#Hermann can fix him

[hwashitape]

he's fine guys

[hermannsprecursors]

Cringetober day 11: Yandere

I don't know how my brain processed this prompt this way but uh. Hi Star Trek fandom. Can I interest you in my interpretation of mirrorverse Bones as is congruent with my mirrorverse contingency? Yes? Good. He

I pity anyone who winds up wrapped up either on the opposing or receiving end of his affections. He's actually the worst.

[lu-is-not-ok]

Sonya themed ask jumpscare

Of his design, there are a few things to note. First is how he wears a strap full of bullets on his leg [though he hasnt yet been seen with a gun to my knowledge, its in his bag maybe?] but bullets in The City are notoriously expensive, and while Hermann did mention how he 'burned all that cash' I must wonder why he wanted them in the first place is he already carries a perfectly suitable weapon.

Smaller details that stuck out to me are the eye like pattern on his goggles, and his hair. Namely the lite specs of blue in it and how it was described as 'hyaline' - a word both relating to a form of cartilage and a way to describe something with a glassy appearance.

Onto his role in the story going forward: I believe that cantos 1-3 all set up the three major forces we shall be dealing with for the remainder of the story. N corp with canto 1, Demians group in canto 3 and the Yurodiviye in canto 2. Now at first it was unclear how exactly the YRDY would be able to have as much influence as the other two, but TKT sorted it all out. While Hermann represents the power held from corporations and Demian the power gained from the outskirts/stars/things that aren't fully understood, Sonia then stands as the representative for the power of people - namely in terms of tenacity and shear staying power.

He very clearly has connections to both Hermann and Demian, through both the chat at the end of canto 2 and the fact he's got the mark. This puts him in the position that oddly enough many though Asaeh was in before his icon was fixed, as one wearing multiple hats for his own gain. He does not hide his cause.

He actuallt reminds me a lot of Ayin. However this is already quite long and my brain is currently a plate of scrambled eggs so I shan't elaborate further. Plus I am not sure if what I've got is actual analysis or my desperate want to talk about Ayin again.

Only tangentially related but the author of C&P has also written a book called 'White Nights'. Neato.

That's all for now, we got like 2 hrs til we hopefully get a teaser and I'm bring so normal about it. I swear.

Ok let me go through this one paragraph at a time because Sonya is one of those characters that makes me go a little insane as well. Read more because. Yeah.

Point 1 - The Bullet Strap

The design detail of the bullets strap on his leg is intriguing and one I didn't notice initially. I went through to look through Canto 2 CGs of Rodya's flashbacks and all the Yurodiviye related character sprites in the recent Intervallo to check if this is something that's a part of the standard Yurodivy uniform and what I've found is... interesting.

For Canto 2 Yurodiviye, the only one whose legs we see clearly is flashback Rodya, and she doesn't seem to have that same strap as Sonya.

However, for TKT, something interesting happens. All of the Yurodiviye in District 20, including the Detective captain of their group, wear straps on the same leg as Sonya... except instead of bullets, the straps have a bag attached.

That difference in uniform between Rodya and this branch of the Yurodiviye is notable because of how differently they see Sonya. Rodya sees Sonya as someone with big ideals but not enough initiative to actually see them through, meanwhile the District 20 Yurodiviye look up to him so much as to call him a Saint, a term which we recently learned can refer to the most high-ranking members of the Dieci, the association that deals with knowledge (thank you Dieci Meursault uptie story). This difference in opinion would explain why these Yurodiviye are more invested in mimicking Sonya's uniform more closely, whereas Rodya's seemed more distinct and thus more distant.

Of course, the difference between the straps holding bags for the Yurodiviye while it holds bullets for Sonya is not lost on me. As you mentioned, bullets are expensive, which means it makes sense for the District 20 Yurodiviye to not be able to afford them and thus resort to using the strap to hold something else to have it still serve a similar function. Though it does bring up the question you posited: how was Sonya able to afford his own bullets?

It's important to note we don't ever get to see whether or not Sonya had the bullet strap before Rodya left the Yurodiviye. The only CGs we get to see his legs in are ones where his current self invades the flashback Rodya is having. If he got that after she left, it's possible his cooperation with N Corp granted him enough support to get the ammunition. Note that if Hermann is to be believed that Sonya would burn any and all cash he was granted, it's not impossible for N Corp to just give him bullets out right instead.

On a more symbolic side of analyzing his design, the bullet strap is a subtle way to show Sonya's own turn towards more direct action after Rodya left, while also emphasizing how he goes about that more direct action.

Just like a gun firing its bullets, Sonya's "direct" action is him telling people around him to do the deeds for him. Whether it's through inspiration like the District 20 Yurodiviye, or whether it's through networking and sending his people out to take money from the rich like we see in Canto 2. He's not the bullet actually breaking through a wall, he's merely the finger pulling the trigger. He aims and gives command to fire, but that's where his involvement ends.

Point 2 - The Goggles and Hair

This is something I touched upon in another post I made about Sonya, so I'm gonna be brief. Sonya's visual design with regards to his eyes, hair, and accessories, has a dual purpose.

For one, it implies that Sonya is albinistic. The color of his eyes, the lack of pigment of his hair to the point it's described as glass-like, and the inclusion of eye protection and gloves (accessories that is lacking in other Yurodiviye) points towards that idea.

This directly correlates with his own tendency to try and avoid the spotlight and redirect it to others whenever possible, see my point earlier about how his direct action involves sending other people out to do his bidding + his actions before and during the game in Canto 2 are all in favor of pulling attention away from him, such as deflecting Aida's comments about him by calling her the protagonist of life, or constantly asking Rodya questions to put the spotlight on her.

For two, it makes his design a direct opposite to Rodya's, matching with their opposite tendencies with regards to being put in the spotlight. Rodya's design is notably plain for what you'd consider a Slavic woman, with wheat brown-blonde hair and blue eyes, whereas Sonya's is extremely distinct with his purple eyes and hyaline hair.

And yet, like I mentioned earlier, Sonya is the one that wants eyes off of him, while Rodya is constantly trying to be the center of attention whenever possible. They're major foils to one another down to their visual designs.

Point 3 - Sonya and Yurodiviye's spot in the story

Ever since the first batch of Cantos, Sonya struck me as a sort of double agent between the New League and Demian's Blue Man Group. We know that he clearly has connections with both, but the fact that the color his name is put on in the dialogue box is purple, the mix of red (associated with the New League) and blue (associated with the Blue Man Group), only further adds to that idea.

Plus, I feel like his attitude towards Mirror Worlds and their usage should also be pointed out. Whereas Demian directly states he wants the Mirror Worlds to be left alone, comparing their exploitation to that of stealing chips from a bag, Hermann is on the other spectrum of that through wanting the desctruction of all Mirror Worlds.

Sonya is somewhere in between, clearly wanting to make use of them to bring about what he sees as his ideal world, but not wanting to touch them beyond that.

I think the above fact combined with how he acts in the Canto 2 post credit scene is leading to the possibility of Sonya outright betraying Hermann and the New League, which would make sense with how his side is meant to represent the common people. Project Moon ain't subtle about their critique of capitalism, so it only makes sense for Sonya to eventually turn on the representation of the power the Wings hold.

Which, speaking of that, I want to note how Hermann manipulated people to her side through exploiting Mirror Worlds. Yes, her main goal is to destroy all of them, but she's willing to twist the truth when trying to get other people to her side. With her and the New League representing the power of the corporations, those empty promises and white lies feel especially fitting. That sort of "Well if you join us we will keep This One Specific World You Want alive just for you" and "Well since we're already destroying them wouldn't you like to destroy this specific part of each of them with us" shit she's been pulling.

Point 4 - WAIT WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHITE NIGHTS IS ALSO A DOSTOYEVSKY REFERENCE-

Ok. No. Anon, you can't drop a bombshell on me like that. WhiteNight is one of, if not the most important Abnormality to Lobcorp and thus Project Moon lore. It's one of the Carmen abnos. It's the final Abno boss alongside Apocalypse Bird. It's symbolically tied to the White Nights and Dark Days event through its name, one of the most important events in the fucking series.

And. Here's the thing Anon. If that's true, then that means Dostoyevsky's works being consistently important to PM lore is no longer just a coincidence, it's a pattern.

You see, there's another important Crime and Punishment reference in this series outside of Rodya's existence, it being the other abno tied to WhiteNight.

One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds.

You see, this abnormality's name? It's a reference to a fucking quote from Crime and Punishment, and a pretty notable one in that!

Now, mind you, the exact wording in the version of the quote is a bit different, likely due to differences in translation, but it's pretty fucking close don't you think?

One Crime, One Sin. Thousands of Good Deeds, Hundreds of Good Deeds.

Add to that the fact that One Sin is always the first abno you get in every LobCorp playthrough AND acts as an instant alternate way to defeat WhiteNight, and the fact that these two are both named after Dostoyevsky references should start raising some eyebrows.

With all of that pointed out, I'd like to adress the potential importance of both Sonya and Rodya in the wider plot of Limbus Company, based on the fact that Dostoyevsky references have been highly important to the lore from the very fucking start.

Let's start with Sonya. He and the Yurodiviye are in a bit of a unique spot compared to all the other factions Limbus Company is contending with. While sure, both the New League and Blue Man Group have a leader who is directly tied to one single sinner (Hermann tied to Gregor, Demian tied to Sinclair), we see that it's not an exclusive connection.

We know from Canto 5 that Rim, someone from the League of Nine, is definitely a part of the Blue Man Group, and the New League has not only two former members of the League of Nine (and is named to be a replacement for that group), but also Jia Huan of Hong Lu's family fame is there too for some fucking reason.

Sonya and Yurodiviye are thus far the only faction that is only connected to one single Sinner - Rodya, and thus only connected to a single source - the works of Dostoyevsky. The fact that Sonya is all but stated to be the connection between the two other groups and the effect he's had on the City thus far only add to his future importance. I don't think I need to go on about that for much longer.

That only leaves Rodya's importance undiscussed. Thus far she's the only Sinner to have recieved a "second Canto" in the form of TKT heavily focusing on continuing her character arc, but that doesn't really say much. For all we know we could see something similar be done to both Gregor and Sinclair at some point in the future. No, there's something a bit more subtle potentially going on with Rodya.

However, to explain this, I need to go on a tangent.

Let's put this out here: The Little Prince is the single most important book with regards to Limbus Company's running themes and motifs.

