#and gerry??? what’s going to happen to him???? please I need him to be okay

[kitmarloweki]

The Newsreader season 2 episode 6 moodboard

[nikibogwater]

I watched The Last Unicorn (1982) with very, very little prior knowledge of the film. And I wasn't planning to, but I ended up taking notes because wow. This movie. It's something.

The very little prior knowledge I had was as follows: it's an old animated film about a unicorn and I've occasionally heard people talk about it fondly. That's it, that's literally all I had going into this thing. It was not nearly enough to prepare me.

Ohhhh I love the scenery! Man, nothing hits quite like a traditional hand-drawn backgrou--OH MY WORD WHAT IS THAT WHY IS IT MOVING LIKE THAT STOP IT

Ohhh, this is a Rankin-Bass production? Well, that explains the animation.

Yeah that is not a unicorn, that's a llama with a table-knife glued to its head.

Ooh, the opening credits play over a lightly animated medieval tapestry! That's so coo--aaaaand they picked the most 80's sounding song I can imagine to go over it, okay.

Yo this butterfly is stoned out of his little buggy mind, maybe he should get some rehab.

Love that it's not immediately clear what the "red bull" actually is yet. Is it a literal bull? Is it a raging fire? Is it the inescapable march of industrial progress?? Gotta stay tuned to find out. (edit: it was literally just a bull and I need to stop reading symbolism into every little thing).

Ok ngl, the "Man's Road" sequence was actually fire, despite (or perhaps because of) the 80's cheese.

Angela Lansbury!!! Man, she just ate this role. Who'd've thought Mrs. Pots could sound so threatening?

I would die for Shmendrick.

Oh that is a very lore-accurate harpy right there. (⊙_⊙;)

Love how the witch's carnival arc touches on the idea of truth vs. wishful delusion. There's a beautiful irony in a movie about a literal unicorn talking about the importance of staying grounded in what is real and truly beautiful.

No, seriously, I would die for Shmendrick. Protect this precious man at all costs.

Can we pretty please stop calling the witch Mommy

"That's my immortality!" eyo this witch is actually a great villain. Really wish she could've stuck around for the whole movie.

Awww, the unicorn is taking care of Shmendrick! That's so sweet! God knows he needs it.

Shmendrick: Run! We'll find each other later! *immediately gets captured*

Have I mentioned that I would die for Shmendrick.

I feel like the entire bit with the outlaws had a lot of connecting shots cut out for time because I really couldn't follow any of what was happening.

Hehehe...That tree looks like a butt. I wonder if they did that on purpo--WHAT THE HELL

*nervously glancing over my shoulder to make sure my family doesn't see me watching this*

Unicorn to the rescue!! Thank heavens.

"That was true magic." Then please don't ever do true magic again.

"How dare you come to me now, when I am this?!" H-hey, nobody told me this movie was gonna go that hard...

Mom-friend acquired! Just in time, too. Unicorn looked like she was getting real tired of being the only one with two brain cells to rub together.

Our heroes: *bracing themselves for what may be the darkest, most dangerous part of their journey* Freakin' Gerry Beckley from "America:" 🎵MOON RISIN'! DISGUISIN'!! 🎵 Gotta love that tonal dissonance.

Oooh hey the animation on the Red Bull is actually kind of good!

Molly: DO SOME MAGIC! Shmendrick: I CAN'T! Molly: YES U CAN I BELIEVE IN U Shmendrick: *does some magic* Molly: NOOOOO WHAT HAVE U DONE Molly I love you, but make up your darn mind.

Love that being turned into a human being is like, the worst thing that could ever happen to the unicorn. Yeah, being human is a pretty awful experience.

Boy there is just empty static behind Prince Lir's eyes. Homeboy doesn't have a thought in his head and probably never will.

Lir: babe look I got u a severed dragon head pls love me

Oh yeah. Marry this one, Unicorn. He's a keeper.

Molly: Shmendrick will help! Unicorn: I hope for no help from him. He is no magician now, but the king's clown.

GURL SAY THAT AGAIN! U KEEP DISRESPECTING MY BOI SHMENDRICK AND U WILL GET THESE HANDS!

The pirate cat is now my second-favorite character. I've known him for all of 10 seconds, but I love him.

He doesn't actually purr. He just says, "Purr, purr." I love him even more now.

"No cat anywhere ever gave anyone a straight answer." Most accurate line ever put to film.

Unicorn, please marry Prince Lir, you well never find a purer source of Himbo Energy than him. Look at him, he's even singing badly for you, you gotta take this one.

"I mean you can't really be that ridiculous magician's niece--" BETRAYAL. OUTRAGE. SCANDAL. I DISOWN YOU, LIR, YOU FOUL SERPENT WHO SPEAKS NOTHING BUT FILTH. I HOPE THE UNICORN BREAKS YOUR STUPID LITTLE HEART

Dang. This guy voicing the skeleton is putting his entire heart and soul into that laugh.

Prince "I love whom I love" Lir will not be stopped even by the threat of potential bestiality. I'd say Husband Goals, but first of all, ew, and second, he insulted Shmendrick so he is dead to me.

"I wish to God I didn't care about anything but my magic, but I do!" Oh Shmendrick, honey... 🥺

Yooo, that transformation back into her unicorn form was actually sick. For a Rankin-Bass made-for-tv movie, this thing pulls off some surprisingly good animation every once in a while.

Yeah, kick his magical red butt, little unicorn! Go save your boyfriend and your family!!!

What is it with Christopher Lee and playing creepy old guys who get thrown off of towers at the end

Wait, no, I only sort of meant it when I said the unicorn should break Lir's heart, I didn't think they'd actually do it!

Molly ditched her outlaw husband to travel the world with Shmendrick and honestly, I'd do the same if I was in her place.

Oh wow. She chose to save her own kind and return to her forest even though she loved Lir. This is actually very bittersweet and--GOTDANGIT GERRY BECKLEY, NOT NOW!!!

Closing thoughts: This movie was an absolute trip and I'm probably going to think it was a fever dream I once had after some time has passed. It's also the only movie I can think of that I would actually want a remake/remaster of. The story was great, though it jumped around from place to place so quickly that it was sometimes hard to follow what was happening. I like the characters a lot (mostly Shmendrick tbh but they're all good), and I wish there had been more time to let them interact with each other. You can see the potential for chemistry between the different personalities, but it's stifled by moments of awkward voice acting and the strange, jittery character animation. With more time to breathe and better animation, this story would really be something amazing. I'm actually very interested in reading the original novel it was based on now, I'll have to see if I can get my hands on a copy. All in all, The Last Unicorn (1982) is a mind-boggling experience with surprisingly deep themes combined with what I can only assume is what you see when you're on acid. If you have any interest, I would highly recommend seeing this thing for yourself.

Yes. Even the Boob Tree. Please. I don't want to be the only one who is cursed to have that scene in my brain.

[positivelybeastly]

How do you feel about the X-Men just slaughtering human members of orchis?

"It pleases me more than you can imagine to see the others finally coming to their senses. Only so much can be accomplished with the spoken and written word - at some point, you eventually have to get your hands dirty. We have to strike first. If the humans are given the chance, there will be no first strike, only the last strike. It's what I'd do in their place."

Yeah, I don't love it, tbh.

Like, I get why it exists, I get why we got all those panels of Shadowkat jamming guns into people's heads with her phasing powers and all, but, like . . . okay, let me pull this stuff up.

So, like, I get it.

Something awful has happened to mutantkind, and everyone has their way of responding to that trauma. I get that. In-universe, it makes absolute sense that Kate would react like this. It's not like she hasn't killed before. And let's be real here, all the same logic arguments about killing vs. not killing in comic books apply here - if you let them go, they'll only hurt someone later; it sends a message that if you hurt mutants, you get hurt in return; Xavier's dream has been proven to be a load of old shit, Magneto had the right idea all along.

That's sure an argument that you can make.

In-universe, I get it.

But out of universe?

This is cheap. This has no bite, this has no weight to it, it's empty calories in my opinion. Why? Because it betrays a fundamental lack of imagination about ways to tell the X-Men story, and the fundamental limits of Western comic books, if you think about what it actually means.

Comic book heroes generally aren't meant to kill because they're paragons of moral behaviour. They exemplify a moral standard that we should all ascribe to. That's the Golden Age logic, right?

Except that the Joker. Right? So, this is a conversation to be had, and I think trying to apply a baseline logic to it is kinda pointless, because the morals and ethics of killing in a Batman story are so much more important and meaningful to the themes of that story than, say, in an X-Men story. Sometimes you need to kill the giant fucking robot, sometimes Trask just needs to fucking die, sometimes you gotta snap Cassandra Nova's neck.

That's - kind of a whole other argument, and not the one I'm interested in talking about right now. This isn't really about whether it's right or wrong for heroes to kill, I only bring this up as context to what I'm about to say, which IS.

This is cheap parlour tricks to get a FUCK YEAH moment out of the reader by Gerry Duggan because gratuitous violence is an easy way to get a pop out of a comic book audience.

There's some real great exchanges from Star Trek that I'm just going to shamelessly crib here, because I think they really exemplify my point, so here goes:

PICARD: Six years ago, they assimilated me into their collective. I had their cybernetic devices implanted throughout my body. I was linked to the hive mind, every trace of individuality erased. I was one of them. So you can imagine, my dear, I have a somewhat unique perspective on the Borg and I know how to fight them. Now if you will excuse me I have work to do. LILY: I am such an idiot. It's so simple. The Borg hurt you, and now you're going to hurt them back. PICARD: In my century we don't succumb to revenge. We have a more evolved sensibility. LILY: Bullshit! I saw the look on your face when you shot those Borg on the holodeck. You were almost enjoying it! PICARD: How dare you! LILY: Oh, come on, Captain. You're not the first man to get a thrill from murdering someone. I see it all the time! PICARD: Get out! LILY: Or what? You'll kill me, like you killed Ensign Lynch?! PICARD: There was no way to save him. LILY: You didn't even try. Where was your evolved sensibility then?!

I love that scene.

"It's so simple. The Borg hurt you, and now you're going to hurt them back."

It's that simple, huh?

O'BRIEN: Captain. PICARD: Chief. I wanted to talk to you. O'BRIEN: Anything I can do, sir, you know that. PICARD: Ben Maxwell. He must be quite a man. O'BRIEN: He's a rare one, all right. I count myself lucky, sir. I've served with the two finest Captains in Starfleet. PICARD: From your knowledge of the man, what has gone wrong? O'BRIEN: There's a reason for what he's doing. Those Cardassians were up to something, I'm sure of it. PICARD: When his family was killed, how did he take it? O'BRIEN: I'd say he took it well. Oh, I know he was broken up inside, who wouldn't be? But you'd never know it to see him. He never missed a minute's duty, always had a smile, a joke. PICARD: I see. O'BRIEN: He would never retaliate out of vengeance, no matter what that Cardassian says. They're up to something, sir. They're the ones you should be investigating, not Captain Maxwell. PICARD: You don't care for the Cardassians? O'BRIEN: I like them fine. It's just, well, I know them. You learn to watch your back when you're around those people. PICARD: Ben Maxwell has just sent more than six hundred of them to their deaths. O'BRIEN: I don't know what to say, sir, but he must have had his reasons. PICARD: I think when one has been angry for a very long time, one gets used to it. And it becomes comfortable, like old leather. And, finally, it becomes so familiar that one can't ever remember feeling any other way.

The Hellfire Gala Massacre was a cheap emotional trick to make X-fans mad, and an easy way to get easy pops whenever another X-Man kills a rando Orchis thug, because FUCK YEAH, FOR KRAKOA, and it's like . . . okay?

Is this not a betrayal of - and I'm going to stop you right there, because I'm not about to say what you think I'm going to say.

No, I'm not about to talk about the betrayal of ideals, or the betrayal of moral standards, or the betrayal of what Krakoa stood for.

Is this not a betrayal of the entire point of what made Orchis even remotely different as an X-Men enemy?

They were a scientific, sociologically active, legal avenue exploiting think tank that attacked on all fronts, and now, they're reduced to a wisecracking robot from the future and an army of disposable goons who might as well be wearing Hydra green or AIM yellow beekeeper suits.

Why?

Because that's easier to write. It's so much easier to write Shadowkat murdering a group of Orchis goons than it is to engage with Orchis on a higher level and deconstruct what prejudice looks like on a systematic, sociological level. This turns the so-called social conflict aspect of X-Men comics into just boring normal conflict.

Shadowkat killed a lot of Orchis, so now racism is over with! And, like, I get it, it's not a ton of fun to sit around and watch X-Men debate a load of racists, it's a superhero comic, you wanna see a guy hit another guy at some point, but it just feels like such a dumbing down of the more interesting, multi-faceted organisation that Orchis were presented to be.

There are so many instances of really thoughtful, socially minded commentary in Krakoan era, from Hellions to New Ayala's New Mutants to Unlimited, but this stuff, in the comic literally just called X-Men, which would make you think it's the most definitive statement of what the line of books is meant to be, it's just the most watered down, basic bitch, boring version of the conflict.

And it's not like I'm asking for Hickman or Morrison, I know that's not the wheelhouse we're operating in here, but it just feels kinda . . . lame, that the best imagery and way of showing oppression in 2024 is Sentinels flying through the sky with searchlights on their chests and comic book villains posturing over our heroes. I was hoping for something more intelligent and interesting.

But it is what it is.

[shutup-andletme-go]

okay i need help deciding where i should make ren's hometown be for the fic i'm writing

under the cut bc this is a loooooooong post team (but there's a poll!)

so in the book it's really not specific, like At All as to where he lives, but Georgia says in her letter than she lives in the other corner of the country to him.

i don't get particularly aucklandy vibes off him so even tho thats where he ends up i dont think he started there

so. also there is a strait in the middle of the country and while busses would be cheap-

wait its 1996 the ferries would probably be stupid cheap compared to todays prices

okay so we could say that georgia and ren live on different islands

hold on a minute

so his aunty's message tells us that ren lives in a city and his aunty will be picking him up and going south

so that gives us some narrowed down options

PARDON ME THE ACTUAL FUCK

okay so i googled "what places were considered cities in nz 1996"

and thats fine and dandy theres a wikipedia page that i'll look at

in the bar of 'others search for:' there was one entitled "what happened in nz 1996"

i open it

and scream in horror as the name winston peters appears

direct copy paste from the wikipedia result:

Although predicted by many to ally with Labour, on 10 December 1996 New Zealand First leader Winston Peters chose to form a coalition with National, thus preserving Prime Minister Jim Bolger's administration. The 1996 election effectively showcased the difference made by the new electoral system.

winston peters is one of the deputy prime ministers THIS YEAR

Government

Legislature term: 53rd New Zealand Parliament until 8 September, then 54th New Zealand Parliament from 5 December.

The Sixth Labour Government, elected in 2017 and 2020, then the Sixth National Government elected in 2023.

