#also yes this was. an incredible amount of gay on a train for all twenty seconds of screentime it took

[nodameshield]

for a good ol’ battle episode, I was pleasantly impressed with the amount of *romance* we got on this one. and yes, I’ll explain this rationale as we go (see: love!):

first of all, I know they train together, possibly often. but holy Saturn, they train together. they get stronger together. love.

Goh was an excellent boyfriend™️ throughout this entire episode (love!). beginning with his complementing of Ash’s battle (and he’s darlingly insightful. not ‘great battle’, but, ‘you are so in sync!’ he knows that’s important to Ash!), and also his indulgent smile to the ‘leek master’ rant (which he’s probably heard a thousand times already)

besties 🥰

they blinked in tandem here. I thought that was funny. 

congrats on the catch, Grookey.

has it, though? has it really been a while, Ash? what-even is ‘a while’ for you??? huh?? you’ve been ten for twenty years. do you even grasp the concept of time? (do any of us, truly...) 

?????

exactly 

??????????

Ash has, on a few occasions, done and said things to/with Goh that feel a little...odd, this one being one of them (the constant hugging him, the unnecessary fist bumps, etc.) and yes Ash is tactile, yes Ash is affectionate to a degree, but this here wasn’t obvious, physical affection, it was picking up on a coincidence (Rinto being there at the same time as them), and crediting the resulting battle to Goh. that’s...kind of a big deal (also, it wasn’t necessary to point this out?), but they still did, Ash still acknowledged Goh and thanked him. (need i say it? love!)

and then Goh just runs with it and is the supportive boyfriend™️, even getting a little cheeky and being all like ‘win it for me, babe!’

of course, Ash could never let him down. (love!)

superb animation superb animation superb animation i was so happy !! the battle was incredible but everything else in this episode was also b e a u t i f u l

not gonna stand for you belittling my boyfriend (love!). the way Ash always tenses and encourages Goh’s catching?? Goh reciprocates that support by immersing himself in Ash’s battles, to the point that he almost ran his way when Farfetch’d knocked them to the ground some moments later.

but this is Ash’s dream. and Goh needn’t baby him because our boy is a bamf on his own right. (PLS, that smirk??? the hat coming off for effect?? MY CHILD, CLASSIC. beautiful again. You, so you, so in character).

I often do think and relish on the way Ash’s creativity is always there to get him out of a pinch, and now that creativity is finally aided by his collective experience (over the last *insert number of never-to-be-acknowledged years* 🙃) STILL, loved this moment. and i will happily stan this little bean for another twenty years, even if he’s still ten by then (*sigh*).

✨a n i m a t i o n✨ 💖 a r t 💖

love! 

parallel to the beginning of the ep!! perfectly executed!! also !! love !!! 

...yeah, I’d be here for another twenty years.

Goh finally got to run to his boyfriend !! (and he did so immediately !!) love :)

Look at Goh’s proud grin!! (also idk how these rankings actually work? like he rose a lot with only one battle. does that suggest that Rinto was way ahead already??? and since Ash defeated him he’s now on his level and higher??) (I know I’m looking too into it again I just...yeah, whatever)

hell, Ash. I might just stan you forever.

Goh was fanboying so hard, he was just so proud!! he was literally blushing! that’s how much he looks up to Ash and his skill as a trainer/master. it’s unconcealed love. simple as that.

I never though Ash going into actual, literal, palpable gay panic it’s something that would happen in canon. but the matrix keeps glitching and we keep being blessed by it. and I won’t be the person to complain.

right. let’s call it a day on this one.

the cliff-version notes are: Fantastic animation (hello!! beautiful sunset!! also it’s been raining??). Goh is the sweetest boyfriend. Ash and Sirfetch’d are leek masters in the making !! oh, and Ash is having a gay awakening.

an oblivious gay awakening. (or maybe we are the oblivious ones, which is what i’ve begun to believe at this point).

[preserving-ferretbrain]

Not Exactly T.H. White

by Viorica

Wednesday, 14 January 2009

Viorica's review of the BBC's cracktastic Merlin.~

After what might be called a bitter breakup with BBC’s Robin Hood, I promised myself that I’d avoid any further TV shows that were more enjoyable for their badness than their quality. So when the majority of my Livejournal friendslist began squeeing over Merlin, I swore I’d avoid the temptation. No matter how shiny and cracky and homoerotic it appeared, I was not going to watch it, because I knew that if I did I’d be sucked into shiny-cracky-homoerotic-bad TV land. But eventually the temptation grew too strong, and I downloaded the first season to watch over Christmas break. I expected bad special effects; I got that. I expected inaccuracy; I got that in droves. I expected mediocre writing and acting, and I got . . . something else.