The "Seeing with the eye vs Seeing with the heart" motif is the single most long-running and important theme throughout the work. Demian directly says the fucking quote at the end of Canto 3 and consistently references the Little Prince whenever he appears. Blue Man Group is set up to be the ones who see with the heart, while the New League and N Corp as a whole are set up to be the ones who see with the eyes. Eyes and Hearts keep coming up in random places all over Limbus. The fucking name of the game and company itself, Limbus, can refer to two different parts of the body - corneal limbus, a part of the eye, and limbus of fossa ovalis, a part of the heart.

Why is all of this important? Because two of the Sinners explicitly have their symbols be a Heart and an Eye respectively, that being Rodya and Hong Lu. Add to that the fact that, similarly to Rodya and Sonya, Rodya and Hong Lu are essentially foils of each other with regards to how they view the world , and the fact that they're assigned the numbers 6 and 9, which in numerology are associated with yin and yang, which we know PM loves making references to spirituality and religion, and all of this is just a big ol nothing Game Theory that I'm just spitting here.

The rundown is this: Rodya and Hong Lu are both associated with symbols that are seemingly tied to key motifs and themes of Limbus Company and PM games as a whole. Rodya's focus through TKT and her connection to the one faction that isn't tied to any other Sinner makes her stand out. PM seems to fucking love making Dostoyevsky extremely important for some fucking reason.

All of this to say I would not be surprised if Rodya turned out to be one of the most important Sinners out of the cast.

...This post was supposed to be about Sonya. Whoops.

[delespresso]

IT'S YOU ━━ Antonio Dawson x fem!reader

author's note; hi! it's been a while since i actually wrote something and i really wanted to start again so here we are. first time writing for my man antonio and i hope it's good and liked <3

prompt; "what do you think i've been doing this for?" from this list

summary; after a pretty messy breakup, she ends up crashing at antonio's. and she ends up moving in — but they're just friends.

━━ ☄. *. ⋆

Antonio had known her for years. When she first moved to Chicago and became Gabby's partner on Ambulance 61, he was one of the few people that welcomed her from outside the firehouse.

Since then they'd been good friends, usually hanging out at Molly's or helping each other with mundane things. She was even good with Eva and Diego which always helped lessen his load after the divorce. There were times when she helped watch over the kids when Gabby couldn't and Antonio was stuck with a case while his ex-wife was traveling the world with her fancy new boyfriend.

He wasn't sure when it started, but at some point he felt it. The way his excitement grew at the prospect of seeing her again even if just for a drink with their circle of friends at Molly's. Or if they bumped into each other while on scenes. Or the few moments he'd get roughed up on the job and would come to her instead of an actual doctor or something.

But when he realized the way he was leaning onto her more than he probably should, he still couldn't stop it. Which was probably why he immediately offered her a place to stay when she broke up with her boyfriend whom she'd been living with.

“The kids are at a sleepover this weekend, but you don't need to worry about them,” he said as he brought two bottles of cold beer out for them.

She was on his couch, wrapped up in one of his hoodies as she curled up. Her boyfriend of four years turned out to be sleeping with his secretary. Cliché, but god she never expected it.

“You're sure they're gonna be fine with me staying?” she asked, wiping her nose with a tissue since she'd just stopped crying as she took the beer he offered.

In all honesty her heart was crushed. Who wouldn't be? She'd trusted her boyfriend only to find out he'd been stepping out on her.

Antonio could see the way she was hurting. And it filled him with a subtle rage. He wouldn't risk showing it though, all he did now was be there for her.

He let her curl up on the long couch as he settled in the armchair, watching her as she drank her beer.

“They love you,” he reminded her. “Eva would be happy to know you're here so she'd have someone to gossip with.”

They shared a chuckle over that. She did love the long chats with Eva about high-school drama. It was much simpler than her life now.

“You can stay as long as you need,” he added gently, a soft smile as he reassured her.

She looked at him, mustering up a soft smile of her own. How on earth did she get so lucky as to have a friend like him?

⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰

She'd been staying at Antonio's for half a year by now. The search for a place of her own wasn't going so well. But Eva and Diego were pretty much doing everything they could to convince her to just stay.

Antonio's feelings had been all over the place now that she was literally in the room next door to him. Everywhere he turned she was there. It didn't help with the ongoing want to always be around her.

She was usually so sharp on social cues. She'd notice if her friends had crushes or admirers from miles away. But when it was her own case, she was practically blind to it. Which clearly showed now as she was helping Hermann bartend at Molly's and serving up a drink for Antonio.

“You know you've got a hot one eyeing you up on your four o'clock,” she teased, passing him a bottle of cold beer.

Antonio was aware of the other woman. But his eyes was fixed on the one behind the bar in front of him.

“Yeah,” he chuckled, picking up his bottle and bringing it up to his lips, “I'm not looking for that.”

She rested her hands on the bartop, tilting her head at him. Now that she thought of it, he hadn't been on any dates for a while now. Much less flirting with anyone. Well, anyone but her. But they always had their harmless flirty banter.

“Then what are you looking for?” she asked, leaning forward slightly as she questioned him.

He sighed, scratching his stubble lightly as he turned his head for a moment. God, he loved her but he wished she opened her eyes sometimes.

“I'm not looking anymore ‘cause I already found it,” he answered simply, turning back to her with a soft smile.

“Meaning?” she asked again, raising her brows.

“Well, there's this girl,” he started to say. He paused though, grinning when he saw her lean in slightly as if she was interested in some hot scoop of gossip.

“She got her heart broken a while back. Since then, I've been tryna make her feel better. Pick up the little pieces.”

She paused then, her brain picking up all the information piece by piece. For a minute, she felt like she made the connection. But she didn't want to jump the gun.

“You told her how you feel?”

“Doing that right now.”

There were a few seconds of silence. Both of them just looked each other in the eyes as he smiled softly at the way she simply stared at him like that. He knew she was picking it up now.

“Antonio—”

“It's you,” he cut her off, pushing his beer bottle aside slightly. His arms were folded over the wooden bartop as he spoke to her. “It's been you for years now.”

She blinked, completely dumbfounded. Her heart felt like it was fighting to break out of her ribcage.

He felt like the weight was finally lifted off his shoulders now. It was out. He couldn't take it back and he didn't want to.

“Why didn't you say anything?” she finally asked after a few beats.

“You were spoken for,” he replied.

She'd been taken for the past four years. And he respected the relationship, so he never said anything or acted on his feelings. He wasn't the type for it.

“Not anymore,” she then said.

He paused, his eyes locked on hers for a moment as he nodded slowly.

“Not anymore,” he echoed. “What do you think I've been doing this for?”

A soft smile pulled on her lips as she looked at him, finally realizing she was right. She had sensed the subtle hints, but she was too scared to properly read into it.

Now though, he was making himself clear.

“I like you,” he said properly, making her smile brighter which caused an immediate rise in his heart rate. “And I know you're in the room next door—”

She laughed softly at that, looking down briefly. She was still living in his place after all.

“— but if you'd like, I'd love to properly take you out,” he finally finished.

He was nervous. In all honesty, she made him so nervous it made almost no sense. But he had to take the leap. He'd been waiting for years for the chance and he'd be damned if he didn't take it now.

She smiled, looking at him with those eyes that always made him weak.

“I'll clear my Friday night.”

liked this tale? be a member and buy me some coffee!

[cedarbranch]

PLEASE TELL ME ABOUT THE PACIFIC RIM FIC!

EHEHEHE I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED!!

i have... such a strange little relationship with this wip. it's literally a complete 40k draft that i abandoned after the first round of edits, then returned to to edit a bit more after a year or so, then returned to AGAIN to poke at after another year or two... literally i have always planned to post it eventually, i don't know what keeps Happening!! (actually, i'm looking back at it now and most of the sidebar comments i have marked just say shit like "hmmm" or "fix this" with ZERO specification of what to do differently so. probably That keeps happening.)

anyway, the process of writing this fic was primarily an exercise in split pov, distinguishing narrative voices, and intertwining storylines for different characters! it was a lot of fun, i have never written anything else quite like it. the premise is that newt, hermann, raleigh, mako, and tendo all meet in an airport when their flights are delayed, and thus newt/hermann and mako/raleigh romances are born. plus tendo is there ❤️ it features some truly impressive run-on sentences from newt's pov, five bilinguals who have varying degrees of beef with each other's accents, and my darling dear underhyped fave, caitlin lightcap (in small doses). here, have a teaser:

“What held you up out there? Dr. Gottlieb finally hit you with that cane? He was lookin’ like he wanted to all night.” “Hit me? No way,” Newt scoffs. “Try hit on me. The dude loves me. I mean, that’s understandable, I’ve pretty much reached the maximum level of awesomeness that you can pack into one human, but no, dude, trust me, beneath all that prickly pseudo-British exterior?” Newt wiggles his eyebrows. “He’s into it. Totally.” Tendo studies him. “You ever take an intro psych class, Newt?” “‘Course I did, I got a degree in neuro, dude.” That class had been kind of weird, given that half the time they were discussing things which Newt had been diagnosed with, but still interesting. As for its relevance to this conversation— “Then you should know when I’m talking about when I say: that, my friend, is called projection.”  Tendo’s a quick son of a bitch, Newt has to give him that. “Whatever,” Newt says airily. “It’ll be true one day. I can make that happen. Just you wait.” “In your dreams, Geiszler.” Newt pulls his laptop out of his backpack. He can’t use it until they reach cruising altitude, because stupid arbitrary rules are stupid, but he’s got homework to do if he wants to prove Tendo wrong. And he intends to do it. Fifty minutes later, he’s reading through a research paper by Dr. Hermann Gottlieb, and my, my, my. This is some well-written shit. Newt disagrees with half of it.  This is going to be so much fun.

god, i do still love this fic huh. maybe it's about time for that every-few-years round of edits... maybe this time i could ACTUALLY post it???

[driftwithme]

Pacific Rim (chaleigh) au where the collapse of the breach trapped Chuck and Raleigh on a timeloop, starting the day Raleigh arrived to the Hong Kong Shatterdome and ending with Operation Pitfall.

Meanwhile, Stacker and Mako got stuck out of their original time and space. They hover different versions of their world. What could have been and what was and what could be, hopefully.

For the original dimension, time has stopped, the war clock frozen in the moment of Gipsy Danger's detonation. At the lab, Newton and Hermann are sent to overdrive, rushing to fix the mess or solve the puzzle to their benefit. At LOCCENT, Tendo crashes one pencil after another, receiving wild signals from Stacker and Mako (whenever they find themselves back at some point of time in their universe) and from Chuck and Raleigh (they change the game a bit each time, trying to get their luck on alignment with their reality).

