#I remember seeing an emulator that let you play as any starter up until even the newest ones in pmd

[pumaskulls]

Doodling a PMD oc of mine named Slate! I should play as them on a file again soon 🤔

[writer-k-pop]

The Glass Smith (l.d.n) - Waning Crescent Hotel

Please read this (W.C.Hotel) if this is the first post of this series that you see. Warnings: Swearing, Mentions of death Genre: Angst, Hotel Del Luna AU, Choose your own adventure, SVT x Fem! Reader Staff: Yong (Spirit General Manager) / Jiwoo (Human General Manager) / Soon Bok (Room Manager) / Mun Hee (Front Desk Receptionist) / Shin (Grim Reaper assigned to Waning Crescent) Word Count: Ending A - 5.3k / Ending B - 5.2k

W.C.Hotel | Seventeen Masterlist | Masterlists

"Wait for me!" Mun Hee yells after me, his footsteps echoing off of the walls.

"Walk faster." I call out behind me continuing on my purposeful walk out of the garden.

"Did, did you want me to send up your unfinished champagne to your office?" Mun Hee asks when he catches up to me.

I wave a hand, giving nearly zero thought, "Whatever."

"Is that a yes?" Mun Hee steps in front of me, stopping me from continuing forward.

I roll my eyes and remind myself to put a stopper on his growing confidence, "Send it up."

Mun Hee nods, happy that he got an answer and steps aside. As we bust into the lobby, the regular day to day sounds of the Waning Crescent Hotel fill my ears: the faint piano music playing, the dings of the elevators, and the sounds of guests milling around. I spot Jiwoo standing across the lobby from me and make a bee line for him. But in my haste, I fail to notice another guest walking in a different direction until...

"Ooomf." I grunt when I collide with another body. The guest wobbles and I reach out my hands to steady them. I don't need a guest falling in my lobby.

"Oh, are you alright?" The guest, female, asks in a very familiar voice.

I look at the guest's face and nearly choke on air.

"Ch-Chaewon?" I stutter, not believing what my eyes are seeing.

Chaewon smiles warmly at me, "(y/n)."

"Chaewon." I repeat her name, a small degree of happiness creeping into my voice. Pulling her into a hug, she sighs over my shoulder and wraps her arms around my waist. With the moment of happiness passed, I pull away realizing that she's in my hotel but I keep ahold of her hands. "Why are you here?"

Laughing, Chaewon waves her hand at me, palm where I can see. "My lives are up. Lived a solid 9 of them and been here a whole nine days." My eyes widen in surprise and Chaewon smirks. "And you failed to notice me."

I glare at Mun Hee and he slowly backs away. "I didn't even know you had checked in."

Chaewon nods, "It's understandable. Your hotel has been pretty busy while I've been here." She looks around the lobby with a love filled gaze, "It's much busier than when I was around."

"Not that much has changed, has it?" I wonder, looking around in the opposite direction.

"Actually a lot has changed." Chaewon corrects me, "Especially you."

"Me?" I scoff, letting go of her hands, "I haven't changed."

"Oh yes you have." Chaewon points a finger at me.

"Name one thing that has changed." I challenge her and rest my hands on my waist while popping a hip with sass.

"Well, for starters, your style has greatly improved." She looks me up and down with a smirk. All I can do is roll my eyes. "And you didn't let me fall over when you ran into me when you used to let guests just fall without a second thought. Thirdly, your face has the warm glow of a woman loved by 13 perfect men."

I lick my lips, contemplating how I'm going to combat this one but Yong's voice beats me to the punch.

"Chaewon. There you are." Yong walks towards us from the doorway where all departures exit. "Are you- (y/n)."

I look between Yong and Chaewon then the hurt floods through my body. "You were going to leave without seeing me?" I ask.

"Of course not." Chaewon shakes her hands towards me, "I was going to wait outside and have you come see me off. But this way, you can walk me out too."

The hurt subsides almost immediately and I immediately link my arm with hers. "After the nine lives you lived, and the one when you were with me, I will be honored to walk with you."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Jiwoo standing with a guest but his gaze occasionally glances over.

I lean close to Chaewon's ear and whisper, "You did introduce yourself to your family line, right?"

Chaewon smiles and nods, "I did. Actually Mun Hee was the one who made that meeting happen a couple days ago."

Jiwoo respectfully bows to the guest then shuffles over to where we are still, somehow, standing.

"You're leaving already?" Jiwoo asks.

Chaewon smiles warmly at him, "What's with the 'already'? I asked to be the last departure for the night. It's more like 'finally.'"

Jiwoo chuckles lightly, "Well, if I say finally, then it might sound like I really want you to leave. But that's just simply not true."

Chaewon releases my arm and opens both of her arms for Jiwoo, "I know it's not true."

Jiwoo walks into her arms and they hug each other.

"Seeing how you carried out your duties at the hotel, I want you to know that you're doing our whole family proud." Chaewon says quietly, "I'm so proud of you." She says and emphasizes the 'I'm.'

Seeing the two together, and hearing Jiwoo sniffle, my stupid heart realizes something.

Even though I was the one she worked closest with and even though I'm the one who actually knew her, I'm not the one who should walk her to the car.

Jiwoo pulls away and takes in a breath to steady himself to say good bye. But I place a hand on his shoulders, bringing the attention to me. I turn to Chaewon and straighten my shoulders.

"Chaewon, I know you wanted to have me escort you," I say, looking at her and memorizing her face one last time, "But there's someone who deserves it more."

"(y/n)..." Jiwoo whispers my name and I turn to him.

"Walk her out. I want you too." I tell him with a nod.

"But she... she knew you." Jiwoo says in awe.

The side of my mouth twitches in a memory filled smile, "I know. But I still think you deserve to walk her out." I shrug, "But I can make it an order if that'll prove how serious I am."

Jiwoo quickly shakes his head.

Chaewon wraps me up in a tight hug, "You really have changed." She whispers in my ear, "Thank you, (y/n)."

I give her waist a small squeeze, "No, thank you, Chae."

We pull away and Chaewon takes Jiwoo's offered hand. Yong and I stand side by side as they walk away. Just before they reach the door, Chaewon turns around.

"Don't feel bad about not coming to my funeral, (y/n)." She calls out, "I know why you didn't and I'll give the Gods a good earful for it."

A smile grows on my face as I wave and then Chaewon turns back around. Jiwoo opens the door for her and she's gone.

I stare the closed door for a few moments longer while the hotel continues about its day around me.

"Dino?" I remember the reason why i was in search of Jiwoo or Yong in the first place.

"Room 112." Yong responds and we turn away from the door.

"How long?" I ask.

"Seven." Mun Hee answers from my other side.

I breathe in and out, resetting my mentality for the day. "What's on the agenda for the rest of the day?" I ask and Yong holds an open file in front of me.

"First, the chefs have asked you taste some new dishes they concocted." Yong lists off the first item. Half of my stomach twists in fear of what they made while the other half wonders what delicious tastes they've melded together.

~The Seventh Day~  

I'm standing in front of Dino's glass shop but the whole world seems to have a sepia filter over it. The door is closed but the open blinds and the sign on the door say the store is open for business. In the windows, glass vases and glass sculptures sit on shelves and glisten under the sun.

In the rear of the shop, and just barely in my view, someone shuffles around. I find myself walking towards the door and just before my hand touches the door handle, I hesitate.

What if it isn't Dino? I wonder.

Before I can find the answer for myself, the door swings open and a young male, probably in high school, stands in front of me, holding the door open with a smile. He looks familiar but I can't remember his name.

"(y/n)." He greets me with my name. "Dino said you would be coming around today. He's in the back." He gestures for me to follow him inside and my body does.

Walking in, I look around the shop and take in all the delicate glass works colored with streaks, spots, and tints of all the colors of the rainbow.

"So, this is your first time here?" The employee asks me.

"Yeah, it is." I answer.

"Dino's working on a project but let me go get him for you." He says, "Feel free to look around, I'll be right back." He mentions before disappearing through a veiled doorway.

