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ipostwhatiwant1202 · 1 year ago

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Them as Bridgerton Scenes: Confessing

note: different quotes from different scenes will be spliced together/modified to fit the character.

Leo:

"Why can't you just look at me!?"

"Because I fear of what I'll do!"

Leo's blue eyes grew to look frightened. You went on a date and were excited to tell him all about it. The person was wonderful to you all evening and you looked forward to seeing them again. You were until Leo refused to hear anything at all about how your night had went. It was odd, he was always willing to listen to you.

It happened a few weeks ago that you were playing truth or dare with the turtles. April introduced you to them a few years ago, you and Leo became attached at the hip. He thought highly of you, and you him. A game of truth or dare came about and Casey dared you to kiss Leo as payback for your dare on him. You weren't one to back down so you kissed who you were dared to. But there was a problem.

Something changed in Leo. He grew distant, cold even. He felt himself choking when he saw you and unable to look you in the eye. The kiss meant nothing but meant everything. He had wanted to kiss you for so long but you didn't seem to feel the same. You continued on dating while he stayed back and watched you.

"What are you saying? Leo, you haven't even looked at me in weeks! Why?" You pleaded, walking closer to him.

He kept his eyes on the ground. "I can't tell you."

"You can't or you won't?" You whispered. You were met with silence. "Answer me!" You shouted.

"I am a gentleman!" He shouted back. "My father raised me to act with honor, but that honor is hanging by a thread that grows more precarious with every moment I spend in your presence." His voice dwindling to a whisper.

"I don't understand..." You whispered, your eyes finding his.

"I have spent so long trying to feel less, trying to be the kind of man society expects me to be. And for a moment, I thought I had succeeded." Leo bit the inside of his lip, his eyes casting down to the floor. "But these past few weeks have been full of confounding feelings. Feelings like a total inability to stop thinking about you." He slowly looked up, his eyes shining. "About that kiss. Feelings like dreaming of you when I'm asleep. And in fact, preferring sleep because that is where I might find you. A feeling that is like torture, but one which I cannot, will not, do not want to give up." His eyes became determined.

"I-I...I don't know what to say." You whispered. "I thought," you swallowed, "maybe you forgot that."

"I could never forget that." He whispered back, leaning down so his eyes were level with yours. "I could never forget that rush, no matter how hard I try."

"Leo..." You breathed.

He leaned in and closed the gap between your lips. You knew you 100% owed Vern.

Raph:

"Will you please just tell me what's wrong!?"

"Will it shut you up!?"

You and Raph had known eachother for a long time. You met one night at the park. You were riding your dirtbike (or other device) and he decided he would challenge you from the shadows. It wasn't until you hit a rock and flew off the bike that you saw his true form. You were instantly drawn to him because of his difference.

Your friendship blossomed and you looked forward to meeting him every week, doing different activities like dancing or just walks. You exchanged numbers and talked every moment you could. You considered him to be your best friend. His family even liked you and accepted you, you were happy for the first time in a long time. Up until two weeks ago, anyway.

Raph had been acting stranger than usual. Not saying much, acting like you were genuinely annoying him. He was brushing you off and making excuses to not see you. You finally had enough and went to the lair to confront him for his odd behavior. You didn't expect him to get this angry about it, however. You poked the bear too hard.

"God, Raph! You're so childish! Why is it so hard for you to talk like an adult? You need to grow up!" You snapped, walking toward him.

He huffed and rolled his eyes. "I am grown!"

"Then show it, dammit!" You snapped. "Tell me why you now hate me."

"I never said I hated you." He mumbled.

"Then what is it, Raphael!?" You shouted, shoving his arm. "I can't play these games with you!"

"I love you!" He shouted, his eyes widened. "I’ve loved you from the moment we raced each other in that park. I've loved you at every dance, on every walk, every time we’ve been together and every time we’ve been apart." His face softened, he ran a hand over his face. "Ya don't have to accept it, you don't have to embrace it or even allow it. Knowing you, ya probably won't." He swallowed, moving closer to you. "But ya gotta know it in your heart. Ya must feel it, because I do. I love you." He whispered.

"Raph...I didn't know." You whispered, putting a hand on his arm. "I wouldn't have pushed you."

"I know I'm imperfect, but I will humble myself before you, because I can't imagine my life without ya." He whispered back. "Y/N, I mean it."

"Prove it." You muttered, your eyes finding his green ones.

Raph reached and cupped your face, pulling you into a kiss. You were thankful for that night in the park.

Donnie:

"You're avoiding me."

"I'm not, I said I'm busy."

Donnie was, for a lack of better terms, a strange guy. He had a way with words and a way with actions. Geeky charm, if you will. You found yourself drawn to him the moment April brought you to meet the turtles. Dare you say, you considered him to be your best friend. You had a lot in common and he always treated you kindly.

He was always willing to help you with anything you needed. You enjoyed listening to him ramble on and always valued his thoughts and opinions. He offered a safe place for you to go when you needed to escape and you were a great listener. Donnie liked that about you, he trusted you and you him. You could both be yourselves without fearing any judgment.

The strange thing was that he was suddenly shutting you out. You figured it was because he was stressed but he was completely fine with April. He also didn't offer to help fix your laptop without you asking like usual, he wasn't acting like his usual self. It was starting to weigh on you. You felt like you did or said something to offend him.

"You're not too busy for April, not even Casey." You replied, crossing your arms. "Did I do something or say something?"

"No." He simply said, not looking at you.

"Donnie, you're obviously upset with me about something." You stated, putting a hand on his shoulder. He moved away. "You're mad at me."

"I said I'm not mad." He stated again, standing up.

"Then why are you acting like this?" You pleaded. "I promise whatever it is I'll fix it!"

"You vex me." Donnie admitted, his body turned away from yours. "You are the bane of my existence. I did not ask for this, to be plagued by these feelings. Being driven to distraction everytime you walk in a room." He peered over his shoulder, his eyes on the floor. "I have never met anyone like you. It is maddening how you consume my very being." His voice had gone to just above a whisper. His eyes had become glossy. "I burn for you. Every scar, every flaw, every imperfection." He swallowed. "I love you."

"Donnie..I-I had no idea.." You whispered, walking towards him. "All this time..?"

"All I find myself being able to breathe for," he turned around and walked towards you, "is for you."

"Just kiss me." You breathed, reaching up to embrace him.

Donnie captured his lips with yours. You felt like a real prince/princess.

Mikey:

"How could you do this to me!?"

"I said I'm sorry!"

You were putting yourself back into the dating scene. Mikey was all for helping you and listening to your troubles. He even helped you ready for the dates and hyped you up. He always wanted to hear all about what worked and what didn't. He just wanted to make sure that you were going to find someone to make you happy.

Mikey was harbouring a dark secret, he deeply felt for you, more than a friend should. He couldn't stop thinking of you. He hated you going out with other people, despised it even. But he couldn't tell you that because he couldn't give you what you deserved, a normal life.

Casey introduced you two, and while Mikey was always flirty, he found himself smitten right away. He tried to be a gentleman and treat you right, hoping you'd get the hint, but you never did. Instead, you treated him like you did his brothers. It stung but he never wanted you to know, but you found out anyway, you only caught the end of the conversation.

"I really liked them! They were kind and-and treated me nicely." You snapped. "Why would you lie to them?"

"I didn't." He stated, his eyes on the floor.

"But you did! Mikey, I'm not dating anyone!" You huffed, pinching the bridge of your nose. "I would be if you hadn't of said that."

"I lied about the dating thing but nothing else." He mumbled.

"What?" You asked, walking closer. "What do you mean about nothing else? What else did you say?"

"Everything I told them was true. I can't stop thinking of you. From when you wake up to when you go to sleep, and your dreams. My thoughts of you never end." He whispered, his eyes brimming with tears. "With you, conversation has always been easy. Your laughter brings me joy." He slowly looked up from the floor. "To meet someone beautiful is one thing, but to meet your best friend in the most beautiful of people is another." He sadly smiled at you. "I want a life that suites us both...So," he swallowed, "tell me you feel nothing and I'll walk away forever."

"Mikey...Since when..? Why?" You whispered. "Why did you wait to tell me?"

"Because I'm tired of pretending and I can't continue acting as if I don't love you." He replied, reaching out and grabbing your hands. "Because I do. I love all of you."

"I love you too." You whispered.

Mikey's hands went around your waist and pulled you into a kiss. You walked in just in time.

#rise of the tmnt #tmnt 2012 #tmnt ask blog #tmnt bayverse #tmnt donatello #tmnt leonardo #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt raphael #ask blog #tmnt 2003 #tmnt headcanons #tmnt imagine

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terrapin-might · 2 years ago

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I've been thinking about this little guy but I haven't drawn him till now, so I'm glad to have this excuse to share him!

This Is Peter Stone!

He is a mutated pigeon who was adopted by Hypno and Warren.

