#it kind of drives me crazy that in the grand scheme of things you guys probably know like…30% of charis’ character. the tip of the iceberg

[thetwilightroadtonightfall]

I just wanted to mess around with some paper backgrounds I downloaded but I’ve also been (re-)listening to this song lately. It’s one I’ve loved for a long time and then it sorta smacked me in the face once I realized how fitting it is for Charis

[irenedubrovna]

A post regarding Euphoria for the benefit of myself and basically no one else

So, it really bothers me when people say Euphoria is groundbreaking, progressive media. Here’s a dissection of why I don’t think it is, because this is what I feel like doing at work:

The character of Rue is objectively great. She by far receives the least overt sexualization, and is treated neutrally in terms of active sexuality. She’s treated like a normal teenage girl with mental issues and an addiction to drugs. She falls in love with a girl who she pines for and places on a pedestal. The reason I think she is written this way is because she is a Sam Levinson proxy. She written with gender ambiguity and with little regard to the experiences she’d go through as a black gay female, probably because Sam Levinson has no insight to that aspect of life. Her performance is heightened of course by Zendaya, who breathes unique life to the Sam Levinson’s artistic extension, and without her performance this show would not get even half the acclaim it gets. Attribute that to Zendaya of course, because the director has done little to deserve this acclaim.

The rest of the females, sans Lexi, are pornified to a disgusting extent, not only due to the fact that they are supposed to be underage, but also because their existence as people is treated as being absolutely secondary to their sexual appeal. They are foremost presented in terms of their relation to sex. Cassie, Maddy, Jules, and Kat cannot be removed from their sexuality without disrupting the plot or their journeys in relation to the plot. Why are the females so intrinsically linked to uber fetishized versions of female sexuality, or uber fetishized versions of blossoming female sexual identity?

Maddy is presented not only scantily clad 90 percent of the time, but also dressed in a precariously unattainable sexual fashion. At any given time she is styled to look straight out of, simultaneously, a high fashion editorial, and a “barely legal” porno. She is airheaded and profane, and promiscuous, her mannerisms dictated by the adult films she’s “studied” in order to project an image of perfect hyper sexual femininity. She’s complacent in becoming a prototypical housewife because it will earn her a comfortable place as a trophy wife. She has no aspirations beyond that. So, let’s unpack all of that. Maddy’s role in the show is mostly passive. The most active thing she does in the plot is revenge fuck a man in the pool of a party. Nearly everything else she does in the show that is plot relevant is of someone else’s volition. Even less of what she in the show is related to anything other than a man. She is abused and then pressured into framing another man for said abuse. She has no agency as a character. The only notable difference to this rule is when she takes drugs at a carnival, knocks a pot of chili over, and calls her ex’s mom a cunt. Removed from her active sexual life and carefully cultivated aesthetic, she’s a trite stereotype of an unambitious girlfriend who gets treated poorly. I see people call Maddy iconic, but if she wasn’t gorgeous and well dressed, I doubt anyone would even think twice about her, let alone create fancams and Instagram pages dedicated to her. She exists as a plot device, and as pretty set dressing to build up the shows aesthetic. Her emotions are not well explored, her motivations are sexist, and she is often there to be demeaned, objectified, or to say a bad word. The most damning part of her involvement in this show is her episode where it is stated that she, as a fourteen year old girl, lost her virginity to an adult man, and it is stated she was in control of the situation. This is a dangerous thing to say about a character, to any audience, but especially a young one. To imply that a precocious young girl was in control during her first sexual encounter with a much much older man implies things that frankly border on rape apologist ideology. This show states this unflinchingly and with no further elaboration. If there’s one thing that tells you that Euphoria is a bad show, let it be that. Also, if there’s one thing that tells you about Sam Levinson as a person, and the way he views girls and women, let it fucking be that.

Jules is a young trans girl. She also likes to have sex with men as a means to “conquer femininity”. Scratch that, she likes to have degrading sex with older men in order to “conquer femininity”. This mindset is shown to be toxic, of course, but I think the problem with this idea in general is that there’s no deeper exploration for what this mindset means. It implies that she believes women are the sum of their intrigue and degradations. This mindset I can only assume would be a cultivation of dysphoria and internalized misogyny, which this series is absolutely not prepared to address in a tactful manner. Jules is a teenager with mental illness, trauma, and is undergoing an identity crisis. There’s something powerful in her character, something worth saying, however we only get trimmings of those meaningful things, and are ultimately left with a hurtful depiction of a trans girl because all of her musings on womanhood and identity are incomplete, and they fail to reach beyond the surface of their thesis statement. She wears colorful clothing, is overtly feminine and artistic in her presentation. Everything about her screams insecurity over her own womanhood. That is the crux of her character. Now, I think we should ask ourselves, is trans person who is insecure about their identity peak representation? Is this what trans people deserve? Is it “groundbreaking “? If this show was run by someone else, I might be inclined to say that there’s nothing insidious about this, but this is the guy that made Assassination Nation, so I think we know what he thinks of young women, the way they should be portrayed (that is, for the capitulation of a man) and realize his inclusion of a trans woman in his cast is no more meaningful than the inclusion of any other woman. Women to him are made to be categorized and should, at the end of the day, be easily palatable for the capitulation of a man. The device of having Jules being interested in older men and rough sex for identity reasons is transparent. Trans women are exploited and objectified with a similar fervor to cis women, the caveat being that they are “a forbidden fruit” of sorts to straight men. Jules is sissified, her presentation fetishistic. Her role in the plot is more involved. Her relationship with Rue is sweet, though toxic on both sides. She is ultimately betrayed, blackmailed, and snowballs into something of a manic episode, all well portrayed by Hunter Schafer, but I don’t think her inclusion in the show absolves it of any of its many sins.

Let’s talk about Cassie. Cassie is the Eurocentric beauty standard exemplified. She is the blonde haired blue eyed girl next store, and her boobs are of course always on display. She is notably promiscuous, something I say right off the bat because that’s how she’s introduced, as a so called slut through the words of the devil (Nate Jacobs). She is a girl with daddy issues, which we are all familiar with at this point. Her sexual boundaries begin and end at the whim of her partner. The terms of her consent are much like the terms of consent of many young girls brainwashed by society and the rising tide of degradation porn: everything is alright as long as you provide them comfort and affirmation afterward. You can touch them roughly without asking, you can use them as a tool to affirm your masculinity. This is the way men prefer their women now: just broken enough to say yes to anything they want. It’s become a joke at this point. Men like girls with issues, but only the ones that will feed their own desires. Cassie Howard is meek. Her inclusion in the plot I suppose ties to themes of drug addiction and how it divides and destroys the people you love. It doesn’t show what it does to her beyond shaping her sexual encounters, which is no surprise. Overall I’d say Cassie is in this roster of females as the most traditional categorically, in relation to how men view women and further how they sexualize them. She has a relationship with someone who doesn’t really love her. That mostly what she does here. Gets used. Doesn’t drive the plot or conflict much. More pretty set dressing. More aesthetics. How this show consists of so many women but is driven so much by men is unsurprising, and, again, very enlightening in the grand scheme of things.

Lastly we touch on Kat. I’d like to begin with the fact that self actualization through sexual exploration, in a show run by a man, is just a cloak for a woman to gratify the audience with her sexuality. Regardless of whether or not she is plus sized, this is overt objectification. She is on this show to be sexy. Beyond that, the fact that a minor using sex work as a form of liberation is disgusting. Whether or not she is portrayed as “owning” her sexuality is negligible, and speaks to the same mindset discussed with Maddy. Minors cannot fucking consent to sex, sexual acts, or anything within the confines of such. It’s crazy that this occurs with two different characters in such a similar way. It has echoes of “Well, she looked older..” and “Well, she wanted it..” or “She’s advanced for her age”. Never, not once in the events of the series is there meaningful introspection on what doing this kind of thing does to a minor. Moreover, these acts are explicit, and made clearly for sexual gratification. None of these things are absolved by the fact that she’s plus sized. If anything, her body type is fetishized in this context. It’s also another case of a “good girl to bad girl” transformation, which are archaic and, of course, sexist. With the rise of adult websites targeting minors for explicit content, this is even more reprehensible. Once again, in terms of representation, is this really what speaks to you as progressive? Groundbreaking? A girl gains control of her own narrative by having sex with lots of men. She gains control by being sexy. She gains control by dehumanizing and objectifying herself. No she doesn’t. Media controlled by men will tell this story to you thousands of times, don’t listen because she’s bigger than a size four.

ALL OF THESE CHARACTERS ARE UNDERAGE. ALL OF THEM HAVE EXPLICIT SEX SCENES, EVEN THE SEXUAL ASSAULT IS MADE CINEMATICALLY PORNIFIED. THESE SHOTS ARE MADE TO BE OBJECTIVELY SEXY. THIS IS NOT A CASE OF SOMEONE CREATING SOMETHING FOR THE SAKE OF REALISM. IT IS ABOUT MAKING SCENES THAT SPEAK TO A MALE AUDIENCE. THAT CATER TO THE MALE GAZE. ARGUE WITH THE WALL.

I won’t go further into the plot, other characters, or the structure or the episodes for sake of brevity, but I felt compelled to air my thoughts on this to the void. I can only hope I was critical enough that Sam Levinson will one day see this and cry because another bad feminist thinks something that he made sucks

[unwrittenlibrary]

Fine Line

Summary: There’s a fine line between love and hate and you’re not too sure which side you’re on with Harry anymore. Part Two to What Kind of Man 

Words: 5.0k

Warnings: I said this in the first part & will repeat it. This is purely fictional. This in no way reflects how I feel Harry would handle this situation in reality. I’m really using Harry as a character. DO NOT READ THIS if you feel the situation of cheating and staying together will impact you strongly or offend you. That is not what I want when reading my story. 

Notes: I urge those uncomfortable with cheating to avoid this. I also urge those who dislike this kind of writing to avoid. I came up with this story at a point in my life where my parents were divorcing, I was going through a break up and was lost. I’ve decided to finish this story because I put so much effort into it for it to end unfinished feels wrong. I can’t speak for anybody and how they would handle this situation. 

Thank you for 1000 followers. That is crazy! 

-

You’ve got my devotion. 

But man, I can hate you sometimes.

...

You sunshine, you temptress.

My hands at risk I fold.

-

April. 

The first two sessions had gone by in relative silence. You weren’t sure what to say to answer the therapists questions. You weren’t sure you even wanted to talk at all. 

“Y/N.” You look up startled out of your thoughts. “Do you feel like talking today?” Her eyes are kind and understanding. Her degrees hang behind her head and you zone in on them. Dr. Walsh had been the only therapist who could take you on in April. Any others that you called had informed you their next opening for new patients wasn’t until the end of May. 

You supposed it could have been worse. So far, Dr. Walsh had come across as kind and understanding of your hesitance. She had never forced you to talk and had only tried to get you involved on your own accord. 

“What would we talk about?” You ask instead of ignoring in silence like you had the past two sessions. You can see Harry turn his head to look at you out of the corner of your eye, but you remained focused on the two degrees hanging behind Dr. Walsh’s head. 

UCLA. “What year did you graduate?” You ask before she can answer your original question. “From UCLA.” 

“We can talk about whatever you want. How you two met. Your kids.” You raise an eyebrow and she smiles. “1996.” 

“I thought we were supposed to talk about our issues. Why would we talk about our kids or how we met?” You answer her question. You can tell Harry’s eyes are moving back and forth between the two of you, like he’s unsure if he should get involved in the conversation. 

Dr. Walsh shakes her head. “Sometimes the best place to start is with what makes you two happy. You’re here to work on your relationship, right?” 

The two of you nod. “Then I’m not worried about starting with the most painful part of your relationship. I want to learn about it. If I can learn about your relationship then I have more knowledge on how to help you repair it, if that’s what you want.” 

“Okay.” You agree. You feel some of your tenseness fade away. You were here for a reason. “We went to UCLA too.” 

She nods. “You did? Were you studying the same thing? Is that how you two met?” 

You look down at your fidgeting hands and let out a laugh. “Not quite. I was a creative writing major and Harry was political science. We met in a World History course our sophomore. It was a general requirement class.” 

“Yeah.” Harry nods as if the memory is coming back to him. “Professor Ward.” 

“Mind if I sit here?” You look up and your breath hitches. He was handsome. That was your first thought. Bright eyes and a sweet smile that could take anyone’s breath away. 

You nod hastily. “Yeah. It’s all yours.” You move your notebook over so he has a bit more room on his half of the table.

“Thanks.” He drops his books on the table and flops down into the chair. “Harry.” He reaches a hand towards you and you meet him halfway. 

You offer your name up easily and his smile brightens. “What brings you into a World history course?” He asks quietly as the last bit of students rush into the few seats left up front. 

You smile. “Creative writing majors have to take one broad history course before focusing on any history of writing courses. Ward’s class was the only one with openings that didn’t start at eight.” 

“Creative writing. That’s cool.” Harry’s spinning the pen in between his fingers. “You want to be a writer?” 

You smile nervously and nod. “That’s the goal. What brings you to Ward’s World History?” 

Harry laughs softly. “I’m a political science major, this is just a required gen ed.” 

“Political science. What’s your plan with that? Am I sitting next to a future senator?” You give him a teasing smile. 

“Lawyer.” 

You shrug, “Senators have to start somewhere.” The professor comes in and that halts the conversation from going anywhere else. As Professor Ward goes over the syllabus you see a piece of paper slide across the table towards you. You look over at Harry, but he’s looking ahead with a smirk on his face. 

You unfold the paper and there is a number written in messy handwriting taking up the small page. 

“Bold.” You whisper to him and he shrugs. “I can tell we’re gonna be good friends.” He whispers back. 

“So you both liked each other right away?” You look up as you're dragged out of the memory of meeting Harry. 

“Yeah.” You breathe out. “I think so.” 

“Definitely.” Harry agrees. “I’m lucky I was running late that day. The seat next to her was the only good seat left. Plus, she helped edit all my essays. I was a shit writer before her.” 

You smile softly at the memory. “Y/N?”  You look up and Dr. Walsh is watching you closely. 

“That class sucked.” You can’t help but let out a laugh. “We had so many essays. He’s right, he was a shit writer before me.” 

You finally spare a look over at Harry and he’s watching you with soft eyes. “That was our first semester of sophomore year. We were attached at the hip after that.” You look back down at your hands. 

“Did you guys start dating right away?” She asks.

“Pretty much. We started dating right before winter break.”  Harry answers for the both of you. 

She nods as she eyes the clock on the wall. “Does that memory still make you happy?”

You nod. Your memories hadn’t been ruined. But that didn’t really mean anything when you could barely be in the same room as Harry now. “Of course. But… Things are different. We’re not twenty-somethings with no responsibility. We’re parents. Partners. We’re supposed to have each other’s back. And now it feels like we don’t.” 

Harry looks over at Dr. Walsh as she studies you. She was obviously taking in your words and processing a response to them. “I think the biggest question you need to find the answer to is, do you want to fix this marriage?” She finally says looking pointedly at the distance between you two. 

You pause and mull over her question. “Can we fix it?” You ask quietly. 

She shrugs. “I can’t answer that for you. It’s my job to help you find the answer, not give it to you. What I can tell you is; Sometimes people walk out of this with a new appreciation and love. Sometimes people realize it can’t be fixed. Nothing is wrong with either, it’s just up to you two to figure out which one it is.” 

You look over at Harry and find him watching you with hopeful eyes. You knew he wanted to and felt like you both could fix this. 

But you weren’t sure. “I don’t know.” 

-

The drive home is silent for the most part. Music playing softly from the radio as you stare out the passenger side window. 

“I don’t know what to say.” Harry says as he pulls the car into the driveway. He puts it into park but doesn’t turn it off so the music is still playing as he turns to look at you. 

Gemma’s car was parked behind your own. You see the curtain move slightly which is a telltale sign that a child was peeking out the window. It quickly falls back into place when your eye catches Serena’s. 

You shake your head and look back down at your lap. “What is there to say?” 

Harry shuts his eyes and you see his grip on the steering wheel tighten. “I want to fix this. I’m trying. Do you want to fix this?” 

You let out a humorless laugh. “Don’t try and guilt me, Harry. I didn’t cheat, you did. This… This mess isn’t my fault and it shouldn’t be my job to fix it.” 

“I’m not trying to guilt-“ He cuts himself off and takes a deep breath. “That was a shitty thing to say. I know. I just want to know if we’re gonna make it through this. If you think we have a chance.” 

You look over at him with watery eyes. “I don’t know. All I can think about is you fucking another woman while I was home with our kids. Telling them that you were just busy. That we would have dinner tomorrow. Or maybe the next day.” 

Harry flinches like you’ve hit him. You turn away but don’t stop talking. “I know a month may not seem like a long time in the grand scheme of things. We’ve been together for seventeen years, so what’s a month?” You laugh humorlessly. “But how long have we been distant? How long have you been staying late and missing dinners?” 

“I don’t know.” Harry whispers and you see him clench his eyes in an attempt to stop tears from falling.

“It’s been months, Harry.” You look around the yard. Your and Persephone’s plants needed maintenance. “We had Jack and then everything changed. We stopped date nights. Family game nights faded from existence. We stopped having sex. I… I don’t know what happened.” 

Harry doesn’t say anything so you sigh. “I’m trying, Harry. It may not seem like it to you, but I’m trying.” You unbuckle yourself and move to get out of the car. 

Harry reaches out and wraps his hand gently around your wrist. “I know.” He stresses the word. “I know you are.” 

You nod and the two of you just watch each other for a moment. You break away from him first. “I’m sure the kids are peeking out the window. We’ve been out here long enough.” 

The both of you climb out of the car silently. The door flies open by the time you reach the second step of your front porch. 

“Mama!” Oliver comes flying out towards you. “Mama. Never leave us again. Baby Jack is crazy.” He grips you tight and you laugh, the tension immediately leaving your body as you hug him back. 

Gemma comes to stand in the entrance with Jack on her hip. She gives you a weak smile and you smile back. “Come on, I’m sure Aunt Gem is dying to go home after watching you crazy lot for two hours.” 

Gemma leaves quickly handing Jack off to Harry and giving you and Harry both kisses on the cheek. “Let me know about spring break, Y/N!” She calls as she rushes out your front door. 

“Spring break?” Harry asks as he bounces Jack in his arms. 

“We’ll talk about it later.” You say sparing a glance down to Oliver, who’s still attached to your leg. Harry nods before moving towards the living room. Oliver follows behind him and you’re left in the front hall alone. 

You take a deep breath before following them. 

-

Harry sleeps in the guest room. You can’t bring yourself to allow him back into the room you two shared. 

His clothes remain in his half of the closet though and his toiletries had remained in place on the bathroom counter, so you saw him every night before going to sleep. 

Dr. Walsh had suggested the two of you used this time to try and reconnect. “You don’t have to sleep in the same bed yet. It’s completely normal for you to need time apart, Y/N. But I do want you two to talk before bed every night, I know you have four kids and it may be your only true alone time to reconnect emotionally before you ever do anything physically, even just sleep.” She had offered at the end of your session after you had admitted you weren’t sure how you felt about Harry and your relationship now. “This is a good way to figure out if you can still see yourself together.” 

You loved him. You didn’t need her to help you answer that question. He was the father of your children. You had over a decade of amazing times together. But you couldn’t look at him without your chest aching. 

“What was Gemma talking about spring break?” Harry sits on the lounge chair you two had placed in the corner of your room. Jack’s bassinet used to be next to it, but he had recently moved into his own room. 

You sit on the end of your bed with your arms crossed over your chest. “Olly has been asking if we could go to Disney World. I was talking to her about maybe surprising him and Serena for their birthday since it falls during the kids break this year.” 

“That sounds really nice.” Harry smiles and you nod. “I’m sure the four of them would love it. I can put in for the week tomorrow. I have a bunch of paid time off I need to use up.” 

You look up at him with wide eyes. “You want to go? We haven’t been on vacation since the beach trip before Jack was born.”

Harry’s face turns stoic. “Of course I want to go. I told you I was going to spend more time with guys.” He walks towards the dresser you have pushed against the wall. “Here, pull your laptop out, let's book this now so we can get a good room.” 

You gape at him. It had only been an idea you were considering for the twins birthday. Although, it was coming up and you were running out of time to make a decision. 

“Are you sure you can get the time off?” You ask instead of listening to his direction. 

Harry nods resolutely. “Can I?” He points next to you and you nod. You lean over to your nightstand, where you had left the computer the night before while writing. 

