actually allergic to most monkeys

a realization

monkey_pie — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:39:41 GMT

So, I was cleaning up my son's old school papers and whatnot and I feel the need to share some important information I have come across.

1) A poem from a year or two ago by E wherein he "gets so mad" at a squirrel that his "eyes turn red"
2) A progress report from this year by E's teacher that states she is "impressed by his change and control."

In conclusion, it is possible my son is a werewolf.

Teen Wolf Reverse Bang Fanmix

monkey_pie — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 23:17:06 GMT

I made a mix for the Teen Wolf Reverse Bang - it's a girl!drummer!Stiles mix that got a cute story written to go with it.

Corresponding Shapes

Teen Wolf Big Bang Fanmix

monkey_pie — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 01:24:37 GMT

This is the fanmix I made for When Darkness Falls a Teen Wolf Big Bang fic by xsnarkasaurus & jynx. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Download | Streaming

Tracklisting
1. Dirty Love - Ke$ha
2. Get Get Get- Tantrum to Blind
3. Howl - Florence And The Machine
4. Rebellion (lies) - Arcade Fire
5. House of Wolves - My Chemical Romance
6. Paint it Black (cover) - Gob
7. Any Which Way - Scissor Sisters
8. Right Now - Rihanna
9. Teeth - Lady Gaga
10. Disaster Button - Snow Patrol
11. Wolf Like Me - TV And The Radio
12. Kids - MGMT
13. Miniature Disasters - KT Tunstall
14. Green Eyes - Coldplay

music related post

monkey_pie — Sat, 16 Nov 2013 03:04:08 GMT

So I was listening to 1D and had this moment of feeling super old when I did a double take when I actually paid attention to some lyrics and realized how naughty they were. That made my drive home much more amusing tonight.

Lately E has been very into K-pop, so I am looking for recs. Because Pon Pon Pon is totally catchy, but maybe I don't need to hear it incessantly (links/DLs very welcome, ty). E also told me he wants an MP3 player and "those little earphones" and when I asked him what he was going to listen to on it he told me "I dunno... like maybe Skrillex." Who is this kid?

all the LOLs

monkey_pie — Sat, 12 Oct 2013 00:51:15 GMT

Hey, remember that time my son got a little internet famous? Good times.

(also, I told B all about it and her reaction was "He's famous for vandalism...somehow I'm not surprised")

well, that was a day

monkey_pie — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 04:37:52 GMT

I have had feelings leaking out of me all day today. I wish I could blame it on hormones, but it was just that kind of day.

Unpleasant: lots of parenting issues which lead to me being whiny on twitter and then kind of crying at E's Back to School Night. As you do. If you are ridiculous. There are just times when it is really hard for me to tell how much things are a case of my son making bad choices/misbehaving/etc vs. round peg/square hole syndrome.

Pleasant: I took myself to see This Is Us - excellent distraction and gave me a surprising number of feels! I had the theater to myself. I might have sang out loud. No one will ever know. I would very much like to see it with other fangirls - I really loved how they talked about their fans. And also their stupid faces. And their parents! I may have also almost cried when Liam's dad was talking. Idk. I did not anticipate these 1D feelings, but I probably should have. Much like MCR, they strike me as performers who sometimes need to hug.

HUGS ALL AROUND.

BBB Fanmix

monkey_pie — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 01:32:34 GMT

For this round of BBB I got to make a mix for the awesome inlovewithnight - and her amazing Gabe/Pete fic Of All the Nail Salons In All the World. This story made me smile a lot, and I had a great time putting together this queercore/punk mix.

Download | Streaming

1. This is What I Want - This Bike is a Pipe Bomb
2. Rock and Roll Queer Bar - Pansy Division
3. Yes I am Too But What Am I Really - Team Dresch
4. Define - Limp Wrist
5. Revolt - Lesbians On Ecstasy
6. Stuck On You - The Briefs
7. Strip U Down - Pansy Division
8. Om Nom Nom - The Dollyrots
9. You'll Be in My Dreams Today - Screeching Weasel
10. Need You Around - Smoking Popes
11. Wonderful Awkward - Zolof the Rock Destroyer
12. In The Songs - Midtown
13. Hopeless Romantic - The Bouncing Souls
14. Everything + Everywhere - The Butchies

I'm also submitting mixes for the TW Reverse Bang, which I hope will be as great as the bandom one was.

BBB Fanmix

monkey_pie — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 04:42:46 GMT

Bandom Big Bang - Fanmix for Orchestra of Breathing

Download or Streaming

Tracklisting for "at least i'm hanging on"
1. Black and White Town - Doves
2. Count on Me - Bruno Mars
3. Poses - Rufus Wainwright
4. Dedicated Follower of Fashion - The Kinks
5. Supermodel (You Better Work) - RuPaul
6. I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor - Arctic Monkeys
7. Pump It Up - Elvis Costello
8. You Know I'm No Good - Amy Winehouse
9. Freeway - Aimee Mann
10. Blue Skies - Noah and the Whale
11. Allowance - Our Lady Peace
12. Ghosts That We Knew - Mumford & Sons
13. Put It Back Together - Fatboy Slim

BBB Fanmix

monkey_pie — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 02:10:41 GMT

This is the first of two mixes I made for BBB Wave One.

Bandom Big Bang - Fanmix for Adrift

Download or Streaming

Tracklisting for "A Little Haunted"
My New House . . . The Fall
All These Things That I've Done . . . The Killers
Brand New Day . . . Van Morrison
Guess I'm Doing Fine . . . Beck
Haunted . . . Poe
Walking With A Ghost . . . Tegan and Sara
No Place For You . . . Paul Westerberg
Your Own Ghost . . . Gold Motel
Fresh Feeling . . . Eels
You Can Have It All . . . Yo La Tengo
Giving Up the Gun . . . Vampire Weekend
Driftwood . . . Travis
I'll Be Your Man . . . The Black Keys
This Will Be Our Year . . . The Zombies
The Luckiest . . . Ben Folds

An Isaac/Daniel Sharman picspam

monkey_pie — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 19:00:31 GMT

I am stupid into Teen Wolf. It is equally great and terrible and I don't care. But omg, there needs to be more Isaac fic because I have a LOT of Isaac feels. And Daniel Sharman is hot. Have a little picspam and bask in the glory. This is fully intended as enticement for tuesdaysgone and anyone else so inspired to write some Isaac fic. I don't even care who you pair him with, it could even be gen. Just, Isaac <3

Daniel Sharman is ridiculously beautiful

Those eyes, cheekbones, lips. All of it. Ugh.