I walk through the isles, admiring every single piece and their curves and delicate parts. The shelves are filled with everything from simple vases to plump little animals to sturdy glasses made for wine and other drinks.

In the back corner of the shop, standing alone in a protected shelf, sits an intricate dragon. It's snout is raised to the sky as its stream of fire is frozen in time. It's tail wraps around a leafless tree acting as a protective barrier.

"Took me forever to get the tree right." Dino says, creeping up next to me, "And I still don't think it's 100% correct. There's not enough life in it."

I smile, "I think it's correct." I glance over the tree again, "It never had any life anyway."

"That tree wasn't the one I was trying to emulate." Dino counters before turning and walking towards the counter. "I wanna show you this."

I turn away from the tree and follow Dino, "Show me what?"

Dino smiles and reaches under the counter then brings out a black box. "These." He states and lifts the cover of the box.

He removes the tissues laid across the top to reveal two beautiful glass champagne flutes. I take in a sharp breath and gaze over the two glasses.

The base is perfectly flat. The stem encases a braid of three tinier braids. The bowl's glass smooth with the tiny braids from the stem spreading out like the branches of a tree. The entire flute is tinted with streaks of dark blue and white. It reminds me of the nights at the hotel.

"What do you think?" Dino asks, never taking his eyes off of my reaction.

"They're amazing." I answer him, glancing up in time to see his smile.

"Good, cause I made them for you." Dino says, "Since you enjoy champagne and all." He explains.

"They're for me?" I question, part of me not believing it to be true.

Dino nods quickly, "Of course." He picks up one of the glasses, "Hold it, see how it feels in your hand."

I hold out my hand and Dino sets the glass down.

But the second my hand meets the cool glass, the flute cracks and then explodes.

I startle awake and nearly roll off the couch but my hand reacts and catches me before I can fully register anything. Blinking a couple times, I look around my office.

The dark night has successfully chased away all traces of the sun. In front of me, an open champagne bottle sits next to an empty champagne flute. But it's different from the one in my dream. This one is simple glass with simple straight lines and no character. It probably only cost a mere $10 in any store.

Running my hands over my face, I begin to wonder why the glass would've shattered in my dream. Maybe it represented Dino's heart and how I completely and utterly shattered it when I left.

"I hate dreaming." I groan when the thought crosses my mind.

Picking up the boring champagne flute, I turn it over in my hand and a frown grows on my face.

"I hate all of this!" I yell and throw the champagne glass to the side without looking. I close my eyes and listen to it crash against the wall. I listen as the pieces fall to the floor and shatter some more.

Pushing my hands against my thighs, I rise to my feet and stretch. I take in a deep breath and head to my upstairs room to change out of yesterday's clothes.

2 hours later, I'm freshly showered, changed, and made up for the day. Opening my bedroom doors with flourish, I walk back down the stairs to find Jiwoo waiting for me with a couple files in his hands.

"Late morning?" He greets me when I reach the bottom step.

I shrug, "More like late night." I correct him and make my way over to my desk.

"My roommate had the same thing, though I figure for different reasons." Jiwoo says as I sit down in my chair, "These are the guests who checked in during the day." He sets down the opened file in front of me. One of the many differences between Yong and him. Yong leaves the files closed until I open them. Jiwoo opens them for me whether I want to look at them or not.

"We had 6 check in?" I look over the list quickly.

"There was a..." Jiwoo pauses, "a terrible accident." I look up and his eyes are clouded over with immense sadness.

I decide not to press the situation as I can tell from him that the whole human world must be hurting from it. And if the whole world is hurting from it, then it was a massive tragedy.

"How many departures do we have tonight?" I continue on our usual daily info session.

"Just 3." Jiwoo says after some of the sadness is erased and places another open file on my desk.

I nod and glance over the short list.

"Ah, Shin's outside the doors and he wanted to talk with you." Jiwoo remembers and points a thumb towards the closed doors.

I sigh, "Alright, send him in."

Jiwoo bows. "Then I'll leave you be."

I wave him off and he walks to the doors. Just after he steps out of my office, Shin steps in, dressed in his usual black robes.

"(y/n)." He greets me and stiffly walks to stand in front of my desk.

"Shin." I greet him in the same manner, "What did you want to talk about?"

Shin shrugs, "I was kind of hoping you would tell me."

I scrunch my face in confusion, "I don't have anything to talk to you about?" I say as more of a question.

"I was guided to come see you this morning." Shin explains.

"Guided?" I repeat his word, "Guided by who?"

Shin nods his head upwards towards the sky and I understand his answer.

I sigh. The Gods love messing with my head and my heart.

"My dream last night." I start, giving into the Gods schemes.

"Was something odd?" Shin wonders.

"It started out as a memory, but then it quite literally exploded." I explain while standing and walking to the cabinet where I keep the specific champagne flutes hidden. Rummaging around, I finally find and pull out the dusty black box.

"It exploded..." Shin repeats my words. His eyes watch me as I walk back to my desk with the box.

I open the box and peel back the tissue paper so Shin can see them. "The memory was of the day Dino gave these to me." I continue, "It was also the first day I had ever visited his store front." Shin gingerly picks one of the flutes up and examines it closely, "Dino handed me one and the moment it touched my skin, it cracked and exploded."

"This is amazing work." Shin comments, his eyes fixed on the stem. Probably wondering how Dino was able to intertwine and insert the braids so perfectly. I always have.

After a few moments, Shin returns the glass to it's cushioned box. "So it shattered."

I nod.

"And you're worried because you don't know what it means." Shin continues spewing information I already know.

"Yes, I'm worried." I stare at him, "Memories don't just change like that. Especially not mine."

"You were sleeping though." Shin points out.

I let out a puff of air, "Even in my dreams, my memories don't change."

As Shin opens his mouth to answer, a knock sounds at the door.

"(y/n)." Mun Hee sing songs through the door.

"What Mun Hee?" I call back and Shin closes his mouth, placing his hands behind his back.

The door opens and Mun Hee pokes his head in, "Oh, hey Shin." He greets the Grim Reaper with a smile before looking at me, "Yong is bringing Dino down now."

I nod and wave him away. Mun Hee silently closes the door.

"We can continue this after?" Shin suggests carefully.

"No, I'm sure I'll figure it out by the end of the day." I shake my head and stand up.

"Mmm." Shin hums in understanding and walks next to me as we exit my office.

Once the doors are closed behind us, Shin takes his leave.

"I will see you at the forest, later." He bows and walks down the hall before turning the corner and disappearing from my sight.

I chew on the inside of my lip in thought and make my way to the elevators. The entire way to my garden, the image of the champagne flute exploding in my hand replays over and over. Like the one part of a song that always gets stuck in the mind.

When I do reach the garden, the memory vanishes and is replaced with Dino inspecting every inch of the bare tree.

He lowers his gaze from a branch and meets mine with a wide smile. I return the smile and immediately cover the distance to him. Dino's arms instinctively wrap around me and he sighs contently.

"Hey." He whispers in my ear.

"Hi." I say, squeezing him tighter.

When we pull away and I pause to take in Dino's appearance. His clothing is simple enough but comfortable and looks great on him. Though when has he ever looked bad in an outfit...

He has a warm smile on his face and his eyes are full of life, or at least the memory of lives lived to the fullest.

"What?" Dino asks when I've stared a few seconds too long, "Is there something on my face?"

I shake my head, "No, no. I just, it's been a long time since I've seen you."

"Ah, so you were in awe of my good looks." Dino strikes an exaggerated model pose then raises an eyebrow at me.

Laughing, I shake my hands in a visceral answer of 'no.' Dino laughs at my reaction and returns to a normal standing position. When our laughter dies down, his gaze is again captured by the tree that looms above us.

"So the metaphorical tree actually exists." Dino guesses, following one of the branches to the trunk.

I clasp my hands behind my back, "It does."

Dino reaches out to touch the trunk and a shiver runs down my spine when his fingers meet the rough, old bark. "I always thought it was just a metaphor for yourself. It's why I was never satisfied with the way the glass tree looked. I always saw you with so much life but the glass trees I made always looked so lifeless..." He trails off and pulls his hand back to his side.