If you assumed from the title of the show that Merlin is based on Arthurian legends, you’d be better off abandoning that idea right now. The series revolves around a teenage boy named - you guessed it - Merlin who is sent to live at the court of Camelot by his mother, because he’s manifested magical powers, and she has an old friend, Gaius who lives at Camelot and who is better equipped to train Merlin than she is. Unfortunately for Merlin, magic is outlawed in Camelot, and has been since the birth of Prince Arthur about twenty years earlier. Yes, Merlin and Arthur and the same age, and that’s only the beginning of the divergence from the original stories. Merlin manages to land a job as Arthur’s manservant, much to Arthur’s chagrin, as Merlin has a tendency to call Arthur out on his bullshit. From there on in, it’s up to Merlin to protect Arthur from various pissed-off sorcerers (Arthur’s father Uther Pendragon has ordered all magic-users burned at the stake, which has naturally rubbed them up the wrong way) while simultaneously trying to hide his own powers and protect innocent people from Uther’s wrath. He’s helped by Guinevere, aka Gwen, a maid at the castle, and her mistress Morgana, Uther’s ward, who disagrees with his policies. Merlin is also mentored by a dragon being held prisoner under the castle, who has an irritating tendency to intone “Protecting Arthur is your destiny, Merlin!” at least once an episode.

If you think it sounds cheesy, you’re completely right. It’s intended as a kid’s show, and filmed with the audience in mind - despite the rather high amounts of violence (at least one person dies per episode) the camera always cuts away from the nasty stuff. The main conflict is Merlin’s need to hide the fact that he has magical powers, and the fact that this keeps conflicting with his need to protect Arthur, which obviously has no basis whatsoever in Arthurian legend, but then neither does anything else. As the series progresses, Arthur and Merlin’s relationship evolves from that of mutual resentment to comfortable partnership, and eventually friendship (which comes off as very, very very homoerotic, probably due to the fact that it involves a lot of hugging and acts of unwavering devotion. The cynical part of me thinks that the writers are playing to the crowd.) The actors playing Merlin and Arthur are actually quite good, and what they bring to their roles - quiet goodness in Colin Morgan’s case and brash testosterone in Bradley James’s - helps establish the boys as genuinely likeable people, struggling to figure out their place in the world. Angel Coulby is incredibly sweet as shy, blushing Gwen, who spends most of her time trying to make everyone as happy as possible. The weak link in the cast is Katie McGrath, who plays Morgana with a maximum of two facial expressions: smug and perturbed. The older actors are obviously having fun with their roles, and bringing some gravitas to the characters as well - Anthony Stewart Head’s Uther is unlikeable by virtue of his actions (this is, after all, a man who ordered all magicians put to death over a mistake he made) but thanks to Stewart Head’s talent, you can see a bit of humanity shining through from behind the throne. Richard Wilson’s Gaius is your standard mentor/father figure, with a dry sense of humour that managed to make me laugh at least once an episode. John Hurt voiced the Dragon, and there really isn’t much to say about his performance - given the fact that all he gets to do is blather about destiny, there isn’t much room to stretch. The guest stars are touch-and-go - Santiago Cabrera, who played Lancelot, was absolutely awful, while Asa Butterfield was suitably creepy as an eight-year-old Mordred. No one is giving Lawrence Olivier a run for his money, but they’re a very talented bunch, especially considering that most of them haven’t hit thirty yet.

I’m not entirely sure what I expected from the writing. Before watching it, I’d heard the show referred to “crappy tweenager fantasy” so I assumed it’d be a lot of rambling about Destiny and True Love and The Power of Friendship. While that is included (see my note on the Dragon of Destiny) it’s not as wearing as you might expect, mostly because the characters point out the stupidity of doing something because it’s My Destiny at least once an episode. No one wants to watch a show about people who do things because they’re told; most of the struggles come from Merlin and his friends struggling with the expectations they’re being held up to versus their own inherent sense of what’s right. My personal favourite episode revolves around a young boy who Uther wants to execute because he’s a Druid-in-training. Merlin, who obviously takes the stance that killing innocent children is wrong, enlists Morgana’s help to hide the boy, and Arthur’s to smuggle him out of Camelot. For this he is repeatedly chastised by the Dragon, because the boy is eventually going to kill Arthur. Merlin and co say “Screw this” and smuggle the boy away to his own people. At the end of the episode (spoilers, obviously) Arthur asks for his name, and the child replies “Mordred.” It’s a deliciously eerie moment (helped out by Mordred’s creepy stare) and an interesting message about Destiny v. Free Will: the choices of Merlin and his friends will make or break Camelot, but it’s up to them to decide what it’s worth. Fortunately, not all of the destiny-related storylines are that gloomy. For example, one of the show’s most endearing points is the relationship between Merlin and Arthur, which begins with Merlin flat-out chastising Arthur for taunting a servant. Although Merlin is repeatedly pushed towards the prince by the dragon (for this reason, he’s acquired the fandom nickname “Slash Dragon”) their relationship eventually becomes that of friends. When Merlin goes to protect Arthur at the potential expense of his own life, he’s doing it out of affection for the prince rather than a sense of duty, and that - the inherent nobility of the main cast - is a big part of what makes the show so endearing.