Speaker of the House – Adrian Rurawhe until 5 December, then Gerry Brownlee

Prime Minister – Jacinda Ardern until 25 January, then Chris Hipkins until 27 November, then Christopher Luxon

Deputy Prime Minister – Grant Robertson until 25 January, then Carmel Sepuloni until 27 November, then Winston Peters

Leader of the House – Chris Hipkins until 25 January, then Grant Robertson until 27 November, then Chris Bishop

Minister of Finance – Grant Robertson until 27 November, then Nicola Willis

Minister of Foreign Affairs – Nanaia Mahuta until 11 November, then Grant Robertson until 27 November, then Winston Peters

christ almighty when is he going to die in a hole i hope its soon <3

oooh shit ren might have been old enough to vote in that election

and idk if he'd vote by himself but i feel like georgia would have encouraged it

okay back to the list of cities. we have:

auckland (still do not agree he's from auckland)

christchurch

wellington

hamilton

tauranga

okay cool so technically there might be others but im sorry palmerston north is not a city

making myself reread the book gave me a new perspective bc i was gonna say he's from like levin or somewhere

obscure like that

te puke perhaps

but no! he's from a city which means i can't take the angle of "ren didnt think places looked like this in 1996. not even wellington." but thats okay!

i'm leaning towards hamilton myself

just obscure enough

but still a city

pretty far up in the north island

oooh i kinda wanna write georgia as living in wellington she would thrive in wellington i think

@antisocialgaycat tagging u as always <333

[cg29fics]

GONE

Tagging 🔖 Sorry if I’ve missed anyone - If you would like to be tagged in these updates then please let me know and I’ll add you to the list: @janetm74 @drileyf @katblu42 @psychoseal @weirdburketeer @alexthefly @misstb2 @thundergeek59 @burningcowboyhoagietaco @dragonoffantasyandreality

Countdown to the final chapter - 5 - left to go.

Previous. Chapter 49, Visitor.

Chapter 50. Goodbyes.

Previously.

“… Someone out there could lose a family member… I don’t need rescuing anymore but others still do… The world needs International Rescue!”

… …

Everyone contemplated what Virgil had said. They all knew that he was right, if a disaster did occur and someone were to die because International Rescue had not been available, then each one of them would feel personally responsible. After another five minutes of silence, Scott spoke. “I hate to admit it but Virgil’s right. I just hate the thought of returning to duty without you, especially when you are needing our emotional support.”

Virgil reached out and held Scott’s hand, gripping it tightly. “I know I’ve been struggling and yes, I know it’s going to take me a long time to process everything. I also know it’s going to be several months before I can even contemplate returning to work… But, the world won’t stop turning while I recuperate. Disasters will happen, people will get hurt, and they will need our unique services to help them… Look, I’m not suggesting that all of you go home, if you’re that worried about me one of you could stay here.”

“Okay, so we’re all in agreement that International Rescue does need to continue?” Jeff questioned.

“Yes,” everyone replied.

“Okay, then my suggestion is that mother, you and all the boys return home tomorrow, while I will stay here with Virgil. Does everyone agree?”

Even though they were all still reluctant to leave, everyone nodded their agreement, knowing that what had been said was really for the best.

… …

The following afternoon:

Penelope entered the ward room and smiled at Jeff who was quietly reading a magazine, while Virgil dosed in the big chair which the nurses had propped him up in. “How is he?”

Jeff placed his magazine down and returned Penny’s warm smile. “He’s okay, they gave him some pain medication about an hour ago.”

“How did the scans go?”

“Good, they will be starting him on some light physio on his shoulder in a day or two. They also did some scans on his ribs and everything’s healing as it should.”

“That’s good, any chance he’ll be able to come home soon?”

“Not while he’s still getting his pain meds through the IV. As soon as that does change, I plan to speak to Gerry and see what can be arranged.” Jeff glanced towards the doorway. “Where’s everyone else, still packing?”

“They were just finishing,” Penny explained, “I have no idea how your sons have amassed so much stuff over such a short space of time and how they’ve managed to lose half of it.”

Jeff frowned. “They’ve not destroyed the hotel suite looking for everything, have they?”

“Don’t worry, your mother and Parker were making sure they cleared up their mess.”

Jeff grinned. “I can imagine my mother and Parker are quite a team.”

“Oh, they certainly are!” Penny laughed.

“You should wake him up before you go,” Jeff suggested, noticing Penny was now watching Virgil sleeping.

“Are you sure?” Penny questioned. “He seems to be sleeping quite soundly.”

“Yes!” Jeff replied, standing up. “Look, I’m going to head to the canteen for a coffee. Wake him, I know he will be disappointed if he doesn’t get to say goodbye.”

Penny smiled and nodded. Once Jeff had left she quietly made her way over to Virgil, sat herself down and gently took his hand in hers. “Virgil.”

Virgil slowly opened his eyes, a natural smile falling across his face. “Hey.”

“Sorry to wake you, I just wanted to make sure that I managed to say goodbye.”

“That’s okay, when are you and Parker leaving?” Virgil questioned.

“As soon as Parker finishes helping your grandmother keep your brothers in line.”

Virgil smirked. “Are they causing trouble?”

“Something like that.”

Virgil squeezed her hand. “Do you really have to go so soon?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Penny replied, “I have a few business functions that I simply cannot put off any longer.”

“That’s a shame, I really would have enjoyed your company,” he replied with a cheeky grin.

“And in what way would you have enjoyed my company?” Penelope asked, her eyes twinkling.

“I’m sure we could have figured something out!”

“You’re incapacitated!”

“That wouldn’t stop me,” he responded, beckoning her to come closer and then kissing her softly on her lips.

“Well, I will hold you to that when you come and visit.”

“Will I see you before then?”

“Yes, I will definitely be on the island for your homecoming.”

Virgil released a despondent sigh. “Whenever that may be.”

“I’m sure that you will be strong enough to return soon.”

“I hope so!”

“And as I said, I will be there,” Penelope raised her eyebrow, “I’m sure if you keep that in mind it will help you to feel better.”

“Oh, it certainly does!” Virgil grinned, pulling her in for another kiss.

“Busted!” A voice laughed from the doorway.

Virgil and Penelope looked up, both sighing when they saw Scott, Alan, John and Gordon grinning back at them, with the shocked expressions of Jeff, Ruth and Parker standing closely behind.

“How long have you been standing there?” Virgil questioned.

“Oh, long enough!” Gordon giggled.

“Err… M’Lady, we need to be making a move,” Parker informed her, stepping in front of the boys.

“Of course, Parker,” Penny replied, before turning her attention back to Virgil, “I’ll see you soon.”

Virgil nodded and not caring what the others thought, pulled her in for another kiss. “Yes, soon!”

Penelope smiled, then standing up she turned towards the doorway. “Boys.”

“Bye Penny,” they all chorused, giving her a quick hug.

“Ruth, Jeff,” she added, “it’s always a pleasure.”

“Of course, Penny,” Ruth and Jeff both responded, returning the handshake and hug she offered.

Parker coughed to gain Penelope’s attention. “Are you ready M’Lady.”

“Yes, of course Parker,” Penny answered, making her way outside.

“Bye Parker,” Virgil called.

“Yes, bye Master Virgil... Feel better soon!” Parker responded, shooting him a very concerned look before leaving the room.

“So, Virgil, how are you feeling?” Scott questioned, sitting himself in the chair that Penny had vacated.

“I’m okay, pain’s not too bad.”

“That’s good, anything interesting to tell us?” Scott asked, smirking at him.

“Nope!” Virgil retorted with a giant grin.

“Oh, come on bro,” Gordon and Alan both chirped bouncing over to Virgil. “It’s you and Penny!”

“Yes, come on Virg, you can’t hold out on us!” John added.

“Now come on boys, leave your brother alone,” Ruth warned them, “I’m sure he will give us the details when he’s good and ready!”

“Thank you, grandma.”

“That’s okay sweetie,” She replied, ruffling his hair, “whatever the situation, I’m just pleased to see you happy.”

“I don’t think Parker feels the same,” Gordon laughed, “he’s very protective of Penelope and judging from his reaction I would say you have to watch yourself there.”

“Gordon, stop teasing your brother!” Ruth scolded, when she noticed a look of worry spread across Virgil’s face.

“But grandma it’s so much fun!” Gordon whined.

“Then tease one of your other brothers!” She suggested.

“Hey!” The others protested.

“Grandma, you’re not meant to have a favourite!” Alan complained.

“I don’t, I love you all equally,” Ruth stated, “It’s just Virgil’s been through enough and shouldn’t have to deal with you lot mocking him!”

“Exactly!” Virgil replied, with a big grin, while his brothers all playfully scowled at him.

Ruth laughed at them all, then noticing Jeff had not joined them she turned and glanced at her son who was still standing in the doorway looking shocked. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I am,” Jeff answered, shaking the look of surprise away, “oh, and don’t worry,” he whispered in Virgil’s ear, “Parker will come around!”

“Thanks dad,” Virgil replied, before focusing on his brothers and grandma. “So, how long before you’re all due to fly out?”

“I want to get us back before nightfall,” Scott answered, “we’ll probably head to the airfield in an hour.”

“Why are you trying to get rid of us already?” Gordon questioned, feigning his disappointment in a very over the top way.

Virgil released a hearty laugh. “Gordon, you’re so dramatic! You really missed your calling as a movie star.”

Gordon grinned, coughed to clear his throat, and then held himself in a theatrical pose. “Oh Romeo, Romeo…”

“That’s the girls part!” Alan squawked with amusement.

“Yes, I knew that!” Gordon stated, turning a royal red from his brothers, fathers and grandmothers’ laughter. “Err… So Virg, we all got you presents,” he added, trying desperately to change everybody’s focus onto something else.

“Presents?” Virgil said, grinning from ear to ear.

“Yeah, I got you this,” Alan chirped, pulling a box out of a bag that his grandma had passed him.

Virgil eagerly opened the box and smiled when he found a small furry bear inside. “Aww, this is cute!”

“It’s because you always give the best bear hugs ever,” Alan explained, “also, press his tummy.”

Virgil pressed the bears tummy and chuckled when the bear growled. “Thank you, Alan, I love him. Now, come here and give me a cuddle.”

Alan happily skipped over and carefully hugged his brother.

Once Virgil had released Alan, Ruth stepped forwards. “Here you go sweetie, I got you this.”

Virgil took the small bag from her and pulled out the gift. “A jar of coffee?”

Ruth nodded. “It’s the one we use on the island, I’ve talked the nurses and caterers here to give you this instead of the drivel they serve.”

Virgil thanked her and gave her a quick hug before focussing on John who was now stepping forwards.

“My gift comes with an apology.” John explained, passing Virgil a box. “You see, when you were missing I accidently broke your favourite cup. I’m really sorry, I found a replacement and I really hope you like it.”

Virgil opened the box revealing a shimmering green mug. “Cool! Thanks bro, I love it.”

“Are you sure?” John asked nervously.

“Yes of course,” Virgil confirmed, “this one seems to be sparkling... Plus, you’ve given it to me, so that makes it one hundred times better!”

Scott grinned at Virgil when he had finished hugging John. “Here’s mine. Hopefully, it will help with the boredom when you’ve only got our old man for company.”

“Hey!” Jeff protested, with a slight smirk at Scott’s jibe.

“Art pad and pencils!” Virgil beamed, when he’d opened the bag.

“Oh, I also added some more of your favourite tracks on to this for you.” Scott explained, pulling out a small music player and headphones from an inner pocket.

“Thank you!”

“No problem!” Scott said, excepting the cuddle from his brother.

“Me next,” Gordon sang.

Virgil looked at him quizzically when he was passed a suspicious looking box. “Is this safe to open?”

“Of course!” Gordon stated innocently.

“Don’t look at us,” John said, “he’s refused to tell any of us what he was getting you.”

Virgil frowned and slowly opened the box, jumping when a jack in the box popped out. “Jeez, Gordon!”

Gordon chuckled at Virgil’s surprise, “Now pull out the small drawer at the bottom.”

“Do I really want too?” Virgil asked.

Gordon nodded. “Seriously, your real gift is inside.”

Virgil carefully opened the drawer. “My chain?”

“When Alan gave you your chain back you hadn’t noticed that the clasp was damaged and the chain itself was scuffed. So, I got it fixed for you.”

Virgil grabbed his brother’s hand and pulled him into the biggest squeeze he could manage. “Wow, Gordon. This was really sweet of you, thank you so much!”

“You’re worth it Virg,” Gordon said, breathing in the hug, “now, let me go before Scott starts blubbering.”

“I’m not crying!” Scott exclaimed, quickly wiping away his tears.

Taking a small box out of his pocket, Jeff stepped forwards. “Even though I’m staying with you, I’ve also got you a little something.”

Virgil opened the box and grinned when he saw what was inside. “A new watch.”

Jeff picked up the watch and fastened it to Virgil’s left wrist. “It’s to replace your old one as it was broken.”

“How did you get it here?” Virgil enquired.

“I brought it with me when we left the island to come here, I wanted you to have a new one as soon as possible.”

Virgil embraced his father. “Thanks dad.”

Jeff returned the hug and then pulled away looking in his son’s eyes. “I want you to remember that even though you’re going to be out of action for a long time, you’re are still an important part of International Rescue!”

Virgil nodded. “I will!”

“Good,” Jeff replied, ruffling Virgil’s hair before checking his own watch, “I think it’s time you lot made a move.”

“I guess you are right dad,” Scott sighed when he also saw what time it was.

After another 15 minutes of warm hugs followed by goodbyes, everyone finally left for Tracy one, leaving just Virgil and his father in the ward room.

“Well, I guess it’s just you and me kiddo.”

“Yeah,” Virgil sighed.

“Don’t worry, as soon as we get the all clear, we will get you home!”

“Yep, definitely!” Virgil nodded, a look of determination creeping on his face. “Oh, and dad…”

“Yes son?”

“Don’t call me kiddo!”

[somanyfuckedupiftruebooks]

TMAGP8

Oh fuck liminal spaces that drive you insane. What does that remind me of?

Brutal liminality babeey I love it.

I wonder if any of these sources are actually real or if they're all fictional?

'Architectural hunger' 😘

Woah these spaces are disconnected from the human mindscape that's so cool.

This epsode would probably be hitting me harder if I had any idea what this place looked like.

Paused the episode to try googling it and couldn't find anything. Is it not a real place??

Hmmm. Empty spaces. Hunger. Hallucinating lights. Hiding from miasma. So far it's been feeling like most of these statements are combinations of a couple of entities, like they've become blurred with each other by travelling between dimensions. This one could be Spiral and Lonely? Fear takes many forms.

Oh shit no time for meta speculation there's a sharply dressed woman becoming you through an open door!! Run the other way my dude you have got to get out of there!!

'You are here'??

Yeah you should not have gotten in that lift. Terrible mistake.

Cool ghost restaurant.

Oh creepy they're all fake talking. And they have the same features! It's like in the Matrix when all the background chaarcters are identical twins. Or that Lonely statement about the tourist who gets lost in the featureless crowd.

'Stay a while' nope gtfo.

Ah!! They're gonna eat him!!

Yuck they're eating him alive.

Did Jonny write this episode? Reminds me of that game he played about the house that eats you alive. (Alex wrote it)

Oh yeah lol this was supposed to be an academic paper. Kinda lost the plot there.