"The tree is as dead as I am." I state, "For every day it doesn't age, neither do I."

"You, my dear, have much more life than this tree would ever have in a million years." Dino compliments me and I half smile.

"I thought you created the glass tree just right." I inform him. "With just the right amount of death and the perfect sliver of life."

"You don't see what I see." Dino leans in and whispers before walking over to the bench. He lets out a breath as he lowers himself onto the bench, much like an old man.

"And what do you see?" I question and cross my arms over my chest.

Dino smirks and motions me closer with a single finger.

I take three steps closer then stop.

Dino just shakes his head and does the same 'come closer' motion.

Four more steps and I'm standing right in front of him.

"Closer." Dino says and I lower myself so my face is just in front of his.

"I see a woman, who pulls on the optimism of every situation, a woman who showed no fear even in the face of a burning furnace." Dino stares into my eyes, "I see a woman who loved every part of me." He wraps a hand around the back of my neck and collides his lips with mine, shocking me for only a second before my body responds from memory.

When we pull apart, Dino has a mischievous spark in his eyes and I just laugh as I sit next to him on the bench. Once I'm seated, I lean my head on his shoulder and he wraps an arm around my shoulders.

"Did you keep the shop?" I ask, suddenly hating the silence that surrounds us.

Dino nods, "I did. Tae Oh took over the shop when I retired but I still visited." Dino's apprentice's face flashes in my mind.

"Your kids didn't take over?" I wonder because he'd often talked about his dream to pass the shop down to his kids.

"I never had kids of my own." Dino tells me, "I never even married."

I sit up straight and look at him in disbelief. "You didn't marry?"

He nods while avoiding my eyes.

"Why not?" I ask though i'm slightly afraid of the answer.

"I just never found anyone that matched with me." Dino shrugs.

My shoulders slump as I hear the unsaid ending to the sentence bounce around my head.

'After you left.'

"After you left," Dino says, "I wondered if people were really meant to only love one person in their lifetime. Maybe that's why I never found anyone else. Maybe I was too engrossed in that thought that I couldn't see the others in front of me." Dino grabs my hand and looks over at me, "But I don't regret it."

"You don't?" I ask, trying to understand.

"What do I have to regret?" Dino argues, "I lived a full life. Tae Oh essentially was my child and I somehow became a father to him. I got to watch him grow up and have a family of his own. I didn't have anyone to come home to, but then again, I didn't exactly want anyone to come home to."

I frown knowing that he never found another love.

"But don't you worry." Dino says, booping my frown, "In my other lives, I had lots of loves. In fact, in my fifth life, I swore I was in love like 4 different times." He tries to lighten the mood and for the most part, I let it, but a small part of me is still sad for his first life.

"Tae Oh was good to you, then?" I ask, diverting the conversation.

"The best son-not-son a man could ask for." Dino says proudly, "He received awards for his glass work and was really famous. He always told me I could retire early and he'd support me but gosh, how could I?"

"You could've." I put in my two cents.

"I could've, yes, but then what would I do?" Dino questions me, "He and his wife didn't have any kids I could watch over so I'd be stuck at home watching TV like an old fart."

I laugh out loud at his simile. "Fair point, fair point."

"And besides, our works were selling like crazy and there was no way Tae Oh was going to be able to handle all of them by himself." Dino continues, "So I had to stay on."

"So caring as always." I stroke his hair with sort of teasing smile.

Dino rolls his eyes, "Whatever." He says and chuckles, "By the way, what did you do with those flutes I gave you? Did you use them?"

"I still have them." I tell him, then lie, "I bring them out from time to time."

Dino narrows his eyes at me in suspicion. "Liar."

"I do." I defend myself, "Though time to time usually means a few hundred years between uses."

"(y/n)." Dino exclaims, "They're meant to be used, not on display collecting dust."

I smile in embarrassment and Dino gasps.

"You kept them stored away?" He realizes with wide eyes.

I press my lips together, unsure how to respond when I'm pretty sure my facial expression says the answer.

Dino places a hand over his heart and feigns pain. "Ah, my heart. All my hard work and you put it away in storage for hundreds of years at a time."

I push his shoulder and he over dramatically falls over, "Stop it, they were too precious to use constantly."

"But you did use them at least once?" He asks, still toppled over but looking at me with eager eyes.

I smile, "Yes, I think I've used them maybe 10 times?"

"Were any of them special occasions?" Dino wonders and sits up properly.

"Once." I answer and then explain, "The day of your funeral, I sipped through 5 champagne bottles with them."

"My funeral." Dino repeats, "Not the special occasion I had in mind but oddly enough, I'm kind of happy that you at least had something to remind you of me on that day." He scoffs at himself.

I blow out a breath, "Can I ask a strange question?"

Dino raises his eyebrows, "You ask that like none of your questions were ever strange."

I giggle, "I'm serious, Dino."

"Okay, okay." Dino surrenders, "What's your strange question?"

I readjust my posture like a child who is about to ask her friend for the juiciest gossip on the street. "What was the strangest thing a customer asked you to make?"

"The strangest thing?" Dino thinks out loud, "Mmmm, there's a few that stand out."

"What's the first?" I push, leaning closer.

"Uh, I think it was the puffer fish." Dino says in thought and explains the whole situation because of my nagging questions.

After the strange creations he was asked to create, we dive into Dino's life with Tae Oh and his family. Then Dino filled the rest of the fleeting hours with stories that he kept in his memory for me. The places he visited, the people he met through his work, the fascination in people's eyes when they saw his work- that was his favorite part.

The sun lowers itself into its western bed and I shiver as the cold night caresses my skin.

"You ever wondered where the sun leads?" Dino asks a pensive look on his face.

"What do you mean?" I ask, looking at him.

Dino leans back, sliding his hands along his thighs, "Like if you were to follow the sun, where it would lead and what you would find."

"You would find water and then land and then more land." I deadpan and he chuckles at my seriousness.

"I'm asking a serious metaphorical question here, (y/n)." Dino pouts and I smirk.

"Okay, okay." I give in to his puppy eyes, "I have wondered but I never tried. The moon is my domain and that's the one I'd follow."

"Do you think I'll be chasing the sun?" Dino asks glancing out the western windows.

"Depends." I say, "Are you the night chasing the sun or are you the sun chasing the night?"

Dino looks at me in disbelief, "Now who's the one talking in riddles." He chuckles but then sighs in thought, "If you put it that way, I think I'd be the sun chasing the night but only if you were the moon in the night."

I push him away and stand up. "Alright Mr. Cheesy." I hold out both of my hands, "Your journey towards the sun is awaiting you."

Dino holds a hand over his mouth and pretends to baby barf while standing up. I roll my eyes at his tactics but he just laughs.

"You started this." I point a finger at him and begin to walk away.

"Awww. (y/n)." He drags out my name and wraps his arms around my shoulders from behind. "You're no fun."

"I am too." I defend myself.

Dino smooshes a kiss against my cheek, "You are."

We walk out of the garden with Dino hanging off of my shoulders and our steps teeter and totter from left to right. The hotel is silent with most guests still sleeping and/or adjusting to greeting their past lives and my staff are probably just waking up to begin their duties around the hotel.

"I like this quiet." Dino whispers as we reach the departure door.

"It is nice, isn't it?" I agree and open the door. "Less aggressive on your ears than the raging furnace."

"Hey, don't diss Bertha like that." Dino says with serious eyes.

I burst out laughing and pull the door closed behind us. "I totally forgot you named your furnace."

"How could you forget Bertha?" Dino gasps.

I giggle and grab his hand tightly, "Well, I won't forget now."

"You better not." Dino says and swings our hands back and forth. "You'll come there too, right? One day?" He asks, looking at the idling car Shin is standing next to.

"One day." I nod, "I don't know how soon but one day soon I'll get there."

"I'll wait for you then." Dino whispers.

"There will be others before I get there and you might have to share." I inform him as we slow to a stop a few feet away from where Shin has the car door open.

"Then I'll fight them all and win you over." Dino says defiantly.

An airy chuckle bounces in my chest, "Don't hurt yourself in the process."