Herc barely sleeps, the weight of the world on his shoulders, trying to reassure the entire planet when all he really want to do is throw himself to the research, wondering if it is a punishment (to never go pass the day his son died) for breaking his promise to Angela, or one last miracle (if aliens can invade through the ocean and time can stop, maybe his son could find his way back to him).

They have given everything to their world.

They have bleed and lose and sacrifice every piece of them, from their minds and souls to their bodies and identities. They, the rangers and scientist and technicians and workers of the jaeger program, who had offered their lives to technology, to find a way to process and convert every day into refined weapons aimed at beings from another dimension, far more advanced maybe, but incapable still in the face of the trust and love and respect of the human cause.

They, who had commanded giant machines to war, sustained only by their memories and their will and the person by their side, linked and interlaced to their very existence.

The question remains:

How do you move the world forward pass the end of the apocalypse?

[study-coffee-chicago]

Holiday Away (A Halstead Brothers + Halstead Sister Imagine)

A/N: I figured I'd write a festive imagine! Don't forget to vote and comment!

Enjoy! 

"Hey! The Halsteads are here!" Hermann exclaimed as you, Jay, and Hailey walked into Molly's.

"Three-fourths of us," you answered. "Will's at work."

"He'll be here later though, Hermann. Don't you worry," Jay reassured him.

"Good," Cindy said. "We have more than enough food.

"Where's everyone else?" you asked, meaning the rest of 51. You knew that everyone's schedule always got screwed up during the holidays, so some people on their normal shift got stuck working a different one.

"Pretty sure Stella and Kelly picked up a bit of overtime, so they should be here soon. I don't know when all the rest of them will be here," Herrmann answered.

 "Well, I went out with Gallo, Violet, and Ritter last night and Gallo and Ritter were three sheets to the wind when we left, so they're probably sleeping off hangovers," you said.

At this, Jay's eyes widened. "You didn't tell me that. Did they get home okay? I told you to call me or Will if you needed a ride home."

"Violet said she'd get them back to her apartment at least. And, she texted me when she was back, so don't worry. Jeez, have a little faith in me, Jay."

Jay rolled his eyes.

"Guys, we can continue this conversation when we have some food," Hailey said.

Jay nodded. "Good point."

The three of you grabbed Thanksgiving food with all the fixings from the bar and sat down.

The minute you sat down, in waltzed Adam, Kim, and Makayla followed by Kevin and... you gasped.

"Vanessa?!" you exclaimed and jumped up.

"Looks like they pulled it off," Kevin said as you ran up to her and gave her a hug.

You pulled away and gave a confused look to Kevin. "Pulled what off?"

"We all knew for months that she was coming home for Thanksgiving, but we decided to surprise you."

"Well, consider me surprised!"

"Alright, grab some food and then you can catch up!" Hermann yelled. "Cindy will murder me if all this food she and her book club made goes to waste!"

"Christopher!" Cindy yelled.

Hermann shrugged. "What? It's true."

You all laughed and then let the rest of Intelligence fill their plates while you helped Jay push together a table so that you could all sit together.

When Vanessa sat down, you decided it was time that you broke out your Spanish...despite how rusty it was from two years of online Spanish classes plus your current gap year between undergrad and grad school.

***

Half an hour later, Kelly and Stella walked in. And then, fifteen minutes after them, came Gallo, Violet, and Ritter.

"Hey!" Stella yelled. "If anyone wants drinks, c'mon up to the bar!"

"They ain't free, though!" Hermann yelled again. Cindy gave him a side-eye. "Fine. Fifty percent off, but only because it's a holiday. And, Lee Henry will be here with the other kids soon, so if he wants a drink, don't give it to him! He's still a few months away from the legal drinking age."

A few of the first responders laughed and then you waited for a few people to get up and go to the bar and then you went up.

When you ordered your drink from Stella, you had to yell over how loud it was starting to get. Some of the doctors and nurses from Med had just walked in, so there were even more people here. You couldn't believe it had only been you, Hailey, and Jay just a little over an hour ago.

"Hey, Y/N," Stella greeted. "What can I get for you?"

"Something fruity and a bit strong," you said.

Stella raised her eyebrows and she shared a look with Kelly who was sitting at the bar right next to you.

"Everything okay?" Kelly asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine," you answered. "Just started to get a bit crowded in here and I know my social meter will go down in about an hour."

"Your what?" he asked.

"I won't feel like being around people in an hour," you clarified.

"Fair enough," he said.

Then, Violet came and stood next to you. "Hey, Y/N. You hungover at all from last night?"

You shook your head. "I only had two drinks last night, remember? And they were super spaced out. You have any trouble getting Gallo and Ritter back to your place?"

"The hardest part was getting Gallo in and out of the car and up the stairs. Luckily Ritter wasn't as drunk as Gallo so he helped me with that part."

"Good. He drinking anything tonight?"

Violet smiled. "Well, he said no more drinking last night, but in about hour he'll probably break that. But, Ritter promised he'd only have two drinks tonight so I don't have to deal with both of them like I did last night."

"Well, that's good."

Then, Stella came out with your drink and you handed her some money. When you got back to your table, Makayla asked if you'd play her in Trivia Crack, to which you happily obliged.

***

You had been here for a little over three and a half hours and to say it was loud would be an understatement. Stella and Kelly were here, and so was Gallo since they didn't have close family to go to. Violet and Ritter had left a while ago to go spend some time with their families and Adam, Kim, and Makayla had left so that they could break into the pie that Makayla and Kim had made last night and Adam promised that they'd decorate for Christmas tonight, too. Will was here and since he had to drive himself home, he was capping himself at two drinks, so he wasn't as loud as Jay was because he was officially three sheets to the wind as of two drinks ago (Hailey had officially cut him off and Stella would now be serving him soda water with a splash of alcohol on the straw so that he assumed the drink was alcoholic). And there were lots of first responders who you hadn't met who were on shift and just stopped by for a Thanksgiving meal because they weren't able to spend the day with their families since they were working.

Unbeknownst to you, Hailey had had many a panic attack in her life and had been watching your body language. She had noticed how your brow was slightly furrowed all the time and how your eyes seemed to be hyper-focused on your drink in front of you and how your foot was bouncing on the leg of the chair.

"Can we go home soon?" you asked.

"I just got here," Will said. Then he caught your gaze. He too noticed your face. "Okay, how about we leave in an hour?"

An hour. You could do that.

"Okay. An hour. Yeah, that works," you agreed.

***

At least, you thought you could do an hour. Everything was normal and then you had to use the bathroom. You didn't go in there to avoid people, but to actually use the bathroom. But, when you were walking to the bathroom, you finally grasped how many people were there when you had to squeeze past people and were constantly saying excuse me and sorry.

There were too many people here and they were judging you. They were looking at you, talking about you.

You finally made it into the bathroom and, by some miracle, it was empty. You stood at the mirror and gripped the sink as hard as you possibly could because you needed to get out of here and you needed to do it now.

You couldn't go back through the crowd, but you didn't have your phone to text Hailey. It was still back at the table.

You still needed to pee though, so you made your way into a stall and you tried to focus on your breathing.

Was it getting faster? Shallower? Or was that all in your head?

Fuck, you didn't know anymore. You didn't know anything. You didn't know why you were feeling this way and why you always dreaded having to be around people and why you hated the holidays, but it happened and it always happened. And every year, you forgot how bad it was and then you agreed to do things and then Thanksgiving rolled around and you knew you were in a hellish month and a half of having to do too many things and see too many people and wear too much makeup and—

Oh, God. Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God, oh, God.

It was happening.

You weren't to the point of hyperventilating, but you knew that in about a minute your breath would be coming out in gulps.

You grabbed your left wrist with your right hand and dug your nails in as hard as you could. You hissed at the pain, but it gave you something else to focus on. You needed to get out of here and into Jay or Will's car before you became the talk of everyone's next shift.

"Y/N? Is that you?"

Shit. Stella.

"It- It- I'm fine," you said. But, even you wouldn't believe that statement.

"Doesn't sound like it. Are you sick? Do you want me to get Hailey? Or Will or Jay?" She asked.

"H- Hailey. Get Hailey."

"Okay. I'll be right back. Just, stay here."

Then, you heard footsteps and the sound of the door opening and closing.

Oh, no. Stella knows. Now people are gonna know you can't even handle seeing people for dinner and what if they tell people? What if they check you into the hospital for a psych eval? It wouldn't be crazy since you were around doctors and nurses. Or worse, what if Jay, Hailey, and Will didn't want to deal with you since you ruined Thanksgiving and they put you on a 72- hour psych hold? What if they—

"Y/N, hey, it's Hailey," Hailey said gently. "Stella's outside the bathroom. She's just telling people that there's an issue with a toilet so they don't come in." She paused and you looked down and saw that her feet were right outside your stall door. "Can you open the door?"

Slowly, you opened the door.

Hailey's eyes wandered down to your left wrist, which she saw was scratched up and she made a mental note to make sure it got cleaned when you got home. But, she knew that the important thing to focus on right now was your breathing.

"Y/N, I know these suck, okay? But, I'm gonna have you squeeze my hand and just focus on my breathing, okay?"

You nodded. "Sit- Sit down?" you asked.

"Sure, we can sit down."

You moved about ten feet and then slumped against the bathroom wall next to Hailey. She knew the floor was probably filthy, but she didn't care. All she cared about was making sure you, her little sister-in-law, was okay.

It took multiple tries and squeezing Hailey's hand as hard as you possibly could, but you eventually got your breathing back to normal.

Hailey wrapped an arm around your and pulled you into her as you finally began to cry.

"It's okay," she said gently. "It's okay."

You just continued to cry.

You had ruined Thanksgiving.

"Do you wanna go home?" You nodded. "Do you want me to have Stella take you out the back way and then Will can meet you there? I would take you, but Jay's drunk and he'll be more likely to listen to me than to Will when I tell him we need to leave later." A ghost of a smile appeared on your lips as you nodded. "There's that Halstead smile. Now, I'm gonna go get Stella and then have her stay in here with you and I'll talk to Will, okay?"

You nodded one more time and she squeezed your hand once more and then stood up and left the bathroom.

Not fifteen seconds later, Stella walked in, taking Hailey's place.

"C'mere," Stella said and held her arms out.

You stood up and hugged her as the last of your tears trickled down your cheeks.