You push it open. “I’m gonna go get Persephone.” You stand up and hand the laptop to Harry. “She can help plan some stuff with us, so we know what these young kids want.” You give Harry a weak smile and he nods. 

You shake your hands out as you make your way down the hall towards your eldest daughter’s room. You knock softly on the door, “Seph?” 

“Come in.” She calls and you push the door open. She’s got her show paused and is curled into her comforter. “What’s up, mom?” 

“Can you help your dad and I with something?” You ask hesitantly. “I know it’s late, it’ll be quick.” 

Persephone gives you the same dimpled smile Harry has, “Of course. I was gonna be up binge watching this show anyways.” She unwraps herself from the blanket and grabs her phone before following you back to your bedroom. 

“Hey, lovebug.” Harry gives her your favorite smile. One he’s somehow reserved solely for you children. Soft and bright while his eyes shine proudly. 

“Hi, daddy.” She plops herself down next to him and rests her head on his shoulder. He presses a kiss to her forehead and the smile that spreads across Persephone’s face is contagious. 

You take a seat next to her, so she is squished in between the two of you. “You know how Olly has been asking about Disney?” You ask quietly. You and Harry had put the twins down an hour ago, but Oliver was known to sneak away from his room for a cuddle with you. 

She nods instead of verbally answering and Harry pulls up the booking website. “Your mom had the great idea to surprise the twins for their birthday.” 

“Really?” Seph asks excitedly. Your family trips usually consisted of beaches or visiting grandparents. The last time you had been to Disney was when it was just the three of you. You weren’t sure she could even remember most of the trip. 

You bump her shoulder softly with an excited grin. “Really. Jack is old enough that he can get probably through a day there without screaming his head off. Aunt Gem said that she could come to help watch him so you three can have fun.” 

“That sounds awesome!” She lifts her head from Harry’s shoulder and looks at you happily. “What did you need my help with?” 

“Picking out where to stay. You guys are the focus of the trip so we want you to stay where you want to, not us.” You gently take the laptop from Harry and place it in her hands. “So tell us your top three and then dad and I will pick from there so you still get to enjoy some of the surprise aspect.” 

She scrolls through the website for a few minutes while the three of you sit there quietly. You glance over at Harry hesitantly. He’s looking down at your daughter with bright eyes. 

You quickly look away when his eyes move up to meet yours. “Okay. I added the three I liked the most to your favorites! Did you guys need anything else?” 

You both shake your head. “Just keep this a secret. It’s going to be a surprise.” You smile excitedly at your eldest. She had grown so much, but seeing the childlike shine of excitement in her eyes brought you a bounty of joy. She was still your baby. 

Persephone nods before handing the laptop back over to Harry. She presses a kiss to both your and his cheeks before hopping up and making her way towards your door. 

You give her a confused smile when she pauses and turns back around to face you again. She takes in a nervous breath before speaking. 

“It’s really good to be all together again.” The words are quiet and fearful. “Um. I love you guys. Goodnight.” She turns on her heel and bolts out the room and back down the hall. 

You gnaw on the inside of your cheek and look down at your lap. “I’m sorry.” Harry whispers. His tone is similar to her’s. Quiet and full of fear. “I love you all. I know I hurt you, but you are all my world. Those kids are what I’m most proudest of.” 

“I know.” You look over at his lap. His hands curled tightly around the laptop still open in his lap. “I never doubted how much they meant to you Harry. I know how much you love those kids.” 

You want to reach out and pull his hand into yours. Something you usually did when Harry was scared or nervous. But you kept your hand firmly planted in your lap, unable to give him that forgiveness. 

“I was never afraid of you not loving them. I was-“ You stop unsure of what to say. What were you afraid of? “I was afraid that I had given so much and you still wouldn’t have chosen me.” 

Harry looks over at you with sad eyes and you let out a humorless laugh. “Harry, I’ve never regretted having Persephone so young. I’ve never regretted being home. But, I just want you to show that… that you appreciate me.” 

“I do appreciate you.” Harry says quietly. “I’m so sorry I’ve made you feel like I don’t.” He places the laptop in the empty space in between you. You watch as he works through what to say, his tension clear in his eyes. 

“But…” He trails off like he’s still unsure of what to say. “I’m here. I want to be here. I want to show you that I appreciate you.” Harry takes a deep breath and places a hesitant hand on your back. “As long as you’ll have me.” 

You take a deep breath. “Let’s focus on this... I want the twins to have a great birthday and for Seph to have a great spring break. Things have been tough for them too. We can figure the other stuff out later.” 

Harry doesn’t say anything, just nods and pulls the laptop back towards him. You can tell he wants to though. That he wants to talk this out and get in deep.

You just can’t bring yourself to do it. 

-

“A family vacation can be very cathartic for couples struggling.” Dr. Walsh gives the two of you a kind smile after you reveal what you had planned for your kids. “But, it can also bring about stress at being in such a small space for such a long time. Especially when you’re still struggling to communicate.” 

“I’m really trying.” You say quietly, on edge at the idea of you and Harry bringing about any stress on a trip meant to be for your kids. “We both are. I think.” 

“I know.” She gives you an understanding look. “You guys do your homework. You said it yourself, your nightly conversations aren’t painful anymore. But talking about small things is only the beginning of strengthening your communication.” 

“So you want us to talk about the affair?” You ask. “The big thing.” 

She shakes her head. “Eventually. Sweeping it under the rug or ignoring it can only cause more tension. But there are other things I’m sure you want to talk about as well.” 

“Like what?” Harry asks. He glances over at you before looking back at Dr. Walsh. 

“Anything either of you felt was an issue.” She explains. “Big or small. Anything you think contributed to your distance. Try to remember, you’re not placing blame.”

“Not even for the affair?” Harry sighs and you shut your eyes. “How can I not place blame? That’s not my fault.” 

“No.” She agrees. “I’ve never agreed with placing blame for something like that on the victim. Do you want to start with talking about it?” 

“No.” You shake your head. “I just wanted to make sure we’re not finding all these so-called small issues so we can then excuse the cheating. I won’t do that.” You say disdainfully. 

“We don’t expect you to.” She glances over at Harry. He looks pained but he nods in agreement. “Of course not.” He says quietly. 

You take a deep breath in before nodding. “Okay, then where do we start?” 

“A lot of times, affairs feel like they come out of nowhere. They do.” She gives you an assuaging look. “But it’s also important to remember that there were issues before it and they’re still there to be worked through. We want to work through the big problem, but oftentimes couples work through that but not other things and end up separating.” 

You nod and take a deep breath trying to think through issues. Things had felt perfect during your pregnancy with Jack. 

You were excited, a fourth child and it was a boy, you and Harry had been hoping for another boy. Harry had even planned the small family vacation to the beach so you could enjoy time together as a family of five before it became six. 

“We argued.” You say quietly. The family vacation slips from your mind as your exhausted tears come to your memory. “Um. I had Jack and I was exhausted and we argued. It was barely even an argument.” 

“He still won’t eat?” Harry asks, coming into the bedroom. He was still in his suit from court and you feel angry heat flush through you at how put together he looked. How well rested and up he looked. 

You shake your head silently. Harry seems to not notice your tense jaw as he pushes his way into the closet to find clothes for the night. You turn to look down at Jack laying restlessly in your arms. Tears rush to your eyes as you stand and place Jack in his bassinet and finally get a look at yourself in the mirror hanging next to the closet door. 

You hadn’t showered since Persephone had left earlier the previous day and after running around to get the twins settled with Gemma and taking care of the baby all day you felt tense and gross. 

Harry comes out and smiles kindly as he watches you step towards the ensuite. “Can you watch him for a moment? I need a shower. I feel gross and it’ll help me relax. My nurse said getting tense makes it harder to breastfeed.” 

Harry looks down at his watch. “Something more important?” You ask before he can get a word out. “No. Just- I was supposed to hop on a conference call with Jeff, I’ll reschedule.” Harry tries to change the tone of the conversation, but you’ve already seen red. “Y/N, go shower.” 

“I’m sorry.” You say instead of moving. “I didn’t mean to inconvenience you with your child for half an hour.” You know you don’t mean the harsh words and that you’ll probably regret them all after you’ve taken a break but- “I’m home all day with him, but fuck if I ask you to watch him so I can shower.” 

Harry’s eyes widen at the cold tone. He crosses his arms defensively across his chest as he takes a step back from you, even though he was already several feet away. “I never said I was inconvenienced. You asked a question and I answered honestly. I don’t have a problem spending time with my own child, Y/N.” 

Your turn on your heel and stock into the ensuite and slam the door shut behind you. You hear Jack begin to fuss more and Harry’s whispers as he presumably picks the baby up. There wasn’t a time in the fifteen years you’ve had children that you’ve ever thought Harry didn’t want to spend time with his kids. You still didn’t. But the exhaustion and stress that you felt with Jack was unlike anything you’d felt before and Harry hadn’t seemed to notice. 

“It felt like you weren’t paying attention.” You say quietly. “It felt like you had no idea what was going on.” Dr. Walsh trains her eyes on you as Harry’s eyes flick around trying to figure out what argument you were talking about. 

“I’m sorry.” You say quietly. Jack is curled in your arms as he eats and a weight has been lifted off your shoulder. You feel shameful at the words that had slipped out in an attempt to make Harry notice how upset you were. “I know you’re not inconvenienced by our kids.” 

Harry turns his head to look at you. He had been silently typing out emails as you fed Jack, upset but refusing to leave your side. “What’s wrong?” He asks as he slams the laptop shut. 

You want to tell him. How stressed and anxious you felt. How much tougher being with Jack was than any of your other children. How insecure it made you feel. You should tell him.

But. 

“How could I tell you all that and not sound like I’m angry at our child? Not sound like an awful mother?” You choke on the words. 

Harry stares at you with what looks like pity and you turn away. You didn’t want pity. You wanted help. You wanted him to understand. “You don’t sound like a horrible mother. You sound tired.” 

“What stopped you from telling him this?” Dr. Walsh prompts gently as you and Harry fall into silence. Her eyes flicker to Harry as he watches you with the same sad eyes. 

You shrug. “I just wanted him to notice. I wanted to feel like he still noticed me.” You let out a breath. “We love Jack, but Jack wasn’t exactly planned. We weren’t sure if we wanted a fourth and had only just begun talking about it. When I found out I was pregnant and figured out how excited I felt, I knew I wanted to keep him.” You explain to the therapist carefully. “We decided that we wanted him, but he would be our last one.”

You think of the doctors appointments and heavy warnings that a fourth pregnancy could wreck havoc on your body. 

“But I’m not twenty-three anymore and the pregnancy was really tough on me. And Harry knew. So he took care of the kids when I couldn’t and he planned vacations for me before I gave birth and it-” You breath catches. “It felt like you didn’t care anymore once I had him because I wasn’t in danger anymore. But Jack is stubborn and I was struggling.” 

Harry takes in a shaky breath and reaches out to steady your trembling hands. 

It’s a start. You guess. 

-

“I didn’t realize how tough Jack was on you.” Harry says quietly that night. You had been dreading sitting in the awkward silence. 

You shrug. “Babies are tough. Persephone was tough because we were so young. Serena and Oliver were tough because they were twins.” Your baby monitor makes a sound and you glance over to see Jack stretching his arms. 

You sigh and stand up. “Jack was… Jack was tough in a way I wasn’t expecting. Maybe it was because I had four kids all of the sudden or because you started working more. I was exhausted all the time.” 

You leave before he can say anything in response, but you know he’ll follow you to Jack’s room. You push the door open quietly and hear Jack’s soft giggles. 

“Hello, handsome.” You whisper as he looks up at you. “What’s got you awake?” 

You pick him up gently and bring him over to the rocking chair placed in the corner of the room. Harry leans against the door jam. 

You rock back and forth with Jack in your arms and Harry watched with gentle eyes. You look up as Harry begins to speak quietly. “I wish I could take everything back. Just… Redo this past year.” 

You look down at Jack and run a gentle finger over his cheek. “You can’t. You don’t get redos in real life.” 

The room is silent as you rock your baby back to sleep and Harry watches. 

-

We’ll be a fine line.

-

Notes: Title song Fine Line. This is really a filler for the next piece, I needed April to get to May :/

A few things; I have them staying together written. While this has been my plan since I begun writing this part & the next, if it’s something people wanted, I could do two different endings.

Like I said, I wrote this at a low place for me and had always imagined it as some type of closure that I never got from my parents situation or from my ex. Cheaters suck. But, some people do work through it. Some people can’t. That’s the beauty of our autonomy, we decide. I got a lot (and I mean a lot) of messages urging me to be mindful of impressionable people who may read this piece & with that I want to say; Your situation is not this one. Some cheaters will always be cheaters. This is not in anyway trying to convince you that a toxic relationship is okay. Or that cheating is okay. Please remember this is fiction and not meant to do anything other than entertain you! This is a piece I wrote & a piece whose ending I choose. Thank you for reading. I love every single person who read What Kind of Man and thought, I want more of this person’s writing.

(please do not be mean to me, I write for fun & am very emotional thank u)

[sylvies-chen]

Test Runs

Summary: Matt agrees to help Sylvie babysit a 5-month-old Brian Cruz for the night to help Chloe and Joe out, and gets a glimpse at a life with Sylvie he thought he could only ever dream of.

Words: ~5.5K

Warnings: None?? It’s just pure baby fever and heart eyes and canon-compliant established Brettsey

Tagging: @fighterkimburgess Cíara, this one’s for you. I hope you enjoy your much anticipated gift— and some very long, plot-less tooth rotting fluff :)

A/N: I don't know what this is and I'm pretty sure I zoned out while writing this so let me know what you think of this because this is the least edited thing I've ever written lol

“Please don’t be mad at me.”

Matt’s in the locker room at the end of a tiringly long shift when he hears Sylvie’s voice coming from behind him.

Their shift has been filled with an endless amount of intense calls. House fires, a harrowing ambo call according to Sylvie, car crashes galore. He’s more than ready to go home and enjoy his next few days off. He and Sylvie had even agreed to make tonight a date night, staying in with a bottle of wine and watching a movie (or, in their case, not watching a movie). It makes him even happier to be done with this shift. Just a regular, normal, peaceful night.

That’s what it’s supposed to be, at least. Only he hears his girlfriend’s voice and, instead of its usual soothing effect on him, is filled with something tense and nervous. He turns around and lo and behold, Sylvie’s standing in front of him with a perpetual wince.

“Why would I be mad at you?”

“I may or may not have told Joe and Chloe I’d babysit Brian for them tonight,” she explains nervously, her palms stretched out flat against each other. “Which means I’m going to have to take a raincheck on that date night we’d planned.”

Matt instantly finds it hilarious that she’d been so worried to tell him about it. “Sylvie, it’s fine,” he assures her. “Date night can be any night, we’ll just postpone it for another day.”

“Really? You’re not bummed out?” “I’m extremely bummed out,” he corrects her, his hands flying to her arms and rubbing circles on them gently with his thumbs. “But I’m not mad. I just wanted to spend time with you after a long shift, that’s all.”

“I know,” she sighs. “I’m sorry. Joe just kept going on and on about how he and Chloe haven’t had a minute to themselves since the baby was born and I just remember thinking how, if that were you and I, it’d make me really sad not getting to have a night off with you.”

Matt swears his heart melts right then and there. Sylvie’s compassion is pretty much endless but when she mixes it with that adorably longing look in her eye, and with words like that? Yeah, Matt’s a total goner.

Things between him and Sylvie have been going so great. They’re going on six months and not a single day goes by where he doesn’t feel like the happiest guy in the world. He knows tonight is one of their only nights off between shifts and he’d prefer not to have to share her quite yet during those nights but Joe and Chloe are their friends, Sylvie was right to offer them a kind gesture.

So an idea forms.

Matt’s always been good with kids, he’ll never complain at getting the chance to look after one. Especially not when it’s with the woman he loves. Besides, he sort of loves the idea of spending the night watching Sylvie gush over Brian Cruz. She was sort of adorable with Amelia, he can only assume it will be the same with Brian.

So much for a normal, peaceful night. (Although frankly, Matt thinks normal is overrated.)

“What if I came with you?”

“What?”

“Yeah,” he nods. “What if I looked after him with you? I’m sure Joe and Chloe wouldn’t mind, I’d be more than willing to give you an extra set of hands.”

She gives him a puzzled, slightly skeptical look. “So you mean to tell me,” she starts, “that you want to spend one of your few nights off in between shifts babysitting a screaming, crying, spitting five-month-old baby, just… because I am?”

“That’s sort of the idea, yeah,” he chuckles. “I’m good with kids, I can handle a little spit-up. Besides, I’ll take any time I can get with you.”

Ok. So maybe that was a little cheesy. It still rings true nonetheless. Spending time with her in any capacity is good enough for him-- and he has a feeling this will be a lot of fun.

She seems to think the same thing too, and smiles sweetly at him. “How did I get so lucky?”

“You just are,” he shrugs amusedly and leans in to kiss her soundly, sinking into it for a minute before he realizes he shouldn’t get carried away when they’re in the locker room. He’ll save the PDA for Stella and Severide. When he pulls away, she moves to pick up her bag and shut her locker, the two of them ready to leave. “So I’ll pick you up then? What time did they want you there?”

“5:00. But I should warn you,” Sylvie warns teasingly with a pointed index finger. “I will be singing a lot of Wiggles songs. It will not be sexy.”

He lets out a chuckle from deep in his chest and Sylvie returns the laugh as she heads out of the locker room and to her car. Even when she’s gone, Matt can still feel himself smiling like an idiot.

Like he said: Sylvie Brett makes him feel like the happiest guy in the world.

“Hey. You’re in a good mood.” Matt’s about to get his own bag and leave when he turns around to see Severide coming into the locker room.

“Yeah, well, I’m on babysitting duty tonight,” he explains. “With Sylvie. Joe and Chloe needed some time off so she volunteered and I thought I’d tag along.”

“Uh-oh,” Kelly teases. “I sense a little baby fever coming on.”

“What? No, Sylvie’s not baby-crazy, it’s not like that.”

“I’m not talking about her,” Severide explains. “I’m talking about you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you. You’re a sucker for kids, man. You’ve wanted them for as long as I’ve known you. You’re going to have that little pipe dream back in your head by the end of the night, I’m telling you,” he warns, a shit-eating grin on his face.

“I’ll be fine,” Matt grumbles in response. “I think I can handle one night of babysitting. Besides, we’re just helping Cruz. Kids are something for down the line. Way down the line.”

“So you have thought about it,” Kelly replies victoriously, raising a single, cocky eyebrow.

“What about you and Kidd, huh?” Matt knows deflecting won’t work forever, but he’s not ready to admit to himself that he has thought about it, nevermind Severide. So switching the subject back onto his best friend seems like the safe option. “You’re the ones who are married now. You two haven’t thought about having kids?”

Kelly bites his tongue, blushes slightly. It’s a rare occurrence for him, but one reserved uniquely for all matters related to Stella. “Maybe,” Severide shrugs. “But we’re not talking about me, we’re talking about you.” Matt huffs, picking up his bag and shutting his own locker. “I can handle myself. I was just giving you a heads up in case you wondered why I wasn’t at the loft. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

Matt heads out after that making a beeline for his truck before anyone else can question him about this.

Severide doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He and Sylvie are enjoying their time together right now, taking things at their own pace. Matt’s not about to ruin that for some fantasy he had that’s slowly dissipated. After all, what’s the point in wanting kids if you don’t have someone you want to have them with? After Gabby, he’d given up on that until what was once a pipe dream became something completely irrelevant and blurry in the back of his mind. Besides, six months of dating is a little soon to be thinking about that. There’s about a million steps they have to go through first, a million milestones before kids would be in the question. So yeah. He and Sylvie are not in any rush. For now, Matt is perfectly happy to be able to wake up to her for as many mornings as he can. Just him and her. That’s always going to be enough for him, no matter what. His small fantasies are a thing of the past.

At least, that’s what he tells himself as he drives home to the loft and gets ready to pick Sylvie up. He repeats it over and over until eventually, it doesn’t feel like a lie anymore.

********

When Sylvie hops into his truck, she’s wearing jeans and an old graphic t-shirt. She figures it’s best to wear something she won’t mind dirtying a little. She explains this to Matt when they’re in his truck and he nods thoughtfully at her smart thinking. He even leans over to kiss her on the cheek while waiting for one of the traffic lights to turn red. Only then does it truly register in Sylvie’s head about what they’re doing tonight.

