked the warmth from earlier. They were lifeless now, no light in sight. A smile no longer graced your face. There was no talk of open arms. There was no big speech like there was in the books he read as a child. You were just gone.

“Baby” he whispered, “wake up. Don’t- this is an order from your Grandmaster! Get up! GET UP!”. He shook you with all his might, but the dead didn’t follow orders. He rocked back and forth, your blood staining his clothes, his forehead on yours, letting out the most gut wrenching sobs he had ever let out in his entire life. When his mother died, he was sad, but he was comforted by the fact that she had lived a beautiful and long life. You were so young. You still had so much of the world to see. Shit, maybe you actually could’ve led some unnatural era of peace. He didn’t fucking know. All he knew was that it would never happen now.

His baby was gone. His beautiful sweetheart with a laugh as beautiful as the clouds in the sky, was gone.

You were just a corpse now.

~~

When Bi-Han found out that Liu Kang was the creator of this timeline, he wasn’t shocked like the others. He hadn’t seen it coming, but he felt something stronger than shock.

He felt rage.

As creator of this timeline, not only had he chosen to have the Lin Kuei remain mediocre, but he must’ve known that you would be killed.

“That’s not true” he tried to tell Bi-Han, “I am no puppet master. I had no idea that your child would die, and I didn’t plan for it to happen”.

“Then bring them back”.

“I can’t”.

Bullshit. He could do anything! He just refused to!

Liu Kang… he was the true traitor yet everyone was angry with Bi-Han?! He hadn’t meant for Sindel to die, but why was everyone upset by her death? What about his child? No one demanded justice for them! Even when their death was fresh, all these people who cried for Sindel, their “allies”, did nothing. Liu Kang could’ve burnt their rival clan down to the ground, but no! Bi-Han had to carry the weight of his grief, and somehow think straight enough to make a plan of attack. When he looked up from your corpse and spotted the pendant of his rival clan nearby, gods, he wanted everyone to die. And Liu Kang had the nerve to advise him to think on it first?! No!

“The innocent men, women and children-”

What about his child?!

That grudge was the wind beneath his wings, carrying him away from everyone he once called an ally. But it also carried him to what appeared to be his own destruction.

He was in an unfamiliar timeline now, woozy from the fight he was just in. Fine, maybe he should’ve made a better decision, but at least he was doing something! Liu Kang would probably have him be inactive as always!

But now he was in an even worse spot. In unfamiliar lands with a madman ranting about his need for anarchy. Black tendrils with sharp points came closer and closer to Bi-Han, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t afraid.

Then, there was a noise. A clattering on the ground.

Before Titan Havik could react, a sudden wave of ice filled the nearby area, freezing anyone with their feet touching the ground. Ice crawled up the nearby machines, but thankfully it didn’t stick the way it did to flesh.

“Move move move!”. Ugh, of all variants, it had to be Jonny Cage?

Johnny Cage in a military uniform? He needed a nap.

“How long do those bombs last?” Johnny asked, rushing over to Geras and freeing him from his confines.

“Long enough for us to get out of here!”.

That voice…

He was upside down, but he could still recognize the child approaching him. He heard that voice in his dreams and nightmares. Of course he’d recognize it.

“Hi dad”.

His baby.

TUMBLR PLS STOP DELETING RANDOM SHIT! THIS IS SUCH A RANDOM ASS GLITCH-

[amirasainz]

Can you write about her and the grid couple and her family dynamics like in details with each couple and family member?

Hi love! Sorry it took me so long. I hope this is what you were searching for! @zahwoka My request are always open. Feedback is welcome. -XoXo

Baby!Sainz Relationships

Carlos Sainz Sr. and Reyes Vázquez de Castro -I think there's not much to say here -the two of them were more than joyed to have another baby -she definitely has her Papá wrapped around her finger -so that means that her Mamá has to be the bad cop -they are quite protective of her -i mean, no parent wants to let their youngest daughter fly to Colombia alone and stay there for nearly one year (for Narcos) -they were always very supportive of her career -all in all they are the best parents she could ask for

Ana and Blanca Sainz -YAY -another sister -when i tell you, those two acted like she was a doll -Amira always goes to them when she has boy problems -they are definitely the type of sisters to color each others nails,do their Make-Up together,… -when they were kids, they always forced Carlos to play Barbie with them -ALWAYS -they always criticize each other -but if someone else dares to: you're never seen again -when they are older, they will live pretty close -they also never know who has whose clothes -they also encourage Amira to embrace her beauty and attention she receives -which only gives Carlos more gray hair (Senior and Junior) -they are Amiras safe space -all in all they are like the Spanish Power-Puff-Girls

Carlos Sainz -Carlitos -poor little Carlitos -during his younger years he is so busy chasing away the boys -now it's the same thing, just that the boys became men -is a really protective brother -he was NOT happy when Amira went to Colombia -will buy her anything -"do you like the new Dior dress, hermanita? Let me get it for" -visits her quite often unexpected -he aged at least 20 years when his sister decided to wear crop tops -hates to leave her alone -it feels like he is dying -was very happy when she decided to attend his races -but he forgot about the drivers (and their girlfriends) -look it's not his fault that non of them are good enough for his darling sister -Carlos is her protector and always will be -a big spider in the room? Bring me a tissue hermanita -a scary thunderstorm? He will hug her the whole time -he will always be there for her

Baby!Sainz isn't in a relationship with any of them, even though it may seem like that (But we all now she isn't the brightest out there)

Max Verstappen and Kelly Piquet -for some reason they give me older couple x younger babygirl vibes -I mean there are not THAT old, but they kind of act like it -Max and Kelly are more mature than others (I mean, they do have Penelope) -so they would kind of treat her like an innocent babygirl -and they love it -"Don't worry Schatje, me and Kelly will do everything. You just sit here and look pretty" -Max is protective of her, but me thinks Kelly is a bit more -she doesn't like when guys are near her -she would sometimes pick clothes for her to wear -protective waist holding -they surely took her and P to a lot of ski trips -and Penelope? she adores Amira -I think if they would ever manage to get together with her, she would get babied a lot (but not in a weird way)

Charles Leclerc and Alexandra Saint Mleux -Cottage Core Vibes -they are the definition of privat but not secret -i think they tease the internet the whole time with quite strange pictures -for example: Charles post a picture of Leo with clearly two women there -or Alex posting a mirror picture with Baby!Sainz in the background, in their bedroom -they are unsurprisingly very affectionately -words of assurance are a daily thing -always calling her jolie fille, petite fleur or dove -Alex and her would be all matchy-matchy when it comes to nails, shoes, clothes… -if Alex is wearing a white dress and Baby!Sainz a black one, be sure to expect Charles to wear a black jeans with a white shirt -they would spend the summer-break with her on the yacht -would treat her like a princess -Charles would write a song for her, of course -the prince of Monaco and his two princesses

Pierre Gasly and Francisca Gomes -Ok it might only be me that thinks like that but hear me out -I feel like Pierre and Kika a very possessive of her -no doubt they already manipulated her to spend more time with them -of course she wouldn't find out -if they are sitting somewhere, Pierre will have a hand on her thigh and Kika would play with her hair -and Amira would only be like: Oh physical touch is their love language -would tease her with their touches -when Kika buys her a necklace and puts it on her in front of a mirror while babygirl holds her hair up, she will definitely kiss her from the shoulder to her neck -or when Pierre helps her take of her heels, be sure to expect his hand to lightly touch her thigh -we all know how much PDA those two like -they will not hesitate to do the same with her -in the club, when they are dancing, she will be in the middle -the hands will roam each other and….. -well babygirl surly isn't the smartest one out there -they will be possessive till the end of the world

Daniel Ricciardo and Heidi Berger -the fun couple -they call her Roo, because she is their very own Kangaroo -if Baby!Sainz ever seeks an adventure, she knows where she has to go -they would take her on late night drives -she wants McDonalds at 3am? No problem, let us grab our shoes -during the Australia GP she is certainly staying with them -they teach her how to surf and take her to the Australian Zoo -Of course, Babygirl has to sleep in their rooms -what if a big bad spider is in her bed? -or a snake that wants to bite her? -only Heidi and Daniel can protect her -when they have a bond fire, Heidi will brush her hair and Daniel will take a hundred of pictures -and if she falls asleep on Heidis lap while Daniel plays the guitar, that's no-ones business but their own

George Russell and Carmen Mundt -Old money vibes -they are without a doubt the couple that always celebrates each others accomplishments -George likes to show the two of them of -I mean, who wouldn't like to have those two by their side -they will take her anywhere -a family feast? Ohh honey, you have to meet my grandma -a Tommy Hilfiger shoot? Honey the always need more models -a vacation in Spain? Honey, you know George will get a sunburn without us -what really makes her heart race is when she is talking and they give her 100% of their attention -she is actually always happy when George is shirtless -for example: the Watermelon picture (fr that was freaking hot) -their will always leave space in the middle for her -I think, they are quite protective

Oscar Piastri and Lily Zneimer -they give me the quite kind of love -shared glances -fleeting touches -i feel like they were quite shy with each other the first time they met -over time, they opened up more to each-other -now they will have a monthly movie night -her head on Lily's lap -her feet on Oscar's lap -they have insider jokes with each other -if Baby!Sainz ever needs quite time, they are the perfect couple for that -I imagine long walks on the beach during the sunset -sharing the same blanket and watching the sky

Alex Albon and Lily Muni He -like Pierre and Kika I think the are quite possessiv as well -They would certainly be the funny couple as well -but I think that they sometimes get quite jealous as well -they will post her often on Instagram -include her in all the fun activity's -however, if they think she spends to much time with someone unimportant, they always have a reason to get her away -"Oh my god, love! I have to show you this new bag i got you. It's blue and small and-oh hi George- and has a bit glitter on it and…." -as I said -possessive -they would be the couple to cuddle her when she's sick -play with her fingers during a conversation -make her look at them with a hand under her chin

Extra: Rebecca Donaldson -she is like a third sister to Amira -always goes shopping with her -which doesn't make Carlos happy -they are the types to read the Vogue together and watch the Met Gala with each-other -Mira and Becca are a dream team -me thinks they have the quite kind of friendship -the giving advice to each-other and are complete honest -Carlos is happy that they get along amazingly, but what do you mean his sister is here to visit Rebecca and not him??????

Lewis Hamilton -let's be honest -we all have an older man crush -and hers is 100% Sir Hamilton -I mean, look at those hands -look at his tattoos -is the type to buy dresses for her -when she wants to go out, "here baby, use my credit card" -he can make her blush and giggle like a school girl -he would definitely be the soft but dominate partner -with him, she truly is babygirl -would buy the world for her -(Am I listening to Older by Isabel LaRosa? Yes!)

Lando Norris -oh boy -on one hand Lando would feel very guilty -it is his best friends littles sister after all -but the heart wants what it wants -and his wants Amira Sainz -at first Lando would be kind of like a dork -trying to make her laugh all the time -taking her to go karting together -meeting his friends -but over time Lando would become more bolder -the hugs would linger -he would stare more -and the nicknames would include a my -"What did you do today, MY pretty girl?" -"MY darling, aren't you a sight fore sore eyes" -if she ever starts doubting herself, he will be the first one to stop her -would have one of her necklaces around his neck all the time -he would use stupid excuses to spend time with her -"my girl, can you help me with my curls again?" -he might have been Lando Norizz a long time ago -but now he's full of Rizz (?)

[chubby-p1nk]

I read two fics some time ago with Tim dancing along with Cass, and omg, it changed me- Because... JUST THINK ABOUT IT-

Tim being a rich kid, with really strict parents but who are flexible enough so that they don't have prejudices regarding very conventional gender roles. And thanks to this, Tim is put in classical ballet classes long enough to be able to wear pointe shoes.

Tim likes it to a certain extent, as the exercises, physical conditioning and muscle elongation help him to be able to follow the bat and bird duo around Gotham. Over time he stops attending classes either due to his parents' influence to focus on some other activity, or because he preferred that time to coordinate patrol routes and get more photos.

By the time he starts being Robin, he no longer attends ballet classes. The training left a small mark on the way he moves as Robin, but nothing too noticeable. He finds it easy to jump really high and is able to land silently and smoothly. He doesn't get dizzy easily thanks to the pirouettes and fouettes his teacher made him practice daily.

Also, training with Dick is easier than when he trains with Bruce, since with Dick there are really similar exercises thanks to the older boy's training in the circus as an acrobat. The elasticity is not comparable between the two, but Tim has enough so that some of Dick's exercises are not so impossible for him.

Cut out when Cass arrives and Tim notices that she likes ballet, and even more surprisingly, she dances ballet! It is thanks to this that Tim manages to find a common point between the two to be able to start a friendship, with Cass being really excited to know that Tim also knew ballet!

They both connect thanks to ballet, Tim, taking advantage of the fact that they were both quite similar in height and complexion (even in face, which still leaves him wondering sometimes if they weren't secret twins?) shares with her his leotards and shoes, at least the training ones. Because although Cass can stand on pointe with amazing ease, Tim prefers to help her go over the basic training to get on pointe. Because literally, those things break feet, and he doesn't want to see his adopted sister go through that (We're talking about Cass, though.)

By the time they've been through about two months of helping Cass go over the basics, and remembering moves she remembered seeing from when she lived in the basement of that Ballet school, she can get up on pointe, and Tim hands her some cute yellow pointe shoes that he got years ago, when Robin colors still drove him crazy. So when Cass wears them, they're flexible and soft, not hard and uncomfortable like the ballet slippers one recently bought.

And Tim, he has his cream pointe shoes to wear, also used and flexible, comfortable like an old toy you haven't used in a while and despite everything, you still know how to play with it.

They both select certain days to practice and dance different pieces of music, Tim occasionally teaching her the classical pieces she doesn't know, or showing her how to dance as a couple. Although for this he takes off his pointe shoes and goes back to his leather slippers.

They keep up this routine even when Damian arrives, and so far the only one who knows what they're doing is Alfred, basically because he's the one who usually does their laundry and tidies up the room they use to dance. Making sure the floor isn't too slippery and the furniture is pushed up against the walls to make room. Every now and then, they both invite him to watch a specific dance they've practiced, like a snippet from Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, or The Rite of Spring.

As more time passes, Cass takes more liberties in the dance and fuses ballet with something more contemporary, while Tim sticks to classical ballet. They keep dancing, but now each one gives a personal touch to each pirouette, pas couru, and movement. They make a temporary bar with pvp pipes, which despite everything, works wonders for them.

