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dialovers-translations · 3 years

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DIABOLIK LOVERS DAYLIGHT Vol.7 Mukami Ruki [TRACK 5 + EPILOGUE]

Original title: 生きた意味 + エピローグ

Source: Diabolik Lovers Daylight Vol. 7 Mukami Ruki

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Takahiro Sakurai

Translator’s note: THANK YOU REJET. T _ T Finally another Daylight CD which has the balls to include a bittersweet ending, rather than just fixing everything with the power of love uwuwuwu. I’m all for the cute/fluffy stuff, but this approach just seems so much more...realistic? Also the OST which plays during the final few minutes of the final track is so beautiful, it literally brought tears to my eyes.

Track 1 ll Track 2 ll Track 3 ll Track 4 ll Track 5 + Epilogue

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TRACK 5: ONE’S PURPOSE IN LIFE

Ruki enters the room.

*Thud*

[00:11] “You’ve been awake? Perfect. We got a letter from Kou and the others. Do you want to read it now?”

You nod.

“Here you go.”

*Rustle*

*Flip*

He takes a seat next to you on the bed.

*Creaak*

[00:31] “Kou will be starring in a TV drama, it says. It’s only for one episode, but he seems to have landed a pretty good role. They attached a picture with the letter as well. Apparently Yuma and Azusa worked together to plant new vegetables. All you can see on the photo is the soil for now, but I suppose they really wanted to show us.”

You smile, glad to know the others are doing well.

“Yeah, it seems like there’s much change on their part. The vegetables may have started sprouting by the time Kou makes his TV appearance. Perhaps we could think about paying them a visit then.”

You promise to try and grow stronger by then.

[01:16] “Exactly. First you need to build up some stamina to do that. I’ll go get your food. You can sit back and read the letter, okay?”

Ruki gets up.

*Cling*

“...What’s wrong?”

You frown and look at the floor.

“Your ring? Did you drop it? ...One second.”

*Cling*

[01:45] “Don’t worry, I found it. ...I see, I suppose it’s a bit loose around your finger now that they’ve become thinner. It’d be bad if it were to fall off again and you lose it. I’ll try and think of a solution, so in the meantime, take good care of it, okay?”

You frown.

“Is something the matter…?”

You refuse to take the ring back.

“What are you saying?”

You tell him you no longer need the ring because you will lose it anyway.

[02:18] “Stop that. Don’t be saying such ridiculous things and take it back already. It’s pointless if you don’t keep it on you.”

You once again refuse.

“Absolutely not!”

He confronts you.

[02:36] “This ring is a symbol...A symbol of our promise to never leave each other’s side. That’s what we vowed, remember? ...Even if it is time to say goodbye, that promise will remain unchanged. Therefore, I will not allow you to let go of it. You must have it on you until the very end. ...Understood?”

*Rustle*

“I’ll look around for a chain of some sorts after our meal. I doubt you’ll lose it if you hang it around your neck.”

He leaves the room.

*TIMESKIP*

Ruki walks up to the mailbox.

[03:33] “I doubt it will take very long to get to them. Oh well...I suppose it will be timed perfectly. ーー Please, may you somehow be able to forgive me for disobeying you...Karlheinz-sama.”

*Cling*

“...Haah. It looks like it will rain tonight.”

He walks away.

*TIMESKIP*

Ruki enters their room and takes a seat.

*Rustle*

[04:25] “...Yeah. I’m right here. I’m sorry for leaving you by yourself. I stepped out for a second to go post the letter for Kou and the others.”

You raise a brow.

“I mailed it. While I would usually simply have my Familiars deliver it to them, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to do it the human-way for once. I took care of everything on my to-do list. Now I can stay by your side all the time, so rest assured.”

[04:59] “Hm? Hold on. I’ll move a little closer.”

*Creaak*

“What’s wrong? If there’s something you want me to do, you can ask me anything.”

You speak up.

“I was wondering why you were being so serious, but please don’t say things like ‘when I die’, it’s a bad omen. ...Besides, ‘don’t follow me’...? Why would you suddenly bring that up?”

You point towards your ring.

[05:33] “The ring…?”

You explain.

“So you were going to return it after all. By doing so, it would render our vow null. However, I refused. Is that why?”

You frown.

“I guess...You really do know what I’m thinking after all.”

You sigh.

“...So you want to go alone?”

You nod.

[06:08] “I thought both of us were equally scared of losing the person we love, and ending up all alone as a result? Yet, you don’t want me to follow you in death?’

You tell Ruki that you want him to live on for the both of you.

“Ah...You’re so unfair. ...Okay.”

You perk up and lift your hand.

“Yeah. I promise I won’t do such a thing.”

Ruki grabs hold of your hand.

“Haah…So please...Rest assured?”

…

[07:08] ( Kou, Yuma, Azusa. I can only assume the three of you will be rather surprised to suddenly receive this letter. However, I simply had no other choice but to wait to inform you of the following. I can very much imagine your faces turning pale as this message will - quite literally - cause an outburst of emotion. ...Looking back, I think I may have clung onto the concept of life for the longest time. That’s exactly why I decided to continue living on as a Vampire that day. There were nights where I found myself wondering if there was a point in doing so. I should have long known just how cruel and heartless this world can be. For what reason did I decide to prolong my life on this earth? However...There was a point. Right now, I strongly believe there was. To meet her, and spend our lives together. I lived all for the sake of that short period of time we shared. Therefore, now that I am close to losing her, it only feels fit for me to head towards the end as well.

[08:34] Let me be very clear, this is not an act of despair. If I dedicated my life to her, then this only seems like the most natural outcome. I am a Vampire who abandoned their humanity, yet I vowed my eternal love for her to God, like a human would do. Back then, I had already made up my mind. Even if it was just a fake promise, I decided I would die alongside her, a mortal. I am well aware this betrays Karlheinz-sama’s goodwill. However, I can no longer go back on my decision. No matter who tries to stop me. )

*Rustle*

[09:33] “...Huh? Ah. It’s nothing. I was just thinking about my younger brothers for a bit.”

You wonder if they miss the two of you.

“You’re right. They might be feeling a little lonely right now. However, they aren’t children. They should be doing fine, even without me around. So don’t worry.”

It suddenly starts raining.

[10:10] “Just like I thought, it started pouring. However, I doubt the rain will last long. I’m sure it will have lifted...by morning.”

“Don’t say another word. You’re tired, aren’t you? You should get some sleep.”

[10:36] ( I can no longer...go back on my decision. ーー No matter who tries to stop me. I’m sure she has picked up on my plans as well. As of late, I spot her looking at me with vaguely worried eyes after all. Every time I wonder if today is the day she will bring it up to me. When that happens, I will lie to her.

[11:13] ‘Don’t worry. I promise I will continue to live on even without you.’ ー Just like that, I will feign obedience. If she were to know about this, I’m sure she would get mad and call me out for being horrible. It’s obvious she will only get even more upset if I respond with ‘But I thought you’d love all sides of me?’. However...That’s just the kind of guy I am. I can’t see a single reason to keep on living in a world where the woman I love no longer exists.

[11:54] I doubt you guys want me to pull the ‘big brother’ card on you right now but ーー I wish you all the best. You can quarrel every now and then, but don’t forget to always be there for each other, okay?

ーー I’m grateful to you guys. )

“...Are you afraid of closing your eyes?”

You nod.

[12:34] “I’m sure you must feel overwhelmed by fear, wondering whether you’ll ever open your eyes again. I can relate to that, so I understand completely how you feel.”

He wraps his arms around you.

*Rustle*

“No need to be scared. I’m right here with you. ...Even if I were to leave, it would only be for a short while. Once you open your eyes, I’ll be there in front of you again. ーー No matter where you find yourself waking up. I will come to see you at once. So...Don’t worry about a thing, and rest in peace…”

EPILOGUE

*Rustle*

[00:12] “...You’re done?”

You nod.

“I’m surprised you can still bring yourself to pray to God in your current situation. I mean, it’s up to you, of course.”

You frown.

[00:29] “As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a non-believer. I won’t deny that I have my own interpretation of the divine, but I don’t believe in God the same way you do. I’ve struggled more than enough to where I simply can’t bring myself to have faith in such. I might have believed at one point, but that’s a story of a distant past I can no longer even recall myself. Thereforeーー”

Ruki suddenly pulls you close.

*Rustle*

You squeak.

[01:04] “...I have no issue doing this either.”

You protest.

“Hmph. What’s the panic for? I’ve only wrapped my arms around your lower back.”

You tell him off for doing such a thing inside a Church.

“We had a church wedding, so I see no problem in us kissing in front of God, right? ...Am I wrong?”

You flinch.

“Yeah...Well, I do not care either way.”

*Smooch*

[01:39] “You won’t freak out this time? ...Seems like a kiss was fine after all. Which means you reacted so strongly earlier...because you were imagining more than just a kiss, perhaps?”

You grow flustered again.

“If that is what you want, I don’t mind going along for the ride, you know? Your complexion looks healthy today, so just a little should be fine.”

*Smooch*

“I don’t dislike the idea of showing off in front of that God who loves to hog your attention all for himself.”

You whine.

[02:22] “Hmph. Don’t make too much of a fuss, it’s bad for your health. I was just teasing you a little. Since I did make that vow before God back then, I will hold back for now. However, once we are back in our private room, I make those fantasies of yours come to live, so be prepared. If you are not being watched, I see no reason why you would reject me. Am I wrong? ーー I won’t push you, so rest assured. Although, I can’t guarantee anything if you choose to seek out my affection.”

“Come on, let’s go back.”

The two of you leave the Church.

[03:22] “...If he actually were real...”

You look up, asking Ruki to repeat himself since you didn’t quite hear him.

“No. I considered declaring war for a second, but I think I’ll scratch that idea. God doesn’t exist anyway.”

ーー THE END ーー

#diabolik lovers #dialovers #ruki mukami #diabolik lovers daylight #diabolik lovers translation #diabolik lovers drama cd #drama cd

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kumoriyami-xiuzhen · 3 years

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Hakuoki Yuugiroku 2 - Hijikata Chapter 5

This is my last post of the month, so I’ll end by asking you to please support me if you can through my ko-fi, and paypal or patreon which provides access to my hakuoki blog translations and early access to my postings. Also, please let me know if you have any hakuoki drama cds that you’d be willing to share that are on my Lookout List since i either do not have audio for those cds or do not have audio that I can share…. and if you are able to remove watermarks from a video, please contact me.

For some very strange reason, I decided to watch the xxxHolic stage. i mean, i don’t even remember the plot of the manga (or the last time i even read it for that matter), and since my understanding of spoken Japanese is worse than abysmal, I didn’t really understand what was going on so it probably wasn’t a good idea to watch in the first place... though in fairness, i just had it played in the background as I was mostly focusing on something else at the time. lol. yeah, im weird.

anyway, enjoy!

Hakuoki Yuugiroku 2 - Hijikata Chapter 5

Translation by KumoriYami

Yukimura: Pickles, and freshly brewed tea for Hijikta-san...... Nn.

There was steam wafting from the tea that had been placed on the tray, and it tickled my nose [reword later].

After a trip to the kitchen to secure the pickles and tea, I headed straight towards Hijikata-san's room.

Yukimura: It would be nice if Hijikata-san could enjoy this.

I muttered quietly with anticipation, and stopped at the door in front of Hijikata-san's room.

Although it wasn't a bad idea to bring food, what if I got in the way of his work and he kicked me out?

While worrying about this, I took in a deep breath and opened my mouth to speak through the closed [im assuming it's "sliding". check later] doors.

Yukimura: Um, Hijikata-san. It's Yukimura.

…………

Yukimura: I'm sorry to disturb you while you're busy. I made you some tea...

…………

After asking several times, there was still no response/signs of movement from the other side of the door.

Yukimura: As expected, it wasn't good to bring tea over......

I was hoping this would make him happy/cheer him up, but the tea had now become cold/had cooled down.

As I listlessly hung my head as I looked down at the tea leaves floating in the teacup——

Hijikata: Hey.

The voice that I had been expecting to hear suddenly came from behind me for some reason.

Yukimura: Eh?

Hijikata: I was wondering who it was, and it turned out to be you, Chizuru. What are you doing standing in front of someone's room?

Yukimura: Hi-Hijikata-san!?

Being in such an unexpected situation, the tray almost fell out of my hands.

After reaching for the tray to keep it steady, Hijikata-san sighed.

Hijikata: Why are you so surprised. It looks like you've seen a ghost.

Yukimura: It, It's not that/N-No, I thought you'd be spending the entire day in your room working.... .!

Hijikata: Well, I was thinking about doing that earlier.

At the same he finished those meaningful words, Hijikata-san glanced at me and went into his room.

Seeing that I was still standing there dumbstruck, Hijikata-san glanced at me.

Hijikata: Weren't you looking for me? If so, don't just stand there and come in.

Yukimura: Ye-Yes!

As soon as I entered the room, the first thing that came into view were the documents and letters scattered all over the place.

After gathering up the things that had scattered to the floor, HIjikata-san sat down.

Hijikata: Well, I just wanted to ask you about what you're carrying in your hands right now...

Yukimura: Ah, yes. I was thinking that it was about time for you to take a break, so I prepared tea and some snacks for you.

Hijikata: You specifically prepared it for me? I'm sorry for troubling you.

After I put down the tray, Hijikata-san immediately reached for the pickles.

After he put the pickles into his mouth, he seemed to be chewing them carefully, as if to taste them slowly/slowly savour them.

Hijikata: Hm? This taste...

Yukimura: Yes. I heard these pickles were brought/sent over from Hino.

Hijikata: I see. No wonder why they taste familiar.

Hijikata:——Ah, these are really delicious. The taste from my hometown is really different/special.

As if he were thinking of his hometown, Hijikata-san looked off into the distance as he sipped his tea.

That's good... he seemed to be happy.

Yukimura: Where these pickles were delivered from——Hijikata-san's hometown is the same as Kondou-san's hometown right?

Hijikata: Yeah. Haven't I mentioned this/it before? I used to learn the sword at a run-down/poor [word i have is 'poor' but i think run-down makes more sense... though i also can't think of any other word at the moment] dojo in Tama with Kondou-san, Souji and Gen-san.

I've heard several stories about that time.

The dojo that Kondou-san was the dojo master of ——. [reword later? 'dojo' repeats twice]

It was where the other executives met.

Yukimura:...It must have been a friendly dojo.

Hijikata: That's because the owner of the dojo is/was a good person. Thanks to that/him, the number of freeloaders increased while it became more and more poor...

Hijikata: At the time, all you could eat for a meal were sliced pickles.

Hijikata: How about it, Chizuru, why don't you try a slice too?

Yukimura: Is that okay/Can I?

Like Hijikata-san suggested, I brought a slice to my mouth.

When I bit into it, a salty taste spread inside my mouth.

Yukimura: They're/It's delicious/Delicious......

Hijikata: Yeah. [So?] You also think that they're delicious......

Seeing how my eyes had widened, Hijikata-san smiled.

I couldn't help but feel fascinated by that smile.

Yukimura:…………

Hijikata: What/What is it? Is there something on my face?

Yukimura: N-No, that's not the case... but, I was thinking that Hijikata-san had a very tender/gentle expression just now...

Hijikata: Huh.... I couldn’t help it since you were praising the flavours of my hometown.

Hijikata-san looked away and whispered softly to himself.

...Perhaps he was feeling embarrassed.

Then/After, as I saw Hijikata-san stretch by lightly turning his neck, I nervously opened my mouth.

Yukimura: Um, speaking of which, Hijikata-san, you've been working all day... If it's alright with you, can I massage your shoulders?

Hijikata: No need to massage my shoulders. Rather, I wouldn't want such a sight to be seen by Souji [reword later? awkward].

Hijikata: If he saw that/you doing that, he would definitely say something to me about retiring/about how I should retire.

Yukimura: Yes/I see...

