#reminds me of that line from maurice

[bookishdaze]

My too long theory post about Mae as Reverse Caesar? This is multiple theories, really...

My theories on Mae's origins have ranged from her just being a lone smart girl among feral humans, to her coming from an underground civilization living in a bunker (My personal favorite. I like Fallout, lol).

Here's one that came to mind recently. It's not my main theory for her, (I still think she's just from some colony of smart humans) but it's my most "creative" and "crazy" one, but if people are allowed their crazy astronaut theories, THEN I'M ALLOWED THIS ONE 🤪

I'm gonna be calling her Mae/Nova for this.

Feel free to poke holes in this theory by the way, hehe.

This theory came to me after watching the new trailer, where we hear her being called "Nova," and we also get a shot of her riding on horseback with Raka. It reminded me a lot of Nova from War riding with Maurice.

So I thought, 'Huh, we're getting another blonde girl named Nova riding on horseback with an orangutan in the exact same way. It almost looks like the characters and plot for KOTPOTA could be a reworked version of what a plot could look like for a direct War sequel following a grown up Cornelius with Nova and Maurice and ohhhhhh-'

*puts on tinfoil hat* So my weird train of thought led me to this wacky theory: Mae/Nova is a human that was taken in by Raka as a child, and he has been raising and taking care of her. Just like Maurice did for Nova. She's kinda like Tarzan.

At first I had thought Raka met Mae/Nova because she was separated from her human colony and he was helping her get back home before they ran into Noa.

I also thought that maybe they come from a place where humans and apes already coexist, and I honestly still think either of these is the case tbh, but this part of a recent article made me think otherwise.

The "rabbit-in-headlights" bit makes me doubt she comes from a place where there are intelligent humans. (It's still possible she could be. I'll get to that later). To me this sounds like she's smarter, but still has some "animal" behaviors.

As for why Raka took her in, it can totally just be coincidence that we have another friendly orangutan who adopted a young girl.

Or maybe it became some sort of, ehh, tradition? Him wearing a necklace with Caesar's symbol and talking about how apes and humans used to live side by side makes him sound like a religious person. Maybe somewhere along the line, it became custom for those who follow his faith to "adopt a Nova" to raise and take care of, like Maurice did.

There is a difference, though. Raka could have been taking care of Mae/Nova, but he still sees her as an...well, an animal. A very smart animal that he feels a responsibility towards. I know him viewing her as an animal sounds pretty harsh, but keep in mind that humans have regressed to be like animals at this point.

And there's also this scene where he just....tosses her some food. It's no different from the way humans toss a friendly animal some food, really.

"But why does she seem frightened by the apes at the fireplace if she's been raised by Raka?"

I think she's scared of Noa here.

Orangutans are actually solitary creatures (I googled, lol), so it's very possible that it's just been her and Raka, and any newcomer makes her nervous.

Ok ok ok, so he's a guy who has taken in an animal that shows signs of intelligence and has taken it upon himself to nurture and care for this animal because his personal beliefs tell him that in doing so, he could potentially make the world a better place.

Like Will did with Caesar.

"So she's reverse Caesar." Yeah. That's pretty much what I've been trying to get at with all my rambling. Yay, parallels!

And we know Will cared for Caesar, but he always saw him as an animal. A very smart animal, but an animal nonetheless. He had him on a leash, and as much as he didn't want to, he still took him to the primate shelter. It wasn't Will being cruel, he just treated Caesar the way any human would have treated an animal, no matter how close they are.

Of course, like Caesar, Mae/Nova is gonna go through some changes. She's a young girl growing into adulthood. She'll have "needs and wants," as this article states.

Those needs and wants could be many things. To be regarded as equal. No longer wanting to feel inferior. And if she truly is some lone smart girl among a world of feral humans, she's also gonna feel really really lonely. (Think about it. If she does not come from a colony of smart humans and she truly is the only one, that's tragic. I'd be depressed, man).

So she'll also want friendship and companionship. To have a friend or anyone she can relate with. She'll most likely find this with Noa, since the article says, "...there are far more parallels and commonalities between the two of them than they might have originally imagined."

Okay, one question came to mind when coming up with this theory.

Why is she smarter than other humans? I got a few theories.

Theory 1. She could still be someone who grew up in a colony of intelligent humans, whether it be a colony in an underground bunker or anywhere else. It doesn't matter. But something terrible may have happened, like her colony was killed off, or she was separated from them as a little girl. Then Raka found her and took her in. Like Tarzan!

Theory 2. This one and the third one won't be as satisfying to fans, I assume. But maybe Raka noticed a lone child that was smarter than most, and he decided to take her in and help her intelligence grow.

Theory 3. She started off as an unintelligent feral girl, but being raised by an ape allowed her to slowly gain her intelligence back. I actually like this one. For starters, it's similar to the Planet of the Apes novel from 1963, where one of the astronauts became feral and unintelligent because of spending too much time in a cage with feral humans at a zoo, and Nova actually gained the ability to speak and became intelligent after spending a year or two in space with Ulysse, the protagonist.

Theory 4. She's like Megamind where she was launched into space from an alien planet as a baby while her homeworld burned all around her and she crash landed onto Earth. THERE'S YOUR ASTRONAUT THEORY.

I'm kidding. That was a joke. I know April Fool's was two days ago.

As for her name, we've gotten three so far. Mae, Nova, and Echo. I like to think of her name as a sort of symbol or indicator of her character growth, where I assume she'll gain the ability to speak at the end, or will have grown into herself as a person.

She'll start off as Nova. A common generic name given to all humans, given to her by Raka.

Then Echo. A more unique name given to her by Noa, but still not her own.

Then, finally, Mae. Her true unique name that she was either born with, or she picks out for herself.

Aaaaand I think that's it. I'm done. I know that was long, but I wanted to gather all of my thoughts and theories on Mae/Nova somewhere before I watch the movie in a month. Whatever her story is, I cannot wait to see it unfold. Now it's time for me to SLEEP.

[stranger-chichka]

Mike is a character who we associate with the blue color the most, right? Also, blue is kinda associated with the Upside Down and Vecna because of that blue light we see there.

Blue is the basic color of mlm pride flag. It was created in 2019. And you know what? In russian slang голубой (which is translated as “blue”) means “gay" and it originates from the '60s.

Almost every outfit Mike wears in s4 is blue.

credits to @lesbianmindflayer from your fellow subscriber who try not to miss any video analysis! <3 Also, I feel you'll be quite excited about the following thing, which is the origin and usage of that slang in relation to the gaybirdgate too.

The phrase “fly, doves, fly” used to warn gay men in russia reminded me of the moment when Dustin navigates Murray in s3. “Fly right, Bald Eagle. Fly right.”

The phrase “fly, doves, fly” used to warn gay men in russia reminded me of the moment when Dustin navigates Murray in s3. “Fly right, Bald Eagle. Fly right.”

Mike is also associated with an eagle because of the poster he had in his basement and later gave to El.

Eagle is a symbol of America. America -> Mike. I don't want to go in-depth here, because that's the whole other thing, but I'm adding the links on Nintendo and Americantendo theory, which I wrote based on @nadia-zahra 's observations and my posts about Erica ("you can't spell America without Erica") for those who're interested what is the connection. BUT the gaybirdgate is not closed yet.

Nintendo theory;

Nintendo 2.0 (Americantendo);

@doriandrifting 's post, connected to that theory.

Erica will take Murray's place in s5;

Erica is level 14 in D&D;

Erica & the spaceship;

Erica & "I Want To Break Free" easter egg;

Erica & opening the door;

Erica & Tina's Apple Jack's party (+Murray's The Bald Eagle poster analysis);

The phrase голубая мечта (translated as "blue dream") caught my attention. The expression appeared under the influence of the famous play (with a very fairy-tale-like setting -> "It looks like a fairytale") "The Blue Bird" written by Maurice Maeterlinck in 1908. The blue bird is a symbol of happiness that has been in the home all along; the children simply have not recognized and valued it.

As we already know, dreams are one of the key themes and focus in ST, especially in season 4 with “Dream a Little Dream of Me”, but let’s not forget about “Never Ending Story.”

Not only has it a line "fly a fantasy," but "dream a dream, and what you see will be." What is Mike’s blue dream? Of what is he dreaming secretly? Or better say, of who? It’s a rhetorical question for bylers. But the GA will find out too, with the help of Vecna and his mirror (aka the visions he shows to his victims of who they really are). The answer is upon a rainbow. Literally.

In the picture of Mike's room I pinned above, you can also notice a heart with a heart, cloud, rainbow and something written on it.

"Rhymes that keep our secrets will unfold behind the clouds, and there upon a rainbow is the answer to a neverending story." "Without heart, we'd all fall apart." Will's words rhyme and Mike is Will's heart.

@angelwithnightmares 's guess is it may say If you can dream it, you can do it" (Walt Disney's quote) and doesn't it connect the dots? Taking into account @madwheelerz manifestation theory and how Mike (the writer and the DM) & Will (the artist) -- the duo with huge imagination manifested the events in ST because of their dreams nightmares feels very real to me.

PLUS, I'm tagging @there-was-a-hole-here-itsgonenow and adding links to her Disney’s Figment the dragon posts here and here, because HE IS IMAGINATION. We can spot him in the Bingham house below Suzie’s window. When we hear the birds are singing outside. Behind the yellow & blue curtain.

What made me do this post may you ask? Listening to Mike's playlist. There are two songs with the word “blue.”

#12: “Can’t Shake That Feeling” by Grum

#33: “Blue Monday” by New Order

And plenty of songs about the dreams too. I counted seven of them.

#7:

#13:

#15:

#17:

#25:

#27:

#47:

[whumpookies]

I just discovered this blog and I have a few questions... What exactly is a whump? Why are there cookies? Why does beans means Heinz? Thank you in advance x

Anookie

Yikes..

Three questions three answers...

What is whump...

Whump is a term often used in fanfiction and fandom communities to describe a genre or style of storytelling that focuses on the physical or emotional suffering of a character.

It involves subjecting the character to various forms of pain, injury, or trauma for dramatic or emotional effect.

The term "whump" is derived from the sound effect used in some media to depict the impact of a punch or blow it in the term of Stargate where the term came from when Daniel Jackson was Whumped!

Whump fiction often explores themes of hurt/comfort, vulnerability, and resilience.

Next..

Why cookies I suppose you mean with the whump.....

Oh, you just opened a can of worms here...

Cookies and whump go well together for a few reasons:

1. Comfort and indulgence: Cookies are often associated with comfort food, warmth, and indulgence. Whump, on the other hand, typically involves a character undergoing physical or emotional hardship and sometimes even trauma. The sweet and comforting nature of cookies helps provide a contrast to the often intense and emotional nature of whump.

2. Symbolic nourishment: In many stories, whump involves characters being hurt, injured, or put through difficult situations. Cookies can symbolize nourishment and care, which can be a way for characters or readers to provide comfort and support to the whumped character.

3. Sense of normalcy: Whump stories often disrupt the normal lives of characters, bringing pain and suffering. In contrast, cookies represent something familiar and ordinary. Including cookies in a whump story can help create a sense of normalcy amidst the chaos, reminding readers that there are still moments of simplicity and comfort, even in difficult circumstances.

4. Emotional connection: Sharing cookies is like comfort, it's like a bonding experience between characters. In whump stories, where characters often face isolation and hardship, the act of sharing cookies/comfort can be a way to connect emotionally and show care for one another.

Overall, the combination of cookies and whump can create a satisfying contrast between comfort and hardship, normalcy and chaos, and can help enhance the emotional impact of the story.