Maybe Bruce is the first one to find them, after a particularly tiring day in which he just wants to be alone for a few moments and decides to go to the rooms less used, he hears a classical melody from one of the rooms that supposedly, should be empty. And when he goes to see where the music was coming from and why, he finds his two children playing a fragment of Carmen (Gipsy friends duet) and is more than surprised by the ability not only of Cass, but of Tim! Bruce had no idea that Tim could dance ballet, did he learn it now from Cass? Or is it something he already knew?

Whatever the case, what surprises him the most is the amazing coordination of the two, they seem to be the reflection of each other. And with regret Bruce admits inwardly that if it weren't for the distinction of the clothes and the hairstyle, he would swear that he was seeing double.

[inspired-lesson-plans]

This is a very long post. If you do not have the time, then please at least do the quick activity up top. The lesson plan that took me 4 days to write will follow the ⁜ symbol.

HW Due Mon:

Open https://mysolartime.com/ in a new tab and allow the website to track your location.

Open https://www.utctime.net/ in a new tab.

Reblog this post the current UTC time and your local time, using the following format:

21:00 UTC, 4:00 local

4. Vote in the following poll.

⁜

Social Studies, Grade 5, Geography 6.1.5.GeoSV.3: Demonstrate how to use digital geographic tools, maps and globes to measure distances and determine time zones, and locations using latitude and longitude.

Do Now:

Provide students with a paper copy of a population density world map and 2 minutes to fulfill the following instruction:

Draw lines on the map in order to separate the world into 24 time zones. Try not to separate dense population centers into different time zones.

⁎

Class Discussion:

Use the projector to share and discuss the maps of any students who are willing to share. Have fun with this, there are bound to be some good ideas and bad ideas because 5th grade is like that.

Then, project the official world time zone map, and discuss the good ideas and bad ideas present here.

Exemplary discussion points:

The 0-point of the timezone map is the Prime Meridian, which cuts right through England. Why do you think it's in England?

How come some countries like the US and Brazil are cut into multiple time zones, but China isn't?

Why do you think the lines are pretty straight in Europe, Africa, and North and South America, but so confused in Asia and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans?

⁑

Direct Instruction:

Long ago, nobody really cared about the exact time. All you really needed was sunrise, sunset, and noon, and you could figure those out with your eyes. If you wanted to be fancy, you could put a stick in the ground and trace its shadow over the course of the day to measure out hours.

Perhaps the first recorded complaint of time-keeping technology comes from Rome in 250BCE.

The gods confound the man who first found out how to distinguish hours! Confound him too Who in this place set up a sundial To cut and hack my days so wretchedly Into small portions! When I was a boy, My belly was my sundial: one more sure, Truer, and more exact than any of them. This dial told me when it was time To go to dinner, when I had anything to eat; But nowadays, why even when I have, I can't fall-to unless the sun gives leave. The town's so full of these confounded dials, The greatest part of its inhabitants, Shrunk up with hunger, creep along the streets. [x]

In other words, "Kids these days are always looking at their sundials. Back in my day, there were only three times, Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. All we needed to tell the time was our stomach!"

Please note this was a satire, so if it sounds funny, you are correct.

But for 18th century British sailors, accurate timekeeping was no laughing matter. These sailors used fancy math (called trigonometry) to calculate their latitude. So long as they knew the angle between the sun and the horizon, and the time when that angle was measured.

Ship's captains would keep logbooks of these measurements. That way, another ship's captain would be able to reference the logbook in order to replicate the journey, much like replicating a science experiment.

Now... think about this... how can you do that unless the next captain is using the same time as you. We take this for granted today, but how can you be sure that two clocks are synchronized?

Scientists in the town of Greenwich, England (pronounced gren`-ich) recorded the solar noon every day of the year and calculated the Greenwich Mean Time. By keeping an accurate and exact time in one exact place, GMT eventually the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) for everyone in the world. That's why in the time zone map, the 0 runs through one specific part of England.

This is important. For the first time in human history, the clocks in different places were synchronized. Solar noon happens at a different time in London than it does in Greenwich, but if they both use GMT (otherwise known as UTC), then they can coordinate their schedules. This was very important for railroads, where exact, coordinated schedules are very important.

Soon, the entire country of England existed within a single time zone.

When the United States built railroads that spanned vast lateral (East-West) distances, they needed to create different time zones for cities that were far apart from each other, such as New York and Chicago. Thus, the US became the first country with multiple time zones.

As the rest of the world industrialized, they needed to pick their time zones. You can see this on the map. Each time zone is, at least in theory, as wide as 1/24 the circumference of the Earth. It's like the space between the numbers on a clock! Most countries are smaller than this, so they can comfortably fit within a single timezone. Others, like Brazil and Australia, divided their landmasses into two or three time zones.

China did not have widespread industrialization until post-WWII dictatorial communist rule. This was a very uncaring and inconsiderate government, to put it mildly. Suffice it to say that for Chinese farmers in the far west, having to get up 2-3 hours earlier every day would have been the least of their worries.

⁂

Modeled Activity:

Show students how to use this Day and Night world map as a way to visualize the day and night cycle across the world.

Additionally, show them how to use https://mysolartime.com/ to find their current time where they live.

Give students a moment to calculate the difference between their Local Time and the official time in their time zone, and what that means.

(I am currently in Philadelphia, which is 11 minutes East of New York City)

Finally, show students how to use https://www.utctime.net/ to find their exact, current UTC.

Have students calculate the difference in minutes and hours between Local Time and Official Time.

00:41 - 19:30 = -5:11 (Philadelphia is 5 hours and 11 minutes East of Greenwich, England)

Explain that every internet connected device in the world uses a service like this one, then adds or subtracts hours to fit the time zone of your current location.

Higher Order Learning:

Students work in small groups to look up the local time in different major cities around the world, recording their data on a worksheet. As they do, they should discuss the following questions:

Are time zones still relevant in our always-online society?

If you can know your Local Time and the UTC any time you look at your phone, then what purpose do time zones still serve?

How would it feel for schools and businesses to use UTC instead?

How would you feel if your school day went from 4:20-10:50 UTC?

Finally, each student must individually write at least 3 sentences responding to the following question:

Would you advocate for or against your school district dropping references to the time in your time zone and instead referring to UTC and Local Time? Why or why not?

[ennn]

Jac Schaeffer on Agathario, Rio as Nicky's dad, Rio' scar speech

Some highlights from the Jeff Goldsmith Podcast.

Jeff: That brings us obviously speaking of relationships to Agatha and Rio, you have a very interesting foundation and I know if stuff was cut, you wouldn't be able to speak exactly on some of it, but I'm curious, was there more there? It's good to leave your audience wanting more. And people have speculated as to whether or not there was more of a flashback between them and more of their history.

Jac: There was more in the writer's room. There was never any more on the page. We sort of, it was our story instinct, I would say, that getting too far into their backstory would sort of be too much of a counterweight to the Nicky material. And so we really included what we felt was vital to this chapter. But we, we certainly talked about it at great length of how they met and what their relationship was and what it looked like in happier times and all of that.

And I didn't anticipate that the shippers would be so fervent that there would be, you know– and I–it feels foolish for not – you never know how anything is gonna land and you never know if people are gonna care.

And the amount that people care is staggering to me. And it's my hope that in the MCU there's more unpacking of the Agatha and Rio backstory.

Jeff: You were talking about the shipping group, like was there ever anything about Nicholas's father or is there any credence to the concept that it could have been born as the love child between these two?

Jac: Yes. I mean, we talked about a lot of different versions of who is the father of Nikki. And we ultimately decided that for Agatha's story, it wasn't relevant to the story we were trying to tell and we didn't really wanna get into the weeds of if it was magical or, y'know – that's again – it's sort of more rules.

We certainly considered the idea that Rio is the father. I wonder if I should ask the writers if they sort of still hold that in their hearts. It's something that I certainly thought about a lot and, and like to sort of contemplate. I enjoy that it is left to fan interpretation.

I also feel that I know how the MCU works and I don't think it serves anybody to sort of for me as the creator to emphatically tell you something that isn't on screen. Because, you know, like I said, it's my hope that these stories continue.

So, so perhaps there is a later chapter that will address this, but I, but I will say that, that when we were casting, sometimes we were like, "Does that kid look like Rio? Does that kid look like Aubrey Plaza?"

Jeff: So it's a path that, that is...

Jac: Fans and viewers, yes, are– I think they're picking up on our brainwaves for sure.

Jac: [on the toughest scenes to do] And then Rio's like little speech by the campfire was really hard.

So Giovanna Sarkees wrote a beautiful monologue that was quite long. And then it was one of those things that on the day Aubrey was doing it, and it wasn't Aubrey's fault, but it just wasn't clicking. It didn't feel right for what Aubrey had brought to the role. There's so much economy in what Aubrey does, you know, like she accomplishes so much with her physicality and her very being, that this long speech just felt wrong to me.

And I changed it on the day –which is always a risk – I changed it in the moment and the "she is my scar" I came up with, watching her do that.

[mirai-e-jump]

Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger Character Book Final Ignition: Best Bakuage Graffiti Main Cast & Voice Actor Interviews (translations below, long post)

Publication: February 7, 2025

Iuchi Haruhi x Hayama Yuki

"Please tell us about your first impressions of each other, including how they've changed."

Hayama: When we met at the audition, Haruhi and I were seated next to each other, and I thought his voice was so quiet since I couldn't really understand what he was saying (laughs). At that time, the judges started talking to us about our outfits, and then we'd each take turns presenting our fashion points.

Iuchi: Yeah, that happened.

Hayama: When Haruhi was presenting, there was some dust on his left arm (laughs). I wasn't sure what to do, but I thought I'd make a good impression there if I brushed it off for him (laughs), so that's what I did. At the time, I had the impression that Haruhi was a very innocent kid, however…

Iuchi: However?

Hayama: My impression after passing the audition together and him filming as Taiya Hando for a year was that in his private life, he's the youngest who has a gentle, airheaded and healing personality, but once he entered the set and became Taiya, he was someone you could rely on. Throughout the year, I think I finally understood why Haruhi was picked to play the role of Taiya. I also think he's an actor who's careful about when to "switch on and off." I have nothing but respect for that. There are so many things that I've learned from Haruhi!

Iuchi: We had a really good time. I also remember the audition, and I had the impression that Yuki-kun was a "cool looking slender guy." I also felt that he maintained his personal space and seemed abit scary. During the audition, he was really good at playing a cool character, and I thought that was the kind of person he actually was, but…well, he turned out to be the complete opposite (laughs).

Hayama: In other words, you didn't have a good first impression of me, but then it gradually got better?

Iuchi: Yeah (laughs). What I gradually came to understand is that he's someone who loves his role, and would think about various different things he could do for it. Without any hesitation, he'll say, "I love Ishiro," which I think is a wonderful thing.

"Next, let's talk about your roles…generally speaking, both Taiya and Ishiro can be classified as cool types. Did you have meetings or share opinions with each other on how to differentiate between the two?"

Hayama: We never discussed how to make a difference like that.

Iuchi: We didn't. When we were acting on set, we'd talk about things like, "I want to do this scene like this, can we try it?," but we never talked about how to make sure our characters didn't resemble each other.

Hayama: At a glance, both Taiya and Ishiro look cool, but Taiya's the charismatic type who moves forward and says, "Follow me." Ishiro however isn't the type to try and lead the Boonboomger members by himself, but is the type to just pull along those who are behind him, he's instead more interested in supporting Taiya Hando, the person who fell in love with him. The coolness of being his right hand man, or rather, the quality of his coolness is different. I'm sorry for talking about Taiya like this for my own gain, but that's what I think.

"Taiya and Ishiro are a pair that have had alot of dialogue together, but which scenes in particular were most memorable?"

Iuchi: The flashback scene from when Taiya and Ishiro first met. There was a small one in Bakuage 2, with the proper one being depicted in Bakuage 29, but since they hadn't become friends yet at that time, I was conscious of my gaze and voice so that he wouldn't look like the usual Taiya. Ishiro also had eyes that didn't trust him at all. Aside from that scene, the only person Taiya sees before him is his friend Ishiro, so it felt pretty rare. In that sense, it left a lasting impression on me.

Hayama: It'd probably be the last scene in Bakuage 37, when we're on the rooftop. The exchange of, "As expected, the one I fell in love with never fails me," and "Cranked up, isn't it?" It was very fitting. Director Hayama's direction was stylish. The Director was grinning when he told us, "(whispering) Let's go in a sweet direction" (laughs). Also, I got goosebumps in this episode when Taiya was talking with the "fake Ishiro." He didn't make eye contact with him even once.

Iuchi: Yeah, they were completely out of sync.

Hayama: I was impressed by the detailed setup. When fake Ishiro touches the computer console to activate the system, Haruhi kept looking down. I thought, "He's angry~" (laughs). Still, when I looked at the footage, I could see that although he looks like Ishiro, he perceives him as a stranger, and I learned alot from the way he used those expressions. Also in Bakuage 37, there was something that Haruhi suggested to me. For the "I trust him (shinjiteru)" line between Taiya and Ishiro, we say it at the same time towards the end, but in the script it was originally "I trust in him (shinjiteiru)." It's not an unnatural word for these two to say, but I thought it'd be more appropriate if the "i" was left out, and since Haruhi thought the same thing, we decided to change it to "I trust him." That also left an impression on me. (*it's the same meaning, but the one they went with is casual while the original is formal speech)

"In Bakuage 43, Ishiro betrayed them, and in Bakuage 47, it was revealed that it was a plan to defeat Waruido Spindo. How did you feel about that kind of development happening towards the very end of the show?"

Iuchi: I thought it was interesting. It's good when the story advances without a hitch, but since Super Sentai is a team hero production, it's exciting when the story has the team fall apart atleast once, and then has them overcome their differences in order to strengthen the bonds between them. I thought it'd be exciting for the viewers to see that happen in the final stages of the story, and we were also excited to perform it.

"What were you mindful of with that development?"

Hayama: Before filming began, Director Nakazawa told me to "trust Taiya 100%," so I continued to perform with that same unchanging trust. No matter what words Ishiro uses, Taiya's able to fully grasp what he says, so I wasn't concerned about trying to include any hidden meanings.

