#∘₊✧────── julian park. ( introduction )
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[cis man and he/him] Welcome to Aurora Bay, [JULIAN PARK]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [JUSTIN H MIN]. You must be the [THIRTY FOUR] year old [ACTOR]. Word is you’re [OPTIMISTIC] but can also be a bit [PASSIVE] and your favorite song is [KOOL AID BY ROYEL OTIS]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [SEABROOK QUARTER]. I’m sure you’ll love it!
INFORMATION:
fullname. julian park (줄리안 파크)
nicknames. none.
gender. cis man
pronouns. he / him
d.o.b. august 16th, 1990 | ( 34 years old )
astrology. leo ☀ cancer ☾ aries ↑
birth place. san diego, california.
hometown. san diego, california.
current residence. aurora bay, california. ( @aurorabayaesthetic )
occupation. actor.
religion. buddist.
tattoos. matching tattoo with cast mates.
piercings. none.
marital status. single.
sexual preference. pansexual.
family. ha-won park ( mother ), joon park ( father ), simon park ( stepfather ), step-sister (WC).
children. none.
CHARACTER INSPO:
shane mccarthy ( will they or won't they by ava wilder ), smith jarrett ( sex and the city ), rick dalton ( once upon a time in hollywood ), vince chase ( entourage ).
PERSONALITY:
+ optimistic, friendly, talented. - passive, directionless, self-deprecating.
BIOGRAPHY:
Julian Park had never wanted to be an actor. That's what he has always said, the many times he's been interviewed over the years. When he was discovered at the ripe old age of 23, the ex-waiter would have had no idea what his life would become. All he ever wanted was to make good tips and get stoned with his friends, that was why he moved from San Diego to Los Angeles after all. That was why he was working as a waiter in the Bestia, an up-and-coming italian restaurant that attracted a lot of the Hollywood crowd. Julian had always enjoys schmoozing, knowing what people wanted to hear was his secret talent and it paid off in the hospitality industry. It wasn't until he was serving Roman Schultz, a network showrunner - that Julian realised that maybe there was more to life than charming your way into getting bigger tips.
When he was invited to audition for the lead in a paranormal drama aimed at teenagers, Julian nearly didn't bother showing up. What did he know about acting? Other than pretending to be interested in the random conversations with regulars and saying he was going to call a few one-night stands when he never had any intention of doing so, he had no experience with it. But as he read the lines aloud to a panel of producers and casting directors, Julian could feel himself become someone else. He became Harrison Chu. A ghost who haunted his love interest, a rookie cop, into solving his own murder.
And he would continue being Harrison Chu for the next ten years.
Off the back of the Twilight craze, the supernatural dramas were still on the rise but vampires were so done. The network said it was all about ghosts now. Throw in a 'will they or won't they' love dynamic between Julian and his co-star and it was a hit! The chemistry between the two leads was so intense that people often speculated that they were together in real life, although the two never confirmed it. The network would milk that tension for the better part of a decade.
The Hunt would air for nine seasons, from 2013 until the spring of 2023, when ratings had dropped far too low for the network to continue. Upon hearing that their ninth season would be their last, most of the cast and crew were relieved. All plot lines were exhausted to the point where it was borderline ridiculous. While they were like family, most of the cast were looking for other projects, wanting to grow as actors. But for Julian.. he'd only ever played Harrison. Shooting in Vancouver for ninth months of the year didn't leave much time for anything else, in between press tours, promo shoots and the convention circuit. The Hunt was the only experience he'd ever had in the film and television industry, and while it had made him rich and semi-famous in some circles, it didn't necessarily translate into range.
As things were finishing up on the show, Julian's agent kept pushing for audition after audition. Eventually, he did try out for a small indie movie with a well-known actor attached to make their directorial debut. It had Oscar bait written all over it and it generated a lot of buzz, but for all the wrong reasons. Critics said it was pretentious, the dialogue was stilted. And while Redditors online were lenient on Julian's acting, it did not bode well for his chances of launching into bigger budget films.
Thankfully, Julian wasn't the type to take things too personally and it wasn't as if he was necessarily needing a job right away. He had nine seasons of residuals and a dedicated fanbase, but away from the spotlight, he felt adrift once again. Life had been so easy on set, with a strict schedule and places to be. While it was exhausting, at least it was something to do. Since studios weren't necessarily banging down his door and his agent kept forgetting to return his calls, Julian started looking for inspiration elsewhere.
An interest in surfing is what had originally brought him to Aurora Bay. The perfect waves that lapped at the shore was the perfect reset from the hustle and bustle of Hollywood life, but it was still close enough if he did ever want to go back and throw his hat into the ring again. And while he may have no plan lined up for his future, he's in the perfect place to rediscover who he really is behind the lens.
POSSIBLE CONNECTIONS:
grew up in san diego and spent his early twenties waiting tables, partying and skating through life until he got accidentally scouted while waiting on roman schultz, a network showrunner. — ( possible connections: old friends from that era, party buddies, “i think we hooked up in LA once?” type deal )
julian spent nearly a decade playing harrison chu on the cult supernatural drama, the hunt, that ran for nine seasons and had a fiercely loyal fanbase (think CW show like the vampire diaries). it was his first acting role, which shot mostly in vancouver for months on end. — ( possible connections: former cast or crew members, the hunt fans, big shippers of him and his co-star, aspiring actors, someone working on a reboot or reunion podcast )
tried to take acting seriously after the hunt ended, but things didn't pan out quite the way he had hoped. did an indie movie that released start of 2024 that bombed, which tarnished his reputation a bit and made him take a step back from acting. — ( possible connections: co-stars from the indie movie, fellow creatives stuck in a rut, local filmmakers, someone who’s too honest about his indie movie )
julian moved to aurora bay in late 2023 to take a break from the hustle and bustle of los angeles. this town was close enough that he could still think about being the hollywood scene without having to live there. still occasionally goes in for work-related things as he tries to get back into acting. — ( possible connections: la natives, fellow wannabe / "has-been" celebrities )
when he first moved to town, julian went back to his waiter roots and was working at sunrise winery. was mostly there for the vibes and the discount on wine but quit to pursue acting full-time at the start of 2025. — ( possible connections: former coworkers, wine club regulars, someone who got too drunk at one of his tastings, ex-work fling. )
currently living in seabrook quarter with his two roommates. all of them are so chaotically online, making tiktoks and doing livestreams. — ( possible connections:
a big-time surfer who actually knows what he’s doing and part of the reason he moved to the coast. he's out on the water nearly every morning (if he wakes up on time)and probably too confident about it. he’s happiest on a board or passed out on a beach towel. — ( possible connections: fellow surfers, surfing rival, beach crush, someone he accidentally hit with a board once )
very hard to date as he's completely oblivious to other people's needs. if you're flirting openly with him, he most likely will play into it because he likes the attention. — ( possible connections: friends with feelings, ex-hook ups, ex-partners turned sour, secret relationships )
CURRENT CONNECTIONS:
roommates with @cricketcampbell and @ziggykyeons
couldn't live without @maverick-liu and @tillycai
got kissed by @celia-baker at halloween and has been about it since
always flirting at town events with @esmaxdemirci
number one jolyani fan @ravirussell / @solaadisa
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↳ INTRODUCING
NADIA DEMIR
𝗜 𝗨𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗚𝗢𝗟𝗗 𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗜'𝗠 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗚𝗢
What good is a large home when it remains empty? It's a question that Nadia has struggled with her entire life. Raised by her nanny because her parents were to busy nurturing and growing the vines when they should have been putting the same attentive care into their only child. She can't fully blame her parents for the frozen over heart inside her chest, after all it still remains that way now even years after their tragic passing. [23 - 30 (verse dependent), she/her, straight, vineyard/winery owner]
JULIAN PARK
𝗜𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗙𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗜𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨'𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗠𝗬
If you were to look up unconventional in the dictionary there would be a picture of Julian. They grew up in a strict household but the home was never vacant of love. Julian had been on track to follow the family legacy into the medical field but things took a sharp turn. Misdiagnosed Julian received surgery that would permanently damage their hearing for the rest of their life. Witnessing first hand how corrupt the system could become they decided to fight against the corruption instead of becoming just another part of it. [30 - 40 (verse dependent), they/them, pansexual, hacker]
BRUNO PEREZ
𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗟𝗘𝗠𝗦 𝗔𝗟𝗪𝗔𝗬𝗦 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗠 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗣𝗔𝗦𝗧
How do you expect anyone to listen to your advice when you fail to listen to it yourself? Bruno had it all, the cookie cutter life. Beautiful wife, the successful career, the big house and a baby on the way. However he also acquired the drinking problem that came with listening to peoples fucked up lives every day. Causing him to loose the wife and presented him with a very hard decision once their child was born. His daughter is now eight, which also happens to be how many years he's gone without a drink [42 - 54 (verse dependent), he/him, straight, therapist]
#◟ight bet you aint seen nothing yet | ↳ introduction◝#◟ight bet you aint seen nothing yet | ↳ nadia demir / introduction◝#◟ight bet you aint seen nothing yet | ↳ julian park / introduction◝#◟ight bet you aint seen nothing yet | ↳ bruno perez / introduction◝
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Question: Are there scenes or a scene that once you did your bit, the acting - wonderful acting, by the way - and you saw it with special effects and music and editing and all of that stuff that struck you really differently than what you remember when you acted on set?
Jensen: All the time. Because obviously we don't have any of that when we're playing on camera, we don't have the score, we don't have the sound effects, we don't have the, you know, any of that post production magic.
Question: But is there one in particular that just really struck you? That was memorable?
Jensen: Uh, yes. [Jared says something inaudible to him] Ugh.
Jared: The aerial fight between Michael and Lucifer?
Jensen: [just shakes his head mutely]
Jared: We were both [finger quotes] struck by it, let's just leave it at that. Uh, you decide how.
Jensen: Traumatized by it. You know, it makes me think of maybe my favorite music cue. And this was something that I remember watching the final, watching the episode on tv, because Jared and I would often - on the nights that it would air, we'd usually be filming so we would race back to our trailer and try to watch it as live as possible. And I remember watching, uh, the bank scene, what was it, night, night, night watch? Nightshifter! Night Court? When all we did was simply walk out of the bank in full tactical gear and walk through the parking lot and get into the Impala and just look at each other and just be like [sigh]. Like that felt very, y'know - it didn't feel like that big of a moment. It was the end of the episode, we were just like [sigh], alright, on to the next quest. But when they put in Renegade by Styx? That then became one of my most favorite moments in the series, just 'cause it's amazing what the right music or right score can do to elevate a moment on camera. So there's - I mean, we got to be, we're beneficiaries of a lot of that because we would see the final product, and you know, there's a lot of times we'd be like oh, wow, okay, that didn't suck. But there were also those moments where we were like wow that was awesome, that was cool. Alright, those post guys know what they're doing.
Jared: They do. I think they really did. Yeah.
Jensen: They're true artists, and they don't get enough credit but they are true artists.
Jared: What's your second favorite music cue?
Jensen: Second favorite music cue? [thinking pause]
Audience member: The fairy!
Jared: Mine is the fairy.
Jensen: Yeah, Bowie? Fight the fairies? That was really great.
Jared: That's my favorite of all time.
Audience member: Eye of the Tiger!
Jensen: This isn't a music cue, but a moment of amazing post production magic was the introduction to Death. Because that's - we're not, you know, Julian wasn't acting in slow motion but when Phil slowed that down, it punctuated that moment and that entrance so beautifully that I think it was just one of the greatest entrances that Supernatural has ever seen.
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⊱ WHO I WRITE FOR ⊰
i mostly write for evan peters, but i'm open to write for another fandoms i'm in and their characters that i like!
those in bold are my favorites to write.
this list is always up to change accordingly with my hyperfixations at the moment, but in my taglist stay the ones i won't change for a long time.
EVAN PETERS
disclaimer: stated previously, i am a evan peters enthusiast, so i'll be always writing about him more. i'm open to write any character of him or himself, but i'm not listing all of his cinematography here... please 🙄 only the ones i feel more comfortable and confident to write about. (don't be scared to ask me to write others that aren't mentioned here)
↳ colin zabel, drew foster, jeff wald, julian dillinger junior, peter maximoff, warren lipka.
MY !READERS
their descriptions are in their own introduction posts. — some of them are paired with a specific character, so be in mind that depending on the ask, i may refuse to write them with another character.
↳ ballerina!reader. / vampire!reader.
MARVEL: bucky barnes, baron zemo, bob reynolds, everett ross, peter maximoff.
STAR RAIL: jing yuan. phainon.
MISCELLANEOUS
ARCANE: ekko. FANTASTIC ANIMALS: newt scamander. TRANSFORMERS 4: cade yeager. JURASSIC PARK (2015): owen grady. STAR TREK (2009): leonard mccoy, montgomery scott. SPY X FAMILY: yuri briar.
blog guidelines / taglist / main masterlist
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23.06.25
After lunch at Frensham, we went into Farnham.
We parked in the Sainsbury's car park and headed through to Brightwells and into the Reel Cinema to see Universal and Dreamwork's live action How To Train Your Dragon (2025).
The live action adapts the original animated 2010 classic of the same name, which in turn is based on the 2003 book by Cressida Cowell.
It is directed by Dean DeBlois.
See our previous visit here:
https://www.tumblr.com/bjsmall/786003332706844672/090625-we-went-into-the-reel-cinema-and-went?source=share
As we got there a bit early, we waited in the lounge as there was a meeting in the theatre. We then walked into screen 4 once it was ready.
Coming to watch the live action again gave us even more to catch up on from the first time watching the movie here.
Again, a brilliant movie and a fantastic second visit to the Reel Cinema. Best remake of a classic movie, and one of the best of the year so far!
Here is a list of some of the characters and their actors:
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III - Mason Thames
Astrid Hofferson - Nico Parker
Stoick the Vast - Gerard Butler
Gobber the Belch - Nick Frost
Snotlout Jorgenson - Gabriel Howell
Fishlegs Ingerman - Julian Dennison
Ruffnut Thorston - Bronwyn James
Tuffnut Thorston - Harry Trevaldwyn
A full list of cast & crew members can be found here:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26743210/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cst_sm
Official site:
https://www.welcometoberk.com/about-the-movie/
DreamWorks site:
https://www.dreamworks.com/movies/how-to-train-your-dragon-2025#introduction
Blog post featuring teasers, posters, links to my animation reviews and book information:
https://www.tumblr.com/bjsmall/771419356962963456/311224-i-read-my-new-book-how-to-train-your?source=share
Explore the interactive map of Berk to see information on the character actors, dragon species, locations and other material for the movie.
See video below about Toothless the Night Fury:
youtube
Amazing!
🐉🐉🐉🐉
Can't wait for the live action adaptation of the second movie in 2027!
