#oh henry's there and alan's mentioned

[justastrugglinghotchocolate]

💪🏽 I am in a desperate need of Dasil

This went from "funny fic about Dorian picking up Basil" to "Dorian and Basil have a genuine conversation about had Basil treats Dorian and learn things about each other ft. bridal carry"

This is technically for the og book, but you could see it as a prequel to The Losing Game or set in a Modern AU

AO3 Link (if it's easier ^-^)

~~~~

Dorian had many talents. He was a brilliant pianist, he could draw quite well, he could act decently when needed, and he looked stunning at all times with little effort. However, there was one very important thing that Dorian could not do:

Pick up Basil.

It made sense; Basil was tall and his body naturally dense, despite his rather lean figure. It didn’t help that Basil grew bashful and shy whenever he so much as looked at him. Really that man reminded Dorian of a sweet little turtle—hard shell, but so shy and always trying to hide his head in his coat.

Dorian might have let the inability slide—there were many other things he couldn’t do like tying a necktie or immediately tell his left from right—had Henry been as incapable. But on one sunny afternoon, he watched the lord lift a laughing Basil up a few inches off the ground. The artist had looked so happy, his smiling face illuminated in the warm orange glow of the sun despite how his coal black hair tried to soak it in. And when he saw how Basil had looked down at Henry with a look of pure affection and adoration—Dorian knew he had to do it too.

He started his process by cornering Lord Henry at a party and demanding to know everything about picking up Basil. 

“Pick him up?” Henry chuckled. “Dorian, you don’t have to do anything at all. Basil’s already enamored with you—tell him that you want to lay with him and he’ll worship your feet.”

Dorian blinked, “But I don’t want him to worship my feet. I want to pick him up.”

Henry smiled, “Yes, you’ve said. And as I’ve said, simply tell him you want him. You’ve already won his affection, picking him up shouldn’t be hard—you won’t have to play much of a game.”

“‘Game?’ What are you—?” Dorian shook his head, “Harry. I want to physically lift Basil in my arms.”

The lord stopped mid sentence and Dorian had the rare split-second joy of watching Lord Henry’s brain buffer as he tried to save face. He eventually forced out a laugh and patted the young man’s back rapidly.

“I know, Dorian.” Henry quickly tried to maintain his composure and appearance. “‘Physically pick up Basil’—I did understand you—”

“You had no idea what I meant.”

Henry excused himself from the conversation, citing boredom for his early departure. Dorian let him go, unimpressed and still nowhere closer to lifting up his favorite artist. He’d have to figure this out on his own.

He considered making himself stronger through exercise. He had a friend in the Guards who was more than willing to help him. After a single session, Dorian realized he’d rather die than do a ‘push-up’. He turned his focus to innovation, throwing himself into strategy books he had accidentally stolen from Alan Campbell.

Dorian would need to account for both Basil’s physique and his own. While Dorian couldn’t lift a thing, he certainly could hold them and, since Basil was tall, it wouldn’t be efficient to start from the ground up. Somehow he needed to elevate Basil. 

That night, as he flung himself into bed, an idea came to him. He fell asleep easily, eager to test out the idea the next day. 

…

The next day he arrived outside of Basil’s home. Instead of immediately alerting the artist of his presence, Dorian balled up the scarf he had brought with him and threw it into the great tree in Basil’s garden. It took a few tries, but finally he got the scarf to stay in the tree.

With a wide grin that he quickly hid, Dorian rapidly knocked on Basil’s door.

Basil opened the door with a concerned look, “Dorian? Has something happened?”

“My scarf got stuck in the tree!” the youth said, clutching at his chest. He batted his eyes, “Basil, will you please get it down for me?”

Basil stared at the man in confusion, but nodded his head and with long strides walked over to the tree with Dorian’s scarf. As he reached for it, Dorian quickly grabbed the small stool he knew Basil kept foyer and rushed to bring it to Basil. He slammed it down into the ground in front of the artist.

“It’s on a higher branch, so you’ll need to stand on this!” he said quickly.

Basil stared at him, “Dorian, are you feeling quite alright?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’ve already gotten your scarf down,” the painter smiled, offering it to the youth.

Dorian’s eyes widened and he stammered, “That—I brought a different one today, that’s not it.”

Basil furrowed his brow, “You… brought two scarves?”

“Yes—no!” Dorian grabbed Basil’s arm and began pulling him to stand on the stool. “I lost that scarf when I last visited you!” “Why didn’t you tell me?” Basil asked. “Dorian, are you feeling alright?”

“Yes, now just stand on this!”

“Why?”

“Because—because—” Dorian made a frustrated noise, hissing, “Just get on the stool, Basil!”

Nervously, Basil did as Dorian requested, grabbing one of the branches to steady himself as he looked through the tree. For a moment neither spoke. Then in a small voice, Basil said, “I’m sorry, Dorian, but I don’t see a scarf here.”

As hard as he could, Dorian kicked the stool underneath Basil. Unfortunately, because of how hard he’d placed it down earlier, it had been pushed deeply into the ground. His kick only resulted in him stubbing his toe against the hard wooden stool as it gave a small jerk upon impact. Basil slightly lost his balance, but grabbed the tree branches to keep steady. In a panic, he glanced back down at Dorian who looked like he was trying hard not to cry.

“Dorian, what’s wrong?” Basil clambered down the stool. “Should I get you ice?”

“No!” the younger man, stamping his foot. “No, no! This isn’t fair!”

Basil was bewildered, but tentatively he placed his hand on the other man’s shoulder, “Dorian… what’s wrong?”

The young man sighed, whipping furiously at his eyes, “I wanted to pick you up.”

“What? Why?”

“Because Henry could do it.”

Basil couldn’t help but chuckle, “Dorian, you don’t have to do everything Henry does. I’d honestly advise against aspiring to even attempt to be like him.”

“It’s not—” the young man sighed heavily. “I don’t want to be like Henry.”

“Then, why—?”

“Because I can’t just be me, can I?”

“What?”

“Basil,” Dorian looked down at the ground. “I’m only your friend because I’m your muse. Once I am old and no longer beautiful, you won’t want my companionship anymore—I have to do something more so you’ll want to stay as my friend as I get older.”

Basil looked aghast, “Dorian, you thought I’d stop being friends with you simply because you’ll… age?”

Dorian crossed his arm over himself protectively, “You spend half our time together giving me compliments. What other reason will you have to tolerate my presence?”

The painter sighed, “That’s… not untrue. But Dorian, I enjoy our time together because I simply enjoy being with you. There is no reason or any other justification necessary.”

“But we don’t do anything. I just sit and you paint. Those are wholly individual activities. When I’m with Henry, or anyone else for that matter, we laugh or talk or do something with each other. And when you’re with anyone else, you talk to them or laugh with them or anything else that friends are supposed to do!”

He frowned, holding himself tighter, “Why do I have to be the one you treat differently?”

Basil looked surprised, then guilty. He opened his mouth then closed it as he searched for the right words to say. Dorian wiped at his eyes again, wishing that he’d stop crying in front of Basil. Eventually, he sat at the trunk of the tree, watching the sky as he waited for Basil to say something.

Finally, Basil came to sit with him. With a saddened look in his eyes, he said, “Dorian, I’m sorry that I’ve treated you differently than how I’ve treated others—it was never my intention to make you feel as though I only valued you for your beauty.”

He paused, hesitating, then gently said, “I’ve only done so, because, well, truthfully, my friend, I’m not sure how to treat you.”

Dorian raised a brow.

“You act very young, Dorian. And forgive my blunt wording, but you’re… fragile.”

“I’m not!” Dorian paused and sighed. “I am.”

“And it’s not just that. You’re so… open. You wear your sleeve on your heart—I always know how you feel and what you want, but I never know how to respond to it.”

“I can give quite a lot at once,” Dorian admitted softly.

“And I have trouble giving anything at all,” Basil chuckled, defeatedly. “Sometimes, I want to be nurturing and give you someone to look up to and other times, I… Well, that isn’t important. I just don’t know how to treat you in a way that respects your human complexity.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be, I lov—I appreciate your genuinity. I can’t fathom ever being as confident as you.” Basil's eyes grew sad again. “Truthfully, it’s quite ironic that you think I’d end our friendship over something so fickle. Once you met Harry, I was sure our friendship had come to an end.”

“Why?” Dorian looked at Basil with wide eyes. 

“He seems to understand you better than I do. You seem to enjoy his company more.”

The young man scoffed, “Absolutely not, Basil. Harry is fascinating, but I do not enjoy his company enough to even attempt to do half as much as I’ve done to maintain my friendship with you. I’d prefer you to him on any day.”

Hallward was surprised, “I… I wasn’t aware of that.”

Basil leaned back against the tree and Dorian leaned onto his shoulder, gently grabbing one of Basil’s hands and absentmindedly thumbing over the back. Around them, birds chirped and the gentle wind rustled the leaves.

“If you want to do something other than sit for me, you are always welcome to ask,” Basil said, lifting his hand to run his fingers through Dorian’s golden locks. He felt the other man relax in his hold. “I can’t always promise that I’ll be available, but I am willing to make time for what you’d like. You’re my friend after all.”

“Thank you, Basil.” Dorian smiled mischievously. “But I’d still like to try picking you up.”

Basil laughed, “I don’t intend to stop you.”

Dorian guided Basil to stand on the stool then to carefully lower himself into Dorian’s arms in a bridal carry. Basil warped his arms around Dorian’s neck, then allowed his full weight to fall down on Dorian, fully expecting to be dropped.

Both were surprised to see that Dorian managed to hold Basil up. Dorian was gritting his teeth and overly tense, nail digging into Basil as he tried to carry him back into the house.

“You don’t have to do that!” Basil laughed. He felt light-headed from being so close to Dorian and fought the urge to bury his face in the other man’s neck. 

“I’m… going to!” Dorian grunted out. His face had gone red from the exertion and he took a shaky step forwards, jostling Basil. Basil cried out and clutched at the other man, bursting with laughter. Dorian would have laughed too, but he was more preoccupied with not dropping Basil.

Finally they reached the door. Dorian hissed out, “Basil, please open the door.”

Basil did so, but reached too far, causing Dorian to lose his balance and fall into the doorway with Basil in his arms. They fell into a heap on the floor, both laughing hysterically.

After they calmed down, Dorian breathlessly said, “Can we do more things like that?”

“Like carrying or falling?” Basil wheezed, looking at the young with adoration.

“Whichever one means I get to hear you laugh more.” Dorian grinned, feeling a flush on his face.

Basil was glad his face was already red. He forced out a chuckle and motioned deeper into the house, “Shall we grab something to drink?”

Dorian nodded and held Basil’s hand as they walked to the kitchen together.

[inkdemonapologist]

FINALLY got these scribbles from last session of the Cthulhu game scanned in lmao, THINGS HAVE BEEN SO BUSY but cthulhu has been very exciting!!

While looking for some Alan Leroy guy to figure out why the Phantom is following(?) him(?), we asked around with (a) his book club friends and (b) the mob, as one does. Sammy managed to avoid seeing the yellow sign when he realised very quickly what Cool Obscure Book this book club pal might be describing (unlike Jack, a polite boy who does not RAPIDLY AVERT HIS EYES FROM HIS CONVERSATIONAL PARTNER), but did not manage to avoid being hustled off by the mob to talk to The Boss when Henry asked just a few too many questions. it went fine but Sammy was SO STRESSED, HES ALREADY BEEN KIDNAPPED BY GANGSTERS ONCE HE DOESNT WANT TO DO IT AGAIN

also hes still cute in this hat. you should wear hats more often sammy. ANYWAY if you're here for Out of Context quotes from this session, I GOT EM RIGHT HERE UNDER THE CUT:

[Sammy is played by me, Joey is played by Boo (inkyvendingmachine), Henry is played by Maf (inkcryptid), Jack is played by Mochi (whatyouwantedmetosee) and Thren (haunted-hijinxer) is our GM!]

[Sammy] He will mention to Henry, something about "Oh boy, dreams are starting up again" kind of thing. [Henry] Yyyyup. [Henry] Don't get possessed again. [Sammy] [Sammy] i dON'T THINK SAMMY KNOWS WHAT TO DO WITH THAT!! The last time he got possessed was BY PROPHET, whom he still shares a body with!! [Henry] Prophet doesn't count! Don't get possessed by anyone else. [Sammy] .... I'LL DO MY BEST, [Sammy] I just like the idea of Henry being like 'don't get possessed' and Sammy just LOOKS at him, like............ I'm already possessed, what are you talking about

[Sammy] Given how these things like to happen on auspicious days, I'm a little worried about New Years,

[Joey] That's exactly the spin he's going to put on it -- Some time off for New Years, and a bonus day off to recover from the celebrations! [Jack] Gotta account for those, now that drinking's back!

[Henry] Oh good, I was really worried Joey would call Norman and get a "who are you?" [Jack] Norman DOES do that, but just because he thinks it's funny. [GM] That's possible, yeah, [Sammy] Oh my gosh. I believe it, is the thing. [GM] I do too, honestly... this might just be a thing that happens.

[GM] And the studio seems normal, and nobody got kidnapped in the night, not even Norman, and Henry's family is safe -- things are doing so good! [Jack] Nobody that we're currently in contact with got kidnapped in the night! [GM] That's true. [Jack] I'm not ruling out Bertrum getting kidnapped. [Jack] ...unrelated to the Carcosa nonsense, he just got kidnapped. [GM] That's what he gets for hanging out with the mob. [Jack] Sorry, I mean, "The Great Bertrum Piedmont." Have to use his full and official title. [GM] That's how you get him un-kidnapped, he just breaks through a wall to correct you. [Jack] *laughing* The Kool-Aid Bert................ [GM] The Great Kool-Aid Piedmont, [Jack] Now that's fanart I don't want to see.

[GM] Welcome back! We've been talking about the Great Bertrum Piedmont Kool-Aid-ing through a wall to correct you about his name. [Sammy] *startled wheezing* Okay, well it sounds like I've missed some really important developments!

[Jack] I think Jack would lean in the direction of like, they wanted to get in touch with him at the charity thing-- aaagh, that's technically not true. He's not the fast talk boy, he's not allowed to, [Sammy] I mean, he CAN fast talk, Henry does it all the time! [Jack] But does he succeed-- [Sammy] Henry's not the Fast Talk Boy but he keeps LYING anyway!!!

[Sammy] I feel like Jack is good at looking worried, and, caring about his fellow man, [Jack] I don't think he has to TRY to look worried??? [Sammy] I don't think Sammy contains these qualities. Sammy looks like he's here to arrest you. [GM] She's actually giving Sammy a concerned look, [Sammy] Sammy is HERE FOR THE PROTECTION MONEY.

[Jack] Well, this was lovely! Time to leave, because Sammy's already... vibrating against the door trying to clip through it.

[Sammy] Sammy's IMMEDIATELY going to tell him about this clarinet with the missing E flat extension. [Sammy] ....and then ALSO mention that he thinks maybe he's seen this guy before.

[Joey] Joey slightly fixes Henry's hair before they head in. [Sammy] (That's a little bit gay, but alright,) [Jack] (I think it's more than a little bit) [Joey] LISTEN, listen, Joey recognises-- [Jack] Linda's out of town! [Joey] --Joey recognises the neighbourhood,

[GM] The door gets opened pretty quickly, but the guy inside actually looks a little like he's suddenly out of his depth, because whatever he was expecting to happen is not what is happening. [Sammy] That's a common reaction to Joey Drew.

[Joey] I feel like it's not going to be a fast talk roll, actually, to make this guy feel like this is NOT a dangerous ask? So I'm gonna go with persuade instead. [GM] Are you going with the tack that you were concerned parties from the event? [Joey] I think, concerned party, perhaps leaning towards the notion that they hit it off well at the party, and -- I'm just turning it into a fast talk, [Joey] *trying again* I think Joey is leaning more into an idea that they are freshly met, but have similar interests? Or... possibly leaning into he's ...a friend of a friend and we're looking into it for that friend? [Sammy] Joey trying NOT to lie is really funny. "Oh well obviously I'll just say -- oh, I guess that's not true; I'll just -- WELL, that's not technically true either," [Joey] ADMITTEDLY, if this does turn into a fast talk roll, using the same roll it's now a BETTER SUCCESS, so, [Sammy] Just really funny how hard it is for Joey to just, HONESTLY REASSURE someone without inventing a whole narrative [Joey] I'M GOOD AT COMING UP WITH STORIES!! I'm not good at... fact-checking them first...

[Joey] Please, if you hear from him, or get any more information, please reach out to us as soon as possible, because the sooner we can prevent this, the better off he'll be -- y'know, that whole thing! [Joey] Do the most heartfelt, emotional connection he can... it's a little gay, but... [Sammy] I fully believe in Joey's ability to extoll the virtues of this man he's never met.

[Sammy] We can just check with Norman, have him peek out the window and see if it looks weird, [Joey] "Hey Norman, is your house in the right location?" [Jack] "Dunno why you called me outside just to tell me that you moved my house!"

[GM] Norman answers the door, and gives you guys a quizzical look. [Henry, out of character] :D Hey, did your house move? [Sammy, in-character] >:/ Did your house move?

[Sammy] Sammy will point out things Jack noticed as being different, as if he also noticed them. [GM] He'll turn back to you, and just kind of observe in a blase sort of way that he's apparently moved. [Jack] I love Norman,,,, [Joey] I love Norman's 89% Sanity score that never gets hit, apparently! [Jack] His sense of humour is actually an indefinite insanity. [Sammy] A constant coping mechanism, [Jack] Can't go insane when you already are!!

[Jack] Jack is, not happy about this, [GM, as Norman] He wonders if you'd like to come in for a housewarming, then.

[Sammy] Sammy's going to just catch her up on, the guy we're looking for read the play, [Sammy] Also, might be a guy that Sammy saw in New Orleans, and that might be why he knew the music?? [Sammy] ALSO, WEIRD THING with his clarinet, he doesn't have the E flat extension that you'd EXPECT HIM TO HAVE? [GM] I think Susie knows enough that she would say that's weird if he's playing seriously. [Jack] I was about to ask if this meant anything to these two-- [Joey] Norman is regaining sanity by watching Sammy rattle on about all this. [GM] He's probably chiming in opinions, too, that are completely not based in any actual musical knowledge -- [Henry] Norman just like "He's missing the E extension? Next he's gonna lose the, the F Shortener!" [GM] "What's the world coming to!" [Sammy] Sammy's giving him the most unamused look, and this is all Norman wanted. [GM] Yeah, yeah, this is how he keeps his sanity high. [Sammy] Just annoy Sammy Lawrence. That's the secret.

[Jack] Good to make sure things aren't going weirder over here-- which, uhhh, [Sammy] Which they are!!

[Sammy] That's smart, but that's also really spooky. Like okay, cool! The whole world has re-written this! Cool cool cool cool cool. [GM] He doesn't seem PLEASED about it, but he seems about normal. [Henry] He seems Norman about it. [Jack] Yeah, Normal Polk. [Jack] *cracking up* He shows up at work the next day and he's called "Normal Ponk." That's his name now.

[Jack] Reality's rewriting itself, wanna kiss about it? [Henry] Ah, Jack's okay again.

[Jack] If this was Fowler, then WHO WAS PHONE????

[GM] Well, okay, first things first, does Joey have Peter's number memorised? [Joey] HM. [Joey] ...I feel like he wouldn't admit it, but yes.

[Joey] Joey says he's going to call Peter back in a minute. And hangs up. [GM] You cut him off in the middle of some sort of response-- [Joey] Cool.

[Joey] He managed to break into a safe once by doing this! [Henry] "Break into" is... a bit of a strong phrasing. [GM] *mumbling* "Get locked inside of,"

[Joey] The main thing is, Do Not Go Alone, because if something happens to Peter... we have no way of tracking down the information that he has! We, we lose, all of his evidence! [Jack] .....and that's the ONLY thing, [Joey] Yup! [Henry] We ALSO lose his, HIM, [Joey] *mumbling* No, no that doesn't matter as much, as evidence, [Joey] It's clearly just, the fact that they lose all the benefits of having a reporter with ghost powers on their side, and NOT Peter himself, that is the issue! [Jack] iTS NOT LIKE HE CARES ABOUT YOU OR ANYTHING!!!

[Jack] *spongebob meme* You like Peter Sunstram, don't you, Joey?

[Joey] Both Henry and Sammy are the best able to get themselves out of a tough, fight-y situation, [Sammy] We can both punch, and Henry has magical power if something supernatural happens... [Joey] Also! Also, neither Joey nor Jack are there to be taken hostage and used against them! [Sammy] ... I think you're actually right. I hate to admit it, but I think you're right. [Jack] I can't wait for Jack to be kidnapped at the magic shop, you guys!

[Henry] I can't believe we're sending the two least talky boys off together to talk to the mob, [Joey] LISTEN. Henry and Sammy can go to the restaurant! Henry likes food! There we go! [GM] I can't believe Joey's just making sure Henry gets a nice meal after his shake-up earlier... [Sammy] I dunno, maybe Peter should come with us, just in ghost form. Henry can see him, potentially, [Jack] So Pete's body can... Not be where he left it when he gets back to it! [Sammy] ....hm, [Joey] *startled laughter* [Sammy] ....okay, nevermind,... [Jack] Just leave him in the car, what could go wrong! That's not disappeared MULITPLE TIMES!

[GM] Johnny Nero is of average height and build, with dark, slicked back hair, and a neatly trimmed moustache -- so not like any of the other people that you know! [GM] Wears expensive tailored suits, though. [Jack & Joey] *snickering* So, not like, any of the people you know-- [GM] It narrows it down a bit!! [Sammy] Alright, alright; bargain bin Joy Drew, got it.

[GM] You guys do get an offer to have food, while you're waiting. [Sammy] Yeah.... why not..... [Henry] Henry will, not,,, [Joey] *shocked* NO????? [Joey] *absolutely flabbergasted* FOOD!!!!! [Sammy] Gangsters don't usually poison you, they usually give you nice food and then they knock you out and throw you in the river. [Henry] WELL HENRY DOESNT KNOW THAT! [GM] He hasn't done speakeasies like Sammy has!!

[Sammy] I'm noticing that this guy actually looks really nervous, and isn't taking charge of the situation, [GM] He DOES have something that's probably a firearm in his pocket. [Sammy] Yeah, yeah, but, [Jack] It's his emotional support firearm!

[Sammy] Actually... Sammy WILL ask him if he saw it. [GM] Uh, [Sammy] Because he was RIGHT THERE looking at him. And I feel like, once you've seen it, and it does the weird thing where it gets in your head, you're not going to be confused what somebody's talking about if they ask you if you saw the yellow sign. You're going to know what that means. [GM] [GM] Are you going to say the thing...? [Sammy] Have You Seen The Yellow Sign?

[Henry] Henry is half-considering... [Sammy] *manically excited* DO YOU WANT TO TAKE THE THORN OUT OF THIS LION'S PAW, HENRY???

[Henry] You haven't been able to think straight since, have you? [GM] He kind of squints at you, because he's a gangster and he doesn't want to be like "D: YEAH, ITS BEEN REALLY ROUGH :(" [Joey] *laughs* Henry IMMEDIATELY knows this look, because Joey does this as well!

[Sammy] Push the roll!! Push push push! [Henry] *nervous* I DON'T KNOW IF I WANT TO PUSH IT,,, [Sammy] WE'RE ALREADY KIDNAPPED! WHAT ELSE CAN GO WRONG!

[Henry] We didn't get kidnapped, so it's you guys' turn! [Joey] We have the kidnapping charm with us, also known as "Jack Fain"! [Sammy] Oh I thought it was Peter Sunstram. [Sammy] [Sammy] DO THEY STACK?

[Jack] I can't wait for us to get to these spooky occult magic shops, and it's just like, "here's a bunch of overpriced tumbled gemstones and some incense!" [GM] The first one you go to is kind of that style. [Jack] Ideal! I hope they have a really tacky fake skull. [Joey] Joey is judging the whole place.