Dino sighs happily and there's a twinkle in his eyes, "I love you, (y/n)." He says and presses a kiss to my forehead.

"I love you too." I tell him and close my eyes to memorize the feeling of his lips against my skin.

Dino pulls away, squeezes my hand briefly, and then lets go of it. I watch silently as he greets Shin with a polite nod before sliding into the car without a look back. The sure slam of the car door closing pounds against my heart like a sledge hammer.

Every inch the car drives away, my heart tears apart further and further. When the car finally disappears into the forest fog, my knees give out and I fall to the ground with my clutching my chest. A few tears manage to escape. I watch as one drops into the dirt and disappears.

And back in the hotel, in my garden, a white chrysanthemum does the same.

It takes a little bit of time but eventually the ache in my chest subsides enough for me to rise back up. With a deep breath, I pull my hair behind my shoulders and turn away from the forest. I face the hotel and prepare to face the night.

Return to the Navigation Page (Waning Crescent Hotel) to choose the next guest.

"You call yourself the moon and yet you shiver in the cold." Dino notices me shiver against the night air.

I chuckle, "I'm not immune to everything."

"Let's hope that the other side is a lot warmer than here." Dino says and stands up with dramatic flourish.

I follow suit and stand nearly chest to chest. "Shall we see if that's true or not?"

Dino grabs my hands and smiles widely, "Hell yes."

As we walk out of the garden, Dino does a couple skips in happiness and while I do feel a great amount of happiness that I get to leave with him, there is a seed of sadness tucked away in the shadows.

We walk hand in hand to the lobby where Yong, Mun Hee, Soon Bok, and Jiwoo stand solemnly.

"So this is it?" Mun Hee asks with tears in his eyes. "This is the day you leave us?"

I wrap him up in a hug, only a tiny bit annoyed that he's being so sappy. "Maybe I'll get punished again and be back here by the end of the year." I try to joke but Mun Hee abruptly pushes back from me.

"Don't you dare say that. You better not return here." He says angrily through his tears.

I chuckle, "I won't come back. I promise."

Turning to Soon Bok, I thank her for her service and her amazing work. Something I never did and should've done more.

Next onto Jiwoo. I also thank him for his and his entire family's service then I unclip the bracelet that has held him to this place.

"When you leave today, you won't be able to find this place again." I inform him, "I hope that you'll be able to go and live your life happily."

Jiwoo nods, "Thank you for letting me work with you. I won't ever forget you."

I smile sadly, "You will. But thank you."

Finally I reach Yong who is sniffling and trying so very hard not cry.

"You'd think after all these years of waiting that I'd be prepared for this day." She says through sniffles.

"Thank you, Yong." I rests my hands on her shoulders, "For everything. Thank you."

With lips pursed together, she leans forward and wraps me in an unexpected hug. But I soon wrap my arms around her and squeeze her tightly.

We pull apart after a couple seconds and I wipe the few tears that have escaped from her eyes.

"Keep this hotel running beautifully." I tell her before Dino grabs my hand again.

With final waves of goodbye, Dino and I walk out to the foggy forest that will take us to our resting place.

At the edge of the forest, Shin stands next to an idling car, a somber look on his face.

"(y/n)." He says when we reach him, "It has been an honor working with you. I wish you both a peaceful rest." Shin bows his head and I pat his arm.

"The honor was mine." I tell him with a smile. Now the tears start to line my eyes as the realization fully sets in.

I'm free. I served my years of punishment and now I'm free to let my soul rest.

I turn back towards the hotel and look up to the top where the rooftop patio is outlined with bright string lights. Then to the mid floors where random room lights are turned on, some guests staying in while others opting to experience the hotel's many services. Then to grand base where guests would be milling around, waiting their turns to leave this world.

"(y/n)?" Dino softly asks pulling my attention to where he sits just inside the car, "Are you ready?"

I take one last quick look at the hotel before turning away from it. "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go."

I lower myself into the car and Shin securely closes the door after I am completely inside. As the car begins to drive forward, Dino securely grabs my hand and I let his warmth guide me towards our final destination.

In the garden, the final chrysanthemum withers and dies so that no more stand at the base of the bare tree.

[phoebehalliwell]

Pls write mini essays about phoebe + next gen and paige + next gen!!

word i’d said i’d to this then i forgot i’m doing it now i’m gonna start of with both phoebe & paige + their kids and then i’ll burn through the list

okay so for starters phoebe i think phoebe’s family wins like the “most functional” award it’s not like a landslide win y’know it’s not like piper and paige’s families aren’t function but this family is comprised of an empath advice columnist, a cupid relationship therapist, and three cupid-witches. like, they’re all kinds experts of communication and self-awareness and understanding and relationships and bond blah blah blah they being said of course they have their issues but in general it’s relatively smooth sailing there is of course the flipside when friction usually generate from the kids starts to spiral out of control and phoebe & coop will be like let’s use our words help us to understand you and where you’re coming from do some breathe exercises and the girls would be like no!! can’t we just argue like a normal family!!! can’t you just get angry at something!! but those are um few and far between. and of course like phoebe really really wanted to be a mom we all saw we all didn’t enjoy it but that’s very much canon she really wanted three daughters she got that so i think phoebe was very much like Prepared for motherhood (like as prepared as one could be). like it wasn’t like she thought it was going to be smooth sailing but like she was ready to face any challenges that could be thrown at her she was ready to put all of her love and effort into this one thing and i think for her like Mama Era from pj’s birth in 07 to peyton starting preschool in 2013 i think she really like almost exclusively worked from home she was really hands-in she was in all the mommy groups and the pta and the whatnot but like. y’know that’s like 6 years. and phoebe really loves her job. so i think she’d really have a career renaissance once all of the kids were in school i think she’d slowly start to dive back into column work i think this is when she’d start to write her book after the success of that one i think she wrote another one i think she has a fiction series posted under a pseudonym that is more of a ya magical adventure series (which paige designs all the covers for) i also think she and coop have a podcast together maybe run through the bay mirror maybe independent the point is she’s really popular (i also think she’d be the wealthiest out of the three sisters bc she makes bank and so does coop as a therapist for those not in the states therapy is like really fuckin expensive as i recently learned y’all do not know. it’s a bitch. but yeah they got money. but that’s not the point here. the point is she’s really popular). book tours, doing stuff with the podcast, guest appearances on a variety of tv shows, i think phoebe’s not like. at home a lot. or at least she’s home the least out of piper her and paige. and it’s not like her kids really mind like she is just a beam away and she always makes it to important events (and unimportant ones!) like she takes photos before every school dance and she throws birthday parties and she really dos try to make it to all of the kids soccer games but like. she’s not always just like. home all the time. and i think she’d really love to have a lot of emotional heart-to-hearts with her kids but that doesn’t always happen. if pj needs an emotional heart-to-heart, she’s gonna talk to her dad. is parker needs an emotional heart-to-heart, she’s gonna talk to pj. is peyton needs and emotional heart-to-heart she’ll position herself on the couch late at night when she knows phoebe will be coming home and just sorta sit there like waiting for phoebe to show up and go oh honey what’s wrong bc uhh peyton will not like. go to someone to talk about their problems. she has to wait to be asked. that’s just the type of person she is. lucky for her, phoebe’s an empath so she can like tell when baby peyton’s in distress but lbr she usually doesn’t need it because like peyton perches in such an Obvious manner like hi mom come comfort me please : ( even tho she’ll never like say it out loud. i think phoebe’s also like proud of her girls and their practicing of the craft bc she remembers how she felt about magic hell how she still feels about magic and she’s always telling them like follow ur heart and love is ur greatest strength (and the power of three will set you free, of course) bc her girls are cupitches y’know it’s more true than ever but like. lowkey tho. it fucking terrifies her. magic like takes, man. a lot of people she knows have died. and she just like. she doesn’t want to tell her kids no bc it was grams controlling nature that made her rebel so much so like she wants them to be able to come to her when they have a magical problem and she knows that if she tries to stop them or tells them they’re out of their league they’ll probably just stop telling her things so she doesn’t she tried to be supportive but jesus fucking christ he gets so scared sometimes. she gets so scared.