Iuchi: What I was conscious of was to make sure that the viewers wouldn't figure it out. Taiya knows what Ishiro's trying to do, but if he doesn't go along with things, the enemy will find out. It was difficult trying to find the right balance there. One way of putting it is I had to trust my friend while simultaneously looking into the eyes of the enemy…I was curious to see how Ishiro would act since there were so many characters involved. Then, when I saw the footage during the recording session, I saw the expression on Ishiro's face and thought it was really good. Because of Bakuage 37's "I trust him" line, I thought, "It's alright, Ishiro won't betray us," but he had a really evil look on his face, so I started to have some concerns. After the truth was revealed in Bakuage 47, I wanted to rewatch Bakuage 43 to see the expression on Ishiro's face, and I hope that all the viewers do so as well.

"Are there any scenes that you'll never forget due to them being difficult or painful?"

Iuchi: In the very beginning, I had a hard time making Taiya look mature. The age of Taiya's character is older than I actually am, and even Director Nakazawa, who directed Bakuage 1-3, told me to be more mature. As the story progressed, it was Bakuage 45 and 46. It's right after Ishiro betrays him and Boonboom is taken out. I wondered how I would present Taiya, who's now totally different from before after unleashing his raw emotions, and how far I should let him "fall." He hasn't fallen to the dark side, but he's being consumed by dark feelings. Still, I thought that if I expressed things too negatively, it would stray too far from Taiya, and with such positive lines like, "I have no regrets" and "I trust him," I had to keep the passion burning. On set, there were some parts that required many takes, so it was still difficult.

Hayama: I had alot of trouble with Bakuage 14's aquarium episode. I remember it took me awhile to understand Ishiro's feelings during the first flashback scene, and the scene in the beginning where he's watching the sea lion show. I know I shouldn't be judgmental, but normal people don't cry when they see fish, right?

Iuchi: Well, yeah, that's true (laughs).

Hayama: At the time of Bakuage 14, Ishiro's foundation had yet to be completely solidified and was still being explored, and then the setting of him crying at the aquarium was added. I was confused with, "What do you mean by crying?"

"As a spy, Ishiro must've had a tough life up to that point, so much so that it'd be hard for those with normal perspectives to grasp it. In the flashback scene, he was covered with scars."

Hayama: Yeah, his body jolts from the slightest sounds. I felt pressure because I knew that I couldn't compromise this scene, as it would lead to the present day Ishiro. I was incredibly nervous right up until the start of filming. No, I wasn't nervous, I was scared. I felt that if things didn't go well here, it would affect the future of the show. He's usually cool, but feels relaxed when looking at fish, however, if he laughs too much, then that's not Ishiro. I had alot of trouble making adjustments. One more thing I'd like to mention is the scenes with Horibe Keisuke-san's Tokoyari Eiichiro, which started to increase around Bakuage 29. It was a valuable and rewarding experience for me to work with a veteran actor, but the pressure almost overwhelmed me. However, if I was overcome by Horibe-san's presence, the footage would look as if Ishiro was intimidated by Tokoyari. At the same time, it wouldn't be good if I were overly confident. Making those adjustments was also difficult.

"In this character book, the six Boonboomger members are divided into three pairs, and each pair will be asked to talk about another pair. We'd like to ask you about Suzuki Miu-san and Saito Ryu-san. It can be about your impressions of them in their private lives or as actors."

Hayama: I was impressed with how quick of a learner Ryu was with action. He practiced diligently, but he was able to handle it well from the very beginning. In his private life however, he's the youngest just like Haruhi, so his smile is absolutely adorable. There are all sorts of gaps with him. From the point of view of someone the same age, what do you think?

Iuchi: Him just being there brightened up the set. I'd talk when I had to, but there were also times where I'd just sit around without talking (laughs). With Ryu however, he'd always be talking with a smile on his face.

Hayama: He'd talk right up until the "get ready!" yell to start filming was heard. I'd occasionally get angry at him for that (laughs). But that's also one of Ryu's specialties, as it makes everyone around him feel at ease.

Iuchi: Miu-chan has…a broad perspective.

Hayama: She really does, doesn't she? She's always looking at her surroundings.

Iuchi: She tells us what she notices and will bring everyone together. Thanks to her, I feel that I've enjoyed my work.

Hayama: This is just my assumption, as she never said anything like this to us, but among the six Boonboomger cast members, she's the only female member. I think the five of us were able to consult with each other because we were all male, while on the opposite end, I'm sure that there may have been things that Miu-chan wanted to consult with us about but couldn't. However, she'd never show any signs like that and would always keep the set in harmony. She's a tolerant and incredible person. And, she's the same as Mira too, don't you think?

Iuchi: She really is.

Hayama: If you asked me, "Which part of her?," I'd say it's everything.

Iuchi: Ryu and Jou also have some parts that overlap between them, but Miu-chan seems to be Mira herself.

"You've been working with these friends to create this production, but what did you learn from your role throughout the year? In addition, how do you feel you've grown as actors?"

Hayama: I was tasked with a role that I would continue to play for a year, and it's an experience that I may not be able to replicate in the future, where I can take the time to develop my role. I was also able to perform action scenes and learned alot of things that can only be learned on a set like this, such as the unique way tokusatsu productions are filmed. More specifically, there's a Director, Cameraman, lighting crew, sound team, costume designers, makeup team, artists, and so on…I'm embarrassed to say that I now have a better understanding for the reason why these types of work are divided up. I want to continue to be an actor, and for that reason I learned some valuable basics. Honestly, I don't know if my acting has improved. That's for the people around me to judge. However, I have grown in the sense that I've learned the basics and gained a real feel for what acting is like.

Iuchi: Since this was my first time filming a drama, I didn't know how to ask questions or express my opinions even if I had questions or didn't understand something. To begin with, I thought anything I'd say would be wrong. However, the Director would ask me what I thought, and I learned that it was okay to look at all my costars and voice my opinion. I learned the basics of how to act on a set, and it was a fulfilling year for me.

"This book will be released before the final episode. What are some highlights of the final episode and your message to the fans who have supported the show for the past year?"

Hayama: There's the final battle with the Hashiriyan boss, Waruido Spindo…or rather, that's the main thing, as the battle scenes are a bigger highlight, but I think you'll enjoy it even more if you pay attention to how each character spends the final episode, or rather, how they're portrayed. And! There's also some highlights for BoonBlue, played by myself and Suit Actor Yoneoka Takahiro-san, so I hope that you'll pay attention to that.

Iuchi: Thank you for loving Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger and all of us in the cast. The Super Sentai series will continue into the future, so I hope you'll enjoy that as well. I also hope that you'll be interested in the actors of Boonboomger's cast and continue to support us. I'd be grateful if you'd keep an eye on us and see how we progress. _

Suzuki Miu x Saito Ryu

"What were your first impressions of each other?"

Suzuki: Ryu-kun was sitting near me during the final audition…I think Haruhi-kun, Yuki-kun and Satorun were also there, right?

Saito: Yeah

Suzuki: Out of everyone, Ryu-kun in particular left an impression on me. This is because I had fun doing our performance together. We played the roles of Mira and Jou respectively, but Ryu-kun was beyond perfect for a role like Jou. My first impression was that this person would without a doubt be selected. In addition, he talked about how confident he was in his muscles at the audition, and someone had to stop him when he suddenly said, "Can I take my clothes off?!" (laughs). I was also impressed by his eager attitude, which still hasn't changed.

Saito: The only impression I had of Miu-chan was ramen (laughs). When the topic of liking ramen came up during the audition, Miu-chan told the Producer that she "likes well arranged and beautiful looking ramen," but the Producer, who liked hearty ramen with tons of ingredients, replied to her with, "That doesn't sit well with me" (laughs). Still, I thought she had good communication skills, as she was able to skillfully respond to them and their conversation went on naturally. After that, when we were both selected to appear and were set to meet for the first time, Miu-chan arrived alittle late.

Suzuki: Yeah, I was.

Saito: All four of us guys were there, and as we were all thinking, "I wonder who this last person is?," Miu-chan arrived and I was like, "It's the ramen person!" (laughs).

Suzuki: That's how you remembered me? (laughs).

Saito: I think this happened after that, during costume fitting. Miu-chan came to our dressing room and asked, "Should we go out for a meal together?" Up to that point, us four guys hadn't been communicating well, as we had just been glancing at each other to see things would play out, but thanks to Miu-chan, we all started talking to each other. People tend to say that the Boonboomger cast get along well with each other, and I believe it's thanks to Miu-chan.

Suzuki: That makes me happy!

"It may be similar to her relationships depicted in the show. Mira treats everyone equally and doesn't distance herself from any of the other members."

Suzuki: I don't think that Mira and myself are as similar as people say, but after listening to what Ryu-kun said, I guess I might be abit like Mira. I definitely thought that I approached everyone pretty aggressively (laughs).

Saito: Still, I was really grateful for that personally. Haruhi's the same age as me, so I felt somewhat at ease with him. Satoru-kun's eight years older than me, while Yuki-kun's three years older than me, so I wasn't sure how I should treat them. Well, as you can see, we're now talking to each other on a first name basis.

"Soma-san and Miyazawa-san said that they were constantly teased by the younger members."

Suzuki: It's because of the tolerance those two have. It was helpful.

Saito: I went to Satoru-kun's place yesterday and ate some oden.

"Didn't you visit him just the other day?"

Saito: At that time, I did muscle training at my place and then went to Satoru-kun's place for a meal. He had asked me, "I've got some extra food, do you want to come over?" I don't have to worry about who I'm with now that I've gotten along so well with everyone.

"Both Mira and Jou are neither wealthy nor aliens, they're both ordinary people who share a common perspective, but did you ever feel that your characters were similar to each other?"

Saito: They're similar in that they both have an honest way of thinking. Another similarity would be that they don't know anything (laughs). They both didn't know the secrets that everyone else shared or sensed.

Suzuki: Neither of them ever made deductions (laughs). Also, they're similar in the way they expressed their feelings in a straightforward manner. However, since Jou's a police officer, I think he had a greater sense of responsibility as a member of society compared to Mira, and I think he's a character who had the belief of "I'm a police officer" at his core.

"Because of that, his decision to quit being a police officer in Bakuage 46 carried alot of weight."

Suzuki: He said, "If I can't help those who are screaming, then I'll quit being a police officer." Since the viewers saw how things unfolded up to that point, they know what he did wasn't a reckless decision.

Saito: Quitting being a police officer is a big decision for Jou, so I consulted with Director Hayama and thought about it as I performed. But then there was the line, "I don't have to be a police officer to protect those who need protecting." It's true, being a police officer is just a profession, and you can quit and still protect citizens. I felt like that line represented Jou's growth.

"Can you tell us what you think is great about each other as actors?"

Suzuki: Ryu-kun's honesty and pureness overlaps with Jou's passion, which is very emotionally appealing. The episodes with scenes of Jou being emotionally charged are all excellent. I thought the Keytarou episode (Bakuage 15) in particular was a divine episode. I cried.

Saito: What I admire about Miu-chan is her ability to instantly change the atmosphere of the scene. In the scene where Boon-chan talks about his past at the Deliverer's garage, and the scene where everyone talks after Boon-chan is defeated by Spindo, the atmosphere instantly changed when Mira said her lines. When Miu-chan spoke, it tugged at my heartstrings. The atmosphere changing also made it easier for me to perform.

Suzuki: I'm glad. Alright, here's one more wonderful thing about Ryu-kun. Expressing your emotions is naturally important, but since this is a hero production, I think it's important to look like a hero in the footage and to learn how to use your body for that purpose. In the beginning, Suit Actor and Action Director Jun-san taught me how to stand like a hero, and told me to learn how to use my body throughout the year. People have said that my movements look stiff (bitter smile), but Ryu-kun uses his body well, and his movements are sharp and cool. When you look at the footage, he's able to do movements that'll make you think, "Ah, he's a hero!" without even realizing it. That's why I consulted with Ryu-kun when I was set to get up from a crawling position after being attacked by an enemy. I'd ask him how I should angle my legs so that they don't look awkward, and how to stand up so that I look like a hero. He's like my nearby Action Director.

Saito: It's not that big of a deal, but I've loved heroes since I was little and used to play pretend. It may be ingrained in my body.

Suzuki: You've been practicing alot of action moves lately. You even did a forward somersault.

Saito: I practiced under the teachings of all the Action Team members, but they were good at giving me compliments. They'd give advice like, "That was good! But, you could do it abit more like this." I felt motivated by their encouragement.

Suzuki: His motivation is amazing! It doesn't matter what it's for. I know he's probably thinking that it could be useful in the future, but he practices action all the time, even after filming finishes, so I respect him for that.

Saito: Miu-chan would ask the Director detailed questions during postrecording. Things like, "What kind of CG effects will be used?" and, "What kind of attack will be shown that knocks me down?" As a professional, she never left out any details. I tended to act based on whatever came to my imagination, but Miu-chan listened to what the Director said, and she thoroughly incorporated it into her work as set tasks.

Suzuki: That makes me happy. I wish we could hold these kinds of "mutual praise meetings" atleast once a month (laughs).

Saito: They'd really increase our motivation! (laughs).

"Please list some memorable scenes of each other's character. We got the impression that Mira and Jou were often together at the Deliverer's garage. When Boonboom Marine and Boonboom Safari were activated in Bakuage 13, Mira said, "Let's see who can get the approval first," to which Jou agreed."

Suzuki: There were definitely alot of scenes like that.

Saito: We were given alot of freedom, as the Director's instructions were sometimes as simple as, "They're both really excited" (laughs). Then we'd talk about what we were going to do and act it out.

Suzuki: The beginning of Bakuage 25 left an impression on me. After Jou said, "The firework festival is finally tonight" we were instructed to "make it look like they're both having fun," so we did some cheering and went, "Boom boom" (laughs).

Saito: Another memorable scene was when Mira's tears fell onto Nicola's pendant in the warehouse during Bakuage 45. I couldn't see Miu-chan's face from where I was standing, but I knew that she was crying the moment she started speaking. And, when they got the take, I saw that she had real tears in her eyes. I had a really hard time trying to cry during the Keytarou episode. Miu-chan however was able to cry immediately.

Suzuki: No, it was because we shot that scene atleast 3 times. The first time we shot it, I still hadn't sorted out my emotions, so I thought that I wouldn't cry, but the instant they got the final take, Ryu-kun turned to me to check my face (laughs). I felt that Ryu-kun was acting pretty childish (laughs).

Saito: I'm sorry. I was just so curious.

Suzuki: At that time, Mira was looking at Taiya, but due to the angle, Taiya wasn't in frame, so the scene was just of me. Haruhi-kun was still there performing with me, and he gave me some great facial expressions. Without him there, I'm sure that I wouldn't have been able to cry.