I lowered my head.

Perhaps it was because he couldn't bear to see my pitiful appearance, but Hijikata-san bitterly smiled and shook his head.

Hijikata:......I changed my mind. Well, in fact, my shoulders are [feeling] very stiff/sore.

As he spoke, Hijikata-san turned his back towards me.

Hijikata: Then..... I'll leave it to you.

Yukimura: Y-Yes! Excuse me then!

I tried to hide my nervousness as I put my hands onto Hijikata-san's shoulders.

When I touched him like this, I once again realized that he was a man again [????].

Hijikata-san's shoulders were much wider/broader than mine, and the muscles in his shoulders were as hard as rocks.

With what little strength I had, I worried that I wouldn't be able to do anything...

While I thought that, I used as much strength as I could as massaged his shoulders.

Yukimura: Is, Is this okay?

Hijikata:…………

Each time I pressed my palms into his shoulders, Hijikata-san's normally stern face seemed to loosen because of how comfortable/relaxing this was [to him].

Although he didn't answer my question, the sigh that escaped his lips was enough of a response.

I might be overstating it, but it seemed that he trusted me [???]....

Seeing his wholly relaxed/comfortable and defenceless expression, I couldn't believe that this was the same Demon Vice-Commander.

Yukimura; You seem really stiff. Thank you for all the hard work you do every day. So, will you be continuing to work after this?

Hijikata: Yeah. I was originally going to work all day today.... that's how it was supposed to be.

Yukimura: Supposed to be?

Hijikata-san glanced at me again with another meaningful look in his eyes/Hijikata-san glanced at me with the same meaningful eyes he had before.

As I blinked my eyes, not knowing what he meant, Hijikata-san's lips lifted into a smile.

Hijikata: In fact, I was going to ordering uniforms, estimating the cost of repairing the leak in the roof... But it seems like the work I was supposed to do was done by someone else.

Yukimura: Th-That/Th-Then...

I finally managed to figure out the situation.

Then, almost as if he were waiting for it, Hijikata-san gently put his hand on the top of my head.

Hijikata: I rarely have free time.... but it wouldn't be bad to go out.

Yukimura: Ye-Yes!

Hijikata: Tell/Call me when you want to go to the festival. If you like, I'll accompany you.

Seeing that Hijikata-san was cheerfully smiling/cheerfully laughed, I also smiled.

Since I could go to the festival with Hijikata-san, what should I/we go do now——

-end of chapter-

#hakuoki #hakuouki #hakuoki yuugiroku 2 #Hijikata Toshizou #Yukimura Chizuru #hakuoki game translation

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astrovian · 4 years

Audio

Richard Armitage interview on BBC Radio London for Uncle Vanya (25/10/20)

Full transcript under cut

Just a couple of days ago I was lucky enough to chat to Richard Armitage. He’s best known of course for roles in The Hobbit, Ocean’s 8, Hannibal, and of course, I was obsessed, absolutely obsessed on Netflix with The Stranger. Well, he’s about to star in the multi- Olivier-nominated play - in fact that’s tonight! We’ll find out if they win. Uncle Vanya – it’s filmed at the Harold Pinter Theatre during the pandemic, and uh, it’s incredible, it’s an incredible piece of theatre, and we’re all going to be able to watch it, which is a joy. And this is what we chatted about.

—

What a pleasure to speak to you for a number of reasons, because we can actually talk about how to bring theatre back to people’s lives, ‘cause I’m missing it desperately, but also talk about The Stranger. Let’s talk about Uncle Vanya first-

Yes.

-if we may.

Yes, of course.

Wow. What an incredible thing to do. Thank you for doing this, actually.

Yeah, I mean it was uh, kind of heart-breaking when we had to y’know, end our run six weeks early, and uh, the play was taking on so many kind of resonances of what we were living through, unexpectedly really. I, we thought the play was about, y’know, a man losing his livelihood, and then y’know, as, as the virus started to come into our lives and uh, the play started to change course really. So, and then, to sort of live through lockdown as well did and then come back to the play realising that’s exactly what these people have been doing, they’ve been stuck in a house together from summer through to the winter and going out of their heads. It again, it took on a whole other sort of energy, so a real privilege to be able to do that.

I mean, it is extraordinary when these old stories feel so relevant, and something a lot of people know, for people who don’t know something about it, we should explain a little bit about the story, but it feels like you’re talking about a story from today.

Well, it does. I mean, the fact is that Uncle Vanya, he’s the caretaker of this old estate and uh, he’s worked his entire life, um, supporting a property that’s not his, and then y’know, the owner who’s raised his daughter, Vanya’s raised his daughter for him, comes and says “right, I’m selling the estate for my retirement, um, and you’re all, you’re all out”. And it’s this devastating realisation that everything that he’s worked for is being snatched away from him. At the same time, y’know, my character is a doctor who is living through, trying to save patients during an epidemic, and uh, not handling it very well and turning to drink. And he’s also trying to save his little corner of the world that, y’know, is being deforested, so he’s planting trees and realising that the environment has such an impact on our health, um, *laugh* so it literally could’ve been written yesterday, um, and this was over a hundred and twenty years ago, so y’know, they knew. There was a huge movement in Russia at that time about, um y’know, how to, how to survive, and how to deal with the environment, and we seem not to have heeded any, any advice, really.

We, we never do though, do we? We seem never to.

Not really.

Well, many people don’t seem to. As you said, it just feels so relevant today. So when you, it must have been heart-breaking being in the show, the buzz was extraordinary, it was impossible to get tickets for. This way, I have to say, all the people who couldn’t get tickets, now we can all see it. I’m one of those people who couldn’t get tickets, as you can gather from what I’ve just said. Um, friends of mine went and said, “You’ve GOT to go!” but this is an incredible way to bring theatre to people who, like me are missing it desperately, and many other people who might not have gone to the theatre, who don’t live in London, who couldn’t have seen a show like this, so there is a plus side. I’m always looking for the plus side, I think. *Laugh*

Me too. I mean, I’ve always said that when a play is coming to the end of its run, putting together a film of it, and even a, a sort of audio recording of the play, I think is like an exit package. It’s worth doing for-

Yes.

-like you say, people that can’t go to the theatre, or maybe wouldn’t go the theatre because it’s like, y’know, it might be too expensive for them, and a cinema ticket’s a bit cheaper, they might be able to watch it on telly at some point. But y’know, hopefully they might watch it and think, ‘Oh God, that, that looked really good in the room, maybe I’ll go the theatre when it’s back’. But uh, either way, it’s still just great story-telling, and y’know right now I think everybody sort of wants to disappear into a, into a tale, and uh, hopefully, hopefully they’ll feel brave enough to go and see it in the cinema.

What does it feel like? I mean you’ve, obviously you’ve been in so many award-winning shows, what does it feel like when you’re, you’re waiting to hear? I mean they’ve all, there’s a number of Olivier awards that it’s up for, everyone was talking about this. Once again you were in something that everyone was talking about. Do you, do you feel slightly one step removed? I mean, The Hobbit, and obviously The Stranger, as you can tell I’ve got to go there because I LOVED it, I devoured it.

*Laugh*

Um, what does it feel like being on the outside of everybody talking about something that’s so - that’s such a part of you?

Um, to be honest, with – at the time that it’s happening, I, I sort of close my ears to all of that-

Oh, I love that. *Laugh*

-and try to live in it, rather than outside of it. That, that’s none of my business. But I do, I do pay attention after it’s over, and I love – y’know, I prefer hearing other people’s opinion of it, rather than reading about it myself, so, so I do enjoy the feedback. But when you’re in it, you’re in it. And to be honest with, with Uncle Vanya, we could tell that we were doing okay because the audience would let us know, and y’know that, the very, very first preview was such a kind of electric performance, and the audience were, were kind of laughing all the way through, which we hadn’t had in a rehearsal room. So that feeling is, is very, very precious, and uh, it continued like that through the run. But uh yeah, I tend not to sort of uh, pay too much attention while it’s happening, if you know what I mean.

Yeah, don’t read – everybody was saying-

No, I don’t read the reviews. *Laugh*

Do you REALLY not?! I bet you do sneakily sometimes.

I really don’t. I, I did it once, and it was – I y’know, I read one tiny miniscule negative thing about myself, and it was the only thing I remembered. And so I thought, ‘that’s a good lesson’. Don’t read the good stuff, don’t read the bad stuff. Read it at a later date, but at the time it does not help me.

Okay, alright. Well, I’ll tell you, they were all fabulous. Congratulations. All the reviews, absolutely incredible.

*Laugh* Thanks.

*Laugh* I cannot wait to see this. Now let’s talk about, if we may, The Stranger. I might have mentioned it a few times already in the past few minutes-

*Laugh*

-but it was one of those things I actually, I couldn’t stop. I loved it, I devoured it. And I sort of became slightly obsessed with it, it was BRILLIANT. Did you feel that when you were making it?

Yeah, and you know, again I, I was sort of in the middle of it, so I’m sort of focusing on the character’s journey, but Harlan Coben’s writing is very much in that vein – if you’ve ever read one of his books-

Yes, I have.

-you, you literally can’t put it down, and you can’t wait for, for bedtime so that you can pick it up again, and sometimes you, you get to the last chapter and you sort of, you think, ‘I’ve gotta space this out, ‘cause I’m just gonna devour the whole thing’-

Yes!

-so his writing matches that kind of uh, television format brilliantly. But I love it, and I, I loved what uh, Danny Brocklehurst did with that script. Y’know, he, he sort of elevated the book, and made it a kind of, much more kind of woven drama. So yeah, I love working on that kind of thing. And that is the type of TV that I will, I will watch on a personal taste level.

You’re happy to watch yourself?

No, I- *laugh*, I never watch myself, but I-

I like that, no please say that-

No, I- *laugh*, I never watch myself-

-I know that’s not what you meant, but that, it just sounded lovely that you’re happy to watch yourself in that one.

It, ugh, I haven’t yet, but I-

*laugh*

-I will eventually, *laugh*, um but it’s the kind of TV that I do, I do love watching. But no, again I’m, I’m not a good judge of myself, and ageing on screen is a REALLY hard thing to do.

You can watch that one, I promise you. Um-

Can I?

-may we go back to a part of your past that is, I’m fascinated by, that you – it was about music and musical theatre.

Mmm, yes.

And then you suddenly thought that that wasn’t enough for you, was that right?

Yeah, I mean I – it was at a time when there were, y’know, all of the big musicals were happening in the West End, and I, I saw kind of peers that would kind of move between Les Misérables, and then they’d go into Miss Saigon, and then they’d go into Phantom of the Opera, and I felt like I didn’t really want to, to follow that path. And I just felt that I wasn’t good enough, a good enough practitioner of either dance or song to, to feel that it was gonna be a sort of, that it was gonna have longevity for me, so I was already studying at the actor’s centre, and then I thought, y’know, I’ve gotta just y’know, go back to drama school and start again and do a classical training. ‘Cause that was the thing that was really exciting me. Um, and I’m glad I did it, but y’know, I still feel like in the future I might y’know, pick up that old hat again.

YES!

Yup.

That’s what I was going to ask! ‘Cause I’m a – I love theatre, hugely, as the way you can probably gather from the way I was talking at the beginning, um, but musical theatre is, I think, a very magical thing. And I think it’s possibly something that we all need as well, right now.

I agree.

So if you could – imagine – I’ve got a magic wand, okay?

Yeah? *Laugh*

And I am a magical music theatre fairy.

Yeah.

I could actually sing this bit, ‘cause I love musicals – *singing* “now you can do a theatre show”-

*Laugh*

No, I won’t sing it. Um, so you can do any theatre show on the planet-

Yup.

-any musical theatre. Which one is it, Richard?

Okay, so when we were doing our little warm-up before Uncle Vanya, Aimee Lou Wood and I used to sort of joke and fantasize about maybe doing Cabaret.

*gasp* Oh, yes!

Shall we, shall we send that out to the gods of the universe of theatre, to Aimee Lou Wood as Sally Bowles-

Oh, you can practice, practice, do a little bit-

-she’s got a GREAT voice.

Go on, just do us a little bit.

*Laugh* I can’t.

Oh, he’s not gonna do it, are you?

*Laugh*

I’ve made you – I can tell you’re blushing, which is great because I’m at one end of the computer and you’re at the other end of a computer-

You could do it, you sound great!

No, no, no, no.

Do you sing?

No, I’ve done it. Yeah, no, no. But musical theatre is a magical, magical thing, and I just – I, I love the fact that you’re open to all of that.

Definitely.

Now, let’s go to New Zealand on our next bit of travels. Um, what an incredible place to be for such an extraordinary film. I mean, The Hobbit, and everything that entailed, changing – I mean, for other people I’ve spoken to who were in any of The Hobbits, they all say that they felt it was such a MASSIVE part of their life, and they learnt so much doing it.

Yeah, I mean I never dreamed in a million years that I, I would get an opportunity to work on a project like that. And to work, y’know – I was a huge Tolkien fan for a start, and then when I saw Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings, I was just, I was obsessed with it. And it’s not one of the reasons I pursued it, it kind of came to me, and I felt like ‘Gosh, why does he want me to play a dwarf?’ but um, getting the chance to go that country for so long, and work with that cast and him, and be completely kind of, sort of disappear into a, into a sort of a world and a character. And to be taken in a helicopter to the top of a mountain and, and y’know, shoot in places where human feet haven’t trodden – you know, it was, it was life-changing, it really was. And apart from the success of the films, which was a whole other thing, the actual experience of doing it was, it was unbelievable.

Aw, well, listen Richard, thank you. It’s such a pleasure to talk to you, I could talk to you for ages. And I can’t wait to come and see you in Cabaret. And congratulations-

*Laugh*

-on Uncle Vanya. Pleasure to speak to you.

Thank you very much.

#RICHARD IN CABARET #fuck can you imagine #i can't wait for a future musical theatre production ft. RA #richard armitage

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teddystrap · 5 years

Audio

Drama CD: [幽幻ロマンチカ・真骨頂] ≁Karasutengu Hifumi・Baku Utashiro≁

Ok I know this is out of order (I skipped over the previous Hatenkou discs, which I will do later), but I reallllly adore the Shinkocchou concept. This came at the end of a HECTIC week, so to myself and any readers out there, I say a well-deserved: お疲（憑か）れ様でした！

In this disc - the first in this subtitle - Crow-Heavenly-Dog Hifumi and Dream-Eating Animal-Thing Utashiro team up to fight crime and save the Universe... of Nanagiri High School.

Before I say anything else, first look at the hidden msgs (x2) in the tracklist:

１．壱、都市伝説『すきま』２．弐、スイーツに囲<ま>れて３．参、湧き出た<も>のは４．四、陰<り>から立ちはだかる５．伍、穏やかな夜だっ<た> ６．六、戦うなら<い>っしょに７．七、都市伝説『すきま』看破８．キャストトーク

Hifumi: bold⋆ spells 「すきだから」 (’Because I like you...’)

Utashiro: <⋆> spells 「まもりたい」 (’...I want to protect you.’)

...

(ﾟ艸ﾟ(｡艸｡(ﾟ艸ﾟ(｡艸｡(ﾟ艸ﾟ(｡艸｡(ﾟ艸ﾟ(｡艸｡(ﾟ艸ﾟ(｡艸｡(ﾟ艸ﾟ(｡艸｡ ) ｽﾍﾟｼｬﾙｳﾝｳﾝ

We also find out bits about each character's past - like how Hifumi had been cold and uncaring when he first mixed with the human world, and how he developed a taste for sweet foods because that's what people used to give him as offerings. AND how hilariously angry U-kun gets when people try to point out that deep down he's really just a softie/sweetie.

NB. The audio track is a bonus bit at the end of the final cast commentary track where the two of them do a hilarious 'Free Talk' in character.