"Let's get you outta here, kid," Stella said and quickly got you out of the bathroom and thorough a door marked employees only which was a door five feet to the left of the women's bathrooms. Then, you and she weaved your way through the many boxes in the back until you finally made it to the back exit.

When you got out, you were met with the smiling face of your oldest brother.

"Hailey said it would probably be best if I took you home and I think I agree. I don't need a shiner from having Jay punch me when I'm trying to shove his drunk ass in my car."

Will expected a laugh from you, but when nothing came, he just thanked Stella and led you to his car...which was parked half a block away.

"What do you say I stop at the gas station and grab us each a pint of ice cream, hmm?" Will asked when he started driving.

"We already had pie," you answered, your voice monotone.

"It's Thanksgiving. No one's counting. And, I think we should."

You shrugged. "Okay."

"And Jay doesn't get any because he'll just puke it up anyway."

"Get some for Hailey, too," you reminded him quietly.

Will smiled. He was just happy you were saying something instead of just answering questions.

"Do you know her favorite flavor?" he asked.

"Strawberry," you answered. "But, I think she only says that one's her favorite because Jay doesn't like it so he won't steal it."

Will laughed at that. "Okay, one pint of strawberry ice cream for Hailey, one pint of cookies n crème for you, and one pint of whatever looks good for me."

***

"Not so fast, missy," Will said after you walked in the door, grabbed a spoon from the kitchen, and made a beeline for your room. You turned to face him. "Gotta clean up your wrist first."

"How'd you know about that?" you asked. "And, they're barely even there. It's fine, Will."

"Hailey texted me about it while I was in getting ice cream and you were in the car. And, I don't care if they aren't deep. I'm cleaning them. Simple as that."

You knew there was no point in arguing with him and all you wanted to do was go to sleep after you ate your ice cream.

"Fine," you agreed and then put your ice cream on the counter and made your way to the bathroom.

You pushed yourself up onto the counter while Will busied himself grabbing supplies from the first aid kit.

"Jay really keeps this thing stocked, doesn't he?" Will commented.

"Him and Hailey are cops," was all you said to that.

Will just nodded, sensing you didn't want to talk that much, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't try like hell to get you to talk about what happened. After all, as the oldest, wasn't it his job to get to the bottom of it?

"Hand please," Will said after he got the alcohol wipes and bandaids out. You obeyed and held out your left hand, palm up. Will quickly inspected it. And, you weren't lying when you said the scratches were just superficial. "They're not deep at all."

"Told you," you mumbled.

Will busied himself with washing his hands and then opening the packet of alcohol wipes, hoping you'd say something. You didn't.

"This is gonna sting," He told you, and you bit your cheek as he wiped down your wrist. Then, he waited for it to dry and put a bandaid on it. "There. All better."

You got off the counter. "Can I have my ice cream now?"

Will knew bribery wasn't a good way to get someone to open up and though he would never use it on a real patient, you were his little sister, and therefore, that rule didn't apply to you.

"Depends," he began, "You gonna tell me what happened back at Molly's?"

"Nothing really happened," you told him. Because it was true. Nothing technically happened; your nervous system just decided to screw you over.

"People just don't have panic attacks for no reason, Y/N." He wasn't saying this in a rude way but in a caring way.

You sighed. "Jay's stubbornness is rubbing off on you."

"Good."

"Fine. There were too many people. I'm gonna go eat my ice cream now... in my room... alone."

"Just remember to throw it away when you're done," Will reminded you because he knew that was all he was going to get out of you right now. "Don't need an ant infestation in your bedroom."

You just nodded and made your way to the kitchen and grabbed your spoon and your pint of ice cream from where you had left them.

When you got into your room, you changed into a pair of comfy pajamas and then sat on your bed and opened your ice cream.

Then, you popped in your headphones and opened an audiobook on your phone, so that you had something else to listen to instead of your own thoughts, and started eating your ice cream.

Half an hour later, you had thrown away your empty pint of ice cream and laid in bed, ready for sleep to finally overtake you.

But, all you could think about was how you had ruined Thanksgiving and how you still had to somehow make it through Christmas and New Year's with all those people and parties without this happening.

Eventually, you cried yourself to sleep.

***

"How's the headache?" Will asked Jay the next morning.

"Will? What? I know you have a key, but—"

"I asked him to stay," Hailey said, walking out of the kitchen holding two cups of coffee. She handed one to Jay and left her cup of coffee on the table. Then, she pulled a bottle of Advil from her hoodie pocket and handed it to Jay. "Take 'em, mister."

"I will," Jay answered. "But, why'd have Will stay?"

"Well, between you being drunk off your ass and Y/N having a rough night, I can only deal with one thing at a time. He's here in case you were still drunk and Y/N had another panic attack."

"I'm gonna be honest here," Jay began, "I only vaguely remember last night."

Will and Hailey quickly filled him in, even though he remembered most of the night up to when you had to go home.

"So, did she talk to you?" Jay asked after he downed the pills and took a sip of his coffee.

"If you mean did she tell me anything useful, not really. She just said that there's too many people."

Hailey nodded. "That can happen. Overstimulation and stuff like that."

"Maybe I can get through to her," Jay suggested. "Sometimes I get that way with fireworks."

"That's a trigger, Jay," Hailey stated. "Not the same thing." She paused. "Or it could just be everything piling on together."

All of a sudden, something clicked in Will's head. He remembered working a case a couple years back where a woman came in and had chest pain. As it turned out, she was just having a panic attack. After speaking with Dr. Charles, they learned that the cause of it was the holidays on top of everything else happening in her life.

"Maybe it's all the people she has to see between now and New Years," Will suggested. "We had a patient come into the ED because of that once, thought the panic attack was a heart attack, happens more often than you'd think."

"Well, we can't force it out of her..." Hailey trailed off.

"True," Will agreed. "But I can phrase it as a yes or no question."

"And if it is, then what do we do?" Jay asked. "No Christmas parties? Just do Christmas with us four this year? Stay in on New Years?"

"We'll figure that out when we get there. But, start thinking of ideas just in case."

***

"Hey," Hailey said gently when she heard movement in the kitchen from her place on the couch next to Jay. She had been reading while Jay had been watching football highlights from the many games that happened yesterday. She nudged Jay and he turned his head to look at you. "You want some breakfast? Or, more like lunch now, I guess."

"I got it," you said. You knew if you talked any louder that you'd start crying, so you quickly made your way to a cabinet and took out a bowl and then a mug so that you could focus on making your breakfast.

You hadn't even had time to spoon yogurt into your bowl before Jay was up and placed a hand on your shoulder.

"Hey, talk to me, kiddo."

At that, you finally broke. You cried like you had last night. Except, this time, Jay wrapped his arms around you in his overprotective-big-brother way that always took away your bad dreams and worries when you were a kid.

"Let us in, Y/N," Jay whispered. "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to r- ruin Thanksgiving!"

"Oh, no," Hailey said as she made her way over to you, holding a cold glass of water for you to drink when you could. "You didn't ruin in."

"I did! I'm sorry!"

Jay pulled away from you and put his hands on your shoulders. "Hey, look at me." You looked up at him. "You didn't ruin anything. And, even if you did, I didn't remember the second half of last night anyway."

The last part almost got a smile out of you. Almost.

"Do you know why any of this happened?" Jay asked.

Hailey sighed. Her husband obviously still didn't understand regular anxiety as she did. So, she decided it was time for her to step in. "What he's trying to say is, what was happening before you ran into the bathroom? What was the last thing you were thinking? Because sometimes it's not one specific thing that you can easily identify."

You looked down and thought for a beat.

"I was thinking that there were a lot of people."

"Okay, good. That's really good, Y/N."

And, I know that there's a lot of people we have to see and parties we have to go to for Christmas and New Years and- and I didn't want to tell you I don't want to go because you guys might think I'm stupid—"

"Whoa, hey," Jay said quickly, effectively cutting you off. "We'd never think you're stupid."

You wiped your nose as it started to run.

"You should. I think I'm—"

"Nope, none of that," Jay cut you off again. "How about you eat and then go take a shower and then we can watch movies all day? Because Lord knows this hangover's kicking my ass."

You nodded. "Yeah, yeah, okay."

Then, you took the glass of water from Hailey and chugged it before going to take a hot shower to wash away your multiple breakdowns from the past twelve hours.

***

"Hey, you—"

"I got something," Jay told Will over the phone as soon as he heard the water running. "And, as much as it pains me to say it, you were right, about the holiday anxiety thing."

"She told you that?"

"I don't know if she meant to say it or it just tumbled out, but yeah."

"So, what do we do?" Will asked.

"How much time off do you have saved up?"

Will sighed. "Jay, what are you planning?"

"I'm not planning anything. This just popped into my head, I swear. So, how much time off?"

"Enough. Now, what were you thinking?"

"What if we go up to the cabin, say on the 19th? We can spend Christmas and New Years up there. I'll ask Voight for furlough later and get back to you. I don't think it'll be an issue, though."

Will sighed. "Listen, that's two and a half weeks. I have enough, but everyone wants off for the holidays. But, if I can't swing it, you just bring Y/N up there and have Christmas without me."

"Will—"

"No, I'm serious. I'll be fine. I'm more worried about her." He paused. "Wait, how's she getting time off?"

"I'm gonna talk to her about going tonight so that she can request time off when she goes into work. It's easier for her to get off than it is for us, anyway."

"Yeah. Well, let me know. And, I'll talk to Goodwin tomorrow. Y/N's doing better then?"

"A bit. She was still upset, but then me and Hailey talked to her. She's showering now and then we'll see how she is."

"Okay, keep me updated."

"Will do. Let me know if you get the time off."

***

3 weeks later

"Why are we leaving so early?" you complained when you and Jay were carrying things out to his truck.

"Because we have to pick Will's sorry ass up. And, if you don't complain anymore, we'll stop for breakfast on our way to pick him up."

You looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "You're not lying to me?"

Jay shook his head. "Nope. Now, how about you jump in the trunk and I'll hand you everything?"

"We're covering this stuff with a tarp, right?" You asked.

"Oh, yeah," Jay agreed.

It was snowing a little bit right now, so you knew as you drove north, that the snow would only get heavier.

"Good." You looked at the boxes sitting on top of Jay's suitcase, duffle, and toolbox. "Are any of these presents?"

Jay handed you your suitcase and your set it down in the bed of the truck. "No snooping. Some you will get tonight, though."

"Tonight? Really?" you asked excitedly.

"Just a couple little things from me and Will."

"You wanna give me a hint?"

"Hmmmm, how about no?"

"How about yes?"

"No."

