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leathfaic · 10 months

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"So what do ye eat then, when ye get the choice?" Soap is opening two bottles of beer handing one over to Ghost. He's clueless about what to cook for dinner, might as well ask Simon for some input.

"Chicken and rice. Or I order something." Ghost's tone is nonchalant as he studies the label of the beer he was just handed and Soap decides immediately that he's not gonna follow the plain suggestion actually. He's on leave and deserves some flavour in his food, thank you very much.

"Single malt whisky cask matured?" Ghost' sounds slightly disbelieving. "That is very Scottish.", or disapproving, who knew with the English.

So Soap just snorts, "Had to get ye some of the local stuff, eh? If ye behave ah'll make sure we get some of the beer with tea in for ye."

At that Simon, who was sniffing his beer, looks up, pure horror in his eyes and Soap's snort evolves into a full-on cackle.

He catches himself a moment later, inspecting the almost pouting look behind the mask and decides to drop the topic for now. Instead, he raises his bottle at Simon, "To leave, aye?".

Ghost does the same, their bottles clinking.

"Cheers."

"Slàinte Mhath."

Crisp and cold. Fuck he'd missed beer. Missed a lot of things during that last OP. Food that tasted like actual food was one, bringing him back to his original line of questioning. It shouldn't be surprising that Ghost is not into cooking. He's the only person Soap has ever seen eating anything from the mess with true enthusiasm. Sorts his MREs by how much he likes them too when he thinks no one is looking. Always eating the best first.

"Not much of a cook then?" he keeps his tone light and innocent while sipping his beer. Trying to observe Simon's reactions without making him feel watched.

"I can handle meat," There's a stupid smirk traded between them and Soap would roll his eyes if he didn't have to reign himself in, immediately set ablaze by the stupid joke.

"Learned at a butchers before I joined." Ghost offers up by way of explanation, sounding almost sad. Something must've happened there, something that had Simon ending up in the force. Something that led to him becoming Ghost.

"Well perfect, I'm not terrible but I do handle meat way better in the bedroom." Soap winks at him and this time, to make sure the innuendo lands painfully enough to pull Ghost out of his head.

It does and earns him an exasperated look. Might have convinced him if those brown eyes weren't full of fondness.

He's gonna leave Ghost with the belief that he's not learning to see behind the mask for a little longer: Wants him to feel comfortable. No need to divulge that his tone clearly betrayed that he's got no idea how to cook apart from putting some meat into a pan and put all his hope into some cook in bags. Lots of people couldn't cook, it wasn't a big deal.

Only that it is not just that. From the few things he's told Soap about himself, it makes sense, in a sad way.

Simon, who confronts being gay like being in battle, all hyper-masculine energy focused on fighting through all the hurtful stereotypes and insults his father planted in his head, probably never got to do a lot of things that weren't 'manly'. Makes him wonder where the needle skills come from but only for a split second before he decides he's gonna do something about this then.

"So what is yer favourite food then?"

"Don't really 'ave one." the stoic bastard answers and Soap has to think about the MREs but also has no trouble believing that that is a luxury the other man doesn't allow himself to ponder. Thinks he doesn't deserve it.

Not that'll stop him. Quite the opposite, now he's motivated.

"Alright, anythin ye could be doin with right now?"

He watches Ghost's eyes dart through the kitchen seemingly looking for a clue. Bouncing of cabinets and shelves before he takes a swig of his beer.

"No." he finally answers, sounding like he's withdrawing into himself again. For fucks sake.

Soap smiles at him hiding his exasperation away before it can reach his face, doesn't need his emotions to make this harder on both of them.

"Well too bad, yer at ma mercy." He lets his smile dip into something devilish and revels in the note of alarm in Simon's lovely eyes. It's quickly replaced with confusion as Soap presses a knife into his hands. He stands there, looking for all accounts like a very misplaced ghoul. Very deadly but also kinda endearing.

"Ye can cut the onion, garlic, are chilis fine with ye? If so, cut two of those too and make sure ye wash yer hands after tha'.

They work in silence for a moment, Ghost's dutifully following Soap's command without any complaints. When Soap begins to sear the meat he explains what he's doing and asks for input from Ghost. He's rewarded with warm surprise on the mostly masked features before Ghost starts talking, softer than his usual tone when he's guiding Soap through something job-related, becoming almost reverent when he sees Soap adjust to what he just said. And Soap tries to be careful with his usual ribbing jokes, not wanting to disturb the equilibrium that is Ghost relaxing in his flat.

When the other ingredients are added he takes over again. Talking the lieutenant through the process. Explaining his steps when he knows why they're important and freely admitting defeat when he doesn't.

They drink their beers and cook, Ghost once more following every step that Soap lays out for him and Soap silently trying to impress him. Not that he was gonna admit that to either himself or anyone else.

"Who taught you all tha'?", they're just waiting for the pasta now, the sauce down and bubbling away on low heat, leaning against each other, Soaps head resting on Ghost's shoulder. Outright domestic.

"Ma grannie," Soap smiles fondly at the memory of the tiny woman with her sincere blue eyes. "Told me being a lad was no excuse and Ah'd better know ma way around a kitchen for ma future burd." he winks at Ghost who goes surprisingly red surprisingly fast clearly visible even behind the mask. "When Ah told her Ah'm a buftie she doubled down. Ian she said, refused to call me John ye see forever angry tha' ma da went with the anglicised version, anyways, Ian she said if ye're bringing home another man one of ye will need to know how to cook or for all yer gay love ye'll focking starve." he can almost hear hear as his accent gets thicker and something between wild joy and bottomless sorrow tears through his chest at the memory.

There's a beat of silence before a weird noise breaks it. It's a rough quick sound and it takes Soap a second to realise that Simon just snorted.

"Well thank fuck for grandma MacTavish and her foresight!" he pulls his almost empty beer bottle into the air dramatically and they toast again.

Soap's smile is wide, imagining what his nan's reaction to Ghost would've been.

They might have gotten on entirely too well.

#ghostsoap #simon ghost riley #soapghost #cod mwii #johnny soap mactavish #john soap mactavish #cod mw2 #cod #cod hc #I'll be probably putting that in one of my fics on ao3 at some point #but we'll see #enjoy the domestic thoughts #also no soap will never again stop with the “meat handling” jokes in bed #simon regrets ever telling him #and proceeds to shut him up with said skills (not the ones he learned during his apprenticeship)

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snootlestheangel · 6 months

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SoapGhost Playlist Ft. My Autism

@thorougly-melted-brains @midnight193 *edit: just realized I should have put links for all the songs, but um... I did not so good luck cause I don't feel like it*

3 Things

This is entirely composed of Imagine Dragons. That's kinda the whole point of this. If you have nothing kind to say about my band of choice, say nothing at all. *Yes, I will still put 'by Imagine Dragons' after every song*

In order of which ones I believe are Most SoapGhost to least. Some songs are entirely because of vibes. I'll explain the best I can for some of them.

There will be mentions of some MW3 spoilers but I don't go into detail. It's more like the reason one of the songs is SoapGhost coded to me is because of MW3 but not like explicitly... That makes no sense, but you'll see (and NO I do not want to discuss MW3 or my opinion on it. My only opinion is it was cheap and who needs canon anyways)

West Coast by Imagine Dragons

Where do I even begin on this one??? The actual instrumental element to it reminds me heavily of like their time in Las Almas for some reason? Which kind of doesn't make sense, but oh well.

"One more day, we'll spend together/Lay your eyes, look upon me for the better/Oh I know, I'm worse for weather/But my love I won't give up/Spend my days, cursing my soul/Wishing I could paint my scars to make me whole/Oh I know, I could be better/But my love, I won't give up"

Like tell me this isn't Ghost addressing Soap upon realizing his love for him. Like tell me this isn't Ghost realizing how far he's fallen for Soap after everything that happened during and after the "Alone" mission!! And actually listening to the song helps so much cause like the melody and the way the words are sung is just so desperate yet so devoted and just *dies*.

"I ain't no superman/I ain't no holy ghost/I'm just the one that keeps you up at night, you love the most/I'll be your strong man/I'll be your west coast/I'll be the sun, I'll be the waves, I'll be the one that loves you most"

The refrain itself gives me goosebumps in like a happy upbeat way. The actual verses are so mellow and almost sorrowful but the refrain is something so upbeat, almost. It's like it's actually Ghost realizing how far he's willing to go for Soap and he's just confessing it with such confidence because he needs to. He loves Soap and Soap deserves something strong.

"I'll change my ways, if you would stay/And all your tears that you have cried will go away/Oh just grant me one more day/Oh, my love, please don't give up"

Soap addressing Ghost this time. Soap believing he's too confident, too cocky, too bold, too much for Ghost. "I'll change my ways if you would stay" literally screams Soap with confidence issues wanting nothing more than to be with Ghost, but so afraid Ghost doesn't want him. Soap seeing all the pain Ghost has been through in his life and just wanting to heal it, wanting to make Ghost whole again, and wanting to help Simon find reasons to smile. Soap begging for time to prove to Ghost he's worth it (either Soap proving himself to Ghost or proving to Ghost that Ghost is worthy)

"See the devil at my door/I see the future of the ones that I've ignored/I guess I was born to be at war/But my love, I won't give up"

Once again back to Ghost addressing Soap. This is such a strong Ghost verse I cannot explain it to you. "I guess I was born to be at war" literally Ghost-coded?? Like literally grew up with an abusive father and struggled with all sorts of shit in his life, even without the military??? But now he's got Soap so he can't give up.

"So my love please don't give up"

Literally both of them, just desperately begging the other to hang on, to keep fighting and loving each other to the ends of the earth.

Just one of the most SoapGhost coded songs I have in any of my playlists, literally listened to it on repeat after hearing it for the first time cause the first time i heard it was back in February when I first fell victim to the COD brainrot. It just immediately struck me as SoapGhost (was definitely influenced by the fact I was thinking of them but still)

Bleeding Out by Imagine Dragons

"I'm bleeding out/So if the last thing that I do / is bring you down, I'll bleed out for you/So I bare my skin and I count my sins and I close my eyes and I take it in/I'm bleeding out/I'm bleeding out for you."

BRUH literally so Ghost-coded it isn't even funny. Like, Ghost being made up of so many scars, some of which still feel like open wounds in his mind, finding this thing of perfection that is Johnny "Soap" MacTavish and suddenly realizing that if he's gonna die it might as well be for Johnny. Ghost not wanting to drag Johnny down into the mess that he is and that comes with 'Ghost' and being like "I'd rather bleed out on the ground than bring you to ruin"

"When the day has come/That I've lost my way around/And the seasons stop, and hide beneath the ground/When the sky turns grey, and everything is screaming/I will reach inside, just to find my heart is beating"

This section is a lot more about vibes and the idea I've been playing around with making a SoapGhost fic where it's based on this song. This segment is so "Ghost falling deep into the dark side of this persona he's created but then remembering the life Johnny gave back to him"

"Oh you tell me to hold on/Oh you tell me to hold on/But innocence is gone/And what was right is wrong"

Um... just realizing this is very much the "Alone" mission after Graves's betrayal and honestly? Kind of MW3 coded ngl...

"When the hour is nigh/And hopelessness is sinking in/When the wolves all cry, to fill the night with hollering/When your eyes are red, and emptiness is all you know/With the darkness fed, I will be your scarecrow"

Tell me this isn't SoapGhost!!!! Just this whole song is actually secretly the way Ghost reveals he's an amateur poet cause he writes this as his declaration of love rather than be fucking normal.

Follow You by Imagine Dragons

More or less about vibes. Some of the lyrics definitely Soap addressing Ghost coded.

"I'm always on your team/I got your back, all right"

Like tell me this isn't Johnny "You know it, Lt." MacTavish addressing Simon "You with me, Johnny?" Riley.

"If the world would only know what you've been holding back/Heart attacks every night/Oh you know it's not right"

Somehow very much the two of them but I can't tell who is addressing whom here... Somehow kind of feel like Ghost being like "I get to fuck John "Soap" MacTavish everyone else go home". I genuinely don't know how to describe the feeling behind this particular line but it's so SoapGhost coded.

"I will follow you way down, wherever you may go/I'll follow you way down to your deepest lows/I'll always be around, wherever life takes you/You know I'll follow you"

Guys... Like this is so SoapGhost. Just both being like "I'd follow you to hell and back" but in a much less cliche way.

"You're only disappointed in yourself, all right"

This is someone, maybe not necessarily Ghost, addressing Soap and his chronic self-esteem issues.

"I wish that I could fix it, I could fix it for you"

Soap to Ghost talking about Ghost's shitty life. Tell me I'm wrong I dare you.

Walking the Wire by Imagine Dragons

"Do you feel the same when I'm away from you?/Do you know the line that I'd walk for you?/We could turn around or we could give it up/But we'll take what comes, take what comes/Oh the storm is raging against us now/If you're afraid of falling then don't look down/But we took the step or we took the leap/And we'll take what comes, take what comes/Feel the wind in your hair/Feel the rush way up here"

*strangled noises* I know this is by far their most like "love song" song but like!!!!!!! "Do you know the line that I'd walk for you?" Um Ghost and Soap both risking their careers cause it's a Sergeant and a Lieutenant (at least Soap cause let's be honest, with Ghost being legally dead it'd probably be pretty hard to actually do something to his career without un-killing him).

"We could turn around or we could give it up" screams the two just being like "well if we don't wanna risk it we could just...not?"

"but we'll take what comes" literally kills me because they're so in love and Soap especially doesn't give a shit about what that does to his career, he just wants to love Simon :')

"Oh the storm is raging against us now" Could be the aftermath of getting caught fraternizing OR the two during the "Alone" mission and anything afterwards.

"If you're afraid of falling then don't look down" so many interpretations here but also the quite literal one which is Ghost sniping Hassan and saving Soap :)

"We're walking the wire, love"

Ghost to Soap during times they could easily get caught

"And there's tears we'll cry but those tears will fade/It's the price we pay when it comes to love"

So strongly believe this is just them being like "we'll go through so much together, but that doesn't matter cause we've got each other" Literally just such a beautiful line in my opinion and yeah

The River by Imagine Dragons

Have no argument for this one other than Vibes and the fact I (somehow) first listened to this song the day I learned about the MW3 spoilers so uh yeah. If you know, you know and uh good luck!

I might do a part 2 someday. I don't feel like going through any more songs tonight but this was definitely fun being able to put down my thoughts behind these songs in particular. I need to spread the brain rot!!!

#simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #soapghost #ghostsoap #ghost x soap #soap x ghost #soapghost headcanons #ghost call of duty #soap call of duty #ghost mw2 #soap cod #ghost cod #soap mw2

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simonxriley · 1 year

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OC Interview!

I was tagged by the wonderful @natesofrellis and @thomrainer to do this oc interview. Thank you! 💜

Tagging @playstationmademe @nightwingshero @sstewyhosseini @chuckhansen @hoesephseed @echo3-1 @leviiackrman @cameoninja and anyone else that wants to do it!!!

Went with Liz's canon verse and the one and only Simon "Ghost" Riley is the interviewer. Because she would tell everyone to fuck off and Price wouldn't care either way. I also thought it would be cute to have him interview her.

Name?

"Elizabeth Anne Walker or shall I say Liz Riley! No one calls me Elizabeth and I prefer going by Liz anyways."

Are you single?

"I don't know Simon? Am I single?"

Simon: "No, we're married." He chucked. "Silly."

Are you happy?

"Probably for the first time in my life, I can truly say that I am."

Are you angry?

"As much as my life has changed for the better, I'm always going to be angry. Between the years of emotional abuse and neglect from my father to Shepherd's betrayal, that anger will always be there."

(Simon nods)

Are your parents still married?

"No, my mom died when I was two years old." She sighed. "I wonder what my life would've been like if she lived."

Birth Place?

"San Diego, CA."

Hair Color?

"Dark brown, black."

Eye Color?

"Brown."