"In this book, we'll also have you talk about the pairs featured in the other interviews. We'd like to ask you about your impressions of Soma Satoru-san and Miyazawa Yu-san as actors, along with some behind the scenes stories about filming. First, please start with Soma-san."

Suzuki: Satorun positioned himself as the silly one, making us laugh with his ridiculous jokes, but when we'd borrow his scripts to check his lines, he wrote detailed notes on every page, stuff like, "I think this is what Genba's feeling at this moment." During the time he took on the appearance of Genbard in Bakuage 27, he was watching the monitor closely as Suit Actor Ono-san performed as BoonOrange after transforming. He was trying to get into character as Ono-san did his role so that they'd overlap. An attitude like that is something I want to emulate as an actor.

Saito: Well then, I'll tell you about his private life. His room is very clean (laughs). He doesn't have much stuff. He's a good cook, and he has his own particular way of thinking, which he's uncompromising and thorough about. I think that comes out in his acting. That being said, he's usually calm and kind.

Suzuki: He's in the top three of kindest people I've ever met in my life.

"What about Miyazawa-san?"

Suzuki: I guess you could say that Zawa-kun's a level headed person. He treats both his superiors and those younger than him with the same attitude. When we'd go out for a meal after filming finished, he'd give us advice like, "For that scene, it would've been good if it was done like this, don't you think?"

Saito: He's a big bro you can count on. When I was alone with Zawa-nii, he'd never tell me what he thought of my performance, but when I requested it by saying, "Tell me what you thought," he'd give his opinion with, "That part was good, but I think this part could've been better…" I can tell that he's doing this job because he loves acting, as what he says is always precise.

Suzuki: It's easily understandable, isn't it?

Saito: It's like he's "Google" Sensei (laughs). He's able to teach me anything. Also, he's really good at making keema curry (laughs).

Suzuki: I can't imagine him doing detailed work like that (laughs).

Saito: That's why I had jokingly said to him, "You can't make meals that look like this" (laughs).

"And now finally, please tell us about the highlights of Bakuage 48's final episode, as well as a message to the fans who have supported you for the past year."

Saito: The part in Bakuage 47 where they stop Mira and Spindo's wedding deeply moved me. The scene is like a homage to Bakuage 1, but in Bakuage 1, only Taiya showed up at the wedding hall, in Bakuage 47 however, all of her friends rush in. I think it once again depicted how the Boonboomgers have grown over the past year and what kind of team they've become. From there, the final episode will be about how they'll defeat Spindo. I think many people are wondering what'll happen to the Sanseaters, and of course what'll happen to the Boonboomgers, so I hope that you'll watch and see where each and everyone one of them ends up. It's meant to be the next episode after Mira's wedding was stopped…but even though it's the final episode, I think of it as the second episode, or the beginning of a season 2.

Suzuki: I have a message for all the fans. Thank you so much for your support over the past year. When I first heard the title Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger, I thought it'd be a happy, cheerful, and energetic Super Sentai, and it definitely was just that. But that's not all, as I think that the viewers enjoyed things such as what each character had been carrying on their backs and the type of justice they wanted to uphold, as well as the depiction of the human drama, one which you wouldn't expect based off the show's title. And…(she turns to Saito), is there anything else you'd like to say?

Saito: Tons of people came to the events, and it became a hot topic on SNS, with words related to Boonboomger trending after each broadcast, so there were alot of people who liked it. I'm glad that I was able to be apart of such a production. Or rather, that's what Miu-chan wanted to say (laughs).

Suzuki: (laughs). I'm happy that this production was so well loved. _

Soma Satoru x Miyazawa Yu

"What were your first impressions of each other?"

Soma: That he was "the most intimidating guy" (laughs). His appearance left an impression on me, and I think the other members felt that way too, but still, I thought he looked scary.

Miyazawa: Did you think I was gonna yell at you? (laughs).

Soma: However, my impression changed when I actually got to know him, as he was overflowing with kindness and consideration for others.

Miyazawa: Thank you (laughs). When I first met Satoru, I thought he was a "fluffy" person. My first impression of him was that he "seemed kind and had some soft vibes," and that still hasn't changed. It's like he's Buddha. He's always smiling.

Soma: Thank you.

"You two are the oldest out of the main cast members, so did you take on the role of being their big brothers on set?"

Miyazawa: They knew we were the oldest, and yet they mistreated us, isn't that right?

Soma: (he immediately takes over) That's right. I think we were the top two when it came to being teased. Well, I do think it's good that the younger cast members were able to be so carefree.

"If it's just between the two of you, who's the funny guy and who's the straight man?"

Miyazawa: I'm totally the funny guy, right? (laughs).

Soma: It's either hit or miss with you (laughs).

Miyazawa: The two of us are together quite often, wouldn't you say? We go to bathhouses together. We're easy going people. On days when we finished filming in the morning and had free time in the afternoon, we'd go to an onsen and enjoy the ganbanyoku.

"Now then, we'd like to ask about your impressions of each other as actors."

Soma: When it was time to screw around, Zawa-kun would screw around. When it was time to perform, he was completely focused. There was a clear contrast between the two, which made me feel like I had to act the same. He has alot of experience, is passionate about acting, and has a wide range of skills, so there was much to learn from him. When I saw Zawa-kun's performance, I thought, "I see, so that's how he expresses it. If that's the case, then I'll do it like this," and from there, I begin to think about things more thoroughly.

Miyazawa: The atmosphere changed tremendously when it was revealed that Genba was an alien and left Boonboomger in Bakuage 27. What I felt most at that time was that Satoru was thinking deeply about the role of Genba Bureki, and how to convey the character of Genba to the viewers. He would discuss things with the Director, including how to express himself, and wrote alot of notes in the script. Those around him were inspired by that, and it caused them to bring out the best in their own performance, so I'm very grateful to him for that. Being able to work together with him made me happy.

"We got the impression that Genba had alot of scenes with Sakito during his withdrawal, but when filming scenes with just the two of you, would you discuss things beforehand?"

Miyazawa: We'd talk about what we were going to say, but we didn't want to force it. We didn't talk about specifics like, "I want to take it in this direction, so here's what I'm going to do," but rather, how I would respond to the Genba that Satoru had in mind. I wondered what kind of expressions he'd use and how I'd respond to them.

Soma: That kind of attitude was very important to me. When I spoke my lines, I'd carefully watch how Zawa-kun responded to them, and if he responded to them in "this way," then I'd "go with this." We made it a point to express exactly what we were feeling while acting.

Miyazawa: Our characters didn't exactly have a close relationship with each other, so I think we had to explore them even more.

"When it comes to memorable scenes involving Genba and Sakito…"

Miyazawa: It's the sumo match during Bakuage 32.

Soma: Yeah. I'm sure some of the viewers watching may have been thinking, "Why sumo here?" (laughs). It was hot during that shoot, and we had to use every muscle in our body when performing, so it was difficult, but it also brought out more emotion in us, which made it easier to get into it.

Miyazawa: We got so into it that we ended up getting brain fog (laughs).

Soma: We were like, "What do we do next again?" (laughs).

Miyazawa: We were both sweating so much, that we could squeeze out the sweat that had soaked into our clothes. It was really hot, in part because we were standing on concrete. Still, even after Genba left Boonboomger, Sakito would often show up in front of him just to mess with him, so that sumo match left a strong impression on me due to the fact that it was the only time they both seriously discussed their feelings with each other. Up to that point, Sakito had been saying some nuanced things in order to get him to return to Boonboomger, but Genba wouldn't listen. Then, Nijino Akira appeared and they decided to wrestle, and he was finally able to express his true feelings in a straightforward way.

Soma: It's because Sakito kept digging into him that Genba was also able to vent his frustrations. He left Boonboomger to not get them involved in his plans for revenge, and even though he wanted to go back, he couldn't let himself do it. But when Sakito, whose sense of distance is different compared to the other four told him, "Quit being stubborn and just go back to them," he was able to once again validate his feelings. I think it was a big deal for Genba, as he was able to do it once he truly spoke his mind.

"Speaking of, Soma-san was told from the beginning that Genba was an alien, right?"

Soma: Yeah. Still, all they said to me was, "We want you to be aware of it, but we don't want to make it obvious, so we may make small mentions of it in future lines." In the beginning, they apparently hadn't decided on the development of his withdrawal, and I wasn't informed of his Burekiian form until shortly before it was set to happen. Then he was removed from the opening credits…

Miyazawa: Seems like it was pretty intricate.

"Another time the two of you were featured together was in Bakuage 41's soccer episode."

Miyazawa: We were very grateful for that. I was happy that there was an episode where the two of us were the main characters. Since we're both experienced soccer players, we were invited to participate in a collaboration event with Shimizu S-Pulse in September 2024. After that, Producer Kuji-san said to us, "We can probably include a soccer episode somewhere."

Soma: I had the opportunity to meet head character designer Shimamoto-san, and at that time I told him how I'd "like to do a soccer episode." At that time, I was just talking about my desires, but then it became a reality.

Miyazawa: During filming, we had our first experience with napalm explosions in the scene where flames rise up from behind us while we were dribbling the ball. We kicked the ball in the shoes of the Boonboomger suit, which are usually worn by the Suit Actors.

Soma: It was hard to kick with them (laughs).

Miyazawa: The top of the shoes are large, which made it difficult to catch the ball. However, as expected of Satoru, he was able to do "keepy uppies."

Soma: No, no, it was still difficult with the napalm.

Miyazawa: The path also had quite abit of gravel.

Soma: I was worried that the ball would bounce and that our dribbling would become out of sync, but we managed to pull it off somehow. If I was going to be involved in a tokusatsu production, I wanted to experience napalm, so it was a good experience for me.

"What's the most memorable scene that doesn't involve Genba and Sakito together?"

Soma: In Bakuage 18, when Taiya says, "I can hear Sakito's screams" Sakito responds with, "I hate it. Guys like you who sugarcoat crap." Him being able to express his true feelings left an impression on me. I love that scene. I'll often rewatch it just to see Sakito's expression.

Miyazawa: I liked the scene in Bakuage 33, where Genba goes to the Deliverer's garage while everyone else is away and stares at the Champion Jacket that Shirabe-san hands him. But, the best scene was the last scene in Bakuage 26, where he confronts Disrace and jumps at him. Genba exploded with the emotions that he had kept bottled up, and it left a huge impact on me, as the impression I had of his character changed all at once in that scene. The atmosphere Satoru created was completely different from the previous scenes.

"When you feel that kind of change, the atmosphere of the cast members around you also changes, right?"

Miyazawa: Yes. What I thought was amazing about everyone is that when it came to scenes that were important to someone else, or scenes that depicted strong emotions, they'd think about the actor who would be performing in those scenes.

Soma: We all create an atmosphere where we could concentrate, right?

Miyazawa: It was a truly wonderful set.

"We'd like to ask you about your role in the scene where you jump at Disrace."

Soma: Genba had never really shown his emotions up until that point, but after hearing about the appearance of Disrace, his destined rival, I wanted to show a contrast in his personality. This is why I was conscious of having more fun performing in the episodes that had comedic elements, such as in Bakuage 21, in which he calls himself the "candy detective."

"Were there any scenes that were difficult for you to perform, or that you felt helped you grasp your role better?"

Miyazawa: Sakito's a character who tends to be loud and childish, but he's also quite sensitive, so I found those parts of my role as a good challenge. However, I think that how he understood people's emotions and how he expressed what he was feeling was a theme I struggled with until the very end. Like in the scenes that involved Genba, or towards the end of the show, when everyone was in shock over Ishiro's betrayal, only Sakito expressed his anger. I tried to be conscious of that when performing.

Soma: I wasn't able to express my emotions until about halfway through the show, so I sometimes wondered whether it'd be better to suppress my expressions "here" or not, but if I suppressed them too much, nothing would be conveyed, so I guess you could say I struggled with that. However, after separating from his friends and coming back, I changed it to show alittle more emotion. The turning point of the story also became a switch to change up my performance.

Miyazawa: Can I add one more thing? Rather than myself, there's a scene where I felt that Sakito had grown. It's the scene in episode 45, where he's harshly critical towards the citizens. When Bundorio was defeated and everyone looked down on the Boonboomgers as the enemies of Earth, he shouts, "Didn't the Boonboomgers save you?" and, "I won't tolerate you guys calling them villains!" If it had been Sakito from around Bakuage 18, he would've never said that. He left Earth once, but now he loves his Boonboomger friends who he met on Earth, which is the reason why he spoke so sharply against the citizens. That was really passionate.

"Since you've brought up the topic of character growth, do you feel that you yourself have grown over the past year?"

Soma: I feel that I have. It's not often that you get to work on the same production for a whole year, so it was great to be able to experience that. In the past, I was often led by my seniors, but in this production, I was working with people who were younger than me, so I felt that I had to be more reliable, and I think I've grown in that I've become more aware of the need to lead others.

Miyazawa: I learned alot in the very beginning, such as how to behave towards cast members on set, and I think it'll definitely be to my advantage on the next set I participate in. As for my performance, I only joined midway through, but even so, it was a rare experience to play the same role for more than half a year, so I felt that I've gained alot from it, and that I'll make use of it in my next job.

"This book will feature interviews between three pairs. We'd like you to talk about the changes you've seen in the Iuchi Haruhi-san and Hayama Yuki-san pair over the past year. What do you think?"

Soma: First, Haruhi became more responsible as Red as the show progressed, and he consulted with the Director more frequently about his performance, so I could tell that his confidence was improving. In the beginning, I had the impression that he was timid, but in a good way, he started insisting on doing things his own way, and in the latter half of the show, the number of times he asked for advice increased, which made me happy.

Miyazawa: Well then, I'll talk about Blue's Yuki. He was always thinking about the role of Ishiro Meita, and he would perfectly embody that role on set. He made us realize just what kind of person Ishiro is. That's what I like about him. On the other hand, in private, he's got abit of a junior like quality to him, which makes me want to look after him (laughs). Still, he's got his own opinions, and could say what he needed to say to his seniors. That's the kind of thing that helped us out too. I'm confident that he'll continue to absorb alot of things from now on and become a wonderful actor.

"This book will be released just before the final episode airs. What are some highlights of the final episode and your message to the fans who have supported you over the past year?"

Miyazawa: The highlight will be the final battle of course, but also what'll happen with the Big Bang Grand Prix, which Taiya and the others have been aiming for, and what'll happen to Sakito. All I can say is that it's gonna be hot! I think it's because he became friends with the Boonboomgers and spent time with everyone that this is what happens. I hope you'll look forward to it.