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Liste culturelle 2023
JANVIER
LIVRES
Le mur invisible de Marlen Haushofer
Histoire du Protestantisme de Jean Baudérot
FILMS
Godland de Hlynur Palmason
Dune de Denis Villeneuve
FEVRIER
SERIES
Tuca and Bertie de Lisa Hanawalt
Demon Slayer de Koyoharu Gotoge
FILMS
Le Retour des hirondelles de Li Ruijun
Wasabi de Gérald Krawczyk
All of Them Witches de Mona Panchal
LIVRES
Chaque geste compte. Manifeste contre l'impuissance publique de Dominique Bourg et Johann Chapoutot
La cabane magique. Panique à Pompéi de Mary Pope Osborne
Assassination classroom de Yusei Matsui
MARS
SERIES
Hollywood de Ryan Murphy
Supernatural de Eric Kripke
LIVRE
L’existentialisme est un humanisme de Jean-Paul Sartre
FILM
Fight Club de David Fincher
AVRIL
LIVRES
Peter Pan de Barrie
Informal beauty. The photograhs of Paul Nash de Simon Grant
Perceptions de Nathalie Man
La société des personnes vulnérables. Leçons féministes d’une crise. de Najat Vallaud-Belkacem et Sandra Laugier
Les hommes sont absents de Nathalie Man
FILMS
Bullet Train de David Leitch
Atonement de Joe Wright
Porco Rosso de Hayao Miyazaki
BlacKKKlansman de Spike Lee
Hokusai de Hajime Hashimoto
MAI
FILMS
It follows de David Robert Mitchell
Midsommar de Ari Aster
Little women de Greta Gerwig
Guardians of the Galaxy. Vol.3 de James Gunn
LIVRES
Le chat noir et autres histoires de Edgar Allan Poe
Déclaration des droits de la femme et du citoyen de Olympe de Gouges
JUIN
LIVRES
Émotions, souffrance, délivrance de Doctor Tuan Anh Tran
Capital: Vientiane de Guez, Pichelin and Troub's
Something to hide. Exploration des messages cachés du rock de Diego Gil et Johann Guyot
FILMS
Air de Ben Affleck
Eating our way to extinction de Kate Winslet
Susan, jour après jour de Stéphane Manchematin et Serge Steyer
Palm Springs de Marx Barbakow
Mike and Dave need wedding dates de Jake Szymanski
Clueless de Amy Heckerling
Spider-Man : Across the Spider-Verse de Joaquim dos Santos, Kemp Powers et Justin K.Thompson
JUILLET
LIVRES
Bathory. La comtesse maudite d'Anne-Perrine Couet
Une rainette en automne (et plus…) de Linnea Sterte
FILMS
Prisoners de Denis Villeneuve
Tarzan de Kevin Lima et Chris Buck
Turning Red de Domee Shi
AOUT
FILMS
Mercenaire de Sacha Wolff
Behind every good man de Nikolai Ursin
The Fast and the Furious de Rob Cohen
Born behind stones de Carina Freire
Lands that Rises and Descends de Moona Pennanen
LIVRE
Des âmes et des saisons : Psycho-écologie de Boris Cyrulnik
SEPTEMBRE
FILMS
Body Samples de Astrid de la Chapelle
Galb'Echaouf d'Abdessamad El Montassir
La ciudad de los fotógrafos de Sebastian Moreno
Happiest Season de Clea DuVall
En communauté de Camille Octobre Laperche
Barbie de Greta Gerwig
Encanto de Byron Howard et Jared Bush
Mon amour, mon ami d'Adriano Valerio
Bottoms d'Emma Seligman
LIVRES
Lettres à un jeune poète de Rainer Maria Rilke
Ich de Martina Weinhart
Poèmes à la nuit de Rainer Maria Rilke
SERIE
Downtown Abbey d'après l'oeuvre de Julian Fellowes
OCTOBRE
FILMS
Downtown Abbey de Michael Engler
Downtown Abbey : Une nouvelle ère de Simon Curtis
Sur le rocher de Sandrine Rouxel
Dangereuse Alliance d'Andrew Fleming
Folie douce, folie dure de Marine Laclotte
The Craft : Les Nouvelles sorcières de Zoe Lister-Jones
Trois mille ans à t'attendre de George Miller
The Crow d'Alex Proyas
Le jardin des planches de Monique Barrière
On vous parle du Chili : Ce que disait Allende de Chris Marker et Miguel Littin
LIVRES
L’œil et l'Esprit de Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Vivian Maier en toute discrétion de Françoise Perron
Des histoires vraies de Sophie Calle
Henri Cartier-Bresson des collections Photo Poche et introduction écrite par Jean Clair
Palm Springs 1960 - Robert Doisneau par Jean-Paul Dubois
Vivian Maier Self-Portraits de John Maloof et Elizabeth Avedon
NOVEMBRE
FILMS
Crimson Peak de Guillermo del Toro
Astérix et Obélix. Mission Cléopâtre d'Alain Chabat
Le Garçon et le Héron d'Hayao Miyazaki
Hamama & Caluna d'Andreas Muggli
Journal de Sébastien Laudenbach
In Paris Parks de Shirley Clarke
LIVRES
Ces hommes qui m'expliquent la vie de Rebecca Solnit
Pulp Poiesis : Écriture(s) en suspens(ion) d'Alizée Pichot
Enfant de la nuit polaire de Julia Nikitina
DECEMBRE
LIVRES
Nouveaux poèmes suivi de Requiem par Rainer Maria Rilke
Pampilles de Florentine Rey
Notes sur la mélodie des choses et autres textes de Rainer Maria Rilke
FILMS
Willy's Wonderland de Kevin Lewis
Family Switch de Joseph McGinty Nichol
Skyscraper de Shirley Clarke
Le monde après nous de Sam Esmail
Sensitive Content de Narges Kalhor
Snow Job : the Media Hyteria of Aids de Barbara Hammer
They Are Lost to Vision Altogether de Tom Kalin
Autour d'eux, la nuit de Vassili Schémann
Blight de John Smith
Tér d'Istvan Szabo
Chicken Run : La Menace nuggets de Sam Fell
SERIE
Lupin de George Kay et François Uzan
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Snowcapped mountains serve as a backdrop to verdant landscapes at Gran Paradiso National Park in Valle d'Aosta, Italy. When does each new season start? Some measure seasonal shifts by Earth’s position relative to the sun, while others use annual temperature cycles. Photograph By Stefano Unterthiner
Every Season Actually Begins Twice—Here’s Why
Seasons can be defined in two different ways: Astronomical and Meteorological. We explain what they mean, and how to tell them apart.
— By Amy McKeever | May 31, 2023
Every three months, a new season begins—twice.
Spring creeps in like a lion on March 1, and then again a few weeks later with the equinox. Likewise, some people welcome the arrival of summer on June 1, while others celebrate it a few weeks later with the solstice. So who is right about when the seasons begin and end?
It depends on why you’re asking. Seasons are defined in two ways: Astronomical seasons, which are based on Earth’s position as it rotates around the sun, and Meteorological seasons, which are based on annual temperature cycles. Both divide the year into spring, summer, fall, and winter—yet with slightly different start and end dates for each. Here’s what they mean and how to tell them apart.
What are Astronomical Seasons?
People have always looked to the skies to determine the season. Ancient Rome was the first to officially mark those seasons with the introduction of the Julian calendar. Back then, the seasons began on different days than the modern era because of discrepancies with the Gregorian calendar used primarily today. Now, the start of each astronomical season is marked by either an equinox or a solstice.
Equinoxes are when Earth’s day is split almost in half. They occur every six months in the spring and fall, when Earth’s orbit and its axial tilt combine so that the sun sits directly above the Equator. On an equinox, roughly half the planet is light while the other half is dark. As the new season progresses, the sun’s position continues to change—and, depending which hemisphere you live in, the days will get progressively lighter or darker until the arrival of the solstice.
Solstices mark the brightest and darkest days of the year. They are also driven by Earth’s tilt and mark the beginning of astronomical summer and winter. When the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, it is brighter and feels like summer—while, at the same time, the Southern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, plunging it into a dark winter.
But this method of measuring the seasons presents some challenges. The solar year is approximately 365.2422 Earth days long, making it impossible for any calendar to perfectly sync with Earth’s rotation around the sun. As a result, astronomical seasons start on slightly different days and times each year—making it difficult to keep the climate statistics that are used in agriculture, commerce, and more. That’s why weather forecasters and climatologists turned to meteorological seasons instead.

What are Meteorological Seasons?
Since at least the 18th century, scientists have sought better methods of predicting growing seasons and other weather phenomena. Over time, that gave rise to the concept of meteorological seasons, which are more closely aligned with both annual temperatures and the civil calendar.
Meteorological seasons are far simpler than astronomical seasons. They divide the calendar year into four seasons that each last exactly three months and are based on the annual temperature cycle. Winter takes place during the coldest three months of the year, summer in the hottest three months, and spring and fall mark the remaining transition months.
In the Northern Hemisphere, that means the start date for each season is March 1 (spring), June 1 (summer), September 1 (fall), and December 1 (winter). In the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons are reversed; spring begins in September, summer in December, fall in March, and winter in June.
The consistency of meteorological seasons allows meteorologists to make the complex statistical calculations necessary to make predictions and compare seasons to one another. “Dealing with whole-month chunks of data rather than fractions of months was more economical and made more sense,” climatologist Derek Arndt told the Washington Post in 2014. “We organize our lives more around months than astronomical seasons, so our information follows suit.”
So when is the first day of every season? It isn’t the first of the month or the position of the sun—it’s both.
#Environment#Seasons | Astronomical and Meteorological#Gran Paradiso National Park | Valle d'Aosta | Italy 🇮🇹#Earth’s Position | Rotation | Sun | Annual Temperature Cyclees#Equinoxes#Equator#Light 💡 | Darkness#March 1 (Spring) | June 1 (Summer) | September 1 (Fall) | December 1 (Winter)
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some little Ghosts timeline things I realised:
Most of the ghosts were raised Church of England - except Humphrey, who was probably Catholic at various points depending on the monarch
Fanny and the Captain grew up in the Victorian era
The Captain most likely fought in both world wars
Pat and Julian would remember the introduction of decimalised currency
Pat has probably never bought bottled water
The Captain has never been in a supermarket
Julian is a boomer (I mean, of course he is)
Pat was born in 1945, meaning he and the Captain were probably alive at the same time. I just find that weird!
None of the ghosts have seen Jurassic Park (except possibly Julian, who died the same year it came out)
And lastly:
Ninety-nine percent of human history happened between Robin’s death and Humphrey’s death
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Could you write something with Jude where he takes you to the Dortmund Christmas dinner and everyone it delighted on how cute you look together.
‘Tis the Season For Greetings
YES I LOVE THIS THANK YOUU!! also sorry for this taking so long! hope u enjoy xx
MERRY CHRISTMAS LOVIES
2nd person pov
“What if they don’t like me?” You asked Jude, your boyfriend of six months.
He chuckled, “Y/N. Why wouldn’t they like you. I already talk about you enough so I’m pretty sure they’ll love you.”
“Well what if you talk about me way too much and so they’re very annoyed?” You attempted again, much to Jude’s displeasure.
“I understand why you’re nervous but Y/N, you will be fine I promise. Plus you have an advantage, you speak German. It’ll be way easier for you to talk to them and that alone will at least make Marco, Koko, Mats, and Julian love you.” Jude comforted.
“Well my Germans heavily accented so they might not understand me at all.” You mumbled.
“Well your German is ten times better than mine. And plus, if they’re able to understand Gio and I speaking German, you’ll be golden.” Jude encouraged.
You nodded numbly, still nervous about making a bad impression on his teammates. Though arguably the sweetest girl in the world, you had tendencies to mess up your introductions when meeting new people. As a result, you got flustered around everyone, including Jude.
Jude, sensing your hesitance, brought your hand to lips and kissed it while keeping one hand to guide the steering wheel.
“Just trust me this once love.” Jude whispered.
“Okay.” You nodded.
“I love you Jude.”
A grin broke its way onto his face, “I love you more beautiful.”
With those words you were able to be at ease for the rest of the drive there.
“And here we are.” Jude announced, pulling into the car park of an upscale looking restaurant.
“So…” You started.
“So, Dortmund rented out the place for tonight, so it’ll only be the players, coaching staff, and their families.” Jude explained.
“Wow. That‘s it?” You gasped with sarcasm.
Jude chuckled before rolling his eyes and getting out of the car to open your door for you. He took your hand and helped you out of the car though that really wasn’t necessary.
“Gentleman as always.” You complimented.
“Mum‘s taught me well.” Jude replied in a posh accent.
He began walking towards the entrance as you stood stationary with a hand on your hip.
“What?” He asked.
“Forgetting something?” You reminded, dangling his mask from your hands.
“Ohh shitttt. Thanks love!” Jude backtracked, grabbing the mask and kissing your lips.
You shook your head, while the two of you walked towards the entrance with your arms linked.
“Now everyone at the party‘s been fully vaccinated right?” You questioned with caution.
“Of course. Most guys have gotten the booster and those who didn’t have the vaccine weren’t allowed to go.” Jude verified.
You nodded, forcing a smile which gave Jude the validation he needed to go through the doors.
As the two of you walked into the restaurant? you shyly whispered to Jude.
“There’s gonna be good food right?”
“Only the best for you my love.” Jude smirked.
“I hate you.” You grumbled.
“I love you too.” Jude winked.
Before you could respond, the two of you spotted the hostess and told her your business there.
“Hello. We’re here for the Dortmund Christmas Dinner.” Jude smiled politely.
The woman nodded formally, “Of course Mr. Bellingham, I could recognise you from a mile away.”
“And what a beautiful lady you’ve brought with you this evening. You two make a splendid pair. oh, and the dress does wonders on you!” The hostess complimented.
You blushed at the compliment, initially feeling self conscious in the shorter, lace full sleeved dress that had a beautiful bow in the center.
“Okay Mr. and Mrs. Bellingham. Err I mean Mam, sorry, right this way.” The hostess ushered, staring at the ground due to her mistake.
“Jude?” You whispered into his ear as the three of you walked together.
“Clearly we’re just such a good looking couple.” he smirked, causing you to giggle.
Very quickly, the two of you were led down a short hallway which opened up into a large function room, where the Christmas Dinner was taking place.
Your eyes widened as you saw a large blonde man wavering outside the party as he was taking a phone call. As you all got closer, he managed to hang up the phone right in time to greet you and Jude, as the hostess had already returned to her position at the front.
It was then that you realised who the large man was. It was the terminator himself.
“JUDEEEE!” The 6’4 footballer squealed, running over to give Jude a hug who was already laughing.
You patiently stood there, smiling softly as you admired the bond of the two players.
“And Erling. I’m sure you know who this is, Y/N.” Jude introduced with a wink.