They’re really, truly, spending an entire night together with their friend’s adorable baby.

She really hadn’t expected Matt to offer his help tonight. She doesn’t need the help-- Sylvie knows her way around a five-month-old, after all-- but he’d offered it anyway which somehow makes it even sweeter. Joe and Chloe had been more than okay with it. There’s no one more decent and reliable than Matt Casey, after all. Together, Brian Cruz is guaranteed to spend the whole night being showered with love. She’s sure of that, so she’d obviously been thrilled to have him tag along for babysitting. Until the weight of it all sinks in, that is.

Things between them have been going so great. It’d taken them longer than she’d hoped to sort out their feelings but it’d made the release all the more satisfying. They’re here now, together. And even though they’re only six months into this relationship, she knows that she’s never backing out. This is it; for both of them. It adds an extra layer to her happiness, knowing that everything she does with him will be her last firsts. It’s wonderful and beautiful in all the best ways. They’re still fairly early on in their relationship though. She doesn’t have an exact plan for the future-- it’s the only thing she can’t plan out thoroughly, unfortunately-- but she knows six months is still fresh in the grand scheme of things. And whereas she thinks a kid or two might be nice, it’s still too early to have a conversation that’s that detailed with him. Up until now, she’d been perfectly fine avoiding that talk. Now though, it’s going to be the big, plus elephant in the room. They’re getting a glimpse at what it would be like to have a kid together. It seems silly, but she’s almost scared to let her mind wander.

She goes over it in her head quietly in the car. It’s not a big deal, she reminds herself. They’ll just look after Brian, have some fun, and put him to bed at a reasonable hour. And most importantly, under no circumstances will daydreaming about their future be allowed. Ever.

They reach Joe and Chloe’s house and Matt takes her hands as they reach the front door. She’s been quiet the rest of the car ride, ever since he kissed her on the cheek. She’d gotten so preoccupied reminding herself not to get ahead of herself tonight that it’d picked up his attention, but she gives his hand a gentle squeeze as they wait for Joe and Chloe to answer the door and he smiles, thinking nothing of her quiet mood.

“Hey,” Joe greets them when the front door finally opens. His face is beaming, and it really dawns on Sylvie how excited he must be for tonight. He and Chloe haven’t been out of the house for weeks, never spending more than five minutes alone without baby Brian Cruz. “Come on in.”

Sylvie flashes a friendly smile and lets go of Matt’s hand to step inside, looking around the place. Chloe’s putting her earrings on in the mirror, preparing the finishing touches of her date night outfit. Which, in Sylvie’s opinion, is gorgeous. Saying her friend looks amazing is almost an understatement. “Don’t you look fancy,” Sylvie teases from behind Chloe. “Sylvie! We’re so glad you two were able to make it,” Chloe cheers, leaning in to give Sylvie a tender hug and then doing the same for Matt. “Thank you so much for this. We owe you one.” “Don’t worry about it,” she hears Matt speak. “I think we’re both just happy to lend a helping hand, right?”

He looks to Sylvie with raised eyebrows, and she nods in agreement. “Yes, we really are. You two seriously deserve some time off.”

“You’re right about that,” Joe nods. “I thought being a firefighter would mess with my sleep schedule but it’s nothing compared to this kid.”

“Where is Brian anyway?” She asks.

“He’s in his crib right now, hang on,” Chloe tells her, stepping into the room next to them and pulling Brian out of his crib. The little boy sits perfectly against his mother’s chest, his feet dangling slightly. He’s wearing a onesie too, the light blue fabric covered with little robots. It’s quite possibly the cutest thing Sylvie’s ever seen and she has to fight back the urge to coo at him.

“Say hi to Auntie Sylvie and Uncle Matt, sweet cheeks!” Chloe coos to her son, grabbing his tiny hand and waving it at Sylvie and Matt for him. He can’t talk yet but he flashes a smile at them and it melts Sylvie’s heart. Man. Tonight is going to be amazing and yet so tough to get through. “So there’s fresh formula in the fridge but we just fed him so he should be fine for the night. His toys are all laid out on the floor if he needs tummy time and we normally put him to bed at 7:00. If there’s anything you guys need or any questions, just call us. We’re bringing our phones with us and the number for the pediatrician is on the counter just in case,” Joe explains to them.

“Got it,” Sylvie nods.

“Ok,” Chloe nods to herself, handing Brian over to Sylvie. The small boy fits just as nicely against Sylvie’s chest but he tries to turn his head as soon as she holds him, urgently looking for his mom. Chloe stands back, staring at Brian nervously. “I gotta go now, buddy. I’ll see you later.”

“It’s harder than you expected, isn’t it?” Sylvie asks her, already well aware of the answer. Leaving your kid with a sitter is tough, she imagines, especially when it’s your first kid.

“Yes,” Chloe admits, slightly pained. “I know it’s only a few hours but we’re going to miss him.”

“We’ll take good care of him, we promise,” Matt assures them, already moving closer to Sylvie to see Brian and let his tiny hand wrap around his thumb. “Thanks again you guys,” Joe nods appreciatively.

“Of course, anytime. Now go on, have fun, you crazy kids,” Sylvie teases.

“Alright, bye!” Chloe keeps waving until their front door is fully shut, leaving Matt and Sylvie in total silence.

Matt glances at Sylvie up and down, taking in the sight of her with baby Brian, and something in his eye lights up. It sends a warm tingling down Sylvie’s spine, but he just nods at her. “He really is a cute baby.”

“I know,” she raves instantly. “Look at how small his little hands are!”

“You’re just so tiny, aren’t you, little buddy?” Matt talks to Brian, wiggling his hand.

Brian giggles, his arms wiggling amusedly at Matt’s gesture. He looks over at the front door though, waits expectantly for Chloe and Joe to come back in. A few seconds pass where Matt and Sylvie watch as Brian stares at the door. It’s almost as if everything that happens next happens in slow motion. They watch as his face turns back to Sylvie, his twinkling eyes turning sad as his face sours. The wail comes next, matched with flailing arms as Sylvie feels his body shaking in her arms.

He’s not hungry, Joe said he and Chloe just fed him. And he can’t be tired since they haven’t done anything with him yet. So really, he just misses his parents. It’s not all that abnormal for a kid his age but it still hurts Sylvie’s heart, watching this little guy wail in her arms.

“Oh no,” she blurts out, slightly panicked. “Shh, it’s okay! We’re right here. I know you miss your mommy and daddy but they’ll be back soon, I promise.”

He continues to wail, sticking his hand out and wiggling to try and get to the front door. “Who am I kidding, you don’t understand what that means,” she mumbles under her breath, beginning to bounce him.

His wailing isn’t as shrill after the bouncing starts but he’s still crying at a volume comparable to 61’s sirens. She tries her best to calm him down but it seems unsuccessful. Dammit. Sylvie and Matt aren’t five minutes into this night and Brian’s already crying.

The reminder that Matt’s there is enough to snap her out of it. Only she turns to where he was not five seconds ago and he’s gone. “Matt?”

“I’m in here, just a second,” he calls from the family room. Sylvie moves down the hallway away from the entrance to find him. When she does, he’s hovering over a small, wooden chest and rifling through it. Brian’s still crying as she pats his back and offers soothing hushes.

“I think we just broke Cruz and Chloe’s baby,” Sylvie tries teasing, her face still making a worried wince. “Shh, it’s okay Brian. You’re okay, it’s okay.” Matt grabs something out of the chest, moving to close the space between him, Sylvie and Brian. “Here,” he tells her, revealing the little, plush blue and green robot in his hand. “I figured a toy might distract him.”

“Right, good idea,” she nods, turning to meet baby Brian’s eye again as he grabs a fistful of her hair. “Uncle Matt has some of your toys, you want to play with them?”

Sylvie turns him so he can see Matt, who extends the soft plush robot and wiggles it playfully.

“I bet you like that one, huh? He even matches your pyjamas,” Matt points out.

Brian instantly becomes mesmerized with the toy, his eyes sparkling as they follow it’s trail as it moves in the air. His cheeks are still glossy with tears but he sticks out a hand to clumsily grab at the toy. The shift from upset beyond consolation to pure fascination with something so simple as a toy robot is enough to astound Sylvie-- and, admittedly, send relief washing through her body.

As soon as her shoulders relax, she feels Brian relax in her arms too. He even smiles as she wipes his cheeks clean of the tears, pointing towards the toy and cooing incoherently. Matt keeps wiggling the toy and bobbing his head along with the toy, eventually handing it to Brian and letting him play with it on his own. He squishes the robot’s rectangular head, then mimics Matt’s movements with it and moves it around in the air. Sylvie watches in happy surprise. She’s about to move her head to send a bewildered yet appreciative look at Matt but when her eyes look up, he’s already looking at her. There’s a slight twinkle in his eye, similar to the one Brian had when he saw the robot. It’s nothing but pure wonder, and her heart skips a beat.

Up until now, she’d been trying to keep herself from getting ahead of herself. Apart from the logical reasons of it being really early and soon on in their relationship, Sylvie also just doesn’t want to freak him out with baby fever. But he’s staring at her as she coddles Brian, a smile dancing over his face, and it seems pointless.

Maybe she’s not the only one picturing them doing this with a kid of their own.

Maybe, he’s just as much of a daydreamer as she is.

********

Matt’s not trying to give himself away too much. He swears he isn’t.

But damn. If Sylvie with this little Cruz baby isn’t the most adorable thing he’s ever seen, he doesn’t know what is. It’s been an hour since they arrived at the Cruz residence. An hour since they’d walked in and immediately had to deal with a screaming, crying baby Brian. Thankfully, they mellow out pretty quickly after that. Matt and Sylvie pull out as many toys as they can and try to distract him. His tears dissipate as they play around, keeping the young child preoccupied.

Sylvie, as promised, even starts dancing and singing Wiggles songs. Matt started out singing and dancing with her but Brian had tried crawling away while they were both up so he’s now sitting next to Brian, who’s on his stomach on his mat in the family room propping himself up to watch the show as Sylvie keeps dancing and singing.

“The Big Red Car rolls along the street

And to all the people that we meet, we like to say hello

Say hello! To the people that we meet!”

Sylvie sings, spins around, and does comically dramatic gestures as Matt claps along with Brian, making a few sound effects himself to help out with the number. The songs are too catchy not to sing along, so he does. That just seems to make the baby giggle even more, and he tries crawling over closer towards Sylvie.

She finishes the song and does small but amusing jazz hands, practically out of breath. “That was exhausting,” she exhales heavily. “How’s that for entertainment, little guy?”

He coos and waves his arms around in the air, trying to cheer for her. Matt chuckles and claps along himself, keeping an expectant eye on Brian.

The baby keeps wagging his arms though, and when they realize he’s asking for an encore Sylvie leans over with her hands on her knees in exhaustion. “You want more of this?” She addresses Brian, not expecting a response. “We’ve been at this for nearly an hour, I’m getting more of a workout from this than from Foster’s infamous spin classes. How is he not more exhausted?”

“Different sleep schedule, I guess,” Matt shrugs. “Don’t worry, you can tap out and I’ll take over.”

“More romantic words have never been spoken,” she replies teasingly with a relieved groan. She wipes at her brow and moves to find space on the mat but instead of the encore, Brian turns to her.

“Oh,” Matt says. “Looks like he doesn’t want more singing and dancing after all.”

The young boy starts reaching for Sylvie’s hair, grasping at the blonde strands that fall just above her shoulders. He manages to find a fistful but Sylvie pulls him in closer so he can grab her hair without yanking it. “I think he likes you,” Matt points out with a grin. “Good, my plan is working,” she teases, resting her head ever so lightly on Brian’s head. “I’m hoping to work my way up to his favourite aunt by the time he’s two. I’m going to be your favourite, aren’t I, little man?”

Brian coos in her lap, smiling wide at Sylvie. But he looks over at Matt and reaches out from Sylvie’s hold to grab at Matt’s hand too. Matt’s heart melts.

“He seems to like you too,” Sylvie adds.

“Yeah, I’ve never met a baby with so much trust in people,” Matt replies. “And so many robot toys too. What’s up with that?” He gestures at the spread of robot toys they arranged in a row on Brian’s mat.

“I think Joe was hoping he’d get him interested in tech stuff like Otis was,” Sylvie explains, a wistful sigh falling over her. Matt gets serious too-- not a day goes by where he doesn’t think of their dear, fallen friend. Thinking of where Brian Cruz gets his name from is always a sharp reminder of Otis, and this new piece of information doesn’t make it any better.

Matt throws Sylvie a sympathetic look, which is returned. There’s nothing much to say to that, nothing but to let there be a gentle and solemn moment of silence as Brian wiggles in Sylvie’s criss-crossed legs on the floor.

The silence is broken when he crawls out of Sylvie’s lap, slowly finding his way to Matt. Somehow, some way, he can sense Matt’s heavy heart and reaches to grab his hand. Brian doesn’t try to lift it, just puts one hand around Matt’s thumb and one around his pinky. He looks up at Matt, his eyes twinkling energetically.

“I bet your mom and dad tell you all sorts of stories about Uncle Otis, don’t they?” Matt asks as he lifts Brian into the air. He giggles, waving his arms and toes in his little onesie. Matt knows the kid can’t talk yet but he takes that as a yes. When Matt brings him back down from the air, he presses a kiss to the kid’s forehead and pulls back with the small smack of his lips. It makes Brian laugh even more.

Man. He really is a cute kid. Maybe Severide was right, maybe Matt’s already feeling that little pipe dream of his coming back. Because he’s sitting there with this tiny little kid in his arms, having the time of his life as Sylvie watches them amusedly, and it feels like he’s getting a glimpse at their future. The idea of a family, one with someone he loves as much as Sylvie, feels so right. It’s enough to send a warm and electric feeling throughout his body.

“This is fun,” Matt admits to her, meeting her eye with a hesitant but hopeful gaze.

Sylvie pulls her lip in between her teeth, fighting a smile. “Yeah, it is,” she nods. “It’s nice, I’m glad you offered to tag along. It’s like a little test run.”

“Test run?” Her eyes widen slightly and her cheeks heat up ever so slightly, to the point where Matt thinks he imagined it for a second. “I-- I mean, for babysitting,” she backtracks, shaking her head. “You know, if Joe and Chloe decide somewhere down the line that they need more nights out.”

Matt’s heart skips a beat.

Sylvie’s a terrible liar. She knows it, he knows it, all of 51 knows it. He can tell when she’s fibbing. She gets all flustered, fumbles her words just like she is now. Only now, he can see right through it and it excites him beyond comparison. He can see it in her eyes: she’s been thinking about kids just as much as he has.

“Right,” Matt chuckles lightly, going along with it. “For babysitting.”

She knows he can see right through him and sucks in a sharp breath. She looks more hesitant than he does now. “I don’t know, a kid or two might be nice somewhere down the line,” she admits nervously. “Right?”

“It would,” he replies softly with a smile. “I’d be lying if I said I haven’t thought about it once or twice tonight.”

“Really?” When Matt nods, she smiles and her shoulders relax.

“Well Severide said I should probably keep that to myself but I don’t care.”

“I don’t want you to keep it to yourself,” she tells him firmly but kindly. “You, Matt Casey, are always allowed to share what you see in our future with me. Okay?”

“Okay,” he nods happily. “I guess this test run isn’t so bad then, is it? If we’re on the same page about things.”

“No, it isn’t.” Her eyes light up and it’s all the confirmation Matt needs that he’s not alone in his baby fever. Their eyes stay fixed on each other, a soft and exciting tension washing over them.

The moment, however, is interrupted by Brian. He’s still in Matt’s arms but Matt suddenly hears what is probably the quietest, cutest yawn he’s ever heard come from Brian’s mouth.

“It’s getting late,” Sylvie realizes.

“Yeah, his bedtime was…” Matt checks the clock and his eyebrows immediately shoot up. “Twenty minutes ago?”

Sylvie looks at the baby in Matt’s arms, surprised. “You really had a lot of energy tonight, didn’t you? You were dancing past your bedtime, little buddy!” “Well I don’t blame him, your performance was very entertaining,” Matt muses. “Maybe a little too good,” she realizes with a giggle. “Come on, let's put him in the crib.”

“Aw come on,” Matt pleads. “Just a few more minutes? I don’t think he wants to move.”

“You are a bad influence, Matt Casey.” Sylvie shakes her head amusedly. She soaks in the sight though and can’t resist. Brian is draped over Matt's chest, his head now resting on his shoulder as his eyes flutter tiredly. Matt’s hand covers the little boy’s entire back, rubbing circles on it gently as he stabilizes the boy. Sylvie bites her lip for the second time that night and Matt knows she’s going to concede. “He does seem to be comfortable there though,” she counters reluctantly.

“Very comfortable,” he corrects her. What can he say? He just wants to sit in this little fantasy of his for a little longer. He so rarely lets himself hope like this that it feels almost necessary to extend this for as long as possible. Besides, Brian Cruz is adorable, it’d be crazy if he didn’t think of a kid of his own-- at least a little-- while he’s here. “I, however, am not.”

“Well here, come up to the couch. That’ll be more comfortable for the both of you,” she tells him, her voice now hushed and soothing so as to calm Brian down and not interrupt his process of slowly falling asleep.

Matt carefully gets up and shifts onto the couch, Brian still in his arms. He leans back and lets Brian sprawl out against his chest. The boy is light, no more than 15 pounds, but it’s still enough to put a light pressure on Matt’s chest.

He doesn’t mind. In fact, it’s the opposite. He loves it.

Sylvie stands up too, clearing the toys off the floor as Matt watches Brian’s breathing, the rise and fall of the small boy’s chest against his. It’s weirdly soothing and he soon feels his breathing match Brian’s, his eyes fighting to stay open. The singing and dancing and playing around really took the energy out of both of them.

When she’s done, she looks down at the two fatigued boys, smiling gently at the sight before curling up next to Matt on the couch. She holds Brian’s hand with her index and her thumb, and runs a soft hand over his head, before Matt’s arm wraps around her shoulder and she tucks her head in the nape of his neck.

“That’s better,” Matt beams, a tired smile on his face. He moves to press a kiss to Sylvie’s forehead.

“Much better,” she agrees quietly. “But we shouldn’t stay like this forever. He’ll need to go to his crib soon.”

“We’ll put him there soon,” he tells her. “Just five more minutes, babe…”

********

Wake up.

She feels those words ring through her body like an alarm. It sends the lights in her brain slowly turning back on as she eases into consciousness.

The first thing she sees, just barely and surrounded by a tired blur in her vision, is Matt. Brian’s still on his chest, both of them sleeping soundly. She smiles to herself, noting how peaceful her boyfriend looks in this position. Everything feels so warm. She’s cuddled up next to him, he’s lying with the baby. It all seems so picture perfect. She revels in it, if only for a moment.

She looks up and realizes it’s been twenty minutes since they’d fallen asleep— and Matt had promised only five. For a minute, she considers waking him up and telling him to bring Brian to his crib. She decides against it though, choosing instead to cuddle back into him and relax.

Joe and Chloe are going to be back any minute now. But she’ll be damned if she doesn’t soak every minute of this moment in. Before they’d figured things out and gotten together, Sylvie had scarcely allowed herself to feel things for him, nevermind daydream about the life they could have. But she looks at them, sees how truly good and comfortable Matt is with Brian, and can’t stop now. It’s addicting, dreaming about her future with Matt Casey. She intends to chase that feeling like it’s her only fix, especially since now she knows he’s thought about it too. Her dreams are his; theirs.

To Sylvie, that makes for a pretty good test run.

She falls back into Matt’s embrace, the three of them dozing off. They don’t wake up again until Joe and Chloe come back.

It’s the first night Brian Cruz gets a full night’s worth of sleep.

[screechthemighty]

Resident Evil Brain is still going brrrr, so here’s a new short fic! I actually came up with the idea for it ages ago, but finishing up everything stays gave me some breathing room to finish it off. You can read the full story below, but I’ll also post it to AO3 (same user name as here) and include a link to that in the reblogs!

If it were up to him, he wouldn’t have slept. He would have powered through, gone after the next Lord. Stopping to eat was one thing; stopping to sleep felt wrong. Almost like he was giving up, or wasting valuable time that could be the difference between life and death for his daughter.