Ah, the Heinz question...dare I say it I've been waiting for this....only took eight years (since joining Tumblr) for someone to ask 🤣

....go ask Maurice Drake in 1967 sitting in a pub he quoted "I had my layout pad with me and, fiddling with it, came up with ‘Beanz Meanz Heinz’,” Drake says. Not only did he invent the great line, but “I also came up with the jingle ‘A million housewives every day, open a can of beans and say Beanz Meanz Heinz’.” so yeah it's a jingle that captures your attention...though the haricot beans that make baked beans haven't been made in the UK (we can't grow them) but there is a trial of genetically modifies beans (cross-breeding) to create a bean that can grow in the UK 🤔...

Ain't I full of useless information?!

Hope this answers the questions 🤣

Whumpookies

[randomnameless]

Beating a dead horse but seeing a post this morning (and an earlier fanart) made me think about it -

In good or in Bad, Nopes has characters mentionning how having a crest makes them “monsters” (in good it’s when Miklan supports someone and calls them super rad, in BaD it’s when Uncle Rufus insults Dimitri).

But it’s also, more or less, the same thing happening in the Momo paralogue - we have mentions of how Momo was “turned into a beast” due to his Crest power :(

We also the biggest fuck you - if the player knows everything about the lore though, where Marianne goes :

The Wandering Beast's eviscerated body... Only human bones and this sword remaining.

This “sword” is also a bone, but not a human one so we don’t give a fuck?

Anyways, more about the inital point to make : 

Many times in the Fodlan games’ script, we see the association that Crusts or Relics make people “monsters” and not “humans”.

And while we can muse and legit angst about the crested humans who are basically “insulted” because of their blood, what about Nabateans themselves?

In a verse where Supreme Leader and the Mole People keep on calling them beasts/creatures/other beings without “humanity” or capable of “human feelings”, how do they react to someone, maybe Miklan meaning it as a praise, calling a crested peep a “monster”?

Nabateans have crests, of course, and aren’t humans. Does this automatically make them monsters? Can’t they coexist with humans or even live with them, because they are “monsters” and not “humans”?

Are they still “monsters” when they are the one who look after humans abandoned by their own kin ?

Marianne ultimately goes :

The blood of a beast no longer flows through me. I feel human for once.

But what should Flayn or Seteth (or even Billy) think about this line? What does it mean to “feel” human? Seteth is a “beast” but writes fables for children, are his feelings “human”?

They are not bio-humans, so are their feelings automatically “not human”? Or something that is removed or cannot be understood by “humanity”?

(this reminds me of something in a certain route...)

Of course a positive point can be inferred from Marianne’s paralogue, who says this last line after having put an end to Momo’s sorry life who uwu “suffered for his murderous past” (nothing about Jack the Nabatean of course, it’s not like the games give a fuck about them, nor like Marianne reacts to Rhea’s infodump about her shiny sword and Momo’s sin) - was Momo a beast because of his “murderous past” and not because of his appearance/nature ? 

I’d love to believe it...

But FE16 reminds us that Miklan “turned into a beast” after using the Relic - or at least that’s what we’re told. Miklan was still “human” when he did his thief things, pillages and, in FE16, seduced women - but the second he transformed that’s when he became “a beast”.

We know how transformation in a demonic beast happens - when a human holds a crest stone or uses a relic - but in a way, Rhea’s lies also made sense : transforming in a black beast is a sort of punishment because the human who transforms, naturally, aka not Waldified, was in both instances we see, someone who was already a “monster”, albeit not biologically, but someone who killed/pillaged/did bandit things.

Something like “you act as a monster, then your body shall reflect it”.

Tldr : in a game where there are non-humans, what does it mean to be human? When so many characters angst about not being “humans” due to crests and whatnot, why does it matter at the end of the day?

Yes, Flayn is not human, but she has more compassion than the entire cast reunited given how she “died” to heal everyone once. Is she a monster because - assuming she has one - she can enter a bestial form, even if she has “human” feelings ?

Imagine Marianne or Claude telling a Nabatean, like Seteth, Momo turned into a Monster because of over usage of his relic, and Seteth being in a better game, reacting with something like “Maurice became a monster the day he participed in the genocide of a tribe of people living in mountains, feasted on their corpses and descrated them to craft a weapon, regardless of his outer appearance”.

No wonder after 1000 years of humans angsting about “no i have a crest i am not a human i am a monster :( :( :(” Rhea was afraid Billy would reject her after knowing she is not a human, having witnessed her “other form”.

And again, sure, Dimitri, Uncle Rufus, Miklan and the student cast (save for maybe Claude but the “humanity” nonsense was added by Pat) don’t know about Nabateans or the fact there are “non-humans” living with them, but Doylist wise, we’re still playing a game where Nabateans are “othered” and treated like “abominations” for the sin of not being humans, and humans feeling like “monsters” for having nabatean blood... and Nabateans themselves are never allowed to react to this.

As cute as Flayn’s supports with Dimitri were, we don’t have something where Flayn tries to ask him - in a roundabout way - if he would still be her friend if he knew she was not human but a “beast” (and Dimitri laughing at her because come on, Flayn, being a beast/monster? and then what, she roars? Monsters are people who slaughter others and love violence, even if she was made of, say, sugar cubes, or could transform in a giant wolf, she’d never be a monster!). 

Is it because of Earl Grey, or because this question trumps everything about “we want to tell a story about a 3 way war” and makes everything else pointless?

[jackiestarsister]

Thoughts while re-watching the live-action "Beauty and the Beast"

I am a huge fan of Beauty and the Beast, from the story by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve to Jean Cocteau's black-and-white film to Disney's animated movie and stage musical. When Disney's live-action remake came out in 2017, I was delighted by it, and failed to understand why so many people hated it. I've watched it a few times since then, but it has been a while, so I decided to give it a rewatch and take notes.

Be warned: this is pretty long!

My thoughts:

~ I love that the castle in the Disney intro is actually the Beast’s castle. On this watch, I noticed that it is topped with a statue that seems to be St. Michael slaying the devil/a monster, which is so appropriate for this story's symbolism!

~ Interesting that the first object seen is a rose being plucked. I assume that was the Enchantress’ hand? Did she pluck the flower from the prince’s own garden before entering the castle?

~ I love the way the servants are introduced in the prologue! Although they are in shadow, Cogsworth is there with his watch and Lumiere holds up a candelabra!

~ This film really leaned into the ostentation and extravagance of pre-revolution France, and it works so well in the context of this story about true inner beauty versus shallow, superficial appearance.

~ Is that Emma Thompson narrating the prologue? It sounds like her, but her accent is not the same as when she voices Mrs. Potts.

~ The actors must have had an interesting challenge acting out the curse scene, which has no audible dialogue between the Prince and the Enchantress!

~ I like that they added an explanation for why the villagers are unaware of the castle despite the relatively short distance between them.

~ I do not understand why people hate Emma Watson as Belle! She looks just right for the part, and while she is no Broadway-caliber singer, her voice is very pretty and she carries the songs quite well!

~ It almost looks like Belle is deliberately ignoring the people talking about her, marching past them as though trying not to care. But she stops to show kindness to the outcasts and the animals! She even waves to a criminal being escorted to jail!

~ I like that they gave Belle and Maurice one real friend, the local priest. I only wish he was a little more effective in his attempts to help them.

~ The entire sequence of “Belle” is just fantastic! It’s not easy to shoot such a complex scene with so many moving parts.

~ The trio of Gaston fangirls remind me of the silly younger sisters in Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility.

~ Although they made him an artist instead of an inventor, Maurice is still absentminded and a bit obsessive. It is easy to see how Belle would feel lonely despite his loving presence, since he is completely absorbed in his work.

~ Hearing that her mother was “fearless” might have inspired Belle’s own fearlessness later, first to save her father and then to save the Beast.

~ Why is Belle’s reader in English and not French? And why does she have a children’s book with her when she goes to do laundry? Did she hope to find someone to teach? Was she actually studying the English language?

~ Gaston crosses so many lines, literally and figuratively, when entreating Belle. And he does not even help her or defend her against the villagers’ abuse, he just tries to pressure her at a moment when she is upset and vulnerable.

~ It’s interesting that Gaston plays the “I can change” card, and Belle insists that “no one can change that much.” She will be proven wrong, but not by him!

~ The tree being struck by lightning and blocking Maurice’s path really makes his going to the castle seem like a result of magic or divine intervention!

~ Maurice seems remarkably calm throughout the wolf chase and when stumbling upon the castle!

~ The lamps held by sconces shaped like arms are a nice nod to Jean Cocteau’s 1946 film La Belle et La Bête!

~ I’m surprised that Maurice would feel bold enough to take a rose after being so spooked by Chip! It would make more sense if he either saw the animated objects and accepted their extraordinariness, or did not see anyone at all and assumed the inhabitants would remain hidden.

~ Maurice must have been coughing very loudly for Belle to hear him all the way in the foyer!

~ Belle holding the light up to see the Beast gives off Psyche and Cupid/Eros vibes!

~ “Forever can spare a minute” is an interesting choice of words considering the name of the song “How Does a Moment Last Forever.”

~ The Beast is so selfish and had such an unhealthy relationship with his own father that he cannot wrap his mind around Belle sacrificing herself for her father.

~ I like Ewan McGregor in general, but his French accent is ridiculous. I get that it’s in keeping with the original film, where Lumiere was the only character with a French accent, but aside from the English characters Mrs. Potts and Cogsworth, they’re all supposed to be French, so it doesn’t really make sense.

~ I don’t like that Lumiere is the one to give Belle a room, behind the Beast’s back. Giving her a room is supposed to be the Beast’s first gesture of decency and kindness toward Belle.

~ Lumiere is much shrewder and actually comes off smarter than Cogsworth, who is so by-the-book that he reveals the one place Belle ought not to go!

~ Belle’s expression when Madame la Garderobe dresses her up says, “I did not sign up for this!”

~ Belle’s simple beauty and country/provincial style contrasts strongly with her bedroom and the lavish style Madame tries to impose on her. That seems to be a kind of arc over the course of the film, with a sort of meeting in the middle by the end.

~ A big difference between the two films’ versions of “Gaston” is that here, LeFou pays the people in the tavern to play music and sing along, instead of everyone joining in freely! I like that, because it suggests that Gaston may not be as well-liked admired as he thinks.

~ When LeFou sings that he does not know how to spell Gaston’s name, it’s written right on the wall behind him!

~ Chip rolling around on his saucer in excitement reminds me of Aang on his air scooter! (Which is funny because I actually gave Aang the role of Chip in the Avatar/Beauty and the Beast crossover I wrote years before this movie came out.)

~ Why does Belle sit and hug her knees self-pityingly, in between moments when she is busy devising her escape? It’s pretty convenient timing for the Beast to see her that way in the mirror.

~ I'm sure it's been pointed out and laughed about before, but I find it quite funny that Emma Watson and Emma Thompson, who played Hermione and Prof. Trelawney in the Harry Potter films and had a whole scene involving tea leaves, got to act together in this film and dealt with teapots and teacups again!

~ Mrs. Potts’ advice about whether to listen to people when they are angry … makes sense when it comes to insults or harshness, but not when it comes to rules and boundaries.

~ Maestro Cadenza is so sassy! “Are there any other tasteless demands you wish to make upon my artistry?” I may need to use that next time I get a negative review for my work!

~ “This is France” followed by the knife falling like a guillotine made me laugh!

~ Lumiere seems clumsier, less confident, and more oblivious in this version of “Be Our Guest.”

~ Poor Belle can’t get a full bite of food while the staff objects are showing off! I choose to believe that after that performance, Mrs. Potts made sure she got to relax and eat a proper, comforting meal.

~ Belle breaking the rule about the West Wing feels more in-character in this version. Here, she is more headstrong, and she intends to break her word and leave. So it’s not just curiosity or fascination with the castle that drives her to investigate. She may be hoping to find out the Beast’s weakness and find a way to escape.

~ Belle is not very sneaky when going to the West Wing; her footsteps are very loud!