Hello, hottie.

Bitey.

I am not sure how he is real.

That's right bb, pucker up. Also, those curls.

The only things I might say about this picture are very dirty.

My wife is the best since she sent this picture to me.

Look at that smile. But it get's better...

He's crying! Then smiling! Because he took away a puppy's pain with his magical werewolf-powers.

A single, unshed tear. (I'm not a terrible person, I just really like h/c?)

Sometimes he's a bit of a bad boy.

Idk why this is mesmerizing to me.

Oh bb, Isaac needs ALL the hugs.

Everyone should love Isaac. How can you not?

Dance, dance (Teen Wolf not!fic)

monkey_pie — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 16:37:33 GMT

Hahahaha, so for the last week I've been talking to B about the So You Think You Can Dance / Teen Wolf AU that needs to exist. So then I wrote this piece of ridiculousness for her, don't judge me.

I think there should be a Teen Wolf / So You Think You Can Dance AU. Skip to the top ten, all the usual suspects. You’ve got the regular judges Nigel - who pretty consistently pervs on Erica all the female candidates (and their moms) - and Mary. Thank goodness this is a non-werewolf AU or those dudes eardrums would be shattered by how often Mary has screamed at their shirtless glory. Special guest judges include Finstock, who was possibly single-handedly responsible for getting Greenberg sent home early in the competition, and Deaton, whose critiques are so vague and cryptic that they are basically unintelligible. Peter Hale also did an episode as the sassiest guest judge ever, but they had to ask him not to come back again. For reasons.

The show has really been playing up the sweetheart couple Scott and Allison, two contemporary dancers who met during the very first round of auditions and have been an item ever since. They weren’t paired up until Greenberg got the boot, but since then they have proven their chemistry as dance partners, most notably in a Mia Michaels routine that actually made Finstock cry. Finstock later claimed that he was crying because he missed Greenberg, but there was no denying there had been a ~moment on stage. The routine was all about young lovers who were being kept apart, but the dazzling power of their love overcame all obstacles. Scott was shirtless. And possibly also crying. Whatever, it was beautiful.

So you’ve got Scott, bringing some serious power to his leaps and lifts and Allison all willowy and graceful. Scott can barely talk about anything but his exceptional partner in his interview clips and Mama McCall is a fierce cheerleader. Though she has learned to avoid being in Nigel and Mary’s line of sight, because if there is any more talk of hot tamales in her direction she will cut a bitch. And not sew that shit up, even though she knows how to because she is a nurse extraordinaire.

(Possibly Nurse!Mama McCall has stepped up on more than one occasion, most memorably that time Jackson was nearly concussed by a high kick gone wild. He doesn’t like to talk about it.)

Jackson and Lydia have been ballroom dance partners since childhood. They were the Junior Ballroom Latin Dance Champions two years running and have some sort of on-again, off-again relationship that translates into smoking chemistry on the dance floor and barbed sniping at nearly all other times (except that time Jackson got slightly concussed, but Lydia doesn’t talk about that).

They were not paired up for most of the competition, given their history, but the weeks they share the stage their routines are electric. Lydia owns the cha-cha and the way she and Jackson twirl and shimmy across the stage truly is a sight to behold. Mary is in love with them. She spends a lot of time rhapsodizing over Jackson’s “form.” Jackson... kind of loves that, ngl. Being on the show appeals not only to Lydia and Jackson’s competitive spirits, but is pretty ego-stoking as well.

The show has also done wonders for bringing hip-hop dancer Erica out of her shell. As the season progressed Erica grew in confidence while her costumes seemed to shrink in coverage. The top ten episode featured her and Boyd in a powerhouse Nappy Tabs hip-hop routine that brought all the judges to their feet. There is a lot of speculation about Erica & Boyd’s relationship, but there is no denying the chemistry between them on stage. It was that chemistry that surely saved them from getting eliminated the week they had to dance the dreaded Quickstep.

Isaac still can’t believe he is in the Top Ten. When he left the ballet company he was touring with to audition for the show, his father raged at him (nothing new, sad to say, his father had also had problems with Isaac pursuing ballet in the first place), but Isaac saw it for the opportunity it was. Ballet was Isaac’s first love, following in his mother’s footsteps, but he couldn’t help but want to broaden his experience. People still talk about Isaac’s audition solo and he will never get over hearing his name and Alex Wong in the same sentence.

Over the season Isaac has had several different dance partners as those around him continued to be eliminated. And Isaac would never want to disparage any of the other dancers, but it’s pretty apparent he has not had a partner so well suited for him until he was paired up with Danny. Danny, the contemporary dancer who has endeared himself to his competitors and fans alike. Danny has shone in routines as diverse as the tango, krump (no, really!) and Bollywood. But the Travis Wall choreographed contemporary routine he and Isaac dance is by far both of their best performances of the season.

When Isaac and Danny faced the judges for their critique they could not stop shooting small smiles at each other and didn’t stop holding hands the whole time. Cat Deeley looked like she wanted to eat them up. She sandwiched herself between them in a big hug, to the envy of many, many fans. When Isaac talks about how being on the show changed his life for the better he means that in the very best way possible.

Derek Hale does not know why he is on this stupid show. He is so mad at himself for letting Laura convince him to audition. And now here he is stuck in the Top Ten. He knew when Laura didn’t make it through initial auditions as his Ballroom partner that he should have called it quits, but she pushed him to carry on, and he couldn’t let her down. Besides each other, dance was the one thing they had left from before and it kind of meant the world to both of them. But it didn’t mean he was happy to still be on this stupid show. No, not at all.

It wasn’t Derek’s fault he made his first partner cry. If she couldn’t pick up the stupid routine, why was she even on the show to begin with? And Derek did not understand the costumer’s aversion to shirts. Doing the Vienese waltz in nothing but some snug black dress trousers didn’t make a lot of sense to Derek. But nothing about this stupid show made sense to him. Why was Mary always yelling? Why were they always trying to interview him? Especially about his past. He just wanted to dance, dammit.