But Ethan had nearly tripped while catching a chicken to eat, and deep down he knew he'd just get himself killed if he didn't rest at least a little. He wasn't expecting that somewhere to be the back of the Duke's wagon, but the man had offered, and Ethan was too tired to complain. He kept the two flasks he'd managed to gather close to his chest as he curled up in his corner. "It's gonna be okay," Ethan whispered. He wasn't sure if Rose could hear him; the Duke had said her essence was intact, whatever the hell that meant, so maybe. It couldn't hurt to try. "I'm coming for you, honey. I promise."

He just needed enough of a nap that his limbs would stop feeling so heavy. Ethan's eyes drifted shut. He thought between the stinging pain in his hand and the memories of that awful house with all the dolls, sleep wouldn't come easy, but he dozed off pretty quickly.

He woke up to a feeling of dread seizing his body.

At first, he thought he’d had a nightmare, but...no, it was deeper than that. Maybe it was his paranoia, but something wasn’t right. Ethan carefully moved off the cot and crept towards the front of the cart. He could just see the Duke’s shoulder, and past it...

Black robes, the flutter of feathers, no, no, she couldn’t be here, not now.

The other man glanced over his shoulder, pressing a single finger to his lips. That was the only thing that kept Ethan from panicking. He thought about making a run for Rose, but that would mean making noise. It was a miracle that Miranda hadn’t heard him move the first time.

How hadn’t she noticed them? The Duke wasn’t exactly subtle. Ethan kept bracing himself for her to turn her head, try to talk to the Duke, maybe even try to hurt him. She did look their way at one point, causing Ethan to duck back behind cover, teeth clenched, trying to steady his breathing. But when he looked again, she just moved on. As if there were nothing out of the ordinary about the Duke being there.

No. As if she hadn’t seen them at all.

Ethan stayed frozen in place until Miranda was out of sight. Even then, he kept his voice down to a whisper: “Is she...?”

“She won’t be a problem,” said the Duke. Ethan was taken aback by the other man’s tone—not quite aggressive, but definitely hostile. “Not for now, at least.” And then, just as swiftly... “It’s good that you’re awake! I’ve just finished preparing lunch.”

That tone was gone.

The smell of food was the only thing that got Ethan to leave the cart; even then, he made sure everything was packed away and secure before he did. He wanted to be ready if he had to run. The Duke didn’t seem worried, though. He just served up the dish (Ethan had already forgotten what it was called, but fuck it smelled good) and started eating his own portion as if nothing were wrong. As if he hadn’t just had the one and only major change in his mood that Ethan had seen in the time they’d known each other. It wasn’t that long in the grand scheme of things, but when the guy had been so consistent up until then, it was noteworthy. Weird, even.

Why are you doing all of this?

Why, it’s all part of our first class customer service.

Or maybe it was personal.

Ethan sneaked a few glances at the Duke as he ate. The man seemed genuinely unbothered, but maybe he was just good at hiding whatever that venom had been. “How didn’t she see us?” Ethan asked. It felt almost rude to ask, but if he was throwing in his lot with this guy, he felt like he had a right to know. “She wasn’t too far away.”

“I’ve been in this village longer than she has,” said the Duke. “It seems to agree with me more than it does her.” He noticed Ethan’s immediate frown. “What’s the longest you’ve ever lived somewhere, Ethan?”

“The same...place? I mean, I was in Dallas for a while. Not the same house the whole time, but...probably Dallas?”

“Well, after a while, wouldn’t you say that you get a feeling for a place’s...essence? How it moves, how it breathes? You could navigate it more quickly than a person who hadn’t been there as long, could you not? Stay hidden in places and ways they wouldn’t know about?”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. “...we’re right out in the open, there’s nothing...” Ethan sighed. “You know what, never mind. This is sounding like a conversation I should be drunk for.”

The Duke laughed. It didn’t sound mocking, at least. “Well, if you find anything left to drink in this place, bring it back with you. We can split the bottle.”

“Maybe. Once this is over.” And as long as it wasn’t from Dimitrescu’s winery. That stuff definitely wasn’t just fermented grapes.

Ethan kept eating, trying to focus on the food and not on the questions still nagging at his mind. Nothing about this place made sense, and the Duke was high up there on that list. Even if Ethan was choosing to trust him for now...

No, I have to knw.

“So...you know Miranda? Maybe not personally, but...” Ethan glanced up at the Duke, carefully studying his nearly unreadable face. “...I take it you don’t like her very much?”

The Duke hesitated. Even though his face stayed impassive, that alone was enough to catch Ethan’s attention. He wasn’t usually so slow to answer. “I am not one of her devotees, no,” the Duke said. “Which means I can clearly see she is the root of much suffering in this place.”

“The Lords? All those monsters?”

“In more ways than you realize. They were people once, you know. They might be monstrous now, but they are monsters of her making.”

Ethan understood what the Duke meant. He thought about the Bakers. The madman that had cut off his leg versus the man with kind eyes who’d begged him to save his family. The shrieking banshee with her bugs versus a woman who could’ve been his own grandmother. He wasn’t sure if Eveline had ever been anything but cruel, but even if she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have existed if it hadn’t been for someone else’s greed. Even the molded had been people once. Ethan didn’t regret defending himself and Mia, never would, and he’d keep defending himself here as long as these people kept screwing with him. But...

How different might things had been if someone somewhere down the line just hadn’t screwed with everyone? Just left the Lords, whoever they had been once, and the villagers in peace?

“Yeah,” Ethan said quietly. He took his last few bites of the food. “Fuck that crazy bitch, huh?”

The Duke laughed boisterously. "I'll certainly eat to that."

Ethan didn't entirely relax. He wasn't sure he was capable of that. But he was able to relax a little. Even if he didn't know how, it seemed like the Duke's little setup was a safe place.

There weren't too many of those in this place.

---

Knowing what to say and when best to say it was one of the most important parts of customer service. It was the only thing that kept the Duke from saying more to Ethan Winters. The poor man had enough on his plate, much he had to grapple with, most of it beyond the scope of his understanding. Further truth might not break him, but it would cause him unnecessary stress.

There was much the Duke would have told him if it weren’t for that concern. What centuries felt like. How this little village had changed, people coming and going, living and dying. How many had tried to seize the power the mountains held. None had truly succeeded before Miranda, the self-proclaimed mother of this place.

The Duke may have long forgotten the face of his own mother, but he remembered enough to know what maternal love felt like. Whatever Miranda had to offer was not that love. Just a twisted perversion of it, as the Lords were twisted perversions of children. She was an infection in these lands, but unfortunately, one he could do nothing about. The Duke had a great many tricks up his sleeve, but he was only a seller of arms. He had never learned to use them himself. He had always been keen to supply those who might oppose Miranda, but none had succeeded yet.

Out of all of them, he felt that Ethan Winters had the best chance of succeeding.

It wasn’t just the man’s biology, though that was clearly giving him an edge. It was something else: the spark the Duke had in his eyes from the first second they met. Determination. Rage. The kind of drive that couldn’t be found in any mold or virus in the world.

And what better to defeat a perversion of parental love than its true counterpart?

Ethan kept his bag clutched close to his chest as he ate, the bag that contained two parts of his daughter. The Duke had heard him whispering to the flasks before he fell asleep, trying to soothe and reassure the child. Even now, as he paused in eating, Ethan hummed quietly. A jaunty tune, one that the Duke didn’t recognize. “A favorite song of hers?” he asked.

Ethan glanced up. “Oh, uh. Yeah. ‘Doctor Worm.’ Never too early to get started on good music.” He held the bag a little closer before finishing off his meal. “Thanks. For the food. And for...” He gestured. “Whatever it was you did back there. If you did anything.”

His tone cemented the Duke’s decision to keep some things from Ethan. He sounded exasperated by even a simple cloaking technique. The Duke’s true age would only elicit a similar response.

Maybe if Ethan survived this, when he had less on his mind, the Duke could tell him everything. His full, dark history with Miranda. The full scope of the horrors he’d seen. The horrors that Ethan would have put a stop to. But for now, the Duke took Ethan’s plate with a smile. “Do keep an eye out for more meat as you go,” he said. “It would be an honor to have dinner with you.”

“Yeah,” Ethan said in a quiet huff. “Assuming I make it that long.”

That was always a risk, of course. That Ethan wouldn’t make it. But despite knowing that...

“After what you’ve done, Mr. Winters? I think you’re more than equipped to handle what’s to come.”

And he meant that. He truly did. Even if it was to be the death of Ethan Winters...the Duke had a feeling it would be the death of Mother Miranda as well.

He just hoped he would be able to explain exactly how truly important that was.

[pixie-mage]

I don't know if i was supposed to send two characters for the same writing prompt but i'll try this since Rexy needs some love. 9 -L !

From this NatM Writing Prompt: [ x ]

(Either way works! We all love our Puppy-saurus Rex! ^^)

Characters: Rexy Adjectives: Lonely

~  ~  ~  ~  ~

From near his usual perch in the lobby, the skeleton of a tyrannosaurus rex watched from empty sockets as the museum’s night guard came tearing out of an archway on the right, being quickly pursued by a younger teen.

“You got the keys, right Nick?” the guard asked.

“Of course I did,” the teenager replied, rolling his eyes. “The only person Dexter plays ‘keep away’ with is you, Dad.”

“A simple ‘yes’ would have been fine, Nicky.”

The guard - Larry Daley - came skidding to a stop in front of the circular desk at the lobby’s center, slipping behind it and digging through a bag he had stowed there. He pulled out a single hockey glove and a goalie blocker, shaking his head in irritation as he did so.

“I thought the Mayans were past this,” he muttered. “They were behaving so well this week. And then this–”

Rexy approached Larry and Nick with his tail wagging, his bone already held tight in his teeth. He made a little whining noise in the back of his throat and bent down, looking to all the world like he wanted to play. He dropped the bone at Nick’s feet.

“Not now, Rexy,” Larry said, sounding distracted. He barely spared Rexy half a glance as he tugged on the glove, then tossed the bag to his son Nick.

There was a whirring as a small remote-controlled car sped into view from an archway on the left, through which sat the Hall of Miniatures.

“Get gaited, Laredo!” a small southern voice piped up from inside the car. “We’ve got a hell of a hootenanny goin’ on between the two halves of the hall. Them Mayans ‘re fightin’ like kilkenny cats. We had about twenty men downed by poisoned dart last I checked.”

“Tweny-four, to be exact,” a second voice spoke up, a miniature Roman General. “My men are diligent and our shields may be strong but the Mayans are an unpredictable adversary. Much like the Americans when we first were at war.”

There was a fondness in the last phrase. Not that Rexy noticed or cared, but it was there all the same.

“Now don’t you get sappy on me, ‘Tavius,” the cowboy scolded. “Keep yer head on straight. We’ve gotta get them Mayan boys under control ‘fore all hell breaks loose.”

“It already has, Jedediah,” Octavius said. There was a muffled thump from inside the car, followed by an “Ow!” from the centurion.

“Guys!”

The two miniatures stopped bickering, staring up through the tiny windshield of the car to meet Larry’s disbelieving eyes.

“Seriously?! Mayans. Bigger problem.”

“Of course, my liege.”

“You got it Gigantor.”

“Alright.” Larry nodded. “Nick and I will try and get as many of them back into Guatemala as we can. You two just - get your people to try and push them back.”

“Am I locking them up or are you?” Nick asked, already wearing a hockey glove and a blocker like his father.

“Uh–” Larry thought for a moment. “You. Better you than me, in case Dexter decides to show up for a round two.”

Nick giggled.

The remote-controlled car whirred back into motion, and the familiar noise made Rexy’s head perk up. Oh! He knew this game! He picked up his bone again and brought it over to the tiny car, tail wagging all the while. Play? Chase?

“No can do, Rexasaurus,” Jed shook his head. “We’ve got a group o’ crazy tribesmen to wrangle.”

Rexy whimpered, head tilting to the side.

“Not now, Rexy,” Larry reaffirmed, this time looking Rexy right in the eye sockets. “Later. Okay? We’re kind of busy right now.”

Rexy whined, but the group was clearly focussed on a much more important task. Larry and Nick took off into the Hall of Miniatures with the miniature car speeding after them as quickly as it could go.

The lobby fell silent.

Rexy’s tail drooped against the ground.

The dinosaur whimpered into the empty room, nobody around to hear his lonely plea. He just wanted to play. Lately, things in the museum had been so busy that Larry was always being pulled to every corner of the building...and Nick often spent more time with the huns or Ahkmenrah than he did anywhere else. Plus Jedediah and Octavius were most often seen together rather than apart, and though this used to mean they’d be happy to spend some time driving around the museum dragging a bone while their local Tyrannosaurus chased after them, it had become rather difficult to find them as of late. It had become rather difficult to find anyone to play with as of late.

And as for the rest of the museum...well. Rexy whimpered again and put his rib back where it belonged, circling the spot he stood a few times and settling onto the ground. He tucked in his tail and let out a deep sigh.

Many of the other museum occupants were still too afraid to get close to him.

With that sad little thought, Rexy  found himself dozing off into a light sleep in the center of the museum lobby, completely oblivious to the smiling faces that were watching him from a distance.

“He is asleep, I think.”

“So he is. This may be easier than we first thought, my dear.”

Creeping down the stairs on soft feet, Sacagawea motioned for Teddy to stay quiet and stay where he was. She approached the snoozing dinosaur and smiled adoringly once she was close enough to see that he was, indeed, fully asleep. She nodded up toward the balcony above where Teddy stood waiting. The former president was quick to join her in the lobby.

“I will go find the others,” Sacagawea informed him. “Could you seek out Larry and Nick? The Mayans were not part of the plan tonight, but I imagine they will be finished soon.”

“Of course my dear.”

Teddy took her hand, pressed a kiss to her fingers, and swiftly followed the path their night guard had taken a few minutes prior. Sacagawea smiled softly to herself. If given the choice, she would gladly indulge herself in spending more time with her love rather than send him off on a mission...but today was significant. She had a more important task to handle. With one last glance toward the sleeping tyrannosaurus, she vanished back up the stairs and down the hall.

~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Rexy awoke slowly an hour or so later. His tail quivered as he stretched, huffing a breath out his nose and yawning widely, his massive teeth bared for all to see. He thought, for a moment, he might still be sleeping...because the lobby was terribly dark. It was difficult to see, and as the dino got back to his feet, he was careful not to move too much lest he trip in the dark...or worse, accidentally step on a friend. What was going on? Where was everyone? Why were the lights off? Rexy made a rumbling, questioning noise in the back of his throat, confused and curious.

“Ready?” a quiet, familiar voice whispered from somewhere to Rexy’s left. He turned his head, trying to find its owner. “Okay...3...2...1…”

“SURPRISE!”

Lights flared to life throughout the museum, the sound of switches being flipped completely drowned out by the sea of joyous voices that had filled the air. Rexy took a step back, surprised and startled, trying to understand what he was seeing.

Everyone was here. Everyone. Larry and Nick stood by the front desk, Larry with one hand still lingering near the light switches. A sea of miniatures covered the desk’s surface. The huns were grouped off to one side near the eskimos, the cavemen were all making excited noises somewhere near the back of the crowd, and vikings, statues, civil war soldiers, and more were mixed among the rest of the museum’s inhabitants. A select few animals had been let loose to join them, Dexter among them, and Sacagawea and Teddy were standing side by side near the front of the crowd. Ahkmenrah was leaning back against the desk, and when things began to settle, he murmured something in an undertone to Larry behind him.

Larry nodded. He abandoned the desk and made his way through the crowd, a paper bag in his hand, a beaming grin splitting his face.

“Happy Birthday, Rexy!” he announced, drawing another round of excited cheering from the gathered crowd. Larry’s expression was bright and warm and excited, and when he finally reached Rexy he held up a hand to pet the dinosaur’s nose. Rexy leaned into it, more than a little happy to be on the receiving end of the night guard’s affections after so long of going without it.

Not that a few weeks was that long in the grand scheme of things, but it certainly felt like ages to the puppy-like tyrannosaurus. A rumbling noise started up in the back of his nonexistent throat and he leaned down to nuzzle his skull against Larry’s chest, his tail wagging happily behind him.

“I know we don’t know your real birthday,” Larry went on, scratching along Rexy’s jaw, “but I figured the day you arrived at the museum was as close as we were gonna get. One hundred years ago today. Can you believe that?”

Rexy leaned into the scratches, making happy little noises all the while, and Larry chuckled to himself.

“Ya like that big guy?” he smiled. “Heh. Hang on, I’ve got a present for you.”

Present? Present! Rexy sniffed at the bag in Larry’s hand when the guard held it up, eager to see what was inside. Present. For him? Really?

“Yeah buddy! That’s for you!” Larry said. Rexy nipped at the bag and Larry pulled it out of his reach, chuckling. “Hang on! Hang on, Rexy. Let me get it out first!”

Larry reached into the bag and pulled out what looked like the biggest dog bone in the world. It would be huge for most dogs, but for Rexy? It was perfect. The dinosaur crouched where he stood, in full play mode, his tag wagging wildly behind him. The onlookers grinned and giggled and laughed at his antics. Larry glanced back over his shoulder at them, his eyes sparkling. He returned his focus to the overeager puppy-saur in front of him.

“I know, you’re excited,” he nodded, holding up the bone with some effort. “But here’s the thing. I can give this to you now–”

Rexy made little rumbling noises at the prospect, dancing a little on the spot.

“–or! Hang on, buddy.” Larry stifled another laugh. “Or we can see what everybody else got you. Okay? There’s more presents from everyone, not just this one.”

Rexy looked torn. Play with bone, or get more toys. Bone. More toys. Bone now. Bone later? Toys now...toys later…

It was a very difficult decision.

Until the remote-controlled car came speeding into view.

“Hey! Rexy!”

Jed was practically hanging out the window of the car, waving his hat to get the dinosaur’s attention.

“Hey there big fella!” he called, grinning ear to ear. “Guess what we’ve got!”

The car raced past, driving straight between the dino and the night guard, and it was only then that Rexy’s attention was caught by the colorful toy being dragged by the car. It wasn’t as big as the bone Larry had gotten him, nor was it even a bone at all, but it was eye-catching and made jingling noises as it was dragged along, the colorful ball rolling and bouncing slightly in the wake of the car it was attached to.

Rexy was off and on the chase before Larry knew it, and he - along with the others at the very front of the crowd - had to duck to avoid the swing of the dinosaur’s tail.

Larry grinned.

“Rexy looks exceedingly happy, Larry,” a warm voice appeared at Larry’s side. “I think this party is already a raging success and it has barely begun.”

“He does look happy,” Larry agreed. He turned to smile at Ahkmenrah, who had come to stand beside him and watch the oversized puppy play chase through the lobby and front halls of the museum. “Thanks for the idea.”

“You would have thought of it yourself eventually,” Ahk inclined his head toward the ‘guardian’, smiling all the while. “You are rather creative yourself, and you care greatly for everyone here. It would have crossed your mind at some point I’m sure.”

“Still,” Larry shrugged, pocketing his hands and turning back toward Rexy. “He’s been so down lately. Thanks for the help.”

“You are more than welcome.”

“Dad! Dad! Dad!” Nick came up behind Larry, tugging on his arm. “Can I get Rexy’s new ball out? I think the car needs to recharge soon and–”

“You don’t need to give me a reason.” Larry shook his head with a smile and pointed toward the desk. “It should be back there with the other gifts. Just - try not to let Rexy pop it on the first night. If we can get it to last a week at least I’ll be happy.”

“Sure!”

Then Nick was gone, digging through the gifts with abandon. Somewhere in the distance, a whoop and a holler rang through the air alongside a shout of “ONWARD!” as a tiny car drove whiplashing circles around the giant dinosaur looming overhead.

~  ~  ~  ~  ~

The night had gone about as well as Larry and Nick had hoped. The ball Nick had sought out earlier was, surprisingly, still in one piece. The exhibits had had a fun time playing some form of “keep away” with Rexy, the ball bouncing and soaring back and forth over the crowd while Rexy tried to snatch it out of the air. Attila and his men had played tug-of-war with the dino at some point, the sturdy rope they had been using now shredded and sitting in a pile on the desk. Nick and Ahk had taken a few turns riding on the dinosaur’s back, much to the enjoyment of all involved. An oversized plush toy sat in Larry’s lap (courtesy of Sacagawea and the civil war soldiers) looking a little chewed on, but mostly still in one piece. He was leaning back against the wall at the back of the lobby, past the stairs, and Rexy was curled up nearby. He was gnawing happily on the bone from the beginning of the evening.