~ The Beast ruined the image of himself and his father, but he left his mother’s image intact!

~ If Philippe was still at the castle, how did Maurice get back to the village? Did he walk the whole way? There was no weird palanquin like in the animated movie.

~ The sequence of Belle, the Beast, and the wolves is kind of rushed. Even though it hits the same beats at the original scene, there is not a lot of room for the emotional reversals of the Beast going out to save Belle and her decision to save him in return, even though it costs her the chance of escape.

~ I’m glad that in this version, Maurice opposes Gaston as a suitor for Belle. He knows that the guy is bad news!

~ They gave the line “If you like it so much, then it’s yours,” originally part of the lyrics for “Belle,” to the Beast in the library scene!

~ Belle helps the Beast to see his home and possessions with new eyes, both because she is a newcomer seeing it for the first time, and because she reads with him. I like that a poem (“A Crystal Forest” by William Sharp) helps him look at the castle’s environment in a new way.

~ Belle literally lets sun into the castle when she cleans the windows!

~ The “something there” could have been friendship, but the fact that Mrs. Potts won’t tell Chip what it is makes me think it’s really sexual chemistry/attraction!

~ Has the Beast considered why laughter dies when he enters a room? Did that happen before the curse, or only after he became a beast? Is it because the staff are afraid of his temper, or of his monstrous appearance?

~ The magical book feels like a nod to the magical rooms Belle visits in the original story of “Beauty and the Beast”

~ Personally, I like that this version provides some backstory about Belle and the Beast’s parents. Belle’s journey thus entails not only new relationships but also healing and closure regarding past relationships. Losing their mothers at a young age becomes a point of commonality between Belle and the Beast. Learning of Belle’s mother’s sacrifice, urging Maurice to take their baby away for her safety, may have inspired the Beast’s willingness to let her go later.

~ I know it’s in keeping with the original film, but making Belle’s dress yellow creates a good contrast against the blue and white tones of her usual outfits and the wintry setting of the castle grounds.

~ The Beast’s smile when he sees Belle dressed for their dance is so soft and sweet!

~ The dance sequence is beautiful!!! They don’t look quite as happy and content as they do in the original, but somehow it feels appropriate to where they are at this point in their relationship. The choreography involves trust and teamwork, so it shows how much they have grown from where they began. Belle was not even willing to be in the same room as him, and now she is getting really close and letting him lift and twirl her!

~ I like that the Beast explicitly, if indirectly, broaches the subject of whether Belle could care about him, and that she affirms that she could. It’s more personal than just asking if she is happy there, which is a pretty odd question to ask someone who is technically a prisoner.

~ Unlike in the original, where the Beast is pained and takes a long moment to decide to let Belle go, in this version he says it immediately, almost without thinking.

~ Why doesn’t the coat holder (I think they call him M. Chapeau?) give Belle her cloak, at the very least, as she leaves?

~ “Evermore” is such a beautiful, powerful song! I realized that throughout it, the Beast keeps climbing higher in the castle so he can watch Belle as long as possible. My only criticism of the sequence is that the Beast’s CGI face does not emote very much. Some of the lyrics are pretty angsty, but his expression is almost stoic. Maybe he is supposed to be at peace with losing Belle?

~ How long did everyone stay in the tavern while the asylum carriage was summoned? Why do the villagers have torches at that point? And why do they all follow Gaston’s lead?

~ The magic mirror’s actual glass is quite small and clouded! The images aren’t clear at all.

~ The standoff with Gaston is a bit awkward in its direction, but the actual “Mob Song” sequence is excellent! And this was the first time I wondered: is it meant to be an allusion to the mob mentality of the French Revolution?

~ Cogworth’s “man the barricades” has got to be a Les Misérables reference, and “third-rate musketeers” must be a Three Musketeers reference!

~ Do the household objects sing part of the “Mob Song”? Did they do that in the original movie too?

~ How did Belle carry the magic mirror and her mother’s rose thingy while riding her horse? She doesn’t seem to have any kind of bag on her. Does her ballgown have pockets?

~ Maurice and Belle’s scene in the wagon is so sweet. He seems to be convinced a little too quickly about the Beast becoming kind, but it underscores how much he trusts and supports her.

~ It’s not exactly original, but Belle turning a fashion accessory into a tool is so in-character!

~ LeFou mockingly talking to Chip and Mrs. Potts reminds me of Olaf, another Josh Gad character, pretending to address the rock trolls in Frozen!

~ I swear, Maestro Cadenza’s music as he pins LeFou down sounds like “The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme)”!

~ Great symbolism of books being used as weapons against the literacy-hating townsfolk!

~ If Madame de Garderobe and Maestro Cadenza were able to come out of their respective rooms to participate in the battle, why weren’t they able to see each other sooner?

~ Where did Belle get that jacket? Was it Maurice’s?

~ Although it was shown earlier in the movie, I think the castle crumbling should have been revisited the night of the dance. It seems too random when it happens during the climactic fight.

~ I like that Belle participates in the fight, taking away Gaston’s weapons and trying to protect the Beast.

~ The “death” of all the household items … it’s like the writers asked, “How can we make the Beast’s death even more devastating than it already is?”

~ I like how the rose petals become part of the Beast’s transformation. But the transformation itself seems a bit rushed. In the animated movie and stage musical, it’s a pretty long sequence with a lot of awe and emotion. But I guess there’s only so much you can do with the live-action medium.

~ Mrs. Potts’ first name is Beatrice?!

~ As a human, Chip has a tooth missing, like his chipped rim!

~ It looks like Madame de Garderobe and Maestro Cadenza ditched their wigs and decided to wear their natural hair after the curse broke!

~ I had not realized that Gugu Mbatha-Raw was in this movie until now, after seeing her in Loki!

~ There are many beautiful shots of the sky throughout the film!

~ The score is so beautiful! I love that it weaves in melodies of songs from the original movie, the stage musical, and the new movie.

My conclusion: it’s not perfect, but it is a beautiful movie and a wonderful retelling of a classic story that long predates Disney’s interpretation!

[drops-of-moonlights]

what relationship do winx/specialists etc have with their grandparents?

congratulations anon you made me want to draw them. you have untold powers to make me do such a thing. UNFORTUNATELY I ACTUALLY DIDN'T DRAW SHIT LMAO, just because that's a LOT of people and I'm. not about that. but I did do at LEAST some thinking of them! only covering the Winx here, maybe thoughts on the guys later.

Bloom has 2 sets of grandparents given, y'know, her DealTM. Both her grandpas passed away when she was a baby so she doesn't have memories of them, but she grew up lovingly with her grandmas. Silvana is her maternal grandma, a sweet old lady who taught her a bit of Spanish (as a reminder Vanessa is Mexican-American in the AU and so Bloom grew up with a bit of their traditions) and filled her with meals every time she visited. Her paternal grandma, Elizabeth doesn't visit as often as she lives in a different state, but Bloom loves her all the same. She's a retired office lady and always pushed Bloom to try everything she wanted - she was the one to buy Bloom a bow and archery gloves when she wanted to start archery.

As for Oritel and Marion's parents, she only knows her paternal grandpa (Eustace) and her maternal grandma (Lillia), and doesn't really have an opinion on them, having spent so little time. Both Eustace and Lillia also don't really try to get close to her that much as they can see that Bloom is just awkward about the whole deal and so don't want to push her.

Flora has both her maternal grandparents alive (Rosalía and Maurice(, while her paternal grandma passed away when she was a kid, before Miele was born, leaving her only with her grandpa Hugo. Rosalía is a witch (the Witch of Roses, Flora Source), and she comes from a VERY long line of witches. Alyssa broke the tradition by not pursuing morpher magic at all while Flora became a fairy, but she doesn't resent either for it - even being one of Flora's earliest magic tutors. Maurice is a doctor, and isn't as close with Flora as Rosalía but still loves her. As for Hugo, he's a retired lumberjack and was partially responsible for Flora's interest in physical activity.

STELLA HAS TECHNICALLY 8 GRANDPARENTS BUT I'M JUST GONNA FOCUS ON RADIUS AND LUNA'S PARENTS FOR MY SANITY LMAO. She only ever personally met her paternal grandmother, the former Queen Celeste, Sorceress of Sunny Days. Stella loves her grandma, finding her the funniest person alive, and confirms the Oriol royal family has charisma inserted in the bloodline. She knows only Luna's father, Fabrizio, is alive, but Luna doesn't have the best relationship with him and as such she never saw him.

Musa has never met anyone from her dad's side of the family and has no desire to, meaning she's way closer to her mom's side. She loves her grandma Wei Yang, who used to let her use her painting supplies and always loved whatever she drew, and her grandpa Jun, who was a big sports fan and was 100% behind his granddaughter getting into boxing and is a bit sad she dropped it once she went to Alfea.

If Aisha had a tense relationship with her parents, it was even worse with her grandparents, at least her paternal ones. Niobe's father, Ermias, was nice and doting enough, but she never interacted much with him compared with Teredor's parents, former Emperor Oceanus and former Empress Lulit. They were just as overbearing as Teredor and Niobe were if not more so, and she dreaded their visits almost as much as any of her other forced activites.

As for Tecna, she has all of her grandparents alive and well. Her maternal ones, Amara and William are actually farmers, who proudly boast of making the best cheese in all of Zenith, and Tecna loves them even if she dreads visiting them because she usually ends up helping at the farm and she does not like physical work lmao. Her paternal set are Ulric and Theodore (Anthonius is adopted), who are a retired electrician (Theodore) and a still-active Conjuror (Conjuror of Blizzards, Ice Source). The two men used to babysit Tecna when her parents had to work off-home and helped her with her magic development. Theodore, who Tecna was named after (her real name is Theodora in the AU as a reminder) was also the one that gave her that nickname, seeing her so interested in the machinery around the house.

[lumiereandcogsworth]

hi! the ask you answered earlier made me think, what traits does belle see in their kids that reminds her of Adam?

oooh i love this so much thank you :”)

in renée, it’s her fussiness. even at a young age she’s very fastidious about things, very dramatic and grumpy if things don’t go her way, too. and sure, a lot of little kids are like that, and renée is a lot like her mother in her constant rambles and wild energy as well, so belle shrugs it off to her just being a wonderful kid. in looks, she entirely favors belle, excusing the honey blonde hair (though it does eventually turn brown). but as renée grows up into a teenager, and a young adult, it gets easier and easier to see how much of her father she has in her. they’re both incredibly particular about things, wildly dramatic, and have that sense of entitlement that can just be a Little bit annoying sometimes. they also both, by far, have the most interest in fashion in the family. which, obviously isn’t an inheritable trait, but when belle hears her daughter gush about a new dress or piece of jewelry, all she can see is how many times her husband has rambled excitedly to her about a new line of suits he’s just ordered from some italian designer that belle can’t remember the name of. sometimes the similarities are uncanny.

in juliette, it’s her softer side. ever since she was little, all the staff members that had been around when adam was a child could see how very similar she is to her father. adam was incredibly shy and reserved, often timid and easily overwhelmed, and juliette is no different. she’s very much the polar opposite of her sister, and yet belle still sees so much of adam in her. belle knows how sensitive her husband is, deep down, knows how much of this side of himself had to be suppressed for the sake of an abusive father who wouldn’t let him be himself. but it’s still clear who juliette got her gentleness from. the way she looks out for her siblings, the way she removes herself from loud settings in favor of a good book in a quiet room, the way she concentrates so very hard on the things that interest her. adam and juliette have always had something of a special bond, and belle can plainly see why. they have an understanding amidst them, a secret love of solitude and quiet studying, as well as a love for routine and familiarity, which endears belle to no end. and despite her mother’s brunette hair and her grandfather’s green eyes, belle can of course see her resemblance to her father. in her concentrated looks, her thoughtful gaze, her sweet smile, it’s all very adam.

in maurice, first and foremost, it’s his face. since the moment he was born, belle just can’t get over how much he favors his father. not only is she happy to finally have a child with those blue eyes that she loves so much, but of all their children, he’s the only one who retained that sandy blond hair even as an adult — just like his father. sure, he’s covered in freckles, and adam will argue til the ends of the earth that he dawns his mother’s sunshine of a smile, belle will always stand firm that he looks entirely like his father. she sees it in his personality too, though. even though much of maurice is quite akin to his mother, belle still finds adam in him. mostly his clever wit, his very sociable humor that leaves them all in tears with laughter. he can also be quite dramatic when he chooses, and he really picks his moments. he’s far less specific about things than either of his sisters, but he loves to put on a show and have the attention on him. he’s like his father in the best ways, the way he can dazzle a room with his charm. belle knows that for adam, it’s all an act, but it still requires a level of talent that maurice entirely inherited from him. maurice is also the most protective of his siblings, despite being the youngest, loyalty to his family is very deeply engrained in him, and one can only see adam’s protectiveness shining through.

truly, belle loves to see adam in her babies. she never really thought she’d get to be a mother, never thought she’d have someone in her life whom she could love so completely - someone to have such amazing children with. so when they do arrive, belle can’t help but see her beloved adam in all of them. adam is her favorite person in the whole world, and these are their little treasures. of course, adam is in all of them, and she adores them all the more for it.