Derek did not do a very good job of smiling at the camera like the producers wanted him to, but he had yet to be in the bottom three. He never had trouble handling the different routines that came his way (though, jesus, that Tyce jazz number, seriously?), but he had yet to really connect with a partner. See above: made that one girl cry. But this was the last straw. He was done with this show and he would gnaw his own foot off if he had to. Because for the Top Ten he was paired with none other than the tapper, Stiles.

Stiles, who talked non-stop and did the LOUDEST form of dancing possible. Derek had done his level best to avoid him all season. If, by avoid, you mean kept Stiles’ syncopated everything on his radar in such a way as to always know where he was and what he was doing on the pretense of never having to interact with him. Just looking at Stiles made Derek feel tired. And whenever he danced a solo (which was often, Stiles always seemed to just squeak by into the next round of competition, despite Nigel’s support of having a tapper on the show), Derek felt like he needed a nap afterwards. Or maybe a cold shower. Because seriously, why couldn’t that kid just close his mouth when he was dancing. Those lips, parted like that, were possibly going to kill him. If the goddammed TAPPING didn’t first. Derek had a problem.

Stiles was pretty sure he would not survive past the Top Ten. He wasn’t worried about elimination, he was worried about death by Derek Hale. He wasn’t sure if it would be the hotness or the eyebrows of doom, but there was no way he was going to make it out of this last round alive. He’d seen that poor girl crying in the wings after dancing with Derek. This was going to be so much worse. Scott had tried to give him a pep talk, but got distracted by thoughts of Allison, and Stiles couldn’t blame him. HE had a partner he could dance with. One he could win the show with. One that didn’t want to kill him (also, true love, blah blah blah).

Scott and Stiles had been friends since they were small children, dropped off at the dance studio by their overwhelmed parents. Stiles’s dad had missed the sign up deadline for swim lessons that year and decided any outlet for his overactive son was a good one. As with all their other adventures, he had dragged Scott along. The dancing stuck, though they each found a different niche in which to shine.

But all that training was going to be wasted because Stiles was going to be dead. He was sure of this. Rehearsals had been brutal. Sonya, their choreographer was clearly a maniac. Derek barely spoke a word to him and took a little too much delight in slamming him around during the dance. And even as he stood on stage, in a red hoodie, waiting for the stage lights to come up, Stiles was still convinced there was no way this would not end in (his) blood and (his) tears.

But when the music swelled and Derek stalked onto stage, all animal menace, the nagging worries crept to the back of Stiles’s brain. All there was was this moment, the dance. Derek the aggressor, moving with power and purpose. Stiles retreating, but never all the way, taunting leaps full of surprising grace and sly humor.

It flew by in a blur and Stiles felt himself blinking stupidly in surprise as the music faded and the lighting changed. He was panting heavily, pinned by Derek’s sweating (shirtless) body. Derek who was also looking a little dazed. After they finally righted themselves, it took Cat three tries to say something to the both of them without being drowned out by the roar of the audience. Stiles could just make out his dad, proudly yelling “that’s my son” to anyone who would listen. In the wings Scott was shooting him the cheesiest thumbs up. And next to him, Derek. Derek, who had not killed him (yet). Derek, who had not taken his eyes off him since he hit the stage. Derek who was holding his hand so tightly, something was in danger of breaking. And there was no way Stiles was letting go.

Happy Mother's Day

monkey_pie — Mon, 13 May 2013 02:04:44 GMT

I had a pretty excellent Mother's Day today! I had to work, but I had a really good morning at work and there was cake. And then I got to go home early - HOORAY. The awesome jrho came over and watched E while B and I had a date, because that is a nice way to reward ourselves for all that mothering we do. So we saw Iron Man 3 and it was pretty great except for the part where the movie cut out and people resorted to making shadow puppets until the projector got up and running again. They didn't even start it back where it cut off, which means we missed a little bit of the movie, which was lame, but we survived.

Our son made special Mother's Day books for us at school, which included "Things My Mom is Good At." My list includes: cuddling, sleeping, cooking, driving and reading. B is apparently good at: downloading (she is in charge of getting him all his Minecraft mods and whatnot), playing video games with him, sleeping, driving and making toast. These are pretty accurate lists, except that B is a crap driver. With skill sets like these don't you wish we were your moms?

Help?

monkey_pie — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 19:50:39 GMT

Exploring options for this summer and decided to put this out here for a fangirl signal boost. Please feel free to share.

Looking for someone who might be interested in living rent-free this summer in the DC area in exchange for some free part-time babysitting. Anyone?

Specifics: stay rent free in the spare room of our conveniently located suburban MD home. Babysit our 7 yr old son two days a week, occasional evenings. Comment below of email me at heatherlori76 at gmail.

Safe and sound and only mildly traumatized

monkey_pie — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 21:00:16 GMT

I already tweeted about this, but I was in a pretty bad car accident on Christmas Eve and am still feeling remarkably lucky to have walked away unhurt (minus the massive bruise on my butt). I was driving home from work, it was rainy and the roads were slick. I was on the highway and a big SUV to my left tried to merge into my lane on top of me and I honked and braked and swerved and skidded. I lost control of my car, spun 180 degrees and smashed into the concrete median. It was terrifying and I pretty much thought I was going to die. Somehow I found myself in the shoulder, flush against the median, facing the oncoming traffic. I did not hit any other cars, no cars hit me and the back end of my car took the brunt of the collision.

Following that was a lot of hysterical crying on the phone with 911, state troopers came and arranged a tow. B picked me up at the body shop where we left the car, then we drove up to Philly to my folk's house. E was already there for the holidays. We had a pretty good Christmas with the family. E had a great time and got lots of fun stuff. Among other gifts, B made me an MCR badge reel for work and is writing me an iCarly finale coda fic (because I am a dork).

That being said, I think we're doing Christmas at our house next year, just us and any friends who aren't going out of town. The traveling is stressful, esp when neither of us have much time off around the holidays. My parents have the whole extended family over and my mom goes nuts getting the house ready and no one can just relax and play with our new toys and watch movies and nap and enjoy the holiday the way we'd like. Plus, I think B is still having issues with my mom and the way she feels like my brother's wife has been more welcomed into the family than she was. Which, after having a conversation with each of them, I am so not getting in to again.