Birthday?

"July 20th, 1992."

Mood?

"Content, maybe a little annoyed."

Simon: "That's what you get from trying to prank Price, love. It isn't going to happen."

Liz: "We'll see about that."

Simon: *Scoffs*

Gender?

"Female."

Summer or winter?

"Before I moved here I would've picked summer, but now I'd say winter. I like being all cozy under a blanket and wearing sweaters. You don't get that in San Diego."

Morning or afternoon?

"Neither. No, wait. Morning."

Simon: "Is it because you like hiding my balaclava so I have to search for it and I'm late for work?"

Liz: "I would never do such a thing."

Simon: "Sure you wouldn't."

Liz: "Shush."

Simon: *Laughs*

=EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE=

Are you in love?

"Hmm, let me think." She begins tapping her chin with her index finger. "Yes, Yes I am!"

Simon: "Good, I am too!"

Who ended your last relationship?

"He did." She sighed. "I deserved it for what I did."

Have you ever broken someone's heart?

"Yes. In most cases I wouldn't have cared, but Dunn didn't deserve it. He was nothing more than good and kind to me and I ripped his heart out like it was nothing. It's one of the few things I regret."

Simon: "At least you two made up and became friends again. That has to mean something?"

Liz: "It really does."

Are you afraid of commitments?

"I wouldn't say I'm afraid of commitments, I just didn't care for them at the time. Times have changed."

Have you hugged someone within the last week?

"Obviously. You and our daughter."

Have you ever had a secret admirer?

"Uh, no."

Simon: "Really?"

Liz: "Yup."

Simon: "Wow."

Have you ever broken your own heart?

"Unfortunately. It's only human."

=SIX CHOICES=

Love or lust?

"Younger me would say lust. Now it would be love."

Lemonade or ice tea?

"Ice tea. I wasn't really a fan of lemonade and Logan thought I was weird for it."

Cats or dogs?

"Both. Can't choose, won't choose."

A few best friends or many regular friends?

"A few best friends. The smaller the friends group the better in my eyes."

Wild night out or romantic night in?

"My wild nights out are over, romantic night in with my favorite person."

Simon: "Unless you get drunk at home, then your wild nights are not over. Makes for an entertaining night though."

Liz: *Heavy sigh*

Day or night?

"Night. I'm a night owl as you know."

=FOUR HAVE YOU EVERS=

Been caught sneaking out?

"Not by my dad, but Hesh. Which didn't do much in the long run."

Fallen down/up the stairs?

Simon: *Trying to hold back the laughter*

"Don't you say a damn thing, Simon."

Simon: "I haven't said a word."

Liz: "Good, let's keep it that way."

Simon: "Okay, lil miss I trip up the stairs."

Liz: *Facepalms*

Wanted something/someone so badly it hurt?

"Yes, who hasn't?"

Wanted to disappear?

"No, my father made me this way, he's going to have to deal with me as well."

Simon: "He did have to deal with you until you got reassigned."

Liz: "That's true."

=FOUR PREFERENCES=

Smile or eyes?

"Eyes."

Shorter or taller?

"Taller."

Intelligence or attraction?

"Intelligence, attraction is just a bonus."

Hook-up or relationship?

"Past me would for sure say hook-up, I've had enough of those in my life. Now, however I would say relationship."

=Family=

Do you and your family get along?

"No, the only person I get along with is my brother, Logan. The only one that actually treated me with respect and love."

Simon: "He is a good big brother. And uncle."

Liz: "He really is!"

Would you say you have a "messed up life"?

"If a messed up life is having your dad emotionally abuse and neglect you for years because you didn't want to join the military only to join the military because you thought he would love you more only to realize it wouldn't change a damn thing? And because of that I became reckless and rage-full. Then yes, I would say I have a messed up life."

Have you ever run away from home?

"Nah, I liked my house and I had Logan."

Have you ever gotten kicked out?

"I would've liked to see him try."

=FRIENDS=

Do you secretly hate one of your friends?

"Yes. I don't think it's a secret though. Soap knows I don't like him that much."

Do you consider all of your friends good friends?

"For the most part, yeah."

Who is your best friend?

"You and Logan."

Who knows everything about you?

"Also you and Logan."

#these answers would've been a little more detailed but my wifi is being a dick right now so i kinda had to rush this :(#natesofrellis #thomrainer #oc liz walker #simon ghost riley #otp: the ghost with the most

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bookishjules · 4 months

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Here I am again ....the one with the Simon in the wild bestie

Hehe it's so sweet of you to invite me over for tea 😄

So yeah for the Morgenstern essay I still haven't typed it out ...but it's basically like Clary (protagonist) and Sebastian (antagonist) both were Morgensterns. It's a tainted name in the shadowhunters community right? So my point is something isn't always inherently bad ...it's the circumstances or the fate (or the plot 😗) which makes them bad. Now for Jonathan/ Sebastian bro had been going through torture for all his life as the demon blood burns shadowhunters. He was Raised to be a weapon unlike Jace who was atleast taught other stuff. Upbringing matters a lot in shaping those characters, shaping their powers. Like for comparison if you look at Jace when he was a Wayland...when he was a Morgenstern....when he is a herondale... there's a slight difference in the way he's written or the way he fights ... he's still the same Jace but there's this minute difference you'd notice. So basically the background you're Given also matters a lot ...which happened with Sebastian. If he was given a non-Valentine life/ background....if his blood wasn't infused...if he was brought up in a normal way he'd have definitely led a better life As a Morgenstern and wouldn't have been the one manipulated into being the villian .... maybe he'd have still turned out to be a antagonist who knows. But atleast throughout his life he'd have felt light the way he felt while dying. Maybe clary's fate would've changed if they grew up as siblings who knows. The Morgensterns we've seen till now are all fucked in the head fr. Like even Clary could've gotten her villian arc easily...the clave anyways did not trust her as she was a Morgenstern.

To sum it up ....I feel Morgensterns have a dominant dark side n would be the bad guy ...but you always get a choice to choose your path even if you're blinded by the fate

(I hope my word vomit made sense....I mean these were basically facts which already existed I just typed out my thought process)

Oh for the guy thing ... nothing romantic is going on in plain sight but there gave been moments... really sweet ones. Oh btw last week I sent him the thing I wrote which said 'i want to be written about ' .....as my bday gift guy wrote for me ..which made my day

Anyways I hope you're doing okayyy ヾ⁠(⁠･⁠ω⁠･⁠*⁠)⁠ﾉヾ⁠(⁠･⁠ω⁠･⁠*⁠)⁠ﾉ

The nature of last names in the shadowhunters world is such a compelling one, and you're right, it's absolutely something of a metaphor for choosing who you become, who you are. Even during ascension, there's a certain amount of this. You pick a name that you want to be like. You don't pick a name like Morgenstern.

Except... There's also an amount of reclamation when it comes to last names. Gabriel and Gideon worked hard to make the Lightwood name mean something good again after their father tainted it, and I think a large part of their ability to do that comes from Tatiana denouncing the Lightwood name at the same time.

A name doesn't dictate personality, of course, but it does have a certain sway in how you are treated by other shadowhunters, which of course, informs the way you act. It's a whole thing in developmental psychology; natural/genetic temperaments garner certain reactions, which then controls how a child is parented etc., which then has a hand in which other personality traits etc. come to the surface. I think this is very similar to how shadowhunters are raised according to their last name, and how, so often we see a change of name being an indicator of a change of self--because it can be difficult to change when you are still being perceived a certain way.

As for where this leaves us with the Morgensterns... Green-eyed Jonathan is often associated with the last name Fairchild, and I think the reason why is clear. There's an amount of hope there, for a person who never got to be a person--that he would turn out to be better than the man who raised him. And if he had been raised a Morgenstern, even without the demon blood, I do think it would have been more likely for him to become an antagonist, than if he had been raised a Fairchild, simply because one name has a much more negative connotation than the other--especially in the time that Jonathan was being raised. People would have treated him differently as a Morgenstern than they would a Fairchild.

If we're following the logic that somehow Valentine was not a presence in his childhood, this would all have to circle back to Jocelyn, and her decision whether to keep her husband's name or not. I do think there could be scenarios where she did, but I would be more inclined to believe that she would at the very least return to being Jocelyn Fairchild and raise her son with the same name. No, this wouldn't make him immune to the reactions of other shadowhunters, but I do think the choice to step away from the tainted name would be recognized and acknowledged in a positive way. We see a little bit of the opposite happen with Clary, iirc, when she takes up Heosphoros, but she was already at a point, then, when she was ready to treat Morgenstern in a similar way to how Gideon and Gabriel would have treated Lightwood after the events of TID.

It would be so interesting to see how such reclamation would have played out if Clary and Jonathan had been raised as siblings. Would Clary see the way her brother was treated for a name he didn't even use and get angry for him? Would Jonathan work hard to be a good example for his sister, a good steward of the family he was born into? Or would it be something of the opposite? Or would they ever even try to reclaim that name? No Valentine means no "Sebastian" means no continued conversation surrounding the name Morgenstern...

I guess what I'm saying is that maybe there is an inheritable darkness in the Morgensterns, but I think it's possible that the name does as much, if not more, than the genes themselves. Morgensterns have been the bad guys, so they will be painted as such, and future Morgensterns will then have an inclination to fill the shoes and be the bad guys.

Sorry for such a long response!! That essay of sorts really sent some gears spinning I guess lol thank you for sharing!!! (Also happy belated birthday!!!!!! <33)

#also that's such a sweet and thoughtful gift from the guy omg <33 #simon anon #asks #tsc

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fordearlife · 1 year

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to those who hate August and Sara

cw: su*cide

First, listen – Sara is not without fault, but she IS autistic. anyone who isn't autistic is extremely unlikely to be able to fully understand all of her actions and decisions in S2. I want to write more on that (I did a bit more below), but for now I'll just say that the hate she's been getting is unfair and sometimes ableist. Lisa recently shared on instagram that the neurodivergent rep was Intentional and that autism does influence her character, which is something I believe to be obvious among autistic viewers.

August is very clearly not without fault, but I'm begging folks to consider the bigger picture of his circumstances. He has a drug problem, an eating disorder/body image issues, and an incredibly weak support system. he doesn't trust or rely on his mother. His dad also had a drug problem and killed himself, and he hasn't had space to process this with anyone in his life. His good friend (Erik) died and he didn't have space to process this in his own way either, albeit partially by his own doing. He wasn't connecting with that friend's brother (Wilhelm) in the way he expected to, and his friends at school ditched him at the first opportunity to exert power over him to meet their own needs. His shitty behavior (misogyny, etc.) was encouraged/excused by Erik and all of his school friends. Vincent is at least classist, possibly racist (S2 rowing scenes) and homophobic. August feels pressure to succeed at school, he faces financial problems that he's left to navigate on his own and a choice of giving up two things that are equally important to him (the land, art, etc. left to him by his father and the things he's earned on his own at school), and now he has the added pressure of being Wille's backup as crown prince. Meanwhile, he has an inconsistent supply of the drugs he's dependent on, a secret relationship with the sister of the Wilhelm's love interest, who's problematic in the eyes of the royal court, a history of selling/doing drugs and consuming alcohol at school, which he lied about, and the guilt of taking/uploading the video, which is separate from the weight of the consequences. I dare to call all of this canon (except where I've specified otherwise).

The boy has made some BAD, HARMFUL decisions. But we also see him in a very different light when he's with Sara. He puts all of the manipulative shit aside during his time with her and only does his shitty thing again when he feels backed into a corner in S2. I believe that he shows that he's capable of change. What we haven't been shown yet is an avenue for that change. I think that Sara was an important step toward this though, because she seems to be the only person he really cares about in the entire series so far, and hurting her visibly caused him pain. He needed this to happen so he can begin to understand the hurt that he's caused to others.

I speak now as someone who believes in police and prison abolition. August needs help from folks who have been minimally affected by his actions. I want his stepdad and the royal family to keep him out of prison (if Sara was in fact reporting him and not turning herself in to take the fall, I have a Theory™️) and I want Sara, Simon, Wille, and Alexander to get more tangible justice. He should absolutely be removed from them so they can heal in their own way, but he needs therapy, and he needs to find a way to understand that failing to take accountability and face consequences for his actions will cause further harm to both the people around him and his current and future self. He needs better role models, and he needs a chance to form new emotional bonds with others so he can keep learning what it means for people to care for each other.

A final defense for Sara: She didn't just say that she lost her way because she was in love, she said that she thought the damage of the video had already been done and that she was convinced that August was trying to change, and I believe her. She barely saw any of the ugliness that happened between August and Simon in S1. She saw Simon upset with him at parents' day, which would've seemed over-the-top without the context of the money/drugs, and she knows that August posted the video (correct me if I'm missing anything). She DID incorrectly convince herself that he wanted to turn himself in – he never hinted that he would – but he otherwise showed her an entirely different side of himself. He genuinely said he would never hurt her, he wanted to be seen with her in public, and he comforted her when she was upset about Rousseau (that meltdown is also specifically attacked by an upsetting number of viewers as being childish and evidence that she's an uncaring person/sibling with misplaced priorities). They were happy together. The fact that she got that kind of love (from AUGUST even) as an autistic teen who felt so out of place at that school was beautiful, and it absolutely represents a justifiable source of internal conflict for her.

/fin (for now)

#young royals #august #sara #autism #transformative justice #analysis

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blxxditout · 5 months

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Day 10: What does your muse look like? Did anything inspire his looks? From your secret Santa

He has a description in his segment of my google doc, and I've drawn him a handful of times, but I've yet to make a full ref of him. I'll go ahead and lovingly describe him again since his appearance is something that I really like about him. Putting that under the cut though. For inspiration, I'd say that Robert Pattinson was definitely kept in mind. I really liked his face, but I couldn't see it for Sid, nor could I imagine him portraying my character. Face claims are hard, especially when your character looks a specific way that doesn't align with your mental image of the muse. In spite of that and what I've been told though, Simon Henriksson from Cry of Fear wasn't taken into account despite the comparisons that could be made about their characters.

I did want him to vaguely look like a hunter from Left 4 Dead though, since originally he was going to be a zombie.

He is a tall, pale man, as sickly as a corpse but life still persists through him somehow. It couldn't be fathomed with how dull his skin looked besides the norm of a healthy glow. His eyes are sunken are the results of sleepless nights, and days spent rotting away in the dark of his room, though there is something that is unsettling about them. They're nearly unnatural with how light they are, nearing a silver while retaining a hint of blue. They say he has his father's eyes, but they were never this light, a testament of the horrific act that was done unto him by his partner. Even so, it is rare of him to express such through the windows of his soul, as it is often that they are curtained by the black mop atop his head.

His hair is a mess, perpetual bedhead that never bothered to be tamed. It curls slightly, with bangs framing his face to try to draw attention away from his striking eyes. Sid doesn't bother with his hair much, unless it's a hot day or irritating him. What he tends to wear doesn't change often, unless the Entity or someone else has bestowed upon him a new choice of attire, anything would be better than the bland clothes he likes to default to. That being said, his usual choice happens to be: a grey hoodie, black t-shirt, khaki cargo pants, and worn black sneakers. He prefers to dress for comfort rather than to dress formally, there isn't anyone he's trying to impress anymore, or would care to... save for a small few.

General appearances aside, he has a few finer details to his character that is rarely ever brought up. He has a prominent scar over his heart, taking the shape of a half of a heart(ironically) from when he was stabbed by Selene. The hair on his chest has stopped growing around there. His nails are also permanently black since he's reanimated. Even while being brought to the Fog, he still died, and I thought that it'd be neat of him to have. While his abilities are essentially non-existent save for his premonitions of the supernatural(dark sense/spine chill, etc.), he still has Scythe buried in his heart. If a killer stabs him there, they have a chance of hitting it, but they won't ever be able to physically retrieve it(he's not a kinder egg.)