[Joey] WAIT, wait, they took you from the bar to the restaurant, and then you got the heckin' sign out of Nero's head, and he's not even gonna offer you a ride back to the bar?!? [Henry] I think what we got out of it is "not being kidnapped". [GM] JOEY is the one with the history of talking kidnappers into giving him rides, [Sammy] I do think it would be classier if he gave us a ride. I'm with Boo on this, it would be a classy gangster move. [Sammy] With that guy they kidnapped to do music for whoever's birthday party, they dropped him back off later, but, you know, it's fine, [Joey] Show your heckin' appreciation! *exasperated* THIS IS HOW WE CAN TELL HE'S AVERAGE!! [GM] Uh, lemme roll a quick like............. etiquette roll, [Sammy] Gangster Classiness, [GM] *rolls terribly* Yeah, I think he's frazzled enough -- this is gonna reflect poorly on him later. [Joey] Wow.

[Jack] Normal success for Jack! How many terrible tacky skulls do I see? [GM] Just SO many. [Sammy] This place won't help you, buddy. [Jack] I dunno, if you buy enough tacky skulls, maybe the guy won't wanna get near you. [Henry] Just throw tacky skulls at him! [Jack] A tacky skull a day keeps the pallid mask away!!

[GM] A more discerning occult collection than the other one. [Jack] The kind of place that has the more occult things like, in a locked cabinet instead of in a heap on the counter. [Sammy] In the bargain bin, [Jack] "Box of assorted random magic junk"? Yeah, I wanna rummage my hand in that, I'm not gonna get five curses, [Jack] *laughs* I'm not even AT the other place anymore and I'm still dunking on it! [Sammy] Jack's just saying these things to Joey to like, keep his spirits up. [Joey] It would be working,

[Sammy] I am curious if the restaurant is at the same address that we remember it being on. [GM] It is the same address! The name is different. [Jack] What's the new name? [GM] Lombardi's! It was Leon's. [Henry] ... some dude got his whole name changed, [Jack] Oh man, when do they do that to me, I want a legal name change! [Jack] Bringing the Yellow King into the world to get a free transition, [Sammy] No! Don't do it! He won't transition you into a human, it'll be..... something else,

[Henry] We're gonna run over the Pallid Mask. Vroom vroom motherfucker.

[GM] You do bump into something that is unyielding. [Jack] Oh no, Jack's car! [Jack] ... and also, whatever he hit, I guess!

[Joey] Joey is immediately flipping around to grab his cane; if the guy tries to get in the car, he's going to bash him in the face! and say GET OUT!! [Sammy] Well, it worked really well for Nero, so [Henry] The guy just got hit by a car and didn't move! I don't think the cane's gonna do much! [Jack] Especially not with Joey's weak noodle arms! [Joey] Yeah but he's upset!! That this guy is trying to get in the car! He was not invited in! [GM] ...make a CON roll. [Joey] [Joey] oKEY DOKEY,,,

[Sammy] Peter now is NOT the time to astral project [GM] Luckily he doesn't have that insanity currently, or he'd already be gone! [Jack] The car stops and Pete's ghost just flies through the windshield,

[Jack] I'm losing my mind... [GM] You are! 1d6 of it!

[GM] This is kind of wild magic zone, so you get some creative license. [Joey] Hmm. Hmm! Hmmmmmm... [Sammy] Oh no, you've given Joey Drew creative license,

[Joey] But when I picked out Jack's car, it's the first car that has full safety glass in it!! [Jack] [Jack] SO EVEN MORE EXPENSIVE TO REPLACE!!!

[aemiron-main]

Who is Who? What is What? Doctor Martin Brenner and Henry Creel: What Does The Man Want? Why is Brenner Henry? Get That Man Out of The Boy's Head!

So, I already talked in this post about Brenner’s weird “no ONE but me," line, and "who is Henry Creel" and all of the weird “Brenner is somehow Henry but also not Henry” connections:

And then today, I wanted to expand on this post I made before seeing TFS about Richard Brenner vs Martin Brenner and Brenner Sr vs Brenner Jr, and I also wanted to expand on how 1959 TFS Brenner doesn’t have grey in his hair but in-show 1959 Brenner does-

-and I was going to expand by saying “oh, see, in 1979, 001 mentions ‘Dr MARTIN Brenner,’ while a clip of the guy with greying hair in 1959 plays, so clearly the guy with greying hair is MARTIN Brenner and the guy in TFS is likely Richard”

Which, I still think that could totally be true, but then something else hit me while rewatching that clip.

(continued under the cut)

So, considering that first post I linked, and considering those weird connections between Brenner and Henry in TFS, is it just me, or is it a REALLY weird choice to have this line:

Only play over HENRY’s face.

And then that line immediately ends/vanishes as soon as Brenner shows up, and is replaced by the “Papa” line:

Which, on the surface, this implies that a.) the dude walking up to the bed is Dr Martin Brenner and b.) that Dr Martin Brenner is Papa, but it gets a lot more convoluted when we look closer, especially with the context of posts like the posts James @henrysglock made that I can't find rn regarding the distinction between Brenner and Papa, and even the distinction between more than one Papa.

Like, to make what I’m saying extra clear- it’s a really REALLY weird production/editing/writing choice to have the line about “Dr Martin Brenner” only play over a shot of Henry’s face:

Like, if that screenshot was just a totally out of context still image with the caption “Dr Martin Brenner,” people would likely assume that the child in the bed is Dr Martin Brenner as a child, and that the man walking up to the bed is Papa:

And that Dr Martin Brenner and Papa are two separate people.

This would be odd on it’s own, but maybe not SUPER weird if we didn’t also ALSO have the context of this post & TFS conflating Brenner and Henry in weird ways.

Especially with how TFS Brenner refers to Brenner Sr as “my Papa,”- a line that is made EXTRA weird by the use of the word “my,” considering what I talked about in this post regarding “your Papa.” And THAT post gets even WEIRDER when when we consider the fact that in that post, the “your Papa,” line is specifically in the context of soteria- versus this post that I made about TFS Brenner specifically touching the soteria spot on his neck.

And then all of this gets EVEN WEIRDER when we jump over to this post about “you have to BE your dad,” versus the Brenner-Henry connection versus Victor Creel being Henry’s father versus TFS Brenner looking weirdly like in-show Victor Creel:

Like, why is Brenner Henry but also Henry’s dad/Victor in a play that has a line about “you have to BE your dad”?

Which, the whole “you have to BE your dad” line from Alan Munson to Hopper Jr gets even weirder when we consider the wording in that scene & how it ties to Brenner.

Alan says “you can’t play your dad, you have to BE your dad,” and Jim says “I don’t want to be my dad” (also smthn smthn Brenner saying to Henry that Henry ‘wants’ to kill):

And then Alan says “Okay, well, what does he want? What motivates the man?”

And if the line “what does he want” is familiar to you, it’s because when we go back to S2, Owens asks Will what the evil wanted:

And also, this is old news, but “the man” is used to refer to Brenner by Becky Ives in S1- but it’s also used to refer to Hopper in the police station AND Becky’s line is worded in a way that sort of has double meaning re: referring to both Hopper and Brenner as “the man,” which is really odd considering that this TFS line about “the man,” is also in relation to Hopper, but to Hopper Sr/Hopper’s father rather than Hopper Jr.

(and Karen also calls Brenner “that man,” and I just included that to demonstrate the continued connection between the word “man” and Brenner)

And then there’s ALSO the extra layer of the use of the word “what,” in Alan’s line “what does he wan? What motivates the man?“ versus the use of the word “what” when it comes to Henry and Brenner- such as Patty asking Henry “what are you, Henry Creel?”:

And Brenner interrogating Henry about the anomaly that derailed the procedure and saying “I wonder what’s changed?” and “what is it you want?”:

Which also ties back into Alan saying “what does he want?” to Jim:

And so going back to Alan’s line with the “what motivates the man,” bit, if we look at this through the lens of double-meaning/subtext, and take that as a STATEMENT rather than a question, a literal statement of “what motivates the man,” with “what” (whatever ‘what’ is) being the man’s motivation, then that seems to mean that the “what” that Brenner is referring to in his scene with Henry and the “what” that Patty is referring to in her scene with Henry is the thing that motivates Brenner.

And going back to that S2 Owens scene, the “what” in question is ���to kill”:

So, if we combine all of that, then what motivates the man?

Killing does. Killing motivates the man. Killing is what. (at least in some sense- I also think there’s likely more meanings re: the word ‘what’/double meanings etc, but that’s for another time)

And it’s extra interesting to me that seemingly, killing is what motivates the man, but also, “the man,” gets conflated with “evil,” when Owens asks what the evil wanted- versus Wayne Munson saying that “the man”/“who” is “pure evil” (which, that fact that on the surface, Wayne is referring to Victor Creel makes all of this even WEIRDER considering what I talked about earlier re: TFS Brenner vs in-show Victor):

And the mention of “who,” brings us to our next section, because now that we’ve covered the what, there’s also the who, because in the next bit between Alan and Hopper Jr, it goes:

Jim: “Bourbon and Playboy?”

Alan: “Or- he’s just a single father who wants to raise his son, and he’s doing the best he can.”

And, of course, this ties to Stav @heroesbyler's post about how Brenner = “who.”

And, in that screenshot compilation from earlier about “the man,” there’s that screenshot from Wayne Munson (that I talked about in this post) where Wayne says “the man who,” which further ties the sue of “the man” in Alan’s line to the use of “who,” in Alan’s line, and then also ties that to Brenner again.

Also, when taken more literally/swapping out "who" for Brenner, we get "he's just a single father, Brenner wants to raise his son," which has me staring at all of the weird Brenner-Victor stuff and Brenner stealing Henry to raise him in the lab vs Victor technically being a single father after Virginia's death.

And this is getting into stretch territory, but the use of the word “Playboy,” stands out to me here when it comes to the phrasing of Alan’s previous line with how Hopper can’t “play” his dad- versus Brenner in S4 with his line about “play a game,”:

And then also all of the weird references to Brenner being Henry somehow PLUS things like what I talked about in this post re: Henry and “not a child” versus Hopper’s whole thing in S1 about going after “the wrong kid”- is Brenner pretending to a boy/pretending to be Henry?

Is Brenner literally “playing boy”/playboy? Is he pretending to be Henry in some context?

I know that James talked in this lovely post about the idea of Henry playing Brenner, but now I'm wondering if it's the other way around.

Especially with “Brenner’s” weird line to “Henry” about “you think this is a game?”:

Which, this would align perfectly with what I talked about in this post after TFS and this post pre-TFS about characters in TFS pretending to be other characters, and with how Murray pretends to be Yuri and vice versa in S4, and what I talked about in this post with how that ties to Henward and NINA (and now Brenner).

And it would also likely tie into what I talked about in this post re: Henward and TFS and “I could not pretend.”

Also, all of the “you have to BE your father,” things re: Brenner and Henry gets EXTRA weird when we consider Back to the Future and George McFly (Marty McFly’s father), and how a.) “George” was Henry’s codename for TFS, b.) Marty McFly almost accidentally became his own dad and almost erased himself from the timeline as a result (something that Steve and Robin specifically reference in S3), and c.) Marty McFly is pretty similar to Martin Brenner.

But like I said, it also seems like Brenner is somehow pretending to be Henry/playing as Henry. Like a puppet.

Which is especially interesting considering this line between Brenner and El, where Brenner says “Henry, who’s manipulated you line some puppet?”:

Which, if, like we did earlier with the “what motivates the man” line, we take that line and look at it subtext-wise/as a statement, then we get:

“Henry, who’s manipulated you like some puppet.”

And if we keep in mind that Brenner tends to = “who,” and so we swap out “who” for Brenner:

Then we get “Henry, Brenner’s manipulated you like some puppet.”

Which fits perfectly with Brenner pretending to be Henry/playing Henry and how that would be like Brenner puppeting Henry around- smthn smthn Pinnochio, smthn smthn “I’m a real boy,” smthn smthn “It’s not real. I’m normal. I’m Henry Creel.”

It’s all extremely weird. Why is everyone Brenner?

What the hell is going on here?

Who is who?

What is what?

[henrysglock]

Who in TFS would like Kdramas and who in the regular show would like Kdramas