"Fine."

Ten minutes later, the truck was packed and you were doing one last double-check through the house while Jay said goodbye to Hailey. Voight said he needed at least one detective in Intelligence for the next few days, so Hailey was gonna fly out early in four days—on December 23–and then Jay would go and pick her up while you and Will stayed at the cabin and then she'd stay up there through New Years and ride home with the three of you.

Now it was time to grab breakfast, pick up Will, and then it was off to Wisconsin.

***

You thought that you were dying. Actually, maybe that was a little too dramatic. You just wanted to jump into an ice-cold lake. Maybe that would make your headache, dizziness, and nausea stop.

You leaned your head against the window. You had taken Dramamine fifteen minutes ago when you three had stopped at a gas station to grab drinks and go to the bathroom, but it wasn't kicking in yet.

"Will," you groaned.

"You okay back there, Short Stack?" he asked and turned around.

"No. How long does this take to work?"

Will studied your face. "You look a little pale." He turned back to face forward. "Jay, take that exit up there and pull into the first parking lot. Y/N looks like she's gonna throw up."

Jay glanced in the rearview mirror. "I'll turn down the heat," he said and fiddled with the dial. "Five minutes, kiddo. Hold on for five minutes."

"It takes about thirty minutes to an hour to kick in, so when we find somewhere to stop, we'll stop for about twenty minutes, and then you should be good. Just close your eyes."

"Okay," you mumbled.

Will said something to Jay, but you didn't catch it.

"Yeah, I'll get it out when we stop."

"Okay, good," Will said.

You didn't know what they were talking about, but frankly, you didn't care. You just wanted the spinning to stop.

Five minutes later, Jay pulled into the first parking lot he saw, which happened to be one for a church. And there was no one in the parking lot other than you, which you were grateful for because you really didn't need other people seeing we you throw up the breakfast that you had eaten earlier.

The minute Jay put the truck in park, you were out of the truck and doubled over.

You heard a door slam and then Will was right next to you.

You dry heaved a couple of times.

"Ugh," you groaned. "I just wanna puke so that it'll stop, but nothing's coming out!"

"I know, I know," Will said. "But sometimes that's all it is."

You groaned again. "I wanna sit down, but I don't wanna sit in the truck because it's too hot."

Will looked around and he saw the church entrance covered by an awning, keeping the area below it free from snow. "How about we walk over to the doors and you can sit under the awning? How's that sound?" You nodded and started walking towards it with Will staying close to you in case you got dizzy or something like that. "Jay's grabbing you some Benadryl from the first aid kit and some water. Hopefully, that'll help."

"Yeah, because I'll be asleep until we get to the cabin," you said as you slumped against the building.

"Exactly."

Will was squatting in front of you, but you needed him to sit down next to you.

"Sit down," you ordered.

"Why?" Will asked, a smile appearing on his face. "So you can use me as a pillow?"

"Yes."

"Fine." He reluctantly agreed and slumped down against the building and you quickly leaned against him and closed your eyes. "Better?"

"Hmm, much."

You heard quick footsteps approaching and opened your eyes.

"Here," Jays said and squatted in front of you two and held out a pill and a bottle of water. "Take this. And then I gotta get a picture of you two to send to Hailey. You two are adorable."

You took the pill and water from Jay and glared at him playfully.

"Yeah, yeah," Will said. "Laugh it up, Jay. But, your ass is sitting in the back because I'm driving now and Y/N needs the front seat so she doesn't puke."

Fifteen minutes later, your Dramamine had finally kicked in and you were back on the road, this time with Will driving, you in the front seat, and Jay stuck in the back.

***

"Perfect. Got it," you heard Jay say as you were just starting to wake up.

You blinked and opened your eyes to see that you were exiting the highway and then you turned to see Jay throwing himself back into the seat where he had been sitting. That got your attention.

"What happened? What were you doing?" you asked and shot up in your seat. Your question was answered by Jay just smiling at you sheepishly and pressing a few buttons on his phone.

A notification popped up on both your and Will's phone.

"Check your phone," Jay told you.

You glared at him and reached for your phone.

It was a notification in the group chat between you, your brothers, and Hailey, which you had named Halsteads x4.

There in the chat was a picture of you sleeping with your mouth wide open and a spot of drool on the front of your hoodie.

You looked between Jay and Will twice and then looked down at your hoodie.

Yup.

The drool was still there.

You wiped at your face just in case there were drool marks near your mouth that the camera didn't pick up.

"That picture doesn't go anywhere except that chat. You hear me?" you ordered.

"Hmmm, I'll think about it," Jay said.

"Yeah, me too," Will agreed.

"You two are assholes."

Will laughed. "Love you, too."

Then, another notification popped up in the same group chat. It was from Hailey.

Awww, she drools almost as much as you, Jay.

"Ha! Shots fired!" you yelled. "I am so glad you married Hailey."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Jay said sarcastically. "Just park up there," he told Will.

"What are we doing?" you asked.

"We're switching drivers," Jay answered. "I can maneuver this truck on the backroads better than Will. We don't need to run head first into a tree tonight."

"I drive fine, thank you very much," Will argued.

"You almost gave me a heart attack when you slammed on the brakes. Twice! I'm surprised you didn't wake Y/N up!"

"Well, I'm not getting out of the front seat, so you get to sit in the back, Will."

"You are so lucky you're the youngest," was all Will said to that.

***

"So, which one of you is checking for mice?" you asked when Jay put his truck in park in front of the cabin.

"I sprayed that place with rodent repellant and set so many mouse traps before we left in July, you'll be fine," Jay told you.

"No!" you yelled immediately. "You have to go check. I'm not gonna be screaming for one of you to come downstairs in the middle of the night to come catch a mouse for me!"

"Just go check, Jay," Will agreed.

"And you're not coming because...?" Jay asked.

"I'm the one who gets to tell you if your mouse bite is infected if you get bitten. And, you have a gun, I don't."

Jay sighed and unbuckled his seatbelt. "Yes, because if a mouse runs in front of me, I'm gonna shoot it, which is gonna put a hole in the floor. Think, Will!"

"I do more thinking at my job than you do!" Will argued.

You leaned your head against the passenger seat.

Hailey will be here in four days...Hailey will be here in four days..., you kept repeating to yourself.

"Just make sure there's no mice, please. You both do lots of thinking at your jobs. Just, go check the cabin, Jay."

You swore you heard him say that he hated being the middle child when he got out of the truck.

***

Half an hour later, you and Will finally entered the cabin. Jay had confirmed that there were no mice and he hadn't seen one...except for the one in the oven that he burnt to a crisp and then took care of it and put the oven on the self-clean cycle while he searched the rest of the cabin. And, if he did see any more mice while he was searching the rest of the cabin and had to get rid of them, well, he made sure not to tell you that because he wanted you to be able to sleep tonight.

"I get Mom and Dad's room, right?" you asked.

"Yeah," Jay confirmed. "Until Hailey gets here. Then you switch with me and get the loft."

"I should get to share a room with Hailey and you and Will should just stay upstairs," you said.

"I'd like to sleep with my wife, thank you very much." You burst out laughing and Will almost dropped the box he was carrying. "Not like that! Jesus Christ!" Jay tried to walk it back, but it was too late.

"As long as we don't hear any noises, feel free," Will joked with a shit-eating grin on his face. This, in turn, earned him a punch in the arm from Jay.

"I don't need to think about that, you nasties!" you yelled. "La, la, la, la, la, la!" you yelled as you made your way to your room to put down your suitcase and duffle.

Ten minutes later, you had everything inside and had just finished putting fresh sheets and blankets on your bed.

You walked out of the room and asked about the thing you wanted to do the most since you learned about it this morning.

"Can I open my presents now? Please?" you asked.

Jay and Will laughed. "It's like you're five," Will commented.

"At least I don't snoop for my presents. Jay," you said and turned and glared at him.

"That made me into the detective I am today."

"Oh, bullshit!" Will yelled. "But, yes, you can open your presents."

Jay walked upstairs to the loft and came down with two bags.

"Merry early Christmas, kiddo."

You took the bags from him and quickly opened the bigger one first.

Inside, were two Christmas sweaters. One was gray and had a pug wrapped in Christmas lights on it and the other was green and said Fleece Navidad and had a sheep with a Santa hat on it.

"They're so cute!" you exclaimed.

"We figured you needed something festive," Will said. "And, me, Jay, and Hailey all have the dog one so we can match."

"That part was Hailey's idea," Jay chimed in. You opened your mouth to say something, but Jay quickly cut you off. "And she's bringing them up with her. Our's are not here."

You gave him a fake pout, causing both he and Will to laugh. Then, you moved on to the next bag.

"A face mask...body scrub...shower fizzers...fuzzy sloth slippers...nail polish," you said as you took items out of the bag.

"Hailey had the idea for a little self-care kit for you," Jay explained. "So, most of this stuff was her idea."

"Um, I found the slippers, thank you very much," Will said.

You laughed. "Thanks, you guys. I love it."

"I vote hot chocolate and at least the first two Home Alone movies," Jay suggested. "Everyone good with that?"

"As long as you spike the hot chocolate with Bailey's," Will said.

"I second that!" you agreed.

Jay rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll spike the hot chocolate."

***

"Wake up. Y/N, wake up," you heard Will say as he began to gently shake your shoulder.

You rolled over and opened your eyes. "Hmmm. We're on vacation. Let me sleep."

"It's 2:00. You've slept like fourteen hours."

That got you up.

"What? How?"

"Well, you fell asleep on the couch last night—"

"I know that. I mean how did I sleep that long without waking up once?"

"You were tired. Now, get up and get ready. We're cutting down our Christmas tree."

"What? I thought there was a dinky fake one that mom and dad left in the attic from when you and Jay were little."

"Yeah, but we thought it would be more fun if we cut down a tree. It's cold out, so wear layers. And before you ask, yes, coffee is already made."

"Okay, I'll get ready. Hopefully, Jay doesn't hurt himself with the chainsaw."

"Better him than me."

"Will!"

He put his hands up in a sign of surrender. "What?" Will laughed. "It's true!"

You chucked a pillow at him. "Now get outta here so I can change."

***

"Wait!" you yelled as Jay turned on the chainsaw after the three of you picked out a tree.

"What? What's wrong?" Jay asked as he quickly turned off the chainsaw.

"I need you to pick up the axe."

"Why?"

"Yeah, why?" Will parroted.

"Just humor me and pose like you're gonna chop down the tree. Or whack it once. I don't care."

"Why?" Jay asked again.