Everything that I've explained here doesn't differentiate much from what I already have listed in his sheet, which is already pretty descriptive enough. Plus I have some other body headcanons: like how his teeth were made sharper upon being revived, or how he has stretchmarks on his stomach and arms. The little changes about his person from when he was alive compared to when he died/got brought back were very subtle, but they're a joy to describe. Regardless, when designing him, I didn't want to do anything grand with his character because he's not meant to be stylized. His whole point is that he was a normal guy, and then his whole life got flipped on his head. As he develops, he's bound to change and have more added onto his character, but as I see him now he is a perfect representation of what I wanted him to be.

#— 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁 𝗦𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗔 #SS! 10 #// I want to bite him #// I want to bite him soooooo bad #// i know people would rather see an image than read a description but i didnt have anything i was proud of to represent him atm #// even now i dont really have anything but silly doodles #// also i know im late to these but thanks for the ask #🩸『 𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗗 ┊ ooc 』#🪝『 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗠𝗘𝗔𝗧! ┊ dbd 』

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vro0m · 1 year

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vro0m’s rewatch - 164.2/310

2015 US GP

Part 2 of the US GP review : the podium and the postrace interviews.

On the podium, Lewis seems very happy. I don't know why but it's not sinking in for me? It seems like any other win lol. Lewis signs himself.

Then he touch Seb’s back as always, puts a hand on Nico's shoulder and says a few words to him. Nico is not even trying to not look utterly pissed. I can't blame him.

Seb doesn't even have time to set down his trophy before Lewis starts spraying him with champagne.

Paddy pours Nico's champagne down his race suit while Nico turns his back to the crowd and looks down.

It doesn't spoil Lewis' mood though. He's ecstatic now!

Sir Elton John is leading the interviews, weirdly. He's wearing a black and gold Adidas tracksuit which is. A choice. For a podium. Lewis says he can't believe he's here. "It's Elton John !"

He thanks the crowd for being here and standing in the rain, he hopes they put on a good show for them today. He can't find the right words to say how it feels. He couldn't have done it without this team that really took him on board. "I love you guys, thank you so much for everything you do for me." And to his family at home, they're watching. And teamLH, "Still I rise."

Nico is laconic. He's very disappointed, he doesn't know what happened. He thanks the crowd as well. He reiterates he’s disappointed. No word about Lewis, who's talking with Seb.

Seb started 14th and finished 3rd. He says being that fast gives him hope for what's to come. But it doesn't feel great when you cross the line and know you can't fight for the championship anymore. He congratulates Lewis who's done a superb job all year, congratulations to his team, but they're getting close and hopefully they can fight them next year.

"And Lewis, celebrations tonight?" Elton John says. "Are you throwing a party?" he answers. "I'm gonna party, I'm playing tonight later…" – "I'm gonna be there," Lewis says. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

The crowd chants his name until he lifts off his trophy to them. Lewis, Paddy and Elton take a photo together.

Niki says it's very good they have another 3 times world champion. "Can't complain!" He says it was the best race ever to watch. Ted says he must have thought at some point it wouldn't get done today or even maybe that they wouldn't win the race. He says he was most worried about Seb passing Nico and the whole thing being delayed. Everybody did a very good job, the whole team, which is the most important. What does he think of Lewis' achievement? Does he think he can get better from there? "No, he's only as good as I am, " he says, deadpan. Then he laughs. "I'm joking. Three world championships! He will get better and win more, I don't worry !"

Toto is very happy as well. They're blasting music in the garage. He says Lewis deserves the title for sure, he was brilliant in his driving, he also was lucky the car didn't let him down this season. Nico was a little bit less lucky. It was a bit of a difficult one today for Nico so they need to build him up again over the next couple of days but next year, new rules, and he'll give it another go. Simon is handed the trophy. He says he hasn't had a word with Nico yet. They need to keep the balance right within the team "so it's always between headteacher, psychologist, father, brother, team boss." Simon asks why they didn't pit Lewis during that second safety car. He says it's because they would have had to stack them which means losing time. They weren't sure if it was the right call. There were a lot of marginal calls during the race. Simon asks if he has a message for the people back in the factories. Toto sets down his glass of champagne, grabs the trophy, and says "Yes I have a message, this is yours, you've won it!"

We see the F1 world champions standings. It goes like this at this point :

Michael Schumacher 7

Juan Manuel Fangio 5

Alain prost 4

Sebastian Vettel 4

Jack Brabham (literally never heard his name before?!) 3

Jackie Stewart 3

Niki Lauda 3

Nelson Piquet 3

Ayrton Senna 3

Lewis Hamilton 3

Simon says "Of course the great, the legendary Michael Schumacher still way out in front… But then again, Lewis AND Sebastian Vettel have got plenty more years in them yet." Indeed.

Lewis was asked if it was a dream come true in his press conference. He says he's overwhelmed at the moment. His first British championship, his dad and he drove home singing "we are the champions". He says he owes it all to his dad and family who supported him all these years and sacrificed so much for him to be here, and the positive energy he gets from his fans. He realises that while he gets to enjoy driving a Formula 1 it's really a platform he can use to inspire young people and he hopes that they got from today to never give up on their dreams and hopes and to keep working at it. There were many points he thought he'd lost the race but not for one second he believed he couldn't do it. Nico drove a fantastic race, he's been driving fantastically well. "So mad respect for him as my teammate." He calls it a humbling experience especially to equal Ayrton Senna who meant so much to him and still does today. He smiles. He feels very very blessed.

While they start asking questions to Nico, Lewis hides his eyes behind his hand. He's emotional.

Then he says something to Seb with a smile but Seb barely reacts.

Nico says he got wheelspin which never ever happened to him before even in testing (that’s not true they complained of it several times during starts). They need to look into it later but it was obviously really really tough to lose the lead and the win like that, because he was feeling really good at that point. "And turn one… Yeah for sure was very aggressive… Pfff…" He's literally pouting and sulking. "What am I gonna say you know? You've seen it again, I haven't seen it you know so how the hell– I can't comment yet. I need to see it as always. You know for sure it was extremely aggressive. We hit each other. Well I would say Lewis came into me. So… Obviously that's not good but." The camera pans out to a larger angle. Lewis is frozen beside him with a poker face. Seb is frowning.

Back to the broadcast, Paddy is wearing a world champion shirt and a Pirelli cowboy hat. "I'm not built to Texas scale," he jokes as he demonstrates the hat being way too big for his head. Paddy says it means a lot to him personally because he's worked with Lewis throughout his career and he's been there for his three championships. He's not trying to claim any credit because it's a huge team working for it.

Hill picks up on him saying Nico and Lewis are a good pairing for a team. He asks what Nico brings that makes him work well with Lewis in that aspect. Paddy says it's because they have such different characters but are equally able to get the very best out of the car and push each other. He says it's underestimated how important of a factor that is in a team. The two drivers pull each other up on a bad day, because every driver has a bad day, and they need a reference from the other side of the garage. It's fantastic having these two guys because they're both really top of their game. He doesn't think Lewis could have gotten where he's gotten in the last two years without Nico on the other side of the garage. That's a genuinely interesting point of view.

They show him the start and when they touched. Paddy says although he didn't study it in detail, Lewis came on the radio and said he didn't mean to do that. He still calls it a tough manoeuvre to throw on a teammate, legal or not, and he suspects he had way less grip than he needed.

Then they ask him why they didn't pit him. He says the right call was to pit during the VSC and they did so with the leading car. Stacking the cars would have caused issues to the second car which is why they didn't pit Lewis. They agree Kvyat crashing was a turning point and the race might have gone differently if he hadn't, although Nico really lost when he went wide.

He says it's a tough day for Nico, but he'll bounce back. Johnny also asks if he thinks we've seen the best of Lewis Hamilton (l-m-a-o) and Paddy says with much nuance "we're seeing the best" and then he adds "as we go on." He further explains that that year was his best performance but who knows where the limit is, because he might do even better the next year. Hill asks about Lewis getting more comfortable with the team. Paddy says he thinks getting a second title the previous year he "became much more at home with himself" and relaxed into the job.

Oh and we're actually gonna hear more from Lewis! He says he feels very relaxed right now, overdue a drink with the team, but he's buzzing and has a hard time putting it into words.

He says it's the greatest feeling he's felt in his life. He can't believe it and it was such a fun race! He describes it, ups and downs, Nico being 10 seconds ahead at some point and then he came back with strength. He says he never gave up. He talks straight to the camera. He hopes he made his mom proud, his dad, Linda, Nick, his sisters, his aunties, all his family, team LH, he hopes he made them all proud and he loves them all and is thankful for all the support all these years.

He reiterates there wasn't one second of the race he didn't believe he couldn't do it. He's interrupted by some woman to whom he smiles wide and who comes to kiss him on the cheek.

"From one three world champion to another three world champion (sic)", she says. I think it's Jackie Stewart's wife? She tells him well done and he thanks her and says it's good to see her.

Rachel asks Lewis what Jackie Stewart told him. Lewis says firstly it was great to have him come over and he's such a great champion. It's a great feeling being congratulated by him. He said he remembered how it felt for him and it must be doubly great for him. Lewis says he doesn't know why he said that but he doesn't think anyone can feel as good as he does right now. "I just wanna dance, but I can't!" he chuckles.

Lmaoooo Lewis please. Grow up. She asks him such a great question and he gets so defensive. "You've been pushed by your teammate, how much of your success can you put down to having someone who challenges you so much in the same team?" He stops smiling.

He stutters. He says it's a difficult question. He doesn't think it's a large chunk of it. "It's really down to my guys, my group, the whole team obviously working together and myself as a driver, it's just work that I do on my own," he continues to stutter. "I never really leant on someone else to pull me along the way, you know, I just had to try and find it myself." And that's really what he had to do today, he says, and he gets back to the race and changes subject. He really had to improve his own driving while he was out there (I just wanna note here that along the way this year he got into the habit of saying whilst instead of while and it throws me off everytime it sounds so weird.) to be able to compete with Nico. He was destabilised by the question at first but he's found his footing again now as he’s answering so he says of course it's great to have a teammate that's pushing and helping the development of the car.

Rachel says "please tell me you're not gonna celebrate with just watermelon juice tonight like you did last year?"

He shakes his head. "Definitely not. No, definitely– lots of change… Tequila tonight." – "Enjoy!" she answers.

He laughs, thanks her, and moves on.

It's hilarious hearing them talk about how great and important he is to British sports with all that came after and the smear campaigns basically. They say Bernie himself thinks he's a great champion and so proactive and all that.

Jackie Stewart gets there. He says he's so happy he was there and Lewis is so happy, justly so. He drove a good hard race. Jackie Stewart says he knew he'd never race again when he won his third, unlike Lewis who's looking forward to being able to win more titles. He's got a lot of years ahead of him and he's got every opportunity to win four or five (lol, or six or seven?). Simon asks if he thinks it's possible, in the current car, how long can they continue. Stewart chuckles. "It could be five or six!" (here ya go!) Mercedes is so superior right now, the engine, the chassis, the engineering talent they have, it's outstanding. Seb won 4 titles back to back and that's the type of things you can do when you have that superiority. Johnny says we've seen Lewis' talent grow and grow and grow, I don't understand his question. He says Stewart was critical of F1 and drivers needing a hand and asks if he would help him out. I don't get it. Stewart says he couldn't help him out because his days are passed. Funnily enough he thinks driving-wise it doesn't change, he says. He says all the great drivers of the past people love to bring up had the same way of driving, he cites a bunch of them and he says Lewis can go ahead and do it that way. You're always learning and the older you get the more you learn and the more you can adapt to some of the idiosyncrasies that you would have previously wrestled with. (Ahhhh! He's so right! We’ve seen it happen with Lewis!) You learn how to put them aside and go around them rather than fight them. He thinks Lewis is now at that point when before he was fighting them (YES ABSOLUTELY JACKIE!) and the three men standing there all say yes. Now he could mature a little bit maybe by being more confident, given he has won three titles and you don't need to race hard all the time to win (I don't think he knows how to race any other way than hard though lol). Johnny asks him if it excites him to see him on track because it excites him because he's always on. Stewart says he is exciting to watch whereas Prost wasn't exciting to watch because he was so smooth and clean. He adored the way he drove, just like Jim Clarke (he rambles about them a bit). Simon says everybody would like to see Ferrari on par with Mercedes in 2016. He asks if we put Seb and Lewis in a Mercedes, who does he bet on? Stewart says he thinks three teams are completely capable if they get it right : Ferrari, RedBull, and Mercedes. They have more money and resources than the others. (He rambles again, old man.) He says drivers like Sebastian Vettel and Lewis are so well placed within these teams, and he also cites Alonso who he says has one of the best heads in Formula 1 (All I can think of is : “How's your head? Never had any complaints.”). He thinks they all can win a lot of races. Simon asks again : in a straight fight, Seb against Lewis? He makes a face. He thinks right now Lewis is the fastest driver in F1. Johnny backs him up, "absolutely".

Seb is disappointed to have lost the title. But it was a very good race and the car was good, even in mixed conditions. He says he's not predicting "I don't have…" he gets a demented smirk, "you're a woman so I have to be careful but…" she chuckles, he smiles more. "I have balls but I don't have a crystal one." He says he doesn't wanna know the future, he knows they're working very hard, but first they have to finish this season in style. She says Lewis said he wants a battle with him next year. You can see him swallow and then smile. Istg. He says of course he's keen on that if it goes the other way around.

Nico. She asks him first about the start but he says no he'd rather talk about other things first if it's okay. He talks about his mistake. He says again it never happened before and it was weird. He's really confused about it. The race was his. He finally congratulates Lewis and says he deserved to win the WDC. He's had a great season and drove well and he was consistent. And finally, turn one. He says it didn't have a big impact on the race because he was able to get back in the lead (that's true). He says he just looked at it and he was ahead mid corner and so he had a right to the track. So Lewis was too aggressive, took it one step too far. That's not okay. She asks if he told him that. He says no, because he just saw it now. They haven't spoken. He says apart from his mistake it was an awesome race, all over the place, great battles. She asks if he realises the cap Lewis threw him was just his (girl you're brave). "On the podium? Oh you mean in the room…" He says it was nothing. "It's just our typical games." (!!!) He sniffs. She asks if he has the stomach to try again next year. He says he's not thinking about next year, he's trying to digest today.

#f1 #lewis hamilton #vro0m's race reviews #2015 #2015 us gp

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babygirl-riley · 1 year

Text

Out of the Frying Pan

Task Force 141 is down on one teammate, Simon figuring out how he has to tell Allison of their child. In the midst of all that Simon has to get her out of the hospital in order to save her life.

Warnings: Mentions of Pregnancy, Violence, Blood, and Swearing

Simon listened to the phone call in a private room he asked for. They couldn’t find Makarov. After the attack at that fucking square he disappeared. “He could have fled the country,” Laswell began. “Which if he has, he could be anywhere. I have other teams on high alert in selected countries just in case.”

“What about Russia allies,” Ghost asked rubbing his painted eyes. He was fucking tired. It’s been 3 days since it happened, when Simon left Allison’s room. He would stalk by her room and wait until she was asleep to go in and sit. He couldn’t leave her alone, not only cause he feared that she would just randomly flatlined but because he can’t grasp her being pregnant. Simon knew it was there but he was hoping it was a dream. “He could be somewhere in allied countries.”

“That’s what I think as well,” Laswell began before sighing. “However that’s not what Russia thinks…” She hesitates for a moment.

“What is it Kate?” Price asked, Simon could hear the commotion in the background. He was on base for a while, occasionally making sure Simon hasn’t broken any noses.

Laswell sighed before sniffling. “Russia wants us out.” Ghost sat back, folding his arms.

“Out?” Ghost asked, he knew what it meant. Russia thinks that it is long gone, the problem can’t be handled.

“The Russian President thinks that we have made it worse and wants us to leave. I tried to explain to him it’s the wrong choice but even our government thinks that we need to be pulled. They don’t want to make the President more irritated then he already is.” She explained sounding a bit jrritated herself.