[The First Rumour: Urban Legend ‘Sukima’]

Something's lurking in the cracks and corners of Nanagiri High School. So far five students have disappeared, starting with a girl in 1st year. Everyone is freaking the fuck out, and even the police have got involved, but this being a paranormal case ofc they are not going to find anything.

On the orders of Toilet Flower Dude (abbreviated TFD), Hifumi and Utashiro are investigating the urban legends to prevent them from destabilising the forces of the Supernatural Seven. And they have come to you for help - after all, youkai get their powers from the goodwill of humans. TFD has even coined a team name for the three of you: DARK DESTINY FAN CLUB. And ofc you are the leader, because vagina power.

As part of the investigation, first you all go to... the nearby cafe and eat cake. Because Marie Antoinette said so. Because apparently a couple from your school was attacked when they went on a date there.

Hifumi decides that you have to act like a couple to bait the monster into attacking you. (Except this is more like a 3P scenario and for some reason nobody finds that just a little bit odd...?) The two of them start feeding you and wiping extra cream off your face, and ofc you become all shy and resistant. So then both of them possess your body and start putting their lips on you to 'make you understand how the cake feels'. #mfw = (*>艸<)ｷｬｧｯ. (Not even kidding, I actually made this face when I was listening to this.)

You finally cannot put up with this treatment anymore, and when they stop, you pick up a chair and start hurling it at them. Damn girl u so hot when u maddd. So much for Battle Plan RaiseBloodSugar1. XD

Plan #2: Ya'll patrol the empty classrooms after school to look for clues. Eventually you find a ...fluffy/slimy-looking... monster consuming a 1st-year boy. When the three of you approach, the monster devours him whole and disappears.

You suggest using yourself as bait, with the both of them possessing your body to fight the monster in invisible mode. Sounds all fine and dandy... except their demon powers totally don't even work against this mochi-mochi monster!! After some failed attacks, Utashiro forms a protective shield to fend off the monster and allow Hifumi to fly you off to safety. (Such beautiful teamwork I could cry...)

Later Utashiro catches up to the two of you. It seems that the monster is so 'impenetrable' because it is feeding off the energy of some human somewhere, whose vulnerabilities it is exploiting. At this point you are still reeling from the narrow escape, so your two manservants boyfriends manservants decide to call it a day and escort you home.

Back home, you refuse to sleep, so the two of them dogpile you on your bed (is it just me or does that sound kinda dirty, sports fans? ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)). You request that they both change into their chibi forms and hug them to sleep. Hifumi doesn't mind at all but Utashiro hates it!! XD

Turns out you can't sleep because you are still terrified from the episode earlier. So they change back into their hot-guy forms and possess your body (because your bed is too small XD) and hold your hand and caress your head. After you finally fall asleep, the two of them commence the BL action pillow talk:

Utashiro is feeling down and blaming himself for not noticing your fear sooner. Hifumi is all like ‘I KNEW U WERE A SOFTIE U SEXY TSUNDERE’, but Utashiro tells him that all the other baku perished because they were forgotten by humans, and this is why he can't forgive and embrace humanity the way that Hifumi does.

As Hifumi correctly figures out, Utashiro is/was the Chief of the baku, even though he was not the most powerful nor the eldest. But Hifumi thinks it's enough that Utashiro did his best for his companions, just like *you* always do, you useless piece of sh... person!! I mean person!!. Hifumi trusts you even though you are a human, but Utashiro is unconvinced, since you never risked your life for him (the way you did for Hifumi)...

...Aaaand you wake up to the kinako-mochi monster in your room!!! Hifumi flies both of you out the window, but it's too heavy for him and he and he drops you both. Orz (well U-kun cushions your fall ofc b/c what are manservants for, amirite?). Meanwhile the monster has followed you out here and multiplied, so you all escape to the school grounds.

In the school gym, the monster and its spawns appear again, and Hifumi tries to fight them off, maxing out his energy much to Utashiro's alarm. Hifumi explains to Utashiro that he was born out of people's wishes,... and just when he was about to be forgotten, *you* appeared and gave him a new meaning to life. So he can't help but be fond of humanity and want to do his best for them.

You stop Hifumi from over-exerting himself, and volunteer to be swallowed alive by the monster so that ya'll can fight it from inside its stomach. Hifumi is all like ‘LET'S DO THIS LEADER >:)’, but Utashiro FREAKS THE FUCK OUT X( and offers to come with you, forming a protective shield to protect you. At some point he finally admits that it would be 'troubling' if something happened to you... This is about as much of a love confession as you’re ever gonna get here, so I'm savouring the fuck out of this line indefinitely <3.

Inside the monster's belly, you find... a girl that was eaten, and pull her into the safety of Utashiro's protective shield. The monster grows weak, and Hifumi uses this opportunity to blow it up into smithereens. All its spawns become inactive as well.

The girl turns out to be the aforementioned 1st-year who was the monster's first victim. She appears to be asleep, so Utashiro takes a peek into her dream: she is infatuated with a senpai, but too shy to talk to him, and can only watch him from afar. The pain of her unrequited love bore cracks in her heart, which the kinako mochi monster has exploited and subsisted on.

You ask Utashiro to change the contents of her dream from #badend to #goodend. As he does this, the cracks in her heart start to mend, and the monsters disappear. But ofc, changing her dream doesn't do much irl; she still needs to make her own happy ending.

Thus, peace is restored to Nanagiri High School!! >:D The five missing students are all found safely and soundly asleep in the school gym, and the first girl finally found the courage to speak to her senpai.

Hifumi teases Utashiro for risking his own life to protect you during Battle Plan MonsterBelly1, but Utashiro claims he only 'changed his mind a little bit about humans'.

But then Hifumi readily admits that he got to see both cool and uncool sides of you during this adventure, and it makes him like you more <3. Upon hearing this, Utashiro is all like ‘GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER’ and instructs you to stick with him so that he shall protect you from the Crow-Dog-Whatever that is *even more dangerous than any urban legend ever*! <333333

[Thoughts] OH WOW I got so used to the DiaLovers twisted personalities that I figured this was going to be like a Versus disc where they compete and fight with each other over you. But like I said, the teamwork/bromance is so beautiful it brings a tear to my eye :').

First of all, as KENN observes in his part of the Free Talk, this disc is kind of a parallel world where you are not strictly *romantic* with either of them. But at the same time both of them seem ok with some 曖昧さ (e.g. light touches/kisses) here and there. I guess it's less like a FB "it's complicated" situation, and more of youkai having some harmless fun with a human.

[cf. Remember how all the vampires stripped Yui down to her undergarments and bit her in all the embarrassing places, and she STILL thinks: 'They only see me as food T_T.' Yes that's totally non-suggestive, yes yes, carry on.]

Secondly, like Kimura-san notes, the two personalities make a striking contrast, and Utashiro seems *even more* tsundere than usual compared to Hifumi. But because Hifumi has one more disc than Utashiro, I think he's had more opportunities for character growth, so I'm optimistic about U-kun :)

I think between the two of them, Utashiro is the more mature and sensitive one - as shown by their hidden msgs, Hifumi's feelings lean more towards 'I like you'/displays of affection, whereas Utashiro is more about protecting you & supporting you emotionally.

Hifumi has a more impulsive/careless personality; sometimes he misses little details, and he's ready to take risks if you are. In that regard I think they counterbalance each other quite well, Utashiro talks sense and 'anchors' the situation; Hifumi brings the positivity and the momentum.

Using the two roles of the manzai (traditional Japanese standup-comedy) for analogy, U-kun is the 'straight man' who provides the tsukkomi, and Hifumi is the boke or the one with all the gags.

...Also it just occurred to me how most of the time the tsundere role is either like a younger/spoiled brat type, or a kichiku megane (à la Sakamaki Reiji). Utashiro is kind of like a... tsundere-oniisan? XD Not sure if that's a type, but in any case it’s kinda refreshing, plus he's precious and I love him :3

NB1. KENN's chibi voice is THE BEST. X3

NB2. I wonder what trousers (「なっちゃうパンツ」) Kimura-san was wearing in the recording studio on his dates with 'Dummyko-chan' - which is what he calls the dummy-head mic XD. Now, I'm not sure about this, but there is a good chance that he's the one who came up with the worst nickname in the entire universe 'M-neko-chan'...

#otome #drama cd #rejet #yuugen romantica #shinkocchou #yuroma #hifumi #kenn #seiyuu #utashiro #kimura ryohei #youkai #tsundere #supernatural #mystery #kaidan

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flamingbluepanda · 5 years

Text

This post has been building up in me for a while and it’s 11 at night and I can’t sleep so here, let me try and put my mixed feelings about Gwen bloody Cooper into words. Because I have a lot of love for her, but I also have a lot of hate for her, and this essay got long, and I’ll have to add a read more.

Here’s the thing about Gwen- she had so much potential. She could’ve been this badass female character who’s good in the field and has a good head for problems and brings a bit or morality and fresh perspective to the team. And even more, she could’ve been this badass female character while also being soft and in love with this wonderful adoring boyfriend- who, by the way! Did most of the cooking and cleaning and general homemaking stuff while his wife was kicking ass. A wonderful twist! They could’ve been zoë and wash! Or kida and Milo! Or literally anything other than what they were

Because the writers did Gwen Cooper dirty.

Instead of this badass female character we could’ve gotten, the writers just had to have their fucking romantic tension and instead of a badass we were given a nosy, boring, hypocritical cheater character who I just cannot stand.

Look, I get that part of Gwen’s purpose as a character is to ask the question we, the audience, want answered. But there is a fine line between being inquisitive and being nosy and... I really feel like Gwen goes over it. Like, instead of carefully playing in her questions- like an ex-cop who was a good interrogator would- Gwen goes full on “Jack, please tell me, the person in the room who you’ve known for the shortest amount of time, your entire life story this very instant.”

And speaking of Jack, while I appreciate a good heterosexual baiting, the fact that she spends the whole series acting like their about to fall into bed with eachother annoys me endlessly. I know part of that is Jack’s fault but that’s honestly a whole other post, and I know it was 2008 and they were purposefully not being like “oh yeah we have this gay relationship,” but like... Gwen you have a boyfriend and so does Jack.

Remember when Gwen’s boyfriend died and then miraculously came back and then she spent three days at another man’s side??? Remember that????????

Seriously, Jack I can get, Jack flirts with any of age being that can consent, but Gwen, Rhys is a god damn saint, and you cheated on him! With Owen! Who is an asshole!

I mean, I understand that you wanted to talk about almost getting eaten by cannibals, and you can’t do that with Rhys, but that doesn’t mean go to bed with Owen!!!

Anyway.

Gwen’s also a bit “holier than thou,” hubris is a big character flaw with her. The problem is no one ever calls her out on it, especially when she goes and does the stuff she criticizes others for! It might just be because I haven’t watched the show in a while but I cannot think of one time when Jack actually calls her out on her insubordination and goes through with it. At the end of “Meat” she literally breaks over a century of policy because “I’m in a relationship and I’m more important than all of you” and when Jack tries to fight her on it, he backs down! Why would Jack freaking Harkness back down!!!

Maybe I’m being a little too rough on her- in my heart of hearts I do not hate Gwen.

Gwen does actually have her good moments. No, really. When she’s not cheating on Rhys or being insubordinate, she’s almost the beautiful, badass Gwen we were promised.

That is actually one of the only thing’s I praise Children of Earth for. Because consistently, for five episodes, Gwen is perfect.

She’s funny, she’s sassy, she’s badass. And Rhys finally gets to be supportive and included in his wife’s life! And Rhys falls into the support role immidiately- no bullshit over Gwen being pregnant, he sits back and lets her work.

“You wanna have your trigger finger free, dontcha?” Is hands down one of the best moments in the series. That’s the Rhys Williams we were promised! This is the Gwen Cooper I’ve been craving!

Miracle day also sees some badass Gwen (note her holding a baby in one arm and a grenade launcher in the other) but once again, she has this tension with Jack- only now it’s angrier, like she wants to hatefuck him and get it out of her system.

Miracle day is a fucking mess and that’s all I’m gonna say about it, okay?

Book Gwen... varies. Book Gwen jumps between beautiful perfect COE level Gwen and god awful end of meat at her worst Gwen. It depends on the writer- which is typical for a book series. I personally like the books, because I’m a slut for books, but I’m still in the camp of “Gwen has been done dirty by the writers”

I would say the same about Audio Drama Gwen but... Big Finish only trusts the best. Every audio drama I’ve seen that has Gwen in it is her at her best, particularly in outbreak when she and rhys are, once again, perfect.

I do love Gwen, and I do absolutely adore Eve Myles. But I will, consistently, be critical. I try and be critical of all characters, but that’s a little hard with the ones I truly love (*cough cough* my hetalia Days speak for themselves here) But with Gwen, because Canon did her dirty, I find it a little easier to be critical, and it shows in my writing. I have her make some stupid but unfortunately canon decisions in a few of my fics- and unlike canon, I’m unafraid to call her out on it.

In conclusion... Gwen Cooper is not a horrible character, and she doesn’t deserve all the hate she gets. But she is not a perfect character, and sometimes when I’m feeling blue I’ll read a bash fic that makes me laugh or write her really badly because the canon writers made it so easy for us to turn her into a Mary Sue.

And... yeah, that’s it. Gwen Cooper is flawed just like everyone else on this freaking show, her flaws are just a little more glaringly obvious and annoying than the other characters.

#gwen cooper #torchwood #rhys williams #meta #long post

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m-feys · 4 years

Note

for the fandom ask thing: ima be super predictable but im curious for your answers 😂😂 torchwood, janto, ianto

kjashdkjahsd thank you anon!!!! :D i got another ask with torchwood so im gonna answer that on that one and do janto and ianto for this

When I started shipping them: ooh this one is a little tricky bc i first encountered janto in doctor who fic, i hadnt watched torchwood at that point but i wanted fics about jack, so it comes with the territory. I think i was very sort of shocked by their kiss in cyberwoman and about the moment in they keep killing suzie cause how those happened so abruptly sort of took me kind of off gaurd, like i knew jack and ianto would be a thing but i didnt know how it would come about? I think i really started shipping them in captain jack harkness, when ianto said ‘jack needs me’ that just cemented their relationship for me and in end of days when Ianto was the one jack was holding onto.

My thoughts: they deserve to be happy!!! but really, this is just such a good ship, it really has everything, betrayal, reunions, the always tragic immortal/mortal, friends-to-enemies-to-friends-to-lovers. jack and ianto were unfortunately left with so much never resolved about their relationship, but they have a lot of depth to how they interact and there’s a lot of room for fans to make it their own

What makes me happy about them: they’re just really understanding of each other, like its canon they both have a hard time communicating but you can see they both give each other room in their relationship but still support one another

What makes me sad about them: its obvious that ianto’s death makes me really sad but more than that it’s the fact that he died so quickly, ianto and jack should have had 60-70 years together. its what they deserved. but jack will remember him no matter what

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: ianto so often gets forced into the more “submissive” role in the relationship, its so weird and it makes me really uncomfortable...

Things I look for in fanfic: communication. i love it when jack and ianto acknowledge their relationship, thats all, canon tried to deprive us of that, but no. fanfic comes thru

My wishlist: not??? entirely sure?? what this means??? I wish they hadn’t done a bury-your-gays with ianto

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: gonna say lisa for ianto, and for jack, eeeeh, idk, the doctor? not even like romantically, but as a life partner. I wouldnt mind if jack and the doctor traveled around together forever

My happily ever after for them: they get an house they decorate themselves and its all old antiques jack has has forever and random junk they accumulate together, along with iantos choice of curtains and carpet because, “no, jack, we will not be getting shag carpets in the house, I dont care if its great for sex, I don’t care if it was all the rage in the seventies, we’re not having shag carpets” also towels because ianto just has particulars about fabrics. they paint the walls themselves and end up covering in paint after jack smears it on ianto’s face and of course he retaliates. They’ll have house plants and at some point a case leaves loose ends and the end up adopting a kid. and ianto dies of old age and jack will remember him forever

oops that got long haha, but now ianto

How I feel about this character: I really love ianto!!! hes such an interesting character and he’s also just a lot of fun, like this “normal” young man who’s wrapped up in this strange organization but hes so good at what he does and on the outside he seems so unmoved by it all but he really feels so much, hmm i love him.