"For an Instagram post."

"You're not gonna let this go, are you?"

"No."

He sighed. "Fine."

You took out your phone and filmed Jay taking a whack at the tree with the axe.

Then, you pocketed your phone and walked closer to Will. "We don't have a lumberjack, we have a lumber Jay."

Will smiled and shook his head. "That's what you're gonna caption it, aren't you."

"Yup. Shocked you know what that is."

"Oh, Jay's gonna love that. And, I am not that old."

"I'd beg to differ."

"Can I use the chainsaw now?" Jay yelled.

"You're good!" you yelled.

"Will, get over here and direct me!"

Will walked over and you trailed behind him—at a safe distance—to watch this.

"Why am I directing you and not Y/N?" Will asked.

"You know how she is with directions. You're helping me shove this thing into the truck so I can back it up to the door of the house so we can get it inside, too."

"I have very valuable hands!"

"There's extra gloves. Now, c'mon! We're burning daylight here!"

You laughed. "Okay, now you are both officially old!"

***

Later that night after getting the tree inside and decorating it, Jay and Will were both immersed in their card game upstairs on the floor of the loft. They tried to convince you to come play with them, but they were playing Euchre and you had no idea to how to play, and to be honest, you had no desire to learn how to play.

So, you decided now was the perfect time to sneak off to Jay's truck and try and find the wifi password for it.

You grabbed Jay's keys off the hook by the door and then quietly opened the door and went outside.

You thought the smartest thing to do would be to open the driver's side door with the key instead of hitting the buttons.

You did this and then got in the driver's seat and looked for the wifi network.

Nothing.

You reloaded your settings and even turned your phone off and on again, but still nothing.

You turned the key in the truck and the engine quickly revved to life.

But, this alerted your brothers and they came running outside before you could even attempt to put the password in.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jay yelled as he yanked open the door. "Get out! Now."

"Jay, relax," Will told him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure Y/N has a perfectly fine explanation for this." He locked eyes with you. "Don't you, Y/N?"

"I wanted the wifi."

"For?" Jay probed and raised an eyebrow.

"To watch the Hawks game."

"To watch—" Jay looked down and shook his head and started laughing. "You wanted my truck's wifi to watch the Hawks game?"

"Yeah," you answered quietly. Even though you were 22, Jay could still easily change into the scary detective in front of you in a heartbeat.

"Why didn't you just come tell me?" he asked.

"Because I thought you'd say no."

"And you're right."

"Jay! Why would you—" Will started, but Jay quickly cut him off.

"Right that I won't let you connect to it. But, I'll pull the truck around closer to the cabin, put it in auxiliary, and then you can watch the game on my laptop. That sound okay?" 

"Yes!" You jumped out of the truck so that Jay could get in and move it.

At the end of the night, the three of you were all exhausted from cutting down the tree and the game was high scoring and went into a shootout that Jay almost forgot to go back outside and turn off his truck.

***

The next day was a very relaxing day. You used all your self-care stuff and read a book and drank warm wine throughout the day while Jay and Will spent time in the barn doing who knows what.

The next day was spent similarly, except for the fact that it was mostly Jay who was holed up in the barn all day while you convinced Will to make cookies and watch all of the Santa Claus movies with you.

Will periodically went out to the barn to help Jay, and even though you wanted to go in, every time you tried to, you were stopped by either Jay or Will—one time Jay had to actually carry you back inside the cabin—and they wouldn't tell you a single thing about that they were doing in there.

Now it was finally the 23rd and Hailey was going to be here soon. Jay had to wake up early to get to the airport to pick her up, but he had promised that he'd bring breakfast back for you and Will, mainly because Will couldn't cook and you hated cooking things for multiple people (you always made either too little or too much).

***

Once Jay got back with Hailey and the four of you ate breakfast, you quickly led Hailey into your room.

"What's the rush?" she asked with a big smile on her face.

"I need help wrapping Will and Jay's gifts and I need to do it before they make me go upstairs because Jay snoops and there's a lock on this door."

"Ohhh. I got it."

"Also, did Jay tell you what the two of them were doing in the garage? They've been holed up in there for two days and when I try to go in, they stop me."

Hailey shook her head. "Jay didn't mention that."

You crossed your arms over your chest and cocked an eyebrow. "Are you just saying that because he told you to say that or because you actually don't know?"

Hailey laughed. "I really don't know, Y/N. You look like Jay when you do that, though. He does that a lot in interrogations."

You quickly uncrossed your arms. "Please never say I look like him again."

Hailey shook her head. "Okay. Now, what are we wrapping?"

***

"You wake 'em up," you hissed at Will on Christmas morning.

"No, you," Will argued back.

"You've seen the body parts! I don't need to see a penis on Christmas!"

"Well, I don't need to see my brother's penis or my sister-in-law's boobs. Seeing a patient's for medical purposes is different."

"You're older!"

"That's seriously the best argument you could come up with?"

"Yes, now—"

"You know we can hear you, right?" Jay yelled from the living area below you. "Me and Hailey have been up for an hour."

"Oh, well this is awkward," you said quietly so that only Will could hear you.

"We're coming down now, Jay!" Will yelled down and then proceeded to get out of bed and walk downstairs.

When Will was downstairs, you made your way over to the closet and changed your shirt into the sweater with a pug with Christmas lights on it. Then, you grabbed Will's from the dresser and headed downstairs.

"You forgot this," you told Will.

You had suggested that all four of you wear your matching Christmas sweaters today and Hailey enthusiastically agreed. After that, Jay texted you that this would be Hailey's first Christmas where she's not alone or with her family and he wanted to make it as special as possible. And, it would be the first one where they were actually married.

Will quickly put on the sweater and Jay threw a Santa hat to you.

"You're Santa this year, kiddo," he told you, which meant that you would be the one passing out the presents.

"Ho, ho, ho," you said and placed it on your head.

Then, you grabbed your present to Jay and Hailey to give to them.

***

Half an hour later all the gifts were open and you thought you had done a pretty good job with your gift-giving this year. You had given Hailey and Jay a set of brand-new pots and pans since they were always complaining about the ones they had. And then, you added something small for each of them such as a pack of fancy face masks and tea for Hailey and a six-pack of beer from around the world for Jay. For Will, you had gotten him a customized stethoscope with the Blackhawks logo and their colors inscribed with his name. You reassured him that Maggie had helped you order so it was up to doctors' and nurses' standards.

"We have one more gift for you and Hailey," Jay said.

You looked around. "Where?"

"Grab your shoes and come out to the garage."

As the four of you walked out to the garage in the cold weather and through a dusting of snow on the ground, you asked Hailey if she knew what was going on.

She said she had no idea.

"Merry Christmas," Jay said with a huge smile on his face as he opened the garage.

Sitting in the center of the garage was what looked like a homemade hockey net, made out of what looked to be wood and painted red and black for the Blackhawks and then rope tied in small knots between the posts as the net. There were two hockey sticks and when you looked closer you saw that one said your first initial followed by Halstead on the shaft of your stick and then H. Upton-Halstead on the shaft of Hailey's. There were also two pairs of hockey skates and a burgundy bag filled with hockey pucks.

"Now you see what we've been doing in the garage for so long," Will told you.

"You two built all this?" you asked, astonished, as you picked up your stick.

"We just built the net," Jay answered. "Me and Will know a guy from playing pickup who knows a guy who makes custom sticks, so he made those." Jay looked at Hailey with a puzzled look. She looked like she wanted to cry. "You okay, babe?"

"I just- I don't know how to skate," she answered quietly.

Jay put an arm around her. "That's okay. I'll teach you."

"We thought of that," Will said and quickly came back with a folding chair. "You can bring this on the river to help keep your balance." He turned to you. "As for you, I'm teaching you how to hockey stop."

"Why?"

"Because, when we play two-on-two, you're on my team and I don't want to lose."

Jay scoffed. "We both know I'm the better shooter here."

"The rule is we have to keep the puck on the ground. No wrist shots, bud. I don't feel like having to do impromptu stitches."

"Hmm, we might actually win," you said.

"What do you guys say?" Jay asked. "After we have cinnamon rolls for breakfast, wanna start skating? And then we can come in and all work on lunch together?"

"You promise I won't have a broken arm after this?" Hailey asked.

Jay laughed. "I will try my best."

Then, the four of you went back inside and ate a breakfast of cinnamon rolls and coffee. Then, you brought everything down to the frozen river and started lacing up your skates for a day on the ice.

Over the next week while you were at the cabin, Hailey successfully learned how to skate and how to protect the puck with her stick, and Will successfully taught you how to hockey stop—you were better at stopping with your right skate forward than your left skate—and Jay taught you how to do a wrist shot. And, nobody needed stitches or broke an arm or any other bone.

You would say that this was a great way to spend Christmas away from everyone, but still with the people you loved.

A/N: See? I told you it would be festive! As always thank you for reading and please remember to reblog and comment! As always, if you want to be added to my taglist, just tell me and I'll add you!

Taglist: taglist: @theambracer88 @virtualreader @kelelas-life @celyndavies @brookerz122493 @musicismyescape27 @anotherfan07 @thexplosivegirl @dreamingwithlens @xoxmariaxox @911ls-tarlos @iamasimpingh0e @i-like-sparkly-things @herecomesthewriterwitch @liampayne88 @glitterquadricorn @luvreading67 @smoothdogsgirl@afriendlyneighborhoodhufflepuff@actlikesummerr @lcothr523 @star-wars-lover

[mschristiewrites]

Season 1 episode 10

Does it haunt anyone else that Emily demanded to go first and we still lost Edward Hermann much too soon? Did we as a collective jinx him? Was he ill all those times?! I would give up the plot line to have him back and fixing Rory’s chaos in AYITL?