OOOOH okay maybe i'm biased but I think both Henry, Patty, and Brenner would like kdramas but for entirely different reasons.

Henry, every version of him, is in a puddle in agony over the characters. Patty is giving each show an absolutely scathing critique, either on plot or on characters, and Henry sits there listening to her like yes queen. Go off. Get their asses, you're so right. We stan tumblr user ms-mystery.

Brenner is coming up with Thee fucking insane weirdo theories of all time. He and Henry are mutuals online, and he somehow manages to get Henry wrapped up in all the theories. None of Brenner's coworkers know he has a tumblr, and when asked, none of them would ever imagine he would. He only got one because he heard Henry mention it in passing. I cannot emphasize this enough: Brenner's fuckass posts make him a tumblr legend.

I think Bob would watch them with Patty, but he's not particularly invested. Victor would pop his head in to see what Henry's watching, and then leave him to his own devices to go read in the study.

TFS ALAN MUNSON IS A DIEHARD KDRAMA FAN. BUT HE'S THE OBNOXIOUS KIND.

TFS Ted Wheeler is asked if he likes kdramas, and he says "oh that taylor swift song goes hard" (he's referring to Karma).

On screen? Erica. She won't admit it, but she has "[her] shows" that she watches. Dustin knows the lore, and he is entirely unafraid to get into online arguments about it. He and Erica both Know they other watches kdramas. They talked about it once, and then never again...but they Know. They both have side-twitters dedicated to it.

Max is a begrudging watcher; El fell in love with kdramas, and now they watch together. It's a love language. Robin has convinced Steve to watch at least one show with her.

Karen loves the romance-heavy kdramas. Joyce doesn't have time or interest. Hopper sometimes indulges El and watches with her.

Lucas and Will aren't into it. Not haters, just not into it.

Mike, however. Mike has Opinions. He's watched some with El when they're dating, and while he won't dare step foot on kdramatwt...he HAS been known to rant about it while El watches in "let me put him under a microscope"-type fascination. Important: Karen does not know about this, or she'd be asking him to watch with her weekly.

Scott Clarke doesn't watch, but he's well-versed in the lore just from listening to students and looking up shows/phrases to figure out what the fuck they're talking about. He would whip out the most obscure lore readily.

[justsomerandomfanfic]

Broken Leg And All - Ian Malcolm X Female Reader

Title: Broken Leg And All

Ian Malcolm X Female Reader

Additional Characters: John (Mentioned), Ellie (Mentioned), Lex (Mentioned), Timmy (Mentioned), Alan (Mentioned), and Henry (Mentioned)

| Part 1 | Part 2 |

WC: 3,621

Warnings: Gun mentioned but not used, knife mentioned but not used, blood mentioned, slight gore, mention of broken bones, mention of death, mention of killing, puns, teasing, and fluff

Unable to just sit at your desk and wait, you suddenly stood. Grabbing your jacket and clipping on your utility belt, attaching your walkie-talkie, flashlight, extra batteries, pocketknife, and small granola bars, before grabbing your gun out of your desk. Checking the clip, you put on the safety and put it in your pocket. You prayed that you didn't have to use it. It would break your heart to have to kill one of the beautiful but monstrous creatures. They were your life. But, you had to do what you had to do.

Double checking the babies, you set the locking system up and grabbed your keys. Walking to the front of the building, you opened the doors and stepped outside. The wind howled and the rain poured down, soaking you instantly and sending cold shivers through your spine. You headed to the small garage off the side of the building, wary of the outside and the possibility of dinosaur escapees. You were pretty far from most of the enclosures, so you had some time before they traveled to you.

Entering the code into the pad on the garage wall, the door slowly slid up, revealing your second pride and joy, your four-wheeler. You walked in and climbed aboard, grabbing the ignition key and turning it. The engine roared to life, and you hit the gas, heading to the T-Rex sector. The rain pelted you as you raced towards the enclosures. Pushing up your glasses, you cursed at the rain. It was already hard to see in the dark but the rain splashed against your glasses made it worse. It took a while, but you finally got to the enclosure, luckily not running into any dinosaurs.

At the T-Rex enclosure, you stopped, getting off of the four-wheeler. Looking around, you saw the one explorer, the broken electric fence, and the collapsed bathrooms. Rushing to Rex's enclosure, you peered down, hardly seeing anything other than the trees below. But, you had figured by the muddy tracks on the ground that the other car fell down there. Biting your lip, you hoped that no one was hurt or worse... Dead.

Going to the collapsed bathroom, you observed the damage, before you saw a hand sticking out of the mess. Rushing over and falling to your knees, you pushed the pieces of wood and giant leaves away to reveal Ian. Gasping, you noticed his leg was badly bleeding.

"Ian!" You cried, gently pulling him into your arms, cradling his head in your lap. "Are you even alive?" You asked him, but more to yourself.

Reaching out, you pressed two fingers to the side of his neck, feeling his steady pulse underneath your fingertips. He was alive and that's all that mattered.

"Ian! Okay, wake up. We have to get you out of here..."

"Hnn... Hah... Hm... Wha..." He stumbled over his words, opening his eyes slowly.

looking up, Ian smiled, "Hey, you're the cute doctor." He chuckled, wincing as he tried to sit up, but failed.

"Oh! Oh no, Ian. Your leg is badly injured," you gasped, leaning forward and placing a hand on his chest to stop him, "Your leg is bleeding a lot. It might be broken."

He winced, grimacing, "I'll live, Doc." He laughed weakly.

You frowned, "You will, but we need to get you somewhere where I can sterilize the wound. We don't want to get it infected."

He nodded, "Okay, sounds like a plan." He spoke, before slowly sitting up, gritting his teeth as you helped him up, holding him in your arms as he limped towards your four-wheeler.

Helping him onto the back of the wheeler, you grabbed onto the handles and started the engine. Ian wrapped his arms around your waist tightly, groaning from a striking pain in his leg.

"Hold on... It's going to be a bumpy ride."

Rain pelted down on your face as you raced back to the baby sector. quickly typing your code into the number pad and pressing your hand on the scanner, the large double doors opened, and you quickly helped Ian in. The enclosure was in an uproar as the babies looked out at you, jumping and running around. Helping Ian to a small cot, you quickly rushed to the restroom for the med kit. Quickly, you washed your hands before rushing back over, you kneeled in front of the cot and placed the kit on the floor. Opening the kit, you pulled out a small clean cloth, and glanced up to Ian.

"This whole process is going to hurt a bit, but I have to clean your leg and make sure... You know, infections and stuff." You stumbled over your last few words, it was hard to speak when he was looking at you.

"Alright, Doc." He chuckled, "Who knew you were also a human doctor."

You ignored him at the beginning, focusing on the task at hand. Taking a deep breath, you reached for his leg gently. Placing the cloth on where you presumed the cut or large gash was, Ian immediately hissing in pain.

"I'm sorry." You apologized, as you started to clean the blood and dirt from his leg. He winced again, before shaking his head.

"It's okay." He chuckled, "Just doing your job. My fault for letting the Rex chase me." He then groaned as you put slight pressure on the wound.

Looking up at him with wide eyes, your jaw dropped slightly, "You let Roberta chase you? Why?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "She was trying to get the kids. Hammond's grandkids." He frowned, wincing as you began to clean the wound with antiseptic.

"Ugh, alright, that hurts." He groaned, shutting his eyes tight. "She has a name?"

"Yeah, they all do. I named almost every single one of them."

Ian hummed again before groaning once more.

Reaching out with your free hand, you placed it on top of his tightly curled fist. His hand felt warm and soft, and you could feel the tension in his body ease. You cleared your throat and continued to clean the wound until you were certain it was clean.

"Can you stand?" You asked, and Ian tried to move his leg, only to wince again.

"No... No, I don't think I can." He painfully chuckled, somewhat lounging against the cot, holding his top half up with his arm.

You began to throw away the trash and mess, tossing what you could in the tin trash basket near your desk.

"That was very brave of you..." You began from your place next to the cot, "Distracting Roberta. I mean. It must have been very scary."

He shrugged, "It wasn't that bad. I had a cute doctor who fixed me right up." He chuckled, wincing as he tried to shift position. "Thank you, by the way."

"Thank me?" You asked, blushing from his comment, tilting your head slightly. "I just made sure your leg didn't get infected."

He sighed, "Well, saving my life. If you hadn't found me, I would be stuck there; under the remains of a bathroom hut."

"You're welcome." You chuckled, taking a deep breath. "But, I doubt you would've been stuck there forever. Ellie would've found you or John if I hadn't." Eyes wide suddenly, you grabbed your walkie talkie.

"I have to call John, let him know I found you."

Ian watched as you got up, pacing the room as you talked to John through the walkie talkie. As he watched, he couldn't help the smile that grew on his face. You were so adorable; making sure he was safe and the others were too. He could see you in his New York apartment, in the kitchen with him as you both cooked breakfast; wearing his clothes. He could see the two of you driving down the highway, wind blowing through your hair as you sang along to a song playing on the radio. He could see himself playing on his guitar, serenading you with a song he wrote just for you. Knocking himself out of it, Ian scolded himself and his mind.

"So, uhm... How long do you think we're gonna be here?" Ian asked, clearing his throat lightly.

You paused before speaking, "Once the power comes back on I believe. Or when John gets back to me about his plan. I have no idea what to do really about any of this. I never thought this would happen." You spoke, running a hand through your hair.

"Are we safe here?" Ian asked and you immediately nodded.

"Definitely, this is the baby sector. More security. Don't want the babies possibly escaping or someone trying to get in if they aren't part of the database." You told him, fixing the glasses on your face, "John, Henry, and I are the only ones with the code."

"Good." Ian nodded, "How many dinosaurs are in here?" He asked, sitting up on the cot, grunting slightly.

"Oh, about fifteen. Ankylosaurus, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, and Spinosaurus to name a few. Do you want to meet them?" You froze when Ian hesitated, his body stiffening.

"I won't bring out a carnivore. I'll bring our a baby Triceratops if that makes you feel better." You tried to reassure him, which Ian smiled up at you.

"That would be great," He said, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"Alright, I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere." You laughed, and Ian smirked.

"I couldn’t even if I tried, sweetheart."

Face feeling warm, you nodded, before heading to the back of the room, putting in the same code and waiting as the sliding doors opened, before walking in. Passing each baby dino, you found the baby Triceratops, placing your hand on the datapad as the glass door opened. Ian watched through the enclosures glass as you crouched down to pick up the tiny dinosaur. He couldn't hear you, but you spoke to the baby, cooing and holding it close to your chest.

You'd be good with kids, he observed.

Closing the enclosure, you walked back out with the baby Triceratops in your arms, who squirmed slightly in your arms. Sitting beside Ian, you looked up at him and back to the baby.

"This is Sarah. Sarah the Trisarahtops." You giggled, petting the baby's head. It was around the same size as an adult cat, its neck poking out of your arms, its legs resting on your lap. It looked up at you with big brown eyes, blinking slowly.

"Hi, Sarah." Ian laughed out, noticing the pun.

"You can pet her, she is the nicest out of her sisters. Not as sassy." You informed him, smiling as you stroked the baby's back.

Ian smiled, reaching a hand out to rub Sarah's head. She seemed calm enough as he did so, allowing him to rub her head.