There is, of course, the problem of the show’s title, which I’ll have to address or risk this article becoming unadulterated gushing. I’m not especially familiar with Arthurian legend - I know the basics, and I’m about thirty pages into The Once and Future King, but I’m far from an expert - but from what I do know, I honestly can’t understand why they decided to tack the name “Merlin” on it at all. There are references to “canon”, such as it is - in one episode, Arthur is wounded by the Questing Beast - but overall, it plays out like an original story with occasional allusions to Thomas Malory or T.H. White. As I’ve said, it’s good enough to stand on its own, and I think the attempts at labelling it an Arthurian adaptation are going to be detrimental in the long run. Instead of being remembered as a well-written original series, it’s going to end up being dismissed as “that crappy Arthurian adaptation that screwed up the stories”. Actually, the fact that they felt the need to try and slap the name of a pre-existing story on it kind of makes me sad, because it implies that they felt they couldn’t market an original series, and that’s just depressing. Aside from the rage-inducing potential for Arthurian enthusiasts, there’s some holes in the writing - in one episode Morgana says that Gaius has been caring for her since before she can remember, then later claims that she came to live in Camelot when she was ten, implying either than she has long-term memory loss or that someone didn’t proofread closely enough. Still, the small slipups aren’t enough to detract from a genuinely enjoyable show. And if all else fails, you can always hit mute and enjoy the eye candy.Themes:

TV & Movies

~

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Wardog

at 10:16 on 2009-01-14Hello, welcome - and thank you for this wonderful review. I no longer need feel ashamed of my secret love for Merlin. When it first came on, I dismissed it after about 10 ten minutes (Uther's first 'by the way, this is the backplot' speech didn't help) but a few weeks later my LJ friendslist also exploded with squee and joy, so I gave it another go and, lo, it was simultaneously awesome and awful and utterly utterly watchable.

You're absolutely right about Morganna not being quite up to speed on, y'know, this 'acting' thing ... but she is very, very beautiful, so I don't mind. And the dragon is a bit repetative, despite being voiced by John Hurt.

The weird thing is I don't really get any slashy kind of vibe from Arthur and Merlin, despite the fact that these two boys finding friendship and making sacrifices for each other ought to be very homoerotic. I suppose I find it slashy in principle but there isn't much a spark between the actors (I mean in terms of teh gay) to make it stick. Possibly I am just missing.

As you say in your conclusion I do find Merlin's status as an adaption interesting - I actually rather enjoyed the complete lack of respect with which they treated the mythos, once I got over myself about it. The Arthurian background does give it all a familiarity and a resonance that might have been lacking if it was just Generic Fantasy Story About Friendship and Valour. Although it is a bit dodgy I have come to think the Arthurian dimension does add something - there's always something joyous about watching people play in the paddling pool of literature and start a water fight.

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Rami

at 10:49 on 2009-01-14Yay! I somewhat guiltily enjoyed Merlin myself, including the not-quite-aside allusions to actual canon / legend (the court genealogist appears to be Geoffrey of Monmouth ;-)). Arthurian legend, historically, has been pretty flexible and as far as I know there isn't any real canon — so I'm all in favor of going in a new direction with it, and I'm quite willing to forgive the writers for taking advantage of all the gravitas and popular awareness that Arthur's story gives you. As you said, that moment when the little Druid boy tells Arthur his name is eerie -- but it would have been meaningless if it hadn't been Mordred talking to Arthur, and / or you didn't know who Mordred and Arthur were.

About the cast — Anthony Head and Richard Wilson are brilliant, of course, I can't disagree, but I have to admit I don't share your reservations about Katie McGrath. (But maybe that's because of the eye-candy factor.)

Perhaps it's my lack of slash goggles but I don't see the "very, very homoerotic" between Merlin and Arthur? I wonder if it's just 21st-century cynicism that makes "heartfelt and sincere" have to mean "Twu Wuv"?

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Rami

at 10:52 on 2009-01-14Oh God Kyra and I have just posted very nearly the same comment.

Resistance is futile

I mean, no, FerretBrain doesn't have a "Collective Consciousness" feature...

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Wardog

at 12:06 on 2009-01-14You will be assimilated....

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Viorica

at 22:18 on 2009-01-14I suppose the slash question depends on what you go in expecting. I was told repeatedly before ever watching it that the boys were the slashiest slashy things that were ever slashed, so I went in with slash goggles firmly strapped on. And I suppose there's an interesting study to be done on the way men show affection v. the way women do and how it's interpreted by outside observers . . . but as far as fandom's concernd, it's all about the pretty and the gay.