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: Jack of course!!! and Lisa as well, the two people he loves dearly.

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Tosh and ianto’s friendship is my favorite!!! i wish we got to see more of them, i love them both so much

My unpopular opinion about this character: hmmmm, I wish people would appreciate ianto’s character a bit more for how strong he is and how much he’s overcome rather than just how traumatized he is. because yes, he’s canonically suicidal and he’s been through so much and he’s pretty young, but like, he also came out of it, and he carries it with him but he’s learned how to carry it, you know?? idk

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish his sexuality had been explored further, i know it has in some of the audio dramas but within the show i wish they had better acknowledged his attraction to men with someone outside of jack.

Favorite friendship for this character: oh oops i already said tosh up top, but i do consider tosh and ianto to have more of a brother/sister vibe anyway so for friendship i will say martha!!! i love her and ianto’s interactions, it would be nice to see them confide in each other about all kinds of stuff

My crossover ship: i have no idea, what would i even cross over with torchwood (im not gonna count doctor who as a crossover theyre the same thing basically) buuut, um, maybe ill cross it over with star wars and ship him with mando from his show, bc that would probably be cool, theyre both the type to be really tender in private moments and super distant in public so they’ll be cool with each other, and they’re both super dedicated to the people they love

#ask meme #these are so fun thank you!!!!#ask #Anonymous

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hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 5 years

Text

Spider-Man: The Darkest Hours Thoughts

Many years ago I was contacted by someone who recommended this novel to me and others from a Mary Jane fan point of view. You can read the recommendation here.

Whilst I own the novel and started it at least twice for whatever reason I stopped reading it before the start of the first big action set piece. However since Dreamscape audio released the novel on audiobook I’ve finally been able to experience it for myself.

So how’d it fair? SPOILERS ahead

I don’t usually do this these days but because this story is relatively obscure I’m going to provide a synopsis. Or more accurately marvel.wiki is:

“Even though he is a chemistry teacher, Peter Parker has now been forced to be a substitute basketball coach over at Midtown High where he works. His ineptness soon negatively draws the attention of basketball star Samuel Larkin, who challenges Peter and refuses to cooperate with his own teammates. Going over the player's records, Peter soon discovers that Larkin has not taken all of the required vaccines needed to play at the school, which will mean his automatic expulsion from the team for the remainder of the season, as well as dwindle his chances of getting a scholarship to a good university.

After a long day of coaching, Peter returns home and discovers that Mary Jane has won a part as Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's Macbeth. However, the play is held in Atlantic City, so in order to compensate for the long drive, MJ bought a car despite not having a driver's license, let alone any idea how to drive. They began discussing whether or not Peter should teach her. In the middle of the talk, however, the Rhino attacks Times Square, so Peter leaves to go fight him as Spider-Man.

While on the way there, Spider-Man runs into Black Cat, who claims the rampage is a trap and that Peter should not go. He ignores her warning, though, and continues to head there. Peter easily defeats Rhino, knocking him unconscious in the process. Just as he does, however, the siblings of Morlun - Thanis, Malos, and Mortia - appear. They blame Spider-Man for their brother's death despite the Other being the true person who ripped his throat out, and now want revenge by killing him. Spidey initially flees, but with the help of a SWAT team and Black Cat he eventually takes them on (he also seeks help from Doctor Strange but is declined, with Strange asserting that his interference would harm the cosmic balance). Mary Jane comes to the fight scene and becomes jealous that Felicia is able to help Peter fight the siblings, as well as how the siblings are treating her husband. Enraged, she takes her car and runs Morlun's siblings over, distracting them and giving Spider-Man the time needed to banish them to a barren netherworld using three trinkets Strange had secretly arranged to be given to him.”

Let me get some admissions out of the way.

a) I’ve not read a ton of Spider-Man/comic book based novels, although I own the majority of the Spider-Man ones that Wikipedia claim exist. I dunno why, I just never manage to get around to them for whatever reason. Perhaps it’s because comic book superheroes being designed for a visual medium which so often emphasises action makes the jump to prose (or in this case audio) difficult. Indeed I must admit when reading/listening I do zone out a bit when action scenes occur.

b) I’m not familiar with the work of Jim Butcher although I hear great things

c) I’d actually forgotten the specifics of the recommendation for this book. I just remember it was recommended and it was because it should feed the MJ fan/shipper in me and others. Forgetting this was lucky actually as it allowed me to enjoy some aspects of the books I’d otherwise have not been surprised by.

Let’s also get the technical aspects out of the way since this is an audio book I am discussing.

The narrator, Jack Meloche is...okay...mostly.

I find his performance of Peter a little too nasaly and early on in the audiobook you do have to kind of power through his performances of Mary Jane and especially Felicia. By the end of the story I grew to tolerate them but never love them. Hearing a grown ass man do his best to convey a sultry kinda sorta femme fatale can be a bit cringe inducing I must admit. His best performance is as the Rhino though.

Other things you should know is that this novel is loosely in continuity with ‘Spider-Man: Drowned in Thunder’ (which I talked about here),

https://hellzyeahwebwieldingreviews.tumblr.com/post/140091613524/spider-man-drowned-in-thunder-my-thoughts

another novel from the same range of books. It was published and is set after the events of this novel and both are set chronologically during the J. Michael Straczynski ASM run prior to Spider-Man joining the New Avengers.

I’ll be upfront with you I found ‘Drowned in Thunder’ to be better for the most part and downright ingenious. It did not however use Mary Jane as much or as critically as this story. She was important but didn’t have as big of a role as she does here. Does that make one novel better or worse than the other? Neither, they’re just different. It’s healthy to mix up the emphasis certain supporting characters get after all.

Looking at ‘Darkest Hours’ on it’s own merits for the most part it nails the characters in terms of the sentiments but my personal problems with it are in the presentation at times. Not even all the time just some of the time.

Let me put it more clearly.

There is exactly one scene featuring Aunt May, specifically a phone conversation. And this phone conversation progresses into a very involved inspirational speech from May to Peter about how awesome he is as a person/hero and the scene’s drama stems from the fact that Peter might be fighting his last battle soon after this. Are the sentiments Aunt May expressing in character? Of course. Are these things she would say? Yes!...but...I felt it was kind of...off that her one scene in the whole story is her showing up and giving the most involved inspirational speech Spider-Man has ever gotten from her or anyone else. Spider-Man 2’s backyard scene was tame by comparison. I just feel it would’ve been better for May to have both featured in some way prior to that scene and for the speech to have been dialled back a bit.

Much more relevantly though is the book’s handling of Peter and MJ’s relationship.

Throughout the novels there are scenes of Peter and Mary Jane being very much in love. The most common way this is expressed is via Peter complimenting Mary Jane in his head.

Would Peter feel this way about Mary Jane. 100% yes! But...I don’t know if it was the vocal performance, the fact that we have this back in the comics now, or really JUST me but personally I kinda...cringed a bit.

I’m not saying it’s bad!

I’m not even saying it could be better!

I’m sure there are many readers who adore this.

I’m not well versed in romance fiction so maybe I’m missing something here and actually it’s perfectly acceptable or great writing.

I’m saying just for me personally again...I’d have wanted it dialled back. It just got a little much, a little cringey for me personally.

But you know that happened sometimes in the JMS run which I loved and agree with everyone else wrote the marriage better than it has ever been written.

Speaking of Straczynski we really need to talk about his Spider-Man work.

Commonly original Spider-Man novels (i.e. not novelizations) that are trying to vaguely present themselves as being canon (so we aren’t talking about stuff like ‘Hostile Takeover’ set in the Marvel Gamerverse) try to have synergy with the status quo of the day or a very recent one.

This novel is no exception. My research tells me it was published in 2006 and whilst it’s not reflective of the then status quo of the comics where Spider-Man was unmasked and a member of the Avengers, it is reflective of the dominant status quo immediately preceding that which ended circa 2004-2005.

To refresh your memory that involves Peter being a teacher at Midtown High, Mary Jane being an aspiring stage actress who recently reconciled with Peter, and both Aunt May and Black Cat knowing his secret. To drive the point home about just when this novel is set there is an entire dialogue exchange discussing the idea of him hypothetically joining the Avengers. A discussion that in my eyes throws some wonderful shade at the idea.

This is the same status quo that ‘Drowned in Thunder’ was set during but ‘Darkest Hours’ hardcore embraces this status quo in a way ‘Drowned in Thunder’ never did. ‘Drowned in Thunder’ if anything drew more from the Paul Jenkins PPSM run than JMS’ run and exempting Aunt May being in on the secret felt like with a few changes it could’ve exorcised every other element of his run. Peter’s teaching job was a factor in the story but it was used as a brilliant and organic segue way into a Bugle/Jonah centric investigation.

‘Darkest Hours’ though...doesn’t do that.

Rather it is practically a lost arc from JMS’ run. No, not his ‘era’ wherein we’re talking about every title during his time in charge. I mean that if this was a comic book story it could’ve been straight up slotted in directly before or after ‘Sins Past’ and no one would’ve batted an eye.

The way the story tries to handle Peter’s marriage to Mary Jane, Peter’s teaching job, the inclusion of Doctor Strange and Dex, the potted history of Ezekiel, the direct references to Shathra and friggin ASM #500, and of course Morlun’s siblings. This FEELS like the JMS run!

And for a lot of people that’s going to be a huge deal breaker for this novel.

In my experience of Spider-Man fandom whilst there is a lot of appreciation of JMS’ run it was divisive for various reasons. A lot of people just for whatever reason turned off by Peter being a teacher (or more accurately not being a photographer for the Bugle) and recoil even more over the presence of mystical elements like Morlun or Doctor Strange.

Now if you liked or tolerated that stuff then this novel is a hidden gem of sorts, whether you want a shot of nostalgia or just found that stuff compelling.

Me personally, I liked the first half of the JMS run for the most part. And Jesus Christ looking back at it after what we got after he left it’s a Hell of a lot better.

Say what you want about Ezekiel and Peter being a teacher but I’d take that stuff over fucking Superior Spider-Man and Parker Industries!

Of course the elephant in the room regarding this novel in the modern day is that it predates Spider-Verse and Spider-Geddon as stories establishing Morlun had a family.

And...did...it...BETTER!

In Spider-Verse/Geddon Morlun was the main character and his family had unbearably simplistic personalities that boiled down to being variant action figures of him!

Now don’t get it twisted. Mortia and her brothers are a million miles away from the greatest villains in Spider-Man history. In fact they have LESS personality than Morlun did.

And yet in context this actually works for the story more effectively than in Spider-Verse/Geddon.

Morlun as originally presented was essentially a very eloquent predator and a hunter, not quit a full on force of nature but close to it. He was intimidating because he really didn’t do anything besides hunt Spider-Man and want to eat him.

Where Spider-Verse/Geddon failed was in reintroducing Morlun and then immediately watering him down by having him appear alongside his variant action figure family with moments and even back up stories told specifically from their POVs. Sure JMS gave us moments focussing on Morlun’s character outside of Spider-Man or Morlun, but they existed to introduce the character and briefly build him up before we realize just how utterly outclassed Spider-Man is against him. When we already know who the Hell Morlun is we don’t need scenes focussing upon him because he isn’t a character who can support that level of attention. Nor should he be because he’s SUPPOSED to be a one not hunting and killing machine basically.

That’s why this novel makes better use of ‘the Ancients’ than S-V/G made of ‘the Inheritors’. We don’t have scenes from their POV thus they can basically be what Morlun was when Spider-Man first met him. Ruthless predators on the hunt, except now there are three of them so Spider-Man is truly screwed!

The plot cleverly focuses instead on the characters who have to DEAL with the impending threat the Ancients pose rather than trying to pretend these guys have actual characters. Butcher also makes them much scarier than the Inheritors because rather than monsters who basically just port in wherever and kill indiscriminately, the Ancients have riches and resources. They are a part of society and Peter is racing against the clock hoping those resources don’t zero in on who he is and where his family lives. This dread, this tension is delectable and far more effective than what Slott of Gage ever did. It helps that we actually see Peter reacting believably to the pressure and stress of his potential demise rather than be a generic and passive as he was in Spider-Verse.

Also the fact they appear alone rather than alongside Morlun is better too as it means Morlun doesn’t look less unique and they look less like variant action figures.

Additionally Butcher does a great job fleshing out the backstory to the Ancients, helping to integrate them well into the established Marvel Universe, developing their abilities and how they worked. Hell he even remembered how they were supposed to work as JMS defined them rather than how Spider-Verse and Spider-Geddon just ignored these abilities and did whatever they wanted. For instance Butcher establishes clearly the Ancients CAN feed off of life forms other than Spider-Man as opposed to S-V/G just having them do that with no explanation and feed off of just anyone. Butcher also remembered Morlun saying that eating Peter would sustain him for a looooooong time and incorporated it into the plot. Similarly he provided a clear explanation for why Spider-Man couldn’t simply use the same trick he used against Morlun again (because he’s outnumbered!) or get help from other heroes like Doctor Strange. Speaking of which we got one of the best ever explanations for how magic works in the Marvel Universe ever. Wasn’t expecting that nor for Wong to be so delightful!

The only real misstep Butcher makes as far as the Ancients are concerned is the idea of the Rhino being a potential snack for them when he never got his powers from a real rhino or anything like that. He was even referenced as one of the pretenders to totem powers by Ezekiel. I guess you could that the Lizard (who was also referenced) should count so...whatever the rules aren’t clear here.

Let’s leave our main villains behind and talk instead about our more grey characters.

So yeah...Jim Butcher wrote one of the all time great Rhino stories here!

Again wasn’t expecting that!

The Rhino in Aunt May’s home breaking bread with Spider-Man is so insane an image that you’d love it for the absurdity alone, but Butcher makes it totally organic. He also keeps Rhino in character (with the exception of a time he refused to kill Spider-Man which I don’t remember being a real story) and fleshes him out rather wonderfully. He draws some great parallels between Rhino and Spider-Man and frankly the scene where Mary Jane is literally shaking with laughter over these comparisons is unquestionably the highlight of the whole novel!

What was really great was that Butcher didn’t change the Rhino or compromise him. He’s still a mercenary, he’s still not really a good guy, but he’s more human. He doesn’t like Spider-Man, he wants to beat him, but he also on a certain level respects him.

It’s just expertly done!

Then there is Felicia. Had Spencer not already fixed Felicia this story would’ve ignited fury within me. Not because this was bad but rather that this story used Felicia so wonderfully that BND and Slott’s ruination of her would’ve stung all the more.

Felicia is purrrrrrrfect here!

Not quite good, not quite bad, sultry, catty, territorial, smart, aggressive, dangerous, loyal. Butcher NAILED her character!

The fact he uses her to open up a philosophical debate about the differences and moral justifications between Peter, herself and the Rhino is inspired. There are differences but the lines aren’t as clear cut as Peter treats them as. In a sense he really does have a bit of a double standard in regards to her and everyone else. This isn’t the only time Butcher brings out Peter’s flaws very well. The scene where Peter has momentary lapses into light machismo are well done. Spider-Man is a hero but he ain’t perfect that’s why we love him!

This brings us to Felicia and Mary Jane. Sorry...I love it. Maybe it’s problematic, maybe it’s problematic that I do love it...but I just do.

Okay from a strict continuity point of view Butcher puts MJ and Felicia at greater odds than they really should be. By this point in time there were tensions but there was also friendship. Truth be told Butcher puts that friendliness in there but only at the very end of MJ and Felicia’s arc together and the resolution to the tensions are off-page. And yet...what can I say the pure soap opera of it was fun for me on a very base level. Who says marriage is free of tension again?????