There was about an hour left until dawn, and some of the exhibits had already begun making their way back toward their displays. Teddy and Sacagawea were organizing a small group to help clean up the remnants of the party...and Larry would join them soon too. But first…

Larry reached over, rubbing his knuckles against Rexy’s nose. The dino leaned into the affection, a happy rumble bubbling up from somewhere near his chest.

“Did you have a fun birthday, buddy?” Larry asked. Rexy’s tail thumped loudly against the floor a few times, and Larry smiled. “I’ll take that as a yes.” 

The guard sighed softly. His smile faded.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been paying attention to you,” he said quietly. “I could just say that it’s because the museum has been more...lively than usual lately, but that’s no excuse to make you sad.” Rexy lifted his head, tilting it in question. “I know you’ve been kind of lonely lately, and I’m sorry. Some of the other exhibits noticed and told me about it. I’m sorry that I didn’t see it myself. Nobody should ever feel forgotten, alright? That’s - ya know. That’s Friendship 101, and I’ve been kind of a bad friend. Haven’t I?”

Rexy whined softly and nuzzled Larry’s head as gently as he could. The night guard smiled weakly and held up a hand to pat the end of the puppy-saur’s nose.

“It’s nice of you to forgive me, but...still.” Larry was quiet for a moment. Then– “I know I can’t always have time to play with you, same with Nick. I have a job to do and he’s my backup when things get hairy. But I’m gonna try to be better. And…”

He looked thoughtful, as if trying to decide if he should say anything or not.

“...and I know we keep other dinosaurs locked away in the B-wing. I’ll talk to McPhee and see if we can’t get you a friend on display out here, so you have someone to play with. Okay?”

Rexy panted happily and his tail whipped back and forth along the floor, thwacking the walls on either side in his exuberance.

“Okay, okay!” Larry laughed. “Calm down, buddy. I said I’d talk to McPhee, but it’s up to him. No promises! But I’ll try. Alright?”

Rexy bumped his nose against Larry’s shoulder, then flopped his head down right up against the night guard’s crossed legs.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

When the sun rose later that early morning, and when the first few guests began to filter in through the museum’s front doors, McPhee swore the sharp-toothed smile the tyrannosaurus wore was wider than it had ever been before. But surely it was a trick of the morning light...right?

~  ~  ~  ~  ~

[A/N: This was a lot of fun to write! I haven’t written much in the NatM fandom yet, so this was a really fun practice...and we all know Rexy deserves all the love. Hope you enjoyed it!]

[ouronlyangelhes]

Wouldn’t It Be Nice? Harry Styles One Shot

So this one is a combination of several requests so I hope everyone enjoys it! So much love and fluff!!

Request: Hanging out with James and his wife while Harry and reader are just friends but James’s wife thought reader already knew Harry’s feelings but spills the beans

Request: Where Harry falls asleep on reader on the beach

Request: Where the reader is stressed whether it’s from school or from Harry’s fame and he knows taking her to the beach will solve all her problems

Request: Harry waking you up watch the sunrise

When Harry invited you on vacation, you couldn’t say no. It was a week on yacht with Harry and some of his closest friends. You and Harry had always had this unexplainable connection. You were friends but it sometimes felt like you were more. You didn’t want to be the first to make a move because you didn’t want anything to get awkward.

You were excited for this trip. Maybe it was going to be exactly what was needed to see if your friendship would go to the next level.

“Are you excited?” Harry asked as he picked you up and was driving to the airport.

“How could I not be? A week on a yacht, I’d have to be crazy to not be looking forward to that!” You said with a smile.

Harry has always been good to you. He was always inviting you places and making you feel wanted.

“I guess you’re right on that.” Harry said as he continued driving.

When you got there, you swear you had never seen water so blue in your life. Everything that you were seeing looked like a dream. It was like everything had been taken out of a postcard. The sand, the sunshine, the water, all of it was so enchanting.

“Aye you two are here!” A very excited James said as he embraced both of you in a hug.

“Yes we are. How ya doin’ mate?” Harry said as he walked further onto the yacht.

“Even better now that you guys are here! Here come this way, I’ll show ya around. Ok so the kitchen and all that is here. Then, you guys can take your pick at whatever room you’d like. I don’t know what the sleeping arrangement deal is so I’ll let you two decide on what happens with that.” James said as he left the two of you to get settled.

Obviously James was implying that maybe you and Harry would be sharing a room, however that wasn’t the case. You grabbed the rest of your things and brought them into the room. The view outside the window was breathtaking. It was moments like this that you wouldn’t trade for anything.

You tried to get as settled as possible and decided to change out of the clothes you’d been wearing all day. After you had gotten changed you headed out to the deck to join everyone. Harry, James, James’ wife Jules, Jeff, and Glenne were all out on the deck awaiting you.

“I don’t know about you guys, but tonight I have a special evening planned for my wife. So I think we should just do our own thing for dinner and do the whole group dinner thing tomorrow night if that’s ok with everyone.” James said.

“Oh yeah mate, that’s fine. Besides, I am good with getting off the boat and exploring the area a bit.” Harry said as he patted James on the shoulder.

“Do you wanna go walk around? We can see what’s around and grab some dinner or somethin’ if you’d like.” Harry said as he looked over at you.

“Yeah that sounds good to me. Let’s do it.” You said.

You two had walked around quite a bit and got to see a lot more of the island that you would’ve from the water. You were glad that Harry suggested it. As you were walking, you stumbled upon this cute little restaurant with a patio on the beach. It looked like as good of a place as any for dinner.

“This place is just so beautiful. I know that we just got here and everything but I really appreciate you inviting me to tag along.” You said as you took a sip of your wine.

“Of course. I mean I know you’re a sucker for getting a good tan and having drinks on the beach, but I thought you would enjoy it as well.” He said to you with a smile.

He had this way of making you feel so special and that was something you never wanted to take for granted.

“You know me pretty well then, I’d say.” You said with a smile.

After dinner was finished the two of you walked around on the beach.

“I think we should sit and watch the sunset. Would you wanna do that?” Harry asked.

“Yeah, I’d like that.” You said as you found a spot in the sand to sit down on.

“It’s moments like this I just love. Just being somewhere so beautiful and just being able to really be in the moment. I have no where I am suppose to be other than here and I just love that feeling.” Harry said as he ran his fingers in between the sand.
“It is a pretty great feeling. You know I’ve always been a sucker for the beach. No matter what you’re doing or dealing with it just distracts you and reminds you how small your worries are in the grand scheme of things. Like, there is so much out there to explore and experience you just have to be willing.” You said.

You loved just having the simplest of conversations with Harry. You feel like you can tell him anything and you know that he will never judge you.

The sky began to transition colors and it was a sight that you never wanted to forget. The colors began to change and the day began to turn into night.

You were laying down in the sand. You didn’t care that sand was going to be all over your clothes and in your hair. You were living in the moment and that was all that mattered. Harry was laying on your chest and you were running your fingers through his hair. The beach always allowed you to get lost in your thoughts. Whatever worries or stresses you had were gone and you were just enjoying watching the waves come in and out.

You hadn’t noticed that Harry had fallen asleep on you until now.

“H, did you fall asleep? You asked.

“Maybe, but I’m awake now. Promise.” Harry said as he leaned up.

“Do you wanna head back to the boat. It would probably be good for both of us to head to sleep. Its been a long day. And besides we wanna get up early tomorrow so we can explore.” You said as you stood up and brushed the sand off of you.

“Thats a good idea. Let’s head back.” Harry said.

As you were walking, your hands brushed past one another. You weren’t sure if he was trying to hold your hand or if you were just wanting him to.

You made your way back to the boat to find Jules and James siting on the deck drinking wine.

“I’m gonna head to bed. Goodnight guys, I’ll see you in the morning.” Harry said as he said goodnight to everyone.

You sat down next to Jules and James poured you a glass of wine.

“So what did you two get up to?” Jules asked you.

“We did some walking around and had dinner at this cute restaurant on the beach.” You said.

“Did Harry confess his undying love for you yet? Or is he waiting until the morning to do that?” James asked you.

You couldn’t tell if James was joking with you or being serious.

“Undying love? I’m confused.” You said with a confused look on your face.

“James! Way to go again. Metaling in other peoples love lives. I told you not to say anything about that on this trip.” Jules said, obviously knowing something you didn’t.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.” James said as he looked flustered.

“No, I want you to explain. Are you saying that Harry has feelings for me or something?” You asked.

“No offense, but you’d have to be oblivious to not see that he’s crazy about you. He has been for a while. Even told me so. I know that it wasn’t my place to say anything about it but I just had two. The both of you just need to get together already. I think both of you would make a great couple. Just give it a thought.” James said as he got up and excused himself.

James and Jules headed to their room for the night and you remained on the deck feeling extremely confused.

Had Harry really been in love with you this whole time? You had felt it but you weren’t sure if anything was actually there. Tomorrow you needed answers.

“Y/N. Y/N, wake up. I want you to see the sunrise.” Harry said as he opened the door to your room.

“What?” You replied, still half asleep and unsure of what he just said.

“I want you to see the sunrise. It’s beautiful.” Harry said.

“Okay, I’m getting up.” You said as you awoke yourself from your sleep and crawled out of the bed.

It was totally worth waking up for. Harry was right, the sunrise was beautiful. In fact, it was one of the most beautiful you had seen in a while. 
“Thanks for waking me up. I know I probably didn’t seemed thrilled that you woke me up, but I really am glad you did.” You said to him.

“Of course. I wouldn’t have wanted you to miss it.” Harry said as his head turned back to look at the sky.

“Can I ask you something? And if I am wrong about it just tell me and I will never ask about it again.” You said hesitantly.

“You know that you can ask me anything.” Harry said staring at you curiously.

“Do you- you know, have feelings for me? Because I wouldn’t be mad or anything if you did. I am simply just asking because I am curious and was just-“ Before you could finish that sentence Harry pressed his lips against your own. And god they felt good. The kiss didn’t feel awkward or uncomfortable, if anything it was perfect.

“I knew it!” You heard a voice say from behind you, you turned around to find none other than James giving the two of you a stare down.

“Piss off!” Harry said as he gave him an annoyed look.

“I knew it, I absolutely knew it! I should’ve bet money on this! I could’ve had millions if I had bet on the two of you getting together!” James said as he yelled with excitement.

Harry felt a little intruded upon but you kind of enjoyed James’ extensive happiness for the two of you.

“So I’m guessing the whole feelings theory was right.” You said to Harry with a smile.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that. To be honest I have felt something with you for a while I just didn’t know how to bring it up or if I should say anything at all.” Harry said.

“Well, for the record I am glad you did. Because being here with you is the best thing ever and I couldn’t imagine wanting to kiss anyone else during a sunrise.” You said as you snuggled into him.

“I couldn’t agree more.”

[jxndds]

historical/fantasy manhwas

A Capable Maid

The useless maid, Marie, has never been able to do anything correctly. But, after caring for a dying prisoner, she becomes a person she had always wanted to be. This is the start of the capable maid, Marie.

  Amina of the Lamp

On the day of the Wizarding City Paz's destruction, Amina got stuck inside a lamp while trying to turn back time.

And 300 years later, she was awakened by a military commander, Jakal.

“I do not have any wishes for you to grant”

Well, I just want to hurry and grant a wish so I can go back, Who the hell is this guy?

  Beware of the Brothers

Hari, a destitute girl, got adopted by Duke Ernst at 7 years old when she lost her mother, as the Ernsts had themselves lost their youngest daughter Arina and sought Hari due to her resemblance to the late girl. Even though she received all kinds of persecution by the three Ernst sons in 20 years of life at the Ernst estate, she could finally escape that blood-and-tear inducing life when she was about to get married.

But what is this?

When I woke up from my sleep, I'm back to that hellish childhood! Is this a dream?!

Hmph. If I can't wake up from this dream,  I'll at least live without too much consideration for others now!

Just like that, Hari decided to go astray. Eugene, the "dutiful son" but cold, Cabel, the roughhousing knucklehead, and Erich, the angelic-looking bully and Arina's twin, all three be damned!

  Contract Concubine

One day, Yesuh, a famous assassin, receives a strange request from a suspicious man. She's never received such a ridiculous request before, but after hearing how much the odd man was willing to pay, she decides to bite the bullet and take on the request.

However, upon starting the mission, Yesuh is shocked to find out that her suspicious employer is actually--?!

  Ebony

“Be quiet. Shut up and live like the dead”

Ebony Vonieck is a convicted felon for the murder of her fiance and father. While waiting for her execution in prison, she is suddenly released from her hell when she is informed that the Archduke of Schneider Castle is waiting for her. Expecting her life to become a living hell, what awaits her instead is a household of warm employees and servants. Ebony has no idea that the Archduke will help change her life.

  I'm Stanning The Prince

Angela's fanfic became such a sensation that it even reached the Imperial Family, leading her to get arrested on charges of treason.

Nevertheless, her fanfic improved the First Prince's image, and his sister, the Princess, decides to take political advantage of this and keep Angela by their side.

  I Want To Be You, Just For A Day

The count's daughter, Psyche, is loved by all. Psyche, who took everything from me. Psyche, who always gets what she wants. I wanted to be her, even if just for a day.

  Lady Baby

Young lady Calliope has suffered through nature's law and many accidents. Her family was decimated by ruin and an ongoing war, but upon listening to her melancholic singing upon the family's graveyard, a mysterious womanly figure tells her that she'll reward her for the beautiful song, and shrouds Calliope in darkness. Upon awakening, Calliope finds that she traveled back in time to when she was born! While Calliope slowly grows, will she be able to figure out who killed her family and stop them in time?

  Lady Beast

Elisa, Princess of the Kingdom of Grandia, only purpose in life was to survive. She got married to Ginger, the Duke of Gwen, who is called the crazy mutt of Randall. She expected to be loved, but he didn’t care for her one bit. Then one day, the curse began. “This menstruation cycle is driving me crazy,” exclaimed Ginger in Elisa’s body.” Elisa blushing at Ginger’s words replies, “I’m also very troubled by ‘that’ thing I have to do every morning.” The curse of the devil had switched Elisa and her husband’s body! Will they be able to switch back?

  Living as an Emperor's Fiancée

Adel, who entered the emperor's office due to the magic of the imperial magic, accidentally hears the secret plan of the emperor. 

'Emperor' 'fiance' 'fake' 'killing' ... the interior minister and the emperor who came to Adele when he came back to school and took his breath away. 

"I want to give you a chance to choose." "...chance?" "Go to prison ... be my fiancée!" 

The beginning of the fateful love of the orphaned girl Adele and the emperor of Krishi. 

  Revenge Wedding

Meridian Sasha is the perfect woman who has the beauty, wealth, and status. She fainted and woke up on a ship in the middle of the ocean, with a wedding dress on. I got married?

"Who dares to try and touch Meridian Sasha? I'll make sure that he'll never want to marry me!"

  The Evil Lady Will Change

Athanasia Cloix, a woman whose elegance and beauty is akin to that of a swan lake, was the Duke’s eldest daughter and the Queen of the social circles: an existence near to perfection. Due to some rumors, however, people began to misunderstand and belittle her. As she suffered through these unfortunate events, she learned to conceal her feelings by putting on a façade and agreed to a political marriage with the Winter-comer who's also known as the “Northern Monster”.

"As the Grand Duke, I will do my best to accommodate your needs and desires. But love alone is something I can't give to you." Unbeknownst to her, that very man will change her life and thus a new fate is about to unfold.

  The Black-Haired Princess

The Crown Prince of the Murian Empire, Karyuel, and the Princess of the Carna Empire, Yurishien, despise their political marriage and dream of getting a divorce. To make matters worse, the people around them begin devising all sorts of schemes to split them up, and as they overcome the obstacles together, they become drawn to each other, despite their initial thoughts. Will these two immature birds be able to divorce as they had planned or will there be a different outcome…?

  The Monster Duchess and Contract Princess

Leslie’s life as the youngest daughter of the Sperado noble family was always used for the betterment of her sister, Eli, who is betrothed to the Crown Prince of the kingdom. After a failed attempt to extract the black magic within Leslie by sacrificing her to transfer it to Eli, Leslie knocks on the door of the monster Duchess Salvatore and, battered, bruised and desperate, pleads for the Duchess to adopt her?!

  The Villainess Lives Twice

“Tia, your brother has to do well for you to do well.” By committing all sorts of evil acts, she made her brother the emperor. But her dedication was rewarded with betrayal. At the brink of death, the one who extended a helping hand was her arch nemesis, the righteous Grand Duke Cedric. "Devise a plan I can't think of anyone else who could turn the tables in this situation, Lady Rozan. Lend me your strength." It wasn't possible to restore the balance of power for an empire that was already falling into ruin, but there was a way... to turn back time before everything went wrong. With her blood and tears, she sacrifices her own body to cast ancient magic in order to turn back time. This time, she wouldn't fail.

Returning back to her 18-year-old self, Artezia resolves to become the villainess for Grand Duke Cedric. "Please ask for my hand in marriage. I will make you the Emperor."

  The Villainess Reverses the Hourglass

With the marriage of her prostitute mother to the Count, Aria’s status in society skyrocketed immediately. After leading a life of luxury, Aria unfairly meets death because of her sister Mielle’s schemes. And right before she dies, she sees an hourglass fall as if it were a fantasy. And just like that, she was miraculously brought back to the past.

  Virtues of the Villainess

Ginger Torte and Lerajie Atlanta, both noble daughters of marquesses, are lifelong enemies and rivals. When Ginger’s fiance, Kishon Mickelson, is stolen by Lerajie, Ginger decides she’s had enough!

But one day, Ginger stumbles upon a strange novel - one where Lerajie is the main protagonist, and she is the villainess! She tries her best to ignore it, but when things start playing out just as written in the story, she has no choice but to rely on the novel to change her doomed future as the villainess.

“Exactly what did I do to deserve this fate?! Why did I have to become the villainess?”

Enter the mysterious Prince Izana, the male lead of the novel. Confined within the depths of the Templar Tower for years by King Astor, he finally sees the light of day when his father passes away. But according to the novel, he’s destined to fall in love with Lerajie, leaving Ginger to wallow in her own misery!

“All I ever did was live life as best I could! But as if stealing my fiance wasn’t enough, now Lerajie is going to claim the male lead?! No way I’ll let that happen!”

The “villainess” Ginger, who now knows Prince Izana’s deepest secret (thanks to the novel), attempts to seduce him with -2% cautiousness and 200% cuteness!

  Wendy the Florist

Wendy is a reclusive florist who doesn’t believe in love. That is until he came in, ready to destroy the walls caging her heart.

  Why Are You Doing This, Duke?

"My sweet songbird-- my eternal love--

Don't make such a sad face.

When my little songbird gets sad, it feels like my entire world is raining."

The duke known to many as the grim reaper, "Rowan Peruka".

He, the very person who was about to chop off my head last month, managed to become my husband?! He took me in not as a second or third wife, but as a first one at that?!!

I'd love it if this was true love, but this is all thanks to a mysterious magic spell. And the magic spell's power's been weakening to boot--!

A marriage with a bipolar(?) husband where your own life is at stake, <Why are you doing this, Duke?>

[discotreque]

Picard 1.09: Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1

And we're back to a 45 minute runtime this week. But why? Imagine a version of this episode that was as leisurely and intimate as "Nepenthe," with time to really luxuriate in all these interesting new characters and situations. Instead it felt like an all-out race to... well, the middle, because the second half of this story won't come out for another week.

This is immensely frustrating for me because I'm a fast reader. Shorter novels I tend to finish in one sitting; a big doorstopper might take me two or three sessions max. Never in my life have I encountered a story with a pre-existing emotional connection, characters I liked right away, a plot that started with an interesting mystery—and then rationed that story out to myself in ten small doses, each a week apart. I'd slap you for suggesting it!

If this were a more episodic show—even only as episodic as Disco, which still has the obligatory Big Arcs—or if they dumped the whole season at once, I'd be a lot less frustrated. But releasing a "10-part movie" with a week between each part? I'm not loving it.

My complaints are general; my praise is specific. And contains spoilers:

Accountability update: I get half points at best. Last week I did correctly predict that Brent Spiner was going to come back—but as a synth like Soji, just in the form of an old man instead of a young woman. Did anybody suspect a previously unknown biological son of Soong was in the cards? I sure as hell didn't.

The surprise of that twist bodes well for more fun surprises next week, doesn't it? If they kept Brent Spiner a secret, they could keep Michael Dorn and Gates McFadden a secret too...