Erling turned to you witch a big smile as you just waved and said it was a pleasure to meet you. Much to your surprise, he engulfed you in a hug.
“Y/N! It’s so nice to finally meet you! Jude doesn’t stop talking about you!” Erling informed.
“I’m flattered!” You responded.
“No no Y/N. Jude should be flattered. How did he manage to pull such a pretty girl like you?” Erling complimented.
“Y’know what Erling. I ask myself the same question everyday.” You wittily replied, to which Erling responded with a hearty laugh.
“Well we gotta make the rounds Erling. See you in a little bit!” Jude said, wrapping an arm around your waist as the two of you walked into the room.
From a distance, you could hear Erling shouting something along the lines as “There goes my favourite couple.”
“Now I reckon you should meet the skipper first aye?” Jude suggested.
“Then let’s go.” You accepted.
Jude led you over to the Dortmund captain who was laughing with his wife, Axel, and Emre.
Smiles lit up their faces as they saw Jude approaching, each and every one of them giving hugs.
“May I introduce Y/N, my girlfriend.”
“Y/N! Hallo!” Axel greeted, giving you a hug.
You waved shyly, before addressing them all in German. Marco, who could’ve potentially been feeling over protective of Jude suddenly seemed a lot more welcoming as he enveloped you into a hug, speaking fast German. Emre offered a handshake to which you accepted.
“Now please, try and teach Jude some more German, he’s absolutely awful and never speaks it enough.” Marco shuddered.
“Marco!” Scarlett scolded him.
“In his defense, is true Scarlett. Jude needs some serious improvement. Help us help him Y/N!” Emre pleaded.
“Wow, Jude’s getting so many compliments today.” Axel laughed.
You chuckled, “You see I try to help Jude with his German but you all know how stubborn he is.”
“Thank god he has you! You two balance each other out perfectly!” Scarlett stated.
“For sure! You two are the best couple!” Marco agreed.
You blushed profusely as you leaned closer to Jude’s body, him tightening his grip around your waist.
And so, you moved on from teammate to teammate, smiling as you heard almost the same thing every time.
“Gosh what a nice couple!” Dahoud exclaimed as him, Julian, Ansgar, and Nico watched you and Jude move to the next group after talking to them for a while.
“The two of them really got lucky with each other.” Ansgar nodded.
“Get me someone who looks at me the way Jude and Y/N look at each other.” Julian sighed.
“Kai looks at you that way.” Nico smirked, as he sipped his beer.
“You gotta a point.” Ansgar laughed.
In another conversation a few metres away, Jude and Y/N were the exact topic of discussion.
“They look so in love.” Kobel commented with praise for you and Jude.
“Props to Y/N for being able to put up with Jude.” Mats jested.
“She’s way outta Jude’s league.” Thorgan Hazard joked.
“Nah. Have you see the tiktok edits of Jude!” Dan mentioned.
“What’s tiktok?” Thomas Meunier questioned.
“Basically like an app where you can post all sorts of videos. And it seems a lot of, I’m going to assume here, teenagers like posting edits of how ‘hot’ Jude is.” Donyell explained.
“Exactly. They all simp for him.” Reinier added.
“Ahh okay. But what does simp mean?” Thomas again questioned.
“God. Millennials these days.” Mateu shook his head with the other gen zers in the conversation.
“You know, I think Y/N is very beautiful.” Moukoko mentioned with a warm smile.
“Awww someone has a crush!” Kobel squealed, teasing Koko with the other guys.
From the other side of the room, Jude and you weeee able to hear this squealing as you made your way to the final stop of the night. Jude’s best friend on Dortmund.
“Seems like some guys over there are excited.” You raised your eyebrows.
“They’re wack. I’ll figure out what they’re talking about tomorrow.” Jude brushed it off, blushing because he was able to hear what they were talking about.
“Really! Because I swear I heard my name mentioned.” You smirked.
“Clearly you’re losing your hearing! And oh look, it’s Manu!” Jude shouted, trying to change the conversation as he locked eyes with Manuel Akanji who’d just come back from talking to the person you two were able to see.
“Manu, this is my girlfriend Y/N!” Jude introduced.
“Well of it isn’t the lovely Y/N! Pleasure to finally meet you!” Manuel greeted you with a hug.
“I’m so sorry my family couldn’t be here today! As a matter of fact, I was just heading out, my son has a cold so I should go home ASAP. I’m sorry I couldn’t chat for long!” Manuel apologised.
“No need to apologise! Go home, and please give your wife and son our regards!” You replied with understanding.
“Thank you so much.” Manuel smiled, beginning to walk away.
“Oh and Jude!” Manuel called.
“Yessir?” Jude yelled.
“You really struck gold with Y/N. You two make a great couple!” Manuel praised.
The two of you turned away and continued walking.
“So pretty much all my teammates like you.” Jude concluded, kissing your cheek.
“I guess I passed the test?” You inquired.
“Almost. We’ve just saved the most important for last.” Jude stated, directing your attention to Erling and another guy standing next to him, engrossed in a deep conversation.
He had decent height, and looked about the same age as you and Jude. Then it hit you, you knew who it was.
“Gio?” You queried.
Jude nodded with a smile, “Well if it isn’t Giovanni Reyna!” Jude whooped, gaining the attention of the young American and Norwegian.
“Jude!” Gio dashed over, giving one of his best friends a hug.
Gio then turned to you with a smile sticking out his hand, “You must be Y/N.”
You accepted his handshake, “I’m gonna take a wild guess and maybe say that you’re Gio?”
Gio laughed and turned to Jude, “Everyone’s right Jude. You’ve done well. You have a lovely woman by your side.”
“You two seem to make a great pair!” Gio observed at how you two stood closely next to each other.
“But, I think me and Jude are just a little higher than you and Jude Y/N!” Gio quipped.
“You gotta point there!” You admitted with a laugh.
“Okay Gio I know Jude and Y/N are probably the best couple to ever walk the planet but that does not mean you can just walk away from me!” Erling interjected, walking over from where Gio was previously standing.
Before anyone could respond, the clock struck 12, meaning it was Christmas.
“Merry Christmas Jude.” You smiled.
“Merry Christmas Y/N.” Jude mumbled.
#jude bellingham x reader#football#soccer#imagine#jude bellingham#jude bellingham imagine#jude bellingham imagines#jude bellingham blurb#England mnt#bvb#borussia dortmund#Jobe bellingham#gio reyna#erling håland#Christmas
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parts of pete shotton’s book “john lennon: in my life” that stood out to me

(this is semi long and contains book spoilers)
john and pete being the first people ever to get banned from their church
pete saying john would always share any candy he had with everyone around, but that he would maybe give john one piece of candy
they held a competition to see who could go the longest without swearing and they both spent so much time focusing on not swearing that they sat in silence
tw blood/cutting: wanting to do a blood oath and cut their wrists to be “blood brothers” but john brought a dull knife that wouldn't cut so they pretended to do it
being pyromaniacs (seriously)
john crawling out of all fours and groaning after being canned and making pete get canned even worse because he was laughing
john being known to pee himself when laughing
john daydreaming while he was riding his bike, crashing into a parked car, catapulted into the air, hurt his arm pretty bad, but his main concern was the damage to his bike
they once had a serious fight where pete was about to step on john’s glasses but intentionally missed just to tease john
persuading their classmates to wear white dog collars that they made in class
eleven year old john making pete watch him orgasm
pete and john having sex with their girlfriends in the same bed
john going through great lengths to avoid dancing because he was horrible at it
john and paul’s first introduction being awkward as they both just stood there
pete asking paul if he’ll join the band: “a full minute passed while paul pretended to give the matter careful thought: “oh, all right.” he finally shrugged.”
mimi slamming the door in paul’s face whenever john wasn't there to stop her
george just pushing himself into the band because he wanted to be there
paul, george, and john wearing buckets on their head and marching around on paul’s roof to make fun of pete’s cadet graduation ceremony
one night after julia’s death pete found john completely passed out drunk on a bus and found out that he had been on it for hours. he took him home and tucked him into bed.
john saying that he wrote in my life with pete and stuart in mind
cynthia scolding john for saying something outrageous and then john saying something even more outrageous
the quote, “john bamboozled his new soulmate” in reference to making stuart use his art show money to buy a bass
brian epstein asking if pete wanted to come back to his house for sex and pete turning him down but following with, “no offense taken. actually, i take it as a compliment!”
calling ringo a runt
“what’s a fucking wank between friends anyways?” - pete shotton
brian having a reminder of “haircut for george” on his desk because he was in charge of their grooming needs
john giving pete one of his big beatles paychecks so he had money for christmas
john asking pete “isn't he lovely?” when first meeting julian
john screaming “hi pete!” at a show because he told the staff to let him know whenever pete arrived
john hated to be touched and especially by strangers
john wanted to open his book in his own write with a dedication to pete saying “to pete, who got it first.” but didn't want to hurt mimi’s feelings so he drew a caricature of pete at the beginning and that’s how he dedicated it to him secretly
pete telling john he would never go to a interviewer and talk about john for money. (he only talked to two authors about john. hunter davies, who he asked john for permission for, and philip norman. who told pete that he was only writing a book about liverpool pop music)
cynthia and john getting in an argument because she wanted a porsche and john said they're too dangerous
paul was the beatle that was the hardest to get close to
george’s proudest possession was a painting by bob dylan and he had a guitar shaped pool
“there never was, and probably never will be, a group more self contained or tightly knit than the beatles were in those days..”
john loved a good pun joke
john loved hanging out with the monkees and micky dolenz was the craziest one
“the only thing john hated more than going to bed at night was getting out of it the next day.” MOOD.
john would literally read every single page of the newspaper
he once saw a tv program talking about autistic kids and donated 1,000 pounds to an autistic foundation
john making a random guest give him their sgt pepper album so pete could get one
the beatles almost showed up to brian’s memorial service in bright colorful clothes for “good vibes”
tw suicide: john was convinced brian committed suicide
george telling pete he use to think he was a “bad influence” on john
paul thought magical mystery tour was going to be a big masterpiece
at beatles financial meetings: paul doodling, john high on lsd, ringo asleep in the corner, george actually paying attention
bill turner (childhood friend of theirs) telling paul he didn't like hello, goodbye and paul being taken back by that
the beatles bought pete a car (jaguar to be specific)
john was very insecure around girls and never knew if they liked him or not
john thinking his housekeeper would assume him and pete were having sex because they were laying next to each other
pete was actually happy at first when john and yoko got together because john was happy
any time john and pete would be laughing together yoko would silence John
the beatles had to constantly tell ringo he was the best rock drummer in the world before he agreed to join the band again
paul asking pete if hey jude or revolution should be on the A side, pete saying hey jude, and then paul immediately screaming to john that pete picked his song over john’s.
there was so many arguments with yoko that would have to be another post itself but i will say it’s awful
george running after the press in his backyard because he took a photo of him while the police chase george around to arrest him for possession of drugs
“remember pete, they can't kill you for speaking your mind.” - john lennon
when pete found out about john’s death he went to visit george
“on the drive back home, memories of john flooded into my head. what a life, i thought.” <3
#this book is gold#please read it#Pete shotton I love you#I cried again typing this out#now onto geoff's book#the beatles#the beatles master list#the beatles books#John lennon#pete shotton#yoko ono#paul mccartney#george harrison#ringo starr#the beatles facts
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Introducing...
Lawson’s Girlfriend, Tiffany Espensen
Per their Instagrams, Lawson Bates + Tiffany Espensen are getting pretty cozy. While it’s unclear if they’re pre–courting, courting, or whatever, it’s obvious that they’re in some sort of romantic relationship, and not trying to hide it. So... It’s time for an Introduction Post!
Meet Tiffany
Tiffany Lian Espensen was born in Lianjiang, China on February 10, 1999. She is 22 Years Old, as of March 2021. At 13 Months Old (March 12, 2000), Tiffany was adopted by her parents, Dan + Robin Espensen, and moved to California. As of 2021, she still lives in the Golden State.
Career Tiffany Espensen is a professional actress, appearing in television and film. Arguably, her most–notable role to date was “Cindy Moon” in Spiderman: Homecoming (2017), which she briefly reprised in Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Before that, she had major co–starring roles on children’s television—Bucket & Skinner’s Epic Adventures (2012–2013), then Kirby Buckets (2014–2017). She’s also a voice actress, with voice credits for movies, television, and video games. She has appeared in two made–for–TV movies and one miniseries. And, she’s had one–off or minor roles on a few well–known shows, including House (2011), Lie to Me (2009), The Young & The Restless (2008), NCIS (2008), Criminal Minds (2008), and Hannah Montana (2007). Her full filmography is on IMDB, for those who are curious!
Education By junior high, Tiffany was homeschooled. (This might have been due to her acting career, rather than for religious / ideological reasons, though.) After high school, Tiffany chose to pursue a higher education, but continued to act at the same time. She enrolled with Liberty University Online in 2016. (She chose Liberty for its ‘biblical worldview,’ saying in 2017: “I genuinely really love what Liberty is doing, and what it stands for. It is so important because you don’t see many colleges today that stand for truth.”) Tiffany graduated summa cum laude in August 2019, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science.
Religious Beliefs Tiffany is clearly religious... She sought out a Christian, bible–focused college, and apparently factors her faith into her career. She claims to be “very careful” in selecting “the roles I do and auditions I go on,” since she knows her choices will “represent Christ.” She’s fairly outspoken about her religion on social media, as well... She includes scripture in, like, every Post.
Other Just a fun, weird fact... Apparently she’s best friends with Bindi Irwin, Steve Irwin’s Daughter. Unclear how they met, but their friendship appears to go back to 2014, at least!
... and Tiffany’s Family
Tiffany’s Parents are Daniel Philip + Robin L. Espensen. (Haven’t yet been able to track down Robin’s Middle or Maiden Names.) She has 1 Sibling—her Older Brother, Erik C. Espensen. (It’s unclear how old Erik is or whether he’s adopted like Tiffany.) Erik lives in West Hollywood, CA, and works as a real estate agent. (See Also.) He and Tiffany seem to be quite close.
As for Tiffany’s Parents... They are both licensed realtors. Also, it seems that they own and manage quite a few properties, mostly in Riverside County, CA. Dan is a Financial Advisor, as well. They’re very busy!
As for where they’re from... It’s sort of unclear. The Espensens seems to run the financial advising and property management businesses from Desert Hot Springs, Riverside County, CA. On Facebook, Erik lists nearby Palm Springs, CA as his “hometown.” However, they have ties outside of Palm Springs, as well... Two charter schools in Julian, CA—a town just outside of San Diego—reportedly oversaw Tiffany’s homeschool curriculum. But... On IMDB, Tiffany says she lives in Los Angeles—not San Diego or Palm Springs. (Plus, IG Pics often place her in iconic Los Angeles locations, such as Griffith Park, Staples Center, and Dodger Stadium. Plus, Disneyland / California Adventure, which are technically in nearby Orange County, but are decidedly not in San Diego.) So, yeah... They’re from Southern California. Somewhere. Seems they may have moved around some, or maybe live live in Riverside County, while self–describing as Angelenos. Very possible.