Soma: Yes, that's exactly right (laughs). Now that all the highlights have been said, I have a message. Tons of people have watched the show and visited our events over the past year. Multiple people commented on SNS, which made me realize every day that this show was loved by so many people, and I can only be grateful for the happiness I felt. After the final episode airs, I hope you'll be immersed in a sense of Boonboomger loss…although, it's strange to wish for loss (laughs).

Hashiyasume Atsuko

"There's only one episode left in the story, but please tell us again what your impressions were when it was decided that you'd play the role of Saibu Shirabe, as well as some of the things you discussed with the Directors and Producers about your character's image."

Hashiyasume: I don't think there were many requests for me to "do things like this." When I first received the script and read it, the impression I got was that she seemed cool and cold, but as I read further, I learned about her interesting parts and unexpected side, and realized that she was a woman with an incredible gap in her personality. I had a feeling she'd become more involved with all the Boonboomgers in the future, so I decided to keep her cool image during the beginning, but as the story progressed, I played the role with the hope that she'd slowly warm up to everyone and that tensions would gradually melt away like ice.

"That kind of gap was wonderful for Shirabe, don't you think? How did you decide to act out the cute part of her that radiates love for Boonboom?"

Hashiyasume: Every time I'd go to the set, I had my own image in mind of what I wanted to do, but when I actually did it, the Director would give me advice like, "Wouldn't it be cuter if you did it alittle more like this?" (laughs). I think this part is where I got the most advice on my performance.

"Can you give us some examples of the advice you received?"

Hashiyasume: The Director himself gave form to these ideas by saying things like, "I think you should act more head over heels with Boon-sama" or, "Move your body more like this!" (laughs). The direction was that it was "fine to make it more exaggerated" than what I had in mind. The Director also suggested the scene where I become excited with Boon-sama and spin around while saying, "Alright!," and so, Boon-sama and Shirabe spun around in circles together (laughs). This was how new ideas like that were created on set.

"Was there anything memorable regarding your performance with Boonboom?"

Hashiyasume: In the film "Promise the Circuit," there's a scene where Shirabe's leaning against Boon-sama underneath the shade of a tree, but I think I wanted to be embraced by him more softly…(laughs). No, he was naturally embracing me with his gentle heart!

"Hashiyasume-san, have your feelings toward Boonboom changed over the year?"

Hashiyasume: Shirabe was smitten with Boon-sama from the moment they met, so I personally didn't stop loving him throughout the year. Of course, it was Boon-sama who was on my phone background, Boon-sama who I talked to the most, and I was even jealous of Belora (laughs). From beginning to end, I've always loved Boon-sama, and my feelings haven't changed for the past year!

"This is Hashiyasume-san's first time taking on the challenge of working on a tokusatsu production. We guess you haven't had much opportunity to get involved with tokusatsu up until now…"

Hashiyasume: I naturally knew about the Super Sentai series, but I never thought I'd be cast for it, so I was very surprised.

"But since this was your first time participating in a tokusatsu production, we're sure you must've been surprised by tons of things, no?"

Hashiyasume: That's true. I was surprised to see more CG than I was expecting. In Bakuage 39, there's a scene where Shirabe gets into the Boonboom Car by herself to deliver the Changer to Taiya, and it was only then that I finally learned that the back of the Boonboom Cars were CG (laughs). Shirabe was often at the ISA headquarters or Taiya's house, so I'd often find out when something irregular was done, and there were many moments when I thought, "This was CG too! Modern technology is amazing!"

"It seems like you noticed something every time you filmed."

Hashiyasume: Everything felt fresh. This is exactly why I was so surprised when I learned of the existence of Suit Actors, because at first, I really thought it was the actors themselves who were fighting. I have no doubt that this was obvious to all the fans, but there were so many things that I didn't know about. I had no idea that so many people were involved in the making of this, so I was deeply moved by each and every one of them.

"How was the response from those around you when your appearance in the Super Sentai series was announced?"

Hashiyasume: I received many comments from those I worked with on variety programs saying, "I'll watch Boonboomger." I've had comedians, artists, actors, and so many others mention Boonboomger to me. In addition, people who were accompanied by their children would often say things like, "My son's watching Boonboomger. Look, it's Shirabe!" (laughs). Through Boonboomger, I realized that I had made myself known to a wide variety of people. When I appeared on variety shows, people not only responded to me as "Former BiSH member Hashiyasume," but they'd also say on SNS, "Shirabe-san's appearing on a variety show!," so it was very refreshing for me that people knew me from my role. I realized that I was receiving support from a new demographic of people, and I was again surprised by the power Boonboomger's show had.

"When people actually called out to you, it must've also given off a real sensation of "this child is watching me," huh?"

Hashiyasume: It did. Even during filming of the movie, small children would call out to us during the middle of filming with, "Wow! It's the Boonboomgers!" Unlike live performances, you don't know what kind of response you'll get from video work until it airs, so I would sometimes wonder if it would be properly received by the viewers…When I got to meet viewers like that, it made me happy knowing that there really was a wide age range of people watching.

"Once again, if you had to pick the most memorable scene you appeared in among the ones that have aired so far, which episode would it be from?"

Hashiyasume: The scene that I knew would receive alot of feedback was the one in Bakuage 39, where Shirabe rushes to the scene in the Boonboom Car without wearing a Boonboom suit. From the moment I read the script, I had a feeling that this would be a very important episode for Shirabe. I thought I had been recognized as a member of Boonboomger…it may be an exaggeration to say that, but I thought it was a scene where I had become one with everyone. Actually, after the broadcast, I received very warm words, and I felt as if Shirabe was recognized, which personally gave me a boost of confidence. This episode once again made me feel very happy to have been able to appear in Boonboomger.

"We became overwhelmed with emotion the moment Shirabe rushed to the Boonboomers without any hesitation. We also got the impression that Taiya and the others were surprised and happy to see her."

Hashiyasume: That's right. In the scene where Taiya catches Shirabe after collapsing, we talked alot about how I should fall over. We discussed it with, "How do people collapse when they lose their strength?," and then went into filming.

"The progression of Shirabe becoming the Boonboomger's friend is also a highlight, and one of the reasons for this is Bakuage 39."

Hashiyasume: That's true. Up to that point, Sakito would call her "Shirabe-chan," but after Bakuage 39 it became "Nee-san." It was as if the way they looked at Shirabe changed, or rather, everyone's consciousness changed from thinking she was "that ISA person," to "Shirabe-san (ISA)." While the Boonboomgers and ISA are two different entities, Bakuage 39 was like Saibu Shirabe had become a member of Boonboomger.

"As an ISA member who was there to investigate and monitor their situation, we're sure Shirabe herself must've felt conflicted about it, no?"

Hashiyasume: With her gradually becoming more suspicious of the ISA, Shirabe was always thinking about what she could do in the moment. Even with her position at the ISA, I think she was able to maintain a good balance while dealing with various conflicts. Her first priority was to protect the peace for the sake of Earth. And, I believe that she had thought, "Someday, I'll fight together with the Boobboomgers."

"In Bakuage 46, there was a line where she said, "I'm also a member of Boonboomger." It was a very moving line."

Hashiyasume: That scene was the moment when Shirabe made a big decision, and I said it with the thought of, "This might be the last time…" From the time I read the script, I knew it would take alot of commitment to say that one statement. Uttering those words in the midst of the Boonboomger's critical situation, all while each and every event that had happened so far flashed before her eyes, made me put all the feelings that Shirabe had felt up to that point into it.

"When you think back on past days, were there any parts that made you think, "That really happened"?"

Hashiyasume: It'd be something from the beginning, like when I started things off by grabbing Jou by his chin~ (laughs). Her role at the ISA was to eliminate the Boonboomgers, so that was the kind of determination she had. Looking back to the beginning, things have really changed.

"Shirabe has a cool side, but when she's in front of Boonboom, she shows her cute side, causing this gap to make her a memorable character. Still, we gradually got a glimpse of her passionate side, which made us think that she was a wonderful person."

Hashiyasume: We were just talking about progression, but when I played the role of Shirabe, I imagined that she would gradually become a member of Boonboomger, so in the beginning, I didn't try to get to know the other Boonboomger performers that well. I thought that'd be a better relationship to perform in. I thought it'd be wrong to get too friendly with everyone from the beginning, so just like the ISA and Boonboomgers, I kept a certain distance from them. As the story progressed, I felt that Shirabe and the Boonboomgers had gradually become one, so the seven of us would go out to eat together. From that point on, I was able to perform with the feeling that I really fit in as a member of Boonboomger.

"What are your impressions of the actors playing the Boonboomgers, and what was the atmosphere like when you interacted with them?"

Hashiyasume: From the very beginning, the impression I got was that they were really close. The five, and eventually six of them, always looked like they were having fun while talking. They were so close all the time, that you'd think they were siblings, and the things they'd discuss were things that young boys tend to talk about (laughs), it was so cute.

"What would they talk to Hashiyasume-san about?"

Hashiyasume: An example would be with Mira-chan, who consulted with me for advice by saying, "Isn't it difficult doing variety shows?," and we also talked about work. Jou-kun once suddenly asked me, "Wanna play a card game?" (laughs). In his role, he's a mature and dependable older brother! Behind the scenes however, I often got to see the boyish side of him. All of the fans would say, "The Boonboomgers are so cool!" and, "They're heroes of justice!" but in reality, they're all quite cute……sorry for thinking out loud (laughs).

"Hashiyasume-san's birthday was also celebrated on set."

Hashiyasume: It was a great celebration! I was very happy and thought, "When you end up doing this for a year, these kinds of things happen~"

"It must've been a rare experience to play the same role for a year, so looking back, what were your days like?"

Hashiyasume: Shirabe was a character that didn't appear every week, so there were times when I wouldn't film for about a month. When the time did come, I had to remind myself what kind of voice I used when performing. Shirabe's tone is slightly lower than my natural voice, so trying to fine tune it for filming was difficult. It was the same for my appearance too, as before we started filming, we always had to do things like adjust the length of my bangs and the shape of my eyebrows in order to make it to "Shirabe's specifications." It was only after being prepared by the makeup artist did I think, "My eyebrows weren't Shirabe's until now!" (laughs). After a month had passed, my eyebrows would go back to their natural shape. It was a strange year for me, as I returned to being Shirabe every time I went to filming. It's been a really long year…is what I want to say, but it went by so quickly that I thought, "Huh? It's over already?" When I heard about the end date, I couldn't help but say, "I thought we had atleast another 6 months!" It all happened so quickly.

"And now we're approaching the final episode. Finally, please give a message to the fans who have supported you over the past year."

Hashiyasume: First off, I'd like to thank you for your support of Boonboomger over the past year. In the beginning, some of you may have had a bad impression of Shirabe, or thought she was terrible. It was the Boonboomgers and Boon-sama who softened Shirabe's harsh side. More than anything, it's because of all the little and big friends out there who've supported Shirabe up to this point and shown her so much love that she's been able to become this kind. I don't think things would've changed this much if it was just Shirabe on her own. I'm sure we can win if everyone supports us, so I hope you'll support us to the very end. And, please don't forget about the Boonboomgers or the ISA's Shirabe. I'll also fight until the very end, with the feeling that I was the seventh Boonboomger member. _

Suwabe Junichi x Mizuki Nana x Morohoshi Sumire

"Everyone, this was your first regular appearance in a Super Sentai series. Please tell us how you felt when you were chosen to appear."

Suwabe: Before I received an official offer, Screenwriter Tomioka Atsuhiro-san told me something like, "I've been asked to work on Super Sentai, but I have a role I want you to play." I had voiced minor characters in past series, but I had never been cast as a regular, so I immediately said, "Absolutely!" I've been familiar with the Super Sentai series since I was a child, so I have a strong emotional attachment to it. I was very happy that what I wanted to do most became a reality.

Mizuki: I had previously been involved as minor characters, but I had dreamed of one day being a regular, so I was very happy. I'm secretly into cars (laughs), and many of my fans who support me are also motor sports enthusiasts, with some of them even coming to my live venues in their own decorated cars. Furthermore, I have a cat, so I personally felt that it was fate to play a character named Itasha with a cat motif (laughs).

Morohoshi: I was also very happy when I was first requested to play the role. I was also informed that I'd be playing something of a bad guy or enemy, and since I didn't have much experience playing roles of characters on that side, I thought it'd be a new and fresh challenge for me. My family lineage is female oriented, or in other words, I haven't had much of an opportunity to experience the Super Sentai series being mainly surrounded by girls, but a few years ago, my cousin gave birth to a boy. I was excited in many ways, as I was hoping to enjoy it together with him. The other day, I brought a Boonboom Killer Robo toy to my cousin's child to play with, and he seemed to be into it.

"How much was explained to you about the characters you'd be playing once you were chosen for the role? Please also tell us your thoughts when you were shown their designs."

Suwabe: The initial description of the Sanseaters was, "They're bad guys who aren't the capable type. They're the antagonists of the main characters, but they're a pitiful group that you just can't hate" (laughs). We saw the character designs in the documents we were given when we received our formal offers. They were more rough looking than I was expecting, but I was excited once I learned that they were designed by Shimamoto Kazuhiko-san.

Mizuki: At the time I was approached for the role, they told me the general setup they were aiming for were "enemies you can't hate, and to make them charming villains who, even if they fail, will spin their wheels with all their might." When I was shown the design drawings at the time, I thought they were "cute," and as I read through the script, I found them to be even more adorable (laughs). I was excited about the fact that there was alot of freedom in how we could portray these characters, and that we'd be able to try out alot of different things.

Morohoshi: When I saw the design drawings, I was told, "His voice should give off the impression of being babyish, and he's normally small enough for the other two to hold in their hands." I had almost no experience playing villains, so I wondered how I'd play the role, but I remember thinking that I could do it. After that, they contacted me and said, "We want you to send us some samples of your intimidating voice." They said, "We'd like a voice for if Yarucar is taken over by a bad guy named Madrex. Madrex is a rough man and head commander, so that's the kind of voice we want." I wondered what was going on (laughs).

Suwabe: This setting doesn't appear in the show.

Morohoshi: Yeah. I recorded multiple patterns and sent it to them, and they decided on the direction to take by saying, "Please use the most intimidating voice you can make." At that stage, I couldn't imagine what kind of character I was going to become, but on the flip side, I was still looking forward to it.

"When Yarucar inhaled Gyahsoline and entered into his reckless state, his voice becomes intimidating. So, with the take over setting being removed, it was used here instead? Does that mean you had trouble doing that voice every episode…?"