I loved the new effects for the transwarp conduit. They feel very of a piece with the new at-warp-speed effects. The old slow, streaky stars were a pretty and interesting effect, but they only connoted speed in an abstract, pseudo-scientific way. The zoomy new warp drive makes no pretensions to "accuracy," it just feels fast. And the transwarp conduit feels appropriately like warp drive on fast-forward—which is to say, kind of terrifying!

When Narek (ugh) is first shooting at La Sirena, there's a wide shot of the crew, and out the window behind them you can see disruptor bolts passing by and casting green light into the bridge. Extremely sexy work, VFX team.

"There's a difference between killing an attacking enemy and watching a wounded one die." Yeah, Picard, the second one's a lot less work.

Speaking of sexy VFX, how about those space orchids?

That "old" medical tricorder looks newer than anything we've seen before. I wanted a much closer look.

"Oh hey, by the way, everyone, I'm dying, now shut up about it." That's our Jean-Luc!

Prop of the week: that crazy soccer ball Rios briefly interacts with as they arrive in Synthville.

After Dahj died, Isa Briones didn't have much interesting to do as Soji for the first half of the season, but since joining up with the rest of the main cast, she's quickly becoming one of my favourites. I have no idea where this story is going to go next week, or what's going to happen to Soji (or Sutra (or anyone)) next season, but I hope Isa sticks around somehow—she’s terrific.

Star Trek has a long and gross history of objectifying Jeri Ryan when all they had to do was put her in a t-shirt and a leather jacket. I'm just... I'm so gay for Seven of Nine, you guys.

I would be 100% more interested in a Seven-and-Elnor series than this alleged Section 31 show we're getting.

Imagine the casting call for the androids in this episode: "Identical twins needed. Ages 20-30. Any race, any accent. Must be sexy as hell."

I love that at least some of the androids have names that fit in with the naming scheme of "Data" and "Lore": Saga (RIP), Arcana, Codex, Rune, and Sutra. I'm not familiar with a language where the word "Jana" means anything information-related, though.

Isa Briones is the MVP this week for sure. Dahj and Soji felt very distinct as people, and now we meet Sutra, who's nothing like either of them. She's creepy as hell, for one thing, and you fully believe she is capable of murder—several times this episode I expected her to reach out and snap a main character's neck. And who knows, next week she might!

I like this interpretation of the Admonition better than the Zhat Vash's. It's not a woo-woo prophesy, and thank fuck there's no time travel bullshit involved—it's a commercial, basically, for a hyper-advanced alliance of synthetic life. Call 1-800-FUCK-ORGANICS and they'll come clear up that little infestation for you.

But what I'm really hoping is that Sutra doesn't have the whole story either. What if the purpose of this alliance isn't to destroy organic oppressors, but mediate peace between organics and synthetics? Or what if they just scoop up all the synths and take them to safety wherever they normally live?

I just really, really don't want the heart of this story to be an evil AI, or even neutral AI vs. evil humans/Romulans. There are way more interesting stories to tell.

Spot II is a good baby and I love him. (RIP Spot the First, I guess.)

Still don't really have any feelings about Rios/Jurati but it's sweet that he's so soft with her.

That scene between Picard and Raffi though... my heart... my whole entire heart......

The fact that Jean-Luc couldn't get through to Starfleet feels extremely fucking ominous to me.

Narek still sucks and he's SO boring. How boring is he? In that scene between him and Soji, I was mostly focused on how the force field kept lighting up when Soji breathed on it—another subtle and sexy VFX moment.

Poor, sweet Saga. Later models didn't cram the entire positronic net into one single eyeball, an obvious design flaw in retrospect given its extreme vulnerability to injury. :(

And just as things are getting interesting...

It's hard to pass any kind of judgement on something that's clearly only half of a whole, but it certainly made me want to watch Part 2. See y'all here next week for the grand finale.

[dragon-kazansky]

The hypnotist - Jervis Tetch x Reader

Summary: Time to escape and keep Gordon on his toes. Gotham is in for a long night.

Chapter 13 - The grand escape

The plan was set. It was time for everything to be put into motion. The sound of an alarm went off, flashing red in the little office where the warden was sitting. She sighed as she picked up the headphone and put the on, leaving her little office. The music played loudly in her ears. This was required for this specific patient. With music playing loudly, you wouldn't be able to hear him talk. Therefore, rendering his skills useless amongst you.

The warden walked down the hall slowly, the guards on standby in the hall nodding at her as she walked by. They knew. They all did. When in Arkham, especially since it's grand re-opening a few years ago, the staff got used to this kind of thing. Anything goes here in the asylum.

She reached a big red door, the door to his cell, on it was a warning sign to cover your ears. She unlocked it and opened it. The warden was met with his back to her. His hands were linked behind him as he looked out of the window. Upon her arrival, Jervis Tetch turned around slowly to face her.

"Get back in your box, Tetch." The warden told him.

Jervis said something, but obviously she couldn't hear him over her music. This was a good thing considering what he could do.

"Don't even try hypnotising me. I can't hear a word you're saying." She got closer to him.

Jervis' face turned one of anger as he glared down at the shorter woman. He knew that! This information wasn't new to him. Any one who came to his cell wore headphones to drown him out.

He continued to mouth words at her, doing some intense hand movements too. He held his hand up, dragged one facing down across his neck. It was an odd experience to the warden, but she didn't have time for this. Whatever show he was putting on, she wasn't interested. When Jervis saw that she wasn't reacting, he began to clarify what he was doing.

"I'm not talking to you!" He yelled. She heard that.

Still, she didn't react. She sighed as she stared at him some more. Jervis stood upright and pointed behind her.

"I was talking to her."

The warden turned around to be met with a colleague of hers. She was standing there silently.

"Geez, Tortuga, you almost gave me a heart attack." Her colleague didn't respond. "Wait, where the hell are your headphones?"

You peered around the doorway, headset on and music playing. You smiled at the warden and then at Jervis, who smiled back at you proudly. Giving the warden time to work out was happening, you slowly lowered the headphones to around your neck and leaned against the door frame.

"OK, that's long enough." You muttered softly, keeping your eyes on Jervis as the colleague slashed the warden's throat. It was quite messy.

You dropped the headphones and cassette player on the floor as Jervis came over to you, pulling you into his arms and kissing you passionately. You chuckled as you grabbed into his arms and looked up at him fondly.

"Come on, we have to get Jonathan. We don't have all night."

"Shame. I rather enjoyed that."

You shook your head, amused, and grabbed his hand, leaving the cell. The other warden followed blindly.

The hall was littered with dead guards. You had been rather busy while Jervis dealt with the warden. Now it was time to free your friends from the cells. You knew exactly where to go. This plan had been discussed and fine detail amongst the four of you. Tonight you would see freedom again.

Another red door. E-228. Jonathan Crane's cell.

Jervis knocked on it.

"Knock knock said called the cock, time to rise and wield your scythe."

Jervis let the warden unlock the door and push it open, the pair of you leaned into the room eagerly. There Jonathan sat, using his toilet as a cauldron of sorts. He was making something special and something very dangerous. On his head rested his scarecrow mask. Just seeing him sent chills down your spine. He looked intimidating, and the night had just begun.

"I fear I will require a moment more, Mr Tetch." His voice was masked, deeper and slower.

"Our night is fleeting, dear Mr Crane. It's wings, desperately beating."

Jonathan finished up his concoction quickly, scooping up into a jar. Both Jervis and yourself watched him curiously. He turned to look at the pair of you from his position on the floor, mentioning how carefully he had to work so he didn't spill any on the floor. It wasn't like it was something you could just go out and buy from the store.

"Shall we, Mr Tetch? Miss (Y/L/N)?"

"Let us be at pains, Mr Crane."

Jonathan led the way as Jervis followed, you behind him rolling your eyes at these two.

The final cell was a little more secluded. It was at the end of a long hallway, it's security more high maintenance than any other cell. If there was one person who was never meant to leave the asylum, it was this guy. They wanted nothing more than to keep him locked up for the rest of his days, away from the outside world.

That was too bad, honestly.

Without Jerome Valeska, none of this would be possible. He would be wasted being locked up in the asylum for the rest of his days, never to step foot on the streets of Gotham again.

Jonathan tipped the contents of the jar over the mechanism which controlled the security system on the cell door. It fizzled and sputtered angrily as he shut down. It's circuits were as good as fried.

The big yellow and black door with a skull on it began to hiss as the alarm above it flashed violently.

Jonathan, Jervis and yourself stood a small distance away, waiting for the mastermind of the group to come out.

The door was swiftly kicked open and Jerome himself stepped out of the smoke filled room, making his grand appearance. He stepped out into the hallway and stood there, pulling his sleeve up and looking as his bare wrist.

"When I say three hairs past a freckle, gentleman and lady, I do not mean five hairs past." He peered at you all with an intense stare. "Let's do better next time, hmm?"

Granted, you were all a little later than planned, but nothing could be done about that. You still had time to make a move and get out.

Jervis approached him with another rhyme, Jonathan moved to stand on the other side of Jerome. You inched closer to Jervis, not wanting to remain standing in the middle of the hallway like a lemon. The two you had just helped escape their cells began to start a petty disagreement with Jerome on their importance in this whole grand scheme. You rolled your eyes.

"Boys, boys, let's not squabble too early in our partnership, there'll be plenty of time to stab each other in the backs later, but for now, stick to Jerome's plan and everyone will get what they want." You smiled at each of them. They stopped squabbling and nodded silently. Jerome looked impressed.

"That's the spirit, boys. Think big- and kinky." Jerome grinned. He went to move forwards, but he stopped when he saw the other warden that had been following Jervis and yourself. "And lose the weirdo, she's giving me the heebie jeebies."

Jervis looked at the warden. "Your work is done, my dear. Your race all run."

"Glad to be of help."

She moved forwards, passed the keys to Jerome and then killed herself right there. You sighed as she fell to the ground and turned to the boys.

"Much better." Jerome smiled. "Now to free the rest of our cronies and blow this pop stand." He led the way down the hall. The rest of you followed. You had waited so long for this.

With an action as simple as turning a key, all the cells in the asylum opened, the doors unlocked. Everyone, no matter how crazy they were, was free to walk. Using this opportunity, they all headed outside.

Jerome walked with hands behind his back through the courtyard, a huge smile on his face. He was proud of his work. This was exactly what he wanted and he got it. Jonathan walked behind him on his right, Jervis on his left. You walked alongside Jervis with your hand in his. He was looking at you with a huge grin on his face.

"Finally free, my love."

"Who's going to stop us now?" You chuckled.

Many patients were lines up at the gate, holding bats and batons high in the air, making an arch for the four of you to walk under. These were the patients Jerome has recruited within the asylum. He waved at them as you all walked past. It was quite the exit that had been put together. It was all rather thrilling.

As soon as you passed through the gate, it was like a breath of fresh air.

Jerome turned around to face his crowd and gave a bow. The crowd cheered.

"Onward, march!" He called out.

Everyone moved out. Next stop Gotham.

The night wasn't over yet, there was much to be done. Gotham's white knight would be on the job soon.

Jerome had a task for everyone. There were things he needed to do, information he needed to find out. Jervis had quite an important task on his hands, and you went with him. He needed to hypnotise a lot of people to a very scary thing, the goal was to keep Jim Gordon off Jerome's back until further notice.

"How can hypnotise a mass of people without having to be there physically?" He wondered aloud.

"I know." You smiled at him and turned to look at the car parked beside you. "One thing people do when driving, or working late. You do it over the radio."

Jervis' smile widened and he was quick to steal a kiss, grabbing your hand and letting you guide him to one of the radio stations. When you reached the building you looked up. As someone who used to listen to the radio a lot when working late some nights, you knew exactly where to go.

"This one is quite popular in the evenings, I used to listen to it a lot."

"Wonderful, there is just one small thing I need to do. Wait for me, dear." Jervis headed back up the street and turned the corner. You kept your eyes focused on the end of the street, waiting for him to come back. You had no idea what it was he was doing, but you had total faith in him that it was all for the plan. Something drastic and just awful! Moments later he came waltzing back down the street to you, a smile on his face.

"What was that?" You asked curiously.

"All in due time my dear." He took your hand.

Jervis let you lead him inside where he went on to hypnotise the front desk, then the DJ. The booth was left empty. You sat down and to get the hang of the radio station.

"OK, I think you're pretty much ready to go. There's a song playing right now." You gestured to the fact there was music playing on the system which you hadn't cared for when you came in. "You press this here and the mic becomes live, you do your thing." You smiled up at him. Jervis chuckled as he swapped seats with you. You leaned over his shoulder and prepared to turn the music off.

With a nod of his head, the radio went silent.

Then he began to talk.

There was a thrill to knowing that dozens of people all around Gotham would be standing on their rooftops in less than a minute, waiting for the sign to jump off. Jim had his work cut out for him. This would surely buy Jerome a lot of time to do whatever it was he was doing, he was very vague about his part of the night.

You could hear staff members in the building pass the booth, heading for the stairs. They were going up. Right to the top.

When Jervis was happy with his work he pulled out a phone he picked up from one of the DJ's in the building. He dialled a certain number and looked at you with a smile.

He picked up.

"Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim."

You chuckled.

"Why so grim, Jim?"

You had no idea what was happening on the other side, and couldn't hear Jim talking as Jervis kept the phone to his ear.

"No games this time. Just some names and your own share of blames if you don't do what I tell you."

You leaned against the table and kept your gaze on the hatter. However Jim was answering was angering your beloved Tetch.

Jervis gave Jim an address, yelling it down the phone. He was upset that Jim didn't seem to believe him, which would be silly considering the stunt you all pulled tonight. Jervis hung up the phone and smiled at you, reaching for your hand and pulling you closer, you were basically sitting on his lap now. His long lanky arms snaked around you.

"I think he got the message." Jervis chuckled.

You pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"I hope so. Otherwise there will a huge mess to clean up in the morning." You snickered.

"Yes. Now, remember earlier when I left your side?"

"Yes. What were you doing?"

"Setting up the rest of the night's entertainment. Do you know what's on the street I told Jim to go?" His hand reached up to play with your hair.

"No."

"Nothing overly interesting. Other than a huge boulder waiting to kill to lovely newlyweds, after all, Jim isn't fond of weddings." He chuckled. "There was a celebration going on just around the corner. The guests are now on the rooftop and the bride and groom are waiting for their death, which will surely come to them." He smiled proudly.

"You really have thought of everything."

"You're helping." He pulled you in for a kiss.

"I spent so much time trying to bail you out and be with you and now we're here together. I don't remember feeling so happy before." You mused, quietly.

"Together always."

You smiled softly. Jervis urged you up onto your feet and grabbed your hand gently in his.

"Let's go pay him a visit."

You let him lead you this time, getting into the nearest car and letting him drive. When you arrived on the street, there was no sign of Gordon, but there were several cars parked around a hypnotised bride and groom. Above the couple was a boulder, about the size of a van. With just one word from Jervis, that thing would fall and crush the couple instantly.

Before you could even say anything, another car arrived. Gordon and Bullock climbed out of the car and made their way over, hoping to save the couple. At that moment, every car door opened and people climbed out, making their way to the detectives, stopping them from getting any closer. Jervis nodded at you and you both got out to face them.

"Lo and behold, the bold Captain Jim Gordon and his rusty caboose in tow." Jervis marched forwards, you keeping up beside him.

"You have us Tetch, let them go." Jim tried.

"Do you recall when I first came to this fair city, Jim? A balling mess. Wanting nothing more than to address the safety of my dear sister, Alice." Jervis glared harshly at Jim.

"What's the choice this time, Tetch? How do I save them? Just tell me what you want."

"WHAT I WANT IS MY SISTER BACK!" Jervis spat, his voice filling the void of the otherwise bare street. Your heart ached for him. "But you kept me from saving her. You gave me NO CHOICE, so no more choices for you either. No more saving."

Jervis turned around and tipped his hat to no one you could see. You turned around instantly and watched as the boulder was realised and fell harshly and quickly to the ground. The couple were nothing but a bloody mess underneath it. You felt Jervis' hand slip into yours, pulling you closer to his side as he wrapped an arm around you.

"Soon the bells will toll, Jim." Jervis began to lead you back to the car. "How many more will grow cold, Jim? Like your soul, Jim! How many would be flyers, dyers, splattered like poor Alice when the Gotham bells toll their full roll!"

The pair of you got into the car and drove out of sight.

"Where are we going now?"

"Back to the radio station. I need to remain there and keep giving them commands. Jim may only get in the way, one way or another."

Just as he said, you returned to the radio station. He sat in the chair and spent several minutes repeating orders into the mic. Your heart was aching from how upset he looked when he talked about Alice. If there was something you could do, you would do it to bring her back. Alas, there was nothing that could be done.

You would remain by his side and support him. Love him. Whatever he needed from you.

"Almost magic hour, Gothamites! Time to climb to the tippy top of every tower. When the bell strikes twelve, throw yourselves!" Jervis continued to chant orders to his victims over the radio. He was going to make sure Jim couldn't save them by getting near them. If he tried, they would fall.

You rested your hands on his shoulders as he worked his magic.

The click of a gun and the pressure of the barrel came from behind you. You let out a little yelp, not hearing anyone else come in. Jervis turned around quickly and felt his heart race at the sight of a gun being pointed at you, but he had faith Jim wouldn't take you from him.

"Shut up, Tetch."

Jim pushed you to the other side of the room, towards the wall. Jervis followed you, pulling you into his chest despite having a gun pointed at him the entire time. You both watched as Jim messed with the radio. He pressed several buttons and flicked a few switches before he picked up the microphone. He spoke, sending a message, asking if he was being heard. He was told he could be heard all over the city.

"Alright, Tetch. You're going to tell those people to step back from the ledge, no tricks. You go off script, I'll shoot pieces off you. So you what I say." Jim commanded.

"I would love to do as you command, Jim, but sadly I've tied my own hands." He chuckled.

"Your hands." Jim stepped forwards and you moved the side, getting out of the way. He grabbed Jervis by the neck and pushed him into the corner, pinning him against the wall. He moved his hand from his neck to his hand and held it up against the window behind Jervis and shot his hand, point blank.

You gave a scream and rushed forwards, but one look from Jim had you stop.

Jervis yelled in pain.

"I can't stop them, if anyone tells them to save themselves, they'll jump." Jervis hissed through his teeth, glaring harshly at Jim. "But you're more than welcome to try, Jim." Jervis ran to the mic and yelled into it, Jim held the gun up to Tetch's head. "Tell them anything, it will not matter when the bells start to ring." Jervis brought up Alice again, telling Jim how it was his fault his sister died.

You wanted nothing more than soothe him.

"Try and they die, stand by and they all try to fly." Jervis began to laugh, but Jim quickly hit him over the head, knocking him out. You hurried over to his side and brought his head into your lap, brushing your fingers through your hair and trying to keep our temper in control. Jim was rather scary when he was angry and you didn't want to know what would happen if you angered him yourself.

"I don't see what you see in him, Y/N." Jim muttered.

You didn't satisfy him with an answer.

Jim sat down in front of the mic and looked at the clock. In five minutes the clock would chime for midnight. His officers were asking what they should do.

Jim spent so much time thinking about it, those five minutes passed so quickly.

The chiming began.

"What do we do?" An officer asked again.

"I can't save you. Save each other. Save each other. Save each other."

You looked up at him in silence.

There was no sound.

Nothing.

Until, "it worked! It worked! They're stepping away!" Applause could he heard from the radio.

You turned your gaze back to Jervis and pressed a kiss to his head.

Slowly he began to stir. You smiled and continued to run your fingers through his hair. His eyes met yours when he blinked them open and smiled softly at you.

The pair of you were promptly arrested after Jim called it in and you watched as they handcuffed him and put on his muzzle, stopping him from talking. You were grateful the medics patched him up, his poor hand.  You were handcuffed and put into the back of the van with him, sitting across from him. The pair of you continued to look at each other.

At least Jim hadn't gone after Valeska and he had got no answers from either of you.

The plan was working perfectly.

The van drove for quite a way before things picked up once again that night. This had to be the most eventful night in Gotham so far.

You smiled at Jervis when the van was brought to a sudden stop. His eyes lit up and chuckled.

This was a part of the plan.

The doors were pulled open and in stepped Jerome, gone was the ugly uniform from Arkham. Jonathan was behind him, wearing his scarecrow get up. The pair of them looked dapper, to say the least.