Overall Impression / Comments
Overall, Tiffany appears to be more ‘wordly’ than some of the Bates Spouses. However, she’s also very young, and there’s a fairly large age gap. (Lawson is 28, 29 in July; Tiffany just turned 22.) I’m very interested to see what happens with Tiffany’s career, if she and Lawson marry... Will he move to Los Angeles? Will she keep acting? Will she keep acting if they have children?
It’s an interesting pairing. I’m interested to see this unfold.
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Irreverent Drabbles: Undercover
Title: Irreverent Drabbles: Undercover Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x Reader Rating: M Words: 9748
Irreverent Series Masterlist
ONLY READ THIS IF YOU’VE ALREADY READ THROUGH PART 41 OF THE MAIN IRREVERENT SERIES
It was an odd sort of awful feeling - wanting to go away and wanting to go nowhere.
It had been about a month since the Senate hearing and you'd stayed. You'd thought about leaving - dropping off another resignation letter or just reusing the original one. You'd sat in the office long after everyone had left, even printed it out a few times. Yet, you never made it up the steps to his office. You never actually submitted it again. As you left the office, you tossed it into the paper shredder. You did that every few days for two weeks, before you finally accepted you weren't about to leave.
It had been about a month since the Senate hearing, and no second resignation letter had arrived on his desk in the middle of the night, so Hotch had accepted that you were staying. He'd spent the week after the hearing in perpetual paranoia every time he saw you - wondering if now would be when you quit again - wondering if he'd walk into work the next day and find envelopes on his desk and this time you wouldn't conveniently still be at home. In his gut, he knew that if you left, he'd likely never see you again.
*------------*
Hotch was making you go to a Bureau therapist to get recertified for the field. Apparently once you kill your own father during a mission as revenge for murdering your brother and being responsible for the near death of your best friend, it sprouted some doubts about your emotional and mental fitness to handle a firearm. It was a joke. He might've written those questions but every single one of you knew how to answer them in order to pass.
He hadn't even had the fucking decency to tell you to your face. You'd simply been summoned by the psychiatrist, a Dr. Barnes, who had peered at you over her glasses with fake concern. She asked if you'd attended your father's funeral. The Bureau had returned his body to your mother, taking care to cover the bullet hole in his head - or so you'd been told. You hadn't actually attended. Your mother had tried to get in touch with you but you'd avoided all calls. You'd commemorated the day in your own way, pulling Julian's old bike out of storage and riding it up to a rented cabin in West Virginia, with no cell service, where you proceeded to drink until you blacked out.
*------------*
Derek was worried about you. You could tell in the way he always offered to train you after work, always asked if you wanted to grab a drink after a case, and tried to make sure you had plans every single weekend you happened to be free. The first time, you lied and told him you were meeting up with some old friends from Harvard. He showed up at your house late Saturday morning and called your bluff. After that you didn't bother lying to him but you also didn't want to do anything. The two of you spent many afternoons on your couch with him introducing you to the Star Wars movies. He couldn't believe you'd grown up with brothers and had never seen them. You told him that Dominic had been far too old to spend time with a baby and Julian, well, Julian had never really been into that sort of thing.
Reid tagged along a couple of times too, which you appreciated because he'd always add in fun little tidbits about the actors and knew all the behind the scenes dirt. He told you he still wasn't talking to JJ. You'd be a hypocrite to advise him otherwise, so you merely nodded sympathetically while the two of you sampled every brand of scotch you'd managed to get your hands on. You did, however, tell him to not follow your example on the matter. JJ wasn't really the person to be blamed for this. He'd said it himself - Aaron Hotchner was solely responsible for the combined misery you'd all experienced.
*------------*
Emily was coming back. Apparently not even dying could keep Emily Prentiss from doing the job. Hotch was making her go to the therapist as well. Faking your death - another thing that warranted FBI psychiatric clearance. You'd dropped off the list of the questions Dr. Barnes had asked you on her desk. Couldn't hurt to be overprepared.
*------------*
You were professional. That was really the best word he could use to describe you in the aftermath. You did your job and you did it well, leaving nearly no room for him to complain. Morgan had pulled him aside and mentioned to him that prior to the Doyle mission, he'd been seriously considering promoting you. Apparently you'd shouldered a lot of his responsibility while Hotch had been away and done it all incredibly well. You'd even sat in on a few meetings where Morgan was double booked and Rossi was unavailable and handled it with ease.
Aaron wasn't surprised at that - you'd always been good at maneuvering politically. However, right then, with the Senate hearing still visible in the rear view mirror, he couldn't even fathom promoting you. Too much had happened and he needed to feel more confident in your commitment to staying with the Bureau and on the team before he made any decisions regarding your future.
With the future in mind, he knew that he also had to take some important steps towards rectifying his own. Step one was to get rid of his own ridiculous feelings for you. They were unwarranted. You were not the most beautiful woman ever. You were not the funniest person he'd ever known. You were not alarmingly bright and wonderfully perceptive.
Maybe if he said it enough times, he'd start to believe it.
He had to find fault in you. Aaron Hotchner did not tolerate faults and he wouldn't tolerate them in you of all people. You had to know that you meant nothing to him. That you were not special.
Easier said than done, but it was a work in progress.
*------------*
We don't realize we're special until we're treated as less than.
Hotch didn't pair the two of you together anymore for anything. He didn't sit by you on the plane. He didn't walk by your desk and hand you a coffee he'd grabbed on the way, exactly what you liked. There were no more late nights at work with the two of you in his office, working through paperwork together. You made it a point to leave when everyone else did so you'd never be alone with him. The one time you'd stayed late to wrap up a report, he'd uncharacteristically left early.
There was a part of you that missed the easy friendship you had with him. You knew it had been different between the two of you - you'd had a natural sort of chemistry, you laughed at the same things, and you knew that at your core you always had tried to align your values to his. His values made sense. Now however, he barely even looked at you, and despite you still being upset with him, you really didn't understand why he was upset with you. Rossi had told you that he'd reacted poorly to you quitting, like it was some sort of personal attack. Which you suppose it had been, though not for the reason he thought.
At some point, Hotch had started to call you Agent. Not by your name, but Agent. Agent L/N or just L/N. You hadn't noticed it at first but after a while it became quite evident. Emily had been the one to point it out, asking if it was Hotch's way of punishing you or distancing from you. After that you couldn't help but notice it and you had to train yourself to not flinch anytime he said it. It didn't sound right. You'd always been Y/N. He only called you by your last name for introductions, never personally.
Derek had told you to just apologize or at least clear the air with Hotch so that working with him would be easier. But, why should you be the one to do that? Yes, sure, you'd gone a little renegade and killed your father. But what he did was so much worse and it was made more worse because you know you can't fault him from a professional standpoint. You realize that's really what's at play there - the rest of them didn't take his lies and him leaving personally. You had.
You'd taken some of Dr. Barnes' advice and tried to really think through why you're hurt by Hotch more than the others. Sure, the two of you spent more time together compared to anyone else, because of Jack. You'd gotten used to spending weekends with the Hotchners, having them both over for brunch, going to the farmer's market together, having days at the park sitting on a bench as Jack played with the other kids while you and Hotch sat on a bench with coffees in hand. They had been your normal. The kind of normal you'd never really thought you'd get to have.
He had hurt you - he was the one person you'd have bet on to never lie to you and never hurt you, and he had. You know that if you told Dr. Barnes this, she'd tell you that you saw Hotch as a father figure and him lying to you reminded you of how your father had manipulated you your entire life. It didn't take a psychiatrist to know that you didn't trust people easily, and the one person you had trusted implicitly had broken your trust.
You're not sure if it's the trust thing as much as the fact that he simply hadn't been there when you needed him. You knew that was your own fault. You'd built a whole new life for yourself, and between work and Jack, Hotch had become the anchor in that new life. You shouldn't have done that - made another human being so entirely central to the stability of your life. That had been a mistake.
*------------*
There was something different about you and Morgan. You two had always gotten along but he'd picked up on the fact that things had changed when he'd first returned for the Doyle mission. He briefly finds himself wondering if the two of you are somehow together. You definitely flirt with him, all big eyes and hair flips, sultry voice and obvious jokes. It's not too different from how you flirt with anyone though. There had been moments before he'd left, when he'd convinced himself you were flirting with him - moments when you were the only one to see the same things he did, ones where you'd quietly brush by him with the smallest of smiles on your face, the dry sarcastic quips that were designed just for him. It was all subtle and nuanced and he'd ended up projecting his own feelings onto those situations, convincing himself that they meant something. Somewhere in all the little personal things, that was how you really flirted. Or so he told himself.
Even now, when someone said something actually funny or particularly stupid, his eyes sought yours. He couldn't help himself. He'd look up to see if you'd caught what he had, but you were always looking down or away. Once, he'd thought you'd turned to look at him as well and he'd turned his head so fast he almost got whiplash. But you were already looking at something else. He thought he could see the barest of smiles on your face, but with his luck he'd probably imagined it.
You didn't laugh around him anymore. You didn't even really smile around him. You did your job and that was it. There hadn't been any team gatherings or happy hours where he got to see you loosen up and enjoy yourself. You'd skipped out on the one gathering at Rossi's place, citing a prior engagement, but he had a feeling it was because of him. You didn't let him see you anymore.
He's found himself lingering outside of conference rooms or walking slowly past the bullpen, just to catch a glimpse of a smile or a hint of your laugh - something to remind him of who you used to be when you weren't Agent L/N. He catches it sometimes, usually because of something Morgan had said.
Then he'd remember - he's supposed to not like you. There you were, laughing, joking around at work. You should be working instead of wasting time. He thinks about telling you as much, but he knows what will happen - your face will change into the neutral expression you tend to wear around him now and he'd have to live with the knowledge that he'd been the one to remove a smile from your face. Operation Fall-Out-Of-Love-With-Her-You-Complete-Idiot-Hotchner wasn't going so well.
*------------*
You haven't seen Jack since Hotch got back. Asking him to see his son - just his son - probably wouldn't go over too well. You're not even sure if he knows you saw Jack regularly while he was gone. The two of you barely spoke while he was in Pakistan and unless Jack remembered to mention it during one of their chats or Jess told him, he doesn't know. It's not exactly the right thing to do, seeing a kid without their parent's permission. It's not. You know that. You're worried if you ask him, that he'll say no. He won't want someone who's a killer around his kid.
Once, after a case, you tried to beat him to Jess's house to just really quickly say hello to Jack and check to see how he's doing. You ran a red light trying to make it there before him, but Hotch drives fast. Faster than you ever could. Your hands tremble at the wheel at anything above seventy, so you're rarely the person who drives during a case. He'd beaten you there and you watched from your car down the street, the night cloaking you. Watched him grab Jack into a hug and the two of them walk back to Hotch's car together while Jack's telling him some story that you know you would've loved to hear. Somehow you managed to make it back home despite the tears clouding your eyes.
Jack's room in your house stood exactly the same as the last time he'd been there. The sheets were changed every two weeks and everything was dusted whenever you cleaned up the rest of the house. You wanted it to be ready for him - just in case. A few more photos had made their way onto the wall - one from the summer with you two at the fair, Jack holding onto some cotton candy. Sophie had taken that one and she'd been extra careful to get your whole outfit in the frame. You were very proud of her - her photography skills had improved a lot over the months you'd gotten to know her better. There were also a couple pictures of Jack with his cousins and one of him and Jess from the time you'd arrived a little early and she'd asked you to come join them all for breakfast. Jess had become a good friend to you in the time that Hotch was away. The two of you spoke often about Haley, as you'd asked her to tell you her and Hotch's story. You knew he'd promised her that he would tell their son how they got together, but you wanted to be able to supplement that as well. Jack deserved to know how in love his parents were, from as many people as possible.
Finally, after weeks of debating it, you decide to drop by Jack's preschool the morning of a case, in the hope that arriving a little late to the airport would be more excusable than arriving late to work. Traffic getting there could be a nightmare. You waited until you were sure that Hotch had already dropped him off. Parking quickly, you flashed your badge, bypassing the main office and quickly went to Jack's classroom. His teacher told you that they were just about to start an activity, but she allowed Jack to step outside and see you for a moment while she watched diligently.
"Y/N!" His excited voice and quick run over into your arms was the absolute cutest thing you'd ever seen and you had to try hard not to cry as you held him. As if sensing that you needed a moment, he allowed you to wrap him in your arms and waited to tell you more about everything he did the day before. That was the thing about Jack, he never complained when all you wanted to do was hold him.
You made it to the airport and were only about five minutes late, but Hotch still glared at you and called you out for keeping everyone. However, not even he could put you out of your good mood afterwards. It had been entirely worth it.
*------------*
"You're moving really stiff," Derek tells you as you unbandage your hands after spending a quick session in the ring with him.
The two of you were the last ones in the Bureau gym and it was late at night. You're wearing leggings and a sports bra, having given up wearing a shirt a while back. The basement got far too stuffy for layers and the guys walked around shirtless most of the time anyways.
"I know," you respond, getting the last of the bandages off and grabbing his water bottle from him. You'd forgotten yours and you're the one who had the real work out. He makes a face as you tilt your head back and nearly finish the entire thing, before handing him back the remaining two sips. "My shoulders really hurt," you whine.
Sighing, he walks over to you. "Turn around," he instructs.
You turn and he moves your hair out of the way, placing his hands on the back of your neck and shoulders. You try to relax as he kneads your taut muscles into pliancy. Derek had amazing hands and you're convinced he could always become a masseuse if the whole FBI thing wasn't working out. You tell him as much and he chuckles, thumbs pressing into the juncture of your neck and shoulder, pushing a soft moan out of your mouth.
"Easy princess, got a girlfriend now," he says teasingly softly. "Can't be making sounds like that."
You laugh as he continues, trying to be more careful, but it was hard. "I think I just need to get laid at this point," you tell him. He hums from behind you and you know he agrees. He's still amazed that you've lasted this long without.
"You gonna do something about it?" Derek continues, kneading both shoulders firmly and working out all of the kinks.
"I actually downloaded a dating app," you admit, trying your best not to lean into him. He just felt so good. You have to remind yourself that you'd had the chance to sleep with Derek. Trying anything now, when he'd just started to hit it off with someone else, would be disrespectful. And well, as good as you're sure it would be with Derek, there's something not quite right about sleeping with him. You'd only want to sleep with Derek if you could be sure you'd only ever want to sleep with him.
"How'd that go?" He pats you on the back, prompting you to turn back around to face him.