The peak of my enjoyment was when the pair were just unrestrained hurling insults at one another. Again, shallow I know, but it was just fun for me and I really loved Peter having to step up and be the grown up in that situation and coldly let everyone know where they all stand. MJ doesn’t get to talk to Felicia that way because she’s their friend. Felicia doesn’t get to talk to MJ that way because she’s his wife.

This brings us to Mary Jane herself. Apart from again the romance stuff for me personally going a bit too far she’s mostly done very well. She’s supportive, she has a subplot of her own dealing with a real life problem (learning to drive), she makes mistakes, she’s great at analysing Peter, and helping figure things out via being a confidant. Oh and she totally saves the day at the end. No straight up she does. If not for MJ the day would’ve been lost and Spider-Man would’ve been dead.

It was such a baller as fuck scene I am slightly pissed off that it wasn’t realized as a comic. Her throwing shade at Doctor Strange was also priceless.

The final thing to mention is the subplot involving one of Peter’s students.

I am once again going to draw comparisons to both the JMS run and ‘Drowned in Thunder’ as they are apt here.

Okay basically strictly speaking the subplot regarding Peter helping one of his underprivileged kids retain a spot on the basketball team was a weak spot of the storytelling. Not because it was necessarily bad (though a 30something trying to write ‘inner city youths’ leaves something to be desired) but because it really didn’t tie into the main plot all that much.

In ‘Drowned in Thunder’ Peter’s teaching job was integrated seamlessly.

But in this you could tweak the novel and exorcise the whole subplot. It’s relevance really is mostly thematic (Peter and the kid both need to embrace team work to succeed) and to illustrate character traits of Peter Parker. He’s so responsible he would still make time to help out this poor student even whilst his life is potentially ticking away. Nor will he abandon this kid to save his own skin, even though the kid’s physical life might not be endangered at all if he did.

Now that all being said I LIKE the subplot’s inclusion. Not only because it does demonstrate Peter’s character and the lesson he needs to learn for this story, but because I view it as part and parcel of this book’s mission to be a lost JMS story.

Really the subplot could’ve been one of the handful of stories told during the JMS run concerning Peter helping out his impoverished students. If viewed as part and parcel of trying to capture the ‘flavour’ of the era the subplot succeeds.

Finally I must say I loved Peter’s words of defiance before his possible demise.

Over all I’d say this was a very strong story. Okay, as an over all package not quite as good as ‘Drowned in Thunder’ but still up there, with moments and aspects that are as good if not superior to the latter.

Highly recommended.

P.S. I can’t believe we got development and a great use out of Dex of all the obscure characters out there!

#Spider-Man #Jim Butcher #Morlun #j. michael straczynski #black cat #Felicia Hardy #the black cat #mjwatsonedit #Mary Jane Watson #Mary Jane Watson Parker #mj watson #rhino #the rhino #Aleksei Sytsevich #Alex O'Hirn #Peter Parker #Spider-Verse #Spider-Geddon

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dialovers-translations · 3 years

Text

DIABOLIK LOVERS VERSUS SONG Bloody Night Vol.Ⅴ Mini Drama “Kou VS Yuma”

Original title: 録り下ろしミニドラマ｢コウVSユーマ｣

Source: Diabolik Lovers VERSUS SONG Bloody Night Vol.V Mini Drama

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Kimura Ryouhei & Tatsuhisa Suzuki

Translator’s note: The other VERSUS mini drama tracks were between 20 & 25 minutes so when I opened the link and saw it was only 12 minutes, I immediately got worried that perhaps the track was incompletely. Fortunately, that was not the case and they just made this one shorter for some reason. I guess they ran out of ideas? :p It really does feel a little lackluster compared to say the Shuu VS Laito one where there was a lot of interesting tension between the two boys. Although the Mukami’s are on better terms with each other, so their dynamic is obviously different from default.

→ LIKE MY TRANSLATIONS? SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI!

You walk up to the Mukami manor.

Yuma: So ya finally came, huh? Just how long did ya stay behind at school?

You look around.

Yuma: Foolー I’m right over here.

You flinch, turning around.

Yuma: Come on...!

*Rustle rustle*

Yuma pins you down against the grass.

*Rustle*

Yuma: Heh...You really are hella slow.

You seem confused.

Yuma: Aah? ‘Why’, you ask? ーー This is more important right now. I’m thirsty...

He bites you.

*Sluuuurp*

Yuma: Haah...I really can’t get ‘nough of this...

You protest.

Yuma: Ugh, shut up! Ya should only focus on my fangs! More...Quench my thirst more...

*Sluuuurp*

*Rustle rustle*

Yuma: ーー Ugh!! Stop makin’ a damn ruckus! ...Oi, this side’s up next.

You start shaking.

Yuma: Pissin’ yer pants? Hehe...Guess that makes sense. I bet it’s scary ya can’t see what I’m doin’, huh? I’d love to mess ‘round with you a lil’...but I can’t hold back...

*Sluuuurp*

Yuma: Ah...Haah...Your blood is still of the best quality...It’s even more addictin’ than Sugar-chan...Have ya started feelin’ good, despite all those protests from earlier? Ya really are hopeless, aren’t ya? Hehehe...

You try and defend yourself.

Yuma: Hehe...Just give in to it completely (1). If ya do, I’m sure you’ll be able to feel even beーー

Kou: ...Aaah!! Yuma-kun’s having fun behind our backs!! (2)

Yuma: Why the fuck ya here, Kou!?

Kou walks up to them.

Kou: No fair, Yuma-kun! Trying to hog M-neko-chan all for yourself like that! Say, let me join in as well? You’ve already had plenty of fun, haven’t you?

Yuma: Che, we were just gettin’ to the good part so back off already!

Kou: Eeeh!? Aren’t you being kinda mean? M-neko-chan isn’t exclusively yours so I have the right to suck her blood as well!

*Rustle*

Kou: Besides~ I’m sure she’s yearning for my fangs as well, right? Hehehe~

He approaches you.

Kou: Isn’t that so, M-neko-chan?

You whimper in response.

Kou: Hmm~ I have no idea what you just said, but I can take that as an ‘okay’, right? Well, I would have done it even if you said ‘no’, of course~ Well then, without wasting any more time...

Yuma: Oi, wait!

Kou: Hm? ...What? You want to do it at the same time?

Yuma: Hell no! Get yer hands off what is mine!

Kou: Like I said, that’s not up to you to decide. M-neko-chan said she likes my fangs best, you know?

Yuma: Aaah!? No way in hell! ...Che, at least come up with a more decent lie.

Kou: It’s not a lie though~~

Yuma: ...!! Are ya makin’ fun of me!?

*Rustle*

Yuma: Oi, Sow! Do ya seriously prefer hiーー

You use this as an opportunity to try and get away from them.

*Rustle rustle*

Yuma: ...!? Che...! ...Come on, this’ll work, right?

Kou: ...Now’s our chance! M-neko-chan, we’re making a run for it!

Kou grabs your hand and dashes off with you.

Yuma: ...Ah! Oi, hold it...! ...Fuck! ...Wait, I said!!! Oi!!

Yuma chases after the two of you.

*TIMESKIP*

Kou: ...Haah, haah...Aaah~ I’m beat...! I didn’t think he’d be that persistent, did you? Hehe~

You gasp for air after running.

Kou: Ah...Are you okay? Your complexion is really pale...

You nod.

Kou: I see. Guess it’s fine then~

You blink in confusion.

Kou: Oh? Did you perhaps think I was actually worried about your health? Pfft~ No way! ...Although, I was just a tad bit worried Yuma-kun might have sucked a little too much, but of course, I’m only worried about your blood in that case.

You frown.

Kou: Haha~ Did that hurt? But...Mmh~ I’m really digging that expression.

*Rustle*

Kou: I’d love to see more...So don’t run away and let me have your blood? I’ll make sure to take my time to thoroughly savor you...

*Rustle*

Kou: I’ll start by latching onto this delicious-looking upper arm...~ ...Hm? I can’t take it off very well...

*Rustle rustle*

Kou: ...Ah, geezーー!!

*RIIIIIP*

Kou: ...Ah. It ripped. ...Oh well, your skin’s exposed now so this works, right?

*Rustle rustle*

Kou: ...Oh? Does it tickle? Then how about this...~?

*Smooch*

Kou: Fufufu~ You were so shocked earlier but in the end, you love it when I do all of these things to you, don’t you? ...Come on, show me the best expression you’ve got...”

Kou bites you.

Kou: Mmh...

*Sluuuurp*

Kou: Hah...Haah...Aah~ It’s so sweet, it feels like I’m melting...~ Also...It’s so soft, I can’t stop...Mmh...

*Sluuuurp*

Kou: Mmh...Nn...Huh? ‘No’? I honestly don’t think I can control myself right now. Also, if you make too much of a fuss, Yuma-kun will find us, you know? Are you okay with that?

You shake your head.

Kou: Right? So just accept me...No, maybe you actually want Yuma-kun to find us, don’t you?

You deny it.

Kou: Haha~ You don’t need to deny it so desperately. In that case, shall I call him over...~?

Yuma arrives to the scene.

Yuma: Haah, haah...What was that ‘bout me?

Kou: Huh? ...Yuma-kun, amazing! Perfect timing!

Yuma: Aahn? ...Anyway, ya sure had some nerve earlier, settin’ me up like thaーー

Kou: ーー Stop! Instead, come over here! I said you came at the right time, no?

Yuma: Che...What do ya want?

Yuma steps closer.

Kou: Come on, let’s show him...Your top-tier expression.

Kou bites you again.

Kou: Mmh...Nn...

*Sluuuurp*

Kou: Hah...

Yuma: Oi...Don’t tell me, ya showin’ off to me!?

Kou: ...Fufu~ Exactly! Mmh...

*Sluuuurp*

Kou: Ah...Hehe~ M-neko-chan is a next-level masochist after all...The second she realizes somebody is watching her...Haahn...

*Gulp*

Kou: ...Fufu~ See? She gets aroused like this~?

Yuma: Che...Fuck off.

Kou: M-neko-chan? Show Yuma-kun even more of those nice faces.

Yuma: ...Shit!! If that’s the game ya wanna play...Oi, Sow! Don’t ya dare give Kou all of yer attention!

*Rustle*

Yuma: I don’t feel satisfied ‘cause a certain someone got in the way before we were done...

Yuma bites you as well.

*Sluuuurp*

Kou: Hehehe~ Now’s that more like it! In that case, me too...Mmh...

They both suck your blood at the same time.

*Sluuuurp*

Yuma: ...Mmh...Nnhーー! Keep still! One extra person barely makes any difference, right?

Kou: Hehe, now don’t be getting the wrong idea, M-neko-chan. You are in no position to talk back to us. Isn’t it obvious we’ll have you tag along until we’re tired of this?

Yuma: Hehehe...Exactly.

You continue to protest.

Kou: Haha...I’m starting to get a little pissed off. I should probably seal those lips before they spout any more infuriating nonsense, huh?

Kou starts looking through his bag.

Kou: If I recall correctly, it should be in here...

*Rustle rustle*

Yuma: Haah? Whatcha gonna do with that handkerchief?

Kou: I’m gonna put it in her mouth? Just like this...~

*Rustle*

Kou: It’s a shame I won’t be able to hear those sweet noises you make, but it can’t be helped. This ensures I get to have your blood after all. Besides, it looks so erotic, I’m kind of digging it! I can’t make up my mind where I should bite you next~ Hehe~ It’s a great opportunity...So how about the lower back? M-neko-chan...I’ll thrust them right in, okay?

Kou bites you again.

Kou: Mmh...

*Sluuuurp*

Kou: Nn...Mmh...

*Sluuuurp*

*Gulp*

Kou: Ah...Haah...

Yuma: Hehe...Ya better not forget that Kou isn’t the only one here, ‘kay?

Yuma bites you once more as well.

*Sluuuurp*

Kou: Mm...Come on! You can’t just focus on Yuma-kun! Look my way too!

*Rustle*

Kou: Okay? ...Take a good look. I’m going to give you an intense pain right now. I’ll make it so you can never forget about me again...

*Sluuuurp*

*Gulp*

Kou: Haahn...

*Sluuuurp*

Yuma: Seems like yer mind has gone blank. But...We’re not done yet. I’ll wake ya up again and again with these fangs...So brace yerself.

Kou: Fufu~ Remember this well. You can no longer escape from us Vampires’ fangs. Not ever, okay?

ーー THE END ーー

Translation notes

(1) Literally he tells her ‘to drop as far down as possible’. The Japanese word for ‘to fall’ is also used as a synonym for ‘to become tainted/corrupted’ at times.

(2) 抜け駆け or ‘nuke-gake’ literally means that you get a headstart on someone.

#diabolik lovers #dialovers #kou mukami #yuma mukami #diabolik lovers translation #diabolik lovers drama cd #drama cd #diabolik lovers versus song

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kumoriyami-xiuzhen · 3 years

Text

Hakuoki Kyoka-Roku Harada Character CG Perspective

This is my last post of the month, so I’ll end by asking you to please support me if you can through my ko-fi, and paypal or patreon which provides access to my hakuoki blog translations and early access to my postings. Also, please let me know if you have any hakuoki drama cds that you’d be willing to share that are on my Lookout List since i either do not have audio for those cds or do not have audio that I can share.... and if you are able to remove watermarks from a video, please contact me.

well... this is the very last char cg perspective perspective that i have translations for. if someone wants to translate the ones for heisuke, i’ll go complete his route then capture the unedited video for his version of this (the dialogue tend to repeat a lot when there are multiple lines for the same clicked area).

anyway, this has same format as all of my other char perspectives, and the screenshots used in this post are not mine.

Hakuoki Kyoka-Roku Harada Character CG Perspective

Translation by KumoriYami

Face: Don't keep staring at me. If you stare at me, I can't help but feel a bit shy.

Face: Sorry, can you stay out of this right now?

Face: I'll love you after this, now just stay with me.

Spear: It is a man's duty to protect women. Though that's not to say that anyone will be protected by me. I want to protect you, and only you.

Shiranui: When I fought with the one called Shiranui, I didn't expect that, someday, we would fight alongside each other as comrades. Now that I think about it, if it weren't for these oni appearing/if it weren't for these oni, I probably wouldn't have met you. Destiny is a really strange thing.

Head: You're scared. Sorry, I wasn't able to save you in time. But, you believing me, that really made me happy.

Chest: It's okay. As you can see, I'm not hurt. Thank you for your concern.

Chest: Well... this is because I'm always exercising.

Chest: Oi oi, you don't need to stare. I'm going to be embarrassed.

Chizuru’s head: The reason for why I pat your head wasn't to treat you like a child. Although this is usually done to children, it was for a different reason then. Because I wanted to touch you, that's why I reached out towards you.

Face: Because I was so conflicted about these boring issues that have upset you then, I find it shameful when I think about it now. People shouldn't live in the past, and from now on, I will never make you cry again.

Chest: Oops, using too much strength caused my clothes to open up more.

Chest: What is it? Are you interested in my chest [tl is pectoral muscles]

Chest: If you're interested, you can slowly and carefully look over this later.

Right Hand: I obviously kissed you, but you didn't realize that I was in love with you then. Was that because I said something misleading? I'm sorry, I'm not good at speaking. So, in order to be even clearer to you in the future, I will tell you many times that I love you.

Face: Looking at you like this, I feel very happy.

Face: Looking at your face like this, I can't but feel my expression soften.

Face: Don't look at me like that again. I'll feel embarrassed. Hey, is it okay to touch you right now?

Shinpachi: You're asking how that guy, Shinpachi, is doing now? He'll be okay. I've known him for a long time, so I know that his life will be good. Regardless of wherever he goes, he will definitely have a fulfilling life.