Morohoshi: No. It was a voice I don't normally make, and I was surprised at how frequently I went into that mode once recording began, but I wouldn't consider it something I struggled with. I had fun.

"Did Suwabe-san and Mizuki-san also receive instructions to be more intimidating?"

Suwabe: According to what Tomioka-san had told me beforehand, Decotrade was a character with pretentious vibes, but when I read the script that I received for Bakuage 1, he was totally different (laughs). I also took the impression his appearance gave off into account as I adjusted the direction I'd go in. I was glad that the performance plan I prepared was able to get an OK from the production side so easily.

Mizuki: Itasha always takes her job seriously, but things don't always go smoothly. Even if she made a cool entrance, her true colors would immediately be found out, and her distinct personality would be revealed (laughs). I was hoping that I could bring out that kind of funny contrast. It seems that my image and the Directors image matched up, as I remember that they immediately gave me the OK.

"We'd like to know if you had been influenced in any way from each other's performance."

Mizuki: Every time we'd watch the footage at the recording set, we'd see Decotrade's Suit Actor Ogura-san and Itasha's Miyazawa-san doing moves that weren't in the script…

Suwabe: They really did, huh? (laughs)

Mizuki: We'd check it out in surprise, thinking, "What is this scene?!," and then we'd do our actual performance immediately after the test, so our reflexes were tested every time. Suwabe-san would take the lead every time, and then Itasha and Yarucar…

Morohoshi: Would interrupt him (laughs).

Mizuki: That was the kind of balance they had. In Bakuage 38, it was revealed that Decotrade had asked Itasha and Yarucar if they "wanted to run together," and pulled them along, but it was also us actors who were being pulled along by Suwabe-san (laughs).

Morohoshi: We'd just sorta followed him (laughs).

Suwabe: No, no (laughs). I was always inspired by the characters that you both played so wonderfully. Well, I thought it was my role to throw in some comedic adlibs (laughs).

Mizuki: He even included puns that weren't in the script (laughs). I thought he was way too good at coming up with ideas after just one look at the footage!

Suwabe: When we'd watch the footage at the recording set, it wasn't uncommon to see people doing things differently from the scripts we were given in advance (laughs). They were more interesting, adorable, and lively in their movements. We thought this was a challenge from the Suit Actors, and so we, the Voice Actors, did our best to bring out the appeal of our characters.

"The "Ka-click" part in "Ka-click, Ignition" when Itasha inserts a key to create a Kurumaju was also a line that wasn't in the script, right?"

Mizuki: That's right. There was a short pause before I said, "Ignition." I thought that music and sound effects would be added for the broadcast, but I also thought that these were the type of guys to say the sound effects themselves (laughs). So when I added the "Ka-click!" and it was accepted, it then became standard.

"Moving on now, we'd like to know who your favorite characters are."

Suwabe: Mine are the Sanseaters. I naturally like Decotrade himself, but I'd like to support the Sanseaters as a set. I was moved to tears when Yarucar abandoned the road to becoming a super elite and returned to Itasha and Decotrade.

Mizuki: In that episode, the scene where Decotrade and Itasha declare that the "Sanseaters are disbanding" really hit me. I could really feel how much they cared about each other.

"Who was Mizuki-san's favorite?"

Mizuki: I also like the Sanseaters. I had the impression that we spent the year raising them, so I have a strong emotional attachment to them. All three of them were always positive. Even when things didn't go their way, they never gave up. Even though they're villains, they had cores similar to heroes. They cherish their bonds. I love them…I really do.

"Will Morohoshi-san also choose the Sanseaters?"

Morohoshi: That's right. They're villains, but you just can't hate them, and that's not all, as watching them made me feel energized, and I loved how positive and honest they all were. I also liked how direct they were in expressing their beliefs. The fact that they understood each other and balanced each other out well was wonderful, and I can feel the bond between them. Also, I really liked Ita-san's motherly side (laughs). I felt that she was very patient with Yaru-chan. And above all else, she's a young lady, so she's cute.

Mizuki: That makes me happy.

Morohoshi: Deco-san was also a very passionate man. He made alot of mistakes (laughs), but at his core, he had more passion and stronger feelings than anyone else, which I respect. Other than the Sanseaters, I was interested in Weiwei Yarucar, who appeared in Bakuage 38. I was surprised that he and Yaru-chan were of the same race, and I wanted to see the other Yarucars. He was a character I would've liked to have seen explored alittle deeper.

"Including Bakuage 38, which episode left the strongest impression on you?"

Suwabe: I'll mention one that's not connected to the Sanseaters, that being Bakuage 15. That episode between Jou and Kaseki Grumer made me cry. It was incredibly sad and memorable.

"What about Mizuki-san? As a viewer, Bakuage 42 left a strong impression on us."

Mizuki: I didn't expect to sing in such a serious way either (laughs). I was informed beforehand that, "There's going to come a time when Itasha will be in the spotlight, and it'll be like a musical," but I thought I'd just adlib and do some humming. But then I was surprised to find out that Itasha's singing part was fairly long.

Suwabe: Basically, when we'd record, we only watched footage of scenes where our own characters appeared. I wasn't able to record that episode with Mizuki-san, so I was surprised when I saw the broadcast. I didn't expect it to be a real musical (laughs).

Morohoshi: It was sung properly, don't you think?

Mizuki: Yes. My lines were recorded at the usual record, while the singing part was recorded in a recording studio, but just like in regular recording sessions, they placed a screen in front of me and I sang along with the actors movements. I was also impressed by the scene depicting the three's love for Madrex-sama. Madrex-sama became a star in Bakuage 33, and while the three of them don't know this, they decide to carry out what Madrex-sama left unfinished. That scene was sad and made me teary eyed. I could also feel Madrex-sama's manliness in the fact that he was about to self destruct, but flew into space alone, and I realized that this is why the three of them adored him so much.

"What impressed Morohoshi-san the most?"

Morohoshi: It has to be Bakuage 38. Yaru-chan's emotions were intense, and I felt like I was able to play a more profound role than I had ever played before. For the scene where he decides to take on the challenge of becoming an elite and is driving on the highway, but then remembers the past and hesitates, they adjusted the length of the footage on the spot. It's a scene that was recorded carefully and over a long period of time to make it easier to perform so that Yaru-chan's feelings would be conveyed more clearly. I was able to put so much emotion into it, that tears ran down my face as I performed, so it's stayed with me ever since. I also like the sports episodes (laughs).

Suwabe: Bakuage 23's baseball episode and Bakuage 41's soccer episode, right?

Morohoshi: That chaotic feeling, or rather, the feeling that anything was possible and went beyond your imagination was typical in Boonboomger. I laughed during the baseball episode, like when Yaru-chan drove recklessly (laughs).

"And now finally…Morohoshi-san, please give us your thoughts on the past year. It seems that you were confused by your first villain role."

Morohoshi: Looking back on it now, I don't have the impression that I had a hard time because I enjoyed every recording. Whenever I was shown the footage at the recording, it always exceeded my imagination. It was inspiring to see all the cast members and Suit Actors doing their best to match up with the others acting and movements, and being able to experience Suwabe-san and Mizuki-san's acting up close made me feel increasingly excited both as a viewer and as a fan of the Sanseaters. I'm really sad to see it come to an end, but I'm happy to have been apart of a production that never stalled and kept going at a high speed until the very end.

"Mizuki-san, what are the highlights of the final episode?"

Mizuki: I can't talk about specifics if we wanna avoid spoilers…(laughs). The conclusion for both the Boonboomgers and Sanseaters will be a hot development. The final lap of show, including the final episode, was full of many serious developments that included a variety of complicated speculation, such as the collusion between the Hashiriyans and those on Earth's side, and while it felt exciting to see the foreshadowing resolved, it's not aimed at being some kind of warning for modern society, but it wasn't just a refreshing story either. It wasn't just passionate and fun, as I think that this is what made it unique to Boonboomger, and will remain in the hearts of everyone who enjoyed it over the past year, especially children. Your children may not understand everything now, but someday when they look back, even if they have a passion for something, it can be difficult to do it alone, so it's important to keep running and not give up, and to find friends you can trust to help you do it. I hope that people will be able to rediscover the message we wanted to convey through this show. Make sure that even after you've become an adult, you'll rewatch it through discs or a streaming service (laughs).

"Suwabe-san please give a message to the fans who have supported you over the past year."

Suwabe: The Super Sentai series is a "path" that many Japanese children walk across…I personally believe it should be a required school subject. The time I spent as Decotrade was a wonderful memory that'll stay with me for life. The recurring phrase that appeared in this show was to "take control of your own wheel." In the current age of being overwhelmed with information and being easily influenced by others, I think it's a very important saying. I hope that the Boonboomger's passionate message has left a lasting impression on you that'll enrich your life for years to come. Unless Earth is destroyed, the Super Sentai series will continue to be available for viewing in some form or another. The characters will live on in these productions. The Sanseaters will also keep running towards the top that they're aiming for. That said, I'd like to ask for your continued support of Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger. And once again, thank you so very much for your support over the past year. Thanks for watching, and good work Sanseaters!!

[mizgnomer]

Behind the Scenes of The Star Beast - Part Eight

Excerpts from Benjamin Cook's Star Beast Set Visit - discussing the Camden night shoots:

Is nobody here having a bad time?? WHAT'S WRONG WITH THEM? "I had a little lull earlier," admits David, "at 2AM when we were waiting to turn over- I definitely yawned, maybe twice - but then the blood starts pumping again." Wrap isn't till 3AM. David lives across town. Isn't he worried he'll wake up his family when he gets in? "Listen, the kids are at Davison's," he says (this is Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison, who happens to be David's father-in-law), "so I'm full of beans. Oh, and sugar. Do you want some?" He's bought a churro from a market stall that's stayed open because it's very much in shot. "You can have more than that." He breaks me off a bigger piece. "The sugar rush will do you good." He offers the director [ Rachel Talalay ] some too: "Go on, Rachel, you deserve it." "Are you doing OK?" she asks him. "Yeah! Sugar! I'll move on to the Yorkie bars next. I give not a fudge at this time in the morning." He claps his hands, dusting off the sugar from his churro. "But are you OK?" "I am at this moment," she says, waving to some fans. "Tomorrow at 4:30AM I might not be. Ask me again then." "You do get a lot of love from the fans, don't you?" says David. "In a tiny way, which is just lovely. I mean, I'm not you," she says, with a laugh. "I love hearing them scream for you. But I'm not used to any of this. And… I think it's stopped raining." "OK, here we go," says Scott. "Let's go for one. Stand by then, folks…" They go for another take. And another. When I catch up with Rachel later – much later, it’s October 2023, and she’s chatting over Zoom from her home in Vancouver – we’re five weeks away from The Star Beast airing on TV. “I didn’t know quite how well the episode was working,” she says, “till my family watched an almost-finished cut. I came downstairs, and my two girls were crying. It was like, oh, OK, this does work! And on a much, much deeper level too. To have them go, ‘We knew it would be full of joy’ – which I think it is – ‘but we didn’t expect it to be so emotional,’ that was very satisfying. It was an emotional time all round.” It was. In more ways than one. Which is something that Rachel wants to talk about – here in DWM – for the first time publicly. “I think I can now,” she says, “because I’m close to two years in remission. I will be this month. Two years in remission. And Doctor Who really helped heal me. Directing Doctor Who while I was only a couple of months post-chemo.” A deep breath. “I had lymphoma,” she explains. “I’d been in chemo for seven or eight months. I wasn’t sure if I was going to survive. Then I was offered The Star Beast. I thought, I’ve got to do this. I didn’t tell anybody I was sick. I hadn’t told anybody except very close family. And I didn’t tell anyone on Doctor Who till I was there long enough to say, ‘Look, I’m well enough, so I don’t want you worried about me.’ Because, frankly, I don’t know that they’d have wanted to hire someone who might not have made it through the shoot. I totally get that. That’s fair enough. [...] “I could not have been surrounded by a more supportive crew,” says Rachel. “The best crew in the world. When I realised, it’s all night shoots, I thought, oh god, and I’m two months post-chemo. But that crew – David especially – made those night shoots so fun. It’s weird now, because I look back at the pictures – like that lovely one of me and David you published last issue – and that was my chemo hair. I was just getting my hair back. But I got healthier and healthier, stronger and stronger, as the shoot went on. When I got back to Canada, the doctor said, ‘You’re a poster child for how well someone can do after chemo. This is what people are capable of.’ “But it’s just what you do,” she reflects, “isn’t it? – when you love Doctor Who in your heart so much. There was no better place for me than Doctor Who.”

Additional parts of this set are in the #whoBtsBeast tag. The full episode list is [ here ]

[freakroth]

Soukoku with a very reluctant reader despite being with them throughout practically everything (15 arc to present) and being in a relationship (dating/married whatever) with them they still aren’t comfortable and exclude themselves on purpose, dodging their kisses, slipping out their arms in hugs, and avoiding them in general because they feel as if the two are quite literally meant for each other and they’re just a nuisance (it’s soukoku they are literally made for each other) so they don’t think much of it until the two of them confront them, y’know?

𝓢𝓸𝓾𝓴𝓸𝓴𝓾 𝔁 𝓖𝓷! 𝓻��𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓻

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've been really wanting to write this for a while now but i haven't had the motivation to do so 😓

I decided to make it so that like chuuya and dazai had started to talk about wanting kids with the reader and then reader also wanting them but becoming much more distant since they think they dont deserve to start a family if that makes sense??

I'm sorry if this wasn't like what you wanted this is just what i came up with :(

TW: Idk really know, Talk about pregnancy? Please do tell me if there is something that could need a TW

Also reader is AFAB but uses GN pronouns.

English isn't my first language!!!

Words: 1,6k

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You love both your hubands, Chuuya and Dazai, very much, but you always felt like you were in the way of their love, like you were a bother to them or that you didn't deserve them. In your mind they were meant for each other, which they are, but you felt like you were just there, like you aren't meant to be with them.

For as long as you can remember, you've been the most distant one in the relationship, the one that gives the least kisses, hugs ect ect. Both Chuuya and Dazai just thought you weren't into physical touch so they didn't ask much about it, but they still gave, or at least tried to give you lots of kisses and love.

Most of the time when one of them tried to kiss you, you slip away to avoid the kiss. Only sometimes did you actually let them kiss you, and they cherish those moments with you since they're so rare.

You always try to convince them that you dont need to join them on dates and that they arent your thing, even when all you wanna do is go on cute dates with them. Even with your excuses, they still get you on dates most of the time, but even then you're still very distant.