Oh Gwen you have no idea what you're getting into, I wouldn't be so smug about it if I were you.

Uh oh, see ya Colin. Enjoy your mental health leave.

Where are Sam and Celia?

Gerry??

GG??

AHHHHHHH OMFG OMFG IMFNFGMFJF???????

IS THIS GERRY AND GERTRUDE

AHHHH HUSBAND BACK FROM THE DEAD?????? I DIDN'T RECOGNISE HIM BECAUSE HE SOUNDED HAPPY AHHHHHHH

But that's Gertrude for sure. I may not know my goths but I know a bitch when I hear one.

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHSHAHAH

why are they living together what the FUCK

What is going on??

Oh Gerry is painting 🥰🥰🥺🥰🥺🥰🥺🥰🥺🥺 he has so many he has to give them away

GRANDSON????

Wait does that make Eric Delano her son? That's insane. WHAT IS GOING ON.

YEAH GERTRUDE. DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE MAGNUS INSTITUTE.

(Also seriously what the fuck is Sam up to? Did he get this job just to investigate the Institute? Why is he so obsessed with it?)

Oh shit he was in one of their gifted kids programs. That's why he's so obsessed with it. Hmm. Maybe I would have less questions if I listened to the episode for more than two seconds at a time, but this is how I'm choosing to record my thoughts so.... no.

Gerry was in the program too??

Ahhhh he's so happy!!! I'm dying!!!

Please please please let his happiness be real and fine and good and normal and not a symptom of something terrible going on. Don't hurt me like this. Please. I need there to be a version of him that's okay.

I've only had cheerful Gerry for two minutes and if anything happens to him I will kill everyone in this podcast and then myself.

Why is he living with Gertrude. Why is she pretending to be his grandmother. Why doesn't he remember anything about the gifted program. Does Sam not remember anything either. Is that why he's investigating it. What the fuck happened to them when they were kids.

Gerry is so genuine and Gertrude is so obviously dodging their questions and hiding shit. Something's up. She's weirdly indulgent and playing along with him. She knows something.

IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO MY BOY I WILL RIOT.

Big painting <3

Oh it was Celia's idea? What's she up to?

Ahahah she's investigating time travel and other dimensions. I wonder what that could possibly be about. Trying to travel back home or confused about how she got here in the first place? How much does she even know?

Podcast??

GEORGIE??!!

What is up with this episode and bringing back characters whose names start with the letter G?

Okay okay okay. Like. Our Georgie or this dimension's Georgie? (she's a podcaster in every dimension)

The presence of Gerry and Gertrude menas that this dimension has doubles of people we knew from TMA, so is there another Jon and Martin here?

Is Celia looking for them? Is Georgie?

AHHHH SO MANY QUESTIONS

But who gives a shit about that I got to hear a happy version of my HUSBAND hahahhahaha 🥰😘🥰🥰🥰🥰😘😬🥰🥰🥰😘

(Gerry and Gertrude's voice acyors not credited? Why would that be?)

[grahamkennedy]

Something I think about a lot but have never posted about is like. The imperfections in Gerry and Carla's relationship and how they work through them. Because no relationship is perfect, it's not like it's never without imperfections. And anyway this is what I think about (under a read more because I went insane w it):

Gerry has a temper. Not a violent, abusive temper, but he's neurotic about shit and he likes things done his way otherwise he gets frustrated. I mean, see how he is with his dance instructor, he doesn't really like not being in control. He snaps at people very suddenly, and when he first did that in front of Carla he felt horrible afterwards. Nowadays when he's feeling snappy he just fucks off. He tells Carla he's going for a walk and he'll be back in an hour and it seems to work. He grumbles to himself and cycles through his frustrations and comes back and can actually talk about them. But he can't do that immediately. He just needs to be pissed off first.

Carla is terrible at processing her emotions. Even when she knows what she's feeling, and she doesn't always know, she finds it so hard to articulate it. Gerry was so upset the first time he'd accidentally offended her, because she just wouldn't fucking tell him what was wrong. But the problem is she didn't even know what was wrong. Just that something was wrong. So once a week (they're both so busy that it can't necessarily happen every night), Gerry sits her down and asks her what happened that week. What were the highlights, the lowlights. So he knows what's going on in her life. When he realises she's upset about something he did, he realises it might not be best to ask her because she might not actually be sure what it was specifically, so he'll contemplate things he's done by himself or relay things that have happened recently with friends. And then come back to Carla and go "hey did I do [this thing that may have hurt you]?" Of course, if Carla says "you hurt me because [reason]", he'll take it on board. But sometimes neither of them will know what he did wrong and he'll need to work that out on his own.

It's not like jealousy never exists in their marriage. Carla is okay with Gerry sleeping with men, even him having partners he catches up with regularly. But for her, she worries about him staying over the night with people. She wants him to come back home to her afterwards. It was something they talked about a lot, and eventually came to an agreement that yeah, okay, they could sleep with whoever, but please come back home. Gerry would like to be able to snuggle up with a man and fall asleep on him, but understands why Carla would be uncomfortable, because she doesn't form the same attachments with her sexual partners that he sometimes can. The compromise is "if he wants to, can he make me tea afterwards? Can we sit and chat after the fucking, if I come back home to you?". Which she seems to be fine with.

The first year after Alison's birth was the worst year of their marriage. They both love their daughter immensely, but Carla was hit with intense post natal depression (this is practically canon, what with her telling Helen, in between her TMI moments about the birth, about how the first year was hard). Carla wants so bad to be a good mother but when Alison is born and she holds her in her arms for the first time, she just sees a screaming bag of skin, she doesn't see a baby girl. The first time Gerry holds Alison he weeps with joy, and she wants to feel that way but she can't. And he's a man and it's the 1970s and as much as he loves his wife and daughter he's been brought up with patriarchal ideals of what it means to be a husband. His father was a breadwinner, not a caretaker, and that's what he's assuming himself to be. So he doesn't spend as much time with his wife and his baby daughter as he should because his career is progressing and he's about to get his own show and that will get them all so much money. And Carla is home alone, miserable. And he comes home one day, when Alison is about four months old and Carla is curled up in a ball, bawling, and the baby is crying in the other room and Carla isn't there taking care of her because she can't stop crying. And Gerry goes to the crib, rocks little Alison in his arms and sings to her until she falls asleep, and then goes to Carla and asks her if she's okay. And she's not. She's overwhelmed, she's lonely, she's not even sure if she loves her own daughter. And it's then that Gerry goes "oh fuck, my wife is not okay and I had no idea, we'll postpone the start of my show for six months, we'll get a nanny to help us, because we can afford it, and the guest appearance I have on some sketch show tomorrow? Cancelled. Because I want to hold you and love you and cry with you instead." And he's holding Carla in his arms. Usually it's the other way around, but tonight, she needs him to be the big one. And he's whispering in her ears "things will be okay, things will be okay". And eventually they are.

[queen-of-deans-booty]

LARP and the Real Girl: Final Part

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.3k

Warnings: canon angst and violence

Author’s Note: I am so sorry I haven’t posted. I was sick with the flu and completely forgot about it. I will be posted both episodes now!

I do not own anything from Supernatural. All credit goes to their respective owners. Any and all comments on these are appreciated.

Gerry comes back with Monty, and the three of you are on your way. They know where they're going better than you do, so you let them take the lead. By this time, the sun had just set, so it's getting pretty dark in the forest. There are lanterns that they put up, but it's barely enough light to light your way.

"I swear, if anything's happened to her..."

"Dude, we checked all the tents. We'll talk to these guys. We'll find her," Sam assures his brother.

Gerry and Monty stop in a small clearing, telling you that this is the meeting place.

"Ca-caw! Ca-caw!" Monty caws like a bird.

"Ca-caw! Ca-caw!" a man says from inside the dark forest.

Three Shadow Orcs in cloaks walk into the clearing, carrying flashlights. The Shadow Orc in the middle has the Tree of Pain symbol on a crest in the middle of his shirt.

"Greetings, heretics," Gerry says.

"You should kneel before me, cur."

"Alright, why don't you let me--"

"Silence!" Gerry shouts, silencing Dean. "Now, before we exchange, a few announcements."

The Shadow Orc with the Tree symbol takes out his fake teeth and moves closer to Gerry.

"Um, there is a peewee-league soccer playoff game tomorrow on the alpha field. We don't want to freak out the mundanes, so we have to move the Battle of Kingdoms to the beta field."

Dean is sick and tired of this, so he removes his gun that he stashed into his costume.

"That's it. You know what? I'm gonna do this the old-fashioned way."

"Dean, don't," Sam tries, but it goes over his head.

"No, I'm--"

"I told you there are--"

"Shut up," Dean says to Gerry and raises the gun in front of the Shadow Orcs. "I need real answers. This is a real gun, see?"

Dean points his gun to the ground and shoots, scaring everyone there but you and Sam.

"This is so hot," you whisper so that only Sam can hear.

"Really?" Sam says, disgusted.

"Now, start talking. Where's the queen?!" Dean yells.

"I don't know!"

"Yeah, well, your little family crest there tells a different story, pal."

"This?" the Shadow Orc points to his chest. "I got sick last month after this thing just appeared." He takes off his right gauntlet and pushes up the sleeve of his right arm. There is the tree symbol on his arm like Ed and Lance had. "I thought it looked really cool, so I turned it into my family crest. I mean, after my dermatologist said it wasn't malignant."

"Dean, he's not our guy. He's just another victim," Sam says.

"My name is Max Hilby. I'm an attorney. I have no idea where the queen is, but if you let me go right now, I won't press charges. I promise." He takes off his fake ears and holds them with his gauntlet to Dean. "Take them. Please."

"Go. Go! Go!"

The three Shadow Orcs run away, scared of Dean. Your husband turns to face everyone else, all with different expressions on their faces.

"What?" He rolls his eyes in annoyance. "What?"

"Is the queen really in danger?" Monty asks, taking out his teeth. You and Dean nod simultaneously. "Okay, there was something odd down by the creek. It's this weird tent. It's not one of ours. It's kind of creepy."

"Why are you being so helpful all of a sudden?" Sam asks.

"Look, I harbor an epic crush on the queen. Maybe you could put in a good word for me when you find her."

"I don't think you're her type," Dean puts it plainly.

Dean and Sam walk in the direction where Monty pointed to, and Gerry follows behind them, oddly silent.

"You don't really have what she's looking for," you state.

"What is it? I can get a haircut or lose some weight."

You want to tell him he doesn't have a vagina, but you resist the comment. You shake your head and follow the brothers with Joanna jogging to catch up with you. Monty kind of gives up and heads back to camp, but Gerry is adamant on following you to the tent. Like what Monty said, there is a tent all by its lonesome.

"Why don't you take off, Bolty? We got it from here," Dean says.

"Two handmaidens and a time traveler rescue the queen? I think not, kind lady."

"Look, this isn't a game, Gerry. The queen, our friend, is in real danger. You could get hurt," you say.

"I will not leave my queen in peril."

"Your funeral."

You and the brothers head inside the tent where Charlie and some random girl are making out on the bed. Your eyes widen and you quickly look away to give them some sort of privacy. Dean clears his throat, and Charlie jumps away from the woman in shock.

"Dudes. If the tent is rockin', don't come a-knockin'."

"No, it's him! My master!" the woman gasps, pointing at the person behind you. You turn to see Gerry standing there with a smirk on his face. You back up with Joanna's hand in your own. You get to where Charlie and the woman are, and you put Joanna's hand behind you, and Charlie looks down at it. She understands what you must be telling her to do. You're the one with the magic, and you won't be able to use it if you're worried about Joanna. She takes her hand and pulls the child close to her body to keep her away from the danger.

Sam and Dean take out their guns, but Gerry only smirks at them, unaffected by their threats.

"No guns in Moondoor, gentlemen. Gilda, if you please?"

The woman Charlie was making out with sighs and made a hand motion. At a mere thought, the guns turn into feathers which flutter to the ground.

"Well, now what, Gerry?"

"My name is Boltar the Furious!" he yells in anger. "My plan was, after getting rid of all of my competition, to win the battle tomorrow, convincing the Queen that I should be her King. Then you three idiots showed up, and I was forced to improvise. Rescue the damsel in distress from the Orcs, become King, kill you three--that'll work, too."

Like hell is is putting a hand on you.

"So, why did you go from hobbling to murder?" Sam asks.

"Greyfox and Thargrim became part of the honor guard. They got close to the Queen, but they did it by breaking the rules--paying off other players with real money, rather than Moondoor currency. They were cheating!"

"Oh, and using magic isn't?" you ask.

"Magic is a part of Moondoor."

"What is your problem? Why would you hurt people? This is just a game," Charlie says.

"There is no game!" he yells at her. "There is only Moondoor! I came here to be different, to get away from my shitty life to be a hero."

"You're a loser in the real world, and you're a loser here."

"Would a loser track down a real book of spells and compel a fairy to do his bidding?"

"It depends. How'd you get it?"

Gerry pauses and looks up in uncertainty.

"eBay."

"Look. It doesn't have to be like this, Boltar. Just hand over the book of spells. We can work this out," Sam tries to convince him.

"This will all work out after I remove you from the playing field and wipe her memory." Gerry picks up a wooden sword and looks at the fairy. "Gilda?"

Gilda sighs once more and waves her hand, causing his fake sword to turn into a very sharp one.

"Gilda, the big one."

Gilda regretfully makes a hand motion, and the suit of armor behind Sam grabs him around the neck and waist. She must have spelled it to be stronger than him, because Sam can't get out of it. With Sam out of the question, it's down to you and Dean is obviously going to try before you do, and he swings his own wooden sword, but Gerry's sword cuts it in half easily.

Dean rushes at Gerry and punches him across the face, causing a book to fall onto the ground. Gerry doesn't seem to notice that it fell because he makes no move to get to it. Gerry slams the butt of the sword into Dean's face, making the older Winchester out of commission as well.

It's up to you, and you're going to make sure that he doesn't hurt anyone else. You take a few steps toward Gerry, and he turns to face you. He looks at your pregnant belly and scoffs, thinking this will be easy.

"I don't want to do this to you."

"You won't get the chance to."

He swings his sword at you, and with your magic, you grab the blade end. You look up at his shocked face, and your entire eyes are glowing with blue magic. Your magic is preventing the sword from cutting you, and it's strong enough that when Gerry tries to yank it away from you, he can't.

"I'd rather not kill you in front of my kid, but I will."

"She can't stop him. You must destroy the book," you hear Glinda say to Charlie.

With Gerry distracted by you, Charlie keeps Joanna safe off to the side before dashing to the book. She takes out a dagger she found inside the tent and raises it above the book.

"Hey, Gerry. I'm the one who saves damsels in distress around here."

Gerry looks down at his belt where he thought his book was, and Charlie stabs the book with the dagger as hard as she could. You let go of the sword and let your eyes return back to normal as you step back. Gerry freaks out and begins yelling at Charlie for ruining his plan.

The suit of armor holding Sam back falls to the ground, Sam and Dean's guns return back to normal, and the sword in Gerry's hand returns back to its wooden state. Gerry isn't too confident about his odds now, but he still tries to overpower Dean who is already on his feet. He swings the wooden sword at him, and your husband catches it in his hands. With the butt of that sword, he smashes it into Gerry's face, knocking him out completely.

