Okay, but take history for example. There's just so many fascinating stories out there, how people lived, what they did, how they experienced the world... Give me a time in history. I'll tell you something cool about it!
[Challenge accepted.]
Mysterious? [Flynn puffs his cheeks, thinking.] He's... pretending not to be. Which, in turn, makes him kind of mysterious, yeah.
Yeah, but they're all so booorrring. Like hey, man, I'm a dude in ye olden times and I watch Shakespeare and everyone I know died of the plague.
Well that kinda does sound like a gnarly way to go but anyway. Sure, let's see...what's the most boringest time ever...what about...like...? Oh! I know? John and Sherlock's old timey times. Not the guys we know, but the ones from the books and the tv show. With the ladies in those really awful poofy dresses and horse carts and little kids selling papers and stuff?
[Peter, you are causing him physical pain.] The plague hit Europe in the 14th century, Shakespeare did not live until... well, I guess if he were immortal it could have happened, but...
[Right. Just... moving on.]
Sherlock and John? That would be the Victorian Age, sometimes leading into the Edwardian Age. Boringest time? You'd be surprised, definitely not for the people who lived in it!
[His voice warms with sudden enthusiasm.]
It was a time full of change, especially towards the end. The arts were alive with fin de siècle, the anxiety and euphoria that a century was ending. Everyone was excited but also afraid – what would the 1900s bring? Advances in technology and means of communication were everywhere. Everything was brimming with movement and change! Take the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes for example. Rationality and science at the forefront – and forensics, which back in the day was still in its infancy.
Newspapers increased their numbers, turning into a mass medium. The telephone was still a very recent invention. New means of traveling and transportation appeared, the automobile, the airplane – which, you of all people should have an appreciation for. Can you imagine it? Being there, experiencing these new technologies for the very first time? The world was changing!
[His eyes are gleaming, his voice rising dramatically, his arms spread, he is so into it.]
These people were living in a time where the world around them sped up considerably. Some were on the losing side of this advancement, of course. A lingering Depression, class unrest, people losing their jobs, and unbeknownst, looming in the very near future [his hand curls into a dramatic fist] the approaching shadow of the Great War.
Did Shakespeare get bit by a vampire or something?
[Because that would be AWESOME.
As Flynn continues, Peter can immediately feel himself start to drift off when he uses that French word thing...but he snaps back awake because it would be rude and mean and he might be rude but he certainly wasn't mean and he had to stay awake please just stay awake--]
Oh, cool, so that's when everything kinda like...got modern then, right? Those old timey airplanes must have been a trip to fly. Especially like when they first invented it?
[Look, he found something to be interested in! It's working!
What? No. No, no, I meant the guy who lost everyone to the plague and went to see Shakespeare's plays, he would have to be... nevermind.
[You like airplanes? He can do airplanes, Peter.]
A trip indeed! After all, mastering flight is often referred to as mankind's oldest dream. People have tried for centuries, attempts even show up in the myths of the old Greek. Imagine being up there seeing the world from above. It's such familiar imagery to us nowadays but back then a lot of people couldn't even picture it – mind you, there was no tv and color photography was in its infancy. There was no way to simply share things like that and it was so new. A set of completely new impressions for the mind.
[He nods at Peter's question, a grim expression on his face.] World War One. The dark side of the technological advancements in the late 19th century. New weapons had been developed, artillery and machine guns and poison gas, sending men and women into one of the most brutal forms of warfare of our history.
[Now this is what got him. He listens eagerly, finally something is super interesting. He can only imagine what it must have been like when people first learned how to fly.]
Oh man, I think you're blowing my mind here.
[He sounds genuinely in awe.]
Kinda like when I first went in space and just...the technology man, it was incredible.
[A beat.]
See if they went over the scariest parts in school I totally would have paid more attention to that.
[Flynn's grim expression shifts back into a wide smile when the enthusiasm finally catches on.]
See? It's incredibly interesting! It's not just dates or... or singular events at a certain point of time. It's all connected, it's people's lives, it's... an entire world. I can only imagine what going to space must have been like for you.
[Seriously, he's struggling with the everything of one planet. The chance and opportunity to travel the entire galaxy? He'd be depressed how impossible it would be to learn everything about it in one lifetime.]