You even sleep in a different room, and saying "I'm more used to sleeping alone" or "i sleep better when i'm alone" as an excuse when they ask. Still, your heart hurt when you thought about how they cuddled in bed in the room right next to you, you knew you could just walk in and join them, but you felt like you weren't worthy of that.

Over all, you felt really insecure in the marrige, you really had made yourself believe that they didn't love you at all.

.....

You've been very insecure about the relationship for years, even when you guys were just teens, it all started when they asked you to be they're partner when they were both 17, since then you've been like this. But now, for some reason, you've been worse then ever.

Ever since you overheard them talking about wanting children you've been trying to keep away from them compleatlly, for what reason? You honestly dont know. you don't know why you are like this, you want children with them, so why are you becoming more distant then ever?

You've spent nights crying because of this, one of the most reacent ones were, chuuya hugging you from behind and caressing your belly while you made some food for yourself. You don't even know what made you want to cry, the gesture just made you feel something inside. After that you had excused yourself and rushed into to the bathroom, turned on the shower and cried.

Because of your change in behaviour, and becoming more and more cold to the both of them, they fianlly started to think that maybe, just maybe there was something wrong with they're precious sweetheart.

One night when you had gone into your room they both could hear faint sobbing, and they had gotten worried. That night they stayed up until late talking about times where they had both been oblivious to your actions and how they should bring it up to you. They were both very guilty, even if they didn't know what was bothering you.

...

...

You were sitting on your bed looking at the snow falling outside through your window while drawing something, everything felt so peacefull at that moment, like nothing else but you and your little space existed.

Everything felt fine until the thought of a child came back itn your mind. what would it be like to have a child with them? would that make you feel loved? would it make you feel like a part of they're relationship?

You thought about the time you overheard them talk about having a child through surrogacy. "Maybe we could try surrogacy? It didn't look like [Name] enjoyed it when we had sex, and i'm not sure they would wanna carry a baby" you had heard Dazai say to Chuuya.

Surrogacy wasn't a bad thing to you, but you were scared that they would ask you, since you knew you couldn't bring yourself to say no. It made you scared that another person was gonna carry your child. You were scared they would find them prettier, more beautiful then you and leave to be with them.

You felt tears form in your eyes at just the thought of something like that happening. Your tears fall onto the half done drawing thats in your lap, making small damp spots on it. You try to hold back your tears as best as you can but they just keep coming, its like all the emotions you've been bottoling up for the past few years are fianlly beinfg released.

As you sit on your bed sobbing, you fail to notice both Chuuya and Dazai standing outside your room listening, both of them looking worried. They both give each other a look and decide to walk in and see if you are alright and if they can figure out why you've been acting so distant.

A sudden small knock on the door of your room snaps you out of it and you quickly start to wipe your tears in a hurry, "W-what..?" You say, trying to not making it sound like you've been crying, since you dont want them to wotty about you. "Darling, we heard you crying.." Chuuya opens the door and gets closer to you. "Please tell us whats wrong.. we care about you.." He takes your hand and strokes it gently with his thumb.

This small act of love makes you burst back into tears as Dazai and Chuuya take you into they're arms and start to rub your back as your sobs become louder. At this moment you feel trully loved by them, you feel safe and protected in they're arms, as if there is nothing that can hurt you at this moment.

"[Name], darling whats wrong? did we do something to upset you? ..why have you been so distant?" Dazai ask you while moving some of your hair out of your face. You can see the worry in both they're faces, and you start to feel guilty for maiking them worried. "..its nothing.. i swear.." You try ti make up excuses and you try to slightly push them of you, but you feel so weak at the moment.

"we can obviously see that you aren't doing alright.. please.. we care about you and your health.. we dont want you yo suffer alone.." Chuuya wipes your tears and kisses your forehead gently.

After a while of just being in they're arms you fianlly feel brave enought to try and tell them, you tell them how you've felt like you are just a burden in the relationship, like you're in the way of they're love. "..I just feel like i dont deserve to be with you both.. its.. just that you two are double black.. you both are amazing and strong.. and i'm just nothing... i haven't done anything.. You both would be betrter of dating someone else" You say while sniffling and wiping more tears of your face.

They both look quite sad as they listen to you explain how you feel, they both feel really guilty for not noticing earlier. "Darling.. we both love you more then anything in the world, just because 'haven't done anything' doesn't mean we dont love you.." Dazai takes your hand and kisses it, "We married you because you're beautiful, smart, funny and much more.. we really do love you.." Chuuya cups your cheeks making you look at him.

You can feel yourself starting to slightly feel better, knowing that they both love you, but stil, the topic of surrogacy was stil heavy on your mind. "..but.. what about the surrogacy thing..? do you guys still wanna do it..?" You ask them quietly and they both look at each other.

"Well, we do want to have a child, and surrogacy is a good option.." Dazai answers and he can see your face immediately drop making them slightly worried. "is there a problem dear..?" He asks you, "..i know it sounds dumb, but i'm just scared you both will leave me for the surrogate mother if we do a surrogacy.. i'm scared you two will think shes better then me.." Your voice shakes a bit as you talk, and you can see them both kinda realize why you're so sad.

"Oh, so this is what you've been sad about? You've been thinking about us leaveing you for someone else..?" Chuuya says before he continues, "Dear, we would never make you agree to have a surrogacy if it makes you uncomofrtable.. the surrogacy idea was just a back up plan.. for you know.. if you could for some reason carry the baby or you didn't want to carry it.." He chuckles a bit, trying to make you a bit happier. "Did you ovear hear us talking about it? Because if thats the only thing you heard, i'll have you know that that wasn't our first idea" Dazai adds and you feel a bit dumb for feeling so upset over something so small.

"But really [Name], we want to start a familly with you, but we both think its best you get some therapy first. And i'm not saying this as an insult but, we both think you aren't in the right state of mind to make such a big decision, we want you to have healed and to be fully sure if you want to have a child.." Dazai tells you, and now that you think about it, maybe therapy is a good option for you. "..I will.." you whisper.

You hear a satisfied hum come from them both, "We will both be by your side the entire time.."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OML i'm finally done with this, i hope you like it. Again the ending might be a bit ass since i didnt really know what to write 😢

Also, please tell me the gender of the reader, cuz if you dont i'm just gonna make them AFAB and GN Like i really dont want to acidentally write like AFAB reader when you actually wanted AMAB, so please tell me it in the request 💀

Also, if you wanna be tagged in my post just tell me, idk if anyone wants to 😢

[thewebcomicsreview]

You know, it's always struck me as a little odd how little most webcomics actually attempt to adapt to their medium. There's basic strips, the old 2k era 4-square, the endless scroll of Webtoons, and a few weird experimental things like Homestuck, but most webcomics I run into tend to stubbornly stick to conventional portrait-oriented page layouts.

It's… readable, I guess, but that format doesn't seem to work very well for either desktop or mobile viewing. It wastes a lot of screen-space, and usually makes it impossible to actually view the full page without making the text too small to read.

Have you encountered any interesting webcomics that experiment with more landscape-oriented layouts? I'm kinda curious about how well that would work.

So, there's this dude Scott McCloud who wrote about comics in the 90s. His first book, Understanding Comics, is literally the book on comics, it's the one schools make kids read. This third book, Making Comics, is a pretty good practical advice guide I'd recommend, even if it's not his groundbreaking seminal work. In between those two books was one called Reinventing Comics

Reinventing Comics, written in 1993, was basically a book of predictions about how this newfangled Interweb was going to revolutionize the art of comics creation. Like a lot of early-90s stuff "Wow the internet!" stuff, it has a lot of inaccurate predictions, and thus isn't super well remembered (though, unlike a lot of early-90s predictions of the internet, it at least vaguely resembled reality).

Anyway, one of the big things from that book was the idea of the "infinite canvas".

Which was basically the idea that a comic didn't have to be constrained by the size of the screen because you could scroll it. And this was a big idea in early webcomics, you heard this phrase a lot. And you'd see infinite canvas techniques like "What if the characters are falling and the comic is really tall to sell that?"

(Read Narbonic)

Which is basically the one and only example that actually took off, because it turns out that scrolling horizontally sucks and no one really wants to do it except as a one-of gimmick (as Homestuck does). The much bigger impact of the internet was that a webcomic could be infinitely long and still reasonably expect it's readership to have read it all, but I think McCloud missed that one. So while there were a bunch of "landscape" webcomics where you scrolled horizontally, none of them took off, and even the ones that were well received are long gone.

Adams himself would make Zot!, which is a vertical scroll comic that had a bit of a gimmick with parallel story beats being literally parallel. I think he even did some branching paths, and experimented with comics that you could read in different directions or that looped back on themselves.

But then Homestuck just did that better because, as I mentioned, infinite depth ended up being a lot more impactful than infinite width. It turns out that making a comic really wide calls a lot of attention to itself and makes the comic annoying to read. And it doesn't mean you can't do it (Homestuck did it!), but it does mean it can't be the gimmick you hang your comic up on unless you've got a really good reason for doing it.

[mrcrawly]

House MD main cast headcanons

is most of this Wilson and House? yeah. do i feel bad about that? no.

House:

the biggest fucking music snob you have ever met in your entire life

collects CDs, vinyls, cassettes. has a really cool shelf/case for them too

says he hates animals but there is most definitely a stray cat in the alley by the hospital that he's always feeding

i get the feeling he was a kleptomaniac as a teenager

he's a huge asshole but sometimes he isn't actually trying to be one and will just say whatever comes to mind and forget that people can get offended

autistic and probably knows it

definitely makes the grandpa groaning noise every time he gets up from a sitting position

definitely pretends to sword fight with his cane

legitimately cannot stand to be touched 95% of the time. like it viscerally disgusts him or makes him physically uncomfortable like he's in pain (again: autism)

if he ever were to have a child he would be the world's biggest girl dad. im talking playing ponies and dress up with her and showing up to work with little smudges of nail polish on because she wanted to give him a makeover

would also be one of those fathers who is constantly showing off things their child did. his kid made him an ugly clay sculpture of an indeterminate animal? oh it's going on his desk. his kid made him a mug? he drinks out of it every day (or at the very least holding all his pens and pencils). his kid drew him a picture? it's getting framed in his office.

actually not bad with babies and infants. does he like them? no, but they like him. it's just not mutual

likes to sleep on people (Wilson)

his favorite movie is Rocky Horror Picture Show or some cheesy 80s film but definitely lies and pretends to be some fancy snot-nosed film critic

scared of clowns (don't question this one)

was an extremely sickly child but a very healthy and athletic adult which is why he was so adamant not to amputate his leg

got super drunk in his last year of med school and got a stupid tattoo on his ass. only Wilson knows about it

empathy doesn't come very naturally to him clearly but he hates it when Wilson is upset and even if he can't help he'll sit with him until he feels better

sugar fiend

Wilson:

listens mostly to 70s folk and soft rock but will listen to whatever House shows him too

also collects but it's something so stupid and insane and niche that no one understands what he's talking about when he brings it up

would be super ultra dedicated to it too. im talking he would go to conventions about his interests multiple times a year

has had multiple dogs, cats, and one or two reptiles

got the hyper-empathy autism instead of whatever the fuck House has going on

House tries to tell him all the time that he's autistic and he's unfortunately one of those people that's like "but i can't possibly be autistic im perfectly functional!"

is definitely one of those people that's like "my hip hurts...... storm's coming in" and House just stares at him like this 😐

is always the one that House is playing sword fighting

loves to be held as long as it's someone he's close to like im talking fully and entirely consumed with someone else's body

definitely finds relief from deep pressure (again: autism)

would also be a fantastic girl dad. there would be dozens of pictures of him passed out on the sofa with makeup smeared all over his face bc someone gave him a makeover when he was napping

actually very much wanted children and still wishes he had one

HORRIBLE hypochondriac. he understands it's irrational and won't speak about it out of embarrassment but he's especially like that about cancer. working in oncology does that to you unfortunately

loves babies and toddlers. im talking he does the stupid cooing baby voice and bounces and kisses them. babies also very much like Wilson

he has multiple siblings who all have multiple children so family reunions typically have a giant cuddle pile which is him being smothered half to death by his nieces and nephews

scared of heights

was a pretty sick child but spent like 60% of his time in college with a cold or some kind of bug

would love those stupid roadside tourist trap attractions. the biggest rubber band ball in the United States? oh he'd eat that shit up

has probably fished at least once in his life

whenever house tries to show him something on his phone he pulls out a pair of reading glasses and moves his head back and squints at the screen like a middle aged dad

cries about things a lot and gets a little embarrassed over it, usually goes to House if he's upset

would ask House if he would still be his friend if Wilson was a worm and gets very sad and pouty when House says no

Cameron:

dated a few women in college definitely

immune system of steel. has gone multiple years with literally nothing more than a little cough

carries around those little strawberry hard candies and chewy Werther's original caramels in her purse and offers them all the time

definitely kept a lot of her childhood stuffies

hates really bright lights because they give her bad headaches

would definitely fall victim to the "morning shed" trend but to a less extreme extent. like she buy a silk bonnet and mask and starts using a bunch of products before bed

wears rings because she likes to fidget with them

has super dry insanely frizzy hair so she oils it constantly

had super curly hair until she went to med school and it inexplicably became straight

fear of bugs

has a very extensive before-bed routine

has a cat but the cat has some weird stupid name that doesn't make any sense like Faucet or Pantaloons or something insane

has a really great metabolism but eats like a bird for lack of appetite

Chase:

in contrast has the weakest Victorian child immune system. he gets the flu or strep every year without fail and is incapacitated for at least a week

likes old American folk but likes pop and rap artists like Tyler the Creator and Frank Ocean, things like that

really sensitive skin so trying out any new product breaks him out sooooo bad

Mama's boy as a child (if there's something sad and heartbreaking about this in the show that i haven't seen yet REFRAIN!!!!!)

has a really extensive and exhausting hair routine but it gets oily anyway and is sooo pissed that Cameron has better hair than him

i have an inkling that he would be vegetarian or pescatarian (is that how you spell that i don't know) not for any health or environmental reason he just genuinely hates most meat except for fish and chicken

Foreman:

was a really big fat baby and didn't grow out of it until he was like 13

played some kind of sport in school but not like a mainstream one. like he swam or did lacrosse or something

became a neurologist because he's watched multiple aunts and uncles die of neurological conditions or stop functioning from loss of memory and cognition

VERY strict diet and takes lots of supplements that help carefully tracks his intake of

very hairy but was made fun of for it in high school so he shakes his entire body basically bald all the time

smells absolutely fucking fantastic. like coconut and sugar and vanilla and it lasts all day long

loves working with children and sometimes wishes he went into pediatrics

when House isn't in the room sometimes he cheers up the younger patients by doing dumb stuff, like blowing up a latex glove into a balloon or letting them write on his arm or something silly

hated needles as a kid and still has to turn his head away when he gets shots even though they don't make him that nervous anymore

also a sugar fiend so sometimes he bakes for the rest of the staff when there's a get together or some kind of function at the hospital

[hufflezki]

helloooo! could you write for 3rd-4th year harry and reader going on a date in hogsmeade? but they're actually just stealing food under the invisibility cloak and eating it in a secluded area LOLOL thankyuuu<3

[ 🌺 ᝰ.ᐟ ] thanks for requesting lovely!!