paige on the other hand had nowhere near the same experience with motherhood as phoebe bc well i think paige has the most complex relationship with motherhood set aside the fact that her kids are the only unplanned ones out of the entire next gen, she also like. she was a shit child. she was mean and violent and an alcoholic. she had committed so so many crimes before she was even 17. and she had a really good mom!! she had a mom who loved her and tried her hardest to support her and keep her from falling off the deep end who loved her unconditionally she had the best mom and she was still just a little shit! and i think that really fucks her up. like, looking back on it, she can’t imagine half the stuff she put her mom through. she was really cruel. and like!!! her mom was a good mom!! so paige doesn’t know she doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do. how she’s supposed to stop her kids from turning out like her. what can she do so she doesn’t have kids who end up exactly like how she was. henry isn’t like a load of help her bc henry Also never knew his parents and he jumped around from foster home to foster home and like never really felt like had a family until paige. and then like in his whole parole schtick he was definitely a hard ass he was definitely an Authority Figure bc hell that was the only way adults could get him to listen to them when he was a kid so he just kinda emulated that. however after meeting paige and really getting a feel for her whitelighter side and how she handled these situations i do think henry switched up his vibes he made the necessary changes. i also think like henry like no he wasn’t planning on having kids but i think he was really excited to become a father like he was gonna have a family like god he always wanted a family he was gonna teach his kids to play catch and he would host birthday parties stupid birthday parties with themes and balloons from safeway and friends there and goody bags the full kit and kaboodle like henry would fuckin go to bed each night dreaming about how he’s gonna do all these familial things he never got to do. bc he didn’t have a family. but paige did. she got all those things. and she was still fucked up!! so i think the conkclooshun paige landed on was that her mom tried to hard to like. like her mom saw her potential and always strived to push her to be that perfect version of paige that she saw her wonderful little angel when paige really wasn’t that paige wanted to be seen for what she was not some vision in her mom’s head and maybe that’s why she would like get drunk and steal a cop car bc she wanted her mom to see the girl standing right in from of her not an angel just paige. so paige was like. okay. i’m no gonna project onto my kids. they’re gonna be like “charmed ones” (there’s only two of them but w/e they’re really powerful witches) but i’m not gonna. i’m not gonna see them as that. i’m going to try to see them as they are and i’m going to be their Mom. i’m not gonna be some distant ethereal figure which is kinda how she felt a lot of the charges she brought to magic school viewed her bc she was this mythic charmed one and she was this she was that i think paige didn’t want to be her daughters’ whitelighter bc she didn’t want a “professional” relationship with them. there was no way she could advise her own kids the way she could advise her charges, she’s simply way too close to the situation. and she doesn’t want her kids to view her like that. she doesn’t want to be their whitelighter, she wants to be their mom. and um this really does work for the most part like she & her kids will like sit on the couch and just like yuck it up you know like the mitchell clan really is a tight knit they do all love spending time with her but. like her method of parenting really works with tamora. not so much with kat. kat’s a lot more witchy than tam is she’ll actively go out and seek out trouble she pursues the craft with a very similar hunger to what we saw in paige s5 and paige kinda hates it. like. god okay she gets it she gets it she really does. but kat’s a kid!! she’s just a kid and if she keeps looking for trouble she’s gonna get herself killed and i think whenever out god knows where doing god knows what paige just remembers that time she had to watch chris bleed out on the bed with nothing she could do. and how she- how if that happened to kat- she- she couldn’t go on anymore. that’s basically the fact of the matter. if she lost a child, she doesn’t know what she would do. give up. probably. and it’s again sorta like the inverse we see with phoebe’s free range demon hunting where paige gets so overprotective about it that kat just stopped telling her things. this gets doubled by the fact that you’re not my whitelighter, so why should you even care! and kat does view it as like a lack of faith from her mother (which is one of the reasons why kat and chris are so close) and she just wants to. she wants to prove herself. she wants her mom to see her for all that she could be, instead of just the place she’s in right now. and i do think as time passes paige learns to sort of let go of this control i think her and kat have the most difficult relationship but paige letting kat leave to take a gap year and explore the world was like a major step and kat acknowledges this to an extend she gets it was difficult for her mom but she really has no idea how much paige panicked how much it took every inch of her self control not to go out and drag kat back home because yes baby birds have to leave the nest eventually but these baby birds have a very high stab rate. um jumping over to her relationship with henry jr i think she does encourage his studying of the craft he is the most well read out of any of the next generation with wyatt taking a close second hell henry jr even knows like a bit of latin this kid is wicked smart And bonus round he’s aware he’s mortal. like yeah paige can kinda sense that it does ruffle his feather, but henry jr knows when to step away. again, henry’s really well-read. he’s brushed up on the family history. he knows the warren line is close friends with death. as a bit of a bonus round but also to give paige some peace of mind, she did give henry a basic charm that grants him the same high resistance that all witches are born with as well as cloaks him from magic bc like paige and henry sr both knew this mortal baby was gonna have a wicked high kidnap rate so they figured y’know best do all they can to Stop That from happening. the enchantment that henry jr has is a necklace it’s the same one paige wore throughout the show. bc i’d like to bring that back.

okay next gen time wyatt i think wyatt likes paige more than phoebe it’s not like a competition or anything it’s just gun to his head that’s who he’d chose bc paige really is like this witchlighter she walks the line between being charmed and being a whitelighter that wyatt can really take a lot of inspiration from he just doesn’t have that with phoebe phoebe’s a little bit more of like a love guru and wyatt’s got a weird relationship with love bc he keeps flinging himself headfirst into it and keeps getting bruiser bc of it what wyatt actually doesn’t know is almost all of the advice that has gotten him out of these troubling times has almost all been sourced from phoebe piper usually goes to her with advice when it comes to all that i mean i don’t think wyatt would like to know that post-breakup wyatt is just like kinda embarrassing he doesn’t want to know that’s being shared with the family of course he already knows he just doesn’t want confirmation

chris surprisingly closer with phoebe probably bc she’s an empath and again she has this whole free range witchcraft style that she has going if chris has a question he needs to ask somebody he’ll usually ask phoebe bc she’s the only one who won’t report back to leo bc again she’s an empath she gets it she knows what’s going on and she knows he just needs time and he and leo need some good honest communication paige also gets that but paige also watched chris die so yeah no she’s gonna snitch

melinda about and even tie melinda gets a lot of witchlightering advice from paige on finding harmony there but she’s also an empath she she spends a lot of time learning her craft from phoebe and how to focus that and apply that power to her witch/whitelighter abilities in ways paige can’t really teach her bc paige’s power is more physical that psychic/emotional. but it is like paige who gives her the groundwork on like. getting it. i think gun to her head if she had to choose she’d choose phoebe just because of those times they’d go out and do “field practice” where they go somewhere interesting and crowded and sense the wave of emotions and go out and try to pick out people from the crown it’s an art of drowning out the din and finding one you need to find a way of not getting lost in the sea of everyone else’s everchurning emotions which is nice bc it grants melinda a much wanted and needy control over empathy but it’s also nice bc it’s like. fun. phoebe always makes it fun they can always have a laugh.

tamora’s not like hella close with phoebe there’s really no reason for her to be however she is baby peyton’s favorite cousin (don’t tell the rest) simply because tamora’s both like studious and cautious and baby peyton’s tired of everyone running around trying to fight demons like what about normal life irl and stuff so i think tamora would definitely like tutor baby peyton this that and the other and so like phoebe really has like a sense of respect for tamora and tamora likes being over at phoebe’s y’know it’s not like peyton’s some snot nosed kid it’s fun she likes the vibes

kat has an appreciation for phoebe bc she definitely knows phoebe had a hand in helping her mom let go of her y’know that being said it’s not like she loves to spend time with phoebe phoebe’s both an empath and paige’s sister so like she knows that anything of note’s gonna be passed onto her mom (which isn’t like. entirely true. but it is kinda true). if kat’s gonna hang out with an empath she wants it to be one on her side so she’ll always pick melinda

henry jr okay so phoebe’s actually the opposite with henry it’s kinda like her and paige swapped places here bc paige trusts her son she knows he’s really well versed in magic blah blah blah and that he’s got y’know. common sense. he’s not gonna run into some situation half cocked and get himself killed he’s aware of his mortality. phoebe on the other hand did not raise henry so she doesn’t get him the way paige gets him; a large part of her free range ideology is the fact that her kids are basically little power loaded god their charmed and as an added boost they’re also half cupid they’ve been raised in the craft they’re insanely well trained so like. she knows that they’re capable. henry does not have their advantages. so i think phoebe really tries to hold him back isn’t quite the right word but like. it kind is. she doesn’t want him doing anything magical.