They are a love to be admired, and feared, and I’ll write them into as many stories as I can 💖

[ttaibhse]

Top five scenes from books!

this was incredibly difficult thank you!! no particular order & also just the first five i could think of this is another one that would probably change depending on the day lol. spoilers for all the books :-)

the subtle knife, chapter 14

An­oth­er crack, and this time the bul­let went deep some­where in­side, seek­ing out the cen­ter of his life. He thought: It won’t find it there. Hes­ter’s my cen­ter. And he saw a blue flick­er down be­low, and strained to bring the bar­rel over toil. “He’s the one,” Hes­ter breathed. Lee found it hard to pull the trig­ger. Ev­ery­thing was hard. He had to try three times, and fi­nal­ly he got it. The blue uni­form tum­bled away down the slope. An­oth­er long si­lence. The pain near­by was los­ing its fear of him. It was like a pack of jack­als, cir­cling, sniff­ing, tread­ing clos­er, and he knew they wouldn’t leave him now till they’d eat­en him bare. “There’s one man left,” Hes­ter mut­tered. “He’s amak­ing for the zep­pelin.” And Lee saw him mist­ily, one sol­di­er of the Im­pe­ri­al Guard creep­ing away from his com­pa­ny’s de­feat. “I cain’t shoot a man in the back,” Lee said. “Shame to die with one bul­let left, though.” So he took aim with his last bul­let at the zep­pelin it­self, still roar­ing and strain­ing to rise with its one en­gine, and the bul­let must have been red­hot, or maybe a burn­ing brand from the for­est be­low was waft­ed to the air­ship on an up­draft; for the gas sud­den­ly bil­lowed in­to an or­ange fire­ball, and the en­ve­lope and the met­al skele­ton rose a lit­tle way and then tum­bled down very slow­ly, gen­tly, but full of a fiery death. And the man creep­ing away and the six or sev­en oth­ers who were the on­ly rem­nant of the Guard, and who hadn’t dared come clos­er to the man hold­ing the ravine, were en­gulfed by the fire that fell on them. Lee saw the fire­ball and heard through the roar in his ears Hes­ter say­ing, “That’s all of ‘em, Lee.” He said, or thought, “Those poor men didn’t have to come to this, nor did we.” She said, “We held ‘em off. We held out. We’re ahelp­ing Lyra.” Then she was press­ing her lit­tle proud bro­ken self against his face, as close as she could get, and then they died. there's an uncountable number of scenes from hdm that reduce me to tears but this is the one my mind always goes back to</3

2. the knife of never letting go, chapter 22

"Here," Viola says from somewhere off to my side. "They're singing here."

Theyre singing here. Calling it from one to another in their Noise. Here I am. Here we are. Here we go. Here is all that matters. Here.It's--

Can I say? It's like the song of a family where everything's always all right, it's a song of belonging that makes you belong just by hearing it, it's a song that'll always take care of you and never leave you. If you have a heart, it breaks, if you have a heart that's broken, it fixes.

It's-- Wow. I look at Viola and she has her hand over her mouth and her eyes are wet but I can see a smile thru her fingers and I open my mouth to speak.

same as above. series is full of scenes that tear me to shreds but this is one of the ones that stand out the most <3

3. the sisters brothers, part three

Warm was breathing his last. He knew this and was frightened. I thought, Will he turn religious at the end, and plead for a speedy entry into heaven? But no, the man was too firm in his nonbeliefs for any last-minute cowardice. He did not wish to speak with me but asked after Morris, having forgotten the man was dead. 'Why is he not here?' Warm gasped. 'He died this morning, Hermann, don't you remember?' 'Morris? Died?' His forehead accordioned and his mouth parted, fixed open in anguish, and I stared at his gums, shiny with blood. He turned away, inhaling choppily, haltingly, as though the passage were partially blocked. I shifted my feet and he turned to follow the sound, asking, 'Who's there? Is that Morris?' I told him, 'It is Morris.' 'Oh, Morris! Where have you been all this time?' His tone was so deeply relieved and moved, I felt a tightening of emotion in my throat. 'I was gathering firewood.' Warm, invigorated: 'What's that? Firewood? Foraging fuel? That's the idea. We will have a bonfire tonight, light up the entire operation. All the better to sort through our buckets of fortune, eh?' 'All the better,' I agreed. 'What about the others?' he wondered. 'Where have they run off to? That Charlie doesn't much like the hard work, I have noticed.' 'No, he would rather stand by.' 'Not much for cleaning up, is he?' 'No, he's not.' 'But he has turned out a good man, you can't say otherwise.' 'He's a good man, Hermann, you were right about it.' 'And the other, Eli, where has he gone?' 'He is out there somewhere.' 'Making his rounds? Securing the camp?' 'He is in the darkness, out.' In a lower tone he said, 'Well, I don't know how you feel about it, but I have come to like that one quite a lot, actually.' 'Yes. And I know he likes you, too, Hermann.' 'What's that?' 'I said I know he likes you, too.' 'Do I hear a trace of jealousy in your voice?' 'No!' 'I'm very flattered by it! All these men crowding around, and all of them so decent and honorable. I felt such the outcast, and for such a long time.' At these words, his lips curled in bittersweet sadness, and he closed his eyes; tears bloomed from the closed corners of his lids and I wiped these away with my thumbs. Warm kept his eyes shut after this. They would not open again. He said, 'Morris, if I shouldn't make it through the night, I want you to carry on with the formula.' 'Better not to think of it. You should only rest, now.' 'I had an idea that if you were to coat your flesh with pork fat prior to submersion, that would likely reduce the damage.' 'It is a fine idea, Hermann.' He gasped. He said, 'Well, I feel we have known each other a long while!' 'I feel just the same.' 'And I'm sorry about your dying before.' 'I am all right, now.' 'I wanted to help you. I thought we could be friends.' 'We are friends.' 'I'm,' he said. 'I'm.' He opened his mouth widely and there came a foreign noise from deep within his insides, as though a solid piece of him had cracked or popped. What was this? I did not think it hurt him, or at least he made no sound of pain. I held my hand to his chest and felt his heart flutter and drop. A column of air pushed from his mouth and his body lurched and grew still, and this was where the clock stopped for Hermann Kermit Warm. had to type out this whole thing because it doesn't hit the same without context. one of my favourite books ever.

4. tehanu, chapter 12

'But this isn't a quibble, I think. "A woman on Gont" can't become archmage. No woman can be archmage. She'd unmake what she became in becoming it. The Mages of Roke are men - their power is the power of men, their knowledge is the knowledge of men. Both manhood and magery are built on one rock: power belongs to men. If women had power, what would men be but women who can't bear children? And what would women be but men who can?' 'Hah!' went Tenar; and presently, with some cunning, she said, 'Haven't there been queens? Weren't there women of power?' 'A queen's only a she-king,' said Ged. She snorted. 'I mean, men give her power. They let her use their power. But it isn't hers, is it? It isn't because she's a woman that she's powerful, but despite it.' She nodded. She stretched, sitting back from the spinning wheel. 'What is a woman's power, then?' she asked. 'I don't think we know.' 'When has a woman power because she's a woman? With her children, I suppose. For a while...' 'In her house, maybe.' She looked around the kitchen. 'But the doors are shut,' she said, 'the doors are locked.' 'Because you're valuable.' 'Oh, yes. We're precious. So long as we're powerless... I remember when I first learned that! Kossil threatened me - me, the One Priestess of the Tombs. And I realized that I was helpless. I had the honour; but she had the power, from the God-king, the man. Oh, it made me angry! And frightened me... Lark and I talked about this once. She said, "Why are men afraid of women?"' 'If your strength is only the other's weakness, you live in fear,' Ged said.

even after loving the previous earthsea books this scene was like a revelation. 10/10 thank you ursula

5. the tale of the body thief, chapter 18

i'm not copying this one out because i'm tired and it's long but the whole scene where lestat can't compel louis to make his borrowed human body a vampire, and so when louis finally gets sick of him and walks off, lestat sets his house on fire. it's hilarious but also i think really peak lestat and a quintessential moment in their relationship. and just one of the most memorable vampire chronicles scenes to me for some reason lol

[historyhermann]

Do It Yourself!! Review

Do It Yourself!! (Dū Itto Yuaserufu!!) is an original slice-of-life and DIY anime. The series is directed by Kazuhiro Yoneda and written by Kazuyuki Fudeyasu. It is produced by Pine Jam, a seven-year-old Japanese studio known for series such as Kageki Shojo!! and Just Because! In addition, Koyubita Beru's online manga adaptation began at the same time as the anime. This review will have spoilers.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs, my History Hermann WordPress blog on Jan 4., and Wayback Machine. This was the fifteenth article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on December 11, 2022.

The show's plot is simple and sweet: Serufu Yua (voiced by Konomi Inagaki) is an easygoing first-year student at Gatagata Girls' High School who joins the school's DIY club after the club's leader fixes her bike after she crashes. Her name, in Japanese order, is a homonym meaning "yourself", as in "do it yourself".

After joining the DIY club, Serufu makes new friends. This includes a third-year named Rei Yasaku (voiced by Ayane Sakura), also known as Kurei, who is the club leader, and a shy first-year named Takumi Hikage (voiced by Azumi Waki).

Serufu is later joined by an overly friendly, and energetic, girl from Southeast Asia named Kokoro Kōki / Shii (voiced by Karin Takahashi). Shii does not go to the same school, but is an external member of the club. These friends, and others, attempt different methods to gain more club members, so the club can remain at the school.

Humor is central to Do It Yourself!!. For one, Serufu is very accident-prone, causing her to always wear bandages on her face and arms. As a result, she often spends time in the nurse's office, for which she has perfect attendance. Her laid-back mother (voiced by Kikuko Inoue) even hides power tools in the house so that Serufu doesn't hurt herself. Adding to the humor are occasional scenes when Serufu, and her mother. eat pork while her pet pig, Meat, sits and shutters at the thought they are eating animal meat like him.

The series excels at being low-pressure and without drama, for the most part, in contrast to currently airing series like I'm the Villainness and I'm Taming the Final Boss and Bibliophile Princess, which are filled with dramatic storylines from beginning to end. At the same time, Do It Yourself!! is optimistic and uplifting.

The anime's characters are more than simple caricatures. For instance, Yua's friend, Miku Suride (voiced by Kana Ichinose), is given the nickname of "Purin" by Serufu since is tsundere about her true feelings. She often gets worked up, especially when it comes to Serufu. There's also her housemate, Juliet Queen Elizabeth VIII (voiced by Nichika Ōmori), also known as Jobko. Although she is a prodigy from the U.S., due to a language mix-up, so she ends up in the wrong school. She gives Miku the name "Pudding".

The series is not a simple slice-of-life story like Azumanga Daioh or Non Non Biyori. It doesn't shy away from harsh realities. For example, after everything seems lost at the end of the ninth episode, when materials the DIY club has been collecting for their treehouse are gone, the show does not take a dark turn. Instead, it remains upbeat. The club members are successful in gathering necessary excess materials along the way. They also learn that their club advisor, and school nurse, Haruko Hoketsu (voiced by Yumi Kakazu), was once a club member!