So, that's the plan for next year. Christmas at home. Opening presents in our living room under our own tree. Big breakfast, play with our new gifts and not worry about cleaning or setting up for a big party. No hurrying home after festivities, with a long drive before having to work the next day. You can all come too if you want to come sit in your PJs with us.

Today E and I enjoyed a snow day this morning, had a snowball fight and drank cocoa. Then his neighbor friend came over to play with all the new toys while I got snippy on the phone with the insurance company. Who is still sorting out my coverage details before they will arrange for my rental car. And while I am too nervous to drive today in the snow and sleet, I REALLY need that taken care of before I go to work on Friday. Grr. I am already so upset about having to pay my deductible with money we don't have. BUT I AM ALIVE. And that is incredible and I don't really throw around the word miracle, but I do feel pretty lucky.

Meme?

monkey_pie — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 02:08:32 GMT

Play with me?

1 - Your current OTP
2 - A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind
3 - A pairing you have never liked and probably never will
4 - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t
5 - Have you added anything stupid/cracky/hilarious to your fandom, if so, what
6 - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom
7 - Do you remember your first OTP, if so who was in it
8 - Do you prefer characters from real action series or anime series
9 - Has the internet caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why
10 - Name a fandom you didn’t care/think about until you saw it all over ~~tumblr~~ your social network sites
11 - How do you feel about the other people in your current fandom
12 - Your favorite fanartist/author gives you one request, what do you ask for
13 - Your favorite fanart or fanartist
14 - Your favorite fanfiction or fanauthor
15 - Choose a song at random, which OTP does it remind you of
16 - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas)
17 - A ship you’ve abandoned and why
18 - A pairing you ship that you don’t think anyone else ships
19 - Show us an example of your personal headcanon
20 - Do you remember what your first fanwork was?
21 - Self-rec: What's your favorite fanwork you've created?
22 - Are you one of those fans who can’t watch anything without shipping
23 - 5 favorite characters from 5 different fandoms
24 - 3 OTPs from 3 different fandoms
25 - A fandom you’re in but have no ships from
26 - Ask me a different fannish question

monkey_pie — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 21:50:13 GMT

BBB Mix for a withdrawn fic -
Download or Streaming

Tracklisting

1. Sunlight in a Jar - The Lucksmiths
2. Where You End - Moby
3. Bad Side of 25 - Patrick Stump
4. U Want Me 2 - Sarah McLachlan
5. The Time of Times - Badly Drawn Boy
6. We Might As Well Be Strangers - Keane
7. Stay - SafteySuit
8. Stutter - Elastica
9. We Can Work it Out - The Beatles
10. Fix You - Jayme Dee
11. Your Guardian Angel - The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
12. Lover's Day - TV On The Radio

bedtime stories

monkey_pie — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 00:11:55 GMT

For some reason E has become particularly set on being told a story before bed. Not read a story, which has always been our bedtime mainstay. He wants us to make stories up for him. I cannot even explain how challenging this is for my tired brain every night. Sometimes I change up and recycle plots I remember from fairy tales, movies or fic (I think I may have told him a romance-less variation of the story where Gerard is dragon!Bob's treasure, what can I say, my brain only has a certain amount of space and fic has apparently set up residence there).

He's taken to specifying what kind of stories he wants. Sometimes it is stories about Golden Retrievers. Most recently he wanted a story about "a bomb that doesn't blow up, and can talk." Yeah. Now we are mired in the tales of Action Man, Trouble Boy and BOOM the bomb that doesn't explode (and can talk). And basically I feel like I need to start commissioning actual writers and story tellers, because this shit is hard. Kudos to all of you for voluntarily taking the time to share your stories.

Not!fic - Mikeway is Not An Artist (But He Does Have Some Happy Accidents)

monkey_pie — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:43:10 GMT

Title: Mikeyway is Not An Artist (But He Does Have Some Happy Accidents) - not!fic
Pairings: Mikey/Frank, Gerard/Ray
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~2800
Summary: Mikey just wants to be able to draw a dog, dammit.

Notes: What can I say? Inspiration for this came from watching iCarly with my son, don't judge, my world is small. Anyway, it devolved into not!fic, but I'm sharing it thanks to cheerleading from cincodemaygirl and alpheratz - they are the best, and all errors and ridiculousness are my own. Title inspired by Bob Ross, because the Joy of Painting is soothing and awesome.

The first time Mikey walks by the flyer he doesn’t really read the words, it’s more just a bright yellow blur in his peripheral vision. It’s not interesting enough to distract him from the hot cup of coffee he’s sipping, eyes slitted in contentment. It had been a shit day, the rain made his hair fall limply into his face, his favorite boots got all waterlogged when he stepped into a puddle and he had been stuck working by himself most of the morning because Ryan was late to work again. That kid was such a fucking flake. Plus, Mikey’s glasses were smeared all to hell from hair product, and his boots made a really ridiculous squelching noise with every footstep. While he and Gerard might tease each other about their crippling caffeine addictions, Mikey firmly believes in the power of coffee. He closes his eyes and takes another sip.

The second time Mikey passes the flyer he stops to read it. Or he intends to at any rate. It is a much better day. He’s heading in to a closing shift at the bookstore, which means was able to sleep in. His favorite boots had dried out nicely and he’d even found some clean socks hiding under his bed, where Gerard must have missed them when he came by to scavenge laundry. Gee always swore he didn’t do this, but Mikey could easily count the number of times he came home to find Gerard in his last clean(ish) shirt. Clearly, when their mother had told them they were grown boys who needed to be more responsible for themselves, Gerard had interpreted this slightly differently than Mikey. Rather than wash his own clothes, he seemed content to siphon off clean things from Mikey’s closet and sneak some of his own things in with Mikey’s washing. Which was ridiculous, because Gerard lived in the basement. Next to the laundry room. But, Mikey prided himself on knowing how to pick his battles, and this wasn’t one he was going to win any day soon. His brother was crazy awesome at a lot of things, but not cleaning. In fairness, Mikey wasn’t particularly skilled at cleaning either, but it was one of the things he could do better than Gerard, and he felt compelled to rise to the challenge.