He's around 7-9 years old. He takes after Hypno more, wanting to be a magician. He loves putting on a show and entertaining. But he also loves being the sole center of attention and loves having self care days with Warren. They both definitely take too long in the bathroom. (Poor Hypno lol)

I like to think his backstory was that he was a baby pigeon who ended up eating a stray oozesquito and after wandering around New York ended up in the hidden city and was eventually found by Hypno. He thought he was some kind of enlarged yokai pigeon before realizing he grabbed an actual baby lol

It took a lot of convincing for Warren to officially adopt him, but while debating whether they should drop him off at an hidden city orphanage or not, Pete stayed with them for a while and Warren grew to love him too.

Maybe the turtles even babysit him sometimes idk

Pete's first day at Hypno-Warren house, he's around 3 here.

He loves his parents but I don't think he's villain material, not yet at least. He's very friendly and willingly hangs out with the turtles with no ulterior motive. He'll still help his dads in their evil plots— when he's allowed to, can't have the baby being hurt— but he'll mostly busy himself with his one man magic shows.

Ahh that's all I have for now, but uh I love Pete very much and would die for him.

Tell me about your TMNT child ocs!

Whats their name? Which verse are they from? Who's their parents? Feel free to add photos or drop links!

#tmnt #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt #rottmnt oc #tmnt oc #my art #rottmnt warren stone #rottmnt hypno #tmnt child oc #and yes he was inspired by pigeon pete from 2012 #terrapin-posting

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fishsticksloser · 2 years ago

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My I request a rottmnt x reader where they are out spending time with reader but they run into one of the villains (like ghostbear, meat sweats, or hypno your choice) and they find out that they are the reader's uncle that they haven't seen in a long time, so they catch up and see how they've been? Sorry if this request is long. Remember to stay hydrated

Villain Uncle

RotTMNT x gn!reader

Warnings: aged up, awkwardness, a tiny bit of violence, not written as headcannons

A/N: Honestly, I stopped staying hydrated for a while, but I'm back to drinking a lot of water. Stay hydrated!! I would like to preface with the fact that before Hypno mutated he went by Mezmer-Ron so I'm assuming his name was Ron... I honestly had no clue what to do with Ghostbear...

Donnie

You meet up with Donnie in the alley between the buildings you were perched on. You put the few pieces of mystic metal you found in his bag before you both turned to go back to the lair.

"Well well..." You hear a familiar New Zealand accent. Donnie tensed next to you. "I've found a turtle..."

Donnie turned and pulled out his bō, eyebrows drawn down. "I was in the middle of something." Donnie sighed. You turned to see the mutant hippo, who was all ready to pounce when he saw you.

"Y/N?" The hippo asks, lowering his rings.

"Uncle Ron?" You question.

"Uncle Ron?" Donnie turns to you.

"By days..." Hypno gasps, rings dropping to the ground. You race to him, enveloping him in a hug. A few years ago he just disappeared. "I haven't seen you in years, you've gotten so big."

"I'm hoping you weren't planning on killing my boyfriend." You laughed, Donnie hesitantly approached.

"You're dating a turtle?" Hypno huffs, both men glaring at each other.

"Says the hippo..." You answer.

Leo

Leo had portaled you guys to the beach for a day of relaxation. At least that was the plan, but soon Leo was fighting 2 giant crab men.

"I hate the Sando brothers..." Leo groans, being able to take a quick break from fighting to check on you.

"Sando?" You ask. He nods, watching them to make sure he didn't put you in danger. "Like... Ben and Carl Sando. Acrobats."

"Uh yeah..." Leo frowns, looking at you. "Why?"

"They're my uncles." You answer.

"Uncles? Your uncles are crab men... Why didn't you tell me you were related to the Sando's?"

"It never came up!" Ben charged, you quicky stepped in front. "Ben!"

"Y/N?" He grunts, skidding to a stop, Carl flies into him, making them fall over. "It really is you! What are you doing with this turtle?"

"He's my boyfriend."

"Aren't you a little young to be dating?" Carl glares at Leo.

Eventually they simmer down and you all go out for lunch to catch up. Your mom will be really happy knowing her brothers are okay.

Mikey

Mikey was headed to meet you at a yo'kai restaurant close by. He turned the corner and saw you with Meat Sweats. He couldn't see your face, but he saw Meat Sweats' gross smile. You were in danger, he had to do something.

"And I —"

"Y/N!?" Mikey calls. Rupert looked up, recognizing the orange turtle's voice. "Get away from them."

"Mikey." You grab his hand and pull him closer. "This is my uncle. Rupert Swaggert. This is my boyfriend, Mikey, he's a huge fan of Consenting Kitchen."

"Your uncle?" Mikey asks, at the same time Rupert says: "Your boyfriend?"

"We just bumped into each other." You smiled. "I haven't seen him since before he mutated."

Neither man spoke, nor did they look at you. They glared at each other. Sure Mikey was a fan of Rupert Swaggert, but he wasn't the biggest fan of Meat Sweats.

"Uh... I'm see you later, I have a date tonight." You smiled awkwardly at your uncle before dragging Mikey into the restaurant.

Raph

Both of you were chilling out in the park together. It was dark, so there wasn't a fear of people seeing him. You had grabbed takeout and drinks for a late night picnic.

This was your first date in months due to the missions Raph had to go on. But it made it all the more special.

"You wouldn't believe the guy that came in today at work." You laughed. Raph chuckled, not speaking so you could continue your story. "He kept trying to tell me that he needed left handed pencils. Like I was an idiot."

"Only one turtle?" Someone asks. You both turn and see a polar bear. "Y/N? What are you doing with this turtle?"

"Ghostbear..." Raph huffs. "I was just enjoying a date night..."

"Ghostbear?" You look at Raph who nods. "Like the pro wrestler?"

"Yeah?"

"That's my uncle!"

"What? You never told me! I was a huge fan of his... Until he tried to kill us."

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linkspooky · 4 years ago

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The Hands that Will Save the League

In chapter 321 we're reminded once again of the reoccurring motif of hands reaching out to save someone in need, especially with the double spread close-up of Iida's hands reaching for Deku's hands. I couldn't help but think how this could apply to the league of villains. Hand symbolism has always been associated with Shigaraki (duh), both in the fact that his hands destroy everything they touched, and also his reason for being a villain stems from the fact that not a single hand reached out to save him that day. However, we've also had another character in the league with hands drawn up close and personal reaching out to save the others: spinner.

1. Just an Empty Cosplayer

I'm not the first one to make this observation. @codenamesazanka pointed this out long before me, especially in regards to Spinner's importance to the league, but basically, Spinner's role is that despite being a teenage mutant ninja turtle he's also the everyman of the league. He's not connected to the main conflict of the story by bloodline or legacy, the way Shigaraki, Dabi, and Compress are. He's not someone with an incredibly powerful or deviant quirk like Twice or Toga. He is a victim, but he doesn't have the elaborate villain backstories of Twice, Shigaraki, Dabi, and Toga.

He literally is just some guy with a lizard quirk. He has the weakest quirk in the league and the weakest reason for why he joined the league. Spinner faces societal abuse because of his quirk, but what spurred him to action was seeing Stain appear on TV, and a desire to be a less empty person than he was before. Spinner was pushed, he was rejected by society, but I would say as an inverse to the league who are driven by extraordinary circumstances, Spinner is basically an every man who drives himself to keep up with the rest of the league despite seemingly lacking everything "special" they have.

And I believe this every man quality, and this drive Spinner has is what's going to be the key to piecing the league back together. It's because Spinner sees himself as so far behind the rest of the league, and so much less special than they are, that he's driven to try to understand them.

Not only is Spinner a member who has tried to understand every member of the league in one way or another, Spinner is also someone who similiar to Sihgaraki foils every single character in the league despite just being an everyman.

2. Spinner and Toga

While Spinner and Toga may not have the same level of development to their interactions as Twice and Toga, Spinner reaches out to her once but not twice, and there are a lot of parallels you can draw between the characters.

Both Spinner and Toga joined the league for the same reason, an empty admiration for Stain, without really caring about Stain's ideals. Toga admires Stain because he's covered in blood and fighting for something and she wants to become more like the people she admires, Spinner because he saw himself as pathetic for hiding in his room all day and when he saw Stain taking a stand trying to change the whole world on his own he wanted to become that way too. Which means both of them have a tendency to want to become more like the people they admire, because their own sense of personal identity is so weak.

Himiko and Spinner both define themselves by the way society has rejected them. Spinner has internalized the idea that he's an empty person who can't accomplish anything on his own, every terrible thing other people said about him due to his heteromorph quirk he accepted it. At the same time, Toga was somebody born with a "dangerous quirk" who was told to repress it and then did that living under a fake identity as a normal school girl that would please her parents and the people around her for as long as she could. Both Toga and Spinner are taught by the society around them to be self-loathing and to repress themselves because of their quirks. They're also characters who are both defined by a desire for release.

When Spinner asks if Toga still wants to be in the league because of Stain and she responds, Now I wanna become everyone I love. Spinner comments, "You're so free."