Do It Yourself!! touches on the "clash" between technology and hand-made materials. Purin goes to Yuyu Girls' Vocational High School, a high-tech school, while the other characters attend Gatagata, which is next door. Instead of saying one method, or one school, is better than another, the show gives the lesson that DIY ethics can mesh with techno-optimism and technology itself. Jobko is a perfect example of this, as is Purin, to an extent, combining their skills together for benefit of others.

Similar to currently airing anime, such as Encouragement of Climb: Next Summit, Management of a Novice Alchemist, and Bocchi the Rock!, the show contains yuri subtext. This is most evident between Serufu and Purin, with the latter having feelings for the former. Additionally, Kurei and Takumi bond over a similar interest in a fictional manga named Sunflower Girls.

The show's writing pulls you into the story and makes you want to watch more. This is unsurprising since the show's writer, Kazuyuki Fudeyasu, is known for his work on Black Clover and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. He has also been a screenwriter on well-known series like Encouragement of Climb, In the Land of Leadale, Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina, and Is the Order a Rabbit?.

Ryōhei Sataka writes the music for Do It Yourself!!. He is known for work on the iDOLM@STER series, Classroom of the Elite, D4DJ, and Boarding School Juliet. The music of the series is simple, easily fitting with the themes and story.

The writing, story, and music are enhanced by the show's voice talent. For instance, Ichinose depicted protagonists in Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Carole & Tuesday, and If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, while Sakura voiced characters in Wandering Son, Love Live! School Idol Project, and Spy x Family.

The show's other voice actors are known for work on series such as The Aquatope on White Sand, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Tokyo Mew Mew, and Komi Can't Communicate. Their talents are put to good use in the series.

Do It Yourself!! is a perfect embodiment of the DIY ethic. Although it is sometimes grating to see the characters use power tools and other tools without any safety gear, that might throw off the "cute girls building things with their hands" vibe that the show is going for.

The series falls short only by dragging out the tsundere nature of Purin toward Serufu too long. If the series is only be 12 episodes long, it would be unfortunate if Purin spends more time with the DIY club in the opening credits than in the actual episodes. However, it is a distinct possibility that the series will continue into another season.

If another season of Do It Yourself!! was developed, it could focus on the strengthened friendship, or even romance, if that plot was chosen, between Purin and Serufu. New characters would likely get introduced, as the DIY club would expand after the "secret" treehouse is built.

Serufu reminds me little of Izumi-kun in the romcom anime Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie or even Milo Murphy in the sci-fi action comedy, Milo Murphy's Law. The difference is that Serufu has no backpack like Milo for any eventualities, nor does she have a sweet girlfriend, such as Shikimori-san, with excellent reflexes who rescues her from dangerous situations.

The focus on friendship, a do-it-yourself attitude, and peaceful family lives is a nice breather from the realism depicted elsewhere. There are no physically or psychologically abusive parents, similar to those in the short-lived sports drama series, Stars Align, nor any like Mother Gothel in the Tangled films and animated series. While such depictions are truthful as there are real-life relationships that some have with their parents or guardians similar to those depictions, it can be disheartening and depressing to see those depictions, at times.

Do It Yourself!! stands out as a strong slice-of-life series during a fall anime season filled with romance and drama. It has a different tone than other anime. It is more carefree, sometimes even happy-go-lucky. For that reason, I recommend the series wholeheartedly.

Do It Yourself!! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

© 2022-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[kim-ruzek]

I feel like most of the fandom is leaning the wrong way for Stella is because of what you say - under utilising the rest of the characters (except for Kelly) - Herrmann is also a lieutenant yet we've barely seen him this season. I think most people are just fed up with the fact that every episode there is something with Stella. Plus I'm still mad at her for dropping that she is the only WOMAN Lt without a quarter. She could have asked for the Blue Office, instead of redoing the laundry room 🤔

Yeah i definitely think it's because of the under utilising of the rest (with twists of racism/bias with some people, since too many people seem happy to just hate on Stella rather than acknowledge it's actually because she's fulfilling two roles that's been there from the start).

And there's going to be something going on with Stella every episode, just like there was always something with Matt, and honestly that's what I'm tired with the fandom about. I mean the writing is more in your face type stuff then with Matt, but that's because the writers don't know how to write for women, or woc. And doesn't know how to show points like how women can lead, how black women can lead without it being spelt out to the audience, despite the audience's capabilities to get it if it was done in a usual way, a way WOC tend to write things as.

The whole Lt quarters thing was so fucking stupid just in general. I don't have a problem really with them pointing out she's a woman bc yet again, they clearly want to showcase Stella's leading career as a Woman's Career but the writers don't get nuance and subtlety, so it's like I have a problem overall with the writers but not it in this storyline when it comes to the woman thing bc that's present in every bit so ofc it'll be present here. The main issue I have with the storyline is how it's just a rehash of Hermann's which is just never good ESPECIALLY as by now, even tho it's unbelievable they didn't to be begin with, they would've already fixed the extra LT's office problem.

Anyway. Thank you for sending me this!!!

[figurelifeflirt]

Chicago Fire season 11 episodes 6 and 7

All Out Mystery and Angry Is Easier

I am so proud of Stella. Girls on fire is doing so well.

Seeing that cute moment between Hermann and Cindy reminded me. We haven't seen Hermann's kids since Stella and Severide's wedding, and even then, that was only Annabelle. Can we fix that?!

The most adorable part though was Javi asking Cruz if he could call him dad, awe

[arainywriter]

Masterlist

UNDERTALE

Matchmaker: You meet the King of All Monsters, and he inspires you in more ways than one. Maybe to pay him back, you can get him back together with his ex-wife. On AO3 Now

It’s Dark Down Here: You fell. Simple as that, but you were never meant to wake up. Now trapped Underground with monsters who want to kill you, the only ally you have is a broken yellow flower. On AO3 Now

TF2

No Running in the House: After the worst day of your life, you are approached by a purple suited woman who offers you a job. You should have declined. Now you are taking care of a bunch of psychopaths’, your life is endangered at least three times a day, and you desperately need a cigarette. On AO3 Now

MY HERO ACADEMIA

i heard your voice, i thought i felt your touch (i was running with a ghost): When the Past One For All Users find Midoriya Izuku as they travel in their ghostly forms, they choose him. They choose him as their Number Nine, and no one, not even All Might, will change their minds. On AO3 Now

PACIFIC RIM

Metal Shards & Ozone Gases: Newton acts like a normal Omega, for once in his life, Hannibal Chau lives and still doesn’t matter in the gran scheme of things, and Hermann Gottlieb just wants everyone to stop staring at Newt, please and thank you. On AO3 Now

FANTASTIC BEASTS

Who Will Love You Now, Albus?: Grindelwald asks, and Albus has no answer. After all, who would ever love him again? He's old and broken and useless. No one should love him... Newt does anyway. On AO3 Now

i'm starving, darling: Newt experiences something only Albus can fix. On AO3 Now

NEVERWHERE

tell me what to do, i'll only follow you: Richard has his gay awakening. On AO3 Now

[gh0stlymoth]

u know i gotta ask newmann 😚🍭✈️☔️

I know and i wouldn't have wanted it diffrently fkjadkfk

😚 - When one gets sick, what does the other do? 

ok, so for Newt, I think he would just panic slightly asjfjkfsd especially if Hermann was like really "can't do anything but lay in bed" sick, i think Newt would just. hover and do things like rattle down some facts about various sicknesses and stuff that ultimatly are not all that helpfull but he tries, or bring Hermann enough tea to fill a pool, like he worries and this isn't smth he can just fix immediatly so he goes a bit wild with it, Hermann on the other hand would remind Newt of his medicine, make him soup, bring him entertainment and just overall be really caring, cause he is also worried and as soon as Newts fever spikes for too long u bet Hermann is dragging him to the ER

🍭  -What are their nicknames for each other?

I do think Hermann would stick to "Newton", maybe in rare moments "Newt" and Newton just uses "Herms" bc it's a) fun to say and b) annoys Hermann so win-win but I think that in the rare moments where they were talking in german, Hermann would use some sappy petname like "mein Schatz" (my treasure) bc it already feels more vunerable when u use ur native tongue so dgjljds

✈️ - How do they celebrate anniversaries? 

Honestly. I don't think they do anything big, just little lowkey things like maybe Newt stops by the local bakery and gets Hermann his favourite cake or Hermann gets some art print for Newt he likes and they go out for a walk and have a nice dinner afterwards, but i think both of them like to take things slow after everything

☔️ - How do they make up after a fight? 

They have had so many fights and arguments over the years that i think they just developed a system on how to let the other know that they want to lay the fight to rest, maybe just through a simple "you want to get lunch downtown" or smth, for fights later on that are more serious than their usual banter i think it involves a lot of talking and just general softness with eachother, some hadholding or smth to reassure the other that the fight hasn't fundamentally destroyed their relationship etc the make ups from the flavour variety of "I do not want to be mad at you, i will do what i can so we can solve this together"

[mr-e-nigma]

[Reboot] by Waterparks:

Me, hyperfixated on Pacific Rim: ah beans

[driftwithme]

Honestly why there aren't more fics where Raleigh stays to help on the Shatterdome but somehow he ends up working with Newton and Hermann.

No one is freaking sure how it happens; he is there one day because they're short staffed and the K-Science Division needed to repair some of the machinery, so Raleigh is there to help solve it. One day turned into two. Soon they were demanding Raleigh's help because he might be a bit stupid but he's also the only one around who actively engages with Newt in conversation (probably out of boredom) and is willing to learn all he can about those machines so he can properly fix them.

Which is funny, because Newt is normally the one who does the job, but it's so much easier to teach Raleigh and let himself focus on his research. It's also pretty useful to have one of the best pilots around giving him input about the drift, since Newton is trying to study the hows of his drift with a kaiju brain.

It's like-- they bicker all the time, but the only person (besides Hermann of course) that can meet Newt on his snark and craziness is Mr. Unpredictable himself. They become friends and no one knows how. Herc thinks it's the best thing to happen. Chuck thinks that's the biggest threat humanity has to face after the kaijus. Mako is taking turns with Hermann to keep an eye on them. It's so funny.

They're way too curious and too comfortable taking risks. They also embodied the loser to rockstar pipeline. AND they find comfort in the company of someone who has seen the precursors with their own eyes too. Someone who knows the specific brand of nightmares they have each night. Raleigh and Newt are sure they'll be back, they can't explain it but they know, so while Mako and Chuck focus on designing more jaegers, while Hermann focus on deciphering the date of the second arrival, while Herc focus on organizing and keeping the program alive, Newt and Raleigh figure out the mysteries behind the things they've seen.