[still-roaming-the-greenwood]

I'm still working my way through the stories in The Life to Come and the one I just read reminded me so much of Maurice, with a (much briefer) affair between an upper/middle class man and a working class man. But this story is much more bleak and "realistic" in some ways, especially the ending lines. They might not mean as much without the full context of the story, but they're powerful on their own too:

"He recalled his clever manoeuvres for a little fun, and the good-humoured response, the mischievous face, the obliging body. It had all seemed so trivial. Taking a notebook from his pocket, he wrote down the name of his lover, yes, his lover who was going to prison to save him, in order that he might not forget it. Arthur Snatchfold. He had only heard the name once, and he would never hear it again." (From "Arthur Snatchold" by EM Forster)

While Maurice shows how hopeful Forster was about the future, this story definitely shows his very understandable anxieties and distress over how queer people were being treated. A theme in this story is that the main character and Arthur haven't hurt anyone or even affected anyone else's life by being together, only their own. And since they both consented and enjoyed themselves, why should they be punished for it? This story is such a devestating but interesting glimpse into Forster's perspective on queerness, especially in conjunction with Maurice, and it's also clear to see why he didn't want to publish it during his lifetime.

[bringmemyrocks]

Re-reading old journal entries and wishing I had even an ounce of the joy around Judaism that I used to. It was something I wanted with all my heart for most of my adult life, and psychologically it makes complete sense that I find no meaning in it now.

I know Rebbe Nachman says that the darkest times are actually when we're closest to God, but he *would* say that, wouldn't he? It feels like an easy out.

Feelings come and go. I don't feel bad about not keeping commandments I don't believe in, but I don't even get joy from Jewish Community anymore. The rabbis who used to be my mentors now don't speak to me (combination of homophobia/antizionism/forced loyalty to Institutions that's baked into the rabbinical ordination process). It sucks knowing they truly don't care about me at this point.

The only thing keeping me from apostatizing is inertia, going through the motions. Even the existential Jewish philosophy that grew out of the 20th century is so tied up in "Fate and Destiny" Zionism that I can't even go near it.

And I never got good enough at Hebrew to appreciate saying Tehillim.

Reminds me of this line from EM Forster's Maurice:

"During this Lent term Maurice came out as a theologian. It was not humbug entirely. He believed that he believed, and felt genuine pain when anything he was accustomed to met criticism—the pain that masquerades among the middle classes as Faith. It was not Faith, being inactive. It gave him no support, no wider outlook. It didn’t exist till opposition touched it, when it ached like a useless nerve."

[valleyfthdolls]

Can’t decide on a game, so I’m gonna fall back on ol’ reliable lmao-

What songs would you associate with the entire CTW cast, or Stanley and Delilah?

You could also ask about multiple games 👉👈

For the CTW cast:

Funtime Freddy’s is the same as my Sister Location song, Circus Apocalypse by Vermilion Lies.

Millie’s grandpa’s is Annabelle Lee- as a song adapted from Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, it of course caught my eye. The lyrics of the song and those of the original poem serve well for Millie’s grandpa’s relationship with his wife, before death eventually claimed her in her forties. Just like Millie’s grandpa, the narrator keeps living on, and yet lingers, Annabel never quite out of the corners of his mind.

Millie herself is Decadence by Disturbed. She’s implied to be a fan of heavy rock based on the description of her favorite singer, and Decadence is about feeling like you’re dead- a perfect song for our dear Wednesday Addams away from home. The perspective the lyrics are sung from- the singer speaking to the person experiencing this decadence- could work either for Maurice trying to reach out to Millie (“decadence isn’t easy, is it?” sounds like an attempt to relate or comfort the listener by relating) or Funtime Freddy commenting on her state to mock her (“yes, they know you’ve hurt yourself another time” puts the listener on the spot, calls them out. They know.) The lyrics about recalling your mind, your soul going cold, and never forgetting you’re “one of the lonely” calls to mind the epilogues and overarching story, Millie’s death, and her soul eventually being put to rest through a good memory of Christmas day. The line about being “one of the lonely” also reminds me of the cryptic language used to describe the children’s ghosts, and the ending line of Lonely Freddy.

Dylan is This is How I Disappear by MCR. I don’t think he had any malicious feelings toward Millie even after their fight. He was upset with her, but I don’t think he was just going to hate her. And maybe even with enough time they could even make amends, were Millie to be willing to apologize.

That opportunity never comes. Millie- his first friend in his new home where he hardly knows anyone and fewer still like him, if we can glean anything from how Millie’s unconventional goth style is treated- dies. It was most likely ruled a suicide. He doesn’t know any better, so all he knows is he stopped talking to her and hardly a week later she killed herself on fucking Christmas Day. The loss of a friend like that fucks you up, and that’s something I think fits This is How I Disappear well. Especially the line “And if you could talk to me, tell me if it’s so, that all the good girls go to heaven”, it works really well with Dylan trying to process that. Maybe Millie’s spirit is even trying to speak to him, hence the line I quoted.

Brooke is Orange Juice by Melanie Martinez. Mostly because it can be speculated that Brooke in He Told Me Everything is Brooke Harrison, joining a fucked up school experiment that literally steals her body and kills her all because she wants to be popular- more than that, since Harrison is already a popular girl, she wants to be liked. She wants people to like her, and yet she’s shy and seems to lack confidence, as she rarely speaks out in any of her classes. That lack of confidence and desperation to fit in and be liked is the fuel for the toxic mindset that the girl in K-12 is trapped in. This is mostly headcanon but it’s how I interpret her

I don’t think I have much of anything to say on Stanley, but the refrain of One Normal Night from the Addams Family musical fits Delilah, the repetition especially since Ella stalks Delilah and comes for her every night at 1:35 AM.

[castle-dominion]

c3x22 to love & die in LA

Ooh a plot heavy episode lol acab Dude it might be easier to hop than it is to crawl idk. Wow mafia lookin dude Lol the sarcastic "scary"

What time of day is this? Castle is here first! Lanie <3 I keep forgetting that bounty hunters are real. Arrest probs. Yep arrest. At least he still has a face.

Just like Murdoch! Ryan taking things back to s1 rly quick here with his outfit like that huh Silencers don't make them completely silent, they just dampen the noise

Royce has nice brown eyes & freckles

Beckett shut it Girl. Girl no.

She has a pic of him with her? That's sweet. (Also reminds me of george crabtree with a picture in his house with an awkward murdoch. if he wasn't so head over heels for julia he would be in love with... well pendrick but if he wasn't head over heels for pendrick he would be in love with george. Remember that time when william asked george out to the christmas ball?)

This is what it's like sitting in the back of a car with my two brothers & they put me in the middle Bro you could stand up to let her out, it's like the bus! It's castle obv. (could clip, but I won't)

I'll be your backup <3

"under the radar" cut to a fancy car Castle is so cocky Ew neat mural... I like maurice. Beckett has some really LA type clothing here...

Mob ties?

WAIT WHAT Guest house, reminds me of Japan. "Me too" XD apparently they went thru several iterations before settling on that.

Their little handshake

y'all PLEASE watch the bonus features if you can. Apparently this IS where they shoot Castle & even the camera ones are literally the ones who work on Castle. She's in rehab???

Raley & ochoa? That's VERY original castle /s. lmao doesn't huerve mean egg? what is that handshake? I love it RC: You're a cop, so it's your job. Rick go talk to ryan about his motivations & then make smth up for Raley! Update: I have now watched the audio commentaries & stuff for s1. Apparently Ryan was a boring character so Dever started carrying around Richard Castle books, probably borrowing them from beckett. Dever went "what is my character's motivation^/" & they said "idk" so he started reading castle books.

KB: *talking abt the case* KB: *trails off once she sees bootleg rysposito* (clipping)

GIRL "HOLA CHICA" IS EASIER TO WRITE THAN "GREETING IN SPANISH" WTF Aw look at them kiss in the morgue. LP: Wait is your friend that top-heavy tramp in reception? JE: Hm? What? HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO DISSOLVE? YOU MIGHT WANT TO SNAP SOME PICS QUICK. (clipping)

Did they call? How did rick learn abt the dissolving bullets? (love how he is on conspiracy websites tho lol) Girl??? Also the lockpick scene was ok except for the fact that she didn't physically unlock the door after getting the pegs aligned Watch ur fingerprints. No all the way back to new york? they're going to go back & then once in new york they'll have to come back to LA If royce can't hunt bounties then he'd totally be a PI Nice to hear LAPD instead of NYPD.

Ooh robbery homicide LMAO IT REALLY IS MUCH WORSE THAN ARREST. IT'S LIKE WHEN YOUR DAD SAYS HE'S NOT MAD JUST DISAPPOINTED. They often say "welcome to new york" & now it's "welcome to LA" & I think it's a nice change of pace.

Ryan outfit: patterned shirt, collared button-up as usual, tie. I love the little brother things here. Imagine if it was martha's acting school. Ryan just held up his fingers to say "line two" but montgomery saw & hun he might just hop on the phone too. JE: Sup girl? Hey she's genuinely being useful in the investigation. Or maybe not, maybe she's just telling them what to do even tho they can do it on their own See? Castle is smart enough

Now this is intense I love it. I also love how the man goes into the office just wearing his surfwear.

Ha not that good. Way ahead of you bro. These two are a great team. (tbh I'm clipping this bc I like seeing them do smart stuff)

Just like castle! Making up stories to mess with you! You're not so bad yourself castle??? Are u in a relationship? If she wasn't I'd say kiss kiss kiss. Huh her nails are painted.

Maurice my beloved lmao no it only melts nazis ok bud Could have yelled "coming, one sec" "We're not on the case anymore" I like Seeger's tie No, seeger went to the house for something. Wait it was for the gal who stole the stuff nvm.

Mum caught on right away that they would use the props YES RALEY/TAYLOR & OCHOA/HERVE! That's the dumbest thing ever I love how he just accepts that

This is so great. Apparently this is the same interview room as usual, they just changed it up a bit to make it look like the movie set. I mean you're right child molesters are the lowest of the low but they usually get killed so they are not actually IN prison. I like how we get to see the dramatic upset behind the set. update: OH it's bc we usually get to see people in the observation room like montgomery $500 is cheap af I wonder if they filmed that for the bonus features of the nikki heat film but they probably wouldn't include Reggie in there. Does this mean I can leave?