Spinner and Toga both claim they joined the league because of love for another person, they both loved and admired some aspect of Stain, but their real reason for joining, or at least the reason they stay is that deep down both of them desire the freedom to be themselves. Toga wrapping her desires up in language like love for other people, and wanting to become them, is because deep down she believes because of her quirk there's no one who would accept her for herself, as the normal girl she believes she is, no one will let her live as Toga thus she tries to become other people. It's the same for Spinner, who believes he can't be anything other than the Lizard Freak, so he too tries to dress himself up and become a Stain Cosplayer. It's only through the league's acceptance that Toga and Spinner slowly begin to learn that they are good enough on their own, just as themselves, and their priorities begin to shift.

3. Spinner and Twice

Twice and Spinner have several backstory parallels already. They are both characters affected by poverty, Spinner lived in a backwater town plagued by old views of heteromorph quirks, Twice lost his parents and began working to support himself at a young age before becoming homeless. Spinner and Twice were also both labeled in a way that stuck with them, after Twice got a criminal charge in an accident on his permanent record he couldn't find another job after being labeled deviant. Spinner was labeled as a deviant because of his quirk and the idea that he's a lizard freak has always stuck with him the same way that Twice has internalized the idea that "bad people don't get saved."

They also both chose to isolate themselves because of the circumstances they faced. Twice's first response to homelessness was to decide to never trust anybody but himself, and he became a criminal who pulled off heists with only clones of himself as team members until that stopped working for him. Spinner's response was also to shut himself away in his room and become a NEET. They both cut themselves off to the society that labeled them as unacceptable, but in the process they also cut themselves off from other people and became unable to trust others.

While they have major backstory parallels, I believe the greatest parallel between them is going to be that Spinner will inherit that role that Twice had for the league. While Shigaraki is the leader, Twice more than anybody else believed the League to be a family, and encouraged everyone to be friendly with one another.

It's Twice more than anyone else who emphasizes the bond of the league, that they're all strays, that they need to take care of each other and save each other. It's Twice who urges Shigaraki to save Giran because he's one of them. He makes the unspoken bond of the league as a group of miscreants into a spoken one, because Twice wants those things, he's well aware of the fact that he wants trust and acceptance and came to the league to find those things. This is the greatest thing that ties Spinner and Twice's characters together, because they both view themselves as worthless, they define themselves by how they help the other members of the league.

Twice's death so far isn't something that has been really capitalized on by the plot, Hawks has yet to face consequences, we haven't gotten to see much of the league's reaction because they were scattered soon afterwards. However, if Twice's death is going to cause development eventually I believe it will be in the vacuum in the league created now that Twice is gone. There is no longer someone who is urging all of them to be together. Twice's death causes most of the league to become less stable. Toga goes on a killing spree, Dabi attacks Hawks, Compress tries to kill himself in a heroic sacrifice, Shigaraki hasn't gotten the chance to react yet but he's also gotten worse considering he's currently possessed. You could even say that Twice's death has caused other characters to double down on their worst habits.

Dabi's worst habit is that he acts separately from the league and refuses to participate in the group dynamic, believing himself to be a solo avenger. Dabi not trusting or telling the league what he was planning on doing with Hawks, as a consequence of his decision to play solo avenger, caused Twice to trust Hawks which led to his death. Hawks was the one who killed him but Dabi played a part, and when Twice dies Dabi obviously reacts to it, but also his decision is to double down on his bad habit, insisting he's only using the league and he doesn't care about the rest of the group. Toga also doubles down on her bad habit, she runs away from the rest of the league and insists she's only doing this for the freedom to do whatever she pleases, not because you know Twice got killed right in front of her. Compress's arc is less pronounced, but he also does, in fact, try to kill himself in a grand heroic sacrifice for the rest of the league.

When twice dies the league begins to fall apart and everyone acts on their individual worst flaws, ignoring that they were always stronger together as a group. However, there is still one person who wanted the exact same thing Twice did, to be trusted, to belong to a group. This is most likely the role that Spinner is going to grow to, someone who is trusted by everyone in the group.

Notably, when Toga is about to run away it's Spinner who reminds her that the league is a place for them to come back to. Toga who was probably the closest to Twice and spiraling the worst because of his death, and Toga and Twice's friendship was the first time we really saw how much of a "bond" the league had formed with one another, because in the camp arc they barely cooperated, only begrudgingly. It's Spinner who who emphasizes that even though everyone in the league is doing this for individualism "doing what they want" that they are also together as a group. Spinner is set to inherit Twice's role as the heart, because one he tries to understand other people in the league making the effort to reach out, and two Spinner is aware of what he wants just like Twice he wants to be trusted by the rest of the group.

4. Spinner and Dabi

This one is a little bit harder because Dabi's character arc really hasn't started yet. We have just now gotten to the reveal of who he is and what his motivations are, after it being a mystery for so long. However unlike the rest of the league, we haven't really seen how Dabi has reacted and changed by becoming a part of the group. Even if his motivation isn't "I'm only using them" and deep down he really does care, I don't think he's even realized yet that he does care or that he's not just using them. Dabi still believes himself to be alone, and therefore he's still isolated from the rest of the league and flying his revenge quest solo even though he's really not.

In that case, the biggest parallel between Spinner and Dabi is that they both had to be won over by the league. They both joined because of admiration for Stain, probably because Dabi genuinely believed in Stain's ideals of taking down impure heroes because it fit his own agenda so well, whereas Spinner is a self-proclaimed empty cosplayer.

Spinner, however, has already gone through an arc where he was dissatisfied with his reasons for joining the league and didn't believe he belonged with the rest of the group. He didn't have anything to love like Toga. He didn't know yet he wanted friends he could trust like Twice already did. He doesn't have a strong backstory motivation like Compress, or Dabi or even knows what he wants out of society. However, the entirety of MVA is Spinner letting himself be changed because of his interaction with the group.

Spinner failed at life, his quirk is worthless and only good for sticking to walls. He also internalized the idea that he himself was a failure, and locked himself inside believing he couldn't accomplish anything on his own. Spinner says he has nothing he loves, and nothing he wants to do. Not only that he feels unloved and unwanted. However, Spinner finds something to love in Shigaraki, even if he can't find a strong sense of individualism and still believes himself to be worthless he becomes motivated to help others. Spinner, the most normal person in the group with the most worthless quirk, becomes the greatest help to Shigaraki, basically once he gets over himself and his preconceived notions of himself. Because, you don't actually have to be a special person or have a strong quirk to be a hero, you have to reach out a hand.

The same way Spinner was won over by the League, Dabi has yet to be won over. However, if that does happen, it's probably going to look like Spinner's arc. Dabi antagonizes Spinner a lot, but they actually have more in common than they do differences. They both have failure quirks, while Dabi has an overwhelming fire quirk he wasn't allowed to use, Spinner is literally just a gecko. They both also were labeled as disappointments and given up on, Enji gave up on Touya, Spinner never had any potential from the start and locked himself away in his room. However, their paths so far have been opposites, Spinner let Shigaraki reach him and became a part of the group, Dabi at every possible opportunity insists he's doing this all alone. He takes every chance he can to separate himself from others. If Dabi's arc is going to be a mirror to Shoto's arc eventually, then someone has to reach him and convince him he can't do this all on his own, and Dabi can only truly find himself when he's part of the group once more. After all, so far Dabi is the one most resistant to change. Toga's goal has changed, Shigaraki's changed, Spinner has changed, even Compress now admits that while they're just a gang of thieves that he cares more about everyone else's dreams than his own. Dabi is still nursing a ten-year grudge against Endeavor and doing everything he can to take him down on his own because he hasn't let the group in. And he won't improve or change until he does let others in.

5. Spinner and Shigaraki

I love Compress but I'm skipping over him because his arc hasn't been elaborated on yet. If you want a quick summary though, both Spinner and Compress didn't believe the group to be anything more than a gathering of selfish criminals, however, both of them changed because they wanted to see Shigaraki's dream come true. Not only was Shigaraki the one who inspired both of them to change, but also Compress is the one who first sees how close Spinner is to Shigaraki more than anyone else in the group was.

He also sacrifices himself BECAUSE he's come to realize that what he wants more than his own dreams is to see everyone else's dreams come true. I know Compress's backstory is rushed as all hell, but it almost... almost... works because Compress isn't actually doing this because he's Oji Harima's grandson. His motivation changed a long time ago, he just didn't realize it until he was about to lose the league.