~~~

As the hours went on, you began to grow tired, having put Sarah back in her enclosure only minutes ago. The poor baby had grown tired, and you were feeling the same. You were sure Ian was too, from the times he had yawned beside you. Yawning yourself, you rubbed your tired eyes.

"We should get some sleep... How does your leg feel?" You asked, turning your head to look at him.

He winced, "A little better. I just need to rest." He chuckled, "I'm surprised I haven't fallen asleep yet."

"Well, you've been through a lot, Ian." You spoke, pulling out a small bin from under the cot, pulling out a blanket for you and him.

"You can have the cot, I'll sleep in my chair." You spoke, but Ian shook his head.

"I don't want you to be uncomfortable." But, you answered by shaking your own head, unraveling the blanket and casting it over him.

"Nonsense, Ian. You have a broken leg. Don't want you to hurt yourself any further." You told him, leaning in closer to kiss his cheek. "Sleep well." You whispered, surprising yourself by being so forward, unraveling your own blanket and going to your desk, snuggling into your chair.

"Night." Ian murmured, feeling his face flush, his cheek burning hot from where your lips had softly caressed it.

Sighing, he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep, but instead he began to replay the moments he shared with you today. You were kind, gentle, loving, caring. Ian soon realized that he was growing infatuated by you; falling in love. Though, he knew that he wouldn't have a chance. Ian slept off, not even knowing the time passed.

~~~

The next morning was rushed. John had called over the walkie talkie, informing you that the copter was ready at the landing bay. They were only waiting for you. Quickly, you knew what you had to do. Opening the heavy side doors, you watched as the brought sunlight shined, the tree's leaves swaying in the calm breeze. Opening each padlock, you stood by the exit, watching the curious baby dinosaurs wandered off into the forest ahead of you.

"Here, Ian." You told him, holding back your tears, "Let's get to the copter." You spoke, wrapping an arm around his waist to help him limp his way to the parked four-wheeler. He didn't answer, he didn't say anything at all. He didn't want his time with you to end. He knew once he got off the godforsaken island, you would all go your separate ways. Him to a hospital and then to New York, and you to who knows where.

With a soft groan, he lifted his head and looked down at you, seeing your red eyes and teary cheeks, "You okay?" He asked, raising a hand to gently wipe away a stray tear that had fallen down your cheek with the pad of his thumb.

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine." You reassured him, "Just excited about getting home. And, I am going to miss my babies... All grown up now I suppose."

He nodded, looking up at the sky. The birds were chirping happily, a beautiful sight to see. Hopping on the four-wheeler, you put the key in the ignition and turned it, starting the engine. With a flick of the wrist, you drove away from the baby sector and towards the helicopter bay. It seemed like such a short amount of time since Ian had met you, yet it felt like you'd known each other for much longer than that. There was this sort of connection between the two of you. You had felt it the moment he spoke up in the lab.

Reaching the helicopter, its blades quickly chopping the air, ready for take-off. You helped Ian into the copter, before hesitating. You turned back to the island. Your heart clenched as you remembered your time at the park, before you pushed the feeling away.

"Y/N!" Ian called out to you from the loud helicopter, you turned to him, seeing his hand out-reached. "Come on." He smiled at you, waving you over.

Taking his hand, you climbed into the helicopter, and took hold of a strap, watching as Ian did the same. As you sat down, the side doors shut, and the rotors began to spin faster, as you put on the headset. You looked out the window of the copter, reminiscing on the time you spent on the island. Taking care of the baby dinos and watching them grow up. You were going to miss them dearly. You were going to miss Ian terribly.

Sitting on the edge of your seat, you began to watch the scenery pass by you, hand still clutching Ian's. Soon, you saw the ocean up ahead, and you smiled, looking out the window of the copter.

"Only an hour and we'll get you to the hospital." You told him.

Ian furrowed his eyebrows, "We?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at you.

You nodded, "I don't think I can go home without knowing you are absolutely okay." You explained to him, "If... That's alright with you?" You mumbled, feeling your face flush.

"Of course..." He laughed, "What could be better than having you at my bedside?"

You smiled at him, leaning in and kissing his cheek. "You'll definitely need surgery. I'll be there when you wake up." You assured him.

"Well, as long as I have my favorite cute doctor, I'll do just fine." He joked, chuckling lightly.

You smiled at his words, "You will be." You told him, before taking a deep breath but you were interrupted, "Ladies and gentlemen, we are almost at the hospital. We ask that you remain seated until the doors open, and we are clear of the island." The pilot spoke over the system.

Ellie gave Alan a knowing look, which he returned.

~~~

The rhythmic beeps of Ian's heart monitor slowly woke him up. Glancing around the room, Ian focused his eyes, seeing the bright white walls and ceilings, and noticing the vase of Spring Lilies and Snowdrops on the bedside table. The room was quiet, aside from his heart monitor, which began to beat faster. He was alone. You were no longer with him. Had you decided to leave? To go somewhere else? Did he misunderstand your feelings? He didn't know what was happening anymore. He was confused and hurting, seeing his broken leg in a white cast.

Turning his head to the side, he let out a sigh of relief, there you walked in, face relaxed, holding two cups of water. Your hair was redone, framing your face perfectly. You smiled at him, walking over and setting the cup of water on the bedside table.

"Good morning, Ian." You spoke, voice soft.

Looking at the clock, you giggled, "Well, afternoon."

"I thought you left," Ian spoke, and you frowned slightly.

"I'm sorry you woke up and I wasn't here. I thought I'd go down to the cafeteria and get you some water for when you awoke, and a permanent marker for your cast." You explained, sitting down beside him on the bed, and handing him the cup of water.

Ian took the cup gratefully, taking a sip, the water clearing his dry throat. "You don't have to be sorry, sweetheart. I'm glad you're here." His words were genuine, his tone warm and inviting.

"I know." You smiled, laying your eyes on Ian's cast.

"Can I sign it?" You asked, pushing up the rim of your glasses nervously, and Ian imedenently nodded.

"Go right ahead. Been wanting my hero's autograph," Ian joked, his smile coming more naturally.

Giggling, you moved to the corner of the bed, your hands shaking as you reached out to touch the cast, placing a soft and steady hand on the cast, you pulled out the permanent marker and clicked it open. Biting your lip, you began to write a small massage on the cast, along with your number.

"What did you write?" He asked, unfortunately, unable to see what you had written.

"Mmm, it says: 'Thank you for not dying.'... And my phone number," You mumbled.

Ian chuckled lightly, "Your number?"

You sat back down on the side of the bed, nodding. "Mmhm, I thought you might need it."

A smirk on his face, Ian spoke, "Do you give your number to all dinosaur attack survivors?" He teased and you smirked right back.

"Only to my favorite cute doctors." You told him, winking playfully, leaning forward a bit.

Ian laughed lightly, "That sounds like me." Leaning in, he kissed your cheek, sending tingles through your body.

"You missed..." You mumbled, not able to finish.

"Me? Missed? I don't think so." He continued to tease and you gently hit him on the shoulder.

Ian let out a small 'ow,' holding his shoulder with his hand, "Wow, attacking a poor broken man. How dare you?" He jested, and you laughed, shaking your head.

"You're impossible."

"You were right though, sweetheart," Ian muttered, eyes glancing from your eyes to your lips and back.

"Aren't I always?" You whispered teasingly, Ian shaking his own head softly.

"I did miss." He spoke and you let out a soft 'oh.'

Leaning up slightly, Ian's lips gently brushed against yours, and you wasted no time closing the small gap. Pressing your lips together, you placed your hand on his cheek and the other over his quick-beating heart, pulling yourself closer, meeting his kiss with passion. You moaned softly as he deepened the kiss, not heart Ian's heart monitor going crazy.

Suddenly, a nurse rushed in, interrupting and embarrassing the two of you.

"Oh!" She stumbled, face flushed in her own embarrassment. "I thought something was wrong. Your heart monitor."

"Oh, I am great," Ian spoke quickly with a smile, as you stuffed your face into his shoulder. "Fantastic really."

The nurse blushed, "Well, if you're sure."

Pulling away from Ian, you turned to the nurse, "Thank you for checking up on him." You thanked her politely, and she smiled and left the room, leaving the two of you alone again.

"Where are we?" Ian asked, breaking the silence, finger twirling a strand of your hair between his fingers.

You leaned forward, only inches from him, feeling his breath on your lips, "I believe you were about to rest, while I cuddled up beside you until visiting hours were over." You finished, brushing his unruly curls from his forehead.

Ian grinned up adoringly at you, "Yes, I was planning on it."

You smiled shyly at him, "Well, good." You said softly, moving over to sit beside him on the bed.

He wrapped his arm around your waist, pulling you close, and you laid your head on his chest. His heartbeat was slow and steady, and you felt it in your very bones, filling you with warmth and contentment.

_____________________________________________________

Last chapter! I'm really proud of this tiny series :)

[squarebracket-trickster]

Characters Out of Context Tag

Another tag game I've been sitting on since August??? Thank you @serenanymph and SORRY!!!

Rules: Include one character quote of your choosing ⁠from each chapter of your WIP (or as many chapters as you'd like). Give absolutely no context, save for what's between two parts of an interrupted sentence, should that occur. You may mention who said it.

No pressure tagging as many people as I have chapters: @sunset-a-story, @touloserlautrec, @mjparkerwriting, @captain-kraken, @authoraemoseley, @star-studded-whales, @ryns-ramblings, @athenswrites, @moonandris, @breath-of-eternity, @tabswrites, @dontjudgemeimawriter, @talesofsorrowandofruin, @kjscottwrites, @words-after-midnight, @sarandipitywrites

Quotes below cut. I am only doing them for draft 3, and the chapter of draft 2 I am currently editing into draft 3. Because I am not skimming 77 000 words for this.

Chapter 1 (draft III) - Isolde

"I wonder how long a person could live without skin? I heard that the eyes of severed heads sometimes follow the executioner as he walks off the gallows. Do you think that means they are still alive? Do severed heads feel their body still attached like a phantom limb? Perhaps someone should invent a language entirely in blinks. Then, when you are all beheaded you can tell me."

Chapter 2 (draft III) - there is no dialogue in this chapter and the internal monologue was very straightforward.

Chapter 3 (draft III) - Isolde

He might as well have called me Aldus of Pussy.

Chapter 4 (draft III) - Henry

"Assuming she did not drown or get swallowed whole by a shark..."

Chapter 5 (draft III) - Alan

"Welp, there goes peace in the region…”

Chapter 6 (draft III) - Isolde

This will only stop when Henry has me pinned - oh no. I can’t keep the grin from my face...

Chapter 6... this was a long chapter so it gets two (draft III) - Uthman

“It’s amazing, truly, how agreeable a person becomes when faced with a knife to the throat.”

Chapter 7 (draft III) - Alan

“Good fellow, find a pond and look at yourself. If you wished to bed a princess all you’d have to do is ask.”

Chapter 7... another long chapter, gets two (draft III) - Isolde

“There go your glorious plans to duel every man in the camp.”

Chapter 8 (draft III) - Isolde

“So that’s why you can’t breathe without flirting.”

Chapter 9 (draft III) - Wulfrith

“Find yourself a rich man then, best if he’s old or sickly. Have his son, do away with him while the boy’s still young and needs his mother to manage his inheritance, and… don’t get caught.”

Chapter 10 (draft III) - Isolde

Stop thinking about food, Isolde. You don’t want to know what was in that soup.

Chapter 9 (draft II) ... will be chapter 11 in draft III - Henry (Sorin)

"Up to you what sex you want to be here. But either way, you have to wash your face.”

There were too many good ones in this chapter. Here's a few more. - Isolde (Isadred, in disguise as Adris)

“No, actually, I’m not Adris... you’ve been captured by witches and I’m here to steal your voice and sew your mouth shut.”

- Isolde (Isadred)

“Sewing by the fireplace is a slippery slope. Next thing we know we’ll be dozing off together in these chairs!”

- Henry (Sorin)

"Option two: kill us. Pros: we’re dead. Cons?”

- Also Henry (Sorin)

“You mean, let’s assume they know that we know that they know why we are here.”

[the-al-chemist]

The Beginning of a Symphony - Chapter 34

A/N: after an embarrassing encounter, Jim decides to face his fears at last…

Warnings: mild angst, pining.

OCs featured/mentioned: Bradford Pendleton @kc-and-co, Lysander Mercury @slytherindisaster, Selene Fraser, Alan the ferret, Henry Lovecraft and Carolyn Nyberg @lifeofkaze

April 1897

It was lunchtime, but Jim wasn’t hungry. It was also time for his Art Society meting, but he was not feeling particularly creative, either. He only felt nervous, but he knew that he could not let his nerves get the better of him. So, he took a deep breath and swallowed the hard to get the knot out of his tongue.

“Very well… I’ll just say what I wish to say, then,” he said. He cleared his throat. “And, er, what I wish to say is… Well, it’s this. I’d very much like to accompany you to the ball. To the Celestial Ball. As your friend. Actually, no. Not as your friend. I mean, yes, we are friends, but I’d like for us to be more than that. And perhaps, if you’d grant me the honour of… of your company next weekend, we might make our first, um, steps in that direction. How does that suit you?”

Jim’s offer was met with silence. He sighed.

“That was no good at all, was it?” he asked. “Well, if at first you don’t… Try and try again. Right. It’s the Celestial Ball next weekend, and I know lots of people are partnering up for it, and I wondered whether you might like to partner up. With me, that is, not... So,what say you, Héloïse?”

Héloïse said nothing, because Héloïse was not there to say anything at all. Jim was merely practising asking her, and her stand-in was the only person Jim could think of who would neither judge him for his stutter, nor interrupt him whilst he was speaking. However, he could have used some constructive feedback. Perhaps he should have practised on a person rather than a ferret.