pj’s in the 07 baby squad even though she’d at the younger end of the scale so she was a grade behind mellie kat and tam but that little barbershop quartet’s p tight knit i don’t think she has like insane exposure to paige as i think cupids and whitelighter work very differently like at the most basic magical level and therefore paige’s halfling experience really doesn’t do that much to help her i think she likes paige alright but like. it’s nothing compared to like wyatt relationship with paige

parker always like runs towards danger she’s got an insane amount of energy and like a fire within her i think she’s always trying to push boundaries and break the rules eg with her cupid ring becoming an athame i don’t think she straight up asked paige bc like parker definitely views all adults as narcs but with this of that ilk parker bounces questions off paige which paige just always answers like really honestly like if parker asks a question that’s like really complex and strange paige won’t give her a roundabout answer she’ll just tell her what’s up and for that parker respects paige

peyton i think sees paige the most through tam i think she likes paige i think she’s definitely privy of the whole paige/kat situation bc like who is the family isn’t but i think she really kinda takes paige’s side her peyton thinks the real worlds insanely dangerous she doesn’t like looking for trouble and her heart lowkey goes out to paige bc she knows the whole thing with kat is a matter of love it’s just something that’s hard to work with

[atopfourthwall]

Settle in for a bit of a post, kids – time for Linkara to talk about some pokeymanz.

So as I’ve stated on numerous occasions, when I first started playing Pokémon, it was on an emulator. I was young, I didn’t have money, and it was rare for my parents to spend any money on video games or video game consoles (we had PCs, if we wanted to game, plenty of good games out for PC). I would eventually get a Gameboy Pocket and a proper copy of Pokémon Blue, but when I started? Emulation was the way in.

Now of course being young and stupid and not being able to foresee problems in the future, I did not think to KEEP the save files in those ROMs, never figuring that I’d still want to have those Pokémon or even know how to transfer them over to a proper cartridge like I do now. As such, they have many, many times been saved over, deleted, and lost. Still, my computer has been built on top of itself a few times over, to the point where I do still find files from 2001 or the like if I dig deep enough. So occasionally, on a whim, I will go through the old emulator files I have to see if I can find an old save file of one of my original playthroughs. It’s a hopeless endeavor and I’ve done it multiple times now and it never yields results.

So during one of these efforts, I stumble upon my Pokémon Sapphire ROM. As a reminder there, much like with the Gameboy games, I didn’t have a Gameboy Advance until muuuuch later (and an SP at that) and my fandom in Pokémon had fallen off the map by the early 2000s, so when Ruby and Sapphire came out, I didn’t even really pay attention to it. Then, on a whim, I decided to get the ROM for Sapphire and play it. For the record, I was not a fan. It wasn’t that it was terrible, just that the Pokémon for Gen 3 didn’t really do anything for me. I played through it as best as I could, eventually beating the Elite 4 MOSTLY because I didn’t know much about the game and assumed that, like Gold/Silver, I’d be able to travel back to Johto after I beat the Elite 4 and play through a second region like in those games. Hell, there even seemed to be two ports that served no other purpose in the game (whooo, you can sail between them… when you could also just Fly…), but of course to my disappointment that was not the case. I was grumbly about it, did some Gameshark codes in the emulator to get a team of legendaries, then a team of Pokémon from Gens 1 and 2 that I liked, but in the end just gave up on it and moved on.

So on a whim, I load up the Sapphire ROM and look through some of the save states. I find the legendary one, I find the one with Gen 1/2 Pokémon… aaaand then I find a playthrough of my original team. This was Pre-Elite 4, but after I had reached Evergrande City, so I was clearly just training for the Elite 4 at that point. So here they are – the six Pokémon that I had trained to be my team in a game I didn’t really like all that much. This was the earliest team of Pokémon that I had ever raised that were still available. The save file was from 2003. They were almost fifteen years old. They had just been sitting here, waiting. Their future had been erased. Their only fate was to sit and wait to finish the game when that was never going to happen, never going to continue, hoping that their trainer would finish the job that he had started.

That was unacceptable.

I may not have liked Gen 3 that much, but dang it, these were my first ones from it, and I’ll be damned if I was going to let them spend another day there instead of fulfilling their destiny. I fired up a bunch of the equipment that I had gotten for the Gen 1/2 trade-up video (some of it was in disrepair, like the GBA Flash cart, so I used the DS emulator trading option I described in the video to get them) and got these bad boys up to Alpha Sapphire.

Hell yeah. Not only are these six going to beat the Elite 4, they’re going to beat a TOUGHER Elite 4 – the one for the remake games, since obviously I had already beaten Alpha Sapphire (I liked Alpha Sapphire more, but that team was 5/6 made of Pokémon from other generations – my starter was a Zubat – just wanted a team of Pokémon I had always wanted to try). Let me introduce you to these dudes.

Back in the day, I didn’t nickname my Pokémon – thought it was dumb. I’m older now and I LOVE nicknaming them. Gives them more character and uniqueness. First up – Sceptimus. I’m not particularly fond of any of Gen 3’s starters, which is a shame since they’re all good, so at the time I went with the one I disliked least, which was Treecko. Nowadays while I hold no particular attachment to them, I do still appreciate Sceptile’s badass tail and leaf blade arms. And of course now in Alpha Sapphire, he’s a friggin’ DRAGON, too.

Next – Sniperbird. A lot of times the token bird of the generation ends up on the team, usually as a well-balanced Flying-type and this Swellow is no exception. The name comes from a bit in Birdemic where twice a random bird just straight up swoops on and kills people with one shot. I affectionately referred to it both times as Sniperbird. Now look at this Swellow – tell me you can’t see this thing flying in and killing you in one hit.

Third – MAKIT. This one, as you can tell by the original trainer name is an in-game trade for a Slakoth. Most would probably keep the Slakoth to get a Slaking, but at the time, knowing nothing about the game, I didn’t know what a Makuhita was and Slakoth didn’t impress me. While Hariyama has never really done much for me, Makuhita is an adorable little boxer with a permanent grin and I love it. While Hariyama’s design might not impress, it’s my first Fighting Type I ever had as a party member and he will beat your ass like a drum.

Fourth is Positra. Plusle and Minun are Gen 3’s Pikachu variant and of course at the time I didn’t realize it would never evolve, but look at this thing – it’s adorable and its cheeks are shaped like plus symbols. Positra might not be the strongest, but damn if it ain’t cute and it can still zap you if given the chance. Electrike and Manectric always looked weird to me, but Plusle is fast and it can hit hard if given the chance.

Then we have Geist. Sableye, until Fairy type came along, used to be a Pokémon without any weaknesses. I don’t even remember catching this guy back in the day or having him on my team, yet here he is. I likely just enjoyed him because of the weird ghost design and wanted a Ghost type for my team, but of course he has so much more to offer, especially nowadays since his only weakness is Fairy. His stats are not the best, but like Sceptimus his Mega Evolution can compensate for that.

And finally, Oceanus. I wasn’t fond of ANY of the water types for Gen 3 back in the day. These days I like a lot more, but for a place with so much water, I’m fairly certain I used some other Pokémon for surfing for the longest time simply because I didn’t have anything else I liked, but I was quite fond of this Legendary. Not my favorite, obviously, but it’s a big-ass whale and it can flood the entire damn planet, so you don’t mess with it.

So yeah, used the Blisseys Secret Bases to power-level them up and I’ve now beaten the Alpha Sapphire Elite Four. Hello, old friends – it’s been too long.