There are a few more parallels, they're both dropouts. It's implied that Compress was literally just a retired and failed stage magician before he decided to become a villain. Hopefully we'll become more on that later because the idea of Compress sucking in showbiz so he decided to follow his grandfather's legacy is really awesome. Spinner was a Neet before he saw Stain on television. They also both have more minor quirks, Compress just shrinks people, Spinner sticks to things. They both also are characters who don't seem important at first, but consistently hover around in the background constantly making sure everyone in the group is okay. Compress calls to check up on people, he talks to Dabi a lot, he tries to keep up with everybody in a melee, it's the little things he does that make Compress same for Spinner. They're both cosplaying as legendary villains who are greater than they are, Stein is cosplaying his grandfather, Spinner is cosplaying Stain, but it's unknown whether Compress really cares that much about his grandfather's ideals, I think he cares about the league more. Compress and Spinner are also people who question and try to understand things, Compress lectures the kids that they had their ideals handed down to them for adult, Compress realizes Spinner's importance to Shigaraki before Spinner even did, Compress and Spinner also both try to understand other people's dreams because they're lacking in their own. Spinner doesn't even have a dream, but he's the one who listened to Shigaraki's dream first.

Now it's been directly said by canon that Spinner and Shigaraki's connection is the most developed, and they are the closest to one another. By developed I mean, it changed over time, when it started out they had almost nothing to do with one another. Spinner was just a rank and file league member that Shigaraki used on the hideout raid. They didn't even get a character introduction scene like Shigarki did with Dabi and Toga.

However, Spinner and Shigaraki's characters are extremely closely tied together. Shigaraki's like the main character of the league, his backstories parallel everyone else's, including the main character of the entire story Deku. He's the one who makes the plans, goes through training arcs, he's the one who the league unites around. However, Spinner actually has all of that too. I just spent a very long time showing how Spinner despite not having an overly complicated backstory has strong parallels to everyone in the league. If Shigaraki is the main character, then Spinner is the everyman / the perspective character, hence why he's the narrator of MVA. Shigaraki is a person of extraordinary circumstance, the symbol of society's oppression who everyone in the league deepy relates to because he's suffered the same way that they have and he accepts them. Whereas, Spinner has suffered because of Hero Society too, he's more like a normal guy who makes an effort to understand everyone around him.

However, Deku wasn't saved by his love interest, or even his childhood friend who is apparently his destined rival, he was saved by Iida trying his best to keep up with him.

Spinner and Shigaraki are both the emotional core of the league in different ways. The league all respects Shigaraki, they rally around his ideas, his dreams are what inspire everybody. However, more and more it's looking like Spinner, ordinary, average, Spinner is working to build emotional connections to everyone in a much more normal way. He talks to Toga and tries to understand her love. He even consoles Toga when twice is gone. He challenges Shigaraki directly to his face. Compress who is always sort of watching the league in the background and checking up on them in little ways notices how hard that Spinner is trying to take care of Shigaraki.

Shigaraki accepts people at their worst and gives them a place to belong, but I think by Spinner's efforts to get to know and understand others, we as an audience are shown how humanizing of a presence that Spinner is on everyone else. Spinner, just being a normal guy, brings out the fact that the rest of the league despite their extraordinary circumstances are deep down just normal people to, who want to be loved normally, and live normally. Spinner literally wakes up Shigaraki, because he remembered the one time that he opened up in front of all of them, and cares enough to try to understand Shigaraki's hurt feelings and what he cares about.

If anything from the last arc in the manga, we're shown at great length, how understanding, reaching out, it all takes effort and it's not as flashy as defeating a villain or rescuing someone from a natural disaster.

Spinner is so important to Shigaraki, because while Shigaraki has given everyone in the group a place where they can be individuals, Shigaraki hasn't realized he himself can be an individual yet. He ultimately, shares the same character flaw as Deku. It's because he's decided that he's going to carry out his dreams for the sake of the league and to create a better future for them, that Shigaraki no longer cares what happens to himself, or about his own future. Everyone talks about Dabi's suicidal nature, but this is something that Shigaraki is challenged on over and over again. What are your motivations. What are your reasons. What do you want to accomplish. He always responds with nothing. There's nothing that he wants, there's nothing worth living for, he only wants to destroy and make a better world for the people who are around him. Shigaraki is the most thoroughly dehumanized character, to the point where he just straight up accepts "god of destruction" because that is at least an identity. Shigaraki needs Spinner and his normalizing influence, because Shigaraki can't see himself as a normal person.

Shigaraki shares the same character flaw as Deku, he does everything for the sake of others, with no regard to himself, which leads to extreme bouts of self-harming and fighting alone. Shigaraki faced off against Endeavor, and basically all the heroes alone even though he did call for backup. However, even before that Shigaraki made the decision to get dangerous risky surgery that would be like hell, because he believed deep down he wasn't good enough alone. Shigaraki just does not care about himself and is unable to see himself as an individual, which is exactly why he needs someone to care for him and see him that way.

Shigaraki's greatest challenge to date is that he's been dehumanized so thoroughly, and lost sight of himself to the point where he's lost even his own body autonomy. When Shigaraki is battling for possession of his body as AFO attempts to take total control and make him into a symbol again, denying him his personhood, we're set up directly with Spinner being the one who reminds us that Shigaraki is just a person, who likes video games, and gets along with his friends. It's Spinner who notices right away that AFO is different from Shigaraki and challenges him the same way that he challenged Shigaraki directly in the My VIllain Academia arc. This is all set up most likely, for Spinner being the one to reach out a hand the same way IIDA did, because what Shigaraki needs the most right now, is not a hero who will save him, but rather a normal person who will understand him and remind him that deep down he was just a normal kid too before all of this happened. What Shigaraki is most in need of is a hand that will reach out to him, and Spinner has already done this once putting Nana's hand back on his face when he couldn't wake up, but what he's failed to realize is that it's his own scaly lizard hands that should be doing the reaching out.

#mha meta #lov meta #league of villains #league of villains meta #spinner #shigaraki #toga himiko #higuchi iguchi #shigaraki tomura #dabi #touya todoroki #twice #jin bubaigawara #compress

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jocelynships · 2 years ago

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You know I've gotta ask blue for Kurt, but also orange & pink for Draxum!! Genuinely curious what y'all would do together haha. Love you Joce 💙

Hehe thank you, Emily!! These will be fun, so let's go!

We'll answer for the blue boy first!

Blue: What is their love language?

Oh, physical touch for sure! Kurt's a very physically affectionate guy! Him and my S/I are always holding onto each other in some way shape or form. Sometimes their arms are around each other, if they're not holding hands then their pinkies are intertwined, or his tail is curling around her in some way shape or form!!

And now for the goat man!

Pink: What is your favorite thing about their appearance?

Oh my god where do I start I legit love everything about his appearance

Okay. I think. I'm just gonna say his face. Like. I can't pick just one aspect about his face, I love it all. His pretty golden eyes, his cheekbones, his nose, his lips??? And listen. I love the fact they didn't make him a "conventionally attractive" young guy. Like, I will say that yes, he is almost human looking, all you have to do is remove the goat ears & nose, and give him a human skin tone and that's all you gotta change to make him look human! But he is so cool looking! They could have made him a generically attractive guy, but they made him an older guy, gave him wrinkles too! And I LOVE it!!!

So many people don't like how he looks without the mask and ya know what? Anyone who thinks that is a COWARD. He's handsome as hell, and I like him better without the mask tbh, even if the armor is a good look!

However, some artists have drawn him with his mask off, but the rest of the armor on. And it makes me go insanely feral. Like. I cannot say the thoughts I have about that man when I see art like that because I might scare some of y'all JDFHFDIJG

But seriously, I love his face so much. He's legit so handsome to me. I don't care what anyone says lmao. B.aron D.raxum is fine as hell and that's that!

Also those muscles. Need I say more.

Orange: What is your favorite date you’ve been on?

Oh goodness, I've been too caught up thinking about Joce and D.raxum's pre-dating shenanigans so much I haven't really thought about what type of dates they'd go on. 😳

And to be honest, D.raxum doesn't seem like the type to go out on fancy dates lol.

BUT WAIT ACTUALLY-

Okay, so it may not count as a "date" since it happens before they start dating, but it's the "Something There" moment where they both realize "Oh, this isn't a crush. I'm in love."

Joce and D.raxum get dragged to a day at Albertoland by April, the turtles, and one of my friend's S/Is!

And they're pretty much just trying to make sure none of the teens get into trouble, and Mikey wanted D.raxum to come out and have some bonding time with everyone.

And Joce and D.raxum get mistaken for a couple. Multiple times.

But also, it's where Joce starts to see D.raxum CAN be a good guy. He's a little awkward the whole time, not really knowing how to carry himself around other humans. He just got used to Joce, April, and my friend's S/I after all!

But him and Joce end up on their own while the teens go on some rides. Joce doesn't really trust carnival rides, it's a weird hang up she has, so she sticks back with D.raxum and the two bond some more. And in that moment, they both realize how much they fully enjoy each other's company. And man. Has the other always been so attractive?

I still gotta write out more details, but this is basically it! It's such a fun thing I have planned for them hehe.

Also man, sorry for rambling so much, but I Cannot Control Myself when it comes to D.raxum 😳

#asks #macgyverwife #ship: night roses #ship: beauty and the yokai #hehe thank you for letting me ramble about my main boys!!