"Are you okay?" Charlie asks Glinda.

Joanna runs over to Dean who picks her up and holds her close.

"I'm free of the spell. You saved me. The Hollow Forest is forever in your debt. I must return to those green hills now. I will take my former master with me. He must face a fairy tribunal for his sins."

Gilda moves to Gerry, but Charlie stops her before she can get too far. She pulls the fairy into her and kisses her for a few seconds. Glinda pulls away with a smile then winks at Charlie. She and Gerry both disappear in a twinkle and shimmer of lights.

It's late at night, and you'd rather leave this place when you've gotten a good night's sleep.

It's mid-morning when you finally wake up, and you're glad the Winchesters decided to let you sleep as long as you could. You really needed it, and when you leave Charlie's tent, they're talking in a small huddle.

"Sleeping Beauty. You're awake," Dean smiles.

"I needed those eight hours," you chuckle.

"So, what's next for you, Charlie? New town? New identity?" Sam asks.

"If the last twenty-four hours have taught me anything, it's that escaping isn't what it used to be. No more replacement characters for me. I gotta face reality from now on. Sadly, reality actually includes monsters, but what are you gonna do? If I can ever be of help to you guys, let me know."

"Are you okay, Charlie?" you yawn.

"Apart from the fact that you blocked me from banging a fairy, and I'm about to lose my crown in battle because my army is decimated? Yeah. Totally good." She starts to leave, but then turns back and holds up her hand in a Vulcan salute. "Smell you later, bitches."

"So, what's next?" Dean asks his brother. "Because no fun, right? Look, before you say anything, I get it. No amount of fun is gonna help you get over what you gave up. You need time, right?"

"Yeah. Thanks. You're right. Having fun won't help me. It'll help both of us. Shall we?" Sam grins.

You wish you could be part of this, but you're too pregnant to participate. Joanna is with you off to the side while Sam and Dean get dressed up to take part in the Battle of the Kingdoms. This is going to be really funny to watch, so you take out your phone and start recording this. This is something you want to hang over Sam and Dean's heads for as long as you can.

There are speakers hooked up so that epic battle music can be played while the battle takes place. Two armies of costumed LARPers are lined up facing each other. Dean is wearing a long-haired wig, and half of his face is painted red and the other half is painted white. He also wears two Orc ears on a string around his neck. Sam's hair is in a ponytail, and two opposite quarters of his face are painted red, and a further quarter is painted white.

"Dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days, from this day to that, for one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they will never take..."

"Hold!"

You laugh at Dean's dramatic speech. It's the only one he knows, and it's from Braveheart. Joanna sits in between your legs and claps at her father's speech. She definitely gets her theatrics from him. The music comes to a stop as a frisbee sails onto the ground in the space between the two armies. A random man jogs to get the frisbee, apologizing for ruining their game.

"Uh, my bad," he chuckles.

The man picks up the frisbee and quickly jogs off the field. The music resumes, giving back the dramatics to the players. Dean gets back into his speech mode and holds up his fake sword.

"... our freedom!!"

Both armies cheer and start to run at each other. You can't help but smile because even through every dark and depressing moment of your life, you can still find the little things to enjoy.

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[musical-chick-13]

Control Z, Episode 2-3

-PABLO, WHY WOULD YOU JUST ANSWER AN UNKNOWN NUMBER, HOW STUPID ARE YOU

-I know the new principle is supposed to come off as an uncaring jerk, but I’m just SO HAPPY that an authority figure is FINALLY calling out Quintanilla and Raúl for SOMETHING.

-Okay, I’m sorry. Why have they forgiven Raúl, but not Alex? Alex was at least TRYING TO DO SOMETHING SHE THOUGHT WAS RIGHT? She was actively trying (horribly) to correct a wrong that WAS IN FACT RAÚL’S (and Gerry’s ofc) FAULT???? Look, I know this probably sounds unfair since I am an Alex Apologist™, but Alex is at least taking accountability; Raúl is just an asshole. (“Alex, you buried someone alive” Yes, and Raúl kidnapped someone and tried to save his money over a different kidnapped teenage girl who was in mortal danger, like have some consistency here.)

-Claudia wants to be an actress!!!!

-Wtf, theatre teacher, these are STUDENTS, obviously they aren’t going to be doing Shakespeare monologues perfectly, THAT’S WHY YOU ARE TEACHING THEM, God why are all the teachers in this show absolute trash.

-...Oh, this is an interesting direction to take Gerry’s story in. Confronted with a guy who reminds him (and us) of Luis, who is instead treated horribly by Gerry’s peers instead of Gerry himself. Presumably, since he failed Luis, he’ll help this guy, especially since he’s being bullied for “acting too gay” just like Luis was.

-Why...why is Quintanilla trying to push Alex and Gaby back together??! She was his colleague and ALEX’S TEACHER, WHY IS THIS MAN AN EDUCATOR WFT IS WRONG WITH HIM

-When did Pablo become heart-eyed over María. I swear if this show ends with the two of them being a couple...

-Also, why are he and Claudia friends now????

-I...do not like the way this theatre teacher is interacting with Claudia. But maybe that’s just because Gaby is.....there. And still being treated like some Tragic Love Interest.

-Hmmm, New Inmate covered up for Gerry. Interesting. This could either be a really interesting dynamic or a catastrophically-badly-handled one.

-Natalia!!!! Confirmed okay!!!

-So obviously she and María are faking María’s death, but the question is obviously WHY. I don’t think María is behind this, but...tbh it really COULD be Natalia? I’m sure Maria told her about what happened on the roof, and it would make sense that Natalia would only do this when she was absolutely sure her sister was out of the way and wouldn’t be blamed. Her embezzlement being revealed by Raúl is why she made the decision to Get In Debt With The Drug Cartel (I cannot believe these are real plotlines on a teen drama as I type them out, lmaooo), so I can see her blaming him (and, by extension, the people around him). Please tell me she’s not doing this because she’s mad Javier broke up with her, I’ll be so disappointed.

-FUCK, MARÍA TRIED TO KILL HERSELF??!? I mean. There’s no body, which means she’s not dead as per Usual Mystery Rules, but. God. That was...unexpectedly dark.

-Ohhh, does Natalia blame The Gang for (what she thinks is) María’s suicide??? (Sorry, I’m still stuck on the theory that she’s the culprit.)

-I did appreciate the little detail of Sofía, who survived a suicide attempt, knowing immediately what Natalia means when she tries to hint at what happened with María. While Javier seems to need it spelled out for him. Good job, show!

-If Sofía really does believe Alex...and she’s proven that Bad Hacking Behavior isn’t a dealbreaker.......Sofía/Alex endgame? (I know I made this as a joke before season 2 started, but honestly? I think I’m here for it in earnest now.)

-You know what? Sofía going to law school actually makes a lot of sense. Once again, good job, show!!

-Oh, God, is the theatre teacher having a predatory “““relationship””” with Claudia? I cannot handle this again, I really can’t.

-Ugghhh, he IS, please let this end, can we STOP DOING THIS.

-It seems like they might have Claudia hook up with Pablo, and you know what, if it means she’s not “““dating””” her teacher, I’ll take it. I’ll take just about ANYTHING to not have any of the endgame relationships be teacher/high school student.

-RAÚL IS FUCKING BROKE I AM LAUGHING SO HARD I WANT HIM TO BE MISERABLE AND ROT IN HELL

-I genuinely thought Claudia was hardcore into María, I am SO confused as to what they’re doing with her.

-Okay, so she’s not going to hook up with Pablo, but he sure tried. (Presumably because she’s the only connection he still has to María? Yikes, that’s messed up, lmao.)

-.........PABLO??? Obviously it’s more complicated than that, but. His name is?? On the essay???? And he was in the car? Like I think whoever it ACTUALLY is was getting Raúl and Pablo in the same place so Pablo would unintentionally kill Raúl by running him over (which. sadly. did not actually happen. Sorry, I’d like to say that one day I’ll shut up about hating Raúl, but it’s basically my Brand™ at this point, and also I can’t pretend like I’m not spending every second of this show hoping he’ll die.)

[david-box]

Succession season 4 EP. 6 or whatever it's called idek tbh

Is this a flashback? Oh, nvm. This sounds like nonsense. He looks pissed. Yep, there it is. Ouch. I can feel the tension. Kendall why do you wanna watch it again. This is self harm buddy dude, my guy.

Brian Cox is a fucking phenomenal actor. And now one can stand up to him the way he should have been. Rest in piss you piece of shit. Is Mattson trying to flirt with Shiv? Dude she will fucking eat you alive. "Yoo-hoo". Well yeah they're just minding the shop for a few hours but dude you know how a business works right. Mattson dude you can't order that thing. He is the world's most crusty man while she's sitting there literally glowing like porcelain bruh she is so for out of your league and married and also crazy. Dude. Dude. Anyhow lol. "Start the engines" hahahahahaha. He is too tall. I think Shiv just likes she can abuse him with like the true honesty of her situation and he'll come back because he doesn't even want positive reinforcement. He just wants honesty.

Very light tan. Hey Rome going back into the studios. He took Shiv"s seat what the fuck?? Hi Tom! Kendall's shit he just said was so useless I forgot to listen and had to back up also Shiv grabbing her phone loud enough for him to notice and quiet enough to "not make a scene". I think he genuinely didn't notice. Or her slapping the phone down. Nice job clapping for yourself Ken. Who gives a shit about the company after this take the money and runnnnn. "Huh, well, what exactly happened??" Lol, Shiv. Gently pressing him. Sure. Roman is not lying well. Yes. You can recommend it. Take the money and run. Exposed to what. Bruh. That's also 50% cash. Everyone fucking leavvvevsa ahhahhahahaa. Kendall is a bad liar. Shiv is like why you fucking lying. She says yeah a lot. Thanks fuckface they're bad at this lol they didn't tell her cus she'll call them out. No you literally cannot keep ATN and Pierce. Roman is sorry. Is he trying to hug it out??? Roman I love you. They are so bad about reading her. Opp I forgot about the baby. Oh it's the same building nvm.

Why is she crying??? *About to breakdown* I'm fine DW about it. Aw. I don't trust him. Aw shiv no don't kiss your ex back. Jen listening in and they don't seem to care. Is he drinking??? What the fuck is personalized longevity. Fuckywood. Ahhaha yess sit like that Roman yeehaw love that shit. Mm tummy full ???? Roman???? Ahahha lol. I think it's hit im. "Mattson is flaky" <- man who is bailing on $194/share. I don't think this investor gives a shit. Oh this isn't an investor? Let's sidebar it girl? She is not confident. Well you want me to say more things? Lol. Roman buddy you're not listening to her. •_• uhh. Bruh. Dude. Why is he firing her. What the fuck. Bro??? Why??? Kendall what the fuck does annnnyyy of this. Ken. Oh this poor girl doesn't know how Kendall is. Bruh. Bro. "Don't say no Denny" no one can do no is a terrible thing Kendall buddy. These people are crazy.

Matthew what's his face is an incredibly attractive man. Aw they're being misogynistic together <3 how sweet. She's dressed up in what looks like a gi with a belt?? This is a bad time to apologize dude. How is it working. Is it working? Oh he's teasing her. Okay. Please neg eachother more it is very fun to watch. She does have her mannerisms down pat. Are they actually gonna bite eachother??? Bruh. Ahhahahahahhahaha. Oh my god. I think Tom loves that more than Shiv does this is so fucked up he finally gets to bite someone. "Tom wamsgams finally made me feel something" is such a roast. All you need is unbelievable growth?? Dude. I think it's hard to make houses seem like tech. Cus we've had houses for a while now. Greg I love you. We don't have the numbers Rome. "Ehh ehh" bruh. They're literally latching onto it because of Logan. Please talk to other people. Who's gonna kill themselves first. Thank you Gerri. Ouccchhh. Are you gonna fire her too. Dude. Bruh. "No" lol but she can't say that. Romannnnn never piss of Gerri. Kendall has zero ability to read emotions. You fired Gerri??? Smooth over? Bro? KENDALL. KENDALLLLLL.

Did they fuck right after they bite eachother. "I don't entirely hate you" was what she was gonna say. Mattson songs. Oh man. Bruh bad opener. I picked money. Ouch. That's harsh. Is he from a trailer park. She might actually do it dude. Bruh the green screen is STILL THERE. Are they gonna deep fake their dad??? "Or I'm gonna get in trouble"??? "Understand Mr. Snippy Snip???" What the fuck Greg???

Kendall they can't just build the numbers. It's gotta be credible but we're lying lol. "Can I talk to Karl." I. Lol. "You're taking jibberish." KENDALL. Kendall. He was not kidding. Let's just pressure people into this it'll work. Goddamn Shiv has nice outfits. Flirting with Lukas sarcastically in front of Tom making him feel like he's the other woman?? Bomb threat???? I love you Lukas.

Nice to see you back, Kendall's black glasses. It will be just this. I hope those oh those are real clouds. Okay. I was gonna say I hope they crash but it's just gas. Why is he upset. The numbers are from up there.... Okay. Roman is the most influenciable of the lot today. He's got that gleam in his eyes. Why do you have to back it Roman? I think we should protect him oooooo..... A flight jacket. Dude. You cannot say anything Kendall. I can sense Roman is 100% the younger brother. Is this all in one day?

Maybe ....wee..... Shouldn't... Do it? Or maybe postpone. He's so sad omg. It is nuts. We do not have to. You stupid people. Roman tries to stop Kendall and then he tries to pull himself out. Break that leg TM. Karl's getting pissed lol. I don't think he can pull rank by age he's gonna het fired lol. He'll fire you. Lol. Go Grandpa go.

Gerris still sitting there. Who is this even going for. Roman saying it like that means not good. Also wtf is Tom saying. Is he playing music. What the fuck. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Hey uh. Yeah. Just say it 3 times it'll better. Roman would be so much better poor Tom. "Amateur". I was dusrupting our annual meeting I - bruh. I gotta quit typing. What the fuck. Living plus till the end????? He didn't even retire???? Bruh. You can't promise this. What the fuck. How did they manage that??? What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck.

OOHHH MY GOD I HAD TO GOOGLE IT AAAAA. WELP. THAT PUTS THAT IN THE GROUND. Dude you don't have to Google it. Lol. Trying to turn it around on Karl and then immediately backtracking into "generals" lmao. He's very European??? Bruh. The fuck does that mean. Kendall cannot spin any criticism. And now, give it up, for Tom Wamsgams!! So his weirdness is *rehearsed* or??? He deleted it? Damn. It's not gonna climb above 194? "I don't even remember it it was kinda a blur."

Seriously scared Romans gonna kill himself rn. He's just listening it to on repeat :-( oh my god.

It is obviously not going to be party and strategy. They're cute together. Is he drawing an arrow??? You're not gonna drown yourself right. Kendal. Kendall. Kendal. Kendal. Kendal. Kendal. Kendal. Kendal. Kendal. Bruh. Okay cool.