"Mm not so good. Have men always sucked this much or is it a new phenomenon?" you ask him, eyebrow quirked as you grab the towel he hands you.
Derek shakes his head in amusement. "You've never really had to try dating before, have you?"
"No. First it was Matthew and then John. The other guys I met either through friends or just in life. I don't know, it's probably just me. I don't know how to do the whole hook up thing, and that's what guys are looking for it seems."
"Then I guess you're stuck holding out for someone you already know and trust," he tells you, leading you out to the locker rooms.
"Ah, so it's between Reid or Rossi. Unfortunately neither one of them really does it for me, and I'm sure hooking up with Rossi will bring out some unfortunate daddy issues I've been stifling," you joke, rolling your eyes at the hopelessness of the situation.
Neither one of you bring up the one name you'd left out. The one person on the team who was single, available, and yet entirely untouchable. Not that you'd want to sleep with Hotch. He was attractive, sure. You're adult enough to admit that. But any sex between the two of you right now would really only be classified as hate sex and you didn't think you could stomach the thought of having him fucking you while you're both still upset with one another. Not that you wanted to sleep with him at all. But if you did…
God, I really need to get laid if I'm thinking about sex with Hotch.
*------------*
The latest case was taking the team to New Jersey. You might have only spent one proper year in New York, but like every good property tax paying New Yorker, it was your right to despise New Jersey to its rotten core. The only time you deigned to go to New Jersey was to learn how to make tiramisu from Mrs. Costello, who had wrapped you up in her arms the moment she saw you and asked you why you didn't simply date her son. You and Ricky had gotten a good laugh out of that.
There were three women who had already shown up dead, all of them found in positions of prayer or devotion, with obvious signs of sexual assault. The working theory was that it was a group of unsubs - at least three of them - based on the physical evidence. You're all on the plane and Garcia was pulling up the last images of all three girls. It appeared they'd all been out, partying at various nightclubs and bars around downtown. Their attire from the nights they'd gone missing was entirely in contrast to the white gowns their bodies had been found in.
You looked over the statements that had been collected by the family members. All three girls appeared to fit a type - not with regard to looks but more so personality. They all partied, seemed to be going places in life, and you had a feeling they were at least somewhat sexually liberal.
"We're going to have to map out all of their last movements," Hotch tells Garcia, who begins to type furiously. "None of these women appear to have any connections in common, so there is the possibility they were chosen at random on the night they were out. In which case, profiling the victims is just as important as profiling the unsub."
"Repressive religious beliefs for the unsubs," Morgan chimes in, to wide agreement. The religious undertones were apparent in the positioning of the victims.
"Likely also all brought up in homes with oppressive father figures," JJ says. "The violent nature of the attack is indicative of someone who was beat up as a kid."
"I think they have a problem with women who are sexually liberal," you add. "Madonna-whore complex, where women are either to be exalted or degraded, no in between. They want to punish the whores."
Hotch can't deny that you're spot on in your assessment, and it was the first piece of the profile that he hadn't thought of himself already. He shares a look with Morgan who is seated next to you. Morgan had been pestering Hotch to consider you for a promotion, and while Hotch had been on the lookout for anything to find fault with, arriving five minutes late one time really wasn't grounds to deny someone a deserving promotion. Though that hadn't stopped him from stewing about it the entire week it had happened. He'd gone and given you a hard time about it and you hadn't spoken up at all, simply letting him bully you slightly. He'd ended up feeling guilty for his behavior and let you run point on the interrogation to make up for it. Which had gone exactly as you'd planned for it to. His excuses for not promoting you were getting weaker by the day.
Once on the ground, Reid and you worked together to build out a geographic profile of the unsubs' hunting and dumping grounds and established a zone of comfort while the rest went to the crime scenes and scoped out all of the night clubs the girls had frequented.
Using credit card charges, Garcia was able to narrow down to a single club that all three girls had been gone to at some point during their night out. It wasn't always the place they'd been grabbed, but being the only one in common, it could be assumed that it was where the victims were chosen. Per the accelerating kill time, Hotch and Rossi were convinced that the next victim would be taken the next day which was a Saturday night. Prime going out night with a large pool of candidates, and all of the other victims had also disappeared on Saturday nights.
"Prentiss and I checked out the place," Derek says as everyone is assembled in the conference room over dinner on Friday night. "It's kind of a night club and hookah lounge combination. Plenty of private tables along the walls for a group to sit and scope out the joint, pick a girl and get her drunk."
JJ had ordered Chinese food for the team and you all had boxes of chow-mein and kung pao in front of you, chopsticks in hand as you eat. Rossi had given up using the chopsticks and had grabbed a fork - the Italian-approved utensil- and it was something you and Hotch would've made fun of him for before. You find yourself looking to see if he's noticed Rossi's complete inability to even try with the chopsticks but he's looking past you at the white board, reading over all of the notes. For the best really. Not like you two could even manage to smile in the same space together.
Hotch turns away from the whiteboard and watches as you reach over to Morgan's plate and pick off the broccoli he'd pushed to the side. He'd gotten better at ignoring these little bits of intimacy he caught between the two of you. The only other person you had such an easygoing relationship with was Prentiss, and the two of you weren't entirely back to how you'd been before everything.
A couple of weeks ago, he'd happened to walk by the bullpen on the way to a strategy meeting, when he'd overheard Morgan and Prentiss talking about a date he'd gone on. He'd slowed down in order to pick up on details and when he heard the name of some girl - who decidedly was not you - he'd felt his heart jump ever so slightly. Making sure to keep his expression neutral, he'd continued down to the elevators. If Morgan was dating someone that wasn't you, he had to imagine that meant the two of you were not together. Judging by the fact that your and his relationship was unchanged over this entire period, he put two and two together and determined that you had never actually been together and he'd simply picked up on the closer relationship the two of you now shared, bred in his absence.
"Easiest thing would be to send someone undercover," Rossi says, eyeing all three of the women around the table.
JJ raises her hand to volunteer, but you had a feeling that she might not be the best choice in this scenario, and you say as much. It's an unspoken rule on the team to not profile one another, but well, none of you could really help it. It came naturally. You doubted she was used to these environments, especially not in a place like New Jersey.
"JJ, have you ever been to a hookah lounge?"
She shakes her head no.
"If you had to think about demographics that go to this place," you say, turning to Derek and Emily, "what kind of people would you say frequent it?"
"Girls interested in showing off the latest designer bag, get drunk, and hoping to meet some guy with money. Guys looking for girls exactly like that," Emily answers with a small smile on her face. She knew where you're going with this. JJ would stick out like a sore thumb there.
You look at Derek. "You and I are probably the only ones that could blend in."
He agrees and the two of you look at Hotch for his approval, which comes after a second. He knows that going undercover is the most expedited way to catch these unsubs but he's always nervous when sending agents in as bait.
"I'm going to need to go shopping. I forgot my clubbing clothes," you tell him.
Hotch nods. "Stick to a budget please."
"Always do," you reply, taking a bite of your eggroll. "Anyone want to come help me pick my whore outfit?" you ask facetiously, a small smirk emerging on your face.
Emily laughs and agrees to accompany you. From the corner of your eye you see Hotch's jaw tighten ever so slightly. Well, nothing you could do about that. It's hard to be perfectly professional all the time, and you were trying dammit.
Aaron was extremely uncomfortable having you be very obviously tarted-up bait for unsubs who had brutalized three women already. He knew it was the team's best shot at catching these guys and he hadn't been able to disagree with your assertion that JJ wasn't the right pick for the setting. However, hearing you refer to yourself as a whore - even jokingly - struck a nerve. You were anything but.
Why he'd had such a strong reaction to that word in reference to you, is something he'd have to examine more later. He knew it was at least somewhat tied to his own religious upbringing. The knowledge that you were incredibly deliberate with who you slept with had given him some sense of peace earlier on. It had been something he shared with you and back then he'd added it to the list of reasons why he should just tell you how he felt. You two were utterly compatible in most ways. Of course, that had been then and this was now. Things had changed.
*------------*
Hotch had already coordinated with the club and they'd given Garcia access to their internal security system. Using her own particular brand of technical magic, Garcia had been able to enhance the live stream video quality so that they could have a view of everything going on in the club and keep eyes on you constantly.
The team was monitoring from two locations - a couple of large vans from where Rossi and Hotch would be monitoring both of the entry points to the club. You walk into the conference room where Derek, Emily, and Reid are sitting, to a low whistle from Derek.
"Looking good princess," he says, eyeing you and up and down and standing to walk over to you. "We're gonna have to fight the boys off of you so you can actually get to the unsubs at all."
Emily had done a good job helping you pick an outfit. The two of you had had a good shopping trip (almost like old times) and you'd decided on a slinky gold slip dress with a deep slit that hugged you perfectly, paired with strappy nude heels. It was reminiscent of outfits you'd worn when you went out in New York. You'd made up your face completely to the point where you felt you were barely recognizable and your hair cascaded past your shoulders. You knew you looked good.
You look at Derek and he's just wearing jeans and a button down that he already had with him. Men! It was far too easy for them.
Emily hands you an earpiece, reminding you that you won't have a weapon with you, so you have to be extra careful.
Hotch walks into the conference room, mid-conversation with Rossi on coordinating their locations, and stops dead in his tracks when he sees you. He looks you up and down while you're distracted, speaking with Prentiss. The dress clung to your skin, moving with you like water. Your breasts were pushed out as much as possible while still maintaining a modicum of decency and as you stepped to the side, the slit gave him a view of your legs, all the way up to your smooth thighs, in a manner he found entirely too sensual. You were hot. He has to swallow and force himself to return to his conversation with Rossi, who absolutely knows what had distracted him.
Aaron had always bucketed you under the cute label, with your prissy cardigans and long sleeved blouses. This outfit, however, was undeniably hot, and he's forced to admit that he's far too enamored by it. Dangerously so.
You turn and see that Hotch and Rossi have arrived as well and you turn to face them, looking at Hotch. "So?" you ask. You're not sure why you asked him, it had simply slipped out. You didn't care what he thought, and it wasn't as though Hotch was in the habit of commenting on your appearance.
You watch as he keeps his eyes fixed on yours and nods. "You look like the perfect bait," he says, no change to his usual straight lined expression.
You offer him a half-smile, unsure how to take his compliment. If it indeed had been one. He hadn't really even looked at you. Before, he would've at least looked at you properly even if you knew that outfits like this really weren't his cup of tea. No, Hotch definitely went for subtle sexuality, not the in-your-face kind. Regardless, you thought he might want to see what you'd bought with his Bureau card, but well, apparently not.
*------------*
You and Derek enter the club separately as the night is in full swing. It was better to arrive towards the middle rather than be too early and draw attention of the wrong sort. You make a beeline to the bar through the throngs of people dancing to the loud music, and catch the attention of the only female bartender there.
"I'm going to ask you for shots all night," you tell her, leaning across the bar so only she can hear you. "I need you to make sure that all you give me is water." You slide a few hundred dollar bills to her and she looks you up and down to memorize who you are, before nodding and sliding the bills into her pocket.
With that part out of the way, you start to make your way through the crowd to get a better feel for the place, dancing alongside random people as you do. As Derek and Emily had said, the layout of the club had a large dance floor in the center, surrounded by private tables with people either drinking or smoking from large hookah sets. There was some ventilation in the ceilings to prevent the place from becoming too smoke filled, however it still caused a hazy sort of atmosphere which admittedly went well with the dark room and thumping music.
"Status update?" Hotch asks from his spot in the van that was at the back of the club near the alley.
"Nothing yet," you respond, acting as though you're simply singing along to the music. Being in a loud, crowded club was really only bearable when you're drinking, and forcing yourself to move along to the music was proving to be harder than anticipated.
Hotch had half the cameras in the room trained on you to make sure you were alright. He'd already instructed Garcia to make sure there wasn't a single second you weren't on a screen.
You look around the room as you dance, swaying your hips to the music. There are hands that graze past you, boys trying to cop a feel or ones who simply start dancing behind you, sight unseen. You try to maintain your focus as you slowly turn and assess the dynamics of every table on the outskirts. You skip past the ones that have more than one girl seated there. These unsubs wouldn't take someone who came with friends. Those were witnesses. They'd want a girl that had split off from her group.
As you're turning, you catch sight of a table with three men. The middle one is posturing, his body language calm and at ease. The other two sit on either side of him, flanking him. All three of them are dressed similarly to Derek, dark jeans and button downs. Dark hair on all of them with well kept beards indicate that they've been friends for some time, likely grew up together. People in close proximity for extended periods of time end up mimicking one another's style.
Turning away from the table, you speak, "My eight o'clock, table with the three guys. Get me a read on the group dynamics?"
They can barely make out what you said over the loud music, but Garcia has a camera trained on you and Reid's lipreading ability comes in handy to supplement whatever was unclear. Garcia moves one of the cameras remotely, and Hotch looks at the table of men you'd indicated. A group of three fits the profile and their body language definitely indicated that the two men on the side were subservient to the one in the middle.
"The one on the right, he's the weakest link," he tells you. He would be your target, in an attempt to subvert the group dynamics. The alpha wouldn't like that you'd gone for the one he perceived as the lowest of them and would want to lash out or impress you himself.
"You're probably going to have to do something more than wear that dress and dance to get their attention," Emily says. You know she's right. You blend in with this crowd a little too much. You'll have to go further to get their attention.
"Garcia, run facial recognition on all of them and see what you can find," Hotch instructs, as he watches you on the screen, making your way to the bar and indicating to the bartender from earlier to give you two shots. He watches you down them both and make a face as though it was cheap vodka and not simply water.
Your eyes scan the crowd for Derek. It was time to kick things up a notch. You see him dancing at a spot across from the unsubs. As his eyes meet yours he makes a come hither gesture at you with two fingers, that is undeniably hot. You narrow your eyes at him, a smirk on your face, as you make your way through the crowd again and start dancing nearby. You won't go to him directly. Letting him come to you would send a better message to the unsubs.
"Hi Princess." You feel rather than hear his greeting as he comes up behind you, shoving past another guy who had been trying to dance with you. He wraps his arms around your waist and the two of you move against one another to the beat of the music. You turn yourself so you can see the table with the three men and your eyes seek out the one that Hotch had told you to focus on. Derek continues to grind against you, shielding you from anyone else.
Reid had once told you that if you stare at someone for more than six seconds, they can usually feel it and will instinctively turn to look at you. Time to test that out. All three of the men are scanning the crowd, and you can tell they're hunting. Looking for their next prey.
Derek continues to guide your hips with his, letting you do your job and still blend in for the time being. The one you're targeting finally looks at you and as you make eye contact with him, you raise your hand to sweep your hair to one side. Derek can take a hint. His lips find the side of your neck as the two of you continue to dance, and you and the unsub continue to watch one another, his intense, dark gaze boring into you. You give him a small smile, moving your hips in an exaggerated manner. You know you have his attention. He continues to look around after a few more seconds, but his eyes keep wandering back to you.