-> harry potter x gn!reader, word count: 742

　　“Where are you off to now?”

Hermione reveals herself—standing in the doorway of Harry’s dorm—asking a very obvious question, though her tone suggests that she might already know the answer. This was the second time she had caught Harry in the middle of sneaking out to see you. Of course, she had pieced the puzzle—that is the two of you dating—long ago. Even before the others did. It wasn't that hard to figure out, especially not when the both of you were indiscreetly holding hands under the table whenever you were together.

And it certainly wasn't hard to figure out the fact that Harry has been sneaking you both to Hogsmeade, using his invisibility cloak. But in his defense, he was only making do with what he has. All thanks to his aunt and uncle for not signing his consent letter.

“You know where.” Harry responds easily, his back turned towards Hermione still, as he picks up his book bag along with his invisibility cloak, putting it around him—immediately hiding himself. She shakes her head, which was more out of amusement if anything.

　　“Well, have fun with your date.”

　　“I’ll keep that in mind.”

And he did. After seeing you waiting in the courtyard, he immediately swooped you in his arms—and inside the invisibility cloak. On the way to Hogsmeade, you hear him ask. “So where should we go to this time?” And, honestly, no matter how many options you had—the two of you always seem to end up in the same place.

　　“Three Broomsticks?”

“Good one.” Harry jests, making you chuckle. Yet again, he couldn't really think of anywhere else to go, which is why he leaves most of the decision making to you.

“Do you ever think Madam Rosmerta notices?” He adds, as you enter Hogsmeade. You shrug, a part of you thinks she does but doesn't give you two much trouble for it. Hagrid does hang out there pretty often. “Maybe. But I don't think she pays much mind.” Harry smiles at your response, squeezing your hand in agreement.

Your dates in Hogsmeade were pretty interesting. Seeing as Harry isn't supposed to be in here, you had to sneak into shops. And while it was unethical, the two of you still end up leaving with food—that definitely aren't yours—in your hands. But, hey, sometimes you leave some little tips when you can remember.

And before the sun could set, you share whatever snacks you both have in a quiet and secluded area, overlooking the town.

Though, sometimes Harry worries that you might not be as pleased as you let on. There’s been several times where he had to apologize for not being able to take you to a proper date. And, well, you had to reassure him that you didn't really mind. If anything, it feels like he really cares, putting so much effort just to accompany you to Hogsmeade. Its not everyday you get treated like such.

“Thanks for putting up with me.” You shake your head, leaning against his shoulder. And Harry finds your hand once again, liking the way they fit perfectly with his. “You’re acting as if you forced me to be here.” He can't help but laugh, now that you put it that way, it does sound a bit ridiculous.

　　“You know I’d do anything you ask me to, right?”

　　“Mhm, I know that. And its a tad bit worrying.”

“Then, I guess, you’d also know that if you ever want to go on those fancy dates, I will take you to one.” And you look at him as if he’s said something ridiculous, but Harry’s expression is anything but kidding.

“I’d let you take me anywhere, and I would still consider it a date.” You squeeze his hand, but he doesn't look near convinced. Letting go of him, you turn and cup his face. “Listen, Harry, I really don't mind where you take me, okay? And its a bit cheesy, I know, but I enjoy them because you’re there.” Despite how cliché it may be, those were the exact words Harry needed to hear.

Feeling the sudden surge of emotions, he leans closer to kiss you, catching you off guard at first. But when you do kiss him back its sweet and short, sending flutters to your chest.

　　“I don't think we need to stop by Honeydukes anymore.”

　　“Harry, don't.”

　　“I’m just saying, too much sweets isn't good for us.”

golden trio masterlist ꩜ .ᐟ

[dimonds456-art]

I read reblogged post "What people often get wrong about young Ford" and I don't know how to feel about what I read. Because if we're going with the interpretation that the fact that Ford didn't defend Stan from that shitty principal had nothing to do with him being afraid of facing authority but because deep down he believed and agreed with what was being said, it makes the whole scene a thousand times worse. And it also eliminates the only excuse that makes it justifiable for Ford not to have said anything in that scene. I honestly don't know how to feel about all this.

Context: This post about younger Ford Pines by @padmerry

I'm not the blog that wrote that post, so I'm not sure you sent this to the right person, but I do wanna throw my own two cents in here regarding this as well.

Ford was 17. Maybe 18, but still. Bro was a kid.

His not wanting to speak up against authority does make sense to me as he wants to impress all the adults that are present in the room, and I do think that could be partly why he chose not to say anything, but since reading the post I agree with OP more in that it reads more like Ford agrees and just hates that he agrees. The thing he was cringing at was the way they were talking about Stan and not necessarily what was being said.

His entire life, Ford has been listening to this Stan smear campaign. Everyone thinks he just lies and cheats all day, dodging responsibility and overall just causing problems on purpose. The worst part is that they're partially right about that, too- there is irrefutable evidence that that's been the case for a long time.

The difference, to me, is that as a kid, Ford was in the middle of it and understood his brother and often partook in those activities as well. But as he grew up, his aversion to authority became more subtle while Stan was as loud about it as ever.

And while I could go on forever about Stan and how his nature is to be a caring person while his nurture was "you're the bad kid" over and over and over and over again, but I wanna stay focused on Ford for this post. So just keep that in mind.

So while Ford started trying to improve his own image, since he knew academics was the only way to move up in the world (or at least, that's what people told him and what he clings to), he started trying to obey rules more. Or at the very least, he was quieter about his disdain for them. I don't think he got more "meek" or anything, just quiet.

Stan didn't though. He was a menace in high school just as much as middle and elementary school. We can see in how he treats fellow students in ATO2S that he was kinda a low-key bully as well, which. c'mon man gfhsdkja

To me, it looks like Ford was trying to improve his image so he'd be seen as someone worthy of being taken seriously, while he saw that his brother was doing the exact opposite of that. While Stan fell further and further into bad habits, Ford tried his best to excel.

THAT'S what it really comes down to for me. He agreed that his brother was not doing well and possibly never would- not because he thinks Stan is dumb, but because Stan wasn't trying to. Again, we could read into why forever, but not on this post. I'm saying that to stop myself from doing exactly that LMAO

Ford KNOWS how smart Stan can be, and how skilled he is at sailing, building, planning, ect. He watched Stan buy his own car, they worked on the boat together, and overall his brother was a bit of a trickster. That's the part that really hurts- Stan could be becoming a better version of himself, and he's choosing NOT to.

So yes, Ford DOES agree that Stan isn't going anywhere in life. And he HATES that he agrees because he's aware of how cruel a statement like that really is. This isn't him harboring a secret hatred of Stanley or anything, this is him thinking Stan could be doing better if he simply applied himself! And he has to watch as Stan actively chooses NOT to do that again and again and again.

He's torn. He's sitting there like "don't talk about my brother that way," but if he were to speak up, he'd need to be able to prove that his brother wasn't what they were saying he was, and he couldn't do that.

So he just took it, cringing at the wording and hating how much easier this would be if Stan just applied himself. Stop goofing around and actually try for once.

This is getting long for what could be summed up in 3 paragraphs if I knew anything about condensing (which. i dont), so lemme just say that his closing the curtains isn't really a justifiable action.

What it was was Ford deciding that he didn't wanna stick up for Stan. Not this time. As the post pointed out, Ford had been sticking up for him for a long time over things he KNOWS Stan did wrong. But none of those things had been against Ford. The science fair project was the final straw. Now, Stan HAD hurt Ford- from his perspective, intentionally!- and this same guy turned around and was asking the person he just hurt to DEFEND him?!

Yeah. No. Not this time. You made the bed, now lie in it.

Again, it's NOT a justifiable action here. I'm not defending him. I just think this is what was going through his head. He was pained to close the curtains. He peeked out afterwards to see Stan reaching up for him, but couldn't go back on his decision. He wasn't thinking about the long-term, just the short-term feeling of "you hurt me and now you expect me to ignore that to get you out of trouble AGAIN? For the MILLIONTH time?"

I have this theory that if the show had been from Ford's POV, people would be hating on Stan WAY more and defending Ford WAY more. But that's the power of screentime lol.

Ford is a complex character and I adore him to no end. I don't blame him for what happened that night, but I don't think he was justified, either. What happened happened, and now both of them gotta live with that.

Though, as an ending sidenote, I am once again saying that this is kinda irrelevant and we SHOULD be pointing fingers at FILBRICK PINES, NOT THE TEENAGE CHILD WHO REALISTICALLY COULD DO NOTHING. Thank you.

I have a whole other hot take about the writing of the Science Fair that the GF fandom as a whole is NOT ready for, but that's for another day. Or post, I guess.

tl;dr ford was 17 and this was all the society they grew up in's fault with a little sprinkling of Filbrick being a bad father thrown in. Thank you.

[katsukikitten]

Handing Katsuki father's day cards that are for his own dad or yours and he needs to "read and sign it" but as he's reading it his brow starts to furrows.

"Sweetheart, ya got the wrong cards." He's reading it for the third time now.

"I got the right ones." You're trying not to giggle before he's rolling his eyes and reading the card aloud.

"You're not just an amazing father," he flips it open, "You're going to be an amazing grandfather too."

"Yea baby that's the right card." You hum, stepping into the kitchen to get the final card and present.

"Baby, it isn't. We don't have kids. Unless ya mean our cats but then they've been grandparents." He tosses the card down, rising to help you find the backups he's assuming you're looking for. This wasn't the first year you'd accidently gotten the wrong card or one that was just slightly off, he thinks nothing of the message.

Barely had any caffeine as the two of you rose early to get ready to host his parents and yours.

"Katsuki, it is the right card." You say, pressing another card into his hands, no envelope or anything. Just thick white card stock with black letters and an image of white new balance shoes.

"It's almost time for these bad boys." He scoffs, looking at what the world has deemed the official dad shoe, he looks up to see a box in your hands, "Sweetheart, what the fuck? I hate these ugly ass shoes. Ya know that."

He's got this smile to his face the one where he thinks you're being too playful and silly, every now and again you two get each other gag gifts. You're surprised he hadn't caught on yet especially since you always joked that the second you knew, you'd be getting him "those ugly ass dad shoes."

"I know." You both share a laugh, you pressing the shoe box into hands, "Just open it. They'll be fun to wear today, goes with the theme."

"What's the fuckin theme? Dads?" He opens the box and sees the shoes but something is taped to the top of the box. A grainy picture in black and white, a blob in the circle and when he lets his eyes focus as best they can without his glasses perched on his nose, he thinks he sees a very specific shape.

He rips it from the box, bringing the film closer and yes he can see a nose and his face morphs into complete surprise. You giggle as you watch him figure it out, which you swore you wouldn't be able to get this far without him figuring out why you'd been feeling so sick lately.

"No fuckin way." It's low and for a split second you think he isn't excited, then he locks eyes with you and he gives you that look. The one where he's smiling but his brows furrow up and his eyes aglow with unshed tears like you are his world, like you're giving him the world, and he's putting the shoes down to gently pick you up and twirl you around.

"A baby. We're having a fucking baby." He's pressing kisses to your cheeks when he sets you on your feet, if you thought you were spoiled before you'd be rotten by the time this pregnancy was done.

"A baby." You repeat back to him, your own excited tears clinging to your lashes, ones Katsuki gently kisses away.

"How long?"

"Three months. It was really hard to keep a secret but I really wanted to do that shoe thing I teased you about. I've got the receipt so we can return them I'll-"

"Nah I've got the perfect idea for 'em."

An hour later after a shared shower and rapid fire questions, Bakugou is coming down the stairs, he's got some ugly ass jean jorts you gifted him as a gag for his birthday two years ago before giving him his real gift and one of his dad's old white tees he tucked into the waist band of the shorts and of course his new white new balance shoes.

"You look ridiculous." You giggle in your sundress, somehow he made the outfit a little hot. You were sure Bakugou could make anything look hot and here was living proof.

"Better get used to it Sweetheart, this is how I'm gonna look when I put another one in ya." He puffs his chest out, smoothing his big palms over his shirt as you roll your eyes.

"I've made a monster." The door bell rings, when you go to rise, Katsuki gently presses you back into the couch by your shoulder as he gets the door for his parents. He opens the door with a sense of pride that comes with being the cocky pro hero, looking much larger than life.

His mother is unphased.

"Oi, I brought that stuff you- Why are you dressed like a fuckin dad from the 90s?" Mitsuki makes a face before she processes what he's wearing, "Oh my fucking GOD OH MY FUCKING GOD MASARU! WE'RE GONNA BE GRANDPARENTS. YER GONNA BE A GRANDPA! RIGHT RIGHT?"

She pushes past her son, a quick squeeze to his forearm before she's honing in on the daughter in law she already adored and now even more.

Masaru quirks his brow and Katsuki nods.

"I'm so happy for you son." He hugs Katsuki the way men do, a quick tight squeeze before a clap on the back, Masaru tries not to let the tears slip past his eyes as Katsuki's life plays on fast forward in Masaru's mind. He remembers how Mitsuki told him they were expecting, remembers holding him for the first time and thought his whole world view shattered and changed. Remembers his first words and steps. Remembers his first mishap with his quirk and how Katsuki had blown the coffee table sky high. He remembers him growing taller and taller, going to UA, figuring out how to be a better person as he grew in size. How Katsuki called him and his ma in the middle of the night the first time he hit the top ten rankings. And again when he was number one.

How he took his dad out to lunch, wiping his palms on his pants like he did when he was nervous to ask his dad how he asked Mitsuki to marry him. He smiles, tears slip past anyway as he stares at his broad shouldered son adding one final comment that makes Katsuki's throat close up in the best way.

"I can't wait to watch them grow up to be as great as their parents and more."