[laurenairay]

Prompt 13-Seguin

13 – “Please don’t make me say it again.” – Tyler Seguin

572 words

Thank you for choosing this one for Tyler – I had a lot of fun with it! Definitely took a different turn than I initially planned on, but I like the vibe lol.

Also, this is a belated celebration fic for his birthday yesterday.

*

Buzz.

Buzz.

Buzz.

Buzz.

You blearily opened your eyes with a groan, batting half-heartedly at the bedside table for your phone. 7am, fuck. Tyler. What was Tyler doing calling you at 7am? He hadn’t woken you up this morning because he had errands to run before practice, so what the hell? After a game followed by a late dinner and drinks, Tyler had promised to give you a lie in this morning…so what had changed?

“Ty?” you yawned, pushing your bedhead out of your eyes as you accepted the call.

“Babe, I’m so sorry.”

You frowned at the panic in his voice, pushing yourself to sit upright. What was wrong? Was he hurt? Was Gerry okay? What had happened for him to sound so anxious?

“Hey, what’s wrong?” you asked, trying to keep calm, mind swirling with the worst ideas?

“Okay so you know how I had errands to run this morning?”

What?

“Mmhmm, yes, why?” you asked, confused.

“My plan was to drive Gerry to the vet’s, and then have enough time to drop him off home again before practice.”

Yes you already knew that – that’s what he told you yesterday. “So what’s the problem?” you asked, still not understanding.

“The appointment isn’t for Gerry – it’s for Cash.”

Oh that idiot. That loveable absent-minded idiot. For all the things this could have been, this was one of the least bad options. Okay, you could work with this. Not that you wouldn’t be giving him shit for it, of course.

“I swear to god Tyler,” you groaned, huffing out a laugh, “You brought Gerry to Cash’s vet appointment?”

“I know, I know, please don’t make me say it again.”

You could tell by his voice how embarrassed he was, but it was the lingering notes of anxiety were what had you swinging your legs out of bed. Bless his forgetful heart.

“Alright, let me grab Cash and Marshall and I’ll drive straight over,” you mused.

It wasn’t like you could leave Marshall here by himself, the poor boy.

“You’re a lifesaver.”

You just laughed, pulling on a cute sweater and some panties from your drawers, spotting some leggings across the room. That would have to do for a car run – it wasn’t like you needed to look spectacular this early in the day after all.

“And you need to check the calendar on the fridge more carefully,” you teased, grabbing the leggings.

“I’m not going to live this down, am I?”

“Not for a moment,” you grinned.

The minute you ended this call, you’d already planned to text his sisters – they’d get a kick out of this situation for sure.

“How does lunch after practice sound? I’ll grab those Thai dishes you liked from your favourite place?”

You couldn’t help but to smile at the hope in his voice and found yourself nodding as you walked down the stairs, Cash and Marshall lifting their heads from their dog beds in interest.

“That sounds good to me,” you said sweetly, grabbing the dogs’ leashes and keys from the side, “I’m just going to put the boys in the car, and I’ll be with you soon, okay?”

“Thanks. I love you.”

You laughed softly, beckoning the dogs over to you. “I love you too,” you mused, “even when you make me get out of bed early.”

Tyler groaned loudly, making you laugh as you ended the call. The things you did for this man.

[bluejayblueskies]

How about an AU where Jon and Gerry have been dating since Uni and have managed to keep it secret from everyone (including Elias and Gerttrude) by complete accident?

send me an au and i'll give you 5+ headcanons about it! requests closed!

by accident you say? 👀

1. jon and gerry meet somewhere completely ridiculous (yet also completely mundane) where the chance of them running into one another was like.... one in a million. like, maybe jon's class got out early and so he decided to walk a little further from campus to try a new coffee shop that he's never tried before and never will again because he realizes he really hates the drinks and that it's not worth the walk, and gerry is in the area looking into something leitner-related and he looks down at his phone a bit too long and runs smack into jon when he's walking away from the coffee shop with a lukewarm travel cup of hot chocolate because they were out of tea (what kind of coffee shop is out of tea? jon thinks with a scowl).

the hot chocolate spills all over gerry and jon's like 'oh god sorry, do you- do you want me to do something?' and gerry's about to brush past him when he sees the person he was looking for and shit, they're looking this way so without thinking he just... grabs jon and pulls him into the nearest shop. which happens to be selling something weird, idk, little ceramic figurines. and gerry does Not know what to say because like, he can't tell this stranger that he's hiding from maybe-a-fear-avatar! so he's like 'uh. you can make it up to me by.... helping me pick out a figurine? for, er. my mother. yes.'

so they're just walking through this shop, gerry's shirt still wet with hot chocolate, jon Very confused and also Very late for class but somehow nervous to just leave, so they look at figurines together. gerry keeps looking back out the window and nope, maybe-an-avatar is still there, and now they're sitting on the bench and it doesn't look like they're planning on moving anytime soon and gerry really doesn't want to take the chance and gamble that the maybe-avatar won't recognize him or realize what he's looking for. so gerry keeps shooting down every recommendation jon gives him with some progressively-more bullshit reasons--'oh, my mum already has that one' 'that one's too expensive, i can't afford it' 'that's too small' 'i don't like the way that one's looking at me' 'my mom's allergic to dogs, actually'--until jon's finally like 'okay what is going on and can i leave now?'.

and the maybe-avatar is still out there and gerry's certain now that they're watching him and he's suddenly very aware that he's spent a long period of time with this guy whose name he actually didn't quite catch and that it definitely looks like they're working together and ah, fuck, if i let him leave and he gets targeted because of me i'd feel horrible. so gerry sighs and thinks fuck it and is like 'listen i'm gonna level with you. i'm here looking for a book and there is somebody watching me right now and i know how that sounds but it's really not as shady as you think and also really not my fault but it is my fault that you're here too so. yeah. sorry i don't know if it's safe for you to leave.'

and all jon can think to say is 'a book?'.

and gerry's like 'don't worry about that bit, you really wouldn't understand' and jon gets all bristly and says primly, 'well, i'm a lit major and i work at the university library maybe i could help' and gerry can't help but laugh and say, 'really hope there's not a leitner in your uni library, mate'. and then jon gets this wide-eyed expression on his face like he's just seen a ghost and says 'what did you just say?' and before gerry can deflect again jon says, more intensely, but also hesitantly, 'is... is it called a guest for mr. spider?'.

and gerry's like 'um. no, it's not' and jon deflates a bit but now gerry's curious and he's like 'why?' and jon tries to deflect like 'oh clearly i misunderstood' but gerry's not budging and he's like 'no, no--have you read a leitner? gold bookplate, super fucked-up consequences?' and jon just goes pale which is really all the confirmation gerry needs. gerry feels the need to clarify that he hates them too--that he burns them whenever he gets the chance.

weakly, jon says, 'there... there's more than one?'. and then, a bit stronger: 'you- you're looking for another one? here? and you're going to burn it?'

gerry: yes, that's the plan. why--?

jon, without hesitation: i want to help

and maybe gerry is hesitant at first but, well. it seems like jon is already fully in this, so he reluctantly agrees, and they hunt down the leitner together and gerry lets jon burn it and then they're friends (and it really doesn't take long at all for that to transition into partners).

2. gertrude and elias missing that they're dating is a comedy of errors, including a lot of rather dramatic near misses including, but not limited to:

- jon always leaves a room just before one of them enters

- gerry always talks ambiguously about the person helping him hunt down leitners; elias always assumes he means gertrude, gertrude always assumes he means his mother. this is exploited to a comedic level

- getrude thinks 'going on a date' is code for gerry having a new lead on jurgen leitner and leaving to go chase it down

- when jon joins the institute as a researcher and runs into gerry in the building for the first time, he greets him neutrally in a mutually-agreed display of professionalism while working. gertrude and elias both remark at the fact that 'it's so nice that jon/gerry has a friend'

- gertrude, opening the door to the break room and bustling around inside, looking over at gerry where he's standing in front of the counter, jon sat atop it with his legs bracketing gerry's hips (they have very clearly just been kissing): oh hello gerard. jonathan. talking about leitners again?

jon, a bit embarrassed, slipping into Ultra Professionalism to compensate: i was just discussing with mr. keay the details of case number 0031211 regarding ms. cortena's experience with the talking vase--

gertrude, not at all interested, already knows that it's fake: right, right, carry on then

*after she's gotten her tea and left*

gerry, holding in laughter: 'mr. keay'?

jon, blushing: shut up gerry

3. gerry, casually, not actually aware that getrude doesn't know that he and jon are dating: yeah so then i had to leave my date early to go chase down this leitner and jon was not pleased

gertrude, after a hum of acknowledgement: how unfortunate. i'm not sure how jonathan's opinion on the matter is relevant, however. was he disappointed that you didn't ask him to track down the leitner with you?

gerry, Confused™️: he was.... at the date?

gertrude: at the date? whatever for?

gerry, now staring openly: because i was on a date with him? because we're dating? wait, did you not know that?

gertrude, not willing to admit that she missed that for nearly three years: of course i knew that, gerard. don't be foolish.

gerry, now even more confused: but--

gertrude, without missing a beat: i trust the leitner hunt went well, then?

gerry, after a long pause: um. yes?

gertrude, nodding: good.

4. there's an institute party and everyone's allowed to bring a plus-one

elias, noticing that jon's alone at the party: ah hello, jonathan. no plus one for you today?

jon: no, gerry couldn't make it, unfortunately. family business.

elias, somehow Oblivious, and also very Old Fashioned and way too familiar with his employees: quite. though typically, plus ones are of the romantic capacity. it's nice that you would consider gerard an acceptable substitute though, i suppose

jon, Bi confusion and suddenly unsure if his boss is homophobic: um. it.... it would have been in a romantic capacity?

elias, still Not Getting It: ah, i see. perhaps for the best, then--office parties don't make for pleasant first dates, in my experience

jon, unsure of how much of his personal life he wants to share with elias but not really wanting to pretend like he's not been dating gerry for going on three years now: um. it- it wouldn't be our first date. or- or really a date at all, just an- an event, i really don't think gerry would call this a date

elias, Getting it a little bit: ah. unfortunate, then. congratulations, i suppose, are in order. was it a recent engagement?

jon, ??????, biting the bullet: we've been together for three years, elias

5. jon, handing gerry a wrapped package on their fourth anniversary after they started dating: this is, um. this is for you

gerry, opening it and holding up the little ceramic figure of a dog: jon. is this--?

jon, in a rush: it's from that shop. where we, uh. where we met.

gerry, overcome with such love he really can't stand it, throwing all of his proposal plans out the window and digging the little square velvet box out of his pocket: jon can i ask you a question--

(jon is so surprised he just starts crying. it's only the fifth time gerry's ever seen him cry and he's so worried he said something wrong at first but then jon manages to say yes around his tears and jon wraps his arms around gerry tightly and buries his face in gerry's shoulder and whispers i love you and gerry hugs him tightly in return and says i love you, too, jon. i love you too.)

[theskywaslookingback]

tma fic recs please ? 🤲🏽

Oooooo yes! I never get asks like this, thank you!

[my tumblr fic recs tag is here for browsing]

I had to put it under a cut because it got...entirely too long barely half an hour into making it, sorry.

Under 5k

means of cartharsis by orphan_account [G] [965]

“You’d think – you’d that at this point nightmares would be second nature for me, hm?” Martin says, forcing a smile even as he tugs the blanket tighter around his trembling shoulders.

It’s meant to be a bit funny. Instead of laughing, though, Jon frowns.

“No,” he says simply, and matter-of-factly wipes the moisture from Martin’s cheeks with a tissue like he’s a crying child.

A Proper Sleepover by Goodluckdetective (scorpiantales) [T] [1.4k]

In a different world, one where Elias is not waiting for them outside the Lonely, everyone has a chance to savor a moment of respite. As much as they can get these days. If only to talk about things that long need to be spoken.

“Basira says we should all sleep in the same room tonight,” Jon says without looking up. “Safer. So we can keep an eye out for intruders and also each other.”

“So we’re having a proper sleepover then?”

Jon scoffs. “Technically we’ve been having a proper one for months.”

where i go, when i go there by rainny_days [T] [1.7k]

Martin wants Jon to hold his hand. Martin doesn't want Jon to hold his hand.

It's complicated.

all the other ways by AptlyNamed [G] [2.2k]

Jon loses his first soul mark when he is eight years old.

a palace from ruin by bibliocratic [G] [2.2k]

"What're you sorry for?” Martin asks.

“I should have asked,” Jon says finally. “I'd never.... you were always so private about him, so I mean, at first I wasn't sure he was even yours, but then – when you, when you went with Peter, and I – he was so small, and I thought he was h-half-dead. S-so I picked him up and I carried him. And I'm sorry.”

interiors by doomcountry [T] [2.7k]

In the doorway, he fumbles with his keys. Their sound is loud in the silent stairwell. You don’t remember getting here.

searching for a light (for a right) by Kalgalen [T] [2.7k]

Some people make the mistake of assuming he's naive about sex, for the simple reason he hasn't dated in a while. Tim has called him a prude, at one point, and implied that he was somehow afraid of the intimacy required by the act; he wasn’t entirely wrong, but this definitely isn’t the reason for Jon's disinterest and general bafflement toward what most people seemed to consider as "what makes them human".

Jon simply hasn't found the right person. That is all it is: high standards, and a reticence to let people in.

(In which Jon finds out society is wrong about what a romantic relationship should be.)

how to plant a garden in rocky soil by treeprince [T] [2.9k]

Sometimes you just need a good pair of hands to work out all the kinks in your life.

Good thing Martin has two.

A Weather In The Flesh by cuttooth [G] [3k]

"There is a span of years where Jon doesn’t touch anyone other than the occasional hand shake. It’s not so bad. He’s never been someone who’s needed physical affection."

*

Jon has never been any good at making people want to stick around.

I'll bring the motion by callmearctus [T] [3.1k]

A long series of kidnappings and international flights leaves its own special mark on someone. Before the Unknowing, Jon is a mess.

Martin helps.

A Bread Made In Heaven by Againstme [G] [3.3k]

Martin moves over and watches how his boyfriend handles the dough. He's awkward with it, tentative and gentle, as if he's scared of hurting it somehow.

"Is this, uh, am I doing this right?" Jon asks, still slowly stretching out the dough and folding it onto itself.

"Well," he says shifting closer to Jon again, "you could be applying more pressure. Here, let me help you out, dear."

Martin moves fully behind Jon, and reaches around him, putting his hands on top of his boyfriend's. Jon inhales sharply, but doesn't say anything else, just lets Martin's hand rest on top of his.

Martin's hands are bigger, but not big enough to entirely envelop the other's hands, and Jon's hands are much, much warmer than his own are. To see what they're doing, Martin moves his head to look over Jon's shoulder. Though he can't see his boyfriend's face from this angle, he can see how it is slowly growing red at the edge of his vision. He decides not to tease him on it, instead content with letting a smile spread across his face and slowly guiding their joined hands in the proper motion.

Or, Martin teaches Jon how to make bread.

stumbling and spinning by lady_mab [G] [3.3k]

“Things happened,” Jon says demurely, trying to untangle Gerry’s fingers, but it only results in him getting pulled in so Gerry can kiss him properly. “It’s not all that bad.”