"We good?" Derek whispers into your ear, before standing up straighter, his warm lips leaving the side of your neck. He knew the team was watching as well, and while it was hard to tell in the dark, he'd really only rested his lips against your skin, nothing more.
You turn to face him and smile placing your hands on your chest, nodding imperceptibly. You were more than good. Now you just had to do something to push it over the edge.
Aaron watches as you walk away from Morgan and back to the bar. He'd watched you and Morgan dance against one another, the way you'd moved your hair to give him something to work with as his lips came to rest against your skin. He knew better now than to think it was anything more than friendly, but he couldn't help the clawing feeling in his stomach as he'd watched the two of you gyrate against one another. Unnecessarily close, in his opinion. The camera Garcia had trained on your face was his personal torture, as he watched you smile and make bedroom eyes at the unsub.
You get back to the bar and hold up four fingers to your bartender and she quickly makes a show of pouring out shots while actually only filling four shot glasses with water and placing them in front of you. You slide over some more cash as if you're paying for the alcohol, and then turn to look at the table again. All three of them are looking in your direction now, and you know better than to waste the opportunity. You pick up the first shot and make a cheers motion in their direction, before downing it in one go. You proceed to down the other three as well and let out a loud and exaggerated Woo! before swaying back onto the dance floor, making sure to make your movement appear a little clumsy.
"Kid, looks like they're eyeing that redhead dancing near them," Rossi says, his worried voice coming through loud and clear to you as there was a din in music for a quick second.
You look to the girl he's talking about and you know he's right. She's been dancing with a few guys at a time and looks far too drunk to function. "Garcia, are these our guys?"
"One of them owns a property near the first dump site and they all grew up going to the same orthodox church. They all have a record - mostly for assault but the one in the middle also brought a knife to his college class and threatened some girl who didn't agree to date him."
"Good enough for me," you say, waiting for their agreement, which comes quickly.
Your eyes scan the crowd through the dark and after a couple of minutes, you spot what you're looking for. You stumble your way through the crowd as casually as possible, making sure to angle yourself in their line of sight. You approach a wispy blonde girl who had been dancing by herself for some time and you begin to dance with her. She responds quickly, moving to be closer to you, her hands finding their way to your waist as you both move together.
Aaron watches as you begin to dance with the young blonde girl who was dancing almost directly in front of the unsubs' table, unsure of what you're going for. However, your intention becomes clear very quickly when you reach out and grab the girl's face, crashing your lips against hers. Nothing like two girls making out on the dance floor to get the attention of every guy in a fifty foot radius. He watches as well, completely entranced. I have to watch, he tells himself. Sure Hotchner. Sure.
You pull apart from the girl, licking your lips. Hmm, she hadn't seemed to mind, as she'd kissed you back rather enthusiastically. You throw her a wink and a smile, before walking towards the restroom, which just so happen to be in the direction of the table the three men are at.
As you walk by, you're careful to stumble and fall, imploring the weakest link to reach out a hand to help stabilize you.
"Oh my god! Thank you sooo much!" Your voice comes out super high and exaggerated, exactly the way you'd expect a girl to sound six shots in.
Instead of continuing on your way, you grab onto his hand tighter, throwing him a large, grateful smile. He smiles back, dragging you into their seating area.
"I'm Caleb," he yells at you over the loud music, "And that's Connor and Keith," he says, indicating towards the other two men.
You smile at all of them, keeping your hand still clasped around Caleb's. "I'm Y/N!" you tell them, smiling and moving your tongue to lick your lips again.
"You looked good out there," Caleb tells you, looking at you and then turning to the other two men who nod and agree.
"You want a hit?" the one in the middle, Keith, asks, handing you the Hookah pipe.
You nod, getting up from next to Caleb and wedging yourself between the two men, but making sure to lean more into Connor still. Grabbing the pipe he hands you, you look around at them all. "Where are you boys from?"
"In town," Connor, the last one, answers, seemingly annoyed that you're now seated between his two friends.
You nod again, bringing the pipe to your mouth and wrapping your lips around the opening before inhaling in deeply. It had been a while since you'd done this, and you're a little nervous you're going to mess up. Just focus, breathe it in, hold it. Parting your lips, you blow out slowly, forming rings of smoke in front of you.
"And this is why she's the one that went in." You hear JJ's voice on the earpiece and have to compose your reaction and stay in the moment, making small talk with the three men and allowing Caleb to move his hand to your thigh.
Hotch watches as you interact with the unsubs. He's already dispatched teams to the property that was near the prior dumpsite and is waiting for an update. The three men - boys, really - are being far too chatty with you, all three of them crowding you on the cushions. One of them offers a drink and you make a joke about not accepting drinks from strangers. Good girl.
Caleb has been trying to convince the other two that you should be their target for the night. You can tell by the way his hands haven't left you, but he's also encouraged you to cozy up to his buddies.
"You want to come back to our place with us?" he asks, his eyes gleaming.
You know this has to be the first time any girl has paid him alone this much attention. But he needs their buy in to bring you back. It won't happen if you appear to be only interested in him.
"All of you?" you ask, lowering your gaze and allowing your long, dark lashes to graze your cheeks before looking around the entire seating area, giving each boy individual eye contact.
"You want it to be just me?" he asks.
You know the other two won't like that at all. It's obvious from how you feel Keith tense up behind you.
"Oh, I think on your own, I'd eat you right up," you whisper to Caleb, biting your lip. You know that Keith heard you, as you can feel him laugh right behind.
Caleb seems a little annoyed and yet entirely flustered as he looks around at his buddies. He must've received the go ahead, because he nods. "Yeah baby, all of us."
You smile. Boys were so easy. "Hmm," you say, grabbing the pipe once again and inhaling, before blowing a small cloud of smoke into Caleb's face. "Alright," you breathe out.
Caleb moves through the smoke to kiss you, but you make him stop with a hand to his chest. "Let me just use the restroom really quickly, and then we can all…have fun together," you say, a sultry smile planted on your face.
He nods, the two of you looking around to see if the other two are also onboard.
Caleb helps you stand as you make your way to the bathroom, bypassing several girls in line by citing an emergency, and wedging yourself into a stall so that you can talk to the team for a moment.
"Guys, we don't have enough yet, do we?"
"No," you hear Reid say. "We either need them to allude to the other girls or find physical evidence at the property."
"Alright. Then, let them rough me up a bit. Don't intervene until you have to."
"I don't know about that, princess," Morgan says, and you can hear the worry in his voice.
"I'll be fine. I can handle it. Let me try and get it out of them at least."
"Okay." It's Rossi this time. Hotch has been uncharacteristically quiet for the past twenty minutes.
You make your way back outside to meet the unsubs.
Hotch watches as you walk out of the restroom and back towards the table. He did not like this at all. You were willingly about to put yourself in danger to get a confession or some allusion to the crimes, but he hadn't been able to think of a good enough professional reason to make you not do this.
You walk up and hold your hand out for Caleb to grab and the three men lead you out to the front, telling you that their car is parked around the next block. You hook your arm into Keith's elbow and smile up at him as he turns to look at you.
"So, do you guys like, do this often?" you ask, looking at Keith.
He looks at you for a second, a smirk on his face. "Sometimes, been a while since the last time we shared a girl though." He looks at the other two and they share a smile.
Caleb still has his hand clasped in yours, and as the four of you make your way down the seemingly empty alleyway, he pushes you up against the wall and shoves his tongue down your throat. You try your best to respond to his attentions, trying to ignore the disgust you feel. His hands grope your waist as he kisses you without any finesse.
The other two boys are simply standing there, waiting for Caleb to finish. "Yeah, what was the last one's name?" Connor asks.
Caleb pulls away from you. "Elizabeth," he says, not removing his eyes from yours. You feel a shiver run down your spine. His expression is entirely different from how it had been inside.
That's it though. That's all you really needed. You hope the team is headed your way, because you know you have to get out now before they escalate.
"Actually," you say, allowing for some exaggerated nervousness to enter your voice. "I'm not too sure I should do this. My friends are probably looking for me." You start to extract yourself from Caleb's grasp, however he tightens his hold on you. Where were they?
Keith comes to corner you against the wall himself, shoving Caleb out of the way. "You're coming back with us, now," he says, his voice deep and low, as he gets right up against your face. You can tell he has a weapon on him. "Can't be backing out now." You feel your stomach clench tighter.
"FBI! Let her go!"
You turn and see Derek, Hotch, Emily, and Rossi standing in the alleyway, their guns raised and pointed at the three men. It's in your best interest to act like you aren't with them still. You pretend to look terrified, looking from Keith to the team.
Both Caleb and Connor try to make a run for it and are easily apprehended by Emily and Rossi. Now it's just Keith and you, his face still far too close to your own as you're shoved against the wall. He reaches for his gun in his pocket, and before either Derek or Hotch can react, he has the barrel pressed to your temple as he grabs you roughly, walking backwards away from them.
"Don't come any closer, or I'll shoot the girl," he says, dragging you back with him.
Hotch watches as the unsub grips your arm tight, and he can tell you're still putting on the act of being a civilian as you claw at him and beg him to let you go. However, neither he nor Morgan have a clear shot at Keith and he can feel a pit growing in his stomach. You'd trusted him - them - to protect you and now you have a gun to your head and there's easily a 70/30 chance of him shooting you just to escape. Despite the fact that he knows you're acting, your terrified face is still far too much for him to bear as he holds his gun tight. Maybe you weren't acting anymore.
"Alright, we're going to put our weapons down," he says, speaking calmly to the unsub and appealing to his rational side. "You let the girl go."
"No," he shouts against your ear. "You probably have snipers waiting to take me down. It's a trick!"
Aaron's stomach drops as Keith grips you harder and shoves the gun tighter against your head. "I'm serious, I'll kill her."
He watches your face, you stop protesting against him and your eyes go to Morgan. He sees the barest of smiles appear, and before he has the chance to wonder what on earth you could possibly be smiling about in a situation like this, you throw Morgan a quick wink as well. What the hell!
The next second, you've elbowed Keith, ducked from bullet range, stomped on his foot and flipped him over and onto the ground, his gun in your hand, pointed at his face. It happened so quickly that Aaron could barely believe it had happened at all. You had just flipped over a man at least twice your weight. In a dress. And heels. Aaron would be lying if he said he wasn't slightly in awe.
You look down at Keith who looked like the wind had been knocked out of him. "Not just a girl," you grind out, shoving your heel into his side.
It's pretty much over after that. Hotch and Derek come to help you and Hotch handcuffs the guy while Derek checks you over for any injuries. You hand over the gun to a uniformed officer in an evidence bag. With any luck, it would match the gunshot wounds on the victims.
After depositing the unsub into the back of a cop car, Aaron comes back to the van where the rest of the team is gathered. He had a feeling that the other two would flip easily on Keith. You won't be needed for interrogation. After that, it would be a pretty cut and dry case.
You're leaned against Morgan, and as he meets his eye, he notes the smirk on his face as if asking Hotch, Seen enough yet? He really wouldn't have an excuse not to promote you now.
"Good job," he tells you as he reaches you. You simply nod at him in acknowledgement.
Your perfectly pinned hair has slipped somewhat and the makeup around your eyes is smudged. If this was before, he could've reached out and pushed the hair back or hugged you to remind himself that you were alright. He knows very clearly that he won't be getting over you. He'd known it at the beginning, but tonight had confirmed it.
He almost wished it was simply because you were pretty. What a concept - liking someone just because they're pretty. It seemed simpler, less permanent. Falling for someone however - not just because they're attractive, but for how they navigate the world, for the way they make others around them feel, for their intelligence, for the way they move, for the way the air crackles around them, for the simple fact that they make you believe - believe in the hope that one day things would be better - that kind of falling for someone has consequences. It leaves track marks that are easy to trace and moving on from that sort of person - he didn't think that was something one could force.
He watches as you slip your heels off, your feet red and raw from having been in them all night long. Your dress had ripped slightly, and the slit exposed more of your upper thighs than before. His eyes glaze over as he watches you walk up into a seat on the van, stretching your legs across another seat and slumping into it, seeming entirely spent. He's not sure how obvious he's being in that moment.
Regardless of anything, he's going to need a cold shower tonight. A long, cold shower.
#Criminal Minds#criminal minds imagine#criminal minds reader insert#aaron hotchner#aaron hotchner imagine#aaron hotchner x reader#aaron hotch x reader#aaron hotchner x you#hotch#hotchner x you#hotchner x y/n#hotch x reader#hotch x you#hotch x y/n#irreverentseries
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Thoughts : WandaVision [Disney+, Episode 9] (2021)

All good things must come to an end, and after roughly a year of speculation and nearly two fabulous months of weekly anticipation, Disney + and Marvel Studios have (seemingly) wrapped up the highly anticipated MCU-based series WandaVision. For the general viewing public, it’s been a slow but steady growth of new fans (which I anticipate to boom now that the series can be binged in its entirety), but for many of us with a vested interest in the MCU (as well as a deep love for nostalgiac television and referential film), WandaVision became the gift that kept on giving : giving us fuel for what became rampant speculation, giving us a deeper insight into Wanda Maximoff as a grieving character and a being with power greater than she understood, and giving us new characters that will surely have a lasting impact on both movies and television series moving forward.
As an experiment on connecting a cinematic universe to an entertainment medium not dependent on box office returns, I would consider WandaVision a success, and one that can not so easily be duplicated by DC or any other entertainment entity. Over a decade of work has been put into the foundation of the MCU that was Phases One - Three, and with a lore firmly established, it was really up to Marvel to fumble transitioning their storytelling style into longform storytelling for television. With a handful of new series on the way, and movies expected by year’s end, the future is exciting for both Marvel and fans of the MCU alike.

THE STORY THUS FAR

Episode 09 : The Series Finale With Tommy (Jett Klyne) and Billy (Julian Hilliard) firmly in tow, Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) continues to goad Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) into a confrontation. Wanda eventually gives in and attempts to attack Agatha, but Agatha absorbs the blows, revealing that she can (and intends to) absorb all of Wanda’s abilities. A greyed-out version of Vision (Paul Bettany) appears and accosts Wanda, but Wanda’s Vision created in The Hex comes to her rescue, confronting and battling Grey Vision while attempting to appeal to any reason in existence. Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) watches from the captivity of a nearby home, with Quicksilver (Evan Peters) standing guard. Director Tyler Hayward (Josh Stamberg) recaptures Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) outside of The Hex, but Woo manages to contact Quantico. Before they can arrive, however, Wanda is forced to partially remove The Hex by Agatha, and Hayward takes advantage of the situation to move S.W.O.R.D. forces into The Hex. After realizing that a complete removal of The Hex will cost her Tommy, Billy and Vision, Wanda seals The Hex once again, leading to a final confrontation between her and Agatha Harkness with major consequences.