“Okay, Alan,” said Jim. “Third time lucky, yes? Well, I really do enjoy your company, and I consider you to be a very dear friend. I also think that you are… incredibly beautiful and… I’d rather like to escort you to the ball on Saturday. Only if you’d like me to, of course.” Jim sighed. “I wonder if I perhaps should not mention the beautiful thing. It’s rather… forward, don’t you think?”

In response to Jim’s question, Alan the ferret twisted around on the desk to nibble at the base of his tail. He made no noise, but somewhere nearby a snickering noise could be heard. Jim frowned. The noise was coming from behind a cupboard.

He pulled out his wand and walked towards it, and the snickering grew louder, and louder, until he came around it to find…

Ethel and Selene, sitting with their backs against the cupboard, their knees tucked up by their chests and their hands pressed to their mouths, in a poor attempt at stifling their giggles.

At the sight of his sister and her friend, Jim lowered his wand, and at the sight of him, they dropped their hands from their mouths and gave into their laughter.

“For the love of Godric,” Jim said crossly. “This isn’t… It isn’t funny!”

“Oh, but it is!”

“It really, truly is!”

The two girls laughed even harder, their eyes watery and cheeks pink.

“Stop laughing, Ethel!”

“I cannot,” Ethel wheezed. “I cannot stop. Oh, Jimmy. I did not realise you held such strong feelings for Alan.”

“I can see for why you would,” said Selene. “He is a very fine ferret.”

“A beautiful ferret, or so I’ve heard it said.”

“Indeed, I believe I have heard that said, too.”

“Unfortunately, Jim, Alan shan’t be accompanying you to the ball. He prefers to form attachments with his own species. I’d strongly suggest that you do the same,” Ethel told him. “I know that Mamma and Pappa are rather liberal in their views, but this might be too much for them to take. And I dread to think what Héloïse would think of you having such an unnatural-”

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” Jim snapped at his sister, far louder than he had intended. Ethel blinked, but otherwise appeared nonplussed.

“Suit yourself, Jimmy. We have far more interesting people to spend time with. Ferret-fancier or not, you still bore us terribly.”

She and Selene stood up and crossed the empty room. As they did, Selene scooped Alan the ferret up into her arms and threw a dirty look at Jim over her shoulder.

“Don’t you fret, Alan. We shall take you far away from this nasty depraved boy.”

Jim sighed loudly as he watched them disappear from sight, before picking up his things and making his way through the castle to the empty classroom where Brady and Lysander were having their meeting.

“Jim, old chap,” said Brady. “You’re late. What kept you?”

“My sister.”

“Ah.”

Lysander frowned. “What’s the matter with frog-face this time?” he asked. “Bitter that no one’s asked her to the ball?”

“I’m not sure,” Jim replied. “Someone might have asked her.”

“Really? Who?”

“I don’t… What does it matter to you? You despise Effy.”

“It doesn’t,” said Lysander quickly. “And I do. I was simply wondering whether or not we might have a lunatic in our midst, that is all.”

“I see,” Jim nodded slowly. “Have either of you two asked anyone?”

“Indeed I have, old bean. I’ll be escorting Carolyn Nyberg.”

At Brady’s announcement, Lysander’s eyebrows shot up.

“Perhaps we do have a lunatic in our midst,” he muttered. “There is a fine line between lunacy and bravery, or so they say. Carolyn Nyberg… You’re a far braver wizard than I am.”

“And me,” Jim sighed. Brady’s eyebrows furrowed, and so he explained. “I cannot even pluck up the courage to ask Héloïse.”

“Really?” Brady shook his head. “But, Jim, this is your perfect opportunity to get closer to her.”

“Yes, I am aware of that.”

“So why on earth have you not taken that opportunity in both hands? Carpe diem!”

“Precisely for that reason,” said Jim. “It is too… I feel a lot of pressure, and that makes me too nervous. I try to ask her, and then when I do, my mouth goes dry and my words get stuck and I can’t say anything at all.”

“Not even a word?”

“No. Well, yes. In a way. The other day I managed to tell her that she has lovely handwriting.”

“Ah,” Brady said. Lysander looked up from his sketch.

“Does she?” he asked.

“Does she what?”

“Have nice handwriting.”

“Oh, yes. Very nice handwriting. Small and neat and pretty and French… Like you’d expect, I suppose,” Jim told Lysander, who exchanged glances with Brady. “Um… What?”

Brady rolled his eyes and placed his head in his hands. “I simply cannot cope with this,” he said. “You must ask her.”

“But… Excuse me!”

Jim’s mouth fell open as Lysander pointed his wand at his hand, the one holding his favourite sketchbook. The sketchbook shot up into the air and hovered above Jim’s head, tantalisingly out of reach of his fingertips.

“Here’s a bargain for you, Jimbo,” Lysander said with a smirk. “You can have the sketchbook back when - and only when - you ask Héloïse to attend the Celestial Ball with you.”

“But that’s… Brady, make him see sense.”

But Brady chuckled and shook his head.

“Jim, old chap, I think Lysander is making perfect sense. You require a - pardon my French - jolly good kick up the derrière.”

“That’s…”

“The library is two corridors away. If you hurry, you’ll have a companion for the Celestial Ball and your sketchbook back by the time we start afternoon lessons.”

Both Lysander and Brady’s faces were earnest, and Jim knew that there was no persuading either of them to give him back his sketchbook, not until he had done what he had so far failed to do. He sighed angrily, as frustrated with himself as he was with his friends.

“Go on, old chap. Be bold.”

“Carpet demon,” said Lysander, and Brady put his head in his hands again.

Jim left them alone and walked through the two corridors to the library, his heart beating faster and his feet growing heavier with each step. He was not ready for this, he would never be ready for this. What if he was unable to get his words out again? What if he did, and she laughed at him? What if she said no? Oh, Godric… What if she said yes?

He found Héloïse in a quiet corner of the library, far from the noise that was coming from the librarian’s desk, where his sister was pestering Madam Khanna about something, he did not care what. At this moment, he cared bout nothing but managing to be bold, to ask Héloïse to attend the ball with him, and getting his sketchboook back from Lysander.

“Héloïse,” he said as he approached her. Slowly, she raised her brown eyes from her astrology textbook and regarded him with a look of curiosity.

“Jim. Good afternoon.”

“Good afternoon, Héloïse.”

There was a long pause in which neither of them spoke. Jim swallowed hard three times and cleared his throat.

“Héloïse, I was wondering…”

“To what… Sorry. I am… intruding your speaking.”

“No, I’m sorry,” said Jim. “You continue.”

“I was to ask why you are here, but I think you are now to tell me,” Héloïse said with a wry little smile. “What have you wondered?”

This was it. Jim’s chance. He had to take it. He had to be bold.

“I wondered whether anyone had already asked to accompany you to the Celestial Ball, and if no, then whether you might allow me to accompany you.”

Jim spoke faster than he had intended. It potentially was too fast, for Héloïse frowned as if she had not understood his meaning.

“You are wanting to… escort me to the ball?” she asked, and Jim nodded.

“Yes. Yes, indeed. I… It would be my privilege. Only if you wish to do me that honour, of course.”

“Oh.”

“Oh?” Jim was half-hope, half-achingly deep despair and longing.

“I… Jim, this would be nice.”

His heart skipped a beat. “It would?”

“Yes,” Héloïse smiled sadly. “But… Unfortunately, I cannot to go with you. I am sorry. I have promised to my friend Henry that I will to go with him. I did not think… I am sorry.”

“No, don’t be sorry,” said Jim. He forced himself to return Héloïse’s smile, in spite of the fact that he felt more like crying. “A promise is a promise, and… I am sorry.”

“Why?”

“For… asking, I suppose. I hope that this shall not ruin our… our friendship.”

“Friendship, yes,” Héloïse nodded. She swallowed and looked down at her book. “I must to study.”

“I must to go… I must be going. I shall see you soon. At the ball, maybe.”

Héloïse said nothing in response, just stared at her book, already clearly engrossed in it. Jim walked away from her, focusing on the sound of his footsteps echoing on the floor of the library, for her knew that if he did not focus on something, his thoughts would fly to Héloïse, and then he would look back. And if he looked back, then the tears that pricked his eyes would start to run away from him, and he would start to cry in front of everyone.

And if that happened, he might never be able to be bold again.

[nico-di-genova]

I can’t stop thinking about this post and because my brain is broken - New Girl style sitcom where Michael and Sam are roommates. They hardly ever see each other because Sam works at ENCOM during the day and then spends most his nights at Flynn’s trying to rebuild the grid. Michael sleeps all day and then works at night. Sam’s eating dinner while Michael’s across from him in the kitchen pouring cereal straight from the box and milk from the carton into his mouth.

Neither one of them knows about the others projects - Sam trying to bring back his dad and Michael trying to kill his.

Sam: yeah, my dad…my dad was a great guy.

Michael: my dad probably killed kids.

Sam: …oh…

Alan and Henry meet occasionally for coffee to talk about how antisocial their godsons are.

Quorra also lives with them, she’s the only one who notices Michael’s increasingly decaying state and she mentions it to Sam one time but Sam claims he hasn’t noticed anything different.

“He’s purple Sam.”

“He works the night shift Quorra he can’t help having dark circles.”

They have a collaborative playlist of 80s songs on Spotify that they blare around the apartment. They both have various sketches and blue prints scattered around the living room. Michael likes to draw Marv, the drawings start out relatively normal but progressively become more unhinged.

They all three live off of fazbear pizza, it’s becoming a problem.

[bi4bihankking]

henry king jr for the ask game!

And I will tell you my:

First impression: *takes deep breath* What is he doing? Why?! For what reason?! Literally any approach would be better than this I can't believe... oh now he's fighting all the old men, is he stupid?

Impression now: Sweet boy who tried his best only to end up in the worst situations imaginable, deserves to be happy maybe.

Favorite moment: That time Psycho Pirate made him and Jen fight each other and Jen was going to kill him (the one situation where it would be justified to whack her with a wooden chair leg) and he used an illusion instead.

Idea for a story: Someone rescues him from the US Government. Please. Geoff you are literally not doing anything in any JSA comics that come out you could do this.

Unpopular opinion: I guess my unpopular opinion is that even though he was sweet with Jen I don't really ship them, think he should date men, and also think that Jen probably could have done something about the times Hank mentioned Alan hating him. I think Alan needed to get told off.

Favorite relationship: Platonic, Sylvester, his relationship with his uncle is really cute and unfortunately never really gets mentioned anymore because it kind of messes with the Courtney as Sylvester's legacy narrative I think.

Favorite headcanon: He's bisexual and used to be in love with both twins, may just have a thing for Jen's family in general, if Michael IS an Alan Kid (this isn't clear yet he's either a half-sibling or a Todd love interest and unfortunately DC is not saying which) Hank will probably be into him too.

[innestahtinen]

Inspired by DC's The New Golden Age #1

1- fucks sake DC, again

1- i think i mentioned the 'New Golden Age' thing and the new justice society stuff Geoff Johns was going to be doing.

2- Ya

1- they had a promotional picture of a new Alan Scott-esque green lantern, a female Dr Fate, and a guy with a full face helmet

1- i kept on seeing that picture in relation to the new JSA

1- they show up for 2 pages, and the new bad guy snaps dr fate's neck

2- rip

1- 'it always starts with the death of Dr Fate'

1- but why?

2- :<

1- it doesn't need to

2- Deaths in comics are so hard to mean a lot

2- Or have adequate build up

2- 2 pages is not build up

1- i like that in some issues they have actions happen, or references to previous events, and most of the time it's 'back in the previous issue'

1- in this, it was 'back in classic All Star Comics #61'

1- which is from 1976

1- how are readers meant to find this?

2- xD

2- context bubble required

2- TDLR

1- they're hinting that all versions of Doctor Fate must die

1- which is #1 stupid

1- #2 insulting to the character

1- and #3 a weird thing to have happen in a comic not starring him

1- it's like if they killed off a character they'd been building up for 6 years as really important by having Dr. Manhattan explode her in their set-up issue for Rebirth

1- oh, yeah, Pandora

1- they keep on doing this

1- pretty sure the only reason they explode her was to make it obvious that it was Dr Manhattan, given he killed Rorschach in the same way

1-

1- It's being narrated by Helena Wayne, which is neat

2- half of them don't have masks

1- it's got a scene where she stabs Batman with a kitchen knife

1- yep

2- Who are you Diana of Themyscira, where are you really from?