Oh man, yeah, going into space was AMAZING. Dude, just...learning how to fly, seeing all these aliens--yeah, it was terrifying too at first cause Yondu kept telling me they were gonna eat me but he taught me to shoot, how to fly, just...it was like livin' in Star Wars.
Totally an adventure. And yeah, it was his thing. He kept trying to make me feel grateful for not being eaten, like he had to talk them down constantly about it or something.
It was mean. Here I am, a kid from earth, surrounded by suddenly aliens, and I'm like, oh man, maybe he's serious? Maybe they will eat me? I mean, who knows, they're aliens right?
[Maybe not. But good try at least, Flynn!]
Me? A good pilot? [Psh.] I'm the literal best pilot in the galaxy. [Or so he thinks.]
Dude, you flew a helicopter? There's gotta be a story behind that. That sounds like fun?
[Probably not fun for poor Flynn, though.]
A spaceship is better than anythin' we have on earth. It's probably a little close to flying a jet maybe? [Totally cheered him up.] I'm basically like a fighter pilot, but better.
We were in the Himalayas, so the helicopter was the only way out. We, uh, we were running from the bad guys, it was theirs. I almost crashed it into a mountain before I got the hang of it? But we got out, which is the important thing.
[Flynn smiles when his strategy seems to pay off. Braggy Peter might be impossible to deal with sometimes but is always preferable to depressed, freaked out Peter.]
That's pretty cool. You must have insane reflexes.
[Peter loves hearing the adventurey things that Flynn's done.] That's awesome, dude! Did you punch some bad guys out at least?
[Whatever the Himalayas were. A mountain range, right? Maybe? Something to do with Mount Everest?]
I do. I have super-fast reflexes. You have to, flyin' a ship like the Milano. Did I tell you I've been flyin' the Milano since I was ten? Because I have. [Just putting that out there.]
[He chuckles at that.] Well, Nicole did the punching but she does that really well. [There's no way he can keep the fondness from slipping into his voice.]
Well, yeah. They don't have normal people rules for space pirates, after all. And you think so? [His ego is so fluffed up now, thank you, Flynn.] I mean, yeah, it is, isn't it?
[Well, this has been a success! Peter seems like he's doing a lot better, or maybe he's just really good at forcefully forgetting things that make him uncomfortable. Either way, he feels slightly accomplished.]
I probably should let you get back to your books and stuff, dude. Listen, if you ever just wanna talk too, give me a call, okay?
[Or it'll be Peter coming to him with some new crisis that needed an ego boost, but the sentiment was there, at least!]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[Teach him to like learning, Flynn!]
That's too bad. [Hmm.]
A mentor? Like Obi-Wan? Because that would be awesome.
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And he is awesome. [A small smile crosses his face.] He's the greatest man I know.
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Is he mysterious? Please tell me he's mysterious. He needs to be mysterious.
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[Challenge accepted.]
Mysterious? [Flynn puffs his cheeks, thinking.] He's... pretending not to be. Which, in turn, makes him kind of mysterious, yeah.
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Well that kinda does sound like a gnarly way to go but anyway. Sure, let's see...what's the most boringest time ever...what about...like...? Oh! I know? John and Sherlock's old timey times. Not the guys we know, but the ones from the books and the tv show. With the ladies in those really awful poofy dresses and horse carts and little kids selling papers and stuff?
[He's trying so hard, Flynn.]
Does he talk like Obi-Wan?
oh no
[Right. Just... moving on.]
Sherlock and John? That would be the Victorian Age, sometimes leading into the Edwardian Age. Boringest time? You'd be surprised, definitely not for the people who lived in it!
[His voice warms with sudden enthusiasm.]
It was a time full of change, especially towards the end. The arts were alive with fin de siècle, the anxiety and euphoria that a century was ending. Everyone was excited but also afraid – what would the 1900s bring? Advances in technology and means of communication were everywhere. Everything was brimming with movement and change! Take the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes for example. Rationality and science at the forefront – and forensics, which back in the day was still in its infancy.
Newspapers increased their numbers, turning into a mass medium. The telephone was still a very recent invention. New means of traveling and transportation appeared, the automobile, the airplane – which, you of all people should have an appreciation for. Can you imagine it? Being there, experiencing these new technologies for the very first time? The world was changing!