She's just walkin by stripping from all of the costume stuff they gave her None of the other ones are before a height measure thing, only Mannis is. He also looks to be above 6' even tho his profile says 6'0" update: THE EASTER EGGS FURIED CROWS

MAURICE! Also I can't tell if this guy is fancy, european, or gay. It's like that song, gay or european, & it's like dirk gently, possibly gay & definitely european.

Wow definitely not new york. Man has a tattoo. Oh of course they couldn't resist a shot of this. Does she have any bullet wounds? Appendicitis scars? I'm into girls but I'm not into this. (I'm into girls like Ryan who is not a girl. He is a lesbian to me though.) What accent is this? She grabbed his wrist now he's the one holding her hand? Weird

I thought that was the original plan lol RC: DOn't poke me! KB: Poke you? I want to kiss you! SO DO IT ALREADY (won't clip)

Decently obvious lie... (BESTIES HOW DO THEY BECOME GOOD ACTORS FOR 5X10 & HOW DID ESPOSITO LOSE ALL OF HIS "WE WERE TRAINED NOT TO GIVE UP INFORMATION" SKILLS?) Why did RM say this to espt instead of saying "you or you"? Also I'd def excpect esposito the "we were trained not to give up information" man to be good at lying. JE: *nods to ryan* RM: *Smiles as the two walk away* They are her brothers <3

RC out of the blue: Can i interest you in one of these robes? Seeger: ? No! Thank you!

Where in the world are they meeting her? Ok but the way Ryan whips his jacket around mm These two are partners & I love them He just answer's some stranger's phone with "yo" lol KB: ... ESPOSITO??? JE: BECKETT??? KB: Are you with mannis? JE, casually: Yeah I just shot him KB: JE: Why r u calling him? KB: Look we need to know where & when ganz is selling those bullets JE: Done JE, to mannis: Where's the deal going down? *gun pressed to his throat* DM: I'm hit man call an ambulance JE: Well my partner's on that KR: Nine, one... what comes after that one? DM: I;m in pain here man! JE gets the location out of him by pressing in on him & putting him in pain (acab) & then bringing the cell phone to the screaming man's voice & then he cracks, that easy, tells em where to go. KR comes in after that asking who shot royce which was a good call. It was Ganz.

the heck does "quarter of six" mean? Do you mean 5:15 or do you mean 5:45 or do you mean 6:15? I would say quarter TO six for 6.30, quarter PAST six for 6.15, third PAST six for 6.20 & half PAST six for 6.30. Yo where did beckett get a gun?

That's a sus buff tattooed guy She says "police" instead of nypd bc she doesn't have jurisdiction here & she is not lapd. Yo, nice knife! Mmm a smouldering cigar Hun u better have the safety on & the gun not cocked. easy way to lose a buttock. Glad we got a shot of her booty tho. She's not my type (except for maybe s1 beckett) but I can still appreciate a pretty lady.

Apparently she had to learn how to vault a gate on set that day in front of a hundred plus people. She tries to do most of her own stunts tho. I never imagined hell looked like you ugh good line good line First names <3 Girl u put the safety on right?

I like their little friendly ending together & then DX rick gives him a housecoat that's so great lol

I thought about it. But I knew I never would. I knew I couldn't

NOTE FROM A DEAD GUY SHIPS THEM. Care & love does not need to be romantic ig... Wait he wrote the note in all caps

I loved the costumes in this episode. V nice. v good.

It was a different episode today! I enjoyed it a lot! & I went five minutes overtime in my watch (I give myself double time to watch it) but other than that yeah I'm happy!

(Got some good clips here today)

[finishinglinepress]

NEW FROM FINISHING LINE PRESS: Inflorescence: The Pasture at Rest by Marjorie Gowdy

ADVANCE ORDER: https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/inflorescence-the-pasture-at-rest-by-marjorie-gowdy/

Marjorie Gowdy writes at home in the Blue Ridge mountains of Callaway, VA. Gowdy was Founding Executive Director of the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi, MS, which she led for 18 years. Now retired, she worked in other fields that fed her love of writing, including as a grants writer. Her poetry has been published in the Roanoke Review (2015), Artemis Journal (2013-2022), Floyd County Moonshine (2021), Valley Voices (Mississippi Valley State University (2021), Indolent Books (2021), Clinch River Review (2021), Visitant-Lit (2021), RockPaperPoem (2022), the book Quilted Poems (2022), the Centennial Anthology of the Poetry Society of Virginia (2022), and in several national anthologies of poetry dedicated to the families of Ukraine. She has essays in Katrina: Mississippi Women Remember (2007). Gowdy also paints, with recent works accepted by the Virginia Beach Artists’ Center (2020), illustrations published in Floyd County Moonshine (20210, in Artemis Journal (a visual poem, 2021), Orange Peel Magazine (2022), and in an exhibition at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. Her poems + verse, which she calls carmen duca, were also part of an exhibit, Welcome to Roanoke, in 2022 at the Roanoke, VA, Municipal Building. Gowdy is a summa cum laude graduate of Virginia Tech and has a master’s degree in liberal studies from University of North Carolina-Greensboro. Her work is informed by the tumbled Virginia mountains as well as her time on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and along the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina. She is newsletter editor for the Poetry Society of Virginia.

PRAISE FOR Inflorescence: The Pasture at Rest by Marjorie Gowdy

In Inflorescence: The Pasture at Rest Marjorie Gowdy immerses us in farmland and mountainside, with images and patterns timeless as the land itself. As she ambles “among the chest-high Susans,” or smells the “Flattened streams of smoked ham reach toward the vale,” she pulls us along with her. Marjorie writes the tender side of life, from bees and barn swallows to hands touching “beneath the ivy tree, years wrapped around a patient poplar.” Listen, too, for her condemnation of “Man’s callow disregard,” both for the Earth and for each other. In “A Murmuration” Marjorie writes “‘Tis not wit nor skill that keeps me alive,” but wit and skill are certainly alive in her writing. I for one, dear reader, am grateful Marjorie Gowdy is sharing her wit and wisdom in these poems.

–Pamela Brothers Denyes, Author, The Right Mistakes and The Widow’s Lovers

What a marvelous poet. Marjie Gowdy reminds me of the great Romantic poets, especially, John Clare, for she can name every flower and tree around her. She paints an indelible stamp. Only a seasoned florist and botanist could write powerful nature poems like these. She can be succinct and terse as Emily Dickinson. In thinking about her father in” Inflorescent”, she laments “Flowers return. He does not.” It reminds me of Emily who said “I heard a fly buzz before I died.” Buy this chapbook. It is worth far more than its listed price.

–Maurice Ferguson, Poetry Editor, Artemis

This book reflects the beauty of the natural world based on the knowledge and experiences of a seasoned gardener. The author treats every element nature as though they are old family friends. There is a kindness and appreciation of both the flora and fauna in the author’s world that is captivating and inspiring. The writing is beautiful and takes the reader into a world rich in complexity and subtlety that makes this poetry compelling.

–Peter Haslett Kelly, Poet and Composer

Please share/repost #flpauthor #preorder #AwesomeCoverArt #read #poems #literature #poetry #nature

[goodqueenaly]

Something I’ve been considering for a bit is how GRRM might compare or adapt aspects of Philip V as depicted in The Accursed Kings for Aegon V, specifically with respect to the latter’s taking power in 233 AC. Of course, I’ve been saying for a while that I firmly believe GRRM is using Philip V as a major source of inspiration for our Egg generally, but what I want to think about is the motivation of Philip V’s kingship in the context of Aegon’s ascension to power. 

At the heart of Philip V’s story in The Accursed Kings, I think, is a question on the justification of power - that is, what line can a person cross, what crime can he commit, what force and invention can he use, if he really is the best man for the job but cannot acquire it through regular channels? That Maurice Druon believes Philip V deserved to be king through personal qualifications is extremely apparent: the author consistently describes him as a “great king” as well as a “wise king, careful of the public good”, for example, details his first royal decrees as the end of “[t]he abuses and malversations ... freely indulged in since the death of the Iron King” (and notes that “[i]n every rank of society, in every national activity ... it was felt and appreciated that France was now in firm hands” under Philip’s reign), and laments that he was “too much in advance of his time” to be respected by the “reactionary barons” who took power at his death. Likewise, Philip is genuinely concerned about continuing what Druon depicts as the laudable work of his father, Philip IV: he hesitates to leave the papal conclave because “[his] father so much wished to avoid” the return of the papacy to Rome and “the influence of the Roman nobility or that of the King of Naples supplant[ing] that of France”, worrying whether “‘his work, already so much damaged by Louis and by our Uncle Valois, [would] be destroyed completely”, and later looks to Raoul de Presles, one of the “eminent justiciars [and] faithful servants of Philip the Fair”, for validation that Philip IV would posthumously approve of his actions (which, of course, Raoul does, saying that “I loved out Lord Philip too much, and have suffered too much since his death, to serve you [i.e. the future Philip V] if you did not remind me of him in all things”). Druon’s Philip seems to be a man who wants power not for the sake of power but to see justice (or at least his idea of justice) done: indeed, Philip thinks, as he is riding out to seize Paris and proclaim himself regent, that “[i]t would be a pity … to leave so fine a country in bad hands”, and he initially refuses to “let injury be done to my subjects and compromise the whole peace of the realm for [the] advantage” of his mother-in-law (although he later backtracks on this position after learning that Mahaut poisoned Louis X, indirectly implicating him). 

Yet Philip could not, within Druon’s story, assume the regal authority naturally, and instead both benefited from crimes and schemes to bring him to power and created some of his own. Philip only has the opportunity to become regent of France in the first place because Mahaut, his mother-in-law, poisons Louis X. Moreover, when he learns of this murder, Philip refuses to condemn Mahaut, because he “had already done too much for the kingdom, and thought too much about what he was going to do, to run the risk of being deprived of power”, justifying that Louis “had been a bad king, and a murderer into the bargain” and so “it was the intention of Providence to punish the assassin by assassination, and to place France in better hands”. When Louis’ posthumous son is born, having by virtue of his male birth “frustrated all his [i.e. Philip’s] brilliant plans for the succession”, Philip shows no concern about his almost-fatal convulsion during his baptism, instead “picking the hot wax from the candles off his hands”. When Mahaut then actually poisons (the purported) baby King Jean a few days later, Philip leaves immediately to secure his new royal power, ordering in his wake that Jean’s funeral “take place as soon as possible”, with no lying in state, and cost barely a hundredth of his own coronation. Not only does Druon have Philip think of the murder of the (again, purported) baby king as a crime “which he equally [i.e. to the murder of Louis X] had not ordered but of which he was the silent accomplice, almost the inspirer”, but as Hughes de Bouville later reveals later to Pope John XXII, Philip V held a public court in which he forced his relations and courtiers to swear that his bother and his ostensible nephew had died natural deaths, despite knowing that they had not. Too, in justifying his accession as king, Philip invents, so Druon depicts it, the Salic law, twisting an ancient and limited provision on the inheritance of land into a binding statement on male-only succession among the Capetians. Despite his apparently good qualities and intentions, Philip was not born to be king and did not have an easy path to power: instead, as Druon writes, “[b]y a mixture of force and cunning, of legality and crime, he had seized the crown, when it was at auction to the ambitious, while still a young man” in order “to pursue his father’s grand policies, which he had so much admired”.

All of this reflection on Philip V’s arc leads me back to Aegon V. I think there is a real way to see Aegon’s story as similar to that of Philip V in this sense - that is, the question of how and when a person can or should take power, if at all, if he has the ability and intention to rule well but has no natural (in the context of this society, anyway) access to power. Aegon, like Philip, clearly had both the intelligence and just outlook (as well as personal authorial approval) to be king: well-educated in the royal court and experienced in the tribulations of Westeros’ smallfolk, “always concerned for the welfare of the poor and weak”, Aegon came to the throne with the express desire of reforming the realm for the betterment of the common people. At the same time, Aegon was, like, Philip V, never destined to be king: not only was he born the fourth son of a fourth son, but even at the death of his father Aegon still at least arguably stood behind his nephew Maegor (as the son of elder brother Aerion), and perhaps also his niece Vaella (as the only child of eldest brother Daeron), in the line of succession. 