1 - I mean in that continuity, I think they retconned it in the early 00s to be Hippolyta

1-

1- first off, great job with Catwoman there

1- and, they killed Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Damian and a rando new guy offpanel

1- goddamn it

1- DC has no respect for Stephanie

1- ayayay, they got a time traveller going back and encouraging a young John Wilkes Booth to kill Lincoln

1-

1- If this is their new JSA, I'm fine, Doctor Fate and Alan Scott as the veterans, Power Girl and Judy Garrick, Jay Garrick's daughter as newer people

1- most of the 12 characters I mentioned last time are fine

1- a majority of them are new sidekicks for the original members, or people inspired by them

1- apart from the Red Lantern, they're just a communist Green Lantern

1- and John Henry Irons, but he was introduced in The New Frontier years back, but this is just bringing him into continuity

2- Communist Green Lantern

2- everyone gets a ring

1- nah, Russian nemesis

1- because in the original golden age he had romantic tension with his nemesis 'The Harlequin'

1- which of course they won't do now.

Continuing now, they won't include her in that way currently, because in the 2010s they made Alan Scott gay, which is good, I like that retcon.

[jesuisgourde]

Please please please give me more Richey book recs! Especially with suicide as a theme, but if you know of any others, I would love to hear about them too! Thank you for being a fountain of a Manic knowledge and sharing it with us <3

Here's two lists! List one is stuff Richey definitely read, as in it's something he mentioned or referenced in lyrics/interviews/album booklet or setlist quotes/etc. List two is stuff that I can extrapolate he likely read, due to the things I know he did read. Note that a fair amount of these come with various trigger warnings. Again, I've read most but not all of these, so I can answer questions about a good number of them.

Oh, also, this totally slipped my mind from the last list somehow. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides was definitely a book Richey read; the Manics use a quote from the film version (which came out after Richey's death but they said in an interview they thought he'd have liked it) at the end of Doors Closing Slowly.

Definitely read: -Catcher In The Rye by JD Salinger -American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis -The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides -The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart -1984 by George Orwell -Confessions Of A Mask by Yukio Mishima -The Plague, The Stranger, and The Fall, all by Albert Camus -A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams -Lipstick Traces by Greil Marcus -The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich Nietzsche -The Torture Garden by Octave Mirbeau -Borstal Boy by Brendan Behan -The Divided Self by RD Laing -Notes From Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky -Novel With Cocaine by M Ageyev -Bernice Bobs Her Hair by F. Scott Fitzgerald -Black Rain by Masuji Ibuse -Under The Volcano by Malcolm Lowry -Frisk by Dennis Cooper -Bartleby The Scrivener by Herman Melville -Homage To Catalonia by George Orwell -Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (which is what Apocalypse Now was based on, and the film was one of Richey’s major obsessions at the end of his life) -Brave New World by Aldous Huxley -Rumblefish by SE Hinton -Being And Nothingness by Jean Paul Sartre -Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite -The Atrocity Exhibition by JG Ballard -High Rise by JG Ballard -Birdy by William Wharton -The Trial by Franz Kafka -Suddenly Last Summer by Tennessee Williams -Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov -The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin -The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon -Lord of the Flies by William Golding -Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis -One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey -Birdy by William Wharton -Thirst For Love by Yukio Mishima -Miracle Of The Rose by Jean Genet -The Drowned And The Saved/So This Is A Man/Escape From Auschwitz, all by Primo Levi -The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank -Last Exit To Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr -The Loneliness of a Long-Distance Runner by Alan Sillitoe -Four Quartets by Hart Crane -The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri -The Pursuit Of Loneliness by Philip Slater -Society Of The Spectacle by Guy Debord -The Naked And The Dead by Norman Mailer -Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl -Illuminations by Arthur Rimbaud -Dialectic Of Enlightenment and Minima Moralia by Theodore Adorno -The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan -One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn -The Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell -Naomi by Junchiro Tanizaki -SCUM Manifesto by Valerie Solanas -The Lives Of Michel Foucault by David Macey -Rethinking Camelot by Noam Chomsky -The Anxiety Of Influence by Harold Bloom -The Unrest Cure And Other Stories by Saki (HH Munro) -King Lear by William Shakespeare -Confessions by Saint Augustine -The Day Of The Locust by Nathaniel West -Tom Jones by Henry Fielding -Bird Man: The Many Faces Of Robert Stroud by Jolene Babyak -The Demon by Hubert Selby Jr -The Waste Land by TS Eliot -Songs Of Innocence And Experience by William Blake

Likely read: -The Outsiders by SE Hinton -Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury -Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (features a suicidal main-ish character) -Post Office by Charles Bukowski -The Prophet by Khalil Gibran -Knots by RD Laing -On The Road by Jack Keroauc -No Exit by Jean Paul Sartre -The Sickness Unto Death by Soren Kierkegaard -Junky & Naked Lunch, both by William S Burroughs -Valley Of The Dolls by Jacqueline Susanne -The Runaway Soul by Harold Brodkey -Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller -The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass -Austerlitz by WG Sebald -Betrayal by Harold Pinter -Invitation To A Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov -The Story Of O by Anne Desclos -Lucie’s Long Voyage by Alina Reyes -120 Days of Sodom by Marquis de Sade -The Traitor by Andre Gorz -The Man Of Feeling by Henry Mackenzie -This Way To The Gas, Ladies And Gentlemen by Tadeusz Borowski -The White Rose by Inge Scholl -It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis -On Revolution by Hannah Arendt -Being There by Jerzy Kozinski -Heliogabalus: or, the Crowned Anarchist by Antonin Artaud -Resuscitation of a Hanged Man by Denis Johnson -Mysteries by Knut Hamsun -We by Yevgeny Zamyatin -Almost Transparent Blue by Ryu Murakami -Venus In Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch -How I Became One Of The Invisible by David Rattray -The Story Of The Eye by Georges Bataille -The Blue Of Noon by Georges Bataille

Also, there's a lot more of my ramblings and writings about the Manics on my other blog @meta-squash under the "manic street preachers" tag, if you're interested. (And I do love talking about them, and Richey especially.)

ETA: I went through all the (text) interviews of the Manics and wrote down every book they mentioned in interviews or lyrics and posted it up here.

[justastrugglinghotchocolate]

✊🏽 For the ask game?

From the Myth AU! Also thank you for giving me the chance to finally write for Victoria and Lady Brandon!

The Queen of the Gods watched Henry as he attempted to dance with Basil. The God of Life laughed as his new husband struggled to follow him and even Victoria couldn't help but smile at Henry’s stiffness. He could arrogantly prattle on with endless grace, but a waltz threatened to topple him over. 

She thought it was rather fitting.

“V,” Lady Brandon called, walking up while holding her favorite engraved chalice. Despite having spent an hour dancing,  her appearance remained perfect. She grinned, “Would you ever have thought Harry would get married? Before either of us, no less!”

Victoria smiles, “I thought you of all people would have known beforehand?”

The Goddess of Love laughed, “Oh, believe me, I thought I did! Trust me, I certainly didn’t find romance in Harry’s future. But I suppose then he was simply the God of Death and not the ruler of the Underworld.”

Victoria scoffs, “There is little difference.”

“Oh, come now, Victoria! You must admit Harry changed after the war ended.”

“He developed some sense of responsibility, sure,” the Goddess narrowed her eyes, “But the habits he needs to change remain.”

“Oh, the human thing?” Lady Brandon sighs, “Yes, he really must quit doing that. Too many of my predictions go wrong because of his meddling.”

“He nearly caused a war the other day. You’d think he’d be the God of Gambling with how many times he’s nearly ended the human world.”

“Ugh, no, don’t mention Roland,” Lady rolled her eyes. “Is he still down there causing—oh, what did he call it? Regardless, I cannot believe he decided it was more worthwhile than attending this wedding!”

“He calls it tax fraud, though none of the humans have picked up on it,” Victoria shook her head. “Truthfully, I don’t think he and Henry are comparable. Roland knows discretion. Harry doesn’t care for it.”

“Well perhaps dear Basil can be the more rational of the two,” Lady Brandon chuckled. She caught Victoria’s grimace and frowned, “V, what’s wrong?”

“I’m worried about this, June,” the Goddess confessed. “I don’t think Basil knows quite what he’s getting involved with. Henry may be too much for him to reign in. And even if he wasn’t, it isn’t fair for him to have such a responsibility when he’s already so close to the humans.”

“Oh, you must stop babying him,” Lady reassured, “He’s one of us, Victoria. He’s capable of protecting himself.”

“Perhaps you're right,” she sighed. Lady Brandon smiled, drinking from her chalice. Victoria continued, “Still I’ll have Hamlet join Basil in the underworld.”

Lady spat out her drink and looked at the Goddess incredulously.

“What?” Victoria smiled, "She can take care of him whenever Henry decides to do something idiotic.”

Lady said, “She hates Henry. She’ll maul him before he gets that chance!”

“Good. Then I won’t have to keep protecting Basil.”

The Goddess of Love laughed in disbelief, “Oh, V, you should've been the Goddess of Worry. Get another drink with me? I’d like to say hello to Alan.”

Victoria looked over to the God in question, watching as he dragged his new husband towards Sybil and Gwendoline. Basil’s happiness was palpable in his bright grin; Henry tried to look unaffected, but couldn’t help the loving smile on his face.

As she walked with Lady towards the table, she hoped only good things would come from this union.

[swiftzeldas]

Top 10 psych eps

OKAY oh man thinking about all these GREAT episodes is really making me realize just how subpar s7-8 are

Shawn Takes a Shot in the Dark. i've said it so many times. it's a perfect episode. i love everything about it. i love the henry stuff. i love gus in his pjs. i love the shules confession over the phone. i love that when shawn is in real danger the person he wants is lassiter. i love this episode.

Mr Yin Presents. this is a great lassiet ep if you're a freak like me. it's also a great shules ep and shawn is also so sweet with abigail in this. also jimmi simpson is impossibly funny. ALSO, if i had a nickel for how many times this show tricked me for a second into thinking mcnab is secretly evil i'd have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's kind of weird it happened twice.

Lassie Did a Bad, Bad Thing. i love lassie-centric episodes. the writing in this one is so good. i love when lassiter is forced to go to shawn and gus for help.

Gus Walks Into a Bank. we love a good guest star episode and i'm proud to say i've been an alan ruck fan since BEFORE he was a roy. also, this is a good shassie team-up episode. shawn and gus are also v sweet in this in their weird way lol

Talk Derby to Me. I love when jules gets to be a badass and also literally every time i watch this episode it makes me want to join roller derby it really gives me delusions of grandeur.

Last Night Gus. conceptually this just rules. hangover-style episode feat. shawn, gus, lassie, woody, and henry. HOW could this have been a bad episode.

An Evening with Mr. Yang. i'd be remiss not to include the yin-yang episode that started it all. this contains what may be the funniest moment of the series (mary's limp handshake). oh, and the good will hunting references that bookend this episode? very good.

From the Earth to the Starbucks. simply a classic. the shassie of it all.

Indiana Shawn and the Temple of the Kinda Crappy Rusty Old Dagger. this is here to represent ALL the despereaux episodes bc i do love all of them but this might just edge out the others. shawn is at his most bisexual when despereaux is present. also this is just a great episode and the indiana jones refs are great

Tuesday the 17th. who would i be if this doesn't make the cut.