THOUGHTS ON THE SHOW For a series that was supposed to introduce us to Phase Four of the MCU, as well as potentially set up Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, I can’t say that I have any complaints with the execution. I came into the show with Wanda Maximoff and Vision as two of my favorite characters, and like many people, I’d been referring to Wanda as Scarlet Witch despite this name designation having not taken place within the MCU. Being rewarded with gift was the perfect amount of fan service (if you can even call it that, as it is key to Wanda’s story), and the way that future storylines have been set up will lead to worlds of revelations in the coming years.
Watching those willing to enjoy the series during its initial run lead to some of the grandest and widespread sets of theories and speculations that I’ve ever seen in regard to a TV show, although the implications of impact on the MCU cinematic universe makes that understandable. The MCU is certainly showing a new approach to this speculation, as the inclusion of Evan Peters (as well as the fun and games they had with the introduction of the latest Spider-man film title) showed us, and I expect more trolling and swerves moving forward. Be it Mephisto, Nightmare, Grim Reaper, Reed Richards, Professor X, Magneto or even Deadpool, the list of names that people attempted to will into existence was incredibly impressive (although, props to those who speculated on Skrulls, who I imagine will be EVERYWHERE moving forward).
As we move forward with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki on Disney +, and the eventual release of Spider-man : No Way Home and Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, I anticipate more magic, more cosmic adventures, and more mind-bending antics that will introduce (and remove) characters from the playing field in soon to be iconic ways. The future is really and truly an open door of possibilities the way that the MCU and Marvel are stepping their game up, and if WandaVision is any indication, be ready for some bold steps ahead.

As we move forward with Wanda Maximoff embracing her Scarlet Witch designation, and the depths of her powers in turn, it seems as if we are seeing Marvel take their already established practice of blurring the lines between hero and villain (a la Bucky) to staggering new heights. It seems as if not even Wanda knows what the true ceiling for her powers is, but with the final moments of her battle with Agatha and the image of her dedicating a projection to absorbing the secrets of the Dark Hold, her ability to learn and adapt appears to be a key element to her strength. With Agatha outright stating that Wanda’s powers exceed that of the Sorcerer Supreme, a clear line in the sand has seemingly been drawn between Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange. Ironically, the discovery of her potential has only made the implied fear from the Infinity Saga into a very real thing in the wake of her manipulation of Westview, which could separate her from the Avengers for a time.

Many speculated that WandaVision would play out as a sort of swansong for the Vision character, and while that appears to be the case for Wanda’s approximation of Vision, the enlightenment given to Grey Vision (and the absence of a resolution for this new character) leaves the door wide open for what will be with the character. As a character (and also thanks to Paul Bettany’s stellar performance of said character), Vision continues to be one of the most compelling members of the MCU cinematic universe with his consistently thought-provoking and deeply emotional dialogue. I thought that WandaVision would be a one-off, and based on the upcoming slate of films that may be the case, but with many unanswered questions left, I wouldn’t be surprised of Vision and Wanda find their way back to the realm of the limited series (again, contingent on character involvement in the already slated projects).

Bravo to Kathryn Hahn for bringing Agatha Harkness to life, and making her an instant fan favorite. With her imprisonment presented at the end of WandaVision, we are not only seeing a potentially powerful played being put on ice and ready to reemerge at any given moment, but her connections to Mephisto and the Fantastic 4 leaves her open for future involvement in the MCU as a key player. With Westview being so close to Avengers headquarters, she also serves as a living reference library for Wanda (although, as mentioned before, Wanda’s connection to the Avengers is unclear at this point).

Another fan favorite was Teyonah Parris, who stepped into the MCU fold in a gigantic way as Monica Rambeau. Using her to bring “reality” into the series was a beautiful play, with her inclusion in The Blip serving as both a marker in the MCU timeline and an emotional shock for viewers looking for a character to root for. It feels as if we have only seen the tip of the iceberg in regard to Monica’s power potential, which leaves room for her evolution to take place on-screen, and based on what we’ve seen thus far, it feels like Photon, Spectrum, Captain Marvel, or possibly even some combination of the three could be her next step. With Nick Fury showing his hand in the form of a Skrull contact, it is almost a sure thing that Monica Rambeau will be playing a key role in the upcoming Secret Invasion storylines.

The appearance of Tommy and Billy marked a huge point of story potential for the MCU, and with so much of their fate left up in the air, seeing where their journey heads will certainly be interesting. With announcements of a handful of future MCU characters on the way, it seems certain that Marvel has plans for the Young Avengers. As previously mentioned, tying the twins physical form to The Hex, only to have them still seemingly alive and in existence somewhere, opens up two very specific doors of narrative : option one being a future encounter with Mephisto, and option two being Wanda’s journey for her twins serving as the breaking point for the Multiverse that sets up the Doctor Strange film.

I am even more excited about the future of the MCU now that I know where Wanda, Vision and all those tied to this series currently sit. With the rampant rumors out there in connection to Spider-man : No Way Home, who even knows if these spaces that each character occupies will be the same by the time we revisit them. What I do know is that the MCU/Marvel Studios and Disney + make a good team, and I will be wholly invested moving forward with anything that comes out of their collective camp.
#ChiefDoomsday#DOOMonFILM#MCU#WandaVision#KevinFeige#ElizabethOlsen#PaulBettany#TeyonahParris#KathrynHahn#JettKlyne#JulianHilliard
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Could you please do #3 for Haline???
haline—“it’s three in the morning.”
Aline decided that she loved the LA institute from the moment she set eyes on it. It was different from the institutes she’d visited before, those all cold stone and close corridors that made you feel like you were supposed to be as quiet as in a library. The LA institute was modern and sleek, with huge windows that glinted in the hot sun. A highway wound along the coast between the institute and the beach, cars parked along the shoulder, mundane surfers calling out to each other and laughing as they made their way down to the sparkling blue of the ocean.
“Do you surf?” She asked her girlfriend.
Her girlfriend. They’d been dating for over half a year now and Aline still couldn’t really believe it. She’d never thought she was a lonely sort of person until she suddenly hadn’t been alone and the emptiness of her teenage years suddenly became obvious. She hadn’t known there’d been a part of her that’d thought she was unlovable until she was confronted by the all encompassing force of Helen loving her.
Helen set her suitcase down on the driveway by her feet. Wind blew in off the ocean, smelling of salt and blowing the waves of her blonde hair across her forehead. She grinned at Aline, lifting a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. “Of course I do.”
An image rose in Aline’s mind of Helen in a bikini, the water glimmering on her skin as she crested a wave. “That’s sexy.”
Helen laughed, the sound warming something inside Aline. “I can teach you if you want.”
Aline opened her mouth to reply and was interrupted by a commotion near the doors of the institute.
“Helen!” Someone called and the family at the top of the stairs came into sharp focus.
Aline’s stomach dropped.
The thing about travelling to LA to meet your girlfriend’s family is that you actually have to meet the family. Aline felt sweat drip down her back, from the heat or her nerves she couldn’t tell. Helen had a huge family and Aline was determined to make them love her. Helen talked about her family with all the fond exasperation of an older sibling which was something that Aline, being an only child, had no idea how to relate to. How did you make someone’s siblings like you?
A man stepped out onto the top step next to the gaggle of children.
How did you make someone’s dad like you?
She felt a hand brush her wrist and looked over to see Helen smiling encouragingly. Only the tight grip she had on her suitcase betrayed her nerves. They’d talked about meeting the Blackthorns on the way there but that was a far cry from the actual thing. Aline gave Helen a return smile that she hoped wasn’t too nervous. The sun beat down on them unrelentingly.
A blur shot down the stairs and tackled Helen’s knees. “Helen!”
Helen staggered and laughed, bending down to hug the round faced girl that had assailed her. “Hi Dru.”
Drusilla. The second youngest of the Blackthorns. Aline tried to remember what else she knew about her as Dru turned to her and stared in puzzlement. “Who are you?”
Aline tried for a winning smile. “Aline Penhallow.”
Dru’s eyes went wide. She turned to Helen excitedly. “You didn’t say you were bringing your girlfriend!”
Helen blushed, the tips of her pointed ears turning pink. “It was supposed to be a surprise.”
Dru looked Aline up and down before sticking out her hand solemnly. “I’m Dru.”
Aline took her proffered hand and shook it. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Dru grinned shyly before scampering back towards the other Blackthorns. Helen followed her, Aline close behind and steeling herself for the introductions.
Andrew Blackthorn was a tall brown haired man with eyes the same bright blue-green as Helen’s. He wrapped his eldest daughter in a hug before turning to Aline with a grin. Aline tried not to appear as if her stomach was tying itself into knots.
She shouldn’t have worried. Andrew shook her hand, still smiling. “I hope Helen hasn’t given you too much trouble.”
“Dad!” Helen exclaimed, looking up from where she was preoccupied with hugging another girl with hair the same dark brown as most of the other kids. Aline remembered that her name was Livvy.
“I think I’m more likely to cause trouble.” She told Andrew and he laughed. The anxiety that had been eating at Aline’s nerves ebbed.
There was a whirlwind of introductions. Livvy skipped the handshake and gave Aline a bubblegum smelling hug. Her twin Tiberius didn’t shake her hand at all, just nodded shyly. Dru smiled at her from around her father’s legs while twelve year old Julian gave her the serious handshake of a boy trying to appear grown up.
“Where’s Emma?” Helen asked him as she pulled him in for a hug, ruffling her hand through his hair.
Julian ducked away from her, his face lighting up. “She couldn’t make it today but she’s coming over tomorrow.” He looked at Aline again. “Emma’s my best friend.” He explained, the wind making his hair stick up.
“Cool.” Aline said, not knowing what else to say. How did you make conversation with twelve year olds?
The door of the institute opened again and a fifteen year old boy slipped out. He had the same blond hair as Helen and the same delicacy of features that was a nod to his faerie heritage. He beamed down at Helen and Aline before jumping down the steps to greet them.
“I thought I heard your car.” He said by way of a hello. He was wearing black training gear and sweat pasted his pale hair to his temples. Aline felt a twinge of sympathy. It must have been sweltering but he didn’t seem bothered. Maybe everyone who grew up in LA was crazy enough to not feel the heat.
Helen tried to pull him into a hug but he shook her off, embarrassed in the way only boys can be embarrassed at affection. He gave Aline a quick once over and seemed to decide that she passed the test. He grinned at her then, blue eyes squinting in the bright sun.
“I’m Mark.” He said finally and Aline resisted the urge to say I know. There was no one else he could have been. “I heard you saved my sister’s life in Italy.”
Aline couldn’t stop herself from looking at Helen, fondness blooming in her chest. Helen looked back at her, her eyes dancing.
Mark groaned at his sister. “I can’t believe you got to go to Italy and got a girlfriend. How come these things never happen to me?”
Helen yawned and Aline suddenly felt the weight of their travel crash over them. They could have taken a portal but Aline had wanted to fly on a plane at least once in her life and Helen hadn’t objected. They’d spent the last forty eight hours scrambling to figure out how airports worked and the time difference was catching up to them. Aline didn’t regret it exactly but she’d decided firmly that she was never getting on an airplane willingly ever again.
“Maybe if you weren’t so annoying.” Helen told Mark, who exclaimed in mock outrage. She shook her hair back from her face. “Now Aline and I are going to take a nap because it’s like three in the morning in Italy.”
Mark wiggled his eyebrows. “A nap huh?”
Helen swatted him and he squawked. Aline felt her cheeks go bright red. “Yes, a nap. And if you even think about waking us up before dinner I’ll kill you.”
#back again#literally been a year sinxe these prompts were requesed hfjdjsksks#i only have two more prompts after this ah#haline#helen blackthorn#aline penhallow#the shadowhunter chronicles#tsc#tda#the dark artifices#fanfic#my writing
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ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴊᴏᴋɪɴɢ, ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴊᴏᴋɪɴɢ ~ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇ ᴍʏ ᴇʏᴇꜱ ! 𝖑𝖆𝖉𝖎𝖊𝖘, 𝖌𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖘, 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖞 𝖔𝖔𝖌𝖎𝖊 𝖇𝖔𝖔𝖌𝖎𝖊 𝖎𝖓 𝖇𝖊𝖙𝖜𝖊𝖊𝖓 …
❝ zendaya coleman, 23, female , she/her ❞ ( HERIZEN FAWN, 23 ) is raising ( 2 ) child star with ( JULIAN KELSO . ) that are already known in the industry for ( DANCE AND SINGING ) and I’m absolutely blown away by their abilities at following their famous parent’s footsteps. Everybody know their parents for being ( A SINGER ) but it seems like their child are/is shining brighter !! ( ZOEY, 22, EST )
INTRODUCTION !!
herizen ( huh·rai·zn ) fawn is the daughter of bobby and mahina fawn, a musical duo who traveled the world to share their love for reggae music. the duo fell in love when they visited the small, beautiful island of guam during their first headlining tour and eventually decided to settle down there when mahina fell pregnant with their first child.
growing up in a family of musicians, it comes as no surprise that herizen developed a love for the art of poetry and lyricism at a very young age. she knew how to play her father’s ukulele before she knew how to walk and hummed musical melodies before she spoke her first word.
herizen wrote her first song at the young age of six years old and would move on to produce two full mixtapes, all within the small space of her 10x10 bedroom, by the time she turned seventeen.
realizing that their daughter was gifted, herizen’s parents used their contacts in the entertainment industry to distribute their daughter’s music. one day before her 18th birthday, she got a call from rca records and was offered a record deal.
although she is a well known musician now, herizen does not make music for the sake of financial benefits or fame, much to the annoyance of her record label who are continuously trying to push her into mainstream music.
herizen is a bit of a ‘stoner’, lol. she keeps to herself a lot and would probably skip the grammy awards to sage her house and clean her crystals.
she lives in a small apartment just outside of the center of l.a. her tiny, cozy backyard is so flooded with flowers and plants it may as well be a jurassic park set. herizen basically spends half her day removing weeds from her beloved vegetable garden.
herizen is one of those people that radiates a calm and positive energy !! she is soft, likes to see beauty in everything that lives and has a voice as soft and calming as her aura.
herizen is very loving person, ‘though I would advice against treating her wrong because this witch might cast a spell on you.
herizen is very sweet but also complex. she has always been a dreamer and tends to doze off into her own fantasy world from time to time. thankfully, she has her two children to keep her grounded.
WANTED CONNECTIONS !!
best friends // friends turned enemies // enemies turned friends // one night stand // old flames // neighbours // confidant // siblings // etc.
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What Have They Lost? 1/?