“I suppose not,” Gerry says with a sigh, sitting back upright. “You somehow managed to snag an incredible boyfriend out of it.”

It takes a solid few seconds before realization clicks in Martin’s brain. “You mean me?” [...]

“You have to admit, Jon has great tastes,” Gerry teases.

nothing sweeter than local honey by beeclaws [T] [3.4k]

So Tim is content, one arm leaned into the spray, waiting for the water to warm, enjoying the feeling of homecoming underneath the gentle fuzz of jetlag, when he hears gasping, panicked breaths coming from the other room.

Tim and Jon, in the aftermath, relearning how to be okay.

When Words are Inadequate by Mugatu [T] [3.8k]

Meals and the preparation of are, for want of a better word, informative. Fact gathering. A place where they can fill in the gaps of their knowledge of the other.

Jon cooks for Martin, and they learn more about each other.

go softly by doomcountry [T] [4k]

And there is nothing else besides this.

Imago by cuttooth [T] [4k]

“Jon?” he asks tentatively, tightening his grip around the poker as it slips against his sweaty palm. The antennae twitch, and suddenly Martin knows that it’s Jon, the knowledge sliding into his mind in a surge of desperate affection, the same profound love he felt that first time he truly saw Jon in the fog of the Lonely.

“Oh,” he whispers. “It really is you.”

*

Jon changes, but he’s still the same to Martin.

shoreline by bibliocratic [G] [4.1k]

“Martin," Tim says kindly, tipsily, only mildly slurring. "Dearest, dearest Martin. You're wankered, babe. Last train to Stockwell fucked off hours ago because it is now piss off o'clock in the morning, and there's a sofa with your exact name on it at my place. Thought you said you wanted some handsome fellow to take you back to his tonight?”

Or: The OG Archive crew go drinking, Martin comes out, and gets some well deserved TLC. In that order.

get your epitaph right by bibliocratic [G] [4.2k]

Martin's daemon has tried on the shape of dogs and lizards and snakes and horses, and even – once, when he was younger and Mum took him to the seaside, a fish.

Martin's never seen his soul in the dressing of a spider before.

i've known the warmth of your doorways by beeclaws [T] [4.2k]

'I’m always in pain, Jon wants to say, even as he dismisses the thought as melodramatic. Between his growing collection of old wounds and scar tissue, the supernatural hunger for statements that hasn’t been truly satiated in months, and the unpredictable aches and strains his body threw off day by day long before he ever set foot in the Institute, some level of pain and discomfort follows Jon wherever he goes now. He is used to being in pain. He’s not used to someone holding his hand as he suffers through it.'

Jon catalogs the comforts he receives, and wonders how long he will be allowed to keep them.

lay down your weary head by Zykaben [T] [4.6k]

Jon has been running himself ragged, searching for every scrap of information he can possibly find about the Unknowing. He's exhausted and sleep-deprived but he can't bring himself to take a break, not now.

Luckily, Tim and Martin are there to make sure that their boyfriend gets the care and rest he needs.

only the sweetest words remain by bluejayblueskies [T] [4.6k]

This isn't how things are supposed to go, right? Jon remembers those ratty paperbacks from the charity shops, dime-a-dozen romance novels with broken bindings and yellowing pages and words that spoke of love and passion and sexuality in prose that was more than a bit too mature for someone whose age hadn’t yet reached double digits. Stolen glances turn into dinner dates turn into passionate kisses turn into…

Well, he’d never actually read those parts of the books, because it had all seemed so deeply uncomfortable and gross. But he got the picture.

Or, Jonathan Sims, on being loved

5k-20k

and they keep not letting go by Marianne_Dashwood [G] [5k]

It’s an electric feeling, something strange and new and familiar all at once, even though he has been holding Martin’s hand for most of the day. His stomach swoops, like he is standing on the edge of the precipice of realisation and staring into the void of unknowing. But at the same time, he does know. In this instant of contact between them, the last few years of cups of tea and small smiles and momentary glances, of panic and fear and only feeling safe with Martin’s solid presence in the room, despite his paranoia, rush into him, and oh, oh oh.

ready to call this love by yewgrove [G] [5.6k]

How is Martin supposed to tell Jon that he panicked, stupidly, when the lovely old lady down the village asked him what they were doing in this part of the world? Got the shopping! Oh, by the way, we're married now! Whole village thinks we're on our honeymoon, hope you don't mind!

Prenons-nous la main by luftballons99 [T] [6k]

They still haven't talked about it, any of it, not even to pass the time on the long train ride to Scotland. Instead, Martin fell asleep in the seat next to him, pressed into his side from shoulder to knee, and Jon thought about love confessions and verb tense and how the two fit together when you think you're dying.

or: Good cows, mediocre poetry, and other crucial topics of discussion.

This Must Be The Place by cuttooth [T] [6k]

“You said – you said we were going home,” Martin says softly.

“I did,” says Jon, and is grateful that Martin doesn’t comment on him calling the Archives home. “I – I don’t really know where to go. I, uh, I don’t have a flat anymore, I don’t think. We could find a hotel?”

“Let’s go to my place,” says Martin. His hand squeezes Jon’s, more gently than before. Most importantly, Jon notes, he doesn’t let go.

*

Jon and Martin go home for a little while.

Small Things, Simple Acts by ZaliaChimera [T] [6.6k]

Even after leaving London, Jon and Martin are not free, not really. Maybe they never will be.

But for now they can be themselves, and maybe in the end, that's enough.

house by tomatoes [G] [9k]

Martin can take care of himself.

roses, roses, roses by acetheticallyy (judesstfrancis) [T] [9.3k]

Rose scented laundry detergent. Running into Jon in the breakroom. Running into Jon on his way back to his desk. Rose scented detergent. Running into Jon. Roses. Jon. Roses, roses, roses.

a deeply annoying child by ajkal2 [G] [9.6k]

Jon is hiding under the desk.

----

There's a child in the Archives, who shouldn't be there.

Inseparable by voiceless_terror [T] [10.3k]

“You can stay.” The voice interrupts his internal panic, and he looks over to find Jon studiously avoiding his gaze, staring hard at a neighboring bush. Martin wonders what caused his sudden change of heart. “But you have to sit on the other side. And don’t talk to me.”

Jonathan Sims and Martin Blackwood meet as children. Some things change, others do not.

i'm almost me again, you're almost you by gruhukens [G] [12k]

After a second Jon steps in towards him, close enough that Martin flinches, but all Jon does is put two fingers under his chin with his free hand and raise it until Martin can’t duck away. Jon has never touched him so casually before – at least, not until today, and it raises a lot of thoughts and feelings that Martin is trying very hard not to process.

Much like a lot of other things that have happened, he thinks. Not that it’s horrible or terrifying or numbing like everything else has been: it’s just another thing on the list of things he doesn’t have the capacity to deal with.

---

In the wake of the Lonely, there's a lot that Martin doesn't really want to think about.

hello my old heart by firebirdsuite [T] [15.8k]

Peter’s wrong, of course. When it’s all over, Martin does still want to tell Jon everything. It’s just—well, there’s a few things they need to work through first before they can get there.

Martin and Jon find each other again in Scotland.

Over 20k

The Kindness of Strangers by TheOestofOCs [M] [23k]

It was easier to treat Jon like a monster when he wasn’t shivering against his back, brokenly humming—wait, was that…

“Are you trying to do ‘Hey, Jude’?” Tim demanded.

Jon stopped, stiffening. “Mm hrmh mm mmh hm,” he said defensively.

“You really can’t hold a tune, can you, boss?”

*

It was just an ordinary walk to a restaurant. Tim had insisted that if they were going to talk, there would be no tape recorders or weird Archives ghosts listening in. A bit of fresh air wouldn’t kill him, Tim had said. What could go wrong?

By the time Jon spots the white delivery van, it’s much too late.

The Stranger kidnaps Jon. Tim comes along for the ride.

Misjudged by ShastaFirecracker [T] [36.5k]

Martin's been a longtime listener of What the Ghost, so when Georgie gives a shoutout to her flatmate's Twitch channel during a Q&A, he checks it out - only to discover that her flatmate is also his most terrifying coworker at his new job. The first time they crossed paths, Jon yelled at him for incompetence. But on the streams, Martin sees an entirely different person - someone fun and relaxed, engaging and unfairly attractive. Over time, Martin begins to find that Jon buried inside his dour, awkward coworker. He also learns to live with the fact that his crush is painfully one-sided... or is it?

if we make it through the night everyone is gonna hear us (Series) by skvadern [Ratings Vary] [42.4k]

In which Sasha survives the NotThem (with a little help from a certain Distortion) and she and Jon spend s2 working together to try and make sense of everything that's happening to them. It goes...interestingly

the garden of forking paths by bibliocratic [T] [49.7k]

Whatever he had predicted might happen, Jon wasn't expecting to survive upon demolishing the Panopticon. He certainly wasn't expecting to be rescued.

Instead, he wakes up in an alternative universe where he's never been the Archivist, and Martin Blackwood doesn't exist.

Martin Blackwood wakes up somewhere else entirely.

it's only forever by lady_mab [T] [50.9k]

“The castle at the center of the labyrinth,” Jon breathes, recalling again the words from one of the past conversations with Martin. “He’s there.”

“Turn back, Jonathan,” the Goblin King says, and Jon is surprised to hear a slight edge of desperation in the tone. “Turn back before it’s too late.”

“I can’t,” Jon answers with the same tone. “You know that I can’t.”

The Goblin King’s grin is gone completely, and he regards Jon with a degree of pity before that melts into resignation.

Yesterday is Here by CirrusGrey [T] [53.3k]

"Who the hell are you?" Jon could feel his hands shaking. The man laughed, taking a step forward and raising a hand to point at him. "I'm you, from the future!" he said, then swayed, eyes going unfocused, and collapsed to the floor in a dead faint. -------- Post-season-four Jon and Martin time travel back to the season one Archives.

A Home For What Loves You by TheWrongShop [T] [151k]

It was completely fine that Jon was following up on this very normal, non-supernatural statement at midnight on a Friday. He was going to find nothing at all, and then he was going to go home and sleep for fourteen straight hours and feel absolutely no qualms about moving case #0150409 directly into the filing cabinet marked "discredited".

Or; Jon and Martin end up investigating Carlos Vittery's basement and finding the entity formerly known as Jane Prentiss together.

RATED E *MINORS DNI*

A Look And A Voice by cuttooth [E] [6.9k]

“Do you want to have sex with me?” Jon asks bluntly, and for a second Martin can’t breathe.

“It - it doesn’t matter what I - ” he begins valiantly, before Jon interrupts him.

“Because I want to have sex with you, and frankly it doesn’t matter if you think it’s for the wrong reasons. I’m an adult. I can make my own decisions. The only thing that matters is if you want to as well.”

*

Martin meets a guy in a bar and takes him home.

Warms The Coldest Night by cuttooth [E] [11k]

"Flame that warms the coldest night Bring to us the waxing Light, Be with us on Solstice Night." Gypsy - Bring Back The Light

There is mistletoe hanging in the doorway to the Archives when Jon gets in.

Curiosity by ShastaFirecracker [E] [11.6k]

“You know that conversation we had the other day about how one of the most important things for queer youth to learn is that it's okay to change their minds, because identity and self-discovery are always fluid?”

Behind him, Martin slipped oven mitts over his hands and pulled open the oven door. The scent of garlic and rosemary flooded the kitchen. “Yeah?” he said.

“I, um... I'd like to revisit the topic of sex.”

At the Interim (Series) by Rend_Herring [E] [41k]

A Measure Outside the Lines and The Residuum

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A collection of Jon/Tim/Martin fics

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Martin is the proprietor and manager of a very discrete and fairly exclusive brothel situated between Belgravia and Chelsea. Blackwood House excels at special requests and pleasing any client.

Except for Jon, who probably has never been pleased a day in his entire life.

Despite that, he still comes back. It eventually begs the question: how do you solve a problem like Jon Sims?

[lizwontcry]

This is for @hanilecter who asked for "how about some angry post-betrayal smut?💖" Welllll this turned into a holiday party with some smut thrown in set somewhere between phone sex and dick pic-gate (depressing that that's what we get to define their relationship by now). Apologies for not sticking to the time period but I hope you'll dig it regardless.

The company "holiday party" is held at Logan and Marcia's apartment in the city this year. Marcia hired a party planner and it does look rather festive. Roman's plan is to have two drinks maximum, track down Shiv and annoy her into calling him some filthy names, and then get the fuck out of there and meet Tabitha at one of her annoying tall blonde people parties. She said she'd accompany him to the Waystar party but he figures he's subjected her to enough Roy family drama for a while.

Besides, he may or may not be looking forward to seeing someone else at this party tonight. Someone who may or may not have recently verbally abused him into an orgasm. Twice.

Roman does the rounds when he shows up (20 minutes late, to his father's annoyance). He kisses Marcia's cheek, shakes Tom's hand and tells Shiv she looks like a carrot that was aborted from its mother's roots, listens to Connor tell him about doing a podcast about... something he doesn't give a shit about, accidentally walks into a corner where Kendall is sticking his tongue down Naomi's throat.

Now he's checking out what food the evening has to offer. An attractive (what else) blonde is loading up her plate with more caviar than Roman has ever seen in his life.

"Hey, don't get me wrong, I like caviar as much as the next guy, but that's... you're gonna have diarrhea for like six months," Roman can't help but say. He's always so good at first impressions.

The blonde wrinkles her nose. It's a cute nose, though. "Thank you for the helpful tip. I just really fucking love caviar, okay? And I've been eating the bullshit food at my college's cafeteria for three months so excuse me if I'd like to enjoy the good stuff for tonight."

"Fair enough," Roman says, nodding. "I'm Roman, by the way."

"Katherine," she says, maneuvering her plate so she could shake his hand. "Hey, can you please grab me a beer? We can maybe sit down and you can watch me eat this."

"What a tempting invitation," Roman says. "Yeah, I'll grab you one."

He finds an Amstel Light in the kitchen and brings it over to Katherine. Watching her eat the caviar is as disgusting as he thought it would be but somehow also... charming. And hot.

"Hey, you look familiar, do I know you from somewhere?" Roman asks, taking a sip of his own beer.

"No, I don't think so. Maybe you just want to, like, want to know me," Katherine says, and he swears she winks at him. Well, okay. Perhaps he can sit here and chat with her for a little while longer--

"Katie? I've been looking all over for you, who are you talking--"

Roman and Gerri lock eyes, and Roman knows he's made a classic fuck-up, yet again.

"Oh, I'm pretending to flirt with Roman, Mom. Apparently he forgot that he's met me at least 12 times, and then somehow assumed that I didn't know who he was. What a fucking idiot," Katherine says, looking at him like the complete moron he is.

"Huh," Gerri says, giving Roman a look that makes him want to melt into the floor. "That's interesting."

"Yeah, I think he was about one sentence away from inviting me to an exciting game of Seven Minutes in Heaven."

"Now, wait a minute here--"

"Roman. Go away. I'll find you in a few minutes--we need to talk about those expense reports you sent me today."