Chizuru: It looks that from the bottom of my heart, I fell in[/was?] love with you [then?]. In the future, I will always choose you. No matter what happens, this will never change.

Face: To amuse a child, I need to think of some funny faces to make...

Face: Alright! Then, how does this look?.....Uh, oi oi, don’t cry! Please don’t cry!

Face: The only people on earth that I can show this embarrassed face to, are you and this guy.

Baby: Really... he started crying as soon as I held him. I never knew that raising a child was so hard. But, it’s a type of happiness to be able to worry about this child.

Chizuru: "Having a wife, a child and a warm bed [idiom. can alternatively mean: "the simple and good life"]." I'm so happy to have this. All of this happiness is owed to you. Thanks to you, I've achieved my dream.

Face: Even if this little guy inherits the blood of an oni, I will raise him to be a warrior with an indomitable spirit. Because this is your child and mine. You don't need to worry about anything.

Chest: I've already held you so many times, so I should obviously remember how to be gentle...

Clothes: Sure enough, I feel more relaxed while wearing a kimono

Clothes: Do you think kimonos best suit me?

Chizuru: We've experienced all sorts of hardships together, and while there might be all sorts of difficulties waiting for us in the future, as long as you are at my side, even if that happens, I feel that I will always be happy.

#hakuoki #hakuouki #hakuoki game translation #Hakuoki Kyoka-Roku #harada sanosuke

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xenosgirlvents · 5 years

Text

Great Work: Thoughts

Since this is about recent plot developments etc. etc. I'll put it under a read more tab. Spoilers below.

Overall thoughts: It isn't a bad book.

So Great Work, I'm obviously focusing on the Xenos side of content here and there is quite a bit in 'The Great Work’ for a change.

Overall the book isn't bad, good even. Honestly. It has some issues, sure, but that's always going to be there. By Black Library standards it's fine and someone who really likes Cawl will probably find it interesting. First a bit of a random list of just some relevant details:

The Pharos is a Necron Device powered by a C'tan Shard that allows them to navigate without the Warp. I'm a bit unsure of this too, the book seems to go back on the current Dolmen Gates into Webway approach and imply again the Necron had some non-Webway, non-Warp FTL so far as I can tell. The Pharos doesn't seem to be a psychic beacon at all but, instead, just manipulates physical reality via C'tan powers.

The C'tan shard in the Pharos implies humans were also supposed to be some sort of tool-species for the Old Ones in their war but that they have evolved into not at all what they were supposed to.

The C'tan calls the Machine god a lie, Chaos gods emergent consciousnesses, the Emperor a weapon. Basically not anything we didn't already know.

Honestly the big crux isn't that impressive to me. Cawl just wanted to download a map of the Blackstone deposits the Necron Empire knew about. His goal is just he wants to wipe out the Warp so that the galaxy goes back to how it was before the War in Heaven. He never mentions the Webway project so I don't know if he has any thoughts on how humans will communicate and travel without the Warp but eh.

So on to Xenos. I will discuss the two Xenos factions who appear in the book and the one who I'm sorely disappointed didn't appear:

Tyranids:

Definitely these come off best in the book and I'd honestly say the book does them well. The conquest of Sotha is shown in flashback and the Tyranid are brutally effective in it. What's more even the Genestealer Cultists do amazingly, the Fortress Monastery's Void Shield and Defence Batteries are sabotaged from within by a cell of GSC who take out the Marines guarding it and destroy it. Good stuff.

Then MAJOR kudos for the first time I've ever read a Patriarch not being a pathetic pushover. After the endless amounts of time I've had to read about Patriarchs being utterly worthless and dying to single Marines it is refreshing to have a Patriarch who is an actual monster again. The GSC Patriarch in this kills 5-6 Terminators in short order and slays the Chapter Master of the Scythes of the Emperor. The big thing is the book doesn't forget that the Patriarch is meant to be a powerful Psyker. Most books featuring Patriarchs just have Marines be able to grit their teeth and instantly defeat all their psychic powers. In this book, no, the Patriarch's ability to paralyze the Marines with Psychic is the key reason it succeeds because it gives it crucial seconds to close into combat with them.

It does die, sure, but that's fine. It dies killing an elite 6-man team and a Chapter Master and it only dies because it lapses into villain stupidity in the end and sniffs around it's last kill and drawing out their death. Oh, also, nice to have it remembered Tyranids don't experience fear. Yeah. F**king Seth, maybe that audio drama should have remembered that?

The only downside with the Tyranids role is a rather nauseating and old one. In classic 40k style, because the Marines are the focus, there are no women. What's more Cawl's entire supporting cast are also only men. The result is that there is a single important female character and she is solely consigned to flashbacks. She, of course, dies.

Ugh.

Necron:

They get a little worse than the 'Nids. The good is that the C'tan Shard is not some loser who Cato Sicarius can kill in one line. The Potentate, as it is known, once released demonstrates instantly that it could kill everyone in the place if it wanted. Felix is knocked on his ass and helpless in seconds, Cawl's super-special-uber-mysterious-psychic Marine Primus get's chokeholded with ease. So the book does actually let the C'tan Shard just BE powerful.

Kudos.

Other than that there big downside is just that Cawl hacks and controls an entire Tomb Complex with ease and that is just nauseating.

Imagine how Imperium fans would react if O'vesa walked into a Space Marine Fortress Monastery and just hacked all it's systems with ease? Ugh. The thing is it takes the books waffling on about how ‘advanced’ and 'superior’ the Necron are look stupid when Cawl simply without any difficulty uses all their systems and hijacks them. Up to and including controlling Scarabs and Wraiths.

So then the third group who weren't involved to my chagrin.

Aeldari:

It really does feel like GW and BL want to basically erase the idea of the Ynnari-Imperium alliance from the entire story. Cawl makes no mention of the Ynnari once. Not to mention if he wanted Necron information he could literally just have asked Yvraine and she could have introduced him to Watcher in the Dark. Furthermore, we learn Cawl's been abducting and torturing Aeldari to get information out of them?

This is a BIG issue I have with this ‘alliance'. It only ever exists from the Ynnari's side because it is clear GW and BL consider it a sign of weakness. So they never have Guilliman, Felix or Cawl acknowledge it existing because they don't want to at all imply the Imperium actually is making compromise or engaging in foreign policy. They only want to showcases the Alliance when it's a case of the Imperium making demands and the Ynnari meekly submitting to them.

Ugh.

Last Xenos note: we can add a new Xenos species to the list of harmless species the Imperium just butchered. The Adrianians were a species literally deemed harmless by the Great Crusade itself and thus not subjected to military invasion...instead their entire species was melted down into goo to make life-extending formula with for humans.

Yay.

Anyway, just something I don't get, so in this book we meet the dude who says he invented Black Carapace cause no-one else could get it right but...why didn't the Emperor just invent Black Carapace? How could there even be a need to ‘invent’ anything in the Space Marine project? Couldn't the Emperor figure it all out on his own?

Also the book explains why they're the Adeptus Astartes. Some called Amaran Astartes was vital to the project. But apparently they did something to displease the Emperor later and thus were erased from history.

Also Cawl's wacky origins isn't bad and doesn't matter to me but I guess some people might care. Cawl's actually the result of a super genius called Ezekiel Sedayne using some experimental brain-fusion technology to merge their minds together.

Also the Emperor likes Cawl. Like REALLY likes him/Sedayne.

The book honestly isn't bad and is fine in isolation, I have no complaints about it's own merits. It's only frustrating because we have just no Xenos novels to counter. It really is just depressing to me that Cawl gets a whole novel before Eldrad, Lelith or Ghazghkull do.

#warhammer #Warhammer 40k #40k #Warhammer 40000 #Belisarius cawl #necron #tyranids

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prorevenge · 6 years

Text

Bully from my past decides to show up and talk smack. I get his ass fired, jailed and fined.

This takes place just a couple months ago, but I'll give some back story. In school I was bullied pretty badly. In this school bullying was unofficially popular and accepted. This meant many kids would compete to see how badly they could treat their "lessers". Among these ass hats were the clique who just hated. The type who had no reason, just that was the way they believed it was. Time passes though, I left that school, graduated at another, yet once or twice I have met my old school bullies and had to deal with them. No big special deal, just someone picking out of old habits and being told off. Otherwise everyone else I went to school with just did the same as I did and moved on. This guy was one of those who couldn't let it go and due to circumstance, I had to deal with him.

Understand I love my job. I'm a computer geek that is IT. A nice position where I get to choose how my work gets done with great pay. To me it’s a dream come true. So, with this in mind understand that I will fight tooth and nail to keep it if the need arises.

Time to start.

The whole thing started with a simple encounter. At the facility I work at we have contractors. People who come in and will do a job then leave. In this case SB (School Bully) was with one of these contracted companies who were supporting maintenance with electrical and frame work updates across the shop floor. I got one of my usual support request calls and went down to see what was up. On the way I saw him walking the opposite direction. At first I didn't recognize him, it has been nearly twenty years. So I nodded politely and moved on. It didn't click until later who he was, and at that time I decided to ignore it. I had my own job to think about.

Two days later the signs started. I was doing some stock audit work on the floor when one of the assembly workers I know (and I do know a lot of the shop floor workers.) wanted to ask me a question. I said sure, so he asked me if it was true that in school I tried to rape a class mate. I won't lie I was really taken aback. The answer of course was a resounding NO. I was pissed so I asked him who brought up such a thing. He told me that a contractor from a certain company was talking to him and a few others and brought it up. He said this guy talked a lot of hate full smack. He told me he didn't believe it but wanted to hear it from me. Fair enough. I asked for more details about the smack talking perp and his description fit SB. I was not amused.

I didn't want to deal with this, I was happy and didn't want to jeopardize that with my job by confronting a person who would just deny it. Asking the shop floor workers to back me up as witnesses wouldn't work either sense even though they are decent people, they wouldn't want to risk their paychecks for such drama.

Instead I called my brother who works as one of the maintenance managers. I convinced him to tell me were the company SB worked for was doing their work. I explained the situation and he told me to leave it be because with in a couple of months when the work is done they would move on. It was understandable, but i'm a little paranoid and wanted to keep my wits about me just in case. For about a week I stalked the group SB was with. I would simply walk by and make a note of who the shop floor guys he was working with. After SB moved on I would casually ask everyone, how things were going. The common thread was that one of the contractors on site really hated my guts and talked a lot of shit. Multiple people told me that when noticed me around he would go into small tirades about how I did this something else when we were younger. Things like how I did drugs, or I quit school because I was a waste. Things like that. The thing is that everything I heard was very nostalgic in a bad way. Everything said was a classic excuse the haters would have used. They never actually had a reason to hate me, so they would make something up. Hence why I called them the Haters.

After this I decided that it would be best to keep on damage control. I know how things can be, if a rumor is heard enough people can start to believe it. I didn't want to confront SB either sense I figured nothing would come of it. My brother was right, after a month or so this ass hat would be gone, but fate had other things in mind. My boss, being the nice guy that he is called me up one day asking if everything was ok. The rumors had gotten back to him and he wanted to ask me about them. I explained the situation and my plan for damage control. He understood and told me to keep it up. Unannounced to me he was annoyed enough to talk to SB's boss about what was going on. Which led me to my first real encounter with SB.

This happened the next night. I was heading to my car because I was done with the night. SB was waiting for me outside by the back lot. I was half way to my car when he called out.

SB: Hay, we need to talk!

I turned and saw him, but not wanting to deal with it I ignore him and continued to my car.

SB: Don't fucking ignore me, I have been through hell because of you.

He sped up and got in between me and my car. So now I have no choice but to listen, if I tried to go all the way back to the lobby he would just get in my way again.

SB: I got bitched out by my boss because of you. Someone said I was acting inappropriately while on the job.

Me: Okay, and this involves me how? (I said it all passively, figuring on playing dumb. It was obvious my boss talked to his boss getting him in trouble.)

SB: I know it was you who told my boss.

Me: Dude I didn't tell anyone about anything, I don't care, so just leave me alone.

SB: Fuck that, I know you, I know all about you, I remember the good days when we used to beat the crap out of you, I can bet you would love to have some revenge. I'm not going to let that happen by not letting this slide. You know your place or i'll beat you.

Me: ( I interrupted, I was getting pissed at this point.) Fuck you. This isn't that hell hole of a school; do you really think you could just get every one to hate me by spreading dumb rumors?

I remember this point very well, he got a real smug look on his face like some one who just won an argument. I can bet my remark let the cat out of the bag. I could also remember having to hold my self back from punching that smug face.

SB: Do you think anybody gives a shit about you? Nothing’s changed......(this is when he said it. The nickname that still pisses me off. He called me the derogatory word they called me in school. The one they used as an excuse to beat me up, or insult me. NO i'm not posting it here.) I bet I can get everyone to hate you because you know your worthless.

By this point my emotions were in the open and I think he noticed because instead of stopping he picked up momentum.

SB: I seen you and that fat fuck of a wife around town, maybe i'll tell her to. I can bet she would kill herself if she knew what a (nickname) you are. What are you upset, are going to cry like you use to? How about this, i'll say what I want when I want or find you and your fucking wife and beat you to death! I'll leave you alone to think about what I said and i'll see you tomorrow, fucking (nickname).

He left it at that and walked off. I stood there for a bit and thought. I was now seething. I really wanted to turn on the ass hole and punch his lights out. But I know if I did I would just get fired because of the no tolerance rules we have. Then I had an idea, he was right, by this point I wanted revenge. He insulted me and my 5-month pregnant wife. Nope, not going to put up with this shit.

I went home and vented the event to my loving wife, who listened and gave me a well needed hug. The next day I went into motion. The first thing I did was talk to security, they had cameras for the parking lots, so I requested the video for the time frame SB and I had our little chat. The video didn't have audio but at least I had proof of his approach. This is why you become friends with the other departments ladies and gentlemen, you never know when you will need their help and help they did. They found exactly what I needed. The video showed him come up on the back lot and hiding behind the fence, then it showed his approach as I was walking to my car. It made it obvious he was waiting for me sinse he had no reason to be there. They copied the video, and per my request sent it to my boss, and to site VIP. The VIP is the guy who runs the entirety of the plant. VIP is just the IT nickname. I then called my boss and explained the email and what happened. I also explained that I sent it to the VIP. So we ended up scheduling a meeting later for that day. It was just me, my boss and VIP. It was mainly to explain the video and what happened. During the meeting the VIP got the contracting companies owner on call. I then once again explained myself. I explained SB's threats and that I have felt like my safety was put in jeopardy. My work place has a no tolerance rule for threats like this so I knew it would be taken more seriously if I added that in.

Now for the results. During the talk after I explained what happened, the contracted company told us they would fire him, because to not do so would risk the contract they had with us. My VIP also called the police as per the rules for anything like this. The police came, took a statement from me, my boss, saw the video and then arrested SB during his lunch break due to the threats of violence. A week later I got a summons to court to speak on my behalf. I told the judge what happened as I told my boss and VIP. I wasn't told what SB was charged with sense the county decided to charge him on their own, but I do know he spent a small amount of time in jail and got a fine. After that I was allowed to get a restraining order just in case.

This kind of thing still peeves me off, but I wanted to type this up while it was still fairly fresh. I also wanted to wait until things were said in done. I was told by a lawyer I asked before writing this that sense his trial is over the matter can't be overturned because of what I wrote here.

Also for those curious VIP is basically the manager of the entire plant, but calling him that actually makes his role seem less then it really is, so calling him VIP seemed more fitting to me. Also note that I can't release the video, its company property and I don't want to get fired.