[His eyes are gleaming, his voice rising dramatically, his arms spread, he is so into it.]
These people were living in a time where the world around them sped up considerably. Some were on the losing side of this advancement, of course. A lingering Depression, class unrest, people losing their jobs, and unbeknownst, looming in the very near future [his hand curls into a dramatic fist] the approaching shadow of the Great War.
help
[Because that would be AWESOME.
As Flynn continues, Peter can immediately feel himself start to drift off when he uses that French word thing...but he snaps back awake because it would be rude and mean and he might be rude but he certainly wasn't mean and he had to stay awake please just stay awake--]
Oh, cool, so that's when everything kinda like...got modern then, right? Those old timey airplanes must have been a trip to fly. Especially like when they first invented it?
[Look, he found something to be interested in! It's working!
...but man, Flynn. You're really into it.]
World war 1, right? [He remembers something!]
can't stop won't stop
[You like airplanes? He can do airplanes, Peter.]
A trip indeed! After all, mastering flight is often referred to as mankind's oldest dream. People have tried for centuries, attempts even show up in the myths of the old Greek. Imagine being up there seeing the world from above. It's such familiar imagery to us nowadays but back then a lot of people couldn't even picture it – mind you, there was no tv and color photography was in its infancy. There was no way to simply share things like that and it was so new. A set of completely new impressions for the mind.
[He nods at Peter's question, a grim expression on his face.] World War One. The dark side of the technological advancements in the late 19th century. New weapons had been developed, artillery and machine guns and poison gas, sending men and women into one of the most brutal forms of warfare of our history.
pls
Oh man, I think you're blowing my mind here.
[He sounds genuinely in awe.]
Kinda like when I first went in space and just...the technology man, it was incredible.
[A beat.]
See if they went over the scariest parts in school I totally would have paid more attention to that.
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See? It's incredibly interesting! It's not just dates or... or singular events at a certain point of time. It's all connected, it's people's lives, it's... an entire world. I can only imagine what going to space must have been like for you.
[Seriously, he's struggling with the everything of one planet. The chance and opportunity to travel the entire galaxy? He'd be depressed how impossible it would be to learn everything about it in one lifetime.]
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Wait.]
Did you just say 'eat you'?
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[Total jerk move, Yondu.]
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What? Normal people don't eat other people.
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[And maybe not the best distraction from other horrible memories stuck in Peter's head right now.]
Are you a good pilot?
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[Maybe not. But good try at least, Flynn!]
Me? A good pilot? [Psh.] I'm the literal best pilot in the galaxy. [Or so he thinks.]
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I flew a helicopter once, that was... [Ahem.] Well, awful, but we didn't die so I think I did okay? A spaceship must be way more difficult, though.
[Here, have some flattery, Peter. That always cheers you up, doesn't it?]
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[Probably not fun for poor Flynn, though.]
A spaceship is better than anythin' we have on earth. It's probably a little close to flying a jet maybe? [Totally cheered him up.] I'm basically like a fighter pilot, but better.
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[Flynn smiles when his strategy seems to pay off. Braggy Peter might be impossible to deal with sometimes but is always preferable to depressed, freaked out Peter.]
That's pretty cool. You must have insane reflexes.
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[Whatever the Himalayas were. A mountain range, right? Maybe? Something to do with Mount Everest?]
I do. I have super-fast reflexes. You have to, flyin' a ship like the Milano. Did I tell you I've been flyin' the Milano since I was ten? Because I have. [Just putting that out there.]
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Ten? [He blinks, genuinely surprised.] That's impressive.
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Well, yeah. They don't have normal people rules for space pirates, after all. And you think so? [His ego is so fluffed up now, thank you, Flynn.] I mean, yeah, it is, isn't it?
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[Mission accomplished! What are friends for? For healthy ego boosts in crisis. He thinks. He hopes? Anyway, he smiles and nods.] Yeah. It is.
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I probably should let you get back to your books and stuff, dude. Listen, if you ever just wanna talk too, give me a call, okay?
[Or it'll be Peter coming to him with some new crisis that needed an ego boost, but the sentiment was there, at least!]
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