To be clear, I don’t think that Aegon will be revealed to have overseen the murder of either Vaella or Maegor; not only is there no evidence for such, but either crime (much less both) seems out of character for the benevolent, kindly Aegon known from both the Tales of Dunk and Egg and his passage in TWOIAF. Nor did Aegon need to invent a law to confirm his own succession, as Philip did: Aegon instead enjoyed the benefit of being acclaimed king at the Great Council of 233 AC (though to be sure, Philip himself expresses a desire at the outset of his reign “to be King with the consent of my subjects”, and “decided that two assemblies … should be held … during the weeks following his coronation” at which “all classes, all the ‘Estates’ of the realm, [would be] represented”). Nevertheless, Aegon would have been well aware that he had at best a secondary legal claim, as there was no example among the Targaryens of an uncle assuming the throne ahead of a legitimate, male, male-line nephew (even if uncles had succeeded ahead of male-line nieces, a precedent which itself discarded the historiographically disputed reign of Rhaenyra). If Aegon might have looked to being Maegor’s or Vaella’s regent in the style of his ancestor Viserys II, he would also have known, as Philip realized during the baptism of his nephew Jean, that “to be Regent is not to be King”.

So I wonder if Aegon, especially during the latter years of his father’s reign and the interregnum period of 233 AC, will struggle with this same issue - what to do about being the right man for the throne but legally ineligible (or, at least, immediately ineligible) for it. If Philip consoled himself about benefitting from the murder of his elder brother by noting that Louis X “had been a bad king”, might Aegon not think the same about the deaths of his elder brothers - that by dying, the cowardly and weak Daeron and the cruel and sadistic Aerion had removed themselves as potential bad kings from the succession, allowing more of a chance for the rule of the noble, intelligent, well-meaning Aegon himself? Might Aegon fear, during the Great Council, the state of Westeros falling into “bad hands”, either under another regent for either his niece or nephew or one of those candidates themselves, the “simple” Vaella or Maegor, son of the monstrous Aerion? I think Aegon might instead develop an ambition to be king - not out of a lust for power or grandeur, but out of a deep concern for what might happen to the state under those ahead of him in the line of succession, and a strong (and not irrational) belief that he alone could better the lives of his subjects using the authority of the crown. 

I wonder too whether Aegon would reflect along these lines on the murder of Aenys Blackfyre. When he might have seemed so close to being acclaimed king - Yandel notes that “[s]oon thereafter [i.e. the murder], [Aegon] was chosen by a majority of the Great Council” - would Aegon have felt that he had “thought too much about what he was going to do, to run the risk of being deprived of power” by the appearance of another adult male candidate? Would he wonder whether the murder was justified, as Philip did with the murder of Louis, because the Blackfyres had been usurpers and rebels, and so perhaps it was similarly the “intention of Providence” to remove one Blackfyre usurper the way the first had been - that is, killed on the orders of Brynden Rivers - to place Westeros in those “better hands”? (Of course, to his credit, Aegon did what Philip could not bring himself to do - that is, denounce and call for justice against a murderer even where he profited from the murder - so even if Aegon did have any of these feelings about the death of Aenys Blackfyre, they were obviously outweighed by his personal sense of justice. Indeed, I very much expect that the confrontation between Aegon and Bloodraven will borrow points made during that between Philip and Mahaut in The Royal Succession.)

[aiweirdness]

The next Disney princesses

When I saw the princess from Brave appear unexpectedly in an AI’s attempt to illustrate some misheard sea shanty lyrics (just another day on this blog), I had to look her up to remind myself her name was Merida. I ended up on the Disney Wiki entry for Merida, which got me wondering whether I could generate new Disney princesses.

I used GPT-3, a set of big text-generating neural nets trained on huge amounts of internet text. The GPT-3 models have seen wiki articles before, and there’s a LOT online about Disney princesses, so I decided to see what they could do with just two example entries adapted from the wiki, one on Merida and one on Moana.

Here’s what DaVinci, the largest of the GPT-3 models, generated. After just two short examples it had figured out how to add new entries following the general format, and even knew to generate them about Disney characters. It got many details correct! It also got many details wrong.

Model: DaVinci, temperature 1.0

Name: Snow White

Occupation: Princess of the Kingdom of Tabor

Dietary Needs: Unknown

Powers and abilities: Magic Wand (heighten sensation/emotion/physical strength/physical weakness), Animal friends: bats, squirrels, and birds. Can control them all at once.

Animal friends: Flies, Wolves, and Rabbits

Paraphernalia: Magic Wand, Bearskin cloak, Hair ribbon, fake shoe, Stolen chicken, Dew flies.

Name: Bambi

Occupation: Prince of the Forest

Paraphernalia: None

Likes:His family, The Greater Good, Being outside, Being With His Mothers Friends

Dislikes: Hunters, Caning from His Mothers Friends, deer-flies, Man's interference in nature

Name: Belle

Occupation: Nobody

Powers and abilities: None, save for her intellect and empathy

Paraphernalia: Lantern created by her father Maurice

Likes: Animals, reading, science, inventions, her father's inventions, singing, medicine

Dislikes: Vermin, Horned King, Rourke, McNab, Mr. O'Malley, Gaston, the West Wing, Halloween and those who celebrate it, Tick-Tock the Crocodile, judging people

Name: Nala

Occupation: Queen of Pride Rock, princess-in-exile (formerly), Second in command and leader of the Lion Guard

Paraphernalia: The Lullaby Scepter, Her fleet of gnu, Thorn

Likes: Singing, Taking care of the Pride Landers

Dislikes: Hyenas, disorder, corruption, Scar, feeling complacent, her hyena past

But DaVinci stuck with existing Disney characters, even at the highest creativity setting. That’s technically what I asked for, since its task was to add to the end of a list of Disney characters. But it wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted new characters.

So I turned to the smallest GPT-3 model, Ada, hoping it would be confused enough to fail to come up with existing characters. It worked.

Model: Ada, temperature 1.0

Name: Watercolor Cookie

Object of the represented character's ongoing relationship: Pirate/Scientists

Occupation: princess of a village

Powers: a large amount of ink in her fingers, ability to draw lines with it, vines, chicken

Dislikes: Lots of bugs and anything with legs

Name: Rumpo

Occupation: Soldier in the Lost Bay Mercenary Guild

Powers and abilities: Master archery, Master sword fighting, Her Devil Rumpo Dagger

Dislikes: Recklessness, an extremely bad reputation, private prayers, Rabbits

Name: Banks Afloat

Occupation: Pirate chief in the Tonawanda Swamp

Personality: Combative, passionate, impervious to cruelty and aversion to insanity, does not believe in any of supernatural powers and believes in a new and dangerous Age of Men

Powers and abilities: Superhuman strength, immunity to supernatural influences, flight with a Ten-Foot Pole and built sturdy boat and canoe, omnipresence: taking on the form of anyone, able to fly if called upon by renown indestructible courage skill at coup de grace, supernatural invisibility, unlimited memory and recall, and a super-strength equivalent to that of a God, and replenishing drinks at whim, and magic flutes.

Likes: Her wild and free lifestyle, hiking, canoeing, boating, food, sea shells, her family, magic, pirates, the Bahamas, cookies

Dislikes: Being tied down to a chartered vessel to ensure justice for stealing her crewman's land, her family's dangerous past, pirates

Some of these princesses seem a bit overpowered, but to know for sure, I’d have to see the villains.

I only had room for some of the princess profiles here, since they’re quite long, but I also experimented with the other two GPT-3 models. Become an AI Weirdness supporter to read the rest as bonus content! Or become a free subscriber to get new AI Weirdness posts in your inbox.

[watermelonlipstick]

Dean’s Jeans 2

What better day to post a sweet little family oneshot than Mother’s Day? This is the same setup as Dean’s Jeans, just a different late summer afternoon on your cul-de-sac with Dean, Sam, your daughters, and their cousin DJ. I already have bare-bones drafts of a few other installments for these cuties, especially considering this one got a little deeper than I had intended. Stay tuned!

Title: Dean’s Jeans 2

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Word Count: 5561

Summary: Spending the afternoon working on the driveway with Dean, Sam, your daughters, and nephew.

Warnings: fluff, some family angst, minor injury, little dollop of smut at the end

           It was a big day for driveways and garages.

           You had been sitting in the apron of Sam’s drawing loopy pastel paths with DJ and your eldest daughter for your youngest to roll her cousin’s old matchbox cars down, watching adoringly as everyone’s palms and knees got covered in chalk dust. When the concrete was relatively full and the older two started getting a little antsy, you decided to try to stave off any bored bickering ahead of time.

           “Babe, is our garage unlocked?” you called over to Dean where he was trying to snake an extension cord out of Sam’s front door and down the porch.

           “Should be. Why, what’s up?”

           “I thought maybe DJ could take Picasso here over to the park to break in her new bike.” You turned to your nephew, sitting with his arms resting on his knees. He was just barely starting to fill out around the delicate Winchester features that had made him such an angelic looking child, the angle of his jaw seeming to sharpen every day, growing rapidly though you might still be able to throw him over your shoulder in a pinch. Hopefully it was a sign that he wasn’t destined for the late puberty you knew had frustrated Sam so much when he was younger; at least he could have one gift from his other parent, lost otherwise to the wind without as much as a periodic birthday card. Not the time for that thought, you reminded yourself, refocusing on the child’s glossy hair, carbon copy of his father’s with sun-lightened tips this late into summer. Dean would’ve taken him to get a haircut about a month ago, but as you and Sam both reminded him: not his hair, not his kid. It made you smile and likely made Sam proud that at his age, where so many kids were rebelling against their parents, DJ didn’t mind looking exactly like his dad. Somehow you had a hard time believing Sam would want to rush that process of teenage rebellion along. “What do you think, Deej?”

           Your elder daughter squealed and threw her arms around his neck, nearly tackling him onto the driveway. “Please please? Maybe Sarah and Davey can come too.” Her inclusion of the Fiore siblings into the mix was smart. They lived between your cul de sac and the park and were pretty similar in age to DJ and your older daughter. You suspected she thought on some level that DJ was on the cusp of being too cool to hang out with his baby cousin, but hanging out with the Fiores as a group gave them a little more social grace. Hopefully she’d realize, as you had, that DJ absolutely adored her and would likely rather catch some flack from his peers than drift apart.

           “Yeah but I’m not carrying your bike up the hill if your legs get tired,” he grinned at his cousin, who immediately took off across the street to get her bike from the garage.

           Sam and Dean had to move their whole setup from in front of Sam’s garage door so DJ could get his own bike out, the step ladder, extension cord, and electric drill going into the lawn next to the rest of their project, the basketball hoop. He almost got to the end of the driveway, swinging his leg over the seat, before Sam stopped him. “Nice try. Helmet, please,” he called out after his son, who reluctantly dropped the mountain bike onto the pavement and trudged back into the garage to pull a sticker-covered helmet out of a box and throw it on his head. By the time he made it into the street his cousin had done the same, yelling out over her shoulder for you to Mommypleaseclosethegaragethankyou as she tried to pump petite legs to keep up.