Honorable mentions: A Very Juliet Episode, Yang 3 in 2D, Shawn Gets the Yips, He Loves Me He Loves Me Not He Loves Me Oops He's Dead, Heeeere's Lassie, Santabarbaratown/Santabarbaratown 2, The Devil's in the Details and the Upstairs Bedroom, Neil Simon's Lover's Retreat, Dead Man's Curve Ball

[twistedtummies2]

UPDATED: Top 20 Portrayals of Professor Moriarty

All throughout May, I discussed my Top 31 Favorite Versions of Sherlock Holmes. Yesterday, on the first of June, I provided a quick list of my Top 20 Versions of Dr. Watson. Today, I'm going to be doing another quick Top 20, focusing on the Master Detective's arch-nemesis: Professor Moriarty. Like Watson, Moriarty is a character who has evolved greatly over the years. In the books, he's only present in two stories, and only mentioned in a handful of others. There was no great, endless battle being waged between these two titans of ego and intellect in Conan Doyle's stories: Moriarty was really a character invented for the sole purpose of killing off Sherlock Holmes. Doyle wanted to move on from the detective, and Moriarty was a character created to be the assassin. However, the concepts and the character Doyle made were so strong and so striking, that Moriarty took on a life of his own. When people began making stage shows of Holmes, Moriarty was the go-to villain above all the rest. It was really because of these stage productions that Moriarty ended up becoming the cultural icon he is today. Not EVERY Sherlock Holmes movie or adaptation features the Napoleon of Crime, but there are still PLENTY to choose from, all bringing their own unique twists to the portrayal and the relationship between the criminal mastermind and the consulting detective. Like with the previous aforementioned lists, I will only be counting movies, TV productions, video games, and radio shows for this list. Novels, stage productions, and comics will not be included. (On that note, I do want to throw a bone to the one found in the comics version of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I know that one appears in the movie, too, but...ehhh, let's not talk about that one.) Also, like yesterday, this list will be "description-less": just pictures, credits, and rankings. With this in mind, here are my Top 20 Portrayals of Professor Moriarty!

20. Natalie Dormer (as Jamie Moriarty), from Elementary. (This one ranks low because she’s actually a mixture of two characters: Moriarty and Irene Adler. It’s hard for me to tell which one overrules the other: is she more Irene, or is she more the Professor? This is the ONLY reason she does not rank higher.)

19. Richard Newman, from Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century.

18. Alan Cox, from Big Finish Productions.

17. Gustav Von Seyffertitz, from Sherlock Holmes (1922).

16. Orson Welles, from BBC’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Radio Show.

15. The Version(s) from Fate/Grand Order. (Older Moriarty, a.k.a. Archer, is voiced by Kirk Thornton in English and Takaya Hashi in Japanese. Young Moriarty, a.k.a. Ruler, is voiced by Ito Kendo - no English voice actor yet.)

14. Henry Daniell, from The Woman in Green.

13. Lionel Atwill, from Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon.

12. Vincent D’Onofrio, from Sherlock: Case of Evil.

11. Paul Freeman, from Without a Clue.

10. Anthony Andrews, from Hands of a Murderer. (If you’re wondering why his Holmes and Watson don’t appear on previous lists, that’s because Moriarty is the only thing that makes this version worth watching.)

9. Anthony Higgins, as Professor Rathe, from Young Sherlock Holmes.

8. Viktor Yevgrafov, from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson.

7. Eric Porter, from the Granada Series.

6. Daniel Davis, from Star Trek: The Next Generation. (I really should have given Data an Honorable Mention during Ele-May-ntary...oh, well.)

5. George Zucco, from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939).

4. Vincent Price, as Professor Ratigan, from The Great Mouse Detective. (It physically HURTS leaving him out of the Top 3.)

3. Andrew Scott (as Jim Moriarty), from Sherlock.

2. Jared Harris, from the Guy Ritchie Films.

1. Soma Saito/Aaron Dismuke, from Moriarty the Patriot. (Yep. After much deliberation, “Liam” is my favorite Moriarty after all. For SO many reasons. XD )

Hope you all have enjoyed!

[justsomerandomfanfic]

It All Started At Jurassic Park - Ian Malcolm X Female Reader

Title: It All Started At Jurassic Park

Ian Malcolm X Female Reader

Additional Characters: John Hammond, Dr. Henry Wu, Alan, and Ellie

| Part 2 | Part 3 |

WC: 1,436

Warnings: N/A

Checking her clipboard, the scientist took notes on the unhatched eggs, analyzing them as the robot arm gently picked them up and turned them, keeping them warm. Jotting down a few notes, the female scientist made her way to her co-worker, passing off her notes and heading to her desk. Sitting down at her computer, she made sure to add anything to her notes digitally, and made sure to fill out her paperwork for the day before her lunch break. 

Y/N L/N worked for John Hammond, as a paleontologist in his growing theme park, Jurassic Park. Somehow the man had brought dinosaurs back to life, and when he came to her, offering her a job as a baby dinosaur caretaker, she couldn’t say no.

Y/N had been working for John for a very long time. She had been one of the first few people who joined and began working at Jurassic Park. It was an amazing new start for Y/N and her boring life. She never thought, in her wildest dreams, that she would ever get the chance to see a dinosaur in real life, that wasn’t just bones. She felt very fortunate for being chosen to do this job. She was three years out of college, studying and majoring in Paleontology, Marine Biology, and Earth Science. For all of University and College, she had been working as a part-time barista, and she never thought she would be able to get out of it. 

Now, after about two years, Y/N had been rising up in the ranks of life. She had basically her dream job, amazing income, and free health insurance. She even had a small cottage on the island, not really leaving often anyway. She was in constant need at the lab, making sure the dino eggs were staying warm and healthy while also taking care of the baby dinosaurs as they grew. It had to be the best thing she had ever done. For hours she got to sit with the baby dinosaurs, taking care of them and making sure they were healthy. Even though John always made sure that the baby dinos imprinted on him first, Y/N felt that she too had a strong connection with them as well. Readjusting her glasses, she finished her online work for the day, making sure to close everything up before leaving the lab for lunch. 

+ + +

“Come on in.” John Hammond spoke softly, taking off his hat and handing it to one of the technicians.

“Good morning, Henry.” John greeted the scientist, who was taking notes.

“Oh, good day, sir,” Henry spoke, noticing the man.

Grant looked around the room, his eyes catching the eggs, watching as one of the eggs made a strong move, the robotic arm steadying it. 

“My God, look!” He exclaimed as John, Henry, Ellie, and Ian joined him.

“Ah, perfect timing. I was hoping they would hatch before I had to go on the boat.” Henry mentioned, writing a few things on his clipboard of notes.

Looking up and around quickly, John looked back to the hatching egg.

“Where’s Dr. L/N? She needs to be here for this.” John asked as Henry looked up from his clipboard and looked around the room as well.

“I think she went to lunch, sir,” Henry answered, going back to his clipboard.

“Have someone notify her of the hatching, please,” John asked, grabbing a pair of plastic gloves and slipping them on.

“Right away, sir,” Henry spoke before grabbing his walkie-talkie.

The egg begins to crack, the robotic arm moves away, a baby dinosaur tries to break its way out, just its head sticking out of the shell. John reaches down carefully, breaking the shell away, helping the baby dinosaur out.

“Come on then, out you come.” John cooed to the small dinosaur.

“They imprint on the first living creature they come in contact with. That helps them to trust me. I’ve been present for the birth of every animal on the island. Just look at that.” John spoke, as he carefully petted the baby dino’s head.

“Surely not the ones that have bred in the wild?”

“Actually, they can’t breed in the wild. We have a huge thing for population control. There is no unauthorized breeding.” A voice quickly answered, gaining John and his company’s attention.

“Took the words right out of my mouth, Y/N.” Henry chuckled, before heading to his desk to file the baby dino’s birth report.

John stood up, quickly tossing his gloves in the trash, before turning to the scientist.

“Y/N, how wonderful of you to join us. The first egg just hatched.” John spoke and Y/N’s eyes widened, quickly heading over and checking on the baby.

“Darn, my calculations must have been off. I thought I still had a couple of days.” She spoke, pushing up the edge of her glasses, before grabbing a pair of her own gloves. 

Helping out with the shell, she gently took the baby dino in her hands, observing and making sure the baby was doing alright, and all seemed fine.

“How do you know that they can’t breed?” Ian asked, more intrigued by the scientist than the answer to his question.

“They are all females, we’ve engineered them that way.” Gently turning the dinosaur in her hands, Y/N tilted her head to the side.

“Body temperature feels like somewhere around eighty-eight or eighty-nine degrees,” Y/N mumbled.

“Henry?” John asked, gaining the other scientist’s attention.

“Ninety-one.” He answered.

Y/N nodded and gave a small smile.

“Close enough. Doesn’t seem to be any issues in breathing or anything. She’s as healthy as can be.” She spoke as Ian looked at John skeptically.

“But again, how do you know they’re all female? Does someone go into the park and, uh… Lift up the dinosaurs’ skirts?”

“We control their chromosomes. It’s not that difficult. All vertebrate embryos are inherently female anyway. It takes an extra hormone at the right developmental stage to create a male, and we simply deny them that.” Henry explained as Ian stood there, shocked.

“Your silence intrigues me,” John spoke.

“John, the kind of control you’re attempting is not possible. If there’s one thing the history of evolution has taught us, it’s that life will not be contained. Life breaks free. It expands to new territories. It crashes through barriers. Painfully, maybe even… Dangerously, but… Well, there it is.”

“There it is.” John agreed as Henry looked at Ian.

“You’re implying that a group composed entirely of females will… breed?” He spoke, looking at the man with furrowed eyebrows. 

“No, I’m simply saying that life… uh, finds a way.” Ian tried to explain.

“That is true… Mr… Uh…” Y/N gestured with a hand for the seeming rockstar's name.

“Ian, Ian Malcolm.” He introduced himself, giving the woman a smile, in which she blushed.

Y/N nodded and continued, "It’s true, Mr. Malcolm, but, here, we sort of change how life sort of works. I guess it’s hard to explain.” She laughed awkwardly, before looking towards Alan, who was looking intensely at the baby dino.

“Do you want to hold her?” Y/N asked the man, who abruptly looked up and gave a nod.��

“Yes, thank you.”

“Just put on some gloves over there.” She spoke, as Alan quickly pulled on some gloves.

Y/N gently handed the baby dino over to the man, who had taken a deep breath in return. He had a certain suspicion of what it was. 

“What species is this?” He asked, gently holding the baby in both hands.

“It’s a velociraptor,” Y/N spoke, taking her gloves off and throwing them in the nearby trash can.

“You bred raptors?” He asked, and the scientist nodded slowly, looking at the man in slight confusion. 

Alan looked down at the baby raptor the small dinosaur in his hand that would one day grow up to be an incredible killer. Y/N checked over any of the other unhatched dino eggs, making sure none of them were hatching. Sighing, she pushed up her glasses again before looking back at John and his group. 

“It was nice to meet you all, but I have to get to the baby sector. I’ll hopefully see you all later.” She spoke before heading to the door, before leaving she turned to Henry.

“Dr. Wu, could you please notify me when the next babies hatch?” She asked the other doctor, who nodded and gave the woman a smile.

“Thank you.”

Turning to Ian, Y/N smiled at the man. "And, I'll hopefully be seeing you, Ian?" She asked and Ian smirked, looking the scientist up and down.

"Uh, yes... Hopefully so." He spoke and Y/N nodded before clearing her throat and rushing off and out of the lab.

Ian watched after her, his smile never leaving his face. Ellie nudged the man and smiled up at him.

"I think she likes you." She spoke and Ian nodded, continuing to stare at the door you left through.

"Yeah, I think she does."

Ellie chuckled, crossing her arms. "And I think you like her."

Ian nodded once more, pushing up his glasses, his cheeks feeling warm. "Yeah, I think I do."

[midnightcowboy1969]

Okay okay where do I begin with your influence...

I can remember watching aliens and thinking oh this Paul Reiser character looks like Alan Arkin's lost son and messaging you about it, but when you started posting about Burke it inspired me to go back and watch the movie again and I was like hahaha this guy is great. which was us influencing eachother but still.

Then you started posting about My Two Dads? and I was like this fuckin show omg.... every time you posted

Roaring Twenties during your Bogart phase also ended up making me watch the Caine mutiny I think?? Not to mention the Monk to The Man Who Wasn't There pipeline...

Okay I need to keep this short even though there has been a thousand other movie/show alleyways and also I'm putting this on anon so as to add an air of non existent mystery

"non existent mystery" indeed. I know who you are and I love you ❤️, Thank you.

My influence is vast :0 !!! and I must say that you've really influenced me as well, we have really influenced each other a lot over the past 2+ years. There are numerous movies I wouldn't have seen hadn't it been for you, like Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, Dogman, the Wicker Man, Mikey and Nicky, Wise Guys, the Great Race (I'm pretty sure), The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (and read the book), etc, etc, etc. I'm pretty sure that without you I wouldn't have become a top Arkin blog on here too dfgh and thanks to you I fell head over heels for Henry Gibson because of your Nashville and The 'Burbs recs. Thank you :)