"How do you like the new threads?" Jerome showed off his new attire. "Oh, speechless, I know." He pulled the muzzle off Jervis.

"You look a fight, Mr. Tetch." Jonathan began to undo the cuffs on him.

"Somewhat lame, Mr. Crane."

Jonathan turned to you and freed you. You once again found yourself in the arms of Jervis.

"Jim was kept busy with our ploy. Brings me great joy." You chuckled.

"Yeah yeah, you did great. Jonathan has his fear gas, I have my information, everything is going according to my plan." Jerome grinned. The job wasn't over yet. Jerome hopped out of the van and made his way to the driver's seat. The three of you sat tight, Jervis reaching for his which Jonathan has brought along.

This was just the start of Jim's problems.

Tags:

@mistressoftorture @fandombeehive @awyr @queenofmonstersanddemons@they-shot-me-with-a-knife @shokihomin

[nancywheelxr]

Could you write something where it’s Steve’s birthday and his parents forgot to call him (maybe his mom called him like a month in advance and was like “I could have sworn it was today”) and he doesn’t think anyone knows/cares and his kids get together and throw him a suprise party

[ Hi, sweetheart, happy birthday! Your father and I are very sorry we couldn't make it in time, but it couldn't be helped– business, you know how it is. Anyway, we will be back next week at the most and then we can go out to dinner to celebrate, alright? Happy birthday, darling, we’ll see you in a week.]

The voicemail ends and the answering machine beeps and Steve presses play again for possibly the fifth time since he woke up. Like it would magically change, like his parents would suddenly care, like it would make a fucking difference in the grand scheme of things or whatever. 

Like it's not, shit, four in the afternoon already and that voicemail isn’t a month and thirteen days old– and man, that's the worst fucking part, you know, the thirteen days because Jesus, his mom didn't get even the day right, does she even know how old Steve is turning? Like, does she think Steve is a thirty-something years old loser living with his parents? Because honestly, that would explain a lot.

Not that Steve would be able to even ask, his parents haven't been home in nearly five months; they never made it that next week bullshit after all. Big surprise there.

Happy fucking birthday to him, he guesses.

And hey, maybe he’s growing up or something, because look, the liquor cabinet is untouched, all that whiskey and vodka just sitting there prettily, even though Steve feels like drinking until he goes blind and can’t press the goddamn play button in the answering machine. See, real adult shit right there.

So, in the spirit of wallowing in this pathetic pity party, he figures it’s okay to ignore the doorbell. It’s his fucking birthday, and no, he doesn’t want to hear about their fucking lord and savior Jesus, thank you very fucking much. The doorbell rings again, real long this time, like whoever is at his door hasn’t taken their finger off the button, and Jesus Christ, Steve can’t believe he’s going to be arrested for murder on his goddamn birthday.

On the bright side, maybe then his parents would finally come home. 

Nah, they would probably just call to tell how fucking disappointed they are and send some hotshot lawyer to weasel him out of jail time. Yeah, they’re all real good people.

But whatever, the doorbell keeps ringing and Steve counts to ten before standing up as if that would stop from being an asshole to whoever is outside. He yanks the door open, nearly rips it out of the hinges, asks, “fucking what?” 

And finds Dustin beaming at him like Steve just told him the greatest shit ever or something. Steve scowls, not that Dustin cares. “Hey, can you drive me to the Wheeler’s? Like, right now?”

Unbelievable. Just– unbelievable.

“What do you think I am, your chauffeur?” He scowls deeper, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring a hole in the middle of Dustin’s forehead. “Did you seriously come here just to ask me that, oh, my god, why didn’t you just bike there in the first place? Is this, like, if you don’t bother me for one fucking day, are you going to die or something?

“Oh, my god,” Dustin groans as if Steve is the one being purposefully difficult and not, you know, Dustin. “Can you not do this right now? I just need a ride, it’s not going to kill you.”

Honestly? It might, Steve can always decide to drive right into a tree on the way, save himself the trouble of being dragged into more crazy shit. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, am I inconveniencing you?” Steve rolls his eyes and purses his lips, and what the fuck, he can practically hear Mike making fun of him, calling it his bitch face. 

Dustin groans again, long and dramatic, and he latches onto Steve’s wrist and starts dragging him out the house, taking advantage of the fact Steve is too shell shocked by his audacity to shake him off. “Come on, we’re gonna be late, Robin’s gonna kill me, can you hurry up already?”

And, well, Steve’s always been more of a path of least resistance kind of guy on the best of days and today is definitely not the best of days, so. “Okay, okay, Jesus,” he takes his arm back and pats his pocket in search of his keys, deciding on his head that if he has to go back to the house for his car keys, he’s locking the door and ignoring Dustin until he goes away. See? Path of least resistance. He finds his key. “What's the fucking hurry, anyway? Isn’t it too early for your nerdy board game?”

“You know it’s called D&D, oh, my god–”

Steve starts the car and the engine roars to life, and Dustin keeps talking, keeps babbling about some shit or other while Steve drives and it’s. It’s not nice or whatever, but it’s a distraction. It almost annoys Steve into forgetting it’s his birthday and his phone hasn't rung in nearly a day and his house is as fucking empty as always. 

“Whatever,” he says, too tired to filter out his asshole side and play nice, “we’re here, get out.”

Dustin gives him a look. “You have to come in, you know that.”

Apparently, Steve is supposed to know a hell of a lot of things today.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” he shrugs, throwing the door open and slamming it shut with a little more force than necessary. Maybe his liquor cabinet won't stay too untouched after all. “Come on, chop-chop, weren't you in a hurry like, five minutes ago?”

And shit, he’s got to work on his glare because apparently no one’s taking him seriously anymore and Dustin walks up to the Wheeler’s front door very fucking calmly, taking his sweet goddamn time and Steve isn't waiting around for him, he’s already knocking on the door.

It’s Mike that opens it and oh, my god, he’s already got his bitch face on like Steve just kicked his puppy or something. “Finally,” he rolls his eyes, yanking Steve inside because it seems everyone's got a death wish today, “what took you guys so long?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Dustin snaps from behind him, closing the front door, “you try and get him here next time.”

“Hey, shitheads–”

“Just walk,” Mike cuts him off, herding him like sheep down to his basement where they’re probably going to ritually sacrifice him or something because they're being shady as shit.

And it’s so fucking dark down the stairs, Steve is pretty sure they won’t have a chance to murder him because he’s going to fall and break his neck first, except–

“SURPRISE!” 

Steve doesn't scream. He doesn't. Light floods the basement and six voices scream at him, and it’s kind of funny because Max is the loudest of all and Mike’s voice is starting to break embarrassingly, and Steve nearly has a heart attack.

“Oh, my god,” he says, taking in the decorations and the giant ass banner written happy birthday, Steve in Dustin’s terrible handwriting and the Steve is kind of cramped at the end like he miscalculated and ran out of space, and the table has been pushed to the middle of the room, a crappy-looking cake proudly on top. “What,” he trails off, chest going tight and he refuses to like, cry or anything, but Robin is there too and so is Nancy, and the rest of the kids, and Steve thinks this might make up for his big, empty house.

“Happy birthday, dingus,” Robin grins, and she says it like, in a real fond way, and Steve bets she teamed up with freaking Nancy to make that weird ass cake. 

Max runs and hugs him in the middle, knocking the breath out of him, and Steve is grinning too, beaming, really, because Nancy is laughing and Dustin is bickering with Mike about balloons and Robin is carefully cutting the cake like it might topple if she makes any sudden movements.

There’s a warm, warm feeling on his chest and Steve never had a surprise party before. If he’s being honest, Steve would have to say he never had a family like this before. Either way, a piece of cake is handed to him with a candle sticking out, and Steve closes his eyes, wishes nothing at all.  

[frcscrs]

sah dudes. here’s the new finest babe in my library. smash that like for some Plots:tm:

⋆ ° ⟡ ( BARBIE FERREIRA, twenty-five, cisfemale, she/her ) has SURI SOUZA, the LADY IN WAITING from GENOVIA arrived yet? i heard they can be quite HOT-TEMPERED, but also HARD-WORKING. there’s rumours they’ve come to genovia for KEEPING PRINCESS MIGNONETTE COMPANY AS HER LADY IN WAITING, but you never know. SPENDING HOURS PERFECTING A RECIPE, ANGER-FILLED SCREAMS AT THE SKY, AN EVER CHANGING CLOSET. always remind me of them.

tw: cancer, death

suri thinks the royals are rich assholes but at least they look hot doing it. 

her dad was genovian while her mother was from london. her mother was extremely young when she had suri, and his father didn’t really want anything to do with suri since he had a career trajectory. he was a few years older and it was a summer fling that went nowhere.

suri grew up seeing her father maybe... twice? it didn’t matter much though because she and her mom where number ones!

her mother, magnolia, was an avid hipster. being known in her hipster/punk community as the seamstress, suri grew around some pretty funky looks. it was also a benefit to have a mom who could make her own halloween costumes (she wouldn’t find out until much later in life it was more because of money)

she loved being with her mum. she loved going to concerts and going to shelters and riots and doing all the cool things with her. just because she had a kid, didn’t mean magnolia was going to stop being her. 

so we got a socialist here can i get a what what !!!! 

the only thing magnolia couldn’t do was cook. for the longest time, it was a lot of frozen pizzas and takeout. it was fine. meant yummy food for suri. it wasn’t until her mom started dating this really nice guy who could cook that suri’s life changed. he was a whizz. like crazy good. she loved standing in the kitchen and watching him cook. one year for christmas, he bought her her first cook book and they cooked together all weekend.

unfortunately, he didn’t stick around forever. mum said he wasn’t the long term kind of man. the kind that only looks at today and never at tomorrow. suri didn’t really get that at twelve, but she knew her mom was heartbroken. so she stepped up. she took on the things she learned and cook for her mum. she knew that made her happy.

every night then suri would cook dinner. lots of trial and error. when they’d host the holidays for people without families, she’d spend the whole time in the kitchen. at fifteen, she lead a soup kitchen event while her mother lead the cloth drive. they were quite the dynamic duo. suri’s plan was to go to culinary school after graduating. being a chef sounded nice.

but nice things don’t last eh!!! when suri was 16, and her mum only thirty-three, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. everyone rallied for magnolia. she was a treasure to the community and she and suri definitely didn’t have the kind of health insurance to back up all the treatment. they raised some money, which helped more than anyone could imagine, but her body had a hard time taking to the chemo.

for months, suri was the woman of the house. school was hard to get through and she needed to drop out just to take care of her mum for the last few months. her mum was a fighter, but suri saw it in her eyes that it was taking her.

magnolia died right before suri’s 17th birthday. there was a massive funeral. tons of people showed up to give their love to the woman who helped so many lives. it was beautiful. beautiful to see the kind of impact she had made on so many people. suri knew she needed to carry that on for herself.

it was only five days after her mother’s death when her dad showed up at her door and said she was coming to live with him in genovia. unfortunately, she couldn’t argue. being a minor still, and not having finished school, he shipped her off back to his place.

it was here that she found out her father came to be one of the advisors for the queen of genovia. it caused for a lot of anger, and arguments those first few nights. he never supported them financially and this guy was obviously rolling in it. he didn’t have the time or care to respond to her arguments. instead, she was to finish school along-side mignonette as her lady-in-waiting. whatever the fuck that meant. 

as she came to learn, it just meant kissing her ass. and as she also came to learn, these people were rich as fuck and money was being thrown at her left and right.

the issue is, when you’re young, and you grew up with something you never knew, and then suddenly you have an abundance of it, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed and take advantage of it. she knew these royal assholes were the problem and literally creating a vacuum of money that could have been used to help the homeless and fix the planet. but she also liked having cool clothes and shoes and being able to travel across the world and eat fancy foods. 

midge is cool. she’s sweet. kind of unassuming. suri might call her dumb some days, but she’s got a general sweet spot for her. they’ve been together eight years now and it’s getting a bit harder to try and find who she used to be after so long being stuck in the venom of rich royals.

she still finds their problems to be oh so dramatic in the grand scheme of everything. there’s little respect for any of them. but it’s hard. 

anyways yuh !!! she’s got a bit of a temper but honestly she’s a gem !!! she cares a lot about people and making sure they’re at their best but like !!! doesn’t have a lot of sympathy for royals/riches because lmao you got money and fame and influence and literally,,,,,, all things others don’t have so WAH !! 

[bestnoncannonship]

Alright..I'mma get in on this VC fancasting debate.

As a director, I often have a LOT of opinions on people's casting decisions. A LOT. (Someday, I'll write a novella on Ken Brannaugh's casting.) So as I see a LOT of fancasts casts based on how people look and few based on whether or not the actor can likely handle the role, I'mma throw my hat in the ring. (Warning....the more I write the less technical and more shitposty this is gonna get!) So here you go! The Vampire Chronicles series if I got to cast and direct it!!

The Brat Prince:

Most importantly....we gotta get us a Lestat. And the choice is clear:

Evan Williams: this fabulous shitposting aesthetic trash is as close to the one and only Vampire Lestat as we are gonna get on this plane of existance. He is all charm and quite light in his loafers and a complete mess.......but most importantly, he has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is able to play a character that does inexplicable and morally reprehensible things while still being read as highly sympathetic, likable, and even a hero. That's what I worry about most with Lestat. He really is a very terrible person who doesn't learn or face too many consequences. And he has to be very very very sympathetic. Not just "Oh I Stan that villain" likeable.....but a true hero. And it takes a very. Special. Actor. To pull that shit off. And this is it. This is the guy. He was hired to play an Iago-esque gay villain type in Versailles, STOLE THE SHOW OUT FROM UNDER GEORGE BLAGDEN (no mean feat as Blaggy was giving a hell of a performance) and made his character a beloved icon. Yeah....I trust him to lead a show. I trust him to be Lestat.

Nicholas L'enfant:

Okay not gonna lie I struggled with this one. There was someone else I wanted to see in this role....but I decided he was better employed elsewhere. And this is who I ended up with:

Yep. George Blagden. See...in the grand scheme of things Nikki is a very low-screentime role that has a LOT of impact on the story. And who better to trust with low screentime that the god of grantaires, who took a few small shots and lines and GAVE US A FULLY CHARACTERIZED GRANTAIRE in the Les Mis film. He is very sweet faced, and easy to like, can make being an on screen depressive fascinating instead of dull and has proven time and time again that he is the master of the complete mental breakdown, complete with horrifying but tragic crazy eyes. Also.....he bears a strong enough physical resembles to.....

Louis!!!!:

Our beautiful depressed dark angel with a vampire eating disorder who has no self esteem and is still in love with his abuser needs nuance. He needs soul. And he needs a sweet and delicate beauty. And so:

Alexaner Vlahos!!! The soulful eyes!! The delicate bone structure!!! The slight tones of simmering resentment!!! The ability to play a character that could have become VERY one note VERY quickly with goregeous amounts of nuance and sympathy!!! Vlavla has quite the varied resume. Mordred. Phillipe. Romeo. Captain Hook. To put it lightly he has a LOT of range and the one through line is he is NEVER boring. He plays a lot of roles that could very quickly become boring and one note (Romeo? Captian snooze right there!). But every second he's on screen or stage he is so completely alive in whatever he is feeling. I TRUST him to keep the entirety of Louis's brooding nuanced and fascinating for an audience and to physically and facially convey Louis's very important internal monologue that we will not be able to hear because this version is going to be from Lestat's point of veiw. I toggled with the idea of making him Nikki for a while....but ended up with Louis for 2 reasons. 1) he doesn't need the scripted plot drama Nikki has written in to make a compelling character and 2) he and Williams share such beautiful chemistry. Whenever they're together, even off screen, their focus shifts so that they orbit each other like bianary stars and any director can see that that's something that should be explored and exploited to add demension to the Louis/Lestat relationship and justify why they keep coming back to each other.

(And so ends the Men of Versailles segment of my fancast. So sue me. There's some incredible actors there.)

Let's return with

Gabrielle De Lioncourt:

The incomparable Alex Kingston, lately of River Song fame, though I met her as Elizabeth Corday, and Doctor Corday is driving this casting choice. I wanted an actor who was an appropriate age to play Williams's mother cause we don't fuck with that women are "old" at 30 shit in this house. And she can carry off the kind of "I will not hesitate to kill a man" BDE that Gabrielle requires without trying, but she's also proven herself comfortable and competent with the level of CAMP that VC requires. I can see her easily showing up on set for a few scattered episodes, slipping easily into the verse, and nailing the kind of woman who can put Lestat in his place then run back off to the jungle. Also....that De Lioncourt hair!!!!!

Marius "Daddy" Romanus:

Yep. This fuck. I can hear it now.... "Why isn't he lessssaaaat??? He's so blonde and prettttyyyyy????" Well....mainly because....I ain't sure this lil fuck can run a show as a very despicable but likeable hero yet. He's admirable. A good actor. A great villain. But not a hero and not heroically likeable. Personally, I'm of the opinion that in 10 or 15 years he will have grown into the ability to play something as complex as Lestat with likability....but for now.....DAMN is he a creepy imperial thing. He's got that "My house, my rules" vibe down. He's preditory. He's distinguished. He is Marius. And he's go the best Roman coin profile I've ever seen.

Armand:

N/A

Ok. Controversial decision....but I want to see a complete unknown as Armand. Send casting out to cast a wide net, scour the world for the Botticelli death machine. But definitely don't pull him from the pool of already famous younguns. Because your Armand needs to be deep. Skilled. And primarily UNSPOILED by the school of child acting that is forced upon child actors. (I was a commercial kid and child stage actor. It was terrible.) Go out and get some twinky fresh faced raw talent so you get depth.

Claudia:

N/A

Big old ditto on what I said above about child actors. A nice doe eyed unknown, preferably without a stage mom.

AKASHA:

Yikes. So many amazing choices!!! How do you follow Aliyah??

With literal human perfection Gina Torres of course!!! Again....I wanted to go with an older woman. Someone who would be seen as an authority to all vampires. Someone god damnned goregeous. And someone who I find intimidating. Also, since I'm skewing a little tall with this cast (at least as TV actors go) I wanted someone who comfortably stands among and above most of them! She's a seasond tested actor, and certified badass. And we know she can steal a scene. Besides if she can look regal as a queen in that weirdass dress they gave her in the serenity movie she can pull off whatever monstrosity costumes comes up with to follow the Aliyah getup.

Khayman:

Don't @ me but....I have a LOT of feelings about Khayman. I love his particularly breed of immortal insanity. I love the way immortality drove him mad into a childlike enjoyment and curiosity. And I knew exactly who has to be casted to play that combination of intimidating ancient and innocent curiosity:

This is Howard Charles. He is capable of playing both an intimidating giant and a sweet soulful cinnamon roll at the same time. I cannot sing this man's praises enough. Am I scared of him? Do I want to hug him? Both? He's also one of the best scene SHARERS I've seen on screen in a long time and that's very important in a supporting role.

Maharet:

Just because Anne Rice doesn't know shit about Mesopotamia doesn't mean we have to follow her in that. I wanted to pull from Middle Eastern or Indian populations for her to best reflect the look of the region in a time that's roughly in line with the pre-dynastic Egyptian mish-mosh associated with Akasha.

So I'm gunning for Indira Varma. When I say this woman has timeless beauty.....I mean timeless. She's as prehistorically hot as she is today. And she's such a strong actress, I want to give her a role that isn't 50% sex scenes. She's got both the warmth and the commanding strength to play Maharet. I would ideally like to get a dancer to play Mekare....someone who can handle the physical interp of the role. Probably an Indian dancer to match Indira Varma.

David Talbot:

In the newly declared tradition of Doctors playing Talbot:

This is the only current Gif I could find of Sylvester McCoy. Known to many as the Seventh Doctor. And to many as Ratagast the Brown. He embodies that sort of huffy aging britishness that David projects, but has the over the top personality that can give us those hints of the vitality of David's youth. Basically I can see this man telling stories about hunting tigers in India. Then when he gets the hot young Raglan James Body:

Luke Pasqualino. Swarthy young troublemaker. But for all the youthful good looks, he proved that he was able to play grace and gravitas as D'artagnion in the final season of the BBC Musketeers. I'd love to give him a chance to explore that deeper part. I also trust his ability to match the energy of a cast, which he did repeatedly on musketeers, and portray both the impulsive self aggrandizing Lestat in the Raglan James body and to play the DarkAU Musketeer type that is Raglan James himself.