[sartle-blog]

The Three Best and Worst Fathers in Art History

Who on this list got kitschy ties?

Happy Father’s Day! It’s that special time of year again where the hard-working dads in our lives get the appreciation and Home Depot gift card they’ve always wanted. Alright - so I personally suck at gift giving when it comes to my dad, but who could blame me? At twenty-three years old, no amount of fine top-ramen cuisine or round trip tickets to Kentucky on Spirit Airlines would show the kind of appreciation my dad deserves. So instead here are some great and down-right horrible dads in art history to help you appreciate yours.

3rd Worst: Destruction of the Father by Louise Bourgeois

Destruction of the Father by Louise Bourgeois at the MOCA Los Angeles

Louise Bourgeois’ father - depicted above - was a bit of an asshole. Wishing to get an early start on ruining her life and really getting that artistic angst flowing, Louis Bourgeois (dad) enjoyed constantly cheating on his sickly wife. Who was the target of his infatuation? Louise’s English tutor and nanny. Beyond the betrayal of his wife, daddy Bourgeois also made a habit of emotionally abusing the young artist throughout her childhood by belittling her in front of others on top of his explosive temper and his domination of the household. To cope, Louise Bourgeois kept a hate-journal detailing her misfortune from the age of twelve which most likely had the literary merit of a Cannibal Corpse album.

Pictured: Bourgeois’ emotional abuse by her father

The phrase ‘daddy issues’ can’t begin to describe the impression childhood had on the artist. For starters, the piece above depicts a dream by the artist where she dismembers her father and eats him on top of a dining room table. Did I say dining room table? I should have used Louise’s own description: “the table where your parents made you suffer.” Though her relationship with her father improved during the latter half of Louise’s life, her story remains as one of the great parental screw-ups-lead-to-fame stories of all time. So next time you're mad at your dad, just remember, at least you’re not mad enough to eat him.

3rd Best: Escher’s Father by M.C. Escher

Escher’s Father by M.C. Escher at the National Gallery of Art

At face value it doesn’t seem like this woodcut exactly reflects the “dad’s number one fan” sentiment, but the context in which Escher produced this piece is downright wholesome. M.C. Escher’s father, George Escher, brought him up in between failed marriages and desperately wished his son to carry on a legacy of engineering as he was professional civil engineer. His son - who he affectionately referred to as ‘Muak’ -  was plagued by poor performance in many of his subject classes and found mathematics to be especially troublesome.

I’m basically M.C. Escher

Noticing the young Escher’s struggle in math but affinity towards graphic art, he enrolled his son into the Architecture and Decorative Arts school in Harleem to foster an interest in Architecture. It was here that M.C. Escher would meet woodcutting instructor Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita and would ultimately inspire the beginning of his tremendous art career. In an act of ultimate appreciation towards his dad, M.C. Escher produced the woodcutting above in 1916, making it the first print he would ever produce as an artist. The portrait now sits immortalized in the National Gallery of Art.

2nd Worst: Peter I interrogates Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich at Peterhof by Nikolai Ge

Peter I interrogates Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich at Peterhof by Nikolai Ge at the Tretyakov Gallery.

Remember those times you did something wrong and when you father asked you about it, you had to lie? Imagine instead of a grounding, he proceeded to torture you to death. This was the relationship which Peter the Great and his son, Alexei, had. Like a Russian Disney movie, Peter the Great needed an heir. Alexei, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with politics and would rather focus on religion as well as copious amounts of alcohol.

Art history is serious business.

After (supposedly) committing a tad bit of treason, Alexei was arrested and interrogated by his father as depicted above. What isn’t depicted above is Alexei’s trip to torture island in a Russian dungeon following his refusal to confess his guilt. He was lashed twenty-five times with what historians call the ‘Knout’ and torture victims refer to as the “AHHHHHHH.” This device was a whip with reinforced metal rings that would flay your and allow your flesh to rot and could even break your spine. After enduring his torture, Alexei died a few days later after wishing death upon his father. So much for that family road trip.

2nd Best: Portrait de Camille Pissarro by Lucien Pissarro

Portrait de Camille Pissarro by Lucien Pissarro at the Tate

If you were an artist, you couldn’t have had a better father figure than Camille Pissarro. He had already maintained a reputation as a talented impressionist painter, etcher, and lithographer by the time his son, Lucien, was born in 1863. Following in his father’s footsteps, Lucien decided to pursue art and began to study his dad’s work. Several years and many dad jokes later Lucien, like Camille, had become a successful impressionist landscape artist. Though heartwarming, the true dadliest catch came when Lucien moved away from home to England. They began to write each other with frequency in order to stay in touch.

Right in the feelings

Like politics in an undergraduate lecture, you’d expect art to be the topic of literally every discussion the two artists had. However, the letters included a multitude of subjects ranging from current affairs to family and even each other’s artwork. Based on recovered letters, Camille continually offered his son advice and encouragement during Lucien's career and, in turn, Lucien supported his aging father financially as much as he could. The wood-engraving above was slightly unusual for an artist like Lucien Pissarro. As a landscape impressionist painter, rarely did he make woodcut portraits with the exception for the people closest to him. When this particular piece was completed, Lucien submitted it as a contribution to his father’s own catalogue. Aww.

Winner for Worst Dad: Self Portrait In A Hat by Paul Gauguin

Self Portrait In A Hat by Paul Gauguin at the Musée d'Orsay.

This portrait wasn’t created by any of the children of the Gauguin, because this Golden Corral dumpster of a human being deserved to be set on fire, let alone painted by anyone. Let’s go ahead and go down the “what makes you a horrible human being” checklist to see what we’ve got here. Wife-beater? Check. Abandoned family? Check. Pedophile? Ew, Check. Knowingly infected native girls with a deadly STD? Dear God, check.

The MET describes his work as, “...astonishing...”

Gauguin began his career as a stockbroker / professional cockroach (in my imagination) until the late 1800’s when the stock market crashed. Having all this extra time on his hands meant he could focus on his family and children - just kidding! He left them in Denmark while he decided to take a stab at art in Paris, hang out with Vincent Van Gogh and travel to the Caribbean for literally years. Having basically abandoned his family at this point, he decided his art needed a cessation from civilization so he took his one man dirt-person exhibition on the road to Tahiti. While there, he decided to play multiple games of hide the syphilis with groups of thirteen and fourteen year old native girls until dying at the age of 54. Of syphilis. Jesus Christ.

Winner for Best Dad: The Artist's Father, Reading "L'Événement" by Paul Cézanne

The Artist's Father, Reading "L'Événement" by Paul Cézanne at the National Gallery of Art.

Sometimes, your children do not grow up as expected. For Paul’s father - Louise-Auguste - painting was not what he imagined his son to make a career out of. Having created a successful bank, Louise-Auguste had imaged the young Paul Cézanne becoming a lawyer and following in his own capitalist footsteps. Paul, however, had plans to become an artist. When he ‘came out’ to the elder Cézanne for his brush addiction, his father was disappointed. Though he failed to understand his art, both made up and Louise-Auguste supported his son financially to allow Paul to pursue his art career.

Glad that gamble turned out okay.

What makes this number one on my list is the story behind this specific painting. Sitting for a Paul Cézanne portrait was like watching a James Cameron movie: you’ll be sitting for hours and will probably not know what’s going on. After some convincing, Paul’s father agreed to do the portrait but would periodically begin reading the newspaper after becoming impatient. What’s funny about this specific painting is Paul played a practical joke on his father by switching the actual newspaper he was reading with a different newspaper who had favorably reviewed his work. I won’t go into a history lesson but this would be like Glenn Beck reading Huffpost. This small practical joke and their relationship make this a truly heartwarming tale.

Thank you to all the dads out there who emulate the best and reject the worst, and a personal thank you goes to my dad. Without him, I wouldn’t be half the person I am today. So, take a moment this Father’s Day for the father figure in your life and tell them you appreciate them for (hopefully) not being anything like Paul Gauguin.