So, it’s a good day, and Mikey has plenty of time before work to stop and get a coffee, flirt a little with the cute barista he runs into at shows sometimes, and read the postings on the noticeboard near the shop’s door. The bright yellow flyer proclaiming “Art! Music!” had just caught his attention when his phone beeped at him. Attention diverted, Mikey fished his phone from his pocket to read Pete’s latest text: gabes a dick, wont lemme shave his bals. And while Mikey has not had anything to do with Gabe’s balls for quite some time, he lets Pete pull him into a far too involved, poorly spelled, badly punctuated conversation until he really has to get to work.

Later that evening, however, Mikey finds himself back at the coffeeshop, picking up a caffeine fix before meeting some friends for a show. He’s reading about a lost dog named Andrew and feeling kind of sad when another posting catches his eye. It’s the yellow one he started to read earlier, advertising art and music lessons at the Community Center. Mikey thinks about the bass he hasn’t picked up in months. His fingers itch a little thinking about it and he finds himself programming the phone number from the flyer into his phone. There was only so much he had been able to pick up from the videos and manuals he’d gotten from the bookstore when he’d first bought his bass. Maybe he’ll call in the morning...

So! Mikey wants to take a music class, and calls the number on the flyer, but they are all full! However, there are still spaces available in the art classes, but Gee is the artist in the Way family. Mikey just wishes he could draw a dog. He sucks so hard at Draw Something and even in school he always got kinda bummed at how Gerard would get all the art awards and recognition, and he didn’t and people always had something to say about it. Not that he didn’t think Gee deserved the honors, because he totally did. Gerard is AWESOME and TALENTED. But stupid jokes about Mikey’s lack of artistic ability, that kind of sucked. Mikey is good at lots of things! He had a very successful DVD pirating business! (until the FBI got involved). He can quote all the words to Back to the Future, and he knows where all the best parties are and the best bands and he can totally do laundry, unlike some basement dwellers he knows.

And seriously, Gerard is awesome, the best. He’s a great big brother and he’s tried to help. In his way. He used to always give Mikey like paints and a canvas and tell him to paint his feeeeeelings. :| Or he’ll play music and ask Mikey to draw what it makes him see. Mikey just wants to be able to draw damn dog. He does not want to paint his feeeeeelings. He can’t share his “artistic vision” like Gerard can, which Gerard refuses to believe! “Everyone has an artisitc vision! Look in to your soul, Mikey!”

But he thinks about those art classes. He bets they could teach him how to draw a dog. Hell, he’d be happy if he learned how to draw a cube. He tried drawing a cube of tofu for Pete in a game of Draw Something the other day and it sucked. He hates that fucking game.

So he signs up for the art class. Only, he feels like he has to keep it a secret from Gee. he’s pretty sure it would gut Gerard to know he was taking art classes from a ~stranger. And it’s not that he wants to undermine Gee, because he is the best big brother Mikey has ever had! He just thinks a different approach might work better, and he doesn’t want to hurt Gerard’s feelings.

It turns out the art class is very different from Gerard’s approach. The teacher “Hi, my name is Mr. Toro. Um, you can call me Ray” is young and totally chill and super encouraging. He wears t-shirts for heavy metal bands, and he doesn’t talk about feelings. He teaches them the color wheel. They talk about perspective and shading. He asks them to draw the guitar on the table in the front of their classroom, not ‘what’s in their soul.’ Mikey’s still not an artist or anything, but he learns how to draw a cube.

It’s awkward, because Gerard and Mikey live in each other’s pockets so much, and Mikey is no good at lying to Gee. So he looks shifty and says he’s going out and tries his best to sound plausible. But he’s pretty sure Gerard didn’t believe him when he said Dewees needed him to come over and help him shave his back. And once, he has to say that the pencils he bought for class were a gift for Gee. And Mikey can tell he must be acting weird about the whole subterfuge, because Gerard seems alternately worried and suspicious.

Meanwhile, it turns out art class is kind of fun! Mr. ‘call me Ray’ Toro, might look a little like Bob Ross (minus the beard), but he doesn’t try to get them to paint happy little trees. He’s full of praise for their efforts and the only time he ever even remotely lost his cool was when this other student Frank got paint in his hair. And Mikey doesn’t blame him for that one bit. Hair is important.

Frank is always doing shit like that. His still lifes always seem to include incredibly phallic and suggestive fruit and his landscapes have like bats and shit hiding in the trees. He always sets his easel next to Mikey’s, and seems intent on getting Mikey to crack a smile. Mikey finds it pretty easy to smile at Frank. He is little and fierce and funny. He has great taste in music and movies. And he is really hot. So, Mikey kind of likes this art class.

Until one night, after Mikey had to hedge around the truth and tell Gerard he was going to help Pete and Gabe change a lightbulb, the worst thing happens. Everyone is working on a still life of some instruments Ray has set up. It’s kind of tricky, and Mikey is trying really hard to stay focused. Frank is not really helping. Mikey is pretty sure Frank is including gremlins playing all of the instruments in his picture. It’s actually pretty cool and totally makes him think of Gerard. Which is when Gerard BURSTS INTO HIS ART CLASS!

Mikey wants to sink through the floor. Gerard stands there, arm extended, finger pointed accusingly at Mikey. His mouth works but he’s not saying anything that makes sense. Mikey sighs, looks up from the floor and mumbles ‘Hey, Gee.’

Gerard crosses the room to Mikey’s side, talking a mile of a minute, shock wearing off. And he’s all ‘what is this nonsense’ and ‘how could you’ and ‘I would have helped.’ Because Gerard is a GREAT big brother. It makes him sad that Mikey didn’t come to him. There are wounded puppy eyes. And Mikey is not immune to that shit. But he is also kind of dying of embarrassment, and he maybe hisses at Gerard a little bit to settle down. Frank is looking way too interested in this drama and Ray’s hair is looking slightly alarmed at the unhinged intruder in the classroom.

And suddenly, Gerard rounds on an unsuspecting Ray all “YOU! You are corrupting the purity of my baby brother’s vision with your rules and your assignments and, and your lines, where is your soul!? Art requires passion!!!!” and Ray takes a step back and is all “Yeah, see, I’m from the music department? But they were short a teacher for this intro class? Um, I play guitar and stuff? But they gave me a syllabus and so we’ve just been doing that.” Which does not placate Gerard AT ALL. Even though Mikey is kind of interested, because hey! Ray plays guitar and that is RAD. And explains some of the subject matter they’ve been drawing.