"Oooh, Romie's in troubbbleee," Katherine sings cheerfully.

"Bitch," Roman mutters as he walks the fuck away.

Gerri finds him ten minutes later in the kitchen, stealing a bite of the apple pie that hasn't been served yet. Gerri grabs him by his tie and drags him into the nearest bathroom, where she slams the door and locks it. He has no idea what's happening but he's sure as fuck looking forward to finding out.

"So that's how you think you're going to get my attention? By flirting with my youngest daughter? What the hell is wrong with you, Roman?"

"Ger, come on, I swear I didn't know it was your daughter, I haven't seen her in so long, and what is she even doing in college, she's like 30--"

She pushes him against the linen closet. Roman decides now is not the best time to tell her how hot she looks in her green dress tonight and that one of her buttons has come undone and he can see right down to her dark blue bra. Especially when she starts to unbuckle his pants with extreme speed.

"Uh, Ger--"

"Shut the fuck up, Roman. You are a disgusting degenerate freak, aren't you? If I didn't find you when I did, you would have tried to take her home with you, right? You would, because you're a repugnant pile of rat shit."

He can't really respond because Gerri's hands is reaching into his pants now, and he gasps as her warm, stern hand wraps itself around his dick. And, uh, she really seems to know what she's doing as she strokes him not-so-gently.

She pushes him again and then kisses him hard, biting his lip in the process. Fuck. Fucking fuck. He is moaning like a... something that moans a lot.

"You're an obnoxious piece of shit, Roman. You're... repugnant. How do you even show your face at your father's party when you know you're just going to disappoint everyone?"

And... that does it. He comes all over her hand because he's just a gross moron. She nods in satisfaction and then finds a towel on the rack. After she washes her hands, she cleans him up gently, making him gasp a little from how good it feels to be tended to after being called every terrible name she can think of on the spot.

"Well. Hopefully that will teach you to stay away from my daughter."

"I don't know, Ger. I think that taught me I need to flirt with her at least once a day, maybe more."

She glares at him, but he can tell it's all for show. He won't tell her that, of course.

"I'm leaving now. Stay in here for five more minutes."

"You got it, boss," he says in a British accent for some reason.

"Idiot," she says, and then leaves.

Maybe he will stay for a while longer, after all.

[cg29fics]

Gone

Tagging 🔖 Sorry if I’ve missed anyone - If you would like to be tagged in these updates then please let me know and I’ll add you to the list: @janetm74 @drileyf @katblu42 @psychoseal @weirdburketeer @alexthefly @misstb2 @thundergeek59 @burningcowboyhoagietaco @dragonoffantasyandreality

6 Chapters Left: The complete fic is also available via FF.Net & A03 - CreativeGirl29

Previous. C48, Dreams.

Chapter 49. Visitor.

Jeff continued cradling Virgil in his arms until a short tap sounded at the door. Glancing round Jeff smiled at Doctor Gerry Sylvia when he entered the room. “Hey Gerry, how are you doing?”

“I’m good thanks, Hello Virgil.”

“Hi doc,” Virgil replied, wiping away his tears.

Gerry waited quietly while Jeff helped Virgil out of his arms, kissed him on the forehead, and then sat back in his seat. As soon as they were settled Gerry spoke. “We have you booked in for some scans tomorrow to see how well your shoulders healed, if that goes well then we can start physio. Also, I just saw the nurse, she said that you are going to try and eat something?”

“You are?” Jeff questioned.

Virgil nodded his response.

“Well, how would you like to have something to eat out of that bed?”

“That would be fantastic,” Virgil replied, “I’m fed up of lying around.”

“If you give me a couple of minutes then I’ll organise someone to come and help you out.”

… …

Twenty minutes later Scott, his grandmother and brothers returned to the ward room with Parker and Penelope alongside them, all of them coming to an instant stop when they saw Virgil propped up in a big comfy chair with some food in front of him.

“Wow, how long were we gone for?” Gordon asked.

“Not long,” Virgil grinned, taking another spoonful of soup.

Alan bounced over to Virgil and sat down on the bed. “It’s so good to see you eating.”

“Well, I don’t know if you could call this food,” Virgil responded, placing the spoon he had been using down.

Ruth looked at Virgil sternly. “Try and eat some more Virgil.”

Virgil shook his head. “I’ve had enough, thank you grandma.”

“You’ve only had 5 spoonful’s!” Jeff stated.

“Virgil, you need to eat some more!” Alan demanded.

“When did you become so bossy?” Virgil questioned.

“I’m not bossy,” Alan protested.

Virgil smirked. “Well I hate to say this bro, but you are kind of turning into Scott.”

“I’m not bossy!” Scott responded.

“Err, yes you are,” Alan replied, “but there’s no way I’m turning into you.”

Scott scrunched up his nose. “It’s not such a bad thing you know.”

“I’m not saying it is but…” Alan’s voice trailed off when he saw Virgil laughing at them both. “Wait, you see what he’s doing, right?”

“Yes, I do!” Scott exhaled loudly, frowning at Virgil he picked up the spoon and held it out towards him. “Now, stop trying to change the conversation and eat!”

“Yes, otherwise we will feed you ourselves!” Alan added.

Everyone started laughing at Scott’s and Alan’s response while Virgil took the spoon and reluctantly started eating again.

… …

Half an hour later the door crept open and Maria Andrews peeked inside. “Hi, is it okay if I come in?”

“Of course,” they all responded.

“How are you Virgil?”

“Better than I have been.”

“That’s good,” she smiled.

“You’re not back at work already, are you?” Ruth questioned.

“No,” she reassured them, “I’ve been offered some time off, with the offer of full pay this time, so I’ve decided to take it… I just wanted to see you all before heading back home, I heard about what happened after I was arrested, and wanted to say thank you for believing that I didn’t do it.”

“No problem,” Jeff smiled.

“If you hadn’t of followed your instincts then I would have still been in jail and I dread to think what would have happened to my brothers. I don’t know what I would do if I lost them.”

“I can understand that!” Scott replied, placing his hand in Virgil’s. “We heard about your brothers being injured a while back, how are they?”

“They are okay, thank you. They’ve had some tough times but we’ve all got through it together… Personally, I’m just glad they are alive. Like yourselves I have International Rescue to thank.”

“International Rescue?” Jeff commented, trying to deflect the awkward looks everyone was giving each other.

“When Virgil was first brought in, Doctor Sylvia told us that International Rescue had helped save him and brought him here.”

“Yes, they did,” Jeff replied, remembering the cover story Gerry had used.

“And they helped your brothers?” Ruth questioned innocently.

“Well, unfortunately the way my family had been buried by the landslide meant that they hadn’t been found until quite late but thanks to their hard work my brothers were eventually discovered and rescued.”

“They sound like great guys,” Penny commented, trying not to laugh at all five boys trying to hide their slightly reddening faces.

Maria nodded. “Yes, they are, one of them even stayed with my mother when she passed away.”

Scott glanced at Virgil who had been the one who had remained. “He sounds really brave!”

Virgil rolled his eyes at Scott’s remark.

“Yes, he is… They all are,” Maria commented, “I’ve heard they are not currently performing rescues. I really hope it’s nothing too serious.”

Virgil smiled at her warmly. “I’m sure everything is okay and whatever problem they had is over. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are back on duty really soon!”

Everyone bit their lips trying not to laugh at Virgil’s remark.

“I hope so,” Maria replied, not noticing their reactions. “Anyway, I’ve got to go… Thank you again.”

Everyone said their goodbyes to Maria, once she had left the room Scott turned to Virgil and shook his head. “You are so subtle!”

“She’s right though,” Virgil stated, “International Rescue needs to continue.”

“But you need us,” Gordon remarked.

“Both the Hood and Sanderson are in prison… And I’m okay.”

Scott shook his head. “You’re not though Virg. You’ve been struggling, and you need our support.”

“We need to continue operating or the Hood will get what he wanted, and someone might need our help.”

“You don’t need to worry Virgil. Brains is monitoring the systems, if anybody does need help then he’s been passing the information on to local rescue services and there’s not been any major incidents,” Jeff informed him.

“But how would we all feel if the rescue services couldn’t make it in time, or a major disaster happened that needed our specialised equipment. Someone out there could lose a family member… I don’t need rescuing anymore but others still do… The world needs International Rescue!”

Next: C50

[natromanxoff]

Mercury Roadrunner's Interview about Freddie Mercury with Peter Freestone – Part I

Thanks very much to Mercury Roadrunner (Pavel Strashnyy) for letting me share his amazing interviews! Originally shared here. Check the tag "MR interview with Phoebe" to see the other parts.

Here are the 5 topics of this interview, beginning of each topic is written in bold:

1. Live Aid

2. The Works tour

3. "Mr. Bad Guy" album and recording period

4. "Heaven For Everyone", Freddie's habits about listening to music, opinions on Madonna, Montserrat

5. Swimming and memories about Los Angeles, Ibiza, Japan

Mercury Roadrunner: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We welcome you to the unofficial Russian Queen fan club special program. You can find our website at www.vk.com/queenrocks. I am knownn as Mercury Roadrunner. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Queen. And I’m very happy to say that this evening we have a very, very special guest here with us, and it is an opera critic, a book lover, biographer and writer, and close friend, confident and personal assistant of Freddie Mercury, Mr Peter Freestone. Hello, Peter. How are you? Peter Freestone: Hi. I am… okay. I’m good, I’m good. What can I say? I’m good. PS: You are good and you are very happy to join the other Queen fans who would be very happy to hear you finally talking. And the first topic is about your personal memories. It’s a historic date but what are your own personal memories of 13th of July, the Live Aid day, what were your feelings in general on that day? PF: For me, I suppose, it was just another show… [laughs] PS: Really? PF: Because I worked for Freddie and he was going to do a show. I didn’t separate that from all the other performers that were going to be there, that made it such an incredible day. And not only in London, when they were also performing in America as well at the same time. When the satellite was showing something from London, then it showed something from Philadelphia, then back to London again. So to say, for me it was… another day. It wasn’t even as though there were such a big show because we’d played stadiums in South America. So, it wasn’t the size of the audience. I suppose, when it really struck me what was happening was when the band went onto stage. And the roar from the crowd was absolutely amazing. Again, it wasn’t so different from normal shows because they’d actually rehearsed for their twenty minutes. You know, there was four days’ rehearsal. So to say, it was normal, it was normal work, it was a short show. But then, thing is, it was in daylight and Freddie could actually see the audience. And from the back of the stage, we could look through holes in the back, you know, the screen in the back. And we could see what the band could see. And… then it sort of struck me that, actually, this is something very special. And then I was really so very, very proud of them. At the end of their set, when, again, the audience reaction was indescribable. What they had done in those twenty minutes, they had picked up the whole audience, shook it around and put them back down again. PS: Indeed. PF: So, yeah, that was what I felt. PS: And do you remember some of Freddie’s jokes, maybe, during the day, the way he interacted with other superstars, like David Bowie or others? PF: The thing is, he [Freddie] was just one person amongst his peers, you know. All of the bands were names, they were bands. And the thing I have found, and this goes all the way – the real professionals are the most normal, approachable people on earth. It’s the wannabes who have the attitude of “Don’t you know who I am?” and who behave like stars, because stars behave like human beings. Real stars, they can be just like the rest of us. There was a time when Freddie just wanted to be on his own, you know, with just his friends, with his group of people. But I mean, there’s a few photographs of him chatting with various people, like Elton John and David Bowie. I remember seeing them with him, and Adam Ant. And, of course, he had friends along; I think Wayne Sleep was there as well. In his life, he [Freddie] needed people around him that made him laugh. And so, he still had that. David Bowie and he had been friends for so long. Elton [and he] had been friends for even longer. So, it was actually a chance for them to sit and catch up rather than, you know, being in front of the world press. They liked to spend time on their own, you know, talking to each other, really talking, not putting on a show. PS: So, I imagine that backstage on that day Freddie felt pretty much joyful and relaxed, right? PF: Yeah, on the day of the show, I never really saw Freddie nervous…

because, the thing is, it was too late by then [to be nervous]. You know, there was no point in being nervous anymore because the show was going to go on whether you were nervous or not. So, why be nervous? Just, you know, get on and do the show, enjoy yourself. PS: And do you remember, where did the idea of Freddie and Roger joining the Band Aid on stage in the final song, “Do They Know It’s Christmas”, came from? Or was it totally a spontaneous idea for them to join the others? PF: I think the idea at that point was that anybody who was around, who would stay on to the end – because don’t forget the show had started in the afternoon, so not everybody was going to be waiting – but then anybody who was left, who wanted to join, could go and join. There was no strict “You must do this, you have to do this, you have to be there”. It’s “If you want to, by all means come and do it.” PS: And we even have a picture of both of you, Freddie and you, on that day when Freddie wears a white shirt for “Is This The World That We Created”, and you stand right next to him and it’s a beautiful picture. PF: And Queen were the only band that actually kept their dressing room. Because all the other bands had to vacate their dressing room half an hour after they’d performed, so that the next band could come and use it. But because Brian and Freddie were performing “Is This The World That We Created” at the end, they got to keep their dressing room from the time they arrived. [laughs] PS: So they spent the rest of the day after the show in their dressing room? PF: Well, in or around their dressing room, yes. PS: They, like, had their Royal Queen place there. PF: That’s it. Anybody else had to go into the Hard Rock Café. There had to be a tent, you know, hospitality tent there. And most people ended up in there because they were not allowed into their dressing rooms, they didn’t have dressing rooms after that. So… that also helped Freddie relax. [laughs] PS: Like, his little bit of his own, right? PF: Yes. PS: All right. So, the second topic is about you, Peter. And you are credited as a “band party” member on The Works tour. Can you please clarify what a band party meaning is? Because I am assuming it’s like an entourage but it will be nice to hear the expanded definition from you. PF: Yeah, the band party, I think, was about ten or twelve people. It was the band members, their assistants – me, Chris Taylor was there, and Paul Prenter was there. If Jim Beach was on the tour at the time, he would have been part of the band party too. And some of the time Gerry Stickells was there. But often he would be ahead, making sure that everything was ready for when the band arrived. But that was it. There was about ten people. And there were baggage tags for each member of the band party. That’s why I know because I had Number 9, I think. And there were about twelve, I think, altogether, because at one point at the beginning I used to have to collect the band party baggage, so that’s why I always knew which were, even though I wouldn’t know whose bag was what. It would have one of these crew tags on it, so I just picked up and I knew that there were going to be twenty bags, so I just picked the twenty bags. But they were easy to identify because of these tags. PS: I see. And what is your own favourite memory about The Works tour and about this time, like, 1984, 1985? Maybe the Rio shows? PF: Yeah, I mean Rio was… amazing. The feeling from that crowd… you know, something like 350,000 people. Oh, you can’t beat that. And when you’re flying in a helicopter over that crowd, it was stunning. But the thing is, I know this sounds really, really stupid but [laughs]… one thing I will always, always remember from that tour was, remember, in the back of the stage you had these wheels that turned every now and then, not constantly but just every now and then. That was because there was… the guy looking after Roger’s drums and me who actually turned those wheels. And there was no set cue or anything that, “Oh, it has to start on this bar, on this song.” No, it