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raeloganthesonic06fangirl · 3 years ago

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So, this question might get a bit 'real' but I gotta know, how do you deal with the fact that many artists your age are better than you and that there's artists younger than you that are also much better? I mean, I get insecure when I see another artist that's either my age or younger that, contradictory, seems light years ahead of me and I'm like a decade younger than you, so I'm genuinely curious how you handle it.

I used to sort of be hyperaware of that when I was younger, especially because I really didn't start really being interested in doing art until I was 15, and wasn't able to get my first graphics tablet until I was 19, so I had a bit of a late start and probably didn't help that one of my cousins, who is 6 years my junior, was and still is somewhat of a prodigy when it came to arts and crafts.

Being 15 while hardly grasping the concept of anatomy and my cousin being 9 and making a whole heckin hyperrealistic pencil drawing of an upclose of a sea turtle on the beach, it sort of momentarily knocked the wind out of my sails if not for her saying "I wish I could make up characters like you do, though." which really sort of gave me an interesting perspective on other points of view. As far as she was concerned, she could make really good drawings, but she thought my characters were more fun to imagine.

Of course, I also have some disability stuff that does affect my fine motor skills to some degree, which is why I prefer to use pencils over inks and draw small because that suits better with the control of my wrist because if I did the whole-arm thing you're supposed to do, I'd never get a legible clean line, and holy heck, I absolutely cannot do paintbrush work cleanly at all, it's an absolute mess and looks nothing like how I do with pencils. Either way, I have a slight disadvantage with my range of (lack of) skills, and perspective is jank most of the time because I have no depth perception anyway without my glasses. Sometimes a sketch can take a few minutes on a good day or I spend all night trying to get a decent looking leg to work out in the drawing before giving up and throwing that in the "come back later" bin.

Another thing I like to hold onto is something my Mom has told my brothers and I over the years whenever one of us expressed disappointment in not matching the other in skills: "You are in competition with nobody but yourself."

I also have a sister-in-law who is a fairly popular artist in her particular community, but her wonderful words of wisdom for art is: "If you spend like a thousand hours working on a skill, you're gonna get really good at doing it."

Also, like, the majority of relatives on the paternal side of my family are natural artists in one way or another, sometimes even with textiles and crafts, and I'm recognized as the one in the family who does toon style over realism. My Lil Bro who has an account here on Tumblr I occasionally plug does fantastic anthro work with paws, claws, snouts and textures among other things. He's younger than me by a couple of years, and is the source of the "Sonic Man Candy" print I have hung up in my room that's a bit of a joke between us that I sometimes reference here one in a blue moon.

I haven't drawn this character in a good long while, but a cat character of mine known mostly as Bill (full name "Jared William Danus III") is a bit of a time capsule on how my art style started and changed over the years as I worked more of certain weak points and figured out that my best attributes were probably eyes and expressions, so I put more emphasis on those than anything to mask what might be lacking.

Bill started as simply a cat variant of your typical "imp counterpart to another character" in the vein of something like Mr. Mxyzptlk, as he's actually another universe's version of another character of mine, King Milo:

Over time, I sort of evolved Bill into his own thing, where his entire concept was "What if he wasn't exactly the typical main character, but the brother of a Chosen One sort of character, and wasn't even the Prime Universe version of all his variants?"

There's a massive amount of explanation behind him that I won't muddle here, but anyway, you can see that my earlier art bits were very not so good and very amateur and immediately makes my more recent stuff already look a bit better in comparison.

I'd say one of the most effective things you can do as a moral boost in times of doubt got your skills is to take an one of your older art pieces and redraw it. Get a real good look at what you've been able to improve on, check out your new techniques, maybe a better color pallet developed over the years, or maybe you can see life in the eyes of your characters or even see energy you weren't able to do the last time you drew that.

Age really doesn't determine your skill, it's how much time you've put into something you're very passionate about that helps it grow. And maybe a little bit of natural talent with some of us, because I'm pretty sure that's exactly what was going on with my cousin there. Straight up like that SpongeBob drawing a perfect circle thing.

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masterwords · 4 years ago

Text

Soaked Clean Through

Summary: Set sometime post- 100, Hotch is arrested for murder in his hometown. The team has to dive into Hotch's personal life to try and prove his innocence and find the real killer. (Semi - AU inspired by Profiler, Profiled. References to Ashes and Dust and In Name and Blood are made.)

Warnings: murder, child abuse, jail, abusive cops, cheating, divorce, grief, depression

Pairings: None

Words: 6.7k

72 hours. They couldn't hold him for longer than 72 hours without making an arrest, he knew that. It didn't change the fact that he was sitting alone in an interrogation room that smelled like pine sol and coffee with a sickening undercurrent of vomit. People threw up in these rooms often. Nerves, mostly. But maybe the smell had something to do with it – there was no hiding that acrid, bile smell. There were places on the floor that it had eaten the finish away. Aaron sat stoic, hands folded on the table, eyes trained straight ahead. He hadn't done anything wrong, and of course he knew that, but they didn't. He wouldn't be giving them a show.

“The name Mark Baron ring a bell?” the detective, a man named Henry, asked. Aaron sighed. They both knew it did. Henry and Aaron grew up with Mark, it was a small town, everyone knew everyone. Mark and Aaron had been a grade above Henry, but they all hung around in the same feral pack as children and grew apart as teenagers, even became rivals. Mark and Aaron had been rivals in everything – track, wrestling, grades, dating. They were evenly matched in nearly all things, even had similar family structures, each with a younger sibling (Mark with a sister, Aaron a brother) and a prominent father (Mark's father was a doctor, Aaron's a lawyer). They were born to be best friends or rivals. They were tied to one another by the kind of childhood destiny you just couldn't ignore. Mark had been a better looking young boy, with long wispy blonde hair and striking blue eyes, that kind of angelic face that everyone loved and fawned over while Aaron, with his dark hair and eyes and his sharp features made people think he was always up to something. That couldn't have been further from the truth, but adults always had their minds made up about the two of them. Aaron would take the fall for trouble Mark caused. It didn't bother him for years, he could handle it. By high school, though, it had caught up to them and Aaron would no longer allow himself to take the licks, he stood up for himself, and Mark didn't like that.

“Don't play games with me, Henry,” Aaron said, his voice cool, collected. Henry smiled.

“So then you'll know why you're here?”

“Not a clue. I haven't spoken to Baron in years.”

“No?” Henry smiled. It made Aaron feel sick. “Mark was found dead in the woods last night, shot in the back. When exactly did you get into town, Hotchner?” Aaron stared at him, his eyes dead cold. He thought of Mark, dead in the woods, and it made his stomach turn. They hadn't been friends in years, but when you're that close with someone as a child, it never really goes away. He closed his eyes, thought of Mark's pale blonde hair that always fell wispy like rain into his eyes, got stuck in the mess of food or mud on his cheeks, the way he'd always catch the frogs or turtles and hand them to Aaron because he hated to get into the water, hated the way the slimy rocks and crawdads felt on his feet. Mark who always had an adventure up his sleeve – a pirate treasure map, hand scrawled, with real buried treasure at the end of it, or a blueprint he'd drawn up to make a hideout for their gang. He always provided Aaron with an escape from real life. When he opened his eyes again, he steadied himself, and swallowed the feelings of loss down hard.

“I got here yesterday, around lunch time. I went straight to my mother's house, because it was too early to check in at the motel. I'm staying at the Starlight Inn, room 4. I checked in around 6pm and was there until you knocked on my door.”

“Convenient,” Henry muttered, leaning forward on the table. Aaron didn't blink. “Can anyone vouch for you being in your hotel room?”

“No.” He had nothing to hide, and nothing to gain by scrambling or lying. “You don't have enough to arrest me, and I can sit here for 72 hours without a problem. I am sorry that Mark is dead, we may not have been friends anymore but that doesn't mean I killed him. If you let me call my team, they can help you find the person that did do this...or you can hold me here, and spend all of your time trying to break me down. You might even succeed, but because I didn't kill Mark, it won't bring you any closer to justice.”

Henry regarded Aaron suspiciously for a moment and smiled. It was not a nice smile, it was the kind that sent a shiver down your spine. “I'll call your team for you.”

By the time Dave was in the room, Aaron was exhausted and cold. At least three other officers had cycled through, asking him a barrage of questions that he'd already answered, each time receiving the same answers. They assumed he'd memorized every detail of his testimony, never really considering that it was simply the truth and he had no reason to lie. Dave looked at him sadly, hating every second of seeing such a man as Aaron Hotchner in this situation, after devoting his life and giving everything up for the protection of others.

“Aaron,” Dave said softly, sitting across the table from his friend. “Why do they think you did it? Everyone in this station is absolutely convinced it couldn't have been anyone but you.”