Anyway, Gerard has worked himself into full-on diva mode and is all “fine Mikey, if you want to take art classes from this ~impostor instead of your brother, an actual artist, you go right ahead” which is really a pretty shitty thing to say, to Mikey and to Ray. So, Mikey lets Gerard storm out and does not follow him. Things are AWKWARD to say the least.

Then Frank just starts cackling. And he’s all “dude, your brother is a freak.” And that might be true! But Mikey will not let anyone call Gerard names! Even hot guys he’s kind of been flirting with. And he might reach over and crumple up Frank’s picture. Which is pretty stupid, but it’s always been a super effective fighting strategy in his house, growing up with Gee. Frank just kind of gapes at him and Ray, who has been staring at the door since it slammed behind Gerard turns to Mikey with sad hair and a disappointed face. And Ray might not be an actual art teacher after all, but he is a really nice guy and he “runs a classroom where we respect and support each other Mikey.”

So, Mikey is asked to leave. And he is feeling super terrible about everything! He just wanted to learn how to draw a dog! And now, Gerard’s feelings are hurt. And Ray is disappointed in him. And he was totally going to ask Frank for his number tonight, and now Frank probably won’t even want to talk to him ever again because that was kind of a dick move, plus his brother is a freak. He’s not sure he’ll even get to SEE Frank again, since he was kicked out of class. Damn.

He winds up at an all-night diner, drinking shitty coffee and feeling sorry for himself and a little at a loss about how to make things right. Eventually, after the waitress starts giving him the stinkeye for not ordering anything else, he heads home.

He slinks down the basement stairs, intending to apologize to Gerard. He’s pretty sure Gerard will apologize to him too now that he’s had time to cool off. Because they are BROS and that’s what they do. BUT THEN, Mikey opens the door to Gerard’s room and sees Gerard MAKING OUT WITH MR. “call me Ray” TORO!

“Omigod Gee what the hell?!” and Mikey is maybe a little taken aback! This was not what he expected to walk in on! Gerard and Ray spring apart looking flushed and guilty. It turns out Ray knew Gerard from some class they had together a while back, and Ray has felt kind of bad about not being a ~real art teacher so he came to talk to Gee about taking over the class. Then Ray would have more time to do music lessons and such in his own department! He also felt pretty bad about kicking Mikey out of class, seeing as how there were some very extenuating circumstances there.

Which doesn’t really explain why Mikey walked in on them mid-liplock! But it seems Gerard’s talk about art and passion had led to Ray sharing his own feeeeeelings about making music. And apparently, that is a lot of passion that cannot be communicated in words only. Or something. Mikey really doesn’t want to know the details.

As Mikey turns to head up to his room to let Gerard and Ray resume their ~activities, Gerard calls to him “Hey Mikes, I saw some of your pictures. They were really good.” And Mikey knows that is kind of a stretch, but he also knows Gerard is a terrible liar, so he just says ‘Thanks, Gee. And thank you too, Ray.” Because he’s no artist, but he knows he really did make some progress.

And Mikey is pretty relieved to have things settled with Gerard, and he thinks Ray is coming out ahead in this situation, so won’t hold the whole kerfuffle against Mikey too much. Plus, he can totally, kind of, draw a dog now! So really, Gerard and Ray go on to be kind of sickeningly wonderful together, and Mikey draws a completely recognizable tree and he would count the whole art class thing a win. BUT, he kind of misses Frank. And there is a lot of sighing and some pining. And some angsty texting with Pete. It’s just that Frank was really kind of awesome and funny and he was always so full of energy and he seemed to really like Mikey! And Mikey never even got his number. :( Plus he acted really childish, crumpling up Frank’s picture, and what if Frank is actually a secret asshole who really does think his brother is a freak? Because that shit is not okay.

Then, one evening Ray drags Mikey out with him and Gerard to see one of his guitar students play at the local coffeeshop. Mikey doesn’t really pay attention to the details. He is not too keen to be a third wheel, but Ray has been really nice to him and Mikey does like coffee. So Mikey gets a big ass cup of coffee and kind of hunches in the corner and tries to participate in the conversation because Ray is really cool and is gonna help him with his bass, and Gerard is so super happy and they are really going to make Mikey puke with how great they are together.

Then, while Mikey is distracted and reading the flyers on the noticeboard by the door, someone taps on the microphone they’ve set up on the little impromptu stage. And it’s Frank! With his guitar! And he looks beautiful and is playing with barely contained energy, and Mikey can’t look away. And Frank is LOOKING RIGHT AT HIM. And they are HAVING A MOMENT. And Mikey doesn’t notice, but Ray and Gerard are totally giving each other high fives.

Frank plays two more songs and then he’s done and coming over to Mikey and he is smirking and he is still really fucking hot. He’s all ‘hey’ and cracks a joke about Mikey breaking his guitar strings and Mikey is all *facepalm* “I am so sorry,” and Frank says “No man, I’m sorry. I can be an asshole sometimes.” And Mikey is all, “Well, my brother can be a freak sometimes. So no hard feelings” and Gerard says “Hello, I’m right here Mikey.” But Mikey isn’t really paying attention to Gerard and Ray anymore.

Mikey and Frank buy each other coffees, and before Frank leaves Mikey gives him a napkin with his number written on it, next to a picture of a little dog. Frank thinks he might be in love.

Pottermore

monkey_pie — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 02:29:43 GMT

Like I need another way to twiddle away my time on the internets, I am PixieHallow12537 at Pottermore. I was completely unsurprised to be sorted into Hufflepuff (we're closest to the kitchens! heck yeah!). Be my friend and we can duel.

I spent a long day home with my sick boy today, and anticipate more of the same for tomorrow, hopefully with less fretful whining and crying. He was very feverish and pathetic, and I am a very good nurse at work but not the best one at home for my family. I tend to be more of the 'suck it up, you'll live/i've seen worse' & 'let me medicate this illness into submission' kind of mom rather than hugs and sympathy type. But, he was so very wretched, I was exceedingly liberal with the cuddles and coddling. Here's hoping for a decent night's rest for everyone.