As for Katie McGrath, she is pretty, but there's always this irritating feeling that I'd like the character so much more if she could emote properly. As it is, she tends to grate.

Apropos of nothing, have you watched the video diaries? They're screamingly hilarious, and both Bradley James and Colin Morgan act uncannily like their characters. It's a little creepy . . .

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Wardog

at 11:35 on 2009-01-15That's the thing, although I'm not a slasher myself, I do occasionally find myself on the outskirts of fandom enough to have some slash goggles of my own. I was prepared for slash, I looked for slash, I saw ... the motions of slash ... but I didn't *feel* the slash. Sometimes there's a genuine spark between actors or something about the way a relationship is portrayed that makes me secretly believe something could conceivably be going on between them. I was re-watching DS9 (sad bastard that I am) recently and, despite knowing not a damn thing about the DS9 fandom, I became immediately and increasingly convinced that Sisko and Dukat were having incredibly hot hatesex... (Dan holds out for Dax/Kira girlsex, however, - they are certainly very giggly together).

I watched some of the video diaries - Bradley James is so adorably silly. I mean this in a maternal way, not a sick way. I particularly liked his musing on the cockatrice.

By the way, I meant to ask, what caused things to sour with Robin Hood? I never watched it so...

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Gina Dhawa

at 16:04 on 2009-01-16

Arthurian legend, historically, has been pretty flexible and as far as I know there isn't any real canon — so I'm all in favor of going in a new direction with it ... that moment when the little Druid boy tells Arthur his name is eerie -- but it would have been meaningless if it hadn't been Mordred talking to Arthur, and / or you didn't know who Mordred and Arthur were.

This is my justification for liking

Merlin

the way it is. T.H. White took some pretty big liberties along the way (though if you're thirty pages in, I won't spoil that), as have any of the people who have written the story down over the years. The trouble is convincing people there's not really a canon to be followed, that if you take the earliest versions of the stories and put them to what you might find in a modern collection, there are so many differences that you might think you weren't reading the same story at all.

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Viorica

at 19:51 on 2009-01-16Well, it could be argued that there are some basic plot foundations- Merlin being Arthur's mentor, Guinevere as his wife (though they still have time to do that), Morgana being his half-sister, etc. I think the reason some people don't like it is because they grew up on "The Sword and the Stone", so the show is effectively stomping on their childhood memories. I don't have any such memories to get stomped on, so it doesn't bug me.

Re: Robin Hood. It started out as silly fun, but it as it went on, you realized that the people running the show didn't know or care what they were doing. There were no efforts at making the costumes or scenery look nice, and virtually none of the characters were likeable, or even tolerable. Their Robin is the kind of guy who whines at an ex-girlfriend for "betraying" him when she's forced into marriage with another man. The urge to punch the title character in the face was stronger than any desire to keep watching.

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Sonia Mitchell

at 22:16 on 2009-01-16Great article. I didn't catch all the episodes, but definitely enjoyed the ones I did see. I like your point about the gravitas the older actors bring, particularly Head (in what could have been a pretty thankless role given his character's lack of humour).

Interesting discussion about the appropriate amount of reverence for the source material, too. I quite like the way Merlin did it, with plenty there for people who do know a bit about Arthurian legend but not so much you know for sure what's going to happen. I never saw Smallville, but I think of Merlin in much the same way - you know what happens down the line, but these are the gaps in between. And knowing what lies ahead is an interesting experience, because you're watching for it and everyone involved in the show knows you are (of the ones I saw, Lancelot's episode was the most willing to play with this).

It's also pretty dangerous, of course, because unless they're willing to go down the rejected destiny road the main young characters all have to live. I think they've got a nice balance - there's plenty of peril, but the real danger is more often disgrace than death (though I missed the last few episodes, so for all I know there was a dramatic and bloody finale).

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Viorica

at 01:30 on 2009-01-17There was *almost* a dramatic and bloody finale, but it was averted. You should really watch to see why, though- that episode actually managed to make me tear up a bit.

"Great article."

Thanks!

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Rami

at 12:44 on 2009-01-17I never saw Smallville, but I think of Merlin in much the same way

Yes! It's not all that different in many ways -- Smallville takes a lot of liberties with Superman canon (Lex Luthor and Clark Kent being friends, for instance), and I guess one of the reasons that it's more or less accepted is that Superman canon has been retconned so many times nobody's sure what *is* canon anymore. I think much the same is true for Arthurian legend ;-)

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Arthur B

at 15:05 on 2009-01-17I think in comics continuity Lex Luthor and Clark Kent

were

friends until Clark mistakes a controlled explosion in Lex's lab for an actual fire, and horribly injures Lex as he tries to put it out.

Six nerd points for me.

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Wardog

at 19:39 on 2009-01-17I have come late to the party...

The trouble is convincing people there's not really a canon to be followed...