(source) (story by Atlusfox)

#prorevenge #by Atlusfox #pro revenge #revenge stories #pro revenge stories #pro #revenge #revenge story #last10

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istheresomebodywhocanimagine · 6 years

Text

Late Nights, Early Mornings (PT. 1)

anonymous said: Anything w/ Bri cause he’s the cutest please xxx

(a/n: I actually wrote this a while ago and figured no one on here would like it but since it’s a multi-part brian piece and we luv brian, I might as well post it. buckle in, girls and gays. I have part 2 mostly fleshed out, its just a matter of finishing it. should be up in a few days hehe)

“What kind of all-nighter is this if Brian isn’t fucking here?” Roger asked irritably, sitting behind his drumset in his room off of the main recording area. “Wah wah, boo hoo, I’m tired! So am I! What makes him special?”

You sighed, trying not to laugh at how Roger looked when he was angry. Despite the rage, he still looked like a small animal on the defensive.

“I suppose I can swing by his flat and see if he’s still awake?” you offered, wanting desperately to get away from Roger anyways. Also, going to see Brian would brighten up your day a bit. He was quickly becoming your favorite of the group, Roger being a lot to handle on the daily while Brian was relatively low maintenance and very sweet when you got him alone.

Giving you a nod, Roger continued to look sour as he returned his focus to the drumset, and when you turned around, John was giving you a look that said ‘Why do you put up with him?’

“I’ll go along with Y/N,” Freddie offered, but someone pointed out that he still had to do some testing before they started recording. Giving you a sad look, Freddie apologized and sent you out on your own to retrieve Brian. You didn’t mind, anyways. You needed some fresh air, and Brian’s flat wasn’t too far from the studio, so you opted to walk.

Along the way, you stopped for some coffee, and when you showed up to Brian’s door, you found it unlocked. Carefully balancing the coffee in one arm and hand, you knocked on the door before letting yourself in, at least giving him some semblance of a warning.

“Bri?” you called out, shutting the door behind you and sitting the coffees on the counter before wandering through his lounge to get to the hallway. You heard something in the bedroom, so you went up to the door and knocked softly.

“One moment,” was Brian’s soft reply from the other side of the door, so you returned to the lounge and plopped down on the couch, laying your head back and closing your eyes to get a tiny bit of rest. After a minute, he walked out into the lounge, and you opened your eyes to see his tall, lanky figure, his hands working on buttoning his shirt. He was still in his jeans from today, but he looked like he’d just started getting ready for bed.

“Christ, now I almost feel bad,” you blurted out, looking at him guiltily. Your heart clenched a bit, partly because you felt terrible for him and partly because he admittedly looked kind of cute like this. Very homey. “Forget I was here, I’ll just tell Roger to suck it up for a night and record without the guitar.”

“Roger throwing a fit?” Brian asked, giving a half-hearted smile as he looked over to the counter, rubbing the deep five-o’clock shadow that was forming on his jaw. “And you brought coffee – I assume I’m being summoned?”

You nodded, smiling a bit sheepishly and scooting over as he grabbed his shoes and came over to sit down so he could pull them on. He moved a bit slower than usual as he tied them, quite sleep-deprived from last night’s session with just him and Freddie recording. You’d come along with Roger tonight for moral support, seeing as you were usually just their tour audio engineer and you were on break for a while since they wanted you fresh for their tour coming up. He’d convinced you to come so you could give your famous shoulder rubs if he got sore, and he promised to buy you drinks as payment.

“Since I feel like I could pass out right here, can you grab my little black journal from my bed in my room? It’s got my notes for the recordings in it.” You nodded, getting up and heading to his bedroom to grab it really quick as he grabbed a coat and Red Special.

When you got to his room, you found it a mess, but decided against chastising him for it and instead made your way over to his bed. The problem you encountered when you got there was that there were two little black journals, so you grabbed both and decided to ask questions later. Joining him in the lounge again as you put the journals in your pocket, you grabbed the coffees before both of you made the short trek back to the studio. Upon entering, Roger make an exaggerated noise of surprise.

“I thought you were too tired!” he sneered, earning a smack on the back of the head from you in response. You handed Brian his coffee as Roger pouted, and produced the first of the two journals, which he seemed to recognize as his notes, so you left the other in your pocket.

“Good evening to you too, Rog,” Brian replied, his voice softer but still salty.

“Brian, darling, come here for a second. I want to get your opinion on this,” Freddie interjected, not letting any more bickering start tonight. John gave you another one of his looks, then kept fiddling with his bass.

You perched on the back of the couch, sipping your coffee as you watched everyone do their thing, Brian hovering over whatever Freddie was looking at near the tapes. Roger came over and placed himself between your legs, sitting back against you before looking up at you.

“How’d you convince him to come?” Roger asked, just loud enough for you to hear. “Did you use your magic lady powers?” he teased, making weird sparkly finger hand gestures.

“Coffee,” you replied simply, raising your cup before taking another sip. “You do know that if Freddie and him are here tonight, they won’t be tomorrow night?”

Roger groaned, looking forward towards the recording booth and resting his head against your left thigh. “We’re never going to get this record done,” he lamented.

“You will, these things just take time, drama queen.” Roger grumbled incoherently at your little name for him, and you sat your coffee to the side as you began to braid a small section of the back of his hair. He closed his eyes and let you do it, Brian soon finishing whatever Freddie was needing and joining you both on the couch so he could get Red Special ready.

“Am I next?” Freddie chuckled, referring to Roger’s braid that you were wrapping in rubber band you had around your wrist. You smiled softly, finishing up the braid before looking up at Freddie and scrutinizing his hair.

“I suppose I could give you all a braid, though I’m not sure Deacon would enjoy it.” John chuckled a bit at that, shaking his head as he sat his bass to the side. You then looked at Brian, and pursed your lips as you rested a hand on the top of his head. “And I’m not sure how I could even navigate this.”

Brian hummed with amusement, looking up at you and giving you a small smile before continuing his work on Red Special. “Good luck,” was all he said, scooting forward to give you room to sit behind him. You moved over so that he was now resting between your legs instead of Roger. Chewing your lip in concentration, you starting trying to figure out what hair was even the same length.

As you figured this out, they were finally ready to record, so you pouted as you had to give up on Brian’s hair for now. “Promise you’ll come back so I can actually braid it,” you stated, holding out your pinky. Brian smiled lopsidedly, his eyes crinkling up a bit and making him look not so exhausted as he pinky-promised you.

You slid down to sit on the regular part of the couch, pulling what you recognized as Freddie’s coat over you and laying down. They began recording sections of a song Freddie and Brian had partially constructed the night before, and you didn’t realize how tired you truly were until you woke up to the sound of the door opening, only Freddie walking in. You sat up for a moment and let him sit down where your head was, then you rested your head on his thigh and got comfortable again.

“What’d I miss?” you asked drowsily, yawning a bit. Freddie shook his head, also yawning and stretching a bit.

“Not much. I’m just resting my pipes a bit. Go back to sleep, lovie,” he said, starting to attempt to braid your hair in an effort to keep himself awake.

“Bollocks, I know it was in here,” you could hear Brian over the intercom, and you could just see him rifling through his notebook for something he missed in the last run through. Remembering the notebook in your pocket, you pulled it out and you were about to get up to offer it to him over the intercom when Freddie made you stop in your tracks.

“Why on Earth have you got Brian’s journal?” he asked, looking at the little black book in your hands like it was a precious crown jewel. “He wouldn’t even let me peek at that on tour and he just gives it to you?”

You shook your head, suddenly afraid of the journal, so you handed it to Freddie. “I grabbed it off his bed, it looked like his other journal and I didn’t know which was which. Am I in deep shit, Fred?”

Freddie started rifling through the pages, apparently unbothered by the fact that he was intruding on Brian’s personal thoughts. Your question went unanswered as he started mumbling words to himself, reading a passage halfway out loud.

“This is from last night, my God,” Freddie stopped to observe, pointing to the date. “This man updates his journal religiously, I haven’t even looked at mine in weeks because of this damned record.” You tried to subdue your curiosity about what he had to say about last night, seeing as you’d thought it was mostly an uneventful night. Freddie started reading some of it out loud, though, which only piqued your interest. “Had a late night recording with Fred, Y/N, and some others. We got a few of the songs started and knocked one out, but the one took forever because Fred kept being a tart.”

You burst out laughing at Freddie’s face when he read that, a look of pure insult spreading across his features. Quickly throwing a hand over your mouth, you apologized quickly. “Keep reading though,” you urged, wanting to hear what Brian had to say about Freddie’s little fits he had last night.

“He wanted to redo the same part over and over, and we were all getting tired of it. I asked him what was wrong with it and he went on and on about not being able to feel out that part of the song because of my guitar playing. Y/N thought it was quite a hoot, she looked quite…” Freddie trailed off, suddenly snapping the journal closed and shoving it down his shirt so you couldn’t get it. “That’s enough of that,” he said quietly, avoiding eye contact and crossing his arms.

“What the fuck, Freddie?” you asked, trying not to be too loud as the sound tech at the board talked to Brian through the mic. “What did it say?”

“It said Brian thinks I’m a tart, that’s it,” Freddie replied, evading the subject and refusing to look at you. You scowled, then started tickling Freddie, who yelled out in surprise and then started writhing and laughing, trying to keep you from getting the journal but failing miserably. You had your hand up his shirt, just getting ahold of the book when you heard John’s voice come over the speaker.

“You alright, you two?” he asked, both him and Brian standing at the window that was between you and them. Oh shit.

PT. 2 PT. 3

#brian may x reader #brian may imagine #brian may #queen #queen imagine

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accio-spaceman · 5 years

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VORTEX Magazine - Issue 87

May 2016)

Download for FREE on the Big Finish website

Time For Ten

Kenny Smith goes behind the scenes on Big Finish’s most high-profile release yet.

[Above: David Tennant. Text reads Time For Ten - Kenny Smith goes behind the scenes on Big Finish’s most high-profile release yet.]

Let’s be honest – we’ve all been wanting David Tennant to play the Doctor for Big Finish since, well, the first day he got the job. Newspapers at the time of his casting as the Tenth Doctor made mention of the fact he’d already worked on the Doctor Who audios alongside Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy.

(Full Article Under Cut)

Of course, Big Finish have wanted him to return to the part and bring the Tenth Doctor back to life on audio.

And executive producer Nicholas Briggs – a friend of David’s for years – reveals the man himself has been just as keen as everyone else to get back into the studio with Big Finish.

Nick says: “David and I had a conversation about his doing Big Finish long, long before we got a licence to do plays based in his era. He actually, light-heartedly, encouraged me to go out and get the licence. At one stage, Michael Stevens and I had plans for Big Finish and Audiogo to do a coproduction of audio drama featuring the Tenth Doctor. But David’s schedule and Audiogo’s demise meant that plan didn’t materialise. But when we finally got the licence, I did chat to David on the phone. He eventually came up with the idea of a special, three-CD release.”

Line producer David Richardson adds: “The pitch for the Big Finish/ AudioGO co-production still exists – although none of the stories made it into this collection. The plan back then was to have episodes with a running theme, one that would climax with a big reveal and the return of a character from the Tenth Doctor era – but when we came to do this set of the Doctor and Donna stories, it was felt that it was best to go down the route of individual, unconnected episodes.”

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves a little.

This month sees the eagerly anticipated return of David, alongside Catherine Tate as everyone’s favourite temp from Chiswick, Donna Noble.

However, the process of getting them back together hasn’t been an easy one.

Big Finish executive producer and company chairman Jason Haigh-Ellery says: “We’ve had a lot of support in getting series based around the New Legacy Doctors. When the time was right, the BBC gave us the rights and helped us to get these productions up and running as soon as possible.

“We’re really pleased to have got David and Catherine back together.

“I first did Big Finish with Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred many years ago, certainly before Doctor Who was as central a part of my life as it has become since.”

– David Tennant

“Someone said to me, ‘Why did you announce John Hurt and David Tennant just a few weeks apart?’ The thing is, it took about two weeks to sort John out and get him into studio. With David and Catherine, it took a year – and you don’t want to announce anything until you have it recorded.

“It wasn’t in any way planned to announce them as closely together as we did, it just took us a year to sort out dates when we could get David and Catherine in studio together again.

“It was very important to both of them that they were there, acting together, so they could get that old feeling going again.

“A lot of people have said that David and Catherine’s relationship on-screen was some of the best stuff in 21st century Doctor Who, as a favourite combination of Doctor and companion. Seeing them work together, you can tell it’s obvious the two of them love working together and enjoy it.

“It was well worth waiting a year for, to have them together.”

Nick continues: “Once the BBC accepted the proposal, David Richardson and script editor Matt Fitton started working on story ideas, and kept me informed all along the way. It looked like we might get David and Catherine into studio fairly imminently then, so the scripts were worked on quite quickly. Then, when they were ready and tentative studio bookings made, David and Catherine – very busy people! – suddenly became unavailable. So we had to wait quite a while. So it’s true to say those scripts were then waiting for the final bookings to be made. So that’s why, when the information was leaked on the internet, we couldn’t comment, because we weren’t one hundred per cent sure it was actually going to happen. We had everything crossed!

David Richardson adds: “We certainly began story lining back in the summer of 2014, and the scripts were all signed off by May 2015. So they sat on the shelf for several months before we were able to get David and Catherine together in October.”

[Above David Tennant and Catherine Tate.]

When it was revealed in October last year that David Tennant was to play the Doctor for Big Finish, it marked his return to the Moat Studios after an absence of a decade.

Speaking to producer David Richardson, David Tennant recalls: “I first did Big Finish with Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred many years ago, certainly before Doctor Who was as central a part of my life as it has become since.

“I was always keen to come and play. I did a few different characters, one with Colin Baker, one with David Warner and some Dalek stuff with Nick Briggs. It was always something I really enjoyed.

“It was a lovely little job when it came along, so it’s nice to return to that because doing audio stuff is always really good fun.

“There’s an immediacy to it – you turn up and haven’t learned the lines – you prepare a little but basically you are flying by the seat of your pants, to a certain extent, and if you have got lots of good actors who inspire you and make it good fun, it’s really not a bad way to spend a day.

“It’s quite tiring and it’s quite intensive because you do a story in a day, faster than you work on Radio 4, but there’s such an energy to this stuff, you can’t help but be barrelled along by it. It took about two weeks to do a show on TV!”

Jason Haigh-Ellery was particularly delighted to welcome David back into the Big Finish family.

He says: “You know what, it didn’t feel like David had been away for a decade. That’s just unbelievable. When David came back it felt he’d only been away for a year or so, it really didn’t feel like it had been 10 years.

“As ever, David was lovely to everybody, and he slotted right back in. “David has an amazing memory and he remembers everyone’s name. He just walked in and went around, saying hello to everybody. He was wonderful.

“It’s great having him back, and I hope we will do more with him.”

Being back as the Doctor has been a joy for David, but he admits it was a bit of a worry to start with.

He says: “It’s been really good fun. I was a bit nervous about whether I would slip into it with ease, or would it be a bit of a stretch, but it really felt like returning to a comfy pair of trousers, rather than a scratchy vest.

“It’s all quite high energy, the character, but once you key into it, it always makes sense.

“That was always the key to it, it was very tiring to do, but they’ve also been invigorating. It has its own momentum, I think.

“I’d always used the script as my springboard, really, from what Russell T Davies and the other writers wrote and that’s what I’ve continued to do here. You take what’s on the page and use it as your starting point.

“If you come at a character like this with pre-conceived notions, that you might play him like this or that, the danger is you can be fighting the actual story and the script – the whole thing has got to evolve as one piece.”

David was particularly pleased to be reunited with Catherine Tate – with whom he has also worked on Comic Relief, Much Ado About Nothing and Never Mind The Buzzcocks and the recent Shakespeare Live – as they have a firm established friendship.

He says: “I think Catherine and I always got on, right from the moment she came to do the tiny bit at the end of Doomsday. She came down and shot the cliffhanger for series two. It took all of half-an-hour and from that moment, we got on – and always have done. That’s something we can hopefully bring to the characters.

“We’ve worked together in various places and in various ways and it’s something we enjoy doing. It’s just always nice to see her and it’s nice to play.”

“I think Catherine and I always got on, right from the moment she came to do the tiny bit at the end of Doomsday.”