BRBB Mix! (Fight Fear)

monkey_pie — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 01:28:22 GMT

I had so much fun with the Bandom Reverse Big Bang, I made two mixes. Here is the second mix that I made - Fight Fear.

Tracklisting
1. Lust for Life - Iggy Pop
2. Street Fighting Man - The Rolling Stones
3. S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W - My Chemical Romance
4. All at Once - The Airborne Toxic Event
5. Pumped Up Kicks - Foster the People
6. Under Pressure - Queen
7. Ready To Start - Arcade Fire
8. See These Bones - Nada Surf
9. Road To Nowhere - Talking Heads
10. Safe in the Dark - Ludo
11. The Edge of Glory - Lady Gaga

This mix felt like it had an emotional arc, but I didn't have a clear narrative arc in mind. I am really thrilled with the story that rosalui wrote and how well it captures the feeling of this mix. Go read about Gerard's adventures with the Doctor in Batman With a Bowtie!

Bandom Reverse Big Bang - Mix!

monkey_pie — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:53:21 GMT

My mix: Something That You Need

Thanks so much to roebling for writing the story to go with this mix! <3

1) 15 - Rilo Kiley
2) Judy and the Dream of Horses - Belle & Sebastian
3) Rill Rill - Sleigh Bells
4) Love of the Loveless - The Eels
5) Cyprus Avenue - Van Morrison
6) Closet - Pete Yorn
7) U16 Girls - Travis
8) Take Me to the Backseat - The Donnas
9) Animal - Miike Snow
10) Love is a Battlefield - Pat Benatar
11) Resistance - Muse
12) Innocent - David Cook
13) Into Your Arms - The Lemonheads
14) You've Got the Love - Florence and the Machine

Now go read the fic! Girl!Spencer coming of age in Love Like Nobody Around You.

Crack-in-a-Pan

monkey_pie — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:11:05 GMT

I made the most visually unappealing dinner tonight. My kid is a good eater, and he even ate a few bites, but I could barely contradict him when he complained it looked like dirt. Lesson learned: don't use buckwheat noodles you find in the cupboard for just any old recipe. The grey color was a problem, though I think the recipe would have worked out just fine with a different noodle.

To make up for dinner fail, I'm making crack-in-a-pan for dessert. It's a fruit cobbler recipe I picked up from Trader Joe's several years ago and it is delicious and easy and difficult to stop eating.

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp baking powder
1-2 cups fruit (fresh or thawed frozen)
1/2 stick butter

Preheat oven to 350. Place butter in an 8x8 baking pan, put in oven to melt. Mix first four ingredients until batter forms. Remove baking pan from oven, pour batter over melted butter. Top with fruit and bake for 60min or until bubbly and golden. May not need to cook quite that long. Enjoy, try not to eat the whole pan for yourself. I don't know how many servings this is supposed to make, but we usually quarter it into four servings. NOM.

Monday!

monkey_pie — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:29:06 GMT

Unlike the entire rest of the world, Monday is one of my fave days of the week. I don't work on Mondays and neither does the wife and E goes back to school and it is generally a great day. We get to catch up on TV, together time and stuff around the house and it's the one night we all for sure have dinner together. I like Mondays. I'm sorry they suck for everyone else.

I have been feeling oodles better over the past week, so hooray for recovery. While convalescing I spent a lot of time on the couch watching the entire run of BBC Sherlock, which was wonderful. Send fic recs, please?

I also enjoyed reading no_tags fic and I wrote Besta Fantastisk Expedit which can largely be blamed on the fact that I live in very close proximity to an IKEA. What is not to love about a place where I can drop E off to play for an hour while I drink coffee, eat cake and read? I hear you can even shop there too.

In other news I am applying for a promotion at work as there is an opening for a permanent Charge Nurse. I have not done a job interview in 7 years, but I am pretty much the only in-department candidate so hopefully everything will work out. Wish me luck.

Happy Homecoming

monkey_pie — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 03:06:24 GMT

I am home! There was a trip to Pittsburgh. It was not so awesome, but bearable in the end I guess.

BUT! How nice to come home and be besieged by kittens and see that alpheratz posted the Big Bandom Recs List she and I and cincodemaygirl and friends worked on. It just makes me want to go and re-read all the fic. But first, bed.

Sick!Frank Fic: No "I" in Nurse

monkey_pie — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:09:53 GMT

Title: No “I” in Nurse
Author: monkey_pie
Prompt #: 4
Pairing: Gen
Rating: PG
Summary: The whole band takes care of Frank when he gets sick on tour.
Warnings: None

Notes: To my prompter - hope this hits the spot. I was sick and on cold meds, so consider this method-writing. Many thanks to cincodemaygirl for the beta and cheerleading.

“No Ray, you can’t get that one,” Gerard exclaims with a noise of disgust.

Ray studies the box of cough syrup, brow furrowed. “Why not? It says right here multi-symptom cough and cold isn’t that what we need?”

Gerard purses his lips and lets out an exasperated sigh. “It’s grape flavored.” He looks expectantly at Ray, though Ray is not entirely sure what kind of reaction Gerard is expecting from this proclamation.

“Okay? But Frank likes grapes. And it says right here multi-symptom cough and cold.” Ray is standing by this assertion. He had spent the last 15 minutes crouched in the fluorescent-lit aisle diligently reading the labels on each box of cold medicine. Frank is back on the bus being a coughing, sneezing, sniffly, feverish mess and Ray is completely determined to bring back the perfect cure.

“Grape flavoring is an abomination,” Gerard declares. “It has no relation to actual grapes. You can’t get that for Frankie, it’s gross.” Gerard punctuates his words with an emphatic hand gesture that leaves a display of nasal sprays in disarray. “See if they have something red-flavored.”

Red flavored, of course, Ray thinks, scanning the row of boxes, while Gerard is across the aisle rearranging the bandaids. Ultimately he finds himself picking up a variety of pills and syrups and adding them to the cart, which was already pretty full of tissues, orange juice, vapor rub, and some things that look suspiciously like Hot Wheels cars.

“Gee?” Ray asks, holding up the cars.

“I know, right? Aren’t they awesome - muscle cars! Look at the tiny steering wheels!” Gerard pauses then, looks around the cold medicine aisle and asserts, “I’m sure they’ll cheer Frank up and help him feel better.”