My Writing Fandom: Arrow, The Flash Characters: Barry Allen, Iris West, Laurel Lance, Oliver Queen, Connor Hawke, Cisco Ramon, Ted Grant Pairings: Barry Allen/Iris West, Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen Summary: "I can definitely tell you that there’s a way we’re going to bring [Laurel] back and she’s going to be alive and well. And Flashpoint might have a little bit to do with that." -Wendy Mericle AKA: The AU where that wasn't a blatant lie, and Flashpoint has bigger repercussions for Barry's friends and allies than he first realized. Notes: So, probably not wise to start yet another WIP without finishing the one I have going but...I got really excited about this idea and wanted to see what people thought. If this is continued (which I hope to do so), things may get a little confusing as certain characters will be going by different (more comic book accurate) names, but I'll do my best to make that clear when introducing them. There are characters referenced in this chapter who will have a bigger role going forward, and when that happens I will add their character tags. Similarly, if some characters haven't been mentioned at all yet, that doesn't mean they won't be in the story. Their character tags will be added later, too. Much thanks to @colorofmymindposts for beta-ing this chapter and helping me restructure some things. It's a much better beginning as a result. Title is pulled directly from a line in DC Rebirth by Geoff Johns while song titles and lyrics were pulled from both the Black Canary solo book and Green Arrow Rebirth, and I make no claim of owning any of them. I hope you all enjoy and let me know your initial impressions! *Also can be read on my AO3*
Barry felt that, all things considered, life was treating him fairly well lately.
Of course, he’d had to fix the mistake he’d made going back in time to save his mother, and even now there were consequences from that. The team hadn’t been happy to learn that truth, and he worried his and Cisco’s friendship would never again be quite what it was. There were things that had resulted from his meddling that he would always feel guilt over.
But not this. Not him and Iris. Despite an awkward first attempt at a date and the second getting interrupted as well, they were falling into a better pattern now as a couple.
She found him in his lab one late morning while Julian was out at a crime scene, so they had the space to themselves for a bit. Iris wrapped her arms around his middle from behind and placed her chin on his shoulder, though he doubted it was to see the spectrometer he was working with.
“Any plans for tonight?”
Barry shook his head. “Nothing specific. You know, just,” he waved a hand to indicate general Flash stuff, which Iris understood with no trouble.
“Think you could take a break for one night?”
Barry raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“Because I got concert tickets and I want you to go with me.”
A concert? That wasn’t usually his scene. “How’d you get them?”
“Daria in Arts and Entertainment gets sent them sometimes and she can’t make tonight work, so she offered them to me.”
Daria in Arts and Entertainment? That probably meant this was some kind of pop thing, didn’t it? Barry’s face scrunched up.
“I don’t know, Iris…”
“Bear, come on.” She squeezed him tight for a moment before letting go and taking a couple steps back. “It’s Birds of Prey!”
“Am I supposed to know them?”
“They’ve only been my favorite band since college, so I would hope so,” she remarked, and Barry turned around with a frown. He could have sworn Iris always said she liked the pop star Cassidy best. “They do some slow stuff, too. I know how you like your jazz,” Iris added with an indulgent roll of the eyes. “So are you in or out?”
He knew Iris still wanted to do some normal couple stuff as well as more extravagant dates. And if she was happy, Barry was sure he could put up with some music that might not be his taste.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m in. It’ll be fun.”
“Great.” Iris leaned in and pecked him on the lips. “Gotta head back to work, but I will see you later for our date. I’ll text you the details.”
“Okay.” Barry watched her go, his smile falling off his face as she disappeared down the stairs. If this was Iris’ favorite band, he was going to have to do some research.
He went to his computer and searched the name Birds of Prey, only finding articles about a band and their lead singer, a woman only known as Dinah.
“Triumphant return to Central City after particle accelerator accident,” he read aloud to himself from the bit of preview text from one article. What did that mean? And why did the name Dinah sound oddly familiar to him?
A knock on his lab door called his attention, and he was busy the rest of the afternoon with casework, even with Julian’s added assistance. Rather than resume his internet search after his shift ended, Barry decided to pursue a different avenue of inquiry.
Cisco was present when he rushed into STAR Labs. His friend barely looked up from the computer monitor he’d been studying.
“Cisco, hey, what do you know about Birds of Prey?”
That question caught the engineer’s attention. “Uh, you mean one of the greatest musical groups of our time?”
“Yeah. Sure.” How did everybody already know this band besides him?
“They’re stopping here on their comeback tour. I think it’s tonight, isn’t it? I missed the online bid for tickets.”
“Iris got two from her coworker, so we’re going tonight,” Barry revealed.
Cisco groaned. “Lucky. I only saw Dinah live once, back when she was doing open mic nights around colleges, you know?” Cisco’s gaze got a faraway look. “I had a poster of her on my wall all through grad school. I’d give anything for a picture with her.”
“Well, I can’t promise that, but I can try and get you a picture of just her.” Barry checked his phone. “I’ve got to meet Iris at the house.”
“Yeah, have a good night.”
“You, too.” It hadn’t been perfect, but Cisco had at least been willing to open up to him about some topic, even if it was one that made little sense to Barry.
He arrived home and changed quickly into clothes better suited for a concert. Iris already had the keys to the car, so she drove them over rather than him running them. They parked on the street near the venue and joined a fast-growing line to get in.
“So, everybody keeps calling this the comeback tour,” Barry began. “What’re they coming back from?”
“You really didn’t hear?” When he shook his head, Iris continued, “They were performing on stage the night of the particle accelerator explosion.”
“And there was an accident,” he said, repeating what he had read before.
“Yeah, the sound equipment and everything, you know? I mean, the band manager got them all off the stage before anyone got too hurt, but there were all kinds of rumors about Dinah’s voice being damaged or the trauma being too much to let her go back on stage.”
“Wow,” was all Barry could come up with.
“Yeah. But, she got back in the game. This is their last stop on the tour, at least for now. People are wondering if they might go international next.”
They had passed through the doors and now were too busy looking for their seats to talk. They weren’t right in the front row, but Arts and Entertainment writers were clearly given a good spot, probably in hopes the review would be better.
The lights dimmed, and a voice came over the systems. “Central City, here tonight is the band that needs no introduction. This is...Birds of Prey!”
The obligatory fog machine obscured things as the musicians all got into place. He counted two redheads and a woman with hair so dark it almost bordered on black. Nothing about them seemed to stand out in his memory.
But he didn’t need the large screens on either side to tell who the woman was that strode confidently downstage to the mic in the center. Even if it should have been impossible.
“Laurel?”
The crowd was too loud around them, and Iris was busy with cheering and didn’t hear him or see his distress.
How could it be possible? He still remembered standing in front of Laurel’s grave, watching as Oliver tried to hold back the anguish that had been in the wet sheen of his eyes and the deep lines of his face. He didn’t think he could ever forget that look. It hadn’t just been Barry’s team who’d loved her.
And yet she was standing above him on a stage, so alive.
“Hello, Central City! It is good to be back.” Laurel paused to let the cheers subside. “I wanted to make sure we stopped here on tour. Had a bit of a fight for it. You can ask Ted.”
Iris leaned over to tell him, “Ted’s the band manager. He’s practically a father to her.”
“He is?” Who was Ted? Where was Captain Lance?
Iris nodded but gave him a second look. “You okay?”
He felt incredibly faint, actually, but there was no time to explain anything to Iris. There were people all around them and Laurel was speaking again.
“But Ted agreed, because we don’t walk away from things. Right, Central City?”
Laurel paused again for cheers. Someone out in the crowd shouted a, “We love you!”
“I love you, too!” She replied with a beautiful smile. “No matter how many times we get knocked down, we get back up. So let’s get up and get things started!”
She motioned back to the band, and the dark brunette hit her drumsticks together four times before the rest of the music started up. People were already on their feet, and Barry stood as well to see better. Now that he was over the shock he started taking more of her appearance in. There was still her blonde hair cascading down her back, but that was about where the similarities ended in how this Laurel styled herself. She had on a blue tank top, ripped up jean shorts, and fishnet leggings on under those. Fishnets!
Was it Siren? Was this all just some trick? And yet even as he thought that it made little sense. Iris’ favorite band since college, Cisco’s poster in grad school...somehow, Laurel Lance had been a member of this band for years.
But she’d been a hero. They all knew that. Or they had.
The song they were performing now seemed to be called Fish Out of Water, judging by the chorus. Barry could relate to that feeling. Then it hit him that Laurel actually had a really good voice. He’d never known that about her, whether it had even been true before...all this.
Because it was dawning on him what this was. Just like the changes that had occurred to his friends’ loved ones because of his meddling, the only explanation for Laurel not only being alive but drastically different than he remembered was the timeline being altered. But how could he have missed this?
If this much was different, what else had changed in Star City? He’d spoken to Felicity briefly since returning to this timeline and realized John now had twins instead of a daughter, but what about Oliver? Were he and the others okay?
“I’m gonna slow things down a bit,” Laurel was saying. “Even if I know you guys like things fast around here.”
Iris nudged him in the side with a big grin. It faded as he looked at her, though. “Seriously, Bear, you okay?”
“It can wait.” Now wasn’t the time or place to get into it. He wasn’t even sure how to explain to Iris that a woman she had never met but admired was now still a woman she had never met but admired just in a different way.
“If ya broke the wings of a blackbird, baby...it’s a joke to think she’ll look backward, baby,” Laurel sang. She looked...sad, somehow. Not in an obvious way. The confidence was still there, but it was like something was missing. And Barry thought he knew what it was.
His mind raced as the band closed out with another louder number to get people cheering right at the end.
“How do you feel about pretending to be from Arts and Entertainment?” He asked at more of a shout in Iris’ ear to be heard.
She raised both eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
Barry ran instead, back to her office at Central City Picture News to grab a camera and a couple of press passes. When he reappeared at her side, she blinked in surprise.
“Barry—”
“It’s kind of important that we talk to her. I’ll explain on the way home.”
Iris looked unsure, but she nodded, trusting him. Barry felt a boost of confidence at that; the rest of his teammates weren’t that willing to trust in his ability these days.
They made their way backstage with the passes and waited as Laurel and the others exited the stage. Barry felt a little stunned to watch her approach this close despite seeing her up on the stage. She was real and alive and a part of him wanted to rush forward and hug her — but that would probably get them kicked out.
There were a few lucky fans with special passes there, too, and he watched as the woman and sometimes-teammate he’d known signed autographs and took selfies with them. He snapped a couple of pictures with the camera he’d borrowed for appearance’s sake.
“Great show tonight, Dinah,” Iris called out to get her attention. She held out her hand when the other woman approached. “I’m Iris West with Central City Picture News. Huge fan, really.”
“Thanks for coming out,” said Laurel, her eyes only briefly passing over Barry, and it was so strange not seeing even a hint of recognition there. Had they never met in this timeline? What did this mean about whether she knew the others?
“So what’s next for the band?” He asked. “International, somewhere else in the states? Star City, maybe? It’s our, uh, sister city,” Barry added when both Laurel and Iris gave him odd looks.
“Funny you should say that. We’ll be taking some time off in Star, yeah. Ted and me, anyway. The other girls are stopping home in Gotham, but Ted’s got a place there.” She nodded back towards an older man with flecks of gray in his hair and a few lines in a deeply tanned face.
“Great,” said Barry.
“Your new song, Blackbird. It’s really good, and the lyrics, uh, what’s the story behind that?” Iris asked. Barry knew he’d put her on the spot and that this style of interview wasn’t exactly her specialty. He thought she was doing a great job, though.
Laurel shrugged. “I’ve had a lot of false starts in life. A lot of things I’ve had to walk away from. You learn to live with it.” She glanced over at Ted again who made some kind of motion. “Listen, there’s a girl scheduled to meet me in the green room, so if we could wrap this up?”
“Yeah, absolutely. I’ll message your people if I think of anything else to ask,” Iris said quickly. “Thanks so much for your time.”
“Yeah, thanks Lau— uh, Dinah,” Barry remembered at the last second. Her eyes jumped to his with a sharp look.
“Yeah. You too.” Laurel said quietly. She turned and walked away, glancing back at them over her shoulder once.
“So what was that actually about?” Iris asked in his ear. Barry gave a start and looked away from the hallway Laurel had disappeared down. They went through a side exit and started the walk back to the car.
“I know her. Or knew her. Um, before I changed the timeline.”
Iris’ eyes widened. “Really? How?”
“She wasn’t a singer. She was the Black Canary. A hero, part of Oliver’s team. She died last spring—” Iris stopped in her tracks, expression one of alarm. Barry reached for her hand to keep her moving down the sidewalk. “—or she did in that timeline. I don’t know how this happened.”
Iris was quiet for a few moments, processing the information. “Well, at least she’s here in this timeline?”
“Yeah, but,” Barry began. He shrugged. “It’s so different. She doesn’t even go by the same name!”
He remembered seeing Dinah on the gravestone, only then realizing they’d all been calling her by her middle name the whole time. What made a person decide to change names? How far back did this divergence from the timeline go?
Iris was frowning, discomfort showing on her features. She had defended his actions in changing things to the rest of the team, but was this a step too far? What did she think of him now? “Well, Bear, I think you’re just going to have to leave this be,” she said eventually. “It’s too late to change things.”
“I know. I just — I need to check on the others in Star, okay? Just so I know what’s been going on if we ever have to team up sometime.”
“Okay.” Iris let him go with a kiss, and then Barry was off running again, first to get his suit and then to Star City.
What was Team Arrow like without a Black Canary? What was Oliver like? He didn’t know too much about the other man’s relationship with Laurel, but they’d obviously been close judging by how affected he’d been at the funeral. What would Barry be like without one of his teammates? He couldn’t even imagine it.
He entered the cave and stopped, calling out to make sure the space wasn’t as empty as it appeared. “Hey, Ollie, you in? Really need to talk to — woah!”
Barry didn’t quite dodge out of the way of two arrows connected by a wire that shot out and pinned him to the wall behind him.
A young man, teenager really, with blonde hair and dark skin emerged from behind a support beam. He carried a bow and quiver of arrows and was grinning as he approached. “Gotta watch your surroundings better, Flash.”
“Connor,” said a familiar voice, the tone only slightly warning.
“I’m only messing, dad,” said the teenager to Oliver as the older man approached. Barry felt his mouth drop open. Since when did Oliver have a second son?
Oliver himself seemed different, somehow, in ways that were hard to define. The stubble he usually had could more accurately be called a goatee, and there were lines in his face that Barry could have sworn hadn’t been there. But he didn’t look as abjectly miserable as the last time Barry had seen him.
“What’s going on, Barry?”
He decided to just cut to the chase. “What do you know about Dinah Laurel Lance?”
Oliver’s face scrunched up. He frowned, though it was more in confusion than anything else. Then the worst possible answer left his lips.
“Who?”
#lauriver#westallen#barry allen#laurel lance#iris west#oliver queen#arrow#the flash#cisco ramon#ted grant#connor hawke#black canary#green arrow#my writing
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