“I don't know,” Aaron replied, looking only at Dave. He could smell Dave's cologne, that sweet cherry tobacco and clove smell that made him feel intoxicated. He desperately wanted to wrap himself in Dave’s arms and breathe it in, to feel comfort right now in this cold, musty room. “Mark and I were good friends when we were little, and I went away to boarding school for a couple of years – when I came back, he acted like we were enemies. High school was a series of competitions between the two of us, it was mostly friendly but there were a few times that it came to blows. I was scrappier than he was, I had...more to prove. More anger maybe. The last fight we had was right after my father was diagnosed with lung cancer...I beat him in the 400 meter dash, he ran up behind me and shoved me into the stack of hurdles on the track. I got up and jumped on him, the coaches had to tear us apart, bloody and full of teenage rage. They didn't allow us to be in the same sports after that.”

“And you haven't seen him since high school?”

“No, not really. In passing maybe but that’s it.” Aaron didn't feel the need to elaborate – that he didn't come back here often, if he could help it. Every few years he and Sean would come to visit their mother, but he would avoid everyone and everything. Aaron always stayed at the Starlight Inn, right outside of town, to make sure he didn't have to stay in the thick of that place. He hadn't maintained friendships with anyone, he barely even spoke to his own mother or brother. Haley had been the only thing he took with him when he walked away, and he could feel the resentment in the faces of people he saw when he came back.

“So why would they think you'd harbor a grudge for this long?”

“When you grow up in a small town, and you stay in that small town, things have a way of being stunted. I haven't thought of Mark Baron in decades, but he probably thought about me every day. They go to the bar and get piss drunk and talk about their wild high school days. They all blame me for what happened to Haley.”

“Aaron,” Dave said, his voice hushed. “These guys want you. They look like they've done their homework. How much does the team know about your childhood?”

“Dave...” Aaron said, a small flash of something that looked like sudden fear in his eyes. Dave shrugged. “Nothing. You're the only one...” For the first time, he felt panic. Not because he thought he was going to be put away for murder, he trusted that it would work itself out, but in the process he was going to be exposed. The room swam around him.

“I'll do my best to intercept what I can.”

“Thank you,” Aaron said softly, but he didn't feel better. He hadn't considered just how badly these guys might want to pin this on him. “Mark's father was a doctor. The only one in town. My records won't be hard to find. Dave...” ��His eyes were pleading now, but he tried to keep his face solemn, stoic. He knew they were being watched. Listened to. Everyone in town knew Aaron's history, but his team didn't. He kept his past safeguarded, even from the people who were closest to him. Especially from them.

“I said I'll do my best. I'm not sure I can promise more than that. We have to get you out of here, that's our top priority. They said his body was found in the woods, I sent Emily and Reid out there to check out the area. Morgan and JJ are talking to the victim's family. I'm staying here to keep an eye on things. Aaron, we will get you out of here.”

“I know,” Aaron sighed, meeting Dave's eyes, looking a little less calm than when he'd come in. “I didn't do anything, Dave. It's my mother's birthday today, Sean and I came to surprise her. I didn't kill anyone.”

“We will find who did this,” Dave assured him, wishing he could reach out and touch his friend. Reassure him that they'd get him out. He looked around the room, the vile smell getting to him now.

“Will you call Sean and tell him not to wait for me? Give him some money to take her out somewhere nice, from me. I'll pay you back when I get out of here.”

Dave smiled and nodded. “Of course.”

The morning stretched into afternoon in slow motion. No one came to see Aaron and he sat at the table, trying to keep himself calm. Awake. He was exhausted. The room was getting colder, uncomfortably cold.

“You think we don't know what your motive was? Here's your motive,” came Henry's voice before he was even fully in the room. He sauntered over to the table and slapped down a photo of Mark Baron with Haley and Jack around a bonfire. Haley and Mark were side by side, his arm around her shoulders, beers in hand. They were grinning, she looked so happy.

“What is this?” Aaron asked, feeling his insides twist.

“Did you know your little lady was stepping out on you, Hotchner?”

Aaron felt sick. He thought about the phone calls to the house, the dead silence on the other end of the line, and then Haley's phone ringing in her purse. It happened more often than he'd care to admit. He'd shrugged it off, especially after the divorce, figuring it was probably just her lawyer. Something had gnawed at him, suspicion, but he would rather choke on it than confront her. He always just let it go.

“No,” he said, because it was true. Nothing to be gained from lying. Henry smiled.

“She said you were in San Francisco, on a case. She always came around when you were gone. Something about fires that time, I didn't really care. Your life doesn't interest me. I'm sure a lot of people are impressed but I'm not. What does impress me is that you put up with your wife's unfaithfulness for years, and now you pretend you had no idea. Isn't it your job to see these things?”

“Yes,” Aaron said softly, feeling his heart break inside of his chest. It was hard to breathe. His features remained stony, lips pressed in a thin line.

“Didn't your father step out on your mom? I remember him coming around my back door some nights...you think he had a thing with my mom? She told me he came by to fix plumbing problems...your dad know how to fix pipes Hotchner?” Henry asked, and Aaron caught hold of his sadness and pushed it down deep, replacing it with anger.

“Is this about solving a murder or humiliating me?” he asked, scowling. He wouldn't look at the photo again. Her smile was burned into his mind, how happy she looked, but that wasn't the awful part – it was Jack. She'd taken their son with her. He couldn't blame her for wanting someone to give her attention or love or whatever it was that Mark had given her, he'd always worshiped the ground she walked on. He couldn't fault her for searching out the things she needed because he hadn't been giving her any of it, but Jack. That she'd do it in front of Jack made his veins pump ice and the bile rise in the back of his throat. While he was sitting with a woman dying in the burn ward, watching a man commit suicide to save people and his cause, while his soul was being shattered into bits and pieces – she was here, with Mark Baron, and she'd brought Jack along for the ride. He could remember sitting in the SUV with Emily, talking to Haley on the phone, he could hear people in the background but he'd been so preoccupied by the case he didn't think to question it. And it didn't matter, he'd given her no choice. It was almost like she was begging him to confront her, to show that it even mattered and he couldn’t even muster it.

Henry left the room satisfied. The photo stayed there, on the table. He was racking his brain now, putting the pieces together. It was possible he knew and he just didn't want to see it, or think about it, or be upset about it. When his father was unfaithful, he'd gone chasing him down, only to find out more than he'd wanted – yes, he'd confirmed his father's infidelity, and he'd also uncovered his father's cancer. It wasn't worth it to know. He stood up and walked from wall to wall, trying to warm himself up.

Morgan and JJ were at the Baron house. It was a large white house, the sort that brings up images of old plantations, set on a sea of emerald. There was no farm land, just grass and trees as far as the eye can see, perfectly manicured. A kind faced elderly woman answered the door, smiling but sad.

“Mrs. Baron? I'm Agent Jennifer Jareau, this is Agent Derek Morgan, we're with the FBI. We need to ask you some questions about your son. May we come in?” JJ was always so good with families. She had that kind, empathetic nature that made people want to talk, want to be near her. Morgan hung back and took in the surroundings. Mrs. Baron invited them in, offered them lemonade, seated them in the parlor. Mr. Baron sat in a wing back chair, smoking a cigar nearby. The walls were lined with bookcases, full of medical journals and classic novels, old knickknacks, family heirlooms. It smelled like tobacco and old wood.

“Mr. Baron?” Morgan asked, extending his hand to the older man who shook it without standing up. Morgan didn't mind, the man looked old and frail. “I'm sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you, Agent,” Mr. Baron said, puffing on his cigar. Morgan and JJ took their seats on the sofa and gratefully accepted Mrs. Baron's offer of lemonade.

“Can you tell us if there is anyone you can think of who might have had motive to...” Morgan began, but Mr. Baron shook his head.

“No. I know they're trying to pin it on that Hotchner boy but he had no cause to do it. That poor boy's had nothing but devils in his life, my son included, but he wouldn't do this.”

“He and your son didn't get along?”

Mrs. Baron wiped at her cheeks, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. “Mark and Aaron were so close as boys. So close. They made up adventures, spent all summer long splashing in the creek, creating worlds to live in that were far away from here. Aaron's father was a troubled man, you see, but Mark, he'd bring him here for help.”

JJ and Morgan glanced at each other, both knowing they were stepping into some very private, very dangerous territory. “I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know what you mean.”

“I'm sorry to do this to all of you, he always was so private. I hope he'll understand why I had to do this. Here,” Mr. Baron had maneuvered over to his shelves and produced a file the size of a textbook. “As soon as I heard they'd arrested him, I had this pulled, to protect him. Didn't want the Sheriff making his way down to my practice with a warrant, he'd only use it against the boy. Henry's always had it out for that Hotchner boy. You should have it. Keep it safe.”

JJ took the file and with some trepidation, opened the front cover. Staring back at her was Aaron's face, he looked to be about ten, with long inky black hair falling down into his eyes and a bruised cheek. He looked scrappy, like just about every little boy she'd ever encountered, but she knew there was no reason for a doctor to have a photo of him if it wasn’t something sinister. She looked over at Morgan before flipping the page. Photo after photo, hand scrawled reports. Bruises, stitches, broken bones. Her hands shook as she turned the pages until finally Morgan reached over and pulled it out of her hands, shutting it and setting it on his lap. She nodded.