I think this really nails the issue; perhaps, for a lot of people T.H.White is "canon", although it's Roger Lancelyn Green for me, personally - I have no idea who that guy is but basically every book available for kids about anything vaguely mythic, Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Celtic, was written, semi-turgidly, by this dude. Anyway, what I've got distracted from saying here is: a lot of those things we associate with the Arthur Legend today have very little in common with the early source material. Guinevere is barely in Malory - he just wasn't into chicks - and there's a sense that a lot of her bad press comes from the fact he decided to situate the fall of his macho martial ideal in damn women with their lack of appreciation for war, dammit, war. There's very little actually 'romantic' about Le Morte.

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Wardog

at 19:43 on 2009-01-17Also I am now definitely avoiding Robin Hood. I heard it was rubbish but fun, but that sounds like it's moved into "just plain rubbish" territory.

[medusanaut]

Comic Artist and Publisher A.U.

@myurlisnotoriginalenough came up with a wonderful idea of a comic book artist Freddy and publisher Larry A.U. I asked to if I could write it and I got approval and had a smashing time pitching a few ideas around with them. 

I hope you enjoy... there is a mention of NSFW stuff... so beware... it’s not that bad though. Nothing graphic really. 

Freddy pinned the piece of paper to the wall of his kitchenette and stepped away from it, “Come on, fucker, show me what I’m fuckin’ up”, he said to himself as he tilted his head and looked at the cartoon of his publisher on the wall. This would be the tenth and final installment of his comic book Heist if he could just finish figuring out this fucker’s face.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t drawn Larry’s face before. If anyone came into his apartment, they could easily see that he was, in fact, infatuated with drawing this man, and maybe even infatuated with the man himself. Freddy loved the subtle wrinkles that he put in Larry’s face and he felt huge amounts of pride with getting Larry’s bone structure right. He was in love with his comic book character Mr. White, and possibly even in love with the man that he was based on, and he wasn’t the only one. Thousands of people had fallen in love with the charms of the criminal known as Mr. White, his allure was a key feature of the comic, and yet Freddy was the one who was really in love with him. Freddy had even put himself into the comic as a character who only went by Mr. Orange. There had been hints throughout the series that Mr. Orange and Mr. White were closer than normal partners in crime.

Freddy sighed and grabbed a packet of comic pages for the ninth installment and grabbed his jacket to head out to a diner to meet with Larry to discuss the publishing of the new installment.

He grabbed his walkman and slipped on his headphones and then headed out of his apartment, slamming the door behind him and locking it shut.

Freddy had the money to move into a very nice house. He was, as some people would say, rolling in money, but he came from modest means and at the end of the day he preferred to live modestly. He donated large sums of money to his old employer, the LAPD, and other organizations, but he still had a lot. He was saving up but he didn’t quite know what for. He didn’t update the technology in his house every five seconds like some people in the business did, but he had a comfortable lifestyle, that was certain. After coming from a family who had nothing, a mother who died from causes that could have been prevented if they had had the money, Freddy promised himself at the age of fourteen that he was going to live comfortably. Even people in his building didn’t know what he did or that he was, as some people would tell him, rather successful at doing what he loved.

As he walked to the diner across the street, Freddy had a slight spring in his step. He clutched the envelope his comic pages were in close to his chest and smiled to himself as the voice of Billy Joel flooded his brain. Larry had told him to check Billy Joel out, and from the first song he heard, he was hooked and now he had even bought a cassette of his songs so that he could listen all the time.

He opened the door to the tiny diner across the street from his apartment, cool air hitting him in the face as he entered as the heat in L.A. had been incredible the past week.

Freddy took off his headphones and sat at a booth near the window, he placed the packet of papers on the table. He pulled a small notepad from his pocket and started jotting down notes about what he wanted to include in the new issue.

It was only a brief while until he heard Larry say, “oh, no I don’t need a table, I’m with him”. Larry then pointed to Freddy and the waitress nodded and he started strolling over to the table.

Freddy picked up his head when Larry got closer to the table and said, “hey, Freddy!”

Freddy nearly choked on his own saliva when he saw the beautiful man. He was older than Freddy by at least twenty years, his hair was starting to gray, and his face was a little wrinkled, but he was built like a god. His biceps were perfect, his neck muscles were well-defined, and he aroused Freddy to the nth degree.

“Hey, Larry!” Freddy said with a smile as he got up from the booth and extended his hand.

Larry shook it with a smile, “You know that we’ve known each other long enough to not have to shake hands at every meeting-” he noticed that Freddy’s hands were red and that he was wringing his hands out, “I mean it’s alright if you want to, but you don’t have to be so formal with me. Sure, I’m your publisher, but you are also a friend.” He put his hand on Freddy’s shoulder and squeezed it.