           You were thankful that your youngest seemed to be fully engrossed in the chalk patterns on the driveway and hadn’t seemed to notice the other kids’ leaving, not interested in having an argument about whether she was too little or not to go with them alone. Trusting the older kids or not, she was small and curious in a way that led to her sometimes running off to explore, and you didn’t want to add that into the mix. After a while, she picked up the green again, moving up the driveway to draw a picture of a dragon and immediately swipe hair out of her face, covering it with fluorescent dust. She got to her feet, and the amount of colorful powder on her made you beyond thankful that it was Dean’s turn to give her a bath that night. Crossing the driveway in a few skittering steps, she wrapped herself around Dean’s legs, practically leaving a silhouette imprint of herself on his jeans as he ruffled her hair. The way they had worn out and lost much of their dye over the years highlighted the contrast.

           “Daddy, come look! It’s a dragon!”

           Dean and Sam exchanged a smirk and Dean winked at you. “A dragon? Sounds scary.”

           “No, he’s a nice dragon,” she insisted, grabbing his hand and dragging him down the driveway, leaving Sam to drill holes into the wood above his garage door.

           “A nice dragon, huh? What’s his name?” Dean asked, grinning as he let her lead him.

           “Maurice,” she said, so matter of fact it made you laugh out loud. Sam did too, pulling the drill out of the wall to keep from wiggling the holes. “Can you do the fire?”

           “’Course I can, princess. How big are we talking?” He eased down to sit cross-legged next to Maurice The Dragon, accepting when you offered him yellow and orange sticks of chalk. You leaned back in the afternoon sun with a lap full of matchbox cars listening to the radio Sam had brought out to the porch, the chalk scratching on the concrete, and the rhythmic drilling of holes into siding for a few minutes.

           “Dean?” Sam asked, backing down the step ladder.

           “Got it,” he answered, putting a little flair on a lick of fire that went around Maurice’s nose and handing your daughter the chalk. “I need to help Uncle Sammy for a minute but I can come right back, sound fair? Your mom is better at scales anyway.” The girl seemed to consider it for a second then pouted her lips out in agreement, tilting her head to the side just like her dad did all the time. Dean got up creakily and brushed off his hands on his back pockets, the orange joining the other stains like an abstract painting.

           “You guys need any help?” you called over to Sam, who was trying to stabilize the hoop with long arms and struggling a little bit to keep it balanced in the light wind, powerful muscles rippling in his forearms and impressing upon you how heavy it must truly be if even he was having trouble with it.

           “Actually, yeah, that would be great,” he chuckled, jerking his chin to Dean to suggest his brother help him hold it up. He did, grabbing one side and having to reach up to his tip toes to match Sam’s stretch.  They were both standing on a kind of bastardized stool Dean had thrown together for this purpose, a few planks of wood balanced on some huge cinderblocks that had been in the garden holding up one of Sam’s compost setups. “It’s just those 12 screws, holes should already be lined up.”

           You climbed up on the ladder with the drill, having to crane to reach over even with the added height. When the last was in, the Winchesters carefully removed their hands. Seeing that it didn’t immediately fall, Dean grabbed the bottom corner and tried his best to rattle it to no avail. “Good job, babe,” he said, lightly smacking your ass as you backed down the ladder.

           “Watch out,” Sam said over your shoulder, and you saw him walking backwards a handful of steps down the driveway, being cautious to avoid his niece and her drawings.

           “Dude, there’s no way you can—” Dean started, cut off by Sam taking a running jump and leaping into the air, catching the rim of the hoop like nothing and doing a baby pull-up on the metal.

           “Can what?” Sam cackled, punching Dean’s arm playfully as he dropped to the pavement. “Don’t be jealous, old man.”

           “Jealous of Sasquatch? You can practically reach it standing, Lurch.”

           “Yeah, okay. Let me know when you can get up there without a stool and a trampoline.”

           You were giggling as Sam and Dean started putting all their tools way when DJ’s bike came flying around the corner. Neither he nor his cousin were wearing helmets, and she was wrapped around his chest like a novelty monkey backpack, her legs circling his waist and her arms clinging to his neck. He had to arch around her to see, but you could tell from the half-block length away that he was saying something to her. By the time they got close enough to get reprimanded for the lack of helmets, or for one of their dads to ask where the other bike was, you could hear the crying.

           Sam crossed over to his son in long, purposeful strides, holding his handlebars so he could dismount without letting go of your daughter. “What happened?” he asked, taking the girl from DJ’s arms and smoothing her hair back with a soothing palm. As he turned, you could see the blood trickling down her raw knees and elbows.

           DJ was visibly rattled, trying hard to calm his breathing down and tensing his bottom lip when it began to quiver. “Davey and I went down that big hill and, she—she was going too fast, and, um, she fell—I, I told her we could practice later but these guys were saying only babies couldn’t do it, I swear I didn’t know she would—” and then his voice broke, fat tears finally breaking through and crashing down his face. Sam nodded to you and Dean, murmuring some comforting things to your eldest as he carried her up the porch steps into his house. At the exact same time as if practiced—that same rapid, implicit communication they’d had on hunts now used to coordinate hugging their children in tandem, you thought to yourself—Dean wrapped his nephew up in a big bear hug, cradling the boy’s head and sweeping his hand up and down his back.

           “Hey, come on, you’re okay. She’s okay, she’s just shaken up, kid. Shhh shhh shhh, hey, come on, deep breaths. You’re okay,” he hummed into DJ’s hair. He gave you a tight nod over the kid’s shoulder to keep drawing with your daughter. Only a few steps away, you could still hear him as he continued. “I’m so proud of you, Deej. Got her all the way home on your bike, that’s pretty badass.” He waited for a few moments of silence until his nephew caught his breath a little. “Probably scared you, right?” he asked, his voice low and calm as DJ nodded through tears into the growing wet spot on his uncle’s chest. “That’s okay, chief, I would’ve been freaked too.”

           You noticed he was rocking a little, almost like he did when he was trying to get the girls to sleep as babies, and it really emphasized the way that no matter how wise DJ seemed or whatever signs of puberty he might be showing, he was still a child, still the same baby you’d fallen in love with when Sam had gotten that call however many years ago. It took a few more minutes for the crying to subside to hiccupping breaths and seeming to sense that the moment had passed in some way, your baby girl grabbed your hand gently. “Mommy, is DJ okay?”

           “Yeah, sweetie. He was just scared for a minute.”

           “That’s why he needs a hug?”

           “Exactly. Everybody needs hugs sometimes.” Just as she had before when considering your ability to draw cartoon scales on a dragon named Maurice, she tilted her head and pouted in agreement. When you realized what she was about to do next you almost had to wipe a quick tear away yourself, watching her get up to hug DJ and sandwich him between herself and Dean.

           “It’s okay, DJ,” she whispered, the high tender pitch of her voice like one of those unsettlingly extreme medieval harmonies with her dad’s but so much sweeter, the bright welcome sting of lemon juice in a dense poundcake.

           A moment later, Sam came out onto the porch with his eldest niece. One of her knees was wrapped in gauze but the other and both elbows had what looked from the driveway like a collage of Spiderman band aids. Sam appeared to have a matching one on his forehead, and both of them were giggling, though her eyes still looked a little puffy and red.

           Dean looked up and turned DJ to see both of them, cradling the back of DJ’s head in one palm. “See? She’s okay, just needed a couple band aids.”

           Sam winked at his brother as he walked over and patted his son on the back, taking the band aid off his forehead as he went. “Buddy, we’re going to go grab the bike and your helmets. Is there anything else you think you left at the park?”

           His son shook his head up at his dad and leaned back from Dean’s embrace to rub his eyes. “Are you mad at me?” he croaked.

           “Mad at you? Why would I be mad at you?” Sam asked, crouching down to a squat to look up at DJ. You had noticed he tended to do this in sensitive moments with all the children, trying his best to seem less looming. The first time you’d identified it, it made you a little sick to your stomach, realizing it likely wasn’t part of how inherently good he was with kids but because he knew what it was like to have an angry man towering over you. Thinking of it now had the same effect, especially compounded by the emphasis Dean had put on telling DJ he was proud of him even if his daughter had gotten hurt, that he too knew a protective kid was still just a kid.

           DJ sniffled hard once more, finally able to take a truly deep breath. “I didn’t wear my helmet home because I couldn’t see arou—”

           “Aw, DJ. No way am I mad at you.” Sam hugged his son and stood up, planting a kiss on his forehead. “I’m proud of you for getting both of you guys home safe. That was really smart, to get her on the bike with you like that.” You caught DJ’s tiny smile of pride at his father’s praise, watched it deepen a touch as Sam kissed his hair again. “So just the helmets and the bike?”

           He nodded and rubbed his eyes before peeking around Sam a little bit to see your daughter. “You’re really okay?” he asked, as though he didn’t trust the adults to be telling him the truth and would have to ascertain her safety for himself. You wondered if Sam and Dean would find that nice or insulting, that ultra-fierce, trust-but-verify loyalty.

           She nodded sort of sheepishly. “Sorry I didn’t listen about the hill, DJ.”

           “It’s okay.”

           The moment seemed a bit heavy for a half-second before Sam wrapped a big hand around your daughter’s shoulder with a reassuring smile. “Let’s go find that bike.”

           After helping Dean get his wheels back inside, DJ went up to his room. You had to resist the urge to follow him, cuddle up with him like you used to when he was small enough to tuck into your lap. If he wanted to be alone, he was old enough to decide that for himself. Dean put the rest of the tools and things from putting up the basketball hoop away and walked over to you where you were laying on the ground so your youngest daughter could trace your body with chalk.

           “I think we need a pick-me-up around here. How do you feel about i-c-e-c-r-e-a-m for dinner?”

           You smiled, knowing you only had a bit longer of these spelling secrets left as your baby got closer and closer to proficient reading age. “Works for me. I think we have 2 or 3 kinds in the garage freezer.”

           He smirked down at you. “Can you bring him over in about 15 minutes? They should be back by then.”

           You tossed him a thumbs up and watched him walk across the street, the way the denim draped around his bowed legs as he went.

           It was only five or six minutes later when Sam came up to the driveway, jogging alongside your daughter with DJ’s helmet in his hand. Of course Sam would know that she needed to get back on that bike right away, and of course he’d come up with something to make her laugh all the way home, even if that meant he had to run the entire distance on a late summer afternoon. He was slightly out of breath when he helped her dismount in the driveway.

           “My kid okay?” he asked, taking the other helmet so your daughter could go back to what was becoming a pretty spectacular chalk surrealist piece spanning the driveway.

           “He’s in his room, I think he will be. Your brother’s got a very Dean style plan for dinner in a few minutes if you’re hungry.”

           Sam looked down at his watch. “Yikes, I didn’t realize we were even close to dinnertime. Let me go wash my hands and grab DJ then we can go over together?”

           “Sounds perfect to me. And hey—Sam? Make sure he knows everyone thinks he did the right thing.”

           He nodded, and you watched his Adam’s apple jump in his throat as he swallowed hard. Sam reached down and squeezed your hand, saying thank you without reopening the situation in front of the girls.

           They came out a few minutes later, Sam in a fresh t-shirt and DJ looking a little more cheerful coiled into his dad’s side. You bundled up the girls and walked over to your house, tipping your head in thanks as Sam opened the door. The girls were the first to see the spread and took off squealing into the kitchen, where Dean had effectively set up a tiny ice cream shop on your kitchen island. Sprinkles of all different kinds, those 3 tubs of ice cream you’d been right to remember were in the freezer, syrups and whipped cream and cherries and bananas and even chopped up peanut butter cups and Butterfinger bars from the stash Dean hid from the kids. He was already handing out bowls before you got into the kitchen.

           “Ah, ah! Hands need to be washed before anyone gets ice cream,” you insisted, shooting Dean a look of teasing reprimand.

           He rolled his eyes to your oldest daughter, sending her giggling conspiratorially to the kitchen sink. DJ, presumably having already washed his hands at his place, helped your youngest daughter reach by picking her up to the faucet when her sister was done. You crossed over to Dean, kissing him on the cheek and grabbing his hands for inspection. “Babe, you’re literally covered in chalk.”