“So we are letting Makarov win?” Soap asked, he new the Sargent didn’t want to go, he has expressed it many of times during these phone calls. That they can’t just sit fucking back and do nothing.

Simon just stared at the phone, he knew the answer to that. Men like Makarov are rats, they will hide in sewers until they are bored running in shit and piss. Simon looked outside of the room, what will happen to Allison? He would have to follow her, he wouldn’t let her be not in his sights. The baby, his stomach turned, every time he thought about the little ass kicker, he felt sick.

Simon would think about his nephew how he would laugh and smile. When Simon would go visit his brother, nephew would scream Uncle Simon. However, everything went up into flames after his torture. Opening the door to see his whole families’s blood soaking through the floorboards…Seeing his nephew’s face…about how…He was just a kid. Simon didn’t want to walk into that again, especially when it would be his kid. Son. Daughter. Wouldn’t matter. It would break him in whole. Nothing would fix it. Or even becoming his father. Simon didn’t want to even think about turning into his father but he was a monster of some sorts. So could he? Could it be genetic?

“Ghost you make sure Fox gets back to base in the UK base,” Price’s voice rang him back into reality. “We will land there first and go from there.”

“Would she be able to leave?” Hawk asked sounding a bit nervous.

Simon nodded like everyone was here. “The doctor said she was better. I will talk to him.”

“Alright,” Laswell sighed. “See you in Manchester.”

The phone call ended, he stared at the phone for a moment. Simon was fucking irritated, Makarov has gotten away yet again. Not only that but he has missile codes. Could be launched any day. Any hour. Any minute. Any second. Simon let out a long sigh before burying his face into his hands. A fucking kid. Another little him running around. He did his 4 seconds of breathing in and 4 seconds of breathing out. It was his way to calm the anxiety.

Simon didn’t get stressed easily. He is a hard man, nothing breaks the walls down, now with Allison? the missiles, Makarov, and a child it was a lot. Simon already was barely just the slightest to come to terms with knowing he loved Allison, to trust her fully. When he took off his sweater the first time showing him all of him, that’s when it hit him. A month ago they were on that mission in the Caucasus Mountains.

The baby wouldn’t be here it wasn’t for that night, that night he noticed the sex was officially more than just sex. How he was obsessed with her, her scent, her smile, her laugh, her stupid jokes, her voice, how she treated him. Everyone was terrified of him but her, she always made him feel human. Not a ghost. The baby was a prize for Simon being vulnerable to someone for the first time. He didn’t know if he should be happy or confused, scared? Angry? Simon sighed doing the breathing technique. The doctor, Simon, needed to speak to him.

Once he was able to breathe he looked around for a couple minutes before stopping in front of Allison’s room. She was asleep. She looked peaceful. Simon only wanted that for her. To have peace. “Everything alright?” He snapped his head over at the doctor.

“Yep,” He said watching him carefully before watching him walking into her room. “Actually needed to speak to you.”

The doctor glanced over his shoulder before licking up her chart. “Good, what is it?”

Simon didn’t want to discuss it with Allison laying there without know first. “We have to be sent back home, there will be on site care for her and the baby. ” He shortly explained.

The doctor shook his head. “The baby is still under some distress. We need to keep her here.”

Simon shook his head. “There will be a doctor on base for that.” Stating it once again, his patience already thin.

The doctor turned slowly to Simon. Simon glared at him behind his mask. “Alright we will start preparations for her.”

Simon watched as he walked out of the room, it wasn’t going to be negotiable in the first place. With that interaction he won’t be leaving Allison’s side no matter what she screamed about. Simon felt his hands were squeezed tight, he uncurled his hands relaxing a bit before looking over at Allison. He might be terrified of the baby but he knows that he will be there every step of the way.

………………………………………………………….

I felt someone placing a hand on my shoulder. “Allison,” A deep British accent hitting my ears. There is warmth that flashed through my body. “Wake up.” His hand more firm.

I opened my eyes and looked over at him. He was glancing at the door. “What’s going on?”

“We have to leave now,” He said walking to the door, shutting it a bit and the blinds. He went to grab a wheelchair on the side of the room. “Come here.” I started to take out the IVs and heart monitor.

I followed his frantic state as he lifted me up and placed me softly down. “Ghost, what is going on?”

“It’s a long story,” He mumbled before rolling me towards the door, he poked his head out for a moment. I looked down rubbing my hands together. “We were being sent back to the UK however,” He paused looking back at me then out again. “Makarov has his men here.”

“What,” Fear. I am not able to fight, in no condition in fact. Baby. There were too many things all happening at once. “Ghost how many of them?”

He went around to the back of my wheelchair. “Not many but if Makarov finds you he will make sure you stay dead. When we go out, know it isn’t pretty out there, ight?”

While he was wheeling me out he pushed the door open slowly. When he did I gasped and slammed my hands up to my mouth. There was a nurse, my nurse laying on the floor with a pool of blood below her. Her eyes were glossy and terror was the last emotion she had. “Oh my god.” I whispered looking up at Simon.

He had a pistol in one hand and his other on the wheelchair. It wasn’t his pistol, it had to be one of the guards or Makarov’s men. He was cautious yet fast going through the hallway, lights were dim. It looked like a apocalypse went through the halls, some bodies laid down, glass broken. How the fuck did I sleep through this.

“What happened?” I asked looking up at Simon.

He still looked forward, looking around. “It happened so fast,” He whispered. “I will explain when we get there, love.”

When we reached the elevator it dinged, he made sure I was facing the elevator as he looked behind us for a moment. “I would like a weapon too, I might be decommissioned but doesn’t mean I don’t know how to use a weapon.” I whispered trying to look behind me.

“Once we pass a gun I will make sure,” He stated with the elevator door opening. “Price, Ghost, how copy?” I wasn’t able to hear the conversation, he had the radio hooked into his headphones he wore on top of his head. “We are going through the elevator now, out here.”

I watched as he rolled me over to a corner and pressed the ground floor button. I watched as the doors closed then looked up at him, he had his eyes trained on the door. “I’m sorry,” I whispered looking up at him. “I didn’t mean to pu…”

Simon sighed and I saw his shoulders relax. “You have nothing to be sorry for Allison. We can talk about it later, right now I want to get you out of here.” It was quiet for a brief moment “Bloody hell,” He whispered before turning to you. “There are a couple squads on the ground floor,” He turned to me before looking up at the indicator to tell us we have 2 more floors. “Alright, I am going to push this wheel out of here, straight to the exit. You shoot.” He handed me the pistol.

I looked down and examined it. “Alright Lt,” I mumbled looking up at him. “Don’t challenge Death to a pillow fight.”

He bent down and lift his mask to his mouth before capturing my lips. “Unless you’re prepared for the reaper cushions,” He whispered, rolling his mask down. “Gotta do better sweetheart.”

I smirked before he walked behind my wheelchair. My heart raced as I readied the weapon, he leaned to my ear. “Shoot ‘‘em between the eyes.” I held my breath before the ding rang into our ears.

My heart beat exploded in my chest. Once the door opened a man stood at the door with his rifle. I shot and the man fell to the ground, Simon moved him quickly grabbing the rifle, giving it to me and switched me for the pistol. He pushed while we passed bodies once more.

“Вон там!” (Over there!) I shot my head over and lifted the rifle sending shots across the room. That’s when bullets came flying past us.

“Bloody hell,” yelled Ghost as he sprinted cutting through halls. “I didn…” I felt him jerk and falling to the side.

“Ghost!” I screamed as he laid on the ground. I snapped my head up and shot towards the man that shot Ghost. He pushed himself up as I kept shooting.He started shooting the pistol as it smacked on a couple of guys.

More were coming from the sides, one of them charged at us hitting me out of the wheelchair. I yelled as I felt the pain shoot up my side. The man straddled his hips on mine. He pulled out a knife and pushed down. Before I could do anything blood splattered from the man’s head and onto my face. I pushed him off and looked over to see Price running over.

“Jesus leave you two for a minute,” He started dragging Ghost over to the side behind a wall as Gaz came around to grab me to the other side. “And you have a whole hospital shoot out.”

I smiled at him. “Nice to see you too, old man.”

Gaz looked down to make sure everything is good. “Let me see the side wound, I saw that bastrard take you down.”

I lift up my gown, showing off the ugly undies that came with it. We both looked at the wound it wasn’t bleeding too bad. So that was a good sign. “You might have some stitches torn but let’s not look until we get to the safe house.” Gaz said looking up at Price and Ghost.

Ghost was holding his shoulder while watching us. Rage was behind those eyes. “Safe house?” I said to Gaz.

“Everything will be explained.” Gaz said.

“Right now focus on getting out, yeah?” Price yelled over to us, shooting a couple of rounds.

“Gaz get Fox over here,” Price ordered while shooting a couple of guys. “We’ll cover ya!”

Ghost knelt down and shot a couple of times then nodded at us. Gaz picked me up. “If Ghost knocks me out because of this,” He grumbled. “Then ya owe me a drink.”

I giggled at the comment. “I think he will let it slide Gaz.”

Once he had me secure he looked down at me. “That’s not what his eyes say.”

I looked over and he for sure had the kill stare, I just smirked at him and rolled my eyes looking back up at Gaz. “I think he is more worried about the killers with guns.”

Gaz mumbled something quiet, I just chuckled. “Ya ready?” He said getting ready to sprint.

“Yeah.” I said, gripping his shoulders. He sprinted across the room, bullets spraying past us. Gaz went towards the exit, Price and him came through.

I glanced behind Gaz watching Ghost getting up and running towards the exit. Price following behind. Ghost was watching as we locked eyes, I gave him a soft smile. Once he slammed the door open Soap and Yuri standing next to a black van. Soap smiled at me. “Lt, glad you can join the party.” He said as he watched Gaz put me in the back, on a seat.

I chuckled watching Ghost come in sitting next to me. “I wouldn’t miss it, Sargent.” I said as we all piled in.

Price ordered Ghost to take off his sweatshirt to look at his bullet wound. As he did, he was taking the bullet out, Ghost just clenched his jaw and groaned as Price pulled the bullet out, tossing it to the side.

“Laswell has gone dark.” Price said, I snapped my head over at him. He looked sad as he wrapped Ghost arm, the van moving around a bit.

“What?” Ghost said looking over at him as well.

“Makarov,” Gaz sighed. “He has launched a missile, his men are inside our forces as well.” Fucking hell. I sighed looking forward, this could be the end of everything.

#simon ghost riley #call of duty modern warfare #simon riley #simon ghost riley x allison fox lawson #simon ghost riley x oc #simon ‘ghost’ riley #call of duty #cod mw3 #call of duty modern warfare 3

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therosebudgirlwriter · 2 years

Text

That Fictional Fairytale End

Baz

It's only the second ball of the season and I'm already hopelessly bored. One of the older council members has been droning on about quail hunting for almost an hour now. Usually I would excuse myself under the pretence of needing to discuss something with my royal advisor, Penny, but she's currently dancing with the new merchant, Shepard something. I internally curse myself for letting her take tonight off. I finally resign myself to the fact that I shall just have to suffer through this, when I hear someone behind me clear their throat. Startled, I quickly whip around, only to see Simon standing, looking quite sheepish. Simon is on duty tonight, luckily. No matter how many times I see him in his uniform, I still get flutters in my stomach.

The Earl, seemingly disgruntled by the interruption, turns to Simon with a sneer.

“And who might you be?”

“Earl Danbury, this is my personal guard, Sir Simon Salisbury.” I interject. Simon does tend to downplay his position.

Simon bows to the Earl, and then to me (I hate that he has to do that), before finally speaking.

“Sorry to interrupt your highness, but I have been asked to escort you to your office.” He turns to the Earl.

“Apologies, very urgent business.” he says, turning on his heel.

I hurry after, wondering what on earth is happening. This isn't even the correct way to my office! I do appreciate the distraction though.

He abruptly stops just outside the entrance to the greenhouse.

“Would do you mind informing me on what was so urgent that I had to leave the ball, and why we are indeed not at my office?”

He turns to me, winks and then proceeds to sprint away into the greenhouse.

Naturally, I run after him, screaming at him to stop. As I chase after him, I pull off my stupid crown and cape, and tuck them under my arm. My father would die if he saw “such improper handling of national artefacts!”, but in this moment, I can't seem to give a flying fuck as to what my father would think. I get so lost in thought that I don't realise that Simon has stopped running until I smack into him, causing my crown and cape to clatter to the floor. Simon bends down and pick them up. He passes them to me, but I toss them onto a nearby bench as I sit and try to catch my breath.

“Now will you tell me why you so desperately needed me, Snow?” I say, still catching my breath. He smiles at me, the smile reserved for only me. And Penny, of course.

“Would you stop with that silly nickname! Also I really didn't think it would be wise to let you be near that Earl for much longer. As your personal guard it is my duty to not only stop you from being murdered, but also prevent you from committing murder. And I'd rather die than hear the word quail again.”

“So you lied?! I have no choice but to sentence thee with HIGH TREASON!” I command is a tackle Simon. He tries to get away, but I end up catching him underneath me, tickling his sides mercilessly as he squeals.

Eventually we end up in a heap, with Simon flopped on top of me. I forget that he is a knight for a reason.

We catch our breath as golden light from the candles shines through Simon’s equally golden curls. He's beautiful. In that moment he looks positively regal. Crowley, I wish I could simply reach out and kiss him.

Simon brushes his fingers through my hair.

I think he might actually kiss me.

I lean in, closing my eyes and –

“TYRANNUS BASILTON GRIMM-PITCH, YOU SLIPPERY MOTHER-FUCKER. I LOOKED AWAY FOR TWO SECONDS! YOU BETTER HAVE A BRILLIANT REASON TO NOT BE IN THE BALLROOM RIGHT NOW!”

Shit. Penny sounds like she wants to kill me. Simon scrambles up to the bench.

“Penny is going to kill me!” he panics, as he frantically shoves my cape into my hands and my crown onto my head.

“Jesus. Ow Simon.” I gripe as I rearrange my crown and fix my cape.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry.” he murmurs, kissing my forehead, then going back to fix his curls.

I stare at him. He keeps messing with his curls, so I grab his hand.

“Simon.” I think my heart is going to jump out of my chest.

“Huh, yeah, what?” he replies, still not completely still.

Am I about to do this?

“I think you missed.”

He looks at me quizzically.

“Wha- oh.”

Shit. Maybe I read this wrong.

“Did you?”

He half-nods, and looks up at me expectantly.

All I have to do is lean in and kiss him. I would barely have to move.

This feels like the perfect time, but I don’t want to mess this up.

Of course. I’ve dreamt about kissing Simon for years, but now that he actually wants me to, I just can’t.

But then he smiles and grabs my hands.

“Stop overthinking this and just kiss me.” he says.

So I do.

Which is the exact moment that Penny decides to round the corner.

“There you- oh.”

She blinks rapidly before speaking again.

“I don't know, no I care about whatever just happened. However, A) don't fuck up our friendship with whatever this is (she gestures wildly at Simon and I), and B) this (more wild gestures) is not a good enough excuse to miss the ball! Basilton, I had to lie to your father, WHICH IS ILLEGAL I MIGHT ADD, in order for him to not kill you.” She winces before speaking again. “You have violent diarrhoea by the way, so when he visits in the morning try to at least act sick.”

She pauses and does what I assume are some breathing exercises.

Simon goes to speak, but she cuts him off.

“I’m not done. Simon, if you like him sneak off again I will personally see to it that you never touch another sour cherries gone again.”

Simon actually gasps. “Pen! You wouldn’t dare!”

“Watch me. Now, I'm going to go back and enjoy my night off.”

She smooths out my cape and goes to leave.

“I love you both, and I'm glad you finally figured this out. Oh, and use protection!”

“PENELOPE.” I shriek as she rounds the corner. I cover my face, but Simon pulls away my hands.