was when he wasn’t doing anything and I wasn’t doing anything, we’d say “Ok, let’s go and do it.” And we turned the wheels for a couple of minutes and then left them alone. He had then to do something for Roger and I would just sit there like I always did. And then you’d go back and you’d turn the wheels, like a hamster. We were like hamsters… So, that’s my memory of The Works tour. PS: And how technically did you operate those wheels? How was it possible? PF: With your hands. You just grabbed hold, you know, because it was like cogs on a wheel, and you just grabbed hold of them. Because we would be behind, I mean, I was always on John Deacon’s side, so I was hidden behind his bass setup. And you just pulled on the cogs because the whole wheel was on a metal axle and you just held there and you just pulled it down. PS: And the wheels actually were the real wheels, the big ones, right? PF: The very big ones in the back that moved, yeah. And they were made of, I think, polystyrene and plywood. So they weren’t very heavy. PS: So it was, like, actually you taking a part in the show, like, directing this? PF: Yes, I mean, you know, this is how things used to work in the old days before half of you were born. [laughs] You had to use your hands. I don’t think that a Queen tour as it is now is manual anymore. Everything is “push buttons” in it. PS: Yes, so it was indeed like the works, you had to work to make it work, right? PF: Yes, but nobody knew that’s how it works. They just saw these wheels turning every now and then. PS: It’s like a kind of magic indeed… PF: Yes, this was the whole thing with the Queen show – that people saw things happening but didn’t try and think “Oh, how do they do that?” If I see a big show now, I just think “How do they do that?” You’re not listening to the music anymore, you’re thinking “How do they get this to move? How do they get that?” But in the old days, you never did that, you just saw it move and it was part of the show. PS: You were just enjoying it, you didn’t have the time to analyse it. PF: Yeah. PS: I see. That’s a great memory, Peter. So, the third topic is about Freddie’s solo album, “Mr. Bad Guy” Freddie firstly wanted to name his solo album Made In Heaven and he even mentions that title in an interview with David Wigg. Why did he later decide to call it Mr Bad Guy? PF: I think he felt that Mr Bad Guy represented him more than Made In Heaven. And the lyrics to that song, everything. It sort of was very much about him. I think that’s why it changed. I actually love that song because it is real orchestra on it. And I was in the studio. I mean, it’s not a massive studio, so what they had to do, they had to record each section, so the strings section was there and recorded all their parts. And they went out. And woodwind recorded all their parts. Then brass recorded their parts. Then timpani came in and recorded. You know, they could not do everything together, so it was actually really quite complicated. But the end result, I think, is great. It reminds me very, very much of “The Carnival of the Animals”, the old classical piece. That was written by Camille Saint-Saëns. But that is what I’m immediately reminded of when I listen to “Mr Bad Guy”, you know. [starts to hum the song] You know, all the different pieces of the orchestra doing it, repeating it. Now, that for me is my favourite part. PS: I also enjoy it, I adore it. It’s truly a work of art from Freddie. PF: Yes, definitely, definitely. And I agree with him because it does represent him, multifaceted. You know, you never expect… He never gives you something that you expect. He always gives you something that will surprise you. PS: Yes. And why bad guy, why do you think Mr Bad Guy? Why bad? PF: Because… anytime in the press, there was never anything saying what a lovely man he is. So why not live up to his reputation? PS: Yes, it’s like “Yes, I’m everybody’s Mr Bad Guy,” yes. PF: Yes, this is it. This is what people want to believe, so this is what I will be. PS: Yes. And why do you think his first title was exactly not some

other track title but exactly “Made In Heaven”? Why was his first idea about exactly this song, to call the album this way? PF: I don’t know, I really cannot answer that one for you. I don’t know why he thought of that. Maybe he thought that would be the most popular track. A very popular track. PS: Yeah, it’s a hit song, totally remindful, yeah. And what was Freddie mostly like during the recording? What’s your favourite memory of him in this period? PF: That’s a lot more difficult because it was a difficult time. Munich. It took him far too long to create it. In the end, he was more interested in going out and spending time with Barbara Valentin than he was in creating work. I mean, the amount of time… he would turn up in the studio at two o’clock. Because he always turned up at two o’clock. It was pointless staying or coming at ten because he wouldn’t. And the thing is, it’s a singer’s voice, he’s not really ready to use [it] until later on in the afternoon. Once he’s warmed up properly and everything else. But the thing is, by four o’clock the phone would be ringing and Barbara was bored, so Freddie would run over and go out with her. So it was hard. And sometimes it felt like he was forcing himself to enjoy himself. Because he also felt bad, because he knew he should have been working, but he was letting his arm be twisted very, very, very easily. Yeah, I mean, okay, yes, he did enjoy himself when he was with Barbara, but he also had in the back of his mind that he was supposed to be working. PS: But the final result, I think, is totally great, he’s so much presented there. PF: It wasn’t the commercial success that people were expecting, but I think Freddie was happy with it in the end. PS: Yeah, it’s, like, his self-portrait songs. PF: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It got that music out of his system so that when he was back with Queen he was thinking more of the band stuff than, you know, things that the band would be happy with and just him happy with. Also, the thing is, Freddie did miss the rest of the band. He would never admit it but if you listen to some of the instrumentals on some of his solo tracks you could imagine Brian playing the guitar, you could imagine John playing the bass. You know, he missed having the band around him. PS: I see, I see. Even though it was his only first experience as his solo work, he already missed the other boys. PF: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because the thing is, all his recording before Mr. Bad Guy had always been with other people around. You know, even when he was producing the Peter Straker album, he had friends around him doing things. This was him on his own and it was all on his shoulders. PS: Yeah, and he worked on this album perfectly, it’s absolutely a masterpiece, yeah. So, the fourth topic is about Freddie’s and Roger’s connection. There is a story that Freddie heard Roger’s song “Heaven For Everyone” and he liked it so much that he wanted to sing it, and in the end The Cross, Roger Taylor’s band, released a version with Freddie’s vocals on it. And do you remember, had Freddie ever listened to Roger’s solo albums at home? PF: Freddie didn’t really listen to very much of anybody’s music at home. The only thing I remember... well, okay, yes, I remember putting on videos of Prince. But, musically, we would put on, we would buy every one that came out. It was a series of CD’s and albums, of course, before the CD’s, Now That’s What I Call Music. And what it would be, would be the sort of top hits of two months or something. And they would all be on Now That’s What I Call Music 1, then Now That’s What I Call Music 2. I think it’s on to Now That’s What I Call Music 373 at the moment. I don’t know. That was the music that he would put on, it was the music of the time. Because, you know, for his own music, for Queen music, that was work for him. And what concerns Freddie listening to Roger’s albums - probably what it would’ve been he would’ve listened to it when he and Roger met up. But it wouldn’t necessarily be at home they would put on the album. They would meet up and Roger would say,

“Oh, you must hear, listen to this, you have to hear this. This is something I’ve been working on,” you know, that sort of thing. PS: I see. And, you mentioned Freddie enjoying Prince, and it connects me with the fifth topic and it’s about the musician of the same age as Prince and it’s, like, a connection of Freddie Mercury from Queen and the Queen of Pop who is known as Madonna. What was Freddie’s attitude to Madonna? Because it’s almost impossible to imagine that he never ever mentioned her or never talked about her. PF: He admired her as… a woman surviving and winning in basically a man’s world. Yeah, because she was a power. And for that he admired her. Some of the music he quite liked. But there’s also the other side of the coin. Freddie, for all he was, had one security with him whenever he went out or everything. And Freddie felt that Madonna was actually attracting attention to herself rather than protecting herself. When she would go running in Hyde Park with ten security, you know, he said, “If she went with one person, people wouldn’t even notice her, but because she’s got ten people around her, then the whole world is going to notice. And you are best safe not like that but if you have just one person.” So, I mean, for that side he didn’t understand her thinking, but for her musical acumen and for her performance he thought she was fine, she was good. PS: And what is your personal attitude to Madonna? Do you like her? PF: Again, some of the things she’s done I think are very, very good. I don’t know, the more recent stuff I’m not so keen on. But all the first ten years or whatever of her stuff, I loved it. Yeah. Because, again, she never copied, she always did her own thing, and she never repeated herself. And I love originality. PS: And what is your own favourite memory about Freddie and Montserrat, Barcelona story in general? PF: I suppose it would have to be the actual recording of “Barcelona” because that was the first track that was completed. Freddie had sent Montserrat a tape giving her a guide vocal. Mike Moran had written out the music for her and sent it. So when she came in, when she arrived, she was fully, fully prepared for what was going to happen. But I remember being with Freddie after she’d done the first tape of her vocals for Barcelona, and… there were almost, almost, I mean, there were tears down his face. He was saying, “I now have the greatest voice in the world singing my music.” And that will always stay with me, always. PS: I see, so it was, like, very deep for him. And what is your favourite memory of Montserrat as a person? PF: Ah, a lot of memories. I went to pick her up at the airport, took her to the hotel, I would go and meet her at the hotel, go with her to the studio, all of that sort of things. And I was only in the studio when Montserrat was there. And when she was actually putting her vocal tracks down, the track was basically finished. I saw her so many times after the recording as well. You know, I went to see different performances of her. And it was because of her that I was actually at the Palais Garnier in Paris. You know, the opera house in Paris. Because she actually did an AIDS Gala there. And she invited me to go. I think… her laughter. It’s just like Freddie’s. Because whenever people ask me what’s my first memory, what is the memory that first comes to my mind of Freddie, and it’s always him laughing. And it’s the same with her. Whether she’s just finished a performance or actually when she’s doing a recital or a concert. And during her encores, she is always giggling and laughing. Amazing giggle. Because she likes to bring the audience in during the encores. And she’s got this infectious giggle. She invited me to the first night ever of her performing Isolde in “Tristan and Isolde” in Barcelona. And talking with her afterwards, I said, “You must know how wonderful it is for me to be coming here, to be seeing it, to be listening to you.” And she says, “Of course, you’re part of the family.” So, that really has always stuck with me. PS: So, the next topic for

today is Freddie spending time just making any kind of normal activities. And the question is firstly about his swimming skills – could Freddie actually swim, and if yes, did he enjoy it? PF: I never saw him swim. Never. I don’t know if he could swim. I’ve often thought about that and I never saw it. He didn’t… thinking about it, we went on a motor boat when we were at Pike’s hotel in Ibiza one time. And he didn’t look the most comfortable. So, I really don’t know if he could actually swim. I never saw him in a swimming pool or anything like that. Even when there was a swimming pool around, I never saw him in it. PS: But speaking of other activities, for example, you mentioned your staying at Pike’s hotel, he liked to play tennis there, right? PF: Yes. And, of course, when he was younger he was very good at table tennis. So, yeah, he enjoyed tennis. When we were living together with Freddie in Los Angeles, in that house, there was a tennis court as well and he played there a few times. PS: I see. And what are your other memories of Los Angeles? PF: Los Angeles. Also I remember in Los Angeles it was in L’Ermitage hotel when Queen were designing the Hot Space album cover there. They were there, maybe, even rehearsing for a tour or something. That’s the hotel I was staying in at that time. It was just this concrete glass and… stainless steel… and chrome. It was a very, very modern hotel. I remember, there were all band members, I was there, Chris Taylor was there, Paul Prenter was there. And they were throwing ideas around. And that’s where Freddie came up with the colours. “That’s the hot space, the space is the colours, hot colours.” PS: Ah, so it has something to do with image, with colour as you see it… PF: Yeah, yeah, yeah. PS: The hot like the bright one, right? A definitive one. PF: Yeah, yeah. PS: And he drew, like, a draught of the cover, right? Because he is credited as designer. PF: They were talking about which colours and then who would be which colour and then what they would put on each colour. You know, when they started talking about, not necessarily a profile but just picking out the aspects that people recognize from each artist, like Brian and his hair, Freddie and his moustache, you know, that sort of thing. PS: And so, each member chose the colour for himself by his own, right? PF: Yeah, yeah, yeah. PS: And how do you think, why Freddie chose the red colour? PF: Because it’s the colour that sticks out the most, although red was not his favourite colour, his favourite colour was yellow. But red is the one that you first look at. If you look at every sale, you know, big sale signs and everything, it’s always red on white. Because red is the colour you notice more. Apparently, whether it’s true or not, I don’t know, but in the old days police stopped more red cars than any other car. PS: Oh, really? PF: Yeah. Just psychologically red is the colour that stands out. PS: And Freddie being so outstanding wanted to strike everybody. PF: Yeah. PS: I see. And you mentioned Freddie and you spending time at Pike’s hotel. And what is also your personal favourite memory of this time. PF: I suppose the swimming pool was actually something nice. To actually think that we were in the swimming pool where Wham had recorded “Club Tropicana”. I mean, yeah, Pike’s. It was a nice hotel. They treated you well. They treated you personally, you know, they took care of you. And so it was a nice place. You really felt well-treated. PS: And what was, like, the top of the top on Freddie’s 41st birthday? What are your memories? PF: The most ridiculous thing is when guests went off into a corner and started smoking, so they weren’t smoking at the table and set light to the decorations. There were all these paper decorations hanging down the walls and everything. And people were there smoking and not looking at what they were doing, and they set light to them with their cigarettes. And then they started throwing alcohol to try and, you know, because it was wet they thought they would put the flames out. I mean, some people are not

very, very bright. [laughs] PS: I see. And what was your favourite memory of his previous one birthday, in 1986, the hat party? PF: Now, the hat party was a one-off, there was no other party quite like that, in Garden Lodge. Not with two hundred and something guests. Because the thing is, the thing that I loved about the fact was that nothing was put away. None of his vases or, you know, anything was put on tables. All the antiques and everything. Everything was left there. Because, okay, there were two hundred people but he actually knew them. He knew he could trust them. PS: And what was it like for him when he arrived back from his magnificent journey to Japan? PF: The thing is, it extended because he was then back home opening up all the packages that had arrived and the crates that had arrived. Because everything was sent over as soon as he bought it. So, the big room, the small room. Everything, all the rooms were full. And these, he had twelve of them. So, it was like Christmas. You know, a six-week Christmas. Because he was away enjoying himself and then opening up and putting it all around the house. PS: So, he was actually in Japan for six weeks, right? PF: No, no, he was in Japan, I think, for about three weeks. But then when he came back, he had three weeks of opening up and putting them all out. PS: So, he had a chance to enjoy his presents one more time, like, actually having them all. PF: Precisely, precisely. PS: So, it was, like, double joy – first to buy it and then to enjoy it at home. PF: Yes, yeah, yeah. PS: And mostly he bought antiques, right? PF: Yeah, I mean, he did actually buy some modern porcelain and things, but almost everything was antique. Almost everything. PS: I see. It was indeed a magic year for him. The Magic tour and the magic holiday… PF: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Definitely. PS: I see, I see. So, as we are ending our first part by now, I’m saying to you a very, very big thank you, Peter. It’s amazing to hear all these stories about Freddie. PF: It’s been a pleasure, it’s a pleasure. SPECIAL THANKS TO VALUREX FOR CONTRIBUTION AND ASSISTENCE TO BE CONTINUED