           “You should be happy about me getting some extra calcium,” he winked, sticking out his tongue at you as you grabbed his ass on the way to the sink. “Mrs. Winchester!” he said in a faux-scandalized voice.

           As you washed your hands Sam manned the ice cream scoop, doling out much bigger bowls than he would normally, seeming to know as Dean did that a little levity might help the events of the day pass faster. After all the kids doctored up heaping mounds of ice cream and toppings to beat the band, you and the Winchester brothers stood around the island while they piled onto the couch to find a movie they could all agree on.

           “How’s our champ?” Dean asked, keeping his voice low.

           Sam shook up a can of whipped cream as he spoke. “He’s okay. Just feels guilty, I think. He says he should’ve stopped her from going down the hill.”

           “You think any kid of hers would’ve let someone tell her she couldn’t do anything?” Dean ribbed, accepting the gentle elbow you hit his side with.

           “I know that, but you know what it’s like. I think once he sees she’s really okay and no one blames him then he’ll be fine.”

           “Poor guy. Feels like that Winchester ‘weight of the world’ thing must be genetic.” You were partly joking but also partly not and they both knew it, looking pitiful and pitying for a beat before trying to cover with smiles. “He’s a great kid, Sam.”

           “Pretty much feels like you guys raised him as much as I did, I should be thanking you,” he murmured, drawing a lattice of butterscotch syrup over his whipped cream.

           You snaked an arm around his waist and gave him a sideways hug. “No, we’re lucky you let us know him.”

           Sam bent over and pressed his lips to your hair. “Seriously, thank you. I’m—I don’t know where we’d be if we didn’t, you know, I mean if we—”

           “Don’t strain yourself, Sammy,” Dean smiled affectionately, giving Sam a merciful out. “Tell you what, I sure wouldn’t have made it in damn Themyscira without you two around.”

           Sam chuckled down at the counter while you disentangled your arms. You took the chocolate sprinkles from in front of him and scattered a few in your bowl. “Themyscira? The hell is that?”

           Dean set down his ice cream exaggeratedly and rolled his eyes so hard he put a backwards bend in his spine, holding onto the island to keep his balance. “Babe. Themyscira. Home of the Amazons? Wonder Woman?”

           “Riiiight. I forgot I was married to such a dork.”

           “As long as you don’t forget how this ‘dork’ makes you screa—”

           “Dude, enough,” Sam groaned, exasperated. Dean waggled his eyebrows at you as his brother followed into the living room with the kids, taking the opportunity of temporary privacy to slip his tongue along your neck where it sloped into your shoulder.

           “Dean,” you hissed playfully, pushing his chest away from you. “They’re in the other room!”

           “You taste like chalk,” he smirked, before holding your gaze for a gooier beat than you would’ve expected. His eyes softened and he glanced down. “Thank you for letting me—letting us—take that, today. I know you’re better at the Mommy Dearest stuff or whatever, but it sometimes feels like, ah, getting a redo?” He cleared his throat where it had gotten a little thick. “You know, um, like proving that it doesn’t have to be the same?”

           It was a specific vulnerability he doesn’t often let you see, but you could tell by the softness both he and Sam had with all the kids, how they beat themselves up for days if they raised their voice for even a second, that they both thought about it all the time. In so many ways they were still those same little boys who wished they could’ve drawn on driveways with their parents, that their dad could’ve given them Spiderman band aids and told them everything was going to be okay.

           He didn’t have to explain further, and you gripped his hand to tell him so. “They needed you two, not me. For what it’s worth, I think you guys were a pretty great team today.”

           Dean smiled, and it was almost like the sleepy thankfulness he had on those nights when he got home and you’d charitably done a couple of his chores for him. He closed his eyes in invitation and you leaned forward, meeting his lips with the smell of ice cream in the air. “So come on, Super Dad. Let’s go watch a movie with these great kids everyone keeps talking about.”

           The ice cream had gotten put back in the freezer immediately to keep it frozen, but the toppings had all been left out during School of Rock. Sam and DJ had left a bit after the movie, playing a round of LIFE that had been pretty ambitiously started, considering the time, and ultimately abandoned when all the kids’ yawns started to sync up. You came downstairs after trading with Dean for bath/shower duty to get out of cleaning up all the sticky dishes, the girls falling asleep too quickly for a bedtime story after you’d made sure they were thoroughly scrubbed clean and any wet gauze was replaced.

           He was rinsing some bowls in the sink, the majority of the toppings slid to one side of the now wiped-down island. You sauntered up behind him, putting your chin on his shoulder. “Your jeans are still covered in chalk,” you sighed into his neck.

           “Your kid was practically using them as a napkin, so I’m not surprised.”

           “Like father, like daughter.”

           You felt the rumble of his laugh through your chest where you were pressed up against his back. “Can’t argue with that. They asleep?”

           “You’d think I drugged them.”

           He chuckled again, putting down the last bowl in the sink and shutting off the water before drying his hands on a dishtowel deliberately. When he turned around, his face was inches from yours. “Is that right?” he asked, and his voice was as smooth and silky as any caramel drizzle you could’ve eaten that night. You nodded into a smile as Dean slid a washing-warmed hand to the nape of your neck and wound into the hair there, pulling you into him where he leaned against the sink and slipped his tongue into your mouth. He tasted like maraschino cherry and chocolate and you pushed up into his kiss hard, jamming him into the counter in a way that made him groan into you, tug that hair tighter. “Careful, baby. Been thinking about scandalizing the mother of my children for hours,” he growled, smirking through a voice rough like the sandpaper calluses of his hands.

           You bit his bottom lip and dragged it back, leaning away from Dean just enough to reach over to the island behind you, finding the whipped cream and starting to shake it fast. “That’s funny, because I’ve just been thinking about sundaes,” you purred into his ear, nipping at his earlobe before tipping back. Dean’s eyes practically glittered as his pupils blew wide. His shirt was off so fast you almost didn’t see it, feeling like you blinked and opened your eyes to him already yanking his belt open to shuck off those chalk-covered torn jeans. Before he could, you turned over the whipped cream on top of his collarbone, dripping a stream of white foam down his chest and letting it drift for a second, melt down his skin then lapping it up with a tongue flattened wide.  You shook the can again, draping a strip onto Dean’s stomach that trailed to his belly button and laying a palm on his chest, leaning him back to the counter on his elbows to watch as you licked the whipped cream with lazy swirls until you were at the hem of his boxers, sinking to your knees and taking them down his legs along with his now-opened jeans. He was already hard as rock when you took him in your palm, laying one last spray of whipped cream along the length of him and humming in delight at the “holy shi—” that punched out of Dean and fizzled into the ether when you sucked it off.  

           It was only a few minutes before he couldn’t take it anymore, bending down to kiss you rough and dirty, tongue darting out to get the little dribbles of cream around the corners of your mouth and dragging you to your feet. With one hand Dean flicked open your jeans, using the freed slack to dive into your panties, middle finger dipping into you as he held your jaw with the other palm. He breathed hot and sticky along your jugular. “Not even close to how wet I want you.” The viscous pour of his words onto your neck sent goosebumps spreading over your skin in a delicate fan and you couldn’t help but smile as he scooped under your thighs and lifted you easily onto the island, slipping the denim off your legs as the same time he stepped out of his. You relaxed onto your elbows, watching those long eyelashes drift open and closed as his kissed a path down your abdomen, gripping handfuls of your t-shirt to get to skin. A lazy hand offered Dean the can of whipped cream.

           The smirk he gave you, bare shoulders between your thighs as he kneeled on the kitchen floor, might as well have been through a time machine for the way it made you see the cocky playboy you’d first met over a decade ago, before the faint wrinkles of years in sunny cars and staying up nights with colicky babies that accessorized his big doe eyes now. It had the same effect on you in a t-shirt that was older than DJ as it had when you were pounding through shots with eyeliner artfully smudged by the power of hangovers: pooling all the blood in your stomach and making you lightheaded. He slowly bit his bottom lip. “You taste way too good to be adding anything,” he rumbled, and when you threw your head back in a shaky laugh his tongue reminded you exactly why smudged-eyeliner girl was ready to drop her independence, jump in the Impala and follow that mouth to the end of the world.

           Dean built the earth up and cracked it into pieces beneath you twice perched on that kitchen island before grabbing the counter edge to haul himself up. “Were these tiles always so fucking hard? Feel like I just took a hammer to the kneecaps.” He shook out each of his bare legs, spring of his erect cock as he did looking silly and out of place with the glisten of his lips and chin, the sultry cast of his eyelashes on angled cheekbones. The juxtaposition made you laugh, breathy as it was with muscles that had been turned to jello, thrown in a blender, and scattered about the room by the deft movements of Dean’s tongue and fingers.

           “You’re thinking about your knees right now?”

           “That’s how hard these fucking tiles are,” Dean chuckled, deep and still sexy somehow, bending forward to catch your lips. When you reached down to stroke him, a hand wrapped around your wrist. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, I’m nowhere near done with you,” he murmured through kisses, a shade of playful challenge in his throat.

           You giggled, leaning back as he dragged a wet path of suction down your neck. “I don’t want to torture those legs, old man.” Running a hand through hair you’d sent spiking in all directions in your writhing, you dragged Dean’s head back on his neck, giving you a chance to meet his eyes, still the same dusted olive they’d been since that first wink. Long past the honeymoon stage when it was appropriate to do that kind of thing, you’d been content to spend hours searching them, cataloguing every spindly muscle of iris for posterity, trying to gather up every grain of him for when he inevitably was lost forever to a hunt or the solitude of the road.

           But here he was still.

           Here you were still. Living a life—living two selves—you never thought you’d get, lucky to have grown in and around each other like mangrove roots. Those eyes still every inch as beautiful, every spark of that electric heat still there now cloaked in layer after layer of what you’d built together: the complete trust and fanatical admiration he had of you flowing out like fountains of sunlight, strong enough they streamed through any raunchy waggle of his eyebrows.

           No time to think about it now with a hungry coil of desire tightening in your stomach. You traced the length of him with your fingertips, feather-light and teasing. “If you give me fifteen seconds to get my sea legs back I’ll show you who’s got tougher knees.”

           “All right, that’s it,” Dean said. He tipped his head forward and bit your bottom lip with that impossible pressure that made you whimper. “I’ll show you how old these knees are.”

           Before you could react, he’d put his shoulder below your sternum and thrown you over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. When you squealed he smacked your ass. “You’re going to wake up the girls,” he buzzed, starting toward your bedroom without a stitch of clothing on, you draped over his back.

           “Dean, Jesus Christ,” you giggled. “Get the clothes at least!”

            “Don’t need any jeans for what I’ve got planned—quit—squirming—or I’ll give you something to squirm about,” he continued, lowering his voice to a lascivious whisper and giving one of your upper thighs an impish bite as he headed up the stairs.

-

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[lumiereandcogsworth]

i just wrote a little scene between maurice & maria and i realized who they kind of remind me of. tom & sybil from downton abbey! just in the sense that the guy is from a much lower station, more practical, while the gal is from a wealthy family, a dreamer, a go-getter. but what really caught my attention to the parallel was in this scene i just wrote. maria went to the marketplace to get groceries for them. simple enough. but it reminded me of the line sybil says when she comes back after having eloped with tom. she says “i’m not lady sybil there. i’m just mrs. branson.” and she’s so fond of being JUST mrs. branson. just being the wife of someone she loves, being someone’s life partner. and that’s how i think it was for maria. she was from an aristocratic family but was always the black sheep, none of it felt right. she was engaged to some wealthy man that was pleasant enough but she just couldn’t go through with it. she didn’t want to be a lady, to marry for wealth or status. she wanted to marry for true love! for freedom! she wanted to be mrs. larue :”)