“Hey Baz, I am sorry for dragging you away. I'm sorry for kissing your back then. I should've just told you I loved you instead.”

He half-whispers the last part, so much so that I think I misheard him. He looks away not making eye contact.

“You love me?” I ask, blinking in shock.

He nods, still not looking at me. I move his chin up so he finally looks at me.

“I’ve loved you since I first laid eyes on you.” I say.

Simon reaches up and removes my crown. I look at him quizzically.

“Don't want it to fall off when I kiss you.” he smiles.

Much later, in between kisses I remember something.

“Snow.”

“Mmh?”

“Don't ever apologise for dragging me away.”

He giggles and smiles back at me.

“Royal balls are such a bore, aren't they.”

#snowbaz #simon snow series #agatha wellbelove #simon snow #baz pitch #the simon snow trilogy #carry on #awtwb #wayward son #tyrannus basilton grimm pitch #ao3 fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3fic #archive of our own #my fic #royalty au

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sxugaryx · 4 months

Text

Medical Appointment (Fanfic)

New Chapter of my Angst series 💜

Carlo had recently woken up from his afternoon nap and Geppetto was glad that he was calm.

Then there was a knock at the door.

Geppetto was so frustrated he almost punched the wall, he is going to need to put up a sign to tell everyone to just leave them alone; Carlo now has a grin on his face and Geppetto is begging him again to behave himself, as he opens the door he is even angrier because he sees two familiar men in front of him, Simon and Paracelsus.

He unfortunately knows Simon well, Paracelsus not so much, he has seen him before while he had a few meetings with the alchemists but he never really bothered to talk to him aside from pleasantries.

“Uncle Simon!” Carlo shouted from behind and gave Simon a big hug, and Geppetto could see that he was in deep pain, specially because of his state.

Carlo gave a friendly wave to Paracelsus and that confused Geppetto, as they had never met before and he didn’t like where this was going, but he let them in and took them to the living room.

Paracelsus wastes no time in explaining why he is here, and how he came by last time when he wasn’t home, Geppetto is furious, how dare he try to use his son as a scientific experiment? He clenched his fist, he had to restrain himself because right now he wants to hurt him.

“Geppetto you might not understand, but I want what’s best for your son”

That’s fucking bullshit and he knows it, “Well, then help me understand”

“Mmm well” Paracelsus pauses and looks at Carlo, it’s best to have this conversation without him here, if he senses that he is a threat to his father he would probably break him in half, “Carlo sweetie, the grown-ups need to talk, why don’t you go and play with your uncle Simon?”

Before Simon can even say anything Geppetto speaks up.

“Yes Carlo, go and take your uncle Simon downstairs so you can play with him”

Carlo is beaming with joy and forcefully grabs Simon and drags him to the basement.

“I think you enjoyed that just a little” Paracelsus has a smile on his face.

“A lot actually, now, explain” Geppetto wants him to go straight to the point.

“Geppetto your son is special, with the arm of god his body has abilities that aren’t normal for a human”

“Is that why he is so strong?”

“Yes, and much more than that, did you know that when he got sick it was actually Influenza?”

“What?!”

Paracelsus explained some of the tests he did leaving out certain information of course and he also explained how Geppetto just by being near Carlo he is getting some of the same properties.

“What’s your goal here? If you-“ But Geppetto was interrupted.

“I won’t harm him, trust me, the healthier he is, the better for me, plus I already have Simon to do the more, invasive, tests” Paracelsus smiles even wider, it just makes him so happy to run tests on Simon.

“And why should I cooperate with you?” Geppetto doesn’t like this at all.

“Because I know you caused the frenzy and I can blow the whistle whenever I want”

Geppetto bites his lip, then he has no choice.

“I also know about Carlo’s very fun hobby, although I’m surprised he hasn’t killed in a while”

“Shut up”

“Do you know how many people your son has killed Geppetto?”

“No, and I don’t want to hear it, shut up, he doesn’t know any better”

For a moment Paracelsus thinks about telling him, or at least imply that it is in the double digits, but again, he doesn’t want Carlo to realize that Geppetto is angry at him.

“Forgive me, let’s not fight, we can work together without a hassle if we agree on a few things”

“Like what?” Geppetto is trying to calm himself but it’s hard to do so when it involves Carlo, he doesn’t care what happens to him, but he won’t let anyone harm his son, not ever again.

“I need to run tests on Carlo from time to time, and I need you to just be a good father and tell your son how brave he is for staying so strong while the doctor is giving him a check up”

Geppetto closes his eyes in frustration, but he has no choice in the matter and it’s best to try and “get along” with Paracelsus, or at least not be hostile.

“If you hurt Carlo in any way, I’ll kill you myself before he does it” It’s not a threat, it’s a promise, not all puppets got destroyed, and Geppetto still has the universal command to control them.

“You have my word that I won’t”

“Do we have a deal then?” Paracelsus can tell that Geppetto is still fully convinced so he decides to give him something fun.

“I’ll let you borrow Simon when we do them, let me give you a little break from caring for Carlo, his uncle should be able to babysit him from time to time”

“We have a deal then”

Paracelsus let out a small laugh, but unfortunately for Geppetto he wasn’t done talking.

“Now, remember how I mentioned how being near Carlo is also affecting your health?” Paracelsus takes his tools out and he sees a shiver going down Geppetto’s spine.

“Don’t worry, I promise I’ll be quick this time” he says as he holds a syringe. “Now be a good boy like your son and hold still”

——

Simon knew that Carlo was insane but he didn’t think he was this insane.

Carlo was playing with his “toys”; Geppetto must be as insane as well because why the hell did he build his son this? The worst is seeing the puppet that was built of Venigni, he knew him in the past, and everything about it felt so wrong.

Carlo thinks they are the real ones, hell he thinks that stupid teddy bear is the real Romeo, Simon doesn’t understand how that’s even possible, how he is so delusional, but he isn’t crazy so obviously he wouldn’t understand.

Simon sees Carlo become quiet, extremely quiet and it’s starting to worry him, and he isn’t prepared for what he hears when Carlo finally speaks up again.

“Uncle Simon… where is Sophia?”

He doesn’t know, how would he know? Carlo isn’t his brother.

“I miss her, I haven’t seen her in so long”

Simon stares at Carlo, who is looking at him expectantly, should he lie and say she is alive? If he does that then he is going to start making excuses of where she is supposed to be, and worse why Carlo can’t see her. Even if he is honest would Carlo believe him? Would his mind process that Sophia is dead or will it just refuse to accept it?

“Sophia is…away”

“Away where?” Carlo asks so innocently.

“She is living now with some relatives that aren’t from Krat” It’s the best excuse he come up with, “I’ve told you before right? That our family comes from somewhere else?”

“Mmmm” That’s all Carlo says, and Simon starts to get worried about whether Carlo will ask for more clarification but he seems to be content with that and stops asking.

He stops asking about Sophia but he won’t shut up with his questions.

“What are you sick from?”

Nothing, Paracelsus is just a maniac that keeps him sick against his will.

“It’s complicated Carlo you wouldn’t understand”

“Does he care good care of you?”

No. “He does”

“Do you like him”

“Yes” there is no hesitation in his voice this time.

There was a pause.

No, that’s not true I don’t like him.

You love him.

No, no, no I don’t like him, I don’t love him, I hate him, I hate him.

“Uncle Simon, what’s wrong?” Carlo asks, and Simon realizes that he is shaking and small tears are rolling down his eyes.

Simon falls onto the floor, he is now on his knees.

“Are you feeling sick?”

Simon can’t speak, he doesn’t even know what he feels anymore, but Carlo hugs him, gently this time, and Simon hugs him back because he really needs to feel comfort, to feel warmth.

Thankfully he manages to compose himself and stand up again. He lets out a sigh a pats Carlo in the head.

“You are a good boy Carlo”

——

Carlo and Simon are now upstairs, and Geppetto looks very uncomfortable but he is trying to put up a strong front so as to not let Carlo notice.

“Daddy, are you okay?” Dammit, he noticed.

“Yes Carlo, I’m fine, I just… don’t like injections”

Paracelsus rolls his eyes, that was nothing compared to what he does to Simon, and Geppetto is going to have to get used to getting tested as well.

“Aww Carlo look at that, you are even braver than your daddy”

Carlo has a smile on his face and Geppetto is giving Paracelsus a death stare.

As they are making their way to leave, Simon has an idea, he isn’t going to let Paracelsus go outside with his ego intact.

“Carlo before we leave, why don’t you give Paracelsus a hug? He is going to be your special doctor so he deserves your love too”

“Wait” Paracelsus tries to protest but-

“Go ahead son, Paracelsus is like your new uncle, give him one of your big hugs, to show how much you love him” Geppetto says.

Before Paracelsus can say anything else Carlo hugs him, a suffocating hug, too suffocating, when Carlo finally lets go he falls to the floor, desperately gasping for air.

He looks up to see that Geppetto and Simon both smirking, Carlo is beaming with joy and saying how happy he is to have a new uncle. Before Paracelsus can get up again, Carlo gets closer and whispers something in his ear.

“I know”

Paracelsus feels dread, Carlo knows that he is special, he might not know exactly how but Carlo knows and he is now taking advantage full advantage of his strength; That he shouldn’t underestimate him, and Paracelsus won’t make the same mistakes because God knows what the boy has up his sleeves.

When all is said and done, Geppetto turns to look at his son.

“Carlo, you were a really good boy today, do you want Daddy to play with you?” Geppetto doesn’t like the games Carlo makes him play, but today his son deserves a small reward.

#lies of p #lop #liesofp #lies of p game #lies of p fanfic #lies of p geppetto #ao3 link #this is in ao3 too #lies of p carlo #lies of p simon #lies of p giangio

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thimbil · 3 years

Text

Having some thoughts about the references and inspirations used for the Bad Batch’s designs.

So Boba Fett is my absolute favorite character and Temeura Morrison was perfect casting. I went to see the 2008 TCW movie in theaters because I was so excited to see him again, even if he was animated. You can imagine my disappointment. Whoever was on screen was not Temeura Morrison. You could sort of see a resemblance if you squinted and didn’t think too hard about it. They replaced Temeura with Racially Ambiguous G.I. Joe. If I didn’t know better and someone told me the animated clones are space Italians from the moon of New Jersey I would buy it. One Million Brothers Pizzeria and Italian Bistro. Not that there’s something wrong with being space Italian, I just don’t think it’s the right choice for the Fetts. The design got slightly improved by season 7 but it still bugs the hell out of me.

I did eventually get into the show later and (of course) got invested in the clones. Unfortunately, they were largely sidelined by the Jedi storylines. Out of the two new main characters created for TCW, Ahsoka definitely got more development and focus than Rex. When they announced The Bad Batch, I was excited to see a show specifically devoted to the clones… at least that’s what it said on the tin. We have all seen what lurks beneath those stylish helmets.

Jango Fett, you are NOT the father.

So who is?

Based on interviews with Filoni, it sounds like the Bad Batch was a George Lucas idea. And like all his ideas, it’s super derivative. The original trilogy directly lifted elements from sci fi serials, westerns, and samurai movies, more specifically Kurosawa films like The Hidden Fortress. For The Bad Batch character designs, the influence is obviously American action and adventure movies.

Now let’s get specific. Bad Batch, who’s your daddy?

Hunter

Sylvester Stallone as Rambo in First Blood 1982. That bandana has become an integral part of the iconic action hero look. You see a character wearing one and it’s a visual shorthand for either “this character is a tough guy” like Billy played by Sonny Landham in Predator 1987, or “this character thinks he is/wants to be a tough guy” like Brand played by Josh Brolin in The Goonies 1985 or Edward Frog played by Corey Feldman in The Lost Boys 1987.

Hunter’s model is closest to the original clone base. If you look closely you will see the eyebrows are straighter with a much lower angle to the arch. His nose is also not the same shape as a standard clone like Rex, including a narrower bridge. It’s certainly not Temeura Morrison’s nose. Remember what I said about space Italians? It didn’t take much to push the existing clone design to resemble an specific Italian man instead of a specific Māori man. The 23&Me came back, and Hunter inherited more than the bandana from Sylvester.

Crosshair

The long narrow nose, the sharp cheekbones, the scowl. That’s no clone, that’s just animated Clint Eastwood. Not even Young and Hot Clint Eastwood from Rawhide 1959-1965. With that hair, I’m talking Gran Torino 2008. The man of few words schtick and family friendly toothpick in lieu of cigar are pure Eastwood as The Man With No Name from Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns A Fist Full of Dollars 1964, For a Few Dollars More 1965, and The Good the Bad and the Ugly 1966.

In a way, this is full circle because the actor Jeremy Bulloch took inspiration from Clint Eastwood for his performance as Boba Fett in ESB.

Wrecker

In an interview Filoni lists the Hulk as an (obvious) inspiration for Wrecker. Ever seen the old Hulk tv show from 1978? Well take a look at the actor who played him, Lou Ferrigno. Would you look at that. Even has his papa’s nose.

You could make the argument that Wrecker was influenced by The Rock, an appropriately buff ‘n bald Polynesian (Samoan, not Maori) man. But look at him next his Fast and Furious costar Vin Diesel and tell me which one resembles Wrecker’s character model more.

Tech

Tech is a little trickier for me to place. If he has a more direct inspiration it must be something I haven’t seen. That said, his hairline is very Bruce Willis as John McClane in Die Hard 1988. His quippiness and large glasses remind me of Shane Black as Hawkins from Predator 1987. In terms of his face, he looks a but like the result of McClane and Hawkins deciding to settle down and start a family. Although, Tech’s biggest contributors are probably just everyone on TV Trope’s list for Smart People Wear Glasses.

And finally,

Echo

Oh Echo. Considering he wasn’t created for the Bad Batch, he probably wasn’t based on a particular character or movie. But if I had to guess, his situation and appearance remind me a lot of Alex Murphy played by Peter Weller in Robocop 1987. However, Robocop explored the Man or Machine Identity Crisis with more nuance, depth, and dignity. Yikes.

The exact tropes and references used in The Bad Batch have been done successfully with characters who aren’t even human. Gizmo from Gremlins 2: The New Batch 1990 had a brief stint with the Rambo bandana. I could have picked any number of characters for Defining Feature Is Glasses but here is the most cursed version of Simon of Alvin and the Chipmunks. Suffer as I have. Marc Antony with his beloved Pussyfoot from Looney Tunes has the same tough guy with a soft center vibe as Wrecker and his Lula (also a kind of cat). Hell, in the same show we have Cad Bane sharing Cowboy Clint Eastwood with Crosshair. I actually think Bane makes a better Eastwood which is wild considering Crosshair has Eastwood’s entire face and Bane is blue.

So we’ve established you don’t need your characters to look exactly like their inspirations to match their vibe. So why go through the trouble and cost of creating completely new character designs instead of recycling and altering assets they already had on hand? Just slap on a bandana, toothpick, goggles, and make Wrecker bigger than the others while he does a Hulk pose and you’re done. Based on the general reaction to Howzer it would have been a low effort slam dunk crowd pleaser.

But they didn’t do that.

So here’s the thing. I like the tropes used in The Bad Batch. I am a fan of action adventure movies from the 80s-90s, the sillier the better. I am part of the Bad Batch’s target audience. Considering what I know about Disney and Lucasfilm, I went in with low expectations. I genuinely don’t hate the idea of seeing references to these actors and media in The Bad Batch. I don’t think basing these characters on tropes was a bad idea. If anything it’s a solid starting point for building the characters.

The trouble is nothing got built on the foundation. The plot is directionless, the pacing is wacky, and the characters have nearly no emotional depth or defining character arcs. They just sort of exist without reacting much while the story happens around them. But I can excuse all of that. You don’t stay a fan of Star Wars as long as I have not being able to cherrypick and fill in the gaps. This show has a deeper issue that shouldn’t be ignored.