Freddy nodded and a blush spread across his face, “I’m sorry,”

“Nothin’ to be sorry for, kiddo. Now, let’s see that new installment. Oh, and I have good news.” Larry said as he sat down across from Freddy’s spot of the table.

Freddy sat down, “What’s up?”

“You’ve been named the best comic book artist by several comic organizations. In their reviews they’re saying that they want more of that, and I quote, ‘sexy Mr. White’. Also-” Larry put his briefcase on the table and brought out a few magazine and newspaper clippings and then a huge stack of letters, “Here you go.”

Freddy blushed and accepted the letters, “they’re all for me?”

“Freddy, this is the thousandth time I’ve delivered letters and yes they are all for you. Kiddo, you’re famous, and for all the right reasons. People love your work, I love your work. You’re really talented, Freddy.”

Freddy’s face was bright red and his eyes were rather wide, “I don’t know how people like my work-”

“Because it’s good, Freddy.”

The waitress approached their table, brown ponytail bouncing with her strides towards their table, her name tag stated that her name was ‘Peggy’.

Larry smiled at the girl and greeted her, “Hello.”

“Hello.” She responded, she then gasped as she saw Freddy, “No way! You’re Freddy Newandyke! You write the Heist comics! Oh my god, I love them! I’m so excited for the next installment.” She leaned in close, “I love Mr. White, he’s so fucking sexy.” Freddy gulped audibly as she stood back up and then continued, “OH MY GOD! And you must be the guy that Mr. White is based off of! Oh my god! He does you so much justice!” She collected herself, “Sorry, I’m just a huge fan!” She pulled out her small notepad, “so what would you guys like to drink?”

“Coffee, black, please.” Larry said as he closed his briefcase and rested it next to him on the booth. “Freddy? You getting anything?”

Freddy blinked rapidly, “Sorry, lost my train of thought for a second. Hot chocolate, please.”

The waitress nodded and they sat there in silence for a good three minutes. All the while the only thoughts that were streaming through Freddy’s mind was, ‘oh fuck. Oh fuck! He knows now! Jesus christ, Freddy, this is why you don’t base your characters off real people! Now he’s gonna shut down your publishing gig. You’re fucked, Freddy, and not in the good way. You’re royally fucked. You really fucked up this time. Just apologize and leave.’ Freddy was about to get up but Larry had the packet of his work and was opening it, he pulled the stack of paper from the envelope and a drawing slid out, one that wasn’t supposed to be in there. A drawing of Mr. Orange being pressed against the wall by Mr. White, their faces a mere centimeters apart, Mr. Orange’s pants around his ankles, shirt unbuttoned at the top, and tie undone.

Freddy’s face turned red and he gulped, he was trying to find out absolutely any way to get out of this predicament- and he couldn’t find any way to get out of it.

Larry was the one who broke the silence, “so, uh- this Mr. White guy is actually me?”

Freddy shook his head, “No, he’s Mr. White.”

“But he looks like me enough for a complete stranger to pick up on it.”

“Just because I based the way he looks off you doesn’t mean that he is you. You’re not gay.” Freddy said as he tried to get the paper’s back from Larry.

“You don’t know that. You hardly know my personal life. Hell, you don’t even know if I’m married.” He inhaled, “and yes, yes I am for your information.”

Freddy looked at Larry and tilted his head, “You’re what?” Freddy asked, “I’m not following.”

“I’m gay.”

Freddy’s jaw dropped a little bit, he quickly noticed, and then he closed his mouth, “you are?”

Larry chuckled, “you would have known if you had asked. I’m not that shy about it.”

“So you like men?” Freddy inquired as he ripped up his napkin into small pieces.

Larry laughed, “I mean traditionally that’s what gay means if applied to a man.”

Freddy laughed, “I guess that’s true.”

“I’m guessing that you’re married.” He laughed, “all these years and I’ve never asked.”

Freddy shook his head and twisted the ring on his finger, “No.”

“Why the ring then?” Larry inquired. He had always been attracted to Freddy. From the first day that Freddy entered his office to discuss his first comic book, Murder of the Saints, Larry had been completely infatuated with him. Larry had never been crushing so hard on someone, not even when he was a teenager and being attracted to the men in his mother’s magazines, but Freddy was different.

The waitress dropped off their drinks and she apparently realized that this wasn’t a good moment for her to ask for their orders, so she left.

“It... uh... it was my mom’s. She died. It was one of her few possessions.” Freddy spun it around his finger, a nervous habit, “I lost it for a while and then I found it again and started wearing it again.... But it only fits on my ring finger. But no, I’m not married. I just wear it as a shield.”

“For?”

Freddy chuckled, “women. They see a married guy and they won’t flirt for the most part.”

“So, you’re just a forever single type of guy.” Larry said with a nod. He was definitely disappointed, but he didn’t want a guy who was not interested.