“Are there any police reports that coincide with your file?” JJ asked, gulping down her sadness. “Anything they could already have?”

“Cops never got involved,” Mr. Baron said, shaking his head. “Small towns like this have their own way of dealing with things. His dad was the town’s lawyer, and a very well respected one at that. He had a lot of power around here, if you catch my drift. Lotta people owed him things that kept them quiet when it came to things he did...once or twice, I tried to turn him in but she wouldn’t press charges, and the sheriff wouldn’t even listen to my report.”

“He was always such a sweet boy,” Mrs. Baron said sadly. “Such good manners, always so polite. He and Mark were so close. His family sent him away to boarding school, and things were never the same between he and Mark. That Brooks girl caused problems for them, too. She liked Aaron, you see, but Mark had been in love with her for years. I was so sorry to hear of her passing.”

“Did Mark have any enemies, ma'am?” Morgan asked, eager to change the subject. He felt sick.

“Oh no,” she said softly, dabbing at her eyes again. “Not Mark. He only ever had problems with Aaron. When Haley came back to visit her parents, she and Mark got to talking at the bar and one thing lead to another...he didn't do it to hurt Aaron, you have to believe that. He'd always loved that girl.”

JJ flinched. This was up there with one of the worst days of her life, she'd realized. She sipped her lemonade. “So he and Haley...”

“She was so sad and lonely,” Mrs. Baron said softly. Mr. Baron cut in, his tone clipped, almost mean.

“What she did was wrong, Violet. There isn't another word for it. What she did with Mark was wrong and we all know it.”

Morgan sighed. “So she and Mark were messing around while she was married to Hotch,” he muttered, more to himself than anything else. He remembered being in Hotch's shoes, being the one in the interrogation room while his team were out digging into every nook and cranny of his existence and it made him feel ill knowing he was now the one doing it. “This isn't right.”

“I'm sorry?” Mrs. Baron asked.

“He wouldn't want us to know any of this. It isn't right.”

“I know...” JJ whispered. “Is there anything else you can tell us about Mark? What would he have been doing in the woods at night?”

“He and his friends liked to hunt coyotes and hogs. It's not illegal to hunt those at night, he was well within his rights to do it. They'd pitch a tent out in the woods and bring their beers and make a weekend of it.” Mr. Baron offered with a shrug. “I know how that might sound, but it's what you do out in these parts.”

“Was he with anyone that night?”

“Oh, sure, but no one saw anything. They've all been questioned.”

“Right...” Morgan said, quietly. “We should get back. Thank you for your hospitality.”

The precinct was cold. Aaron was shivering, pacing back and forth to try and stay warm. He was exhausted, and his polo shirt and jeans weren't doing much good to keep him comfortable. When Dave entered again with one of his pullover sweaters, it was a godsend.

“Thought you might be chilly, so I popped over to your hotel room with the officers. They ransacked the place but didn't find anything.” Dave said with a small smile, trying to be encouraging. Aaron pulled the sweater over his head and folded his arms over his chest.

“Thank you.”

“What's this?” Dave asked, picking up the photo, eyes darting from it to Aaron and back again. Aaron looked crushed. He couldn't hide it. “Oh. Oh Aaron.”

“It's okay,” he said, his first lie of the day. It wasn't okay, but it was in the past. The two people in that photo were both dead. “She deserved to be happy and I wasn't there.”

“No, Aaron. That's not how it works. Listen, the sheriff is requesting information on Foyet and Haley's deaths, and I can't get Strauss to block it – he must have some pretty compelling arguments to get that. I'm going to try and handle what I can.”

“He doesn't need a compelling argument, she's wanted my badge for years. She'll probably hand deliver the files just to see me sitting in here.” Dave nodded, he knew Aaron was probably right.

“He's going to twist what happened to prove you're capable of murder,” Dave said quietly, and Aaron nodded solemnly. He knew. It wouldn't take a genius to connect the dots, if they were so inclined. He'd been cleared of wrongdoing, but he had permanent damage in his hand that reminded him every day of what he'd done and how brutal it had been. The constant ache in his knuckles, in his joints, told him exactly what he was capable of.

“I didn't know,” Aaron said, coolly, and Dave cocked his head to the side, questioning. “I know he's planted a seed of doubt in your mind now too. I had suspicions over the years, but I didn't know and I certainly had no idea she was seeing Mark.”

“I believe you.” He meant it. Of course he did. He trusted Aaron implicitly.

“Thanks, Dave.” Dave gave him the most reassuring smile he could, but he knew Morgan and JJ were on their way back to the station and by the sound of their voices, they'd been given information they hadn't expected. Dave met them in the conference room and shut the door behind them, knowing he was about to be running damage control. The looks on their faces told him everything he needed to know in order to proceed.

“Rossi,” Morgan said, his voice sounding far less confident than usual. “Did you know?”

“Know what?” Feigning innocence. It didn't come naturally to him, and the look on Morgan's face said he knew Dave wasn't being truthful. The three of them sat around the table awkwardly, like they’d never been alone in a room together before. The air was stifling, stale.

“The victim's father was the town's doctor,” JJ said, interrupting the men and their stare down. “He told us about...”

“Is it relevant?” Dave asked, stopping her in her tracks. She looked stricken. “To this case, is it relevant?”

“It could be,” Morgan sighed. “We all know about the cycle of abuse. Rossi, what his dad did to him...”

“He isn't his father. This information does not leave this room, are we clear? You've never questioned his motives before, why now?”

“The vic's father said Hotch's dad had a reputation for being a flirt. Leaving his wife home with the kids and seeing some of the single moms around town. Did Hotch know Haley was messing around with the vic? For years, his dad said. She didn't bother to hide it from what I understand, it was well known around here. I don't know Rossi...”

“What are you saying Morgan?” JJ asked, her eyes wide. She looked like she was going to be sick.

“I'm not saying anything,” he muttered. “They just...they have more of a case than we assumed they would is all. It seemed pretty cut and dry but now it isn't.”

“He didn't know,” Dave said softly, folding his hands on the table. “I believe him. You should too, he's never given you any reason not to trust him.”

Morgan nodded, and JJ followed suit. “I know,” JJ said softly, putting her hand over her mouth, like she was going to be sick. “Rossi, we saw...pictures.” She set the file on the table and slid it over to Dave who palmed it into his lap but didn't open it.

“Don't,” Dave warned, shaking his head. Tears welled up in her eyes. Morgan slid over toward her and pulled her into a hug.

“Rossi,” he said, his voice still so thin and solemn. “It was bad.”

“I know.”

“The kind of bad that we'd see and think, yeah, it makes sense that they'd turn out this way...makes sense they’d kill someone.”

“I know,” Dave repeated. “But he didn't. You know he didn't. These people want to pin something on him, we need to make sure they don't. We need to stop looking at him and find out who did shoot Baron.”

Tears fell down JJ's cheeks, splashing into her lap. “How do I look at him and not see those pictures? Rossi, they were so awful.”

“Who he is hasn't changed. He's not the child in those photos. He went to great lengths to make sure that was in the past. He knew the odds and he beat them, let's make sure all of his work wasn't in vain. We need to help him and we need to respect his privacy.”

Back in the interrogation room, Henry was leaning over Aaron. “I saw what you did to George Foyet. With your bare hands. Apple didn't fall far from the tree, did it?”

Aaron looked up at Henry, his eyes narrowed. “That man killed Haley and was going to kill our son,” Aaron said through gritted teeth. He felt his lungs seize in his chest, tried to steady his breathing. Henry threw the file down in front of Aaron, letting the photo of Haley dead fall out in front of him. It slid across the table and Aaron reached out, pressing his palm against it just before it slipped over the edge. His hands were shaking, these were the images he saw in his nightmares. The images that woke him in a cold sweat, forced him to rush to the bathroom blindly to vomit night after night.

“So you say,” Henry leaned close, his breath hot on Aaron's cheek. “But you didn't shoot him. You beat him to death because you're just like your asshole home wrecking father.” Aaron stared straight ahead, jaw set, teeth gritted. He didn't move. Henry stood up, feigned that he was walking away, and turned on his heel quickly, cracking Aaron in the jaw with a left hook that knocked the man out of his chair. “You killed my friend, you bastard!”

Dave rushed into the room shouting obscenities, followed by two of the officers who pulled Henry out of the room still fuming. Crouching beside Aaron, Dave looked at his jaw, his split lip and shook his head.

“I'm fine,” Aaron muttered, letting Dave help him back up into his chair. “He's wanted to do that since he put me in here. It wasn't a surprise.” One of the officers brought in an ice pack from the break room apologetically and Aaron nodded, smiling. He couldn't remember the young man's name, but he knew him, he'd been friends with Sean. Too young for Aaron to hang around with. Dave reached out and grabbed the photos of Haley and Foyet, slid them back into the file, and tucked the file under his arm.