Why do the animated clones bear at best only a passing resemblance to their live action actor? In interviews, Filoni wouldn’t shut up but the technological advancements in the animation for season 7. So if they are updating things, why not try to make the clones a closer match to their source material? Why did they have to look like completely different people in The Bad Batch to be “unique”? Looking like Temeura Morrison would have no bearing on their special abilities and TCW proved you can have identical looking characters and still have them be distinct. In fact, that’s a powerful theme and the source of tragedy for the clones’ narrative overall.

Here’s Filoni’s early concept art of Crosshair, Wrecker, Tech, and Hunter. (Interesting but irrelevant: Wrecker seems to have a cog tattoo similar to Jesse’s instead of a scar. Wouldn’t it have been funny if they kept that so when they met in season 7 one if them could say something like “Hey we’re twins!” That’s a little clone humor. Just for you guys 😘)

None of these drawings look like the clones in TCW, much less Temeura Morrison. Let’s be generous. Maybe Filoni struggles with drawing a real person’s likeness, as many people do. But he had to hand this off to other artists down the line whose job specifically involves making a stylized character resemble their actor. Yet the final designs missed the mark almost as much as this initial concept. Starting to seem as if the clones looking more like Temeura Morrison was never even on the table. It wasn’t a lack of creativity, skill or technical limitations on the part of the creative team. I don’t think there is an innocent explanation. They went out of their way to make the final product exactly how we got it.

This goes beyond homage. They could have made the same pop culture references and character tropes without completely stripping Temeura Morrison from the role he originated. It was a very purposeful choice to replace him with more immediately familiar actors from established franchises and films. It wouldn’t shock me if Filoni, Lucas, and anyone else calling the shots didn’t even think hard or care enough about the decision to immediately recognize a problem. And I don’t think they believed anyone else would either. At least no one whose opinion they cared about. Those faces are comfortingly familiar and proven bankable. They are what we’re all used to seeing after all. They’re white.

Lack of imagination, bad intentions, or simple ignorance doesn’t really matter in the end. The result is the same. Call it what it is. They replaced a man of color with a bunch of white guys. That’s by the book garden variety run of the mill whitewashing. There’s no debate worth having about it. For a fanbase that loves to nitpick things like whether or not it’s in character for Han to shoot first or Jeans Guy in the Mandalorian, we sure are quick to find excuses for clones who look nothing like their template. Why is that? If you don’t see the problem, congratulations. Your ass is showing. Pull your jeans up.

#star wars #the bad batch #unwhitewashtbb #wrecker #crosshair #tech #hunter #echo

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beclynn-herondale · 3 years

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Similarities that I see between Jace and Céline

(these are just my thoughts. Press read more to see them.)

↑ this chaotic energy. You think he got it from Stephen? Nah.

Her anxiety reminds me of Jace's. And like their thought process was similar in ways.

They both struggled with belonging.

Céline corrected Robert when he said "Just like a warlock. Always for sale."

And Céline was like "Always on sale."

Again Jace energy.

Céline knew Amatis, Stephen's wife. At least, she knew enough. Amatis was sharp-tongued and stuck up. She was opinionated, argumentative, stubborn, and not even that pretty. There were also rumors that she still secretly associated with her werewolf brother. Céline didn't much care about that—she had nothing against Downworlders. But she had plenty against Amatis, who obviously didn't appreciate what she had. Stephen needed someone who would admire him, agree with him, support him. Someone like Céline. If only she could make him see that for himself.

Jace's smile was as bland as buttered toast. "Go on, go after him. Pat his head and tell him he's still your super special little guy. Isn't that what you want to do?"

But he couldn't look at Simon without wanting to kill someone.

“And even back then, in that stupid coffee shop. When I saw you sitting on the couch with Simon, even then that felt wrong to me—i should have been the one sitting with you. The one that made you laugh like that. I couldn't get rid of that feeling. That it should have been me.”

↑ Their bitterness, anger, jealousy, and envy towards the person who had the person they wanted and in general has the same energy in my opinion.

They both were angry and jealous of people who had it better or they considered to be good—Like, that was why Jace hated Simon so much at first, because Simon was everything Jace thought he'd never get to be, he just didn't realize it.—And Céline was angry of the kids in the academy who had loving parents and good childhoods, and weren't damaged like she was—they both were angry because somebody was someone or had something they thought they'd never get to be or have. (In Céline's case she never actually got it, not really.)

They both like to wander around when upset.

They both aren't too fond of the Silent Brothers. And I think that has to do with their head being full of certain things they don't want others to know, and the Silent Brothers speak in your mind, almost like they're reading your thoughts.

They're both observant, which could be from growing up in abusive and toxic environments but could also just be they're observant people.

They both can tell when someone is off. We see this when Céline sees through Valentine's mask. Jace often saw through the lies of people in TMI and still does.

And the both hate being pitied. Like it angers them when people pity them, we see that with Jace quite often in TMI, but we see it when Dominique says this: “Every Downworlder in Paris knows about poor Céline Montclaire, wandering the city like a murderous little Éponine. We all feel a little sorry for you.”

And then Céline thought this: Céline lived with a steady, secret simmer of rage, but now she felt it boiling over.

↑ Again, the above reminds me of Jace. He lived with anger that he kept under control but would boil over when triggered.

They're both sensitive. And get hurt easily.

“I wish I could be more like you,” she admitted.

In what sense?

“You know, just shut off my feelings? Feel nothing. For anybody.”

There was a long pause, and she wondered if she had offended him. Was that even possible? Finally, his cool, steady voice spoke.

This is a wish you should dispense with. Feeling is what makes us human. Even the most difficult feelings. Perhaps especially those. Love, loss, longing—this is what it means to truly be alive.

“I think—my father was sorry he had a parabatai,” he said. “Now I have to go live with a man my father was sorry about. I don't want to be weak, I don't want to be sorry. I want to be the best.”

If you pretend to feel nothing, the pretense may become true, said Jem. That would be a pity.

↑ They both wished to feel nothing, and had Jem tell them that wasn't as great as they thought. But they both still desperately wanted to not feel.

When she was a child, her parents had often refused her iratzes after training sessions, especially when her injuries were caused by her own mistakes. Let the pain remind you to do better next time, they told her. All these years later she was still making the same mistakes.

“No! it's better for your parents not to know it happened at all. It was just bad luck that one of them got me. I'm a good fighter,” Jonathan protested sharply.

“It's my fault I got hurt,” said Jonathan. “I know excuses are for incompetents. It won't happen again.”

↑ this bit on making mistakes, or when getting hurt.

Céline always carried a misericord blade.

↑ Reminds me of someone else who always carries blades.

They both were aware of the consequences of putting a rune on someone that they weren't 100% sure were Nephilim, and it was different circumstances but they did it anyway. Jace gave Clary her first rune and Céline gave Rosemary her first rune (I think).

More furious at her own instinct for mercy. After all, her parents had never shown any to her. Her parents had done their best to teach her that mercy was weakness, and cruelty was strength.

Jonathan said the word "weakness" with horror. Jem wondered what a man who had drilled a boy to fight like that might have considered weakness.

↑ Mercy, kindness, gentleness, etc. Was taught as weakness to them both growing up.

They both hate being predictable. Kinda like when Rosemary knew Céline would keep her secret. Céline hated that she knew that. Remember in CoA when everyone was guessing that Jace said no to Valentine, and he hated it.

They both never really felt like they were ever a kid. Because again, the environment they grew up in forced them to grow up faster than they should have. Which is why Jace didn't think of himself as one when he threw himself into battle.

like Jace I don't think Céline liked to upset the balance of things, meaning they don't pry and don't pressure. Which often gets them labeled as "not too bright" or "unobservant" they're both observant, they just don't say it out-loud. Jace is definitely like this, but I see Céline as this too. Stephen said she always needed to be told what to do, but I don't think it was that exactly, I think she just didn't like to upset things. Which growing up in an abusive and toxic environment does that. But I think it's also just part of who they are.

That sweet and obedient daughter of the provençal countryside. They knew how devoted she was to her parents. Such a dutiful daughter.

↑ Valentine often called Jace his obedient son. I see Jace in this part as well. Sebastian called him Valentine's "sweet boy."

She could close the door on the past, start again. She could choose a life without pain, without suffering or fear.

But who would she be without pain?

This also reminds me of Jace. Obviously he did end up choosing to walk away from Valentine. But there are times he doubted, because in reality he himself didn't know who he was without the pain he'd experienced, without his past with Valentine. And they both believed that the pain and suffering had made them stronger. Jace later knows that isn't true, but I see the similarity there.

They're both said to have vulnerability about them that made you wan to protect them. To keep them safe. Jocelyn said you couldn't really hate Céline, and I think it's kinda the same with Jace.

Both of them refused to ask for help. Thinking they could do it all on their own.

Céline could tell how much it hurt—and how determined the woman was to reveal no pain. She knelt by her side. Rosemary flinched away. “Let me see—I can help."

“Tell me what happened first.” She tried to yank her wrist back, but his grip was incredibly strong. “I can help you.” — this is in Clary's pov.

↑ Their willingness to help the pretty stranger they didn't know.

They both often felt they didn't have a choice in some things.

They both felt achingly alone at some point. And very much misunderstood.

The thought of losing the only family they ever had scared them, and they were willing to do anything to keep them. Even if in Céline's case hers wasn't that real.

They were both said to be beautiful, and breakable. Fragile almost. These were Jocelyn's words. That beautiful things were easily broken.

They both grew up denied of love and care.

Céline had low self esteem in a lot of areas. We often see Jace as the confident character who doesn't have insecurities or low self-esteem. but he does. Jace didn't like himself, his looks don't play a part here, he didn't like himself. He actually didn't feel good enough or worth much, that's why he made so many superiority jokes, because he truly didn't feel good enough but had to make everyone believe he did. Céline didn't feel good enough either, but she tried not to let it show.

Their childhood gave them bad coping mechanisms and suicidal tendencies. They both self harmed in ways, believing that pain made you stronger is one of them.

We often look over the fact that while some of Jace's mental struggles did come from the trauma of his childhood and growing up around war, that he was already at a high risk with a mother who experienced similar things. Because if you have a parent who has mental illness the offspring are at higher risk of developing one. And his childhood didn't help with that.

And we know what they both truly wanted was to be loved and safe. Really. Jace always thought he wanted to fight all the time, but by the end of tmi he realized he just truly wanted to be happy and left alone, he just wanted Clary and his family. Céline wanted that too, but she never got it.

You all realize they would understand each other, right? Like if Cassie ever did something where they somehow met, Céline would understand Jace and he would understand her.

Céline would have never raised Jace with anything but love and care. She would have made sure he never knew a childhood like hers. But he did. He ended up knowing what that was like. And it would have broken her even more to know that.

But she would probably stab Valentine in the face, which I'd like to see.

Friendly reminder that Jace looks like her around the eyes (no I won't shut up about this.)

There's probably more but until we learn more we won't know. Just remember he may be a Herondale but Céline is also there.

@khaleesiofalicante I tagged you 😎

#celine montclaire #celine herondale #jace herondale #jace lightwood herondale #tsc #the shadowhuter chronicles #tst #the secret treasons

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crhinge · 3 years

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Breaking Down The Classic Rom-Com

I feel like I haven’t written a fun post in a hot sec so lets talk about one of my favorite subjects: Rom Coms

According to wikipedia, a Rom Com, also known as Romantic Comedy, is “a subgenre of comedy and slice-of-life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles.” In the past, Romantic Comedies have also been called “Chick Flicks” but I think this is devaluing of both women and the romantic comedy genre.

The other day, I woke up to find that the most wholesome rom-com couple of all time reunited: Matty & Jenna (Aka Mark Ruffalo & Jennifer Garner). This got me thinking about the beauty of the Rom-Com and how unappreciated they can be. It has been years since we have seen a rom-com with the cultural impact of 13 Going on 30, and I would like to petition for more of them after a sad and painful year.

I can already hear the millions (in my head this blog is extremely popular) of comments “What about To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before?!?” “What about The Kissing Booth?!?” And too that I say, "Good Riddance!” If you’re rating your rom coms on a TATBILB scale, or even WORSE The Kissing booth, I feel sorry for you. Truly I do. So let's dive into the best Rom Coms of all time, but first...

What makes a Rom-Com good? Well let's start with a relatable as hell main character. I am talking a girl (sometimes guy), who has many flaws, but the audience can see themselves within her/him. Let's use Jenna Rink from 13 Going On 30 as an example. Well, she's literally a 13 year old in a 30 year olds body, but don’t we all still have a preteen hiding inside of all of us? She is 100% willing to be herself at every step, even if that means dancing thriller all alone. She touches on all of our insecurities, while teaching us how to break down our walls.

Rom-Coms also need characters to make realistic choices. This does not mean that the movie itself is realistic, but rather than you can understand the choices the characters make. Again, 13 going on 30 does a fabulous job of this. Obviously, Jenna traveling in time because of wishing powder is not realistic, but the choices that her and her past self make are. Due to the insecurities of her childhood and a need to feel included, relevant, and powerful Jenna pushes important people out of her life, which happens to so many people in the real world. These decisions force her to miss out on the love of her life, and ultimately, the story ends sadly: the love of her life marries someone else and she is left with tears, wishing powder, and an old doll house. That is until she is able to travel back in time and change the course of her life.

Lastly, Every classic Rom-Com couple needs to have chemistry. There. I said it. Hollywood loves just casting random famous actors without giving them a proper chemistry read. One great example of this is Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel in Safe Haven. Both fun, famous, Hollywood actors who have zero chemistry. Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner had more chemistry throwing back Razzles than those two did during an intimate sex scene.

Alright, now that we have broken down the requirements of a Romantic Comedy, let's jump into the best and worst of all time.

Best: When Harry Met Sally. 9/10. A classic. A tale as old as time. Both Sally & Harry are very flawed, yet relatable characters. Sally is too picky and particular, while Harry is a player. They both suck at relationships, but make rational decisions based on their motivations. We all have friends like these two and their chemistry is on point, both on a friendship and romantic level. They bounce off of one another splendidly.

Worst: Sleepless in Seattle. 1/10 I know, this is a strong take, but this is a terrible movie about a stalker. Meg Ryan (I don’t even remember her character's name) is the stupidest most unrelatable character I have seen in a long time. She is extremely unlovable, cheats on her SO emotionally, and flies across the country to stalk a man that she has never met before. And then you’re telling me that Tom hanks FALLS FOR HER? Nope. No. I refuse to except this. Plus, their chemistry in this is pretty mediocre (You’ve Got Mail is Way Better) and we only get to see them together once.

Best: 10 Things I Hate About You. 8/10. I was tempted to leave all high School Rom-Coms off this list, but Heath Ledger is my exception. Talk about likability. Kat is a strong, powerful, independent woman who learns how to be more vulnerable while still being a feminist badass. We all wanted to be Kat growing up. Meanwhile Heath Ledger is the classic bad boy with a soft side, and who wasn’’t into that? Both characters grow into new people throughout the movie making them relatable, complex, and realistic. Not to mention the angel that is Joseph Gordon Levitt, who keeps the audience up beat and smiling throughout the course of this Shakespeare tale

Best: My Big fat Greek Wedding. 10/10. Have you seen this film recently? Because it is an absolute DELIGHT and so relatable. It dives into the difficulty of family expectation and cultures merging. It also has the cutest proposal of all time with a realistic couple that fights for one another on a daily basis. You laugh. You cry. You get a dynamic cast with wonderful chemistry. You feel invested in the family and the relationship. Just a joyful wonderful film.

Worst: Something Borrowed. 0/10. If you’ve never seen this movie, don’t. Ginnifer Goodwin sleeps with her best friends fiancé and we’re supposed to be okay with it because she liked him first. Hard pass. And she ignores John Krazinski who is right in front of her. She is unlikable, unreliable, and makes dumb decisions that no one else would.

