#[Honestly... I share a lot of these things with Vincent]

[caeca-iustitia]

Vincent has autism but their awareness of such a fact is minimal. Based on other diagnoses they’ve received, they mostly swept the idea of having autism under the rug; despite their mother having been diagnosed with it as a teenager and their sisters showing traits their entire lives.

For them, it manifests in a few ways. 

They cannot stand having anything touch the palm of their hand and constantly wear gloves to prevent unwanted contact with their skin. On top of this, Vincent has issues with certain textures and gets easily overwhelmed by fabric textures that they don’t like touching their skin but it is especially bad on their hands.

Loud environments are Hell on Vincent and they will go mostly, if not completely, nonverbal when confronted with an environment that they can’t freely escape from. They try their best to remain calm but the constant sensory overload is too much so they usually end up partially catatonic and wishing they were anywhere else but there. 

They usually pass this off as crippling social anxiety rather than looking any further into what could be causing such an extreme reaction.

For someone who acts so emotionless, Vincent is very empathetic. They are more than capable of understanding why someone may feel the way they do and, more often than not, will do anything they can to make that person feel better. They may not completely comprehend the exact root cause of such emotional upheaval but they will do what they can to listen and react appropriately.

Eye contact is a big no-no for Vincent as they find the simple act of looking into someone’s eyes overwhelming and stressful. While some may see it as rude, they simply cannot handle eye contact so will instead look to the persons brow or the apple of their cheek. If they are truly struggling then they will focus on their chin or look past the person entirely. 

They don’t intend to be rude but the constant need for eye-contact is nauseating.

Vincent struggles with their self-image and seeing themself in a photo, even if they can’t recognise their own face, is sickening. They think that they ruin any photo they stand for and will do anything to avoid being a part of the picture; up to and including taking it themself. This is something that often gets written off as them being anti-social.

The worst offender has always been burnout. Emotional, phyiscal and mental exhaustion to a degree that is borderline debilitating. They feel overwhelmingly hollow and like their body has reached its limit. They struggle to find the motivation to care for themself and spend hours just existing in a state between awareness and catatonia. Finding the energy, the motivation, to get up and continue their day is next to impossible and they get no enjoyment out of anything. 

For them stimming aligns closely, if not completely, with quirks that they developed from having schizophrenia. Things like tapping their foot against the back of their opposite heel, bouncing their leg when they’re sat down, tucking their nose into the collar of their cape, chewing on lollipop sticks/toothpicks/gum and fiddling with their guns. Almost all of these things, barring the chewing, were things they noticed they did when they were diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Vincent is unaware of all of this and hasn’t really felt the need to investigate their behaviour or the cause behind it. They’re satisfied with not knowing why they act the way they do and generally write it off as something to do with one of their other issues.

[targaryenfelikayt]

headcanons: passing the night. |Boys from horror|

characters: Bo Sinclair, Vincent Sinclair, Lester Sinclair, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Thomas Hewitt, Art the clown, Pennywise. wc: 1,630 summary: headcanons about what nights might look like beside some of horror's most terrifying icons — from cold and distant Michael Myers to unexpectedly cuddly Thomas Hewitt. tags/warnings: lots of fluff, romance (as much as possible), nighttime routine. note: how i love these routine headcanons, you should know.

Bo Sinclair.                                                  

He’s the kind of man who can fall asleep anywhere without batting an eye, so when Bo suggests you share the bed before dragging you into it — you might as well be signing a deal with the devil. A devil that’s damn handsome, charming as hell, but utterly oblivious to anyone else’s idea of comfort.

No matter how many times you try to move him — asleep or awake — Bo always ends up sprawling across the middle of the bed like a starfish.

Knowing his lover’s light sleeping habits, Sinclair is willing to allow any liberty: sleep on either side, throw your legs or arms over him, or even treat him like a human pillow and lie right on top go ahead, have fun. He won’t even stir.

But God help you or what’s left of Him after the priest left town in a pine box if you dare get up in the middle of the night. That’ll wake him up, and if he doesn’t hear a very good excuse, he’ll just haul you back under him, curl his body around you like a bear trap, and snore right in your ear.

He does not care if you’re hot, or uncomfortable, or squished. “Sorry, doll, but you’re leaving me no choice,” he’d murmur. Some might find it romantic. But when a grizzly like Bo steals your personal space, it’s mostly just... inconvenient