“Sit tight. Prentiss and Reid are following a lead. Turns out Baron was hunting with some buddies, and one of them hasn't talked yet.”

“Henry said,” Aaron began, but stopped himself. He understood. “Right. He's covering for someone.”

“Bingo. His brother Stephen was out with the group of guys and he hasn't been seen since. They all said they forgot Stephen was out there when Prentiss asked, said he was so quiet and it was his first time. Slipped their minds.” Dave rolled his eyes, Aaron just looked down at the table. He'd always liked Stephen, he was a good kid. He was big for his age, they'd played football together and the kid could block like no one Aaron had ever seen.

“There's a tree-house back in the woods, a real house with a roof and everything. It's passed down from generation to generation of kids, my grandfather helped build it. A super secret clubhouse for the locals, but sometimes hunters use it too. It's so deep only locals would ever find it. If he's hiding, he's there.”

Dave made a few calls, found someone who could take Prentiss and Reid to the location and sent Morgan and JJ to Stephen's house. It didn't take them long to find him and to find out what had actually happened. He owned up to it right away and he was a mess. Just as Rossi had suspected, it was an accident and he'd been so terrified that he'd run. He had no idea they were holding Aaron, accusing him of murder and he came willingly to confess. Henry was mortified, but he never apologized to Aaron. Didn't even look him in the eye when Dave opened up the interrogation room and walked his friend out. Aaron paused when he saw Stephen, felt terrible for the younger man.

“Just a moment, Dave,” Aaron whispered, letting his friend walk ahead. He reached into his wallet and produced a business card for a friend in the area. “Stephen? Here's the number to a good lawyer. Tell him I sent you, he'll take care of you.”

“I'm sorry, Hotchy,” Stephen said, tears in his eyes. “I shoulda come in straight away. I panicked. Mark was my friend, he convinced me to come out that night...god...” He broke down. Aaron shook his head and patted Stephen on the shoulder. He didn't have any words of encouragement, nothing to say at all, so he just squeezed a little, patted, and walked toward Dave slowly.

“Let's get out of here,” Dave said, holding the door open for his friend. Aaron walked out of the station, into the cool evening air. The team was waiting beside two black SUVs that looked out of place amid the rural setting. Prentiss and Reid were in the middle of an argument about something no one cared about, and Morgan and JJ were just staring at the ground and the sky, anywhere but at Aaron.

“It's my mother's birthday,” Aaron muttered, looking at the SUVs that could remove him from this hell. But he wasn't ready yet. Wasn't ready to look his team in the eye, wasn't ready to see the looks on their faces after what they'd seen that day. “I can't leave yet.”

“Mind if I stick around too?” Dave asked, searching Aaron's face for some level of understanding that Dave didn't think he should be alone. Aaron hummed and shrugged. He and Dave said a quick goodbye to the rest of the team and walked silently down the road toward the motel, it was only about a mile and Aaron just wanted to be out in the open. JJ had offered to give them a ride, but she could barely look Aaron in the eye and when she finally had, he could see the tears there and it made him wildly uncomfortable. As they walked through the parking lot, toward his room, Aaron finally found the words.

“What do they know?” he asked, his voice painfully raw all of a sudden. Dave sucked in a deep breath.

“JJ and Morgan were given your records from the doctor, they know...everything. I'm not sure whether Prentiss or Reid have any information.”

Aaron nodded, balled up his fists at his side but stayed quiet for a long moment. “Right.” Silence again as they entered the motel room. Aaron's bag was strewn all over his bed, his toiletries thrown on the floor. The place looked like Guns n Roses had been staying there. He stood in the mess of his personal belongings, taking in the scene and closed his eyes. Par for the course, after the last day. Accused of murder, turned inside out in front of his friends, his personal belongings violated.

“Dave,” Aaron whispered. “I'm going to take a shower.” Without waiting for a response, he stepped over the mess on the floor and went straight for the bathroom – a dimly lit, dingy yellow room with a fluorescent light bulb flickering in the ceiling. The shower was hot, scalding, and beat against his skin hard. He just stood under the water, letting it melt the day off of him. When he finished, was ready to face the rest of the day, he stepped out and toweled off, prepared to step back into the clothes he'd already been wearing but instead found that while he'd been in his trance, Dave had set new clothes beside the sink for him. He smiled for the first time that day.

“Thank you, Dave,” he said, coming out of the bathroom still towel drying his hair. Inky black spikes stuck up in haphazard chunks and he mussed it down with his fingertips, looking around the place – Dave had cleaned everything up, packed his bags again, and made some very bitter smelling coffee. The room was spotless, probably better than when he'd first come in.

“Thought you could use a win today,” Dave offered, sipping the hot brown acid parading as coffee in his cup. “I'm sorry about everything.” He didn't know how to say what he really meant. Sorry you found out that your wife was unfaithful? Sorry you were suspected of murdering your childhood friend? Or how about sorry that all of your secrets were just put under the microscope?

“Thanks,” Aaron replied, sitting at the foot of his bead to put on his socks. “You want to come up to my mom's place with me? Sean texted and said they brought dessert back, she's putting on some coffee. She likes coffee...it'll be better than whatever that is you're drinking now.”

Dave nodded, setting the mug of sludge down. “I'd love to.”

The drive was quiet, both men sat with the windows down, the cool breeze swirling through the front seat. Dave stared out the window, taking in the scenery while letting Aaron be alone with his thoughts. That was the beauty of their friendship, the depth of their love for one another. It went beyond friendship at times, when they felt the need for more. There was no talk of commitment, no jealousy, but there were plenty of nights that would otherwise have been very lonely. Dave had already made up his mind that Aaron wouldn't be lonely tonight, and Aaron was appreciative. The driveway was long and bumpy, but the house looked like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting. Somehow, knowing what he knew about Aaron's childhood, it was hard to picture this house being a part of that narrative. The door was wide open, two silhouettes illuminated in the bright interior light. They didn't wait for Aaron and Dave to get out of the car before rushing toward them, mother first and then Sean wrapping Aaron in hugs. Sean shook Dave's hand, told him it was nice to see him again, and Aaron introduced his mother.

“Oh, David, I've heard so much about you it feels like I know you already.” Dave looked over at Aaron who just shrugged and shook his head. He found it hard to believe that Aaron had said anything at all about him, he wasn't exactly known for his monologues.

“Happy Birthday, mom,” Aaron said, dropping to the back of the line as they all shuffled inside. He closed the door behind them and followed to the kitchen where there was a pie and four plates laid out with coffee cups steaming already.

“I can't believe Henry would think you could hurt Mark like that,” Aaron's mother muttered, slicing up the pie and putting it on plates.

“Can we talk about something else?” Aaron asked, looking down at his hands folded in his lap. His mother patted him on the shoulder and set his pie before him.

“I'm sorry sweetie,” she said softly. “I just can't understand what got into him.” She peered at his bruised jaw and tsked under her breath.

“He's an asshole,” Sean muttered. “I better not see him while I'm here or he'll be running into my fucking fist.”

“Don't, Sean,” Aaron chided, poking at his pie. It was peach pie, his favorite – his mother had never cared much for it, but she must have picked it out just for him. “It's done. His friend was killed, he needed someone to be mad at...I can take it.”

“I don't give a shit that you can take it,” Sean was getting angry now, raising his voice. “He's already down at Jimmy's telling everyone you didn't even know about Haley and Mark like that's something to be proud of. I got a text from Les, he said Henry’s already piss drunk and talking about you. What a prick.”

“It's fine Sean,” Aaron said, trying to keep his voice soft. “His brother just got arrested for murder. He can say what he wants about me, he's got bigger problems now.” Sean shrugged and took a huge bite of pie, chewing noisily. He was still angry. Maybe now at Aaron, who was just so willing to roll over and take it.

“So David, I want to hear all about your books...Aaron tells me you're a novelist?” Aaron's mother said, sliding her chair a little closer to Dave than he'd prefer. Aaron glanced up at Dave and grinned at the sight. Sean shuddered.

“God, mom, keep your pants on...” Sean started, but Aaron kicked him under the table. Sean yelped at the sudden pain in his shin.

“If you say another word, I will take you outside and see to it that Henry can legitimately pick me up for murder this time. Understand?” Sean nodded, rubbing at his shin. He watched as Dave told their mother all about his novels, book tours, all of the excitement of being a published novelist and scowled, leaning over toward Aaron. She had scooted even closer to him and was laying it on thick.

“You're just gonna let mom flirt with him right in front of us? Gross.” Sean was whispering now, leaning close to his brother. Aaron kicked him again.

“He can handle himself.”

Sean laughed, shoveling the rest of his pie into his mouth and reaching over to dig into his brother's, which was as yet untouched. Aaron didn’t stop him.

“Mind your own business,” Dave shot from across the table with a wink before going back to regaling their mother with stories of book signings and crazed fans. Sean rolled his eyes. This was the best part of his entire day.

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