Freddy, on the other hand, didn’t want to say what he really meant, he had never said it aloud and he was a little intimidated to say it, “I’m gay.” He blurted as his hand shook and he brought it up to cover his mouth, “sorry, I’ve just never said it out loud before.”

Larry nodded, “there’s a first for everything.”

Freddy nodded in response, “my comics are my outlet. I do a lot of art that no one sees. I’ve written and drawn stuff under aliases.... Some rather popular stuff too.”

Larry smiled and wrapped his hands around the hot cup of coffee that the waitress had brought him, “it’s good that you have an outlet. Mine was working out. Call it trying to defeat stereotypes.”

Freddy nodded, “I know what you mean.”

“So, you’re interested in my physical characteristics-” Larry started, “I mean you’ve drawn me more than once.”

Freddy sputtered out a quick, “I find you very attractive and kind and wonderful.” He then sealed his mouth and maintained a look of serious shock across his face.

Larry chuckled, “alright.”

“You’re not angry?” Freddy asked as he controlled his shaking hands by holding his cup of hot chocolate. Larry shook his head, “I don’t suppose that you’re single? Shit. I’m sorry. That came out of left field. You’re just really really attractive and you couldn’t be single there’s no way.”

“There’s a way, and yes, just so you know, I am single.” Larry said as he closed his briefcase and put it next to him on the booth.

Freddy had taken a sip of his hot chocolate and nearly spat it out, “Wow. Okay. Shit. I’m just makin’ a fool outta myself,”

Larry took a sip of his coffee, “it’s endearin’.”

The waitress came back and asked what they wanted, Larry ordered an omelet and Freddy ordered pancakes with extra whipped cream and extra syrup. Larry smiled at the request, he loved that Freddy was so wonderfully unashamed about his likes.

“You should come over sometime and see my other works... I self published some stuff a year or so ago. Stuff that wouldn’t fly with the your publishing firm.”

Larry laughed and brought his coffee up to his lips, “I would like that. I really like your work Freddy. It’s wonderful.”

Freddy shook his head, “not really.”

“Kiddo, I’ve never seen anyone ever be able to draw like you. I’ve been in this industry since I left college and I’ve never seen so much talent in one person. Why do you think I keep recommending you to artists and then why do you think they do repeat business with you?” He lifted Freddy’s face with the tips of his fingers, “Because you are amazing at what you do. Thousands of people agree with me too.” Larry took his hand away, “You’re a really great artist.”

Freddy blushed, “So, what do you do in your free time, you know when you aren’t coordinating with the rest of the publishing company?”

“I’m quite the homebody. I tend to like to go get a drink at the bar down the street from me and then go back home and read. What about you?”

Freddy laughed, “I have to be productive, so I draw for the most part. I’ll put the television on and just draw all day or storyboard. That’s probably why my turn over time is rather fast. I don’t sleep much, and a lot of my stuff is still packed from when I moved into my apartment two years ago. I just never get around to anything other than drawing really.”

Larry shook his head, “Kid, you gotta get outta the house, even if that means delaying the release time. That shit’s not healthy.”

Their food was delivered and then they started eating, briefly chatting about the type of cover that Freddy wanted for the new installment and when they wrapped up breakfast, Larry picked up his briefcase, but Freddy stopped him, “Do you want to come by my place and see the art? I mean if you don’t have work to do. I don’t want to impose myself on you.”

“I would love to.”

And that’s how Larry ended up at Freddy’s apartment.

Freddy wiggled his key into the keyhole and then managed to unlock the door to his apartment, “I’m sorry that it’s a mess. Like I said before, I haven’t really finished unpacking from the move.” He opened the door slowly and Larry’s jaw nearly dropped as he saw comic posters plastering the wall and different pieces of Freddy’s art hanging. He entered the apartment and he put his briefcase on the floor near the door and Freddy led him into the kitchen.

The kitchen table was covered with empty donut packages and empty beers with hundreds of art pieces scattered around the table, “Sorry, I tend to work hard in one sitting, hence the mess.” He let out a weak chuckle.

Larry went over to the sketch that Freddy had tacked to the wall, “this is me.”

Freddy looked at Larry shyly, “I told you that I draw you a lot. There’s something off with it and I can’t tell what it is. Normally hanging it on the wall and looking at it would-” The lightbulb in his head went off, “I got it. I got it!” He nearly tripped over the chairs to his kitchen table as he grabbed a pencil and then dashed to the wall and began making edits to the drawing, sticking his tongue out of the side of his mouth a little bit in total concentration. “Got it!” He untacked the drawing from the wall and put it on the table, “I gotta ink that tonight.”

Larry chuckled and ruffled Freddy’s hair, “glad that I could help.”

Freddy bit his lower lip, “Do you want to see the rest of my work? I mean the stuff that you haven’t seen before.”

“I don’t see why not.” Larry responded with a laugh.

Freddy smiled, “I’ll be right back.” He then went running off to what Larry assumed was his bedroom.