For the sake of getting out of the store, Ray is willing to go with it. “Sure Gerard, I’m sure Frank will really appreciate those. Now let’s go get these meds to him, I’m sure Mikey is wondering where the hell we are.”

“Nah, he sent me a text, says they’re doing fine. Frank’s in good hands. Being with Mikey always makes me feel better when I’m sick.” And Gerard is so damn earnest that Ray doesn’t doubt him one bit.

* * *

Back on the bus, Ray finds Mikey and Frank on the couch watching Die Hard. Well, Mikey appears to be alternately watching the movie and texting. What little of Frank that Ray can see underneath the cocoon of blankets appears to be napping.

Mikey looks up when Ray and Gerard plunk down their purchases, his hand resting on Frank’s sweaty forehead. “Did you get something for a fever?” Mikey asks. “Because he is definitely running a fever.” The way he looks up and the crook of his eyebrow say mother-hen to Ray in a way that might be missed by someone not fluent in Wayspeak.

Frank starts to cough then, harsh, wet, full-body coughs. Gerard hurries over and between him and Mikey they pull Frank a bit more upright, supporting him through the worst of the spasms that wrack his body. As the coughing abates, Frank cracks open one fever-glazed eye. “Damn Mikeyway, did I fall asleep and miss the explosions?” he mumbles.

“This is Die Hard, dude. There’ll be more explosions. Gerard and Ray are back with some medicine for you.”

“Awesome. I hope you got the red kind.”

Looking vindicated, Gerard pushes damp hair off Frank’s forehead. “Of course we did.”

Ray bites his tongue and pours out a shot of red syrup, which Frank dutifully downs. Eyes slipping closed, he snuggles between Mikey and Gerard. On the TV, John McClane continues to fight terrorists. While Frank dozes - drooling on Gerard’s shoulder - Ray lines up a formidable arsenal of bottled water and juices. He writes out a schedule for cold meds, Tylenol, and cough syrup. He plugs in a humidifier shaped like an elephant. He just barely restrains himself from grabbing a laptop to Google “death flu,” and squashes down the impulse to call his mom. Frank gets sick sometimes. He knows that, but it doesn’t make it any easier to deal with Frank’s wheezy breaths and flushed cheeks.

* * *

They stick close to each other, orbiting around Frank and taking turns offering him sips of water and backrubs when the coughing just won’t stop. The floor becomes littered with crumpled tissues and Ray doesn’t think he’s ever seen so much snot come from one small person. They pop in another movie after Bruce Willis saves the day, but Ray falls asleep sitting up, barely halfway through Jaws. Which is a shame, because awesome movie.

Later, in the low light from the DVD menu, he can see Gerard and Mikey sleeping sprawled over each other, Gerard’s face tucked up into Mikey’s armpit. Ray has Frank in the vee of his legs, his head heavy against Ray’s chest. Frank’s an excellent cuddler on good days, but when he’s not feeling well his personal space needs become obsolete. For a moment Ray can’t figure out why he’s awake, and then he hears the tiny chirp from his cell phone. Time for more Tylenol. Frank doesn’t seem quite as flushed as earlier, but he feels warm and kind of damp with sweat. Frank’s cough has definitely quieted, and Ray decides to let him rest, falling back to sleep to the sound of his faint snores.

* * *

The second time Ray wakes up it is to the smell of coffee. The nice thing about being in a band with caffeine addicts is that there is always fresh coffee in the morning. Whether there’s any left for Ray depends on how quickly he can get to the pot, but generally there’s a cup left for him. His guys are good guys.

Frank is up too and struggling out of his nest of blankets with a determined air and a cranky face.

“How’re you feeling, Frank? Where are you going?” Ray asks.

“Shower, dude. I reek.” Frank still sounds congested, but he isn’t coughing up a lung, so Ray counts that as progress.

“Really?” Ray teases. “I thought that was just Mikey’s feet.”

“Hey!” Mikey protests, wiggling his toes in Ray’s general direction. Gerard wanders by and pats Mikey’s leg in what Ray can only construe as sympathy over the Wayfunk.

Frank gets himself upright by sheer force of will. He sneezes five times in a row and wobbles, but Gerard is by his side with tissues in a moment. Frank rolls his eyes at the look of concern on Gerard’s face, but still spends a good few minutes blowing his nose and generally being a snotty gross mess.

“Let me help you, Frank,” Gerard offers, following Frank to the bathroom as he sheds layers of blankets, sweaters, and flannel.

“Sure, Gee. I know you just wanna look at my junk, c’mon.”

“Frank, what? No.” Gerard sputters, looks of concern and consternation warring on his face. He sticks by Frank despite Frank’s half-hearted, salacious eyebrow wiggling. Its effect is somewhat mitigated as Frank has to pause to cough and then catch his breath.

They make their way into the tiny bathroom and Ray hears the sound of water running as he gets Frank’s next dose of cold meds ready. Then he hears “Oh my God, Gee, stop trying to cop a feel!” and maniacal giggling that ends in more coughing.

“I am NOT doing any such thing!” Gerard’s voice insists from the other side of the bathroom door. Ray thinks he would do better to remember that even though he is sick Frank can still be a little shit.

The water cuts off shortly after that and Frank and Gerard emerge, Frank in a marginally less gross t-shirt, looking cleaner but droopier. Ray wants to make a joke about his failure to get Gerard showered as well, but he lets it go. It seems to him that Frank was a little overly ambitious in leaving the couch to shower and the effort is taking a toll on him. At least Gerard made sure he didn’t slip in the shower, and Ray would bet money Frank probably let him wash his hair, too.

Frank wheezes his way over to the couch, separating himself from a still-solicitous Gee. He comes close to wiping out on a tiny toy TransAm, then nearly topples over as weariness threatens to overcome him. Ray catches Frank by the shoulders, resisting the urge to yell at Gerard to put his toys away, saying instead, “I’ve got you, man,” and settling him against the cushions.

Mikey’s eyebrows raise in warning at Ray, moving in a complicated pattern as he looks from Frank to Ray. He’s gonna get mad if he thinks we’re coddling him, the eyebrows say. And Ray knows Frank is frustrated that a simple shower is enough to wipe him out. But how can he not look out for Frank like that? Of course they’re gonna take care of him. They’re a band, these are his guys. It’s what they do.