By Austin Turman

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: New Year’s Eve Games; Eichel; Nylander; Vrana; Jost; Look Back on 2018 – January 1

  We had 13 games on the NHL schedule, Canada/Russia for first place in their group at the World Juniors, and even had Team Canada in the final at the Spengler Cup, so it was a busy day to say the least in the hockey world. Let’s get to the news first.

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This came across my timeline in anticipation of the Oilers press conference, and it made me laugh:

  Today's the day pic.twitter.com/qedNYvBvFB

— Oiler Moe (@V2Hero) December 31, 2018

  You probably need to be over 30 to get that one. 

Of course, aside from some of the games, the Oilers press conference was the focal point of the day. Honestly, not a lot was said. GM Peter Chiarelli talked about how hard it is to acquire a puck-moving defenceman and how he knows the players he picked up aren’t “sexy.” I was expecting more in-depth questions from the media but we never got them. It sure felt like he’s not done trading, which is weird because I can’t imagine him being the GM next year, in which case why is he still allowed to make trades?

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Speaking of the Oilers, they’re saying Kailer Yamamoto is day-to-day right now.

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Tyson Jost played the Avs game, or at least started the Avs game, on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. I’m not sure it lasts, but it’s interesting for now.

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With Jack Eichel missing practice Sunday there was concern he would miss Monday night’s game against the Islanders but he was back in his usual spot on the top line for the contest. Phil Housley officially had him as a game-time decision. He did leave the game about halfway through the first, though, and did not return. After the game, Housley said it shouldn't be anything too serious. 

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Kevin Shattenkirk returned to the Rangers lineup though if he’s not on the top PP unit, his fantasy value is middling at best.

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Robby Fabbri played his first game in over four weeks, returning to the St. Louis lineup for their home game against the Rangers. Now, with the way the Blues have been playing lately, posting 6 wins in 10 games, the lineup wasn’t going to be shuffled much so Fabbri was slotted on the fourth line. All the same, as long as he can stay healthy, it shouldn’t be long until he works his way up the lineup.

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Canada lost the Spengler Cup in a shootout. Zach Fucale had a pretty good game, as did Zach Boychuk. Oh the names you hear…

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Canada and Russia played a very un-Canada/Russia-like game at the World Juniors on Monday night. It was a 1-1 game less than six minutes into the first period, and it stayed that way until the final 10 minutes of the third period when Pavel Shen made it 2-1 Russia, which was the final. 

The most entertaining aspect of the game may have been the back and forths between Max Comtois and Klim Kostin, the former for being a little, let's say, exaggerated in his actions. 

I say that facetiously. This was a game that featured a lot of chances, including breakaways, posts, and odd-man opportunities, and yet stellar goaltending kept it close. Wouldn't mind seeing a rematch in some game down the road. 

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The line of Evgeny Kuznetsov–Alex Ovechkin–Tom Wilson was reunited in the third period of their 6-3 home loss to the Predators on Monday afternoon. That was the line often used before Tom Wilson’s suspension (no, not that one, the other one… no not that one either… ah forget it).

Jakub Vrana scored his 12th goal of the season in the loss, and none of the 12 have come on the power play. That goal pushed him into the top-15 forwards league-wide in goals per 60 minutes at 5v5. Since the start of the 2017-18 season, he’s top-30 among all forwards (minimum 1300+ minutes over the last two years). He’s turning into the goal scorer some of us have hoped for.

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William Nylander was back alongside Auston Matthews in practice after skating with him in their game on the weekend. It seems inevitable that duo is put together for good and maybe this is the start of it. Then again, they don’t play for a few days so there’s lots of time for things to change.

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College signee forward CJ Smith was called up by Buffalo on Monday. He has 73 points in 90 career AHL games. You can read his Dobber Prospects profile here.

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Connor Carrick returned Monday night for the Stars, his first game since before Halloween. This isn’t huge for fantasy owners in and of itself, but remember that Carrick and Miro Heiskanen played extremely well together early in the year (Carrick skated with Julius Honka on Monday night, for what it’s worth). If Carrick returning can give the Stars a legitimate puck-moving pair that doesn’t include John Klingberg, it could go a long way in helping to generate more offence for the forwards that are, ahem, horse poop.

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An update from the Flyers states that goaltender Brian Elliott may return before the end of January, or pre-All Star break. With that said, as long as Carter Hart remains healthy and can keep up the .915-.920 goaltending he’s been providing, giving the Flyers a chance to win every night, he’s not leaving the starters’ role (well, before the New Year’s Eve loss when he was pulled in the second, anyway).  

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In response to the injury to defenceman Dustin Byfuglien that looks like it may be a long-term injury, the Winnipeg Jets recalled blue liner Sami Niku. Expect Josh Morrissey and Jacob Trouba to carry a huge workload (the former getting the PP time), but Niku will have a real chance to make a case that he should be a part of this team even when Byfuglien is back.

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Anthony Mantha skated with the Red Wings in practice on Monday but isn’t quite ready to return yet. With that said, he could be back as early as this weekend as he finishes his recovery for a hand injury.

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Phil Kessel had a goal and two assists in Pittsburgh’s win over Minnesota. Those three points give him 46 in 39 games this year, putting him on pace for a career-best 96 points. All those rumours from a couple months ago about Kessel being traded after a slow start have suddenly gone quiet. Funny, that.

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The top line for the Flames, at time of writing, have combined for 13 points in their beatdown at home against the Sharks. Johnny Gaudreau had five of them, pushing him to 56 on the year. He's well on his way to smashing 100 points. 

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Pierre-Luc Dubois had four points in Columbus's 6-3 win over Ottawa, finishing with two goals and two assists. That’s his first four-point game of the season, his 10th multi-point game, and he’s now four goals away from 20 with over half the season to go. A pretty good sophomore performance, helped by playing most of the time with two pretty good wingers.

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On Boxing Day, Dobber posted a Ramblings covering calendar 2018, with everything from leaders in hits to takeaways and a whole bunch more. Click his Ramblings and check out the Dobber Tools he used to run those reports. It’s pretty neat to see who did what in one simple list.

I wanted to do something a bit different and talk about individual teams in calendar 2018. Now, these necessarily won’t include the games from New Year’s Eve, but it’ll give a very good idea of where teams stood for a year. Here we go (some data from Natural Stat Trick).

  Top-3 Teams In Power Play Goals: Colorado, Tampa Bay, Boston

It’ll never, never, make sense to me that when certain teams look at the elite power play units, the coaches say, “we won’t emulate that.” Aside from Vegas (10th), and Toronto (9th, and for half a season), the entire top-10 power play goals by a team were filled with teams the use one stacked PP unit. We’re talking the teams already named, plus Florida, Winnipeg, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Washington. And yet, there are still teams with loads of talented players (Nashville and St. Louis come to mind) where they don’t do this. And they stay having middling-to-bad power plays.

By the way, the bottom-3 teams in PP goals were Edmonton, Anaheim, and Detroit. Not sure any of that is surprising.

  Two Teams To Score At Least 3.00 Goals/60 Minutes at 5v5: Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh

I’m old enough to remember the start of the 2017-18 season and the Pittsburgh Penguins not being able to buy a goal at 5v5. In fact, through the first 40 games of the 2017-18 season, Pittsburgh was last in goals per 60 minutes. Lower than Arizona, lower than Buffalo. Well, something changed when the calendar rolled to 2018 because they’ve been the offensive juggernaut we expect.

  Two Teams to Allow Fewer Than 2.00 Goals/60 Minutes at 5v5: Nashville and Anaheim

I don’t think it would surprise anyone that Nashville has the lowest goals against rate at 5v5 in calendar 2018. I think it may surprise some people that Anaheim was the second-lowest, especially with how bad the first two months of the 2018-19 season was for the team, outside of John Gibson.

And that brings me to the point: where’s the clamouring for Gibson as MVP this year? All the usual names like Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, and Nikita Kucherov are constantly brought up. What about Gibson? Night after night through two months of the 2018-19 season this guy was getting bombarded and he kept this team in and around a playoff spot (where they currently sit). He faced over 34 shots per game for 22 games and posted a .929. He deserves serious Hart consideration.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-new-years-eve-games-eichel-nylander-vrana-jost-look-back-on-2018-january-1/