Best: He’s just not that into you. 9/10 I will go to bat for this movie. It follows several realistic storylines in a Love Actually manor, except they actual seem legit. A woman realizing her boyfriend is never going to marry her. A girl facing the fact that maybe some guys just aren’t that into her, and she isn’t an exception to the rule. A man slowly making the decision to cheat on his wife as they are growing apart. A woman realizing that she is worth way more than her bastard husband. A woman realizing that the person she’s sleeping with will never leave his wife for her. It's compelling, has realistic characters that we can relate to, and still warms your heart in the end.

Best: The Big Sick. 8/10. Okay to be fair, this is based on a true story so it automatically has realistic characters and decisions. Maybe I should leave this off of the list, but I wish this film got the recognition it deserves. Two lovable main characters who make mistakes that are understandable. Wonderful chemistry between Kumail and his girlfriend as well as her family.

Best: About Time. 11/10 This is hands down the best Rom-Com of all time and Potentially the best film of all time as well. If you don’t cry in this movie you do not have a heart or soul. The characters are SO insanely likable and adorable.It touches on the importance of family and valuing time and how little of it we have. The chemistry within the whole cast is palpable, and we can all relate to at least one character, whether it is the protagonist Tim, his wife Mary, his sister Kit-Kat, or his father.

Well it is important to point out the obvious here: this list is lacking diversity in a huge way. All but one of these movies follow a cis, straight, white couple, and that is extremely concerning. People have attempted to make more diverse rom-coms over the past few years, but they all seem to be lacking one of the three core components of what makes a rom-com great: Relatable, realistic, and great chemistry. For example. Crazy Rich Asians was a fantastic film, but the high level of wealth that Nick Young comes from, made his character difficult to relate to, and I’m sorry but the chemistry just wasn’t there for me. Always Be My Maybe’s characters fell flat and it’s not a film I would want to watch more than once. Love Simon made some huge waves for LGBTQ representation in the media, but that ending kiss was unrealistic along with his friends reaction to fining out he was lying, which left the movie anti-climactic by the end.

Now, the most recent film on this list was made in 2017. And before that 2013. So where have all the Rom Coms gone? Why don’t we see more of them. There are a few Rom Coms that could be contenders on the “Best” list from the last couple of years that include a small amount of diversity:

Yesterday 7/10. The big question here is does this count as a romantic comedy? The love story isn’t the main plot, but is definitely a large sub-plot. This movie features an interracial couple and is highly re-watchable. The main characters are entertaining, relatable, and have pretty good chemistry. We will see if it stands the test of time.

The Broken Hearts Gallery 7/10. This movie has gotten NO recognition. The main character, Lucy, is an extremely likable 20 something, not unlike our Ginnifer Goodwin in He’s Just not that Into You. The plot is fun and predictable but keeps you watching. I don’t know if this one will stay on my list long, but it’s definitely up there.

But here is my challenge to Hollywood: create some new, beautiful Rom Coms that celebrate diversity but that don’t throw away the relatable, realistic, and high chemistry characters that we are just waiting to fall in love with. It’s got like 16 ideas up my sleeve, so just give me a call Hollywood.

#rom com #romantic comedy #13 going on 30 #when harry met sally #sleepless in seattle #my big fat greek wedding #10 things i hate about you #something borrowed #he's just not that into you #the big sick #about time #yesterday #The broken hearts gallery

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fuckyeahisawthat · 3 years

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Have you been asked yet to rank Trust eps? Cos I'm asking! But your the criteria for ranking I leave to you to decide.

Ahahahaha I’ll have you know I put way too much thought into this. :-D

Ok so first of all, there is no such thing as a bad episode of Trust. The whole thing is really tightly written, every character and plot thread has a purpose, and even the episodes that I haven’t watched over and over again are important to the overall story. And a lot of the impact of the show comes from things that are cumulative over multiple episodes.

That being said, I do have favorites. Since the definitive ranking of Primo’s outfits has already been taken care of, here is my ranking from least to most favorite based on some nebulous criteria of artistic/narrative effectiveness and emotional impact, my judgement of which is obviously highly subjective and also correct.

Under the cut because this got ummm unbelievably, ridiculously long.

10. The House of Getty (episode 1)

Sorry Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy, the pilot is my least favorite episode. Still think it was the wrong choice to open with a flashy (and, I can tell, expensive) sequence showcasing the death of a character we literally never see again. And, look, I’m an impatient viewer. If I don’t get someone to root for/emotionally identify with/otherwise catch my interest early on in a narrative, I’ll tune out. And Old Paul is not only unlikeable--far from a mortal sin in dramatic storytelling--he’s boring. I don’t care about any of his rich people problems, and I’m not the kind of viewer who can be kept engaged just by hating someone and watching them be terrible.

Some of the secondary characters in the Getty household do have interesting plotlines, but we don’t get to learn very much about them in the first episode. And I do think things get interesting once Little Paul shows up (although I maintain that the whole episode is more interesting if we understand what the stakes are for Paul getting the money), but if I had started watching this show with no context I wouldn’t have made it past Old Paul’s pre-coital erotica listening routine.

If this had been anything other than the first episode I might not have ranked it last, but extra penalty points for leading with your least interesting characters.

9. Lone Star (episode 2)

This episode is, I think, saddled by the fact that it has to do a lot of heavy lifting in terms of exposition and setup. It mostly works because Chace is an entertaining narrator, and once we get to Italy with Gail I think things zip along at a pretty good pace. Opens with an attempted rape to show how Bad the Bad Guys are, which is...not my favorite trope.

Once again, I think a lot of the information in this episode would have worked better if episode 3 had been episode 1. (We’d already know who Berto was when Chace meets him; we’d already know about the box of guns in the apartment; we’d know when certain characters are lying.) This whole show runs on the suspense of the audience being the only party who knows what’s going on with all the characters at once; I think trading mystery for suspense here was the wrong move. I also can’t help thinking there was pressure to front-load the well-known American actors in the beginning of the show at the expense of the strongest narrative choices.

Imo the best thing about this episode is the sort of...multiple competing images of Paul that emerge. His mom sees him as an innocent victim who couldn’t possibly have planned any of this. Chace sees him as a spoiled rich kid trying to swindle his granddad. Neither one of them has the complete truth.

Next we get into some episodes that are certainly not bad, but their greatness is more on the level of some bangin’ individual scenes than a whole package.

8. John, Chapter 11 (episode 6)

Again, this isn’t a bad episode. The main reason I put it near the end of the list is that the first time through I got sort of impatient during the first half. We, the audience, by virtue of our extra-textual knowledge, know that Paul can’t be dead, and we spend about half the episode before we know what really happened to him, which felt a bit too long to me.

This episode does have some fantastic individual scenes including: Leo talking Primo down in the farmhouse, Leo and Paul’s conversation about Angelo’s death, Gail being an absolute badass, and the meeting between Salvatore and Old Paul. A lot of these scenes are essential on a thematic level, but I don’t think the episode as a whole is the most streamlined.

7. Consequences (episode 10)

I debated for a while where to put this episode because the overall feeling of 57 Chekov’s guns going off in the space of one episode is SO satisfying, and the resolutions of some of the individual plotlines are delicious. Ultimately I would have liked more space for Paul and Gail and less Old Paul being grumpy about his substitute child museum’s mediocrity (although the scene with the bad reviews is hilarious). Once again I feel like the show creators felt they had to pull the focus back to Old Paul to wrap things up and I just. don’t care.

That being said. The resolution of Primo’s storyline? SO SATISFYING. And tbh I don’t dislike the scenes that exist with Paul and Gail; even the happy scenes have this poignant tone to them. I think they were trying to deal with the fact that his irl story is just...incredibly fucking tragic, and you can see a bit of the strain showing.

6. Kodachrome (episode 7)

I know episode 7 is not one of your personal favorites, but it’s the one where I think jumping between multiple plotlines/sets of characters is used to the most satisfying dramatic effect. It has this sense of dramatic irony that feels like some Shakespearean family tragedy. The whole episode, we are hoping that Paul Jr. will finally do the thing we want him to do, which is stand up to his father. And he does it--but at the absolute worst, most selfish and destructive moment possible.

Paul Jr. may be the literal worst, but I do have compassion for him in the flashbacks, mostly because it seems painfully apparent that no matter what he does, he will never be able to please his father. But he doesn’t seem to realize this, and he keeps trying, even as it’s destroying him and his relationship with his family. Credit to Michael Esper for his performance for making me feel a smidgen of compassion for this bastard.

I think the other thing this episode shows is how both of Paul’s parents keep putting him, a child, into roles and circumstances that he shouldn’t really be in. He’s wandering around through what seem like very much adult environments with his dad and Talitha in Morocco. In the Trust version of events he’s there when Talitha ODs and is the one trying to revive her while his dad is having a breakdown in the corner. Gail seems like the more responsible parent but there’s something about her bringing Paul as her “date” on a night out, and the understanding that this is a thing that happens regularly...to me the disturbing part is not so much bringing a young kid to a party with adults but the unspoken expectation that Little Paul will fill the void of companionship that his father has left empty. (Gettys expecting Little Paul to step in to cover for the failings of his father is a repeated theme, and it even plays into the ear thing. His family has failed to pay the ransom, so this is now a problem he has to solve himself.) Combine this all with Leonardo going, um, excuse me but what the actual fuck is wrong with your family? and I think it makes a very effective episode. And the last couple minutes had me yelling NOOOOOOOO GODDAMMIT because you can see what’s going to happen and you’re just watching it unfolding like a car wreck. Also has one of my hands-down favorite scenes, of Paul and Primo in the car waiting for the ransom.

5. White Car in a Snowstorm (episode 9)

The ~ D R A M A !!! ~ This episode is an opera. I mean this whole show is dramatique but episode 9 really leans into the vivid imagery--that snowy highway in the mountains above the sea, the all-white ransom exchange, Paul clinging to the pole at the shuttered Getty gas station, some Very Serious Mobsters throwing the ransom money around like idiots in a moment where you’re encouraged to be happy along with them.

This is also one of my favorite episodes for Primo and for Primo and Paul’s weird sometimes-alliance. Primo walking away from Salvatore to go tell Paul “they always pay in the end”? Primo and Paul teaming up to argue with Salvatore about why Paul shouldn’t die? Primo being all threateny to the doctor treating Paul because somewhere deep down he is worried (that’s my take and you’ll never convince me otherwise)? Primo dressing up to fake-scab on a postal strike in order to find a misplaced severed ear? All gold.

Fun fact: the letter Gail writes to President Nixon did happen in real life, but as far as I can tell the phone call did not. The real details of who convinced Old Paul to finally pay (some) of the ransom are considerably less cinematic. They’re the same amount of sexist though!

Ok now we are getting to the top tier...

4. That’s All Folks! (episode 4)

This is definitely the episode that took me from “ok this is fun” to “oh holy shit I’m invested now.” It’s the episode where we get introduced to most of the Calabrian characters and their world. It’s also the episode where we start to realize that Primo is not just a fun antagonist but is really a parallel protagonist to Little Paul, with his own set of relationships and motivations that we start to see from his POV. (I’d argue that, with the exception of his very first scene, we’ve mostly seen Primo through other characters’ gaze up until episode 4, and this is the point where we start watching him as like, the character whose pursuit of a goal we’re following over the course of the scene.)

This episode ranks high for capturing so much of the weird mix of tones that makes Trust work. It can be very funny. (I never fail to fuckin lose it when Fifty is on the phone with Gail the first time and when he’s talking to the thoroughly unimpressed newspaper switchboard operator.) It has this weird unexpected intimacy between characters you wouldn’t think would connect with each other. (Primo and Paul, Paul and Angelo; in retrospect the arc of the relationship between Primo and Leo gets started in that scene in Salvatore’s kitchen.) And it has one of the show’s absolute best record-scratch tone shifts when Primo gets the ransom offer. I remember saying “oh FUCK” out loud the first time I watched the end of that episode, when Primo comes back to the house, visibly drunk and clearly furious. We’ve seen him be violent plenty before now in the show, but always in a controlled, calculated way. This is the first time we see his potential for out-of-control rage-fueled violence and he’s terrifying!

3. La Dolce Vita (episode 3)

I stand by my claim that this episode (with a few minor continuity adjustments) should have been the pilot. Can you imagine a title card that’s like “Rome 1973” and then away we go with Paul snorting coke and taking racy photos and jumping on cops and fucking his girlfriend in what is definitely not proper museum etiquette, and then the smash cut to Primo intimidating and robbing and murdering people? And that’s the opening of the whole show? And you’re like how are these characters connected and then they meet each other and it’s the fucking sunflower field scene??

Anyway aside from the fact that I think knowing the information in this episode would have made episodes 1 and 2 more interesting...it’s just a great fucking episode. It’s kinetic and propulsive and funny and tense and violent and features Primo’s sniper skills and his ass in those cornflower blue trousers. I rest my case.

2. Silenzio (episode 5)

I’ll be honest, I went back and forth on the top two a bunch. Silenzio is definitely my personal favorite episode, and I’d argue that it’s the best written, in terms of what it accomplishes narratively, which is to keep you emotionally invested in both Paul and Angelo trying to escape with their lives, and Primo and Leonardo hunting them down. That’s so fucking hard!! And yes some of it is great acting but it starts from the foundation of the writing. It’s just such a perfect little self-contained horror movie, and it has this profound sense of fatalism to it, because you know from the beginning (if only by virtue of only being halfway through the series) that Paul is not going to escape, and you sort of know that there is only one way this will end for Angelo. And yet they escape by the skin of their teeth so! many! times!

It’s also the episode where you see how much power the ‘Ndrangheta has over people’s lives in this community: Salvatore is like God, calling his servants to him with the church bells. Combine that with the visuals of two characters running for their lives mostly on foot through this unforgiving landscape, and you really get the sense of this environment as a harsh place where most people have a very constrained set of choices, and the claustrophobia of that. You get the sense in this episode that everyone is trapped in these expectations of violence and duty and honor. Angelo did what anyone with compassion would do, and saved Paul from what seemed like certain death, and he’s doomed for it. At the same time Primo is doing exactly what anyone would expect him to do in response to a subordinate who disobeyed him. In some ways the end of the episode feels inevitable, unsurprising, and yet they do SUCH a good job of winding up the tension until the literal last seconds of the episode, and then releasing it with a big dramatic bang. It’s so good!!

1. In the Name of the Father (episode 8)

Ok I’ll be honest the ONLY reason In the Name of the Father edged out Silenzio for the top spot is that it is really clear they pulled out all the stops in terms of making this episode feel extra heightened in a show where everything is already heightened. Like, the cinematography is different? They still use handheld a lot but I swear there are more still shots and more extreme, editorial camera angles like that shot of Francesco looking upward in church where the camera is looking down from above him. I can’t tell if they actually tweaked the color grading or if the bright white and blood red just stand out against the Calabrian color palette which is mostly earth tones, browns and greens and blues.

There are just. So many layers to this episode. The imagery! The literal sacrificial lamb at the beginning, Francesco being guided by Leonardo through an act of violence against an animal, something that I’m sure they don’t even see as violence but just part of farm life, part of survival and in this case part of a celebration, but something that fathers teach their sons how to do as part of becoming a man in this world. Paul as the metaphorical sacrificial lamb later, drawing parallels to Jesus (the lamb of God), Isaac (a father sacrificing his son), any number of martyred saints, pick your Catholic imagery. The blood of the lamb on the tree stump and Paul’s blood on the stone. The communion wafer (the body and blood of Christ) and Francesco at the end with Paul’s blood and a literal piece of his body held in his hands the same way.