– David Tennant

For the Big Finish production team, there was a huge sense of relief when they finally got their leading man and woman into studio after months of planning.

Nick says: “There was a great sense of occasion. And it was wonderful to hear David and Catherine working together. I actually thought Catherine’s performance was slightly different to her performance on TV. She seemed far more restrained than I expected her to be.

“But she’s a very shrewd actress, and she knew just how to pitch it when acting so close to a microphone.

“The camaraderie existed the moment people arrived at the studio, that people were familiar with each other.”

– David Richardson

[Above Left to right: Beth Chalmers, Blake Ritson, Alice Krige, and Alan Cox]

“I think what she’s done for us is rather beautiful and often very moving in all sorts of unexpected ways.

“I’ve run out of words to describe how brilliant David is. He’s a lovely chap. Very easygoing and fun to work with and… well, he just delivers! It’s such a joy to behold.”

David Richardson adds: “In the months running up to the recording, I’d got myself in a terrible state of stress. “It was clear every step of the way how momentous these episodes would be, and I felt the pressure that they had to be as good as they possibly could be, and that David and Catherine should have as great a time as they possibly could recording it.

“Of course, I needn’t have worried. For two huge, international stars they are very laid back and approachable people. It was lovely to sit and chat with David in the green room, and to hear him say he had bought our Blake’s 7 audios and enjoyed them!

“Nick let me cast all the plays, and I was very careful to hire people that we knew were accomplished actors and fun to be around, but also to have some people who David and Catherine would know and feel comfortable working with. So it was great to have Niky Wardley, who was one of the mainstays of The Catherine Tate Show. Alex Lowe and Alan Cox knew both David and Catherine. Dan Starkey had worked with them on the TV series… It meant the cameraderie existed the moment people arrived at the studio, that people were familiar with each other.

“Oh, and I cast Alice Krige because she really is one of my favourite actors, and one of my favourite people to be with at the studio. I’ve worked with Alice three times now, and we just sit and have the most extraordinary conversations about life. She’s wonderful.”

The pair found there to be so many highlights over the three studio days.

Nick pauses, before saying: “There are so many. But I think my personal highlight was when Catherine found so many poignant moments in Death and The Queen. I had, rather unfairly, pigeon-holed it as pure knockabout comedy. But Catherine saw past that and at one point brought a tear to my eye.”

David admits: “The moment I’ll always remember is recording the very first scene. David and Catherine threw themselves into it like they’d never been away. I was in the control room, and Matt Fitton was sitting on the sofa and we just turned to each other and grinned the biggest grins… I love all three scripts – Technophobia is just right for a Tenth Doctor opening story. Time Reaver is wildly imaginative but also quite personal and dramatic too. And Death and the Queen is bonkers and touching and brilliant.”

David Tennant adds: “I think the three scripts, like the TV show, are very individual in themselves.

“They are very different types of stories and they each had quite unique concepts to them, whether it’s the tone or the entire story.

“The first one is a much more recognisable world, with the conceit of it. You expect it to be one type of story but it’s another. It’s very clever. I think the third is quite an unusual world. Like the TV show at its best, they are fun, new ways of telling the same type of stories.”

[Above Cover for “Technophobia” by Matt Fitton, featuring a banner that reads “BBC Doctor Who - David Tennant and Catherine Tate in Technophobia by Matt Fitton, featuring Rachael Stirling and Niky Wardley”, and a photo of David Tennant. Background features the Big Finish logo, text that reads “Brand New Adventures - Full Cast Audio Drama” and photos of mobile phones, a Koggnossenti (the story’s antagonists), Catherine Tate, and David Tennant.]

Technophobia is very much a story in the mould of a Doctor Who television episode from the Russell T Davies era.

Set in the present day, it features a menace from an area where people wouldn’t expect it to come.

David Tennant says: “What I love about the first story is it’s quite a recognisable, traditional Doctor Who set-up, where it would seem that the machines are taking over – and that’s the kind of thing we’ve seen before – and there’s a brilliant twist.

“It’s a wonderful and rather chilling idea. It’s not an idea I’ve come across in Doctor Who before.”

Joining the cast is Niky Wardley playing Bex. Niky is no stranger to Big Finish, after appearing as the Eighth Doctor’s companion Tamsin Drew.

She tells Vortex: “What a treat to work with Catherine and David on Big Finish. David Richardson had asked me to be in it but I had no idea who else was in it until I saw the cast list a few days before so it was the best surprise!

“I was lucky enough to be recording with them on their first day, so to see them walk into their booths and then voice the Doctor and Donna again, after such a hiatus, was incredible.

“They bounced back to life straight away such is their amazing chemistry. David’s energy as the Doctor is so affecting, he sweeps you along with him and Catherine’s genius with comedy makes it just the perfect partnership. It was thrilling to be a part of it.”

[Above Cover for “Time Reaver” by Jenny T Colgan, featuring a banner that reads “BBC Doctor Who - David Tennant and Catherine Tate in Time Reaver by Jenny T Colgan, featuring Sabrina Bartlett, Terry Molloy, and Dan Starkey”, and a photo of David Tennant. Background features the Big Finish logo, text that reads “Brand New Adventures - Full Cast Audio Drama” and photos of lasers, the story’s antagonist, Gully, Catherine Tate, and David Tennant.]

[Above Left to right: John Banks, Dan Starkey, Alex Lowe, Sabrina Bartlett, and Terry Malloy.]

Time Reaver takes the Doctor and Donna back out into space.

David Tennant enjoyed the story, saying: “It’s nice to have a big, proper sci-fi story on a big alien world, but as with the other stories we’ve done, we kind of think it’s going to be one type of story, about gun runners or this terrible weapon that’s going to destroy everything, and actually it’s even more interesting than that.

“It’s about a civilisation that doesn’t quite operate on the same moral framework as everyone else and how that can be confused when they move out into the stars, and there’s some lovely character stuff going on there as well.”

In the guest cast is Dan Starkey, playing Dorn. These days he’s best known to Doctor Who fans as Strax from the Paternoster Gang, alongside the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors, but he was delighted to work with the leading pair – for a very nostalgic reason.

He reveals: “It was a great day. David and Catherine were there at the very start of my ‘professional’ Doctor Who career, when I joined them in series four for The Sontaran Stratagem and The Poison Sky, so it was nice to come back to them again, now Big Finish are doing new series Who.

“Most actors enjoy radio because it’s just good fun. We get the work done, and we can have a laugh with it. It’s always good being in the green room at the Moat then having a great lunch – and with David and Catherine around, it was great fun. You can tell they really get on.

“I very much enjoyed that period of the show, with the Tenth Doctor and Donna. It’s very strange now, thinking back to how much time has passed since then.

“I loved the way the Doctor and Donna were just great mates, going around, solving problems, and at that point, it felt like Doctor Who was really back and had taken over television. It was a great time to be involved in it and get on the bandwagon!

“Not having to sit in the make-up chair for three hours is something I always appreciate!

“It’s a great script by Jenny Colgan, that really captures that breathless rush that was there in the series four stories. You can really picture the bright colours, and there’s lots of pathos as well. It’s got that tension, which is really familiar as well.”

Another guest star in Time Reaver is another man who has spent most of his TV Doctor Who career behind a mask. Terry Molloy plays Rone in this story, but is best remembered for playing Davros against Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy’s Time Lords.

Terry recalls: “It was lovely to be at the microphone with David again, as we had previously worked together back in the 90s on a radio version of Edward Bond’s play The Sea. In Time Reaver, the studio fizzed with the energy and pace he always brings to the Doctor, and of course the interplay between him and Catherine Tate was fast, furious and very funny!”

“It was a great day. David and Catherine were there at the very start of my ‘Professional’ Doctor Who career.”

– Dan Starkey

[Above Cover for “Death and the Queen” by James Goss, featuring a banner that reads “BBC Doctor Who - David Tennant and Catherine Tate in Death And The Queen by James Goss, featuring Alice Krige, Alan Cox, and Blake Ritson”, and a photo of David Tennant. Background features the Big Finish logo, text that reads “Brand New Adventures - Full Cast Audio Drama” and photos of strom clouds, a skull wearing a black hood, Catherine Tate, and David Tennant.]

Rounding off this first trilogy is Death and the Queen.

David Tennant was delighted with the script: “Death and the Queen is kind of like a twisted fairytale. It’s got some slightly deconstructed elements which make it the most broadly funny, the most broadly comic, of the three. That always works for the Doctor and Donna as a pairing.

“It also goes to some quite dark, quite unusual places and you also get to see Donna at her best. She struggles with finally getting her fairytale wedding, and nothing quite works out as she would imagine.”

Joining the guest cast is Beth Chalmers as Hortense.

She grins: “I’ve now worked with every single one of the Big Finish Doctors – I’ve worked with the others to a greater or lesser degree over the years, and in the last year, I’ve now added John Hurt and David Tennant – which is pretty cool.

“It was a bit cloak and dagger being in this one, as I was only told about it a couple of weeks before we went into the studio. I think I was doing one of the John Hurt episodes, when David Richardson asked me what I had coming up, and I asked him, ‘Why?’ He told me it was something they were keeping very, very quiet and told me it was these two, David and Catherine.

“Catherine Tate is a real treat to work with, but David Tennant is just so classy – he’s amazing. It’s fantastic to work with great actors and he’s such a brilliant guy too. I’ve worked with his wife Georgia before and you hear such lovely things about him from other people who have worked with him – and it’s all true. David’s got a kind of left-field, zany madness to him – he’s brilliant.

“I was really thrilled and knew there weren’t that many being made, so it was amazing to be one of the few actors to be asked.”

Beth found herself having to work hard on her character. “This story is a bit like a period drama, with a medieval castle. I did most of my scenes with Catherine Tate, who was speaking in her modern way with her modern rhythms, but I had to use a period voice. It’s hard to keep that going when she’s being funny, quippy, cool and modern, while I had to stick with the medieval voice.

“But when you compare the two voices, it makes her even more funny.

“It was a great story to do – it was fun, and almost cartoony, but I don’t mean that in any way to sound disrespectful.

“There weren’t too many vortexes and galaxies to worry about, so I could understand it!

“I also loved working with Blake Ritson – I was bowled over when I heard him doing his stuff.

“It was a great day, and it felt really special in the studio. I’m really looking forward to hearing how it all sounds in the finished version.”

Responsible for the music and sound design on the trio of tales is Howard Carter.

Having worked on the War Doctor box sets, The Diary of River Song and UNIT, he’s loving the chance to get the Tenth Doctor onto his CV.

When first asked to work on this series, Howard admits he was: “Very excited! I’ve been working on the new series releases for the past seven months and knew these were coming up so it’s great to finally get stuck in. I read all of the scripts in one sitting and was thrilled at how brilliant they were and how much scope there was for me to be creative with the sound design and the music.”

How did he approach the plays – did he try to evoke Murray Gold’s style, as well as doing his own?

Howard explains: “With the Big Finish audios I’ve always felt that we should be moving the world of Doctor Who forward rather than creating pastiches of what’s been before. While it’s important to retain a certain level of stylistic familiarity I was keen to make sure the musical language was fresh and not too restricted by Murray’s style. His sound has been so integral to the characterisation and general atmosphere of the show that it would be foolish to ignore, but at the same time I feel the plays are best served by taking a step forward.

“As such, I wanted to create a score that wouldn’t sound out of place in the world that people are familiar with, while letting my own influences and style filter through. The music is still very thematic with certain motifs running through the boxset, but my main aim was to write scores that best serve these plays and the overall atmosphere of the set.”

He adds: “It’s a great privilege to be working on these stories. The scripts are so fantastic it’s both humbling and exciting to be bringing them to life knowing that so many people will get the chance to hear the Doctor and Donna back together. I can only hope people have as much fun listening to them as much as I’ve had working on them.”

The final element that really seals the deal for these audios are the covers, which have been created by Tom Webster.

As with the rest of the Big Finish team, Tom was delighted to be working on these releases.

He adds: “I was so excited to work with the David and Catherine images. I think the moment where I started to cut the images out was where it really hit me, the Tenth Doctor and Donna in Big Finish. Amazing!

“I found it quite easy to create a feel for the era on the special deluxe edition, I set out to emulate the style of the series box sets and particularly the vanilla DVDs. I wanted to go with very bright, vibrant colours and the most dynamic photos that I could use.

“I decided from an early stage that I wanted to play with a TARDIS interior motif - so I created something inspired by the coral structures, which provided a nice framework. The vanilla covers were lots of fun, as I was tasked with making each one distinctly different. Technophobia really feels like a Russell T Davies episode one, so I really wanted to go for a bright and brash impactful image.

“I’m actually extremely happy with them all, I spent lots of time getting them just the way I’d imagined when reading the scripts. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be doing such huge releases for Big Finish and I didn’t want to let anyone down. I hope people enjoy them!”

Since the Big Finish Tenth Doctor audios were first announced, they have received plenty of coverage in the media, from publications as diverse as Jenny Colgan’s local newspaper the Ayrshire Post, to national papers like the Daily Mirror, whilst they’ve also had numerous mentions on TV, including a big plug on The Jonathan Ross Show on ITV.

David Richardson says: “We knew the reaction was going to be huge. And it was probably bigger than that! So it was brilliant, and such a relief to have the secret out there having kept it to ourselves for so long. We’d had a year of whispering in locked rooms and sending coded emails – and suddenly all the world knew!”

Nick adds: “Can I just say too how delighted I was? It was one of those things. We’d been living with these plays for so long. It seemed almost surreal that we were actually doing them. And when our listeners and other Doctor Who fans loved the idea too… It was simply amazing.”

Jason was particularly pleased that Big Finish received so many mentions when David was doing the media rounds to promote his Netflix series Jessica Jones.

He laughs: “I feel like sending the publicist for Jessica Jones a bunch of roses!

“They did a great job to get David on a lot of programmes to talk about Jessica Jones, and we kind of hijacked their promotional tour!

“Of all the things we’ve done over the years, that definitely got us the most media attention.

“David, I’m sure, knows how much he was loved as Doctor Who. If he ever had any doubts, I think going round and doing publicity for Jessica Jones, where everyone asked him about doing the Big Finish audios, has shown how much people are still interested in him and love him as the Doctor.”

– VORTEX Magazine, Issue 87, Pages 6-15

[Above Cover of “The Tenth Doctor Adventures: Volume 1″. Text reads: “David Tennant - Catherine Tate BBC Doctor Who The Tenth Doctor Adventures Three Full Cast Audio Adventures Technophobia - Time Reaver - Death And The Queen” Background features the Big Finish logo, Catherine Tate, David Tennant, the TARDIS, Time Reaver’s antagonist, Gully, a black hooded figure, and a castle.]

The Tenth Doctor Adventures: Volume 01

Technophobia

London’s Technology Museum faces a revolution. Is it all down to simple human stupidity, or is something more sinister going on?

Time Reaver

An illegal weapon is loose on the streets of spaceport planet Calibris - and the Vacintians are closing in…

Death and the Queen

The Wedding of all Weddings comes under attack by a skeleton army. Can Queen Donna save her people from Death itself?

Written By: Matt Fitton, Jenny T Colgan, James Goss

Directed By: Nicholas Briggs

Cast: David Tennant (The Doctor), Catherine Tate (Donna Noble), Niky Wardley (Bex), Rachael Stirling (Jill Meadows), Chook Sibtain (Brian), Rory Keenan (Kevin), Jot Davies (Lukas), Alex Lowe (Soren), Sabrina Bartlett (Cora), Terry Molloy (Rone), John Banks (Gully), Dan Starkey (Dorn), Blake Ritson (Rudolph), Alice Krige (Queen Mum), Beth Chalmers (Hortense), Alan Cox (Death)

Available as deluxe five-disc box set, limited edition of 5,000, and as individual vanilla releases.

For full details visit www.bigfinish.com .

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