That's literally all the Gifs I can put in a post. I know I skipped Daniel......but that's because I have surprisingly few opinions on Daniel.......he's very much a vanilla audience connecting character. I'd almost like to see an unknown in that role....just to see what we a new face could make.

And thus ends my casting of the Vampire Chronicles!!

[eggoreviews]

20 Dream Games for the Playstation Classic!

The PS1 Classic came out last year. Everyone got excited for a minute, but then we found out it was missing almost everything! Here’s my personal list of the 20 games I reckon should’ve been included. I’ll stick to one per franchise to keep it fair, but I might have to break that rule once. Hope you enjoy/agree!

Note: This is just my opinion. There might be some ones you don’t agree with, and I might have cut some ones from the original lineup you liked. Sorry in advance lol

Before I kick off the list, thought I’d briefly list off the games I cut from the Classic’s actual lineup:

Battle Arena Toshinden

Cool Boarders 2

Destruction Derby

Intelligent Qube

Jumping Flash

Mr. Driller

Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee

Resident Evil (you’ll see why)

Ridge Racer Type 4

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo

Syphon Filter

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six

Twisted Metal

Wild Arms

Aight, let’s go.

1. Final Fantasy VII

The quintessential PS1 JRPG, of course FF7 had to stick around from the original lineup. Like it or loathe it, FF7 defined its console and is still highly regarded as one of the best JRPGs of all time. Playstation wouldn’t really be Playstation without this game. This was the game that pushed Final Fantasy into 3D, and firmly into the hearts and minds of players everywhere. There’s little else to say, other than that you kind of already know how iconic this one is.

2. Grand Theft Auto

The humble beginnings of a now mammoth franchise, the first entry in the now legendary GTA series was a top down weird thing that let you explore three separate cities in whatever cars you can find. While this doesn’t hold up especially well today admittedly, GTA was an important milestone, not just for its series but for its console generation and has certainly earned its iconic status to belong on the PS Classic. This one was a good choice.

3. Metal Gear Solid

Another obvious choice, MGS is where Metal Gear really became Metal Gear. Brilliantly cheesy voice acting, awesome stealth gameplay, suitably weird story and the birth of the now iconic codex screen, MGS is like the archetypal cold war film wrapped in a supremely fun package on the PS1. If this wasn’t here, there is no PS Classic and that’s just the tea.

4. Revelations: Persona

This was one I wasn’t expecting an appearance from on the PS Classic, but I’m glad it did. In my head, the beginnings of this extremely weird spin-off JRPG series is an essential piece of kit on a classic compilation. Everyone hoping to experience the best of what PS1 had to offer should probably try this one out and while it certainly isn’t for everyone, it’s certainly unforgettable and deserves its place among the rest of this lot. But hey, maybe I’m biased because I’m obsessed with Persona 5.

5. Rayman

The first in the franchise that spawned my favourite 2D platformer of all time, Rayman made his glorious start on the PS1. While some may argue that the second entry in this colourful, creative platformer series deserves the spot, I’m with Sony in giving the spot to the first instead. Despite the cringey, cliche villain name they went for, this game was innovative for its time and had its own unique art style that still holds up remarkably well today. This limbless boy has earned his place.

6. Tekken 3

The final game from the original 20 I’m carrying over into my list, my thoughts are that this compilation was in need of a traditional fighting game and Tekken 3 perfectly fits the bill. This acts as one of the most iconic fighters on the PS1, and is pretty much superior in every way to the previous two entries, bringing with it more characters, more moves to pull off and a better, smoother combat system in general. This is the perfect fighter for fans of retro and takes its place rather nicely on the classic console.

7. Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus

Here’s the reason why I cut Abe’s Oddysee, to replace it with what is arguably its vastly superior sequel! Oddysee is still good, but for newcomers to this extremely odd platformer, the larger variety of power-ups and potential strategies is a much better pick for those unfamiliar with the franchise. To put it simply, Exoddus just holds up better today than its predecessor. Get ready for what is kind of nightmare fuel though, as the slightly unsettling imagery and character designs are bound to make you feel a little uneasy as you traverse dystopian, industrial environments as a weird amphibian thing.

8. Resident Evil 2

And, predictably, here’s why I cut the first RE, because there was no way I was leaving this franchise off my list. It was a tough one, but the second just won out. In my mind, RE2 just improved upon the first one in so many ways. While the first was a horrifying, strategic blast through an infested mansion that became one of the PS1′s defining games, RE2 took what the first one did well and built on it immeasurably. More developed characters, a fleshed out story, more unique environments to explore. Even though the map got exponentially bigger, that feeling of claustrophobia never went away and it was awesome the level of horror they could achieve with 90s graphics. As a legendary horror game, RE2′s the one I would go with.

9. Bishi Bashi Special

I know what you’re probably thinking, ‘this arsehole cut Ridge Racer but they’re making room for Uncle Bean?’ Well, hear me out. A lot of you may not have heard of Bishi Bashi Special. It’s a little known Japanese party game that is the maddest thing you will ever play. And in a classic compilation filled with iconic RPGs and the like, I felt that injecting a little chaotic madness into the mix was never gonna be a bad thing. There’s nothing on the PS1 that even comes close to the level of chaotic fun this gives you and shows the pure variety of the console’s back catalog. I’m very firm on this game’s place. Fight me about it.

10. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

A hack-and-slash game with fully rendered 3D open environments, starring a kickarse silent vampire with glowy eyes. It’s a real wonder they didn’t put this on the starting lineup. For real though, Soul Reaver was ahead of its time in a lot of ways, really testing the PS1 to the limit with its graphics and control scheme. An awesome tech demo for the time that still holds up well today, but is also a solid game in general. Very worthy of this list.

11. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

As pretty much any PS fan will tell you, this game kind of has to be here. And everyone won’t shut up about it for good reason. While Castlevania made its start on Nintendo systems with the original trilogy, it really made its mark on the industry when Symphony of the Night dropped onto the PS1 in 1997. It took what made the other games so great and built on it all, providing a sprawling platforming epic filled with collectible power-ups, hidden places to explore and a story that, at the time, defined the franchise. Many would argue that the series still hasn’t topped this entry, and as such is an essential addition that is sorely missing from the real thing.

12. Tomb Raider II

Tomb Raider is, well, iconic. I’ve used that word a lot but it’s true. Lara Croft and the franchise she belongs to are iconic, especially to the Playstation. And like Castlevania, the lack of any Tomb Raider on the Classic is almost criminal. This title encompassed everything that makes the original Tomb Raider trilogy so great, interesting puzzles and areas that require a lot of strategic thought to traverse, a decent selection of weapons and vehicles and a sense of genuine fun and adventure that runs through the whole thing. Tomb Raider is cool, and it doesn’t need much introduction. And for me, this was the most glaring omission of them all.

13. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back

While we’re on the subject of glaring omissions, here’s what was basically the PS1′s answer to Mario and Sonic, Crash Bandicoot. In particular, I’ve chosen Crash 2 because I feel it’s the best experience for new players. Crash 1, while it’s the original, is full of a load of fuckery that may put newcomers off altogether if they can’t master the jolty controls and the slightly unfair life system. Not a bad game, just not great for those new to the franchise. Crash 2 just sort of lends itself better to the classic, challenging but not too much 2D platforming the series is known for. Well-designed, aesthetically pleasing levels, consistently fun mechanics and even a story you can sort of follow. This was Crash at his best, and it needed to be here.

14. Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon

Yet another PS Classic omission that made people sad, Spyro acted as the lesser known, but still suitably iconic second mascot for the PS1. Unlike his orange counterpart, Spyro’s levels felt much less linear and were more of an explorative collectathon rather than a straight platformer. And of the original trilogy, it’s pretty safe to say that number 3 consolidated everything the first two nailed and made it as perfect as it could be. Year of the Dragon defined the series at the time, and it needed to be onboard as much as Crash.

15. Crash Team Racing

Look at me go, I’ve finally broken my franchise rule. But in this one instance, considering how wildly different the 2 Crash games are, I think we can let it slide. CTR was never really meant to happen, it was mostly just a side project for the guys at Naughty Dog to do while they still had the rights. And the result was an awesome, fast-paced and crazy experience to rival Mario Kart. Unlike Nintendo’s equivalent at the time, CTR had much heavier, clunkier feels to the karts you drove, which really made you feel like you were driving this hunk of metal. You had power-ups that kept everything interesting, shortcuts to learn and even a full-on Diddy Kong Racing style adventure mode. Guess we’ll just have to wait for the remaster to relive this one.

16. MediEvil

I’ll be honest, this was the one I was most disappointed to have missing from the Classic. I absolutely adore this game. I love the story, the concept of Sir Dan as a character, the combat and the lovely gothic areas you encounter from a mausoleum to ghost pirate ship. But most of all, the cheeky, totally stupid British humour running through the whole thing, particularly through the game’s archetypal villain Zarok, makes the whole game as funny as it is epic, with a suitably rousing soundtrack following you on your journey to prove you’re not the zero everyone thinks you are. Classic game, desperately needed a place on the lineup.

17. Gran Turismo 2

I’m going to preface this by saying that I don’t care much for realistic racing games, I don’t derive a lot of joy out of them and they aren’t really my cup of tea. But in my efforts to keep this lineup as diverse as possible, I thought I’d include the game that really pushed the PS1′s graphical capabilities to its limits and almost created a game that surpassed its console generation in its looks. There’s a whole wealth of content here; a whole bunch of cars to unlock and a beefy career mode to keep you busy for a fair while. And this game differs from other racing games on the system by rewarding strategic thought and encouraging players to think through every action they take on the race track, which for me makes this the most immersive racer on the system.

18. PaRappa the Rapper

Okay, I know. I really did just put this here. But come on, PaRappa ended up in PS All Stars, so he’s gotta mean something to someone, right? It doesn’t matter how you slice it, this paper dog properly revolutionised rhythm games at the time, creating a fun and responsive, if a little short, experience that was certainly unique for the time. This is another that would definitely fall under the weird category, but it’s a bit of Playstation that doesn’t get mentioned nearly enough and it’s worth a spot on pure fun factor alone.

19. Ape Escape

As one of the first games to rely entirely on the Dualshock analog sticks, Ape Escape is another that falls into the ‘must mean something to someone’ category, as Ape Escape also ended up with a character in PS All Stars. This one is a fairly simple foray, but it was met with a lot of love from fans, as you play as a tiny, chibi version of the dude from Yu Gi Oh (tell me I’m wrong) and round up a bunch of escaped apes in varying platforming levels with a cool selection of gadgets. It’s here because it’s here, let it be.

20. Silent Hill

Silent Hill is pretty much as iconic as horror games get, and yet I somehow managed to forget about it until I got the 20th and final game on my list. It was claustrophobic, gory, full of metaphors you really don’t want to dig into and, most of all, it was terrifying. The constant fog, while it was mostly implemented to account for lack of draw distance, worked in the game’s favour and became a staple in the series. For the PS1 era, this game and the series it belongs to properly nailed the scare factor and left everyone who went near it feeling at least a bit uneasy. Saying this belongs here is an understatement.

Cool, there’s my list. My probably quite badly justified list clouded by pure fan-ness. But anyway, hope you agreed with some of my picks and let me know what games you would’ve liked to see on the otherwise questionable PS Classic lineup below. Thank for reading !

[funeralfeastanon]

I would like to expand the Durarara and Baccano ask game to the rest of the questions :D

Can do, anon. ;)

Ask game is here. Questions 1, 3, 7 and 17 have already been answered here. Spoiler warning as usual.

2 - My favourite aspect of the story.

This goes for both Durarara!! and Baccano!: I appreciate the complete lack of a “main character.” Instead we have all these intertwining stories of multiple people who are each their own “main character” and are often not fully aware of how important they or everyone else are in the grand scheme of things. To spice things up, the characters have varied personalities, moral codes, motives and goals that clash with each other. It’s chaos and I love it.

The anime adaptation of Baccano! does it better in my opinion though, since it decides to have several loosely connected arcs, all with their own ensemble cast and taking place in different years, take place all at once and somehow makes it work as a coherent whole.

4 - My favourite male character.

Izaya Orihara from Durarara!! and Claire Stanfield from Baccano!, for fairly similiar reasons. Namely, they are both crazy bastards having way too much fun doing what they do best - manipulating the various people and factions in Ikebukuro for kicks and brutally murdering two groups of train hijackers respectively.

Their roles in their respective stories are interesting too, where Izaya is the closest thing Durarara!! has to a main villain/mastermind (for awhile) but Claire is a “hero” protecting his train.

5 - My favourite female character.

Celty Sturluson from Durarara!! and Rachel from Baccano!.

I was intrigued by the Headless Rider from the beginning, but what I didn’t expect was for her to be one of the few fairly sane, well adjusted and genuinely heroic people in Ikebukuro. When an immortal fae who literally lost her own head looks normal in comparison, you know your city district is a madhouse.

As for Rachel, she is also one of the more normal people in the story, as a resourceful informant who just wants to hitch a ride and stay out of trouble, but damn, does she have nerves of titanium, calmly coming to the hostages’ rescue while unarmed. It also takes a special kind of person to befriend Claire Stanfield.

6 - My favourite villain.

Uh. I already used Izaya, so I guess I’ll give some love to Mikado Ryuugamine and his slow descent into darkness. Who would’ve though the supposedly normal highschooler would set someone on fire one day?

For Baccano!, the award goes to Ladd Russo, yet another complete lunatic enjoying himself way too much.

8 - A character I think needs more love.

Hm, well I already gave some love to Rachel, so… Eve Genoard. It takes guts for a little girl to try to shoot a mafioso for killing her brother. Yeah, her brother was a terrible person and she didn’t end up shooting the guy herself, but still.

For Durarara!!, Tom Tanaka deserves recognition for being one of the other sane people in Ikebukuro and a fantastic friend to Shizuo.

9 - What I ship.

I ship the canon Baccano! pairings mostly. However, I’m a Durarara!! multishipper, though not really invested in any of them, so these are the things I lowkey ship: Celty/Shinra, Shinra/Izaya, Izaya/Shizuo, Izaya/Namie, Shizuo/Vorona, Masaomi/Mikado/Anri and Erika/Walker.

10 - My favourite canon relationships (romantic, familial, platonic, antagonistic, etc).

Celty and Shinra are the healthiest couple in Durarara!! and considering Shinra is a mad scientist in love with a headless woman since childhood, that’s saying something!

My other favourite relationships all involve Shizuo Heiwajima, ha ha. He really does try his best to be a good brother to Kasuka even if his temper and Kasuka’s emotionlessness get in the way, his friendship with Celty is adorable and his deep hatred of Izaya and general simple-mindedness leaving him immune to his mindgames, driving Izaya up a wall in turn, is very entertaining.

Baccano! has the iconic couple in Isaac and Miria, who are so attached at the hip that it’s impossible to think about them seperately and who share one big heart and one tiny braincell. Of the others, I like Firo and Maiza’s almost father-son relationship, the weird friendship Rachel has with Claire and Claire and Ladd trying to out-crazy eachother never gets old.

11 - My favourite group/faction.

I love the concept of the Dollars in Durarara!!, as a gang made up of (mostly) anonymous people from all over Ikebukuro ready to act on requests given via cellphone messages in a surprisingly coordinated manner, they have the potential to be very dangerous. Hopefully its more morally upstanding members can stop Mikado from doing anything too bad.

As for Baccano!, I love Jaccuzi and his friendly neighbourhood gangsters, they might have tried to rob a train but dammit, they will protect it from the other really bad hijakers.

12 - Most iconic scene.

Durarara!!: Shizuo hurling a vending machine at Izaya.

Baccano!: Isaac and Miria trying to steal a museum by stealing its door, while posing for the security cameras in mummy disguises. That or the scene where Firo’s finger gets cut off only to immediately regenerate.

13 - My favourite scene.

Durarara!!: I think I mentioned it already, but the scene where Mikado reveals himself as the leader of the Dollars and the faceless gray masses bloom in colour as members.

Baccano!: it’s a very unimportant scene in the grand scheme of things, but Firo taking down several men without dropping his hat never fails to make me smile.

14 - My favourite story arc (for serialised works) or favourite act (for self-contained works).

I’m having difficulty dividing Durarara!! into distinct arcs but overall I enjoyed the events shown in the first season the most. Regarding Baccano!, my favourite is the Flying Pussyfoot/Trainjacking segment. I mean, you have a violent cult trying to get their leader out of prison, a group of psychos looking for a massacre, a street gang and a pair of incompetent loony thieves all independently deciding to target the same train. Which happens to have an assassin, an informant and several immortals on board. Watch the fireworks!

15 - My favourite plot twist.

Durarara!!: I already used “Mikado is the Dollars leader” for favourite scene, so I guess “Masaomi is the Yellow Scarves leader” comes in here.

Baccano!: the Rail Tracer being revealed as the random and supposedly killed conductor who is actually Claire Stanfield the assassin. The execution was perfect.

16 - What I’d like to or would have liked to see happen.

Oh man, I really need to catch up on both series, especially Baccano! since I didn’t read past what was already covered in the anime. So, no answer for this one because for all I know what I want to happen already happened lol.

[universeofthinkers-blog]

Tarantino's Daring Film: Once Upon Time in Hollywood

Review

What Tarantino's film does right is his sense of direction, knowing how to put just the right elements (comedy, suspense, friendship, history, and even a narrator) to tell a story. In this case, it's the story of Rick and Cliff (an actor and his double), and their tales.

First and foremost, the argument of the hippies is put on place very early on with Cliff (Brad Pitt) blinking an eye on a hippie girl. By the way, we aren't really seeing the bright side of them: they are depicted as a malevolous community capable of doing the worst, such as murder and of having an extreme ideology that doesn't really make much sense.

Along the scheme of the film, we might find this somewhat long "fillers", that lasted a few minutes each, where we see a single character, not speaking anything but merely driving, to go to another destination. To think of these as mere fillers is a mistake; we have this scenes to put the whole ambient of the 60's in just one piece, using the most important tool: music. That's their whole reason of existence, and while I understand the logic, I feel like sometimes it was too much of it, or too repetitive, perhaps it should have been done only at the beginning. In my opinion, this could have been removed to reduce the duration and it would still be great. This aspect was kind of reminiscent of Mussorsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, where we have the walk, Promenade, which represents the moment of going from one picture to another. In a similar way in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, we have this Promenades that gives you time to breathe between each section of the movie.

The comedy aspect of the movie was fine. It delivered all of the exceptions, with Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, it just can never go wrong. Even in the way they spoke and not doing explicitly jokes, the way each other related, was full of good-measured humor and very enjoyable.

Moments of tension are also really, really tense. I mean, for real. The scene where Cliff walks into a hippy community in a ranch, (where they live together without shoes and almost in an undeniable animal-state), and goes to visit an old friend of his, George, very strange things begin to happen. The hippies are secretive and evidently trying to hide something, and George is delusional, blind, his memory fails. Other things like a rat's sound in a filthy house makes the whole thing scary and weird, as if examining a dead body kind of weird. The scary music makes us feel as if we are seeing an scary film like Bluebeard's Castle with Bartoks Music.

The different characters do a splending job in setting their own unique personality, and do it in a very relatable manner. We see a hippy girl, a Kung Fu fighter with too much pride, an intelectual girl that likes reading and is 8 years old. The Polanski's (Rick's neighbors) failed to convince me, there just was something about both of them that I just didn't grasp or understand, and lacked potential to make the story even greater. Perhaps it was because they didn't really relate to Rick and Cliff's arch, until the very end, and they were there, almost filling a gap, their story a bit too independent of our two protagonists.

The changing of filming style between different sections of the movie is what made a film that otherwise would be "two guys into the sixties" into "all the colors and the very essence of the sixties, oh and by the way, the story of two guys", make a lot of sense. What I mean by this is that sometimes they used scary instrumental music from old films into a part of the movie, the actually black and white parts where Rick is recalling his past movies (and make it look genuine), a sudden narrator in the middle of the movie (which didn't last too long), and among other things, made it very enjoyable. It felt like watching a collage-like movie, or having a box of chocolates with different surprises.

Le Grand Finale was flawless and one daring move, that was being prepared before, with the hippie's tension scary, dark and disgusting side set into motion: we see a fucking war veteran torture to hell the crazy hippie guys and their ridiculous extremism. Even when Cliff was so gone and out of himself because of spolier: drugs, it felt like he was fighting an ant there. What we might have seen in an horror movie as a terrible, almost gore scene, it was depicted in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as a humorous sadism, where one just can't avoid to explode into laughter.

8.5/10