And then there is like, the suspense of watching everyone marking time through the steps of this community ritual that’s supposed to be a joyful, communal celebration, while we know that there is a secret ticking away under the surface. The slow unfolding of the lie told to one person spreading to everyone in the village, and then the knowledge that Salvatore knows spreading to all the people who’ll be in trouble for that. The relationship arcs between the main Calabrian characters...not resolving, but sliding into place for the final act. Primo finally being done with Salvatore. Primo and Leo’s alliance being cemented and Leo physically stepping between Primo and Salvatore, to protect Primo. (No one ever protects Primo!! Still not over it!!!!) The confirmation celebration as a mirror of the Getty party in episode 1, the parallels drawn between the 3 Pauls and Salvatore-Primo-Francesco and how Primo reacts to being passed over as heir vs. how Paul Jr. reacts. Little Paul having two whole minutes of screen time and managing to break your heart with them. Regina! Just...Regina’s whole everything. The music going all-instrumental for an episode and having this haunting, dreamlike but still tense quality to it. And the fact that we never cut away from Calabria to another plotline gives the whole episode this hypnotic, all-encompassing quality. It’s just. SO GOOD!!!!

#fadagaski #asks answered #trust fx #long post #so so long omg #i can't believe how long i spent writing this but HERE IT IS #trust alternate watch order

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waywardfangirl · 3 years

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For the fantastic @fight-surrender: You are a wonderful person with a brilliant mind and a kind heart, and I am so happy to know you! I really enjoyed the prompts you suggested for the Secret Snowflake exchange this year, so to give you something fluffy and happy for your birthday I combined a few of them into one sweet and silly fic - I hope that you like it! 🖤

A big thank you goes out to @carryonvisinata for her wonderful beta work and for making this fic even better for such an incredible friend 🖤 Purr-fect Strangers

Rated: General Audiences Word Count: 3208 Chapters: 1/1 Simon

"Die Hard? Really?"

I'm struggling to make the Redbox give me my DVD. Video vending machines sounded like a good idea when I couldn't find anywhere to stream my favorite movie, but the obstinate thing in front of me and the condescending voice behind me are now making me reconsider my choices.

"What's wrong with Die Hard?" I demand, momentarily giving up on retrieving my video to take some of my frustration out on the prick watching me.

Unfortunately, when I turn around to scowl at him, I make eye contact with one of the most attractive people I've ever seen. He's tall, with dark hair escaping the bun on top of his head and falling around his face, and a perfectly tailored suit hugging every inch of his body right on down to his shiny Chelsea boots. My brain shorts out, and he sneers at me.

"There’s nothing wrong with it, per se. But you have a near unlimited assortment of cinema to choose from, and you've selected Die Hard?"

(Read the rest on ao3, or keep reading here)

I scoff.

"Look, mate, some of us don't feel the need to watch pretentious films just to feel better than other people. I like Die Hard. I'm going to watch it while eating pizza and relaxing in joggers, and I refuse to feel bad about enjoying that."

He looks a bit startled, and his cheeks take on a slightly pink tinge, but he just arches an eyebrow at me. (And manages to make that look unfairly hot too, the prat.)

"What movie are you renting?" I say it like a challenge, and he pushes past me.

He deftly removes my DVD from the stubborn machine and thrusts it at me, before turning back around to get his own. I loiter behind him, just like he did to me, ready to see what movie he thinks is better than Die Hard.

"Two Weeks Notice?" I exclaim, when I see the poster pop up on the screen. "You're ridiculing Die Hard, but getting a rom-com for yourself? Unbelievable."

He pushes past me and turns up his nose. My blood boils for so many different reasons, and it's work to hold myself still.

"This has Hugh Grant in it. My tastes are superior."

Then he swans off, and I'm left standing on the kerb.

Baz

A year into my time at university, I started treating myself to a monthly visit to Sephora. It was easily excusable then, with parties every weekend to justify each new purchase, but I've kept up the tradition since graduating. (Retail therapy and good skin care never hurt anyone. And a little eyeliner does wonders for one's self esteem.)

This month, I'm browsing for something sparkly. My eyes are grey, but with a dark, glittery liner I think they might stand out a little more. I'm just testing one of the pencils on the back of my hand when I see him.

Blond hair, plain blue eyes, and a constellation of freckles and moles across his skin. The most lovely man I have ever seen, with the worst taste in movies, and (I'm sure) a well-deserved hatred for me.

For all that I try to appear cool and confident, my facade sometimes fails me. When I get flustered, I become cruel. The man renting Die Hard was so pretty that all I could do was insult him and then curse myself for it the entire way home. I couldn't even properly enjoy Hugh Grant, as mired as I was in self-loathing. And now, whatever second chance to impress him I've been granted with has surely been ruined by my actions last time.

I keep my head down and steal glances at him through my eyelashes.

He is entirely out of his element, that much is obvious right away. I watch him ask one of the shop assistants for help, and she points him in the direction of a display. His brow furrows as he picks up different containers, and he’s ridiculously precious and hopeless as he holds a lipstick tube next to a garish eyeshadow palette and closes one eye to look at them. (What is he even doing?)

Finally, his confusion seems to win out, and he turns to look around for help, when he suddenly spots me. I've been caught out; I can't pretend now like I haven't been staring, and he scowls a little as we make eye contact. I arch an eyebrow, watch as his face grows pink in anger, and decide I hate myself enough to try talking to him again.

"That's really not your shade."

"What?" It's a simple word, horribly enunciated, and does nothing to quell the wrinkle between his eyes.

"The purple. I don't think it would flatter you. Furthermore, that lipstick clashes horribly with every color in that palette."

He turns a bright red and starts to splutter. I am hopelessly endeared.

"That's not- I, I don't- it isn't-"

"Oh, calm down, there's nothing wrong with wearing makeup," I say, flashing him the back of my hand with the eyeliner tests on it. "You just need to pick a better shade." I pluck a different palette (for blue eyes) and a lipstick in a true red from the display and hand them over. "Something like this."

He stares at them dumbly for a moment, his mouth hanging open. (Mouth breather.)

"You think I should wear this?"

"I think it would flatter you if you chose to wear makeup. That purple will do you no favors." I sneer at the garish eyeshadow still in his hand.

"It's for my friend!" he finally bursts out.

"Are you mad at her?" It's a reasonable question, that eyeshadow is truly appalling.

"No? It's her birthday next week, and she said that she wanted to have some makeup for date nights and things."

"Are you in love with her?"

"No!" No hesitation at all. "No, no way. Penny is like my sister. She's my best friend. We're not…" he trails off, and I'm strangely reassured. He still probably hates me, but at least there is one woman in the world that he’s not dating, so my odds have improved marginally.

"Don't get your pants in a twist. I just thought you might be, since that eyeshadow would certainly drive away her current boyfriend."

He sticks out his chin and seems to decide something.

"Fine. What should I get for her, then?" The “if you know so much” is left unsaid.

I'm not really an expert, despite my monthly purchases, but I'll take any excuse I can get to linger around this starburst of a boy for a few moments more.

"Does she wear makeup normally?" He shakes his head no. "Then perhaps start with something more subtle for her." I take the offending palette away and hand him a more subdued one, with a faint shimmer. "Do you think this would look nice on her?"

He thinks hard for a moment, then pulls out his phone, swiping at the lock screen and turning it to face me.

"This is her."

His home screen background is a picture of the two of them, cheeks pressed together and grinning like crazy under the summer sun. His curls are being tossed by the wind, and he looks like a bronze Adonis. I think my heart actually skips a beat at the sight.

"That palette will be fine then. This lipstick, too," I add, handing him a plum shade. "Do you need anything else?" I ask, and then cringe when I sound like I'm working instead of flirting.

He shakes his head.

"No, this is brilliant, thanks."

He still looks a bit confused, and he bites his lip as he looks down at the makeup in his hand - the makeup for his friend, and the things I picked out for him.

I don't want to go, but I can't figure out any way to prolong our conversation.

"You should get that one," he says, pointing to one of the lines on my hand. I raise an eyebrow in question. He's right, but what does this mean? Is he flirting? Does he want me to wear eyeliner? Is he just trying to repay me for helping him? "Yeah. Definitely that one."

He raps his knuckles on the counter beside us twice, and then wanders towards the check out.

It's not until I'm trying to fall asleep that I realize - he bought the makeup for himself too.

Simon

One of my foster fathers had a workshop, and I spent a happy summer watching him build a table and matching chairs for the dining room. I didn't get to stay to see it completed, because one of his biological children kept stealing money out of his mom's purse and blaming me, but I still enjoyed the time I had spent watching woodworking. I liked it so much that when Penny and I graduated and got a flat together, I saved up to buy a few tools. I don't make anything major, but I've built small shelves and a side table and a pan organizer for the flat, and I really like it.

Recently, Penny has been complaining about not being able to reach everything in the kitchen, so while she's still at work I stop by the B&Q to pick up some wood for a step stool. I'm heading to the check out when I see him - the mean makeup guy. (Although he was actually quite nice when we were talking about makeup. He was just rude when we were getting our movies.)

He's dressed casually today, in tight dark jeans and a warm grey sweater, with his hair falling in loose waves around his face. He's glaring down at two wrenches, and I hate that he still looks so good when he's glowering.

Before I even register what's happening, my feet have carried me over to him.

"D'ya need help?"

He startles, and turns lovely grey eyes up to look at me. It's work not to gasp. He’s wearing eyeliner. I'm not entirely sure, but I think it may even be the eyeliner I told him to buy.

"The sink in my kitchen is leaking. I watched a tutorial on YouTube, and it should be easy enough to fix, but I don't have the proper tools."

He goes back to glaring at the wrenches, and I lean over to take a look.

“You want that one.”

“Why? How do you know?”

“Well, it’s adjustable. You can change it within reason, so as long as your plumbing isn’t something incredibly out of the ordinary it should fit just fine.”

He looks surprised (and maybe a bit like he wants to attack me, although I try to ignore that).

“How do you know that?”

I laugh.

“Basic home maintenance, mate, I’ve had to fix a leaky sink before too, believe it or not.”

I grin at him until one corner of his mouth tips upward in response.

“Thanks,” he says, his cheeks flushing a little. “I’ll get this one then. Yes. Thank you. Have a nice evening.”

He strides off, once again leaving me feeling a bit dazed.

He looks really good in eyeliner.

Baz

When Fiona discovered I hadn’t left the apartment in a week, she called in the cavalry. Daphne showed up at my door with a casserole and some flowers, and within minutes she had the kitchen feeling like a place that was less utility space and more home.

“Basil, Fiona is worried about you.” I rolled my eyes, despite knowing it wouldn’t get me anywhere. “I’m worried about you, too. You spend so much time by yourself, and you hardly ever go out to see your friends or enjoy the city.”

“I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”

“Basil,” she had said, and that time it was a warning. “It’s not healthy for anyone to spend this much time alone.”

“What, do you expect me to get a cat?”

Daphne smiled, and I knew that I had said the wrong thing.

“Yes, actually. And,” she said, before I could object, “Fiona thought you should too. In fact, she made it a condition of your continued occupancy of this flat. We both think it might be nice for you to have someone else around to talk to.”

I arched an eyebrow.

“And you want me to talk to a cat?”

Daphne just gave me a Mona Lisa smile, handed me a plate filled with food, and told me when she left later that evening that I had forty-eight hours to send her a picture of a cat. (I asked what I should do if I didn’t like any of the cats I saw. Or if they didn’t like me. She said I had to at least prove that I tried.)

So, this morning, I made my way to the nearest RSPCA and talked to strangers for the first time in over a week. I told them that I was looking to adopt a cat, and they immediately led me to a room filled with individual cages and an assortment of felines. They said I could play with any of the cats that I wanted, and now I’m staring into the eyes of a fluffy orange tabby.

The tabby meows at me, and I swear that she’s telling me to get lost. I guess cats can tell when you’re out of your depth.

I stroll down the aisle and read the names given to each cat. It’s been years since I last had a pet and even then, the husky my family had wasn’t my sole responsibility. I was in charge of feeding him, but there was always someone else making sure that I did. And really, we only adopted him when my pediatrician suggested that an animal might help me after my mother died. Daphne is probably trying to do the same thing again now. (Is this how one becomes a crazy cat lady? Depression, anxiety, OCD, and an unwillingness to tolerate therapy?)

I keep walking slowly until I feel a tug on my sleeve. I look down, and a little orange paw ending in one very sharp claw has latched on to me. I unhook it before my sweater can snag, and then look into the kennel. There are two kittens, each only about ten weeks old according to their cards, and the orange one is peering up at me with big blue eyes. Its littermate is asleep in the corner, curled into a fluffy black puffball, but the tabby is ready to play. His tail twitches, and he pounces immediately when I wiggle a finger between the bars. He catches my fingertip in a far more gentle grasp than I would have imagined, then looks at me with what can only be described as pure adoration.

“Excuse me,” I say, moving my finger some more and feeling small claws dig in. Then again, louder, to get the attention of the woman, “Excuse me. Can I see this one?”

The woman comes over and flips the latch, then reaches in and comes out with a handful of fur and knives. The kitten opens its mouth in a fierce imitation of a vampire, then stretches it further as it lapses into a yawn. We spend the better part of an hour in a bright, cheerful room, just the kitten and I. At first it chases a string that I drag along the ground and runs after balls with bells in them, but then it calms down and curls up in my lap to sleep.

I’m petting it and cooing softly to it, trying to ignore the fact that Daphne and Fiona were both right about this whole thing, when the door to the room opens again.

“Oh. It’s you,” says the most beautiful man I have ever seen. My face flushes when I remember our last encounter and I pray he doesn’t remember my ignorance. (Of course he does. I didn’t know how to select a wrench. I am incapable of basic home repair and he knows it.)

“Do you two know each other?” The woman from before is back, this time holding the other kitten from the same cage, and looking between the two of us. “These kittens aren’t technically a bonded pair, but they are siblings, the only two remaining from their litter, and it would be lovely if they could still see each other.”

“Err…” the man says, shifting his weight.

“We’ve met in passing a few times now,” I say, trying to avoid encouraging this line of questioning.

“Great!” she says, clapping her hands brightly after handing the kitten off. “I’ll leave all of you to get better acquainted then!”

For a moment, there’s just awkward silence. Neither of us are looking at each other, both focusing on our respective kittens. Then, his kitten turns into the feline equivalent of a slinky, oozes out of his grasp, and runs over to tap my leg once before running away again. It hides behind his legs, and all I can see is a black tail winding around his ankles.

We both laugh, and the ice is broken.

“I’m Simon,” he says, and smiles at me. It’s the same radiant smile I remember from his lockscreen. It feels like looking into the sun, and I bask in it.

“Basil. Although my friends call me Baz.”

“Are you going to…” he trails off, but gestures to my cat.

“Yes,” I look down and give it a scratch under the chin. “I’m going to adopt it.”

“Same here,” Simon says, and then he blushes. “I mean, unless it rips my face off in the next few minutes, but I think this is the one.”

“Do you know which one you have?” Their names and genders were on the cage, but it didn’t specify who was who.

“No idea. I’m going to rename mine anyway though, I didn’t like either of those names.”

“I was planning on doing the same thing. If I’m going to have a pet, it needs to have a proper name befitting its personality. Not something mundane like Fluffy.” I scowl, and he laughs.

As his kitten comes over to touch its nose to my kitten, Simon clears his throat.

“So, um, like she said, they’d probably be happy to have playdates or whatever. I mean, since we’re getting them. And since we keep running into each other. It might make sense to, you know, exchange numbers?”

“Yes!” I say, far too eagerly. “I mean, that seems reasonable. It would be more convenient than waiting to happen upon you in the Waitrose choosing inferior crisps to set up a future meeting.”

He smiles. “Well, yeah, there’s that. And this way, it’ll be easier for me to ask you out, ”

Then the absolute nightmare sits down beside me and hands me his phone. He texts me immediately once I enter my contact info.

Unknown Number (11:27 AM) This is Simon Snow

Unknown Number (11:27 AM) Your cat is cute.

Unknown Number (11:27 AM) So are you

Unknown Number (11:28 AM) Wanna get dinner sometime? ;)

I blush, and send him a reply.

Baz (11:29 AM) I thought you’d never ask.

#snowbaz fic #Purr-fect Strangers #a gift for a friend!#fuff #my fic

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