Larry took a good look around when Freddy was gone. It was a rather decently sized apartment if it wasn’t for the boxes that were piled everywhere. He was definitely going to offer to help the younger man unpack. Freddy was living like a college student, beers everywhere, packaged food, there didn’t seem to be any fruit or vegetables anywhere in sight, and the pieces of his art were scattered everywhere. This art wasn’t the type of stuff that should ever be just left around, it should be preserved it was all so beautiful. He could see the little experiments that Freddy was running with color and lining pieces. Larry wasn’t lying when he said that Freddy was the best artist he had ever seen.

“I’m back.” Freddy said as he came in with stacks of paper.

He was a little wobbly and for a moment Larry thought he was going to trip on a box on the floor but then Freddy put his work on the table and then smiled as Larry sat down at the table. He then cleared the table of the garbage and put it into his garbage can and the glass into the recycling bin. Larry sighed, at least the kid took out his garbage and recycling.

Larry began flipping through the pieces, some of them were extremely raunchy and from what he could see, Freddy had published several erotic pieces, both straight and gay.

“Wow, Freddy, these are amazing.”

“Thanks. Those are the ones that I obviously published under an alias. They are rather popular in the erotica comic book field. I’ve won a few awards for them. I plan to start another series that’s linked to those soon.” Freddy grabbed a donut from one of the non-empty packages on the table.

“Your stomach is like a bottomless pit,” Larry joked. They had previously laughed over just how much food Freddy could eat, and how he never gained weight, he remained at his healthy weight. He was just a skinny green bean of a man.

Freddy laughed, “I’m always hungry.”

Larry flipped through the drawings of men tied into beautiful positions with rope and men in leather and women dressed in high heels. It wasn’t solely men on men drawings, it was also women on women, and women on men, “these are gorgeous. These are true pieces of art. I want to hang them in my apartment. They’re wonderful.”

“Maybe I could do one for you.” Freddy said as he gently placed his hand over Larry’s

Larry smiled, “I would really like that.” He flipped through the pages, “They really are wonderful, Freddy.”

“Larry?” Freddy’s voice was soft and barely audible.

Larry looked at Freddy and noticed he was almost vibrating with nerves, “Yeah, kiddo? You okay?”

Freddy bit his lower lip and then in the softest voice possible he said, “c-c-can I kiss you?”

Larry smiled and placed his hands on the side of Freddy’s face, “yes.”

Freddy and Larry’s lips touched briefly, but then Freddy got shy and pulled back, “I’m sorry. I’m just inexperienced and a little nervous.”

Larry nodded, “why don’t we just get some beers and talk then?”

Freddy smiled, “that sounds good.” He got up from the table and then went to the fridge. He retrieved two beers from his extremely large collection in his fridge. “Don’t worry. I don’t over drink. I just don’t like going to the store, or even going out of the house when I don’t want to.” Freddy brought the beers over and handed one to Larry. He sat down across from Larry once more.

Larry pulled out his keys from his pocket and used the bottle opener on the chain to uncap the beer, “that’s what I was guessing.” He chuckled and continued flipping through the pages of artwork, “So,  you really  like to draw.”

“Yeah, why else would I pursue a career in it when it’s hard for it to be a viable option if I didn’t love to do it. So, do you like comic books? Did you grow up with them?”

Larry shook his head, “I love art. I don’t tend to read comics unless they have great art. I couldn’t afford them growing up, so I joined the business because I wanted to make comic book artist’s successful for their art, give them their dreams, yah know?”

Freddy smiled and wrapped his hands around his beer, “That’s really nice. Thank you for taking the risk with me.”

“It wasn’t a risk though, Freddy. I knew that your art was fantastic and that other people would love it. I wouldn’t call it a risk, I knew that you were going to be successful, that you were going to be one of the lucky ones, and that I was lucky for you finding me to publish them.” Larry flipped through the pages, “I got lucky, really really lucky.”

Freddy shook his head, “I’m the lucky one” he crossed his arms on the table and then rested his head on top of his arms and smiled at Larry.

Larry ruffled his hair and continued flipping through the pages of art.

About an hour and a half later, after flipping through hundreds of art pieces and Freddy talking about several pieces and how he sometimes got models and showing pictures that he worked from, Larry heard Freddy stomach grumble.

“Kid, you hungry again?”

Freddy nodded and bit his lower lip, “yeah.”

Larry ruffled Freddy’s hair and smiled, “Let’s go get a taco.”

Hope you enjoyed this! Love the idea it was fantastic!!! I love it when people have ideas and are cool with me writing them it makes me so happy! I love to please you guys. If you ever have ideas or prompts or anything you want me to write, just ask and I’ll see what I can do :))))... Anywaysssssssssss yeah. Freddy’s a potato and I love him. AND go check out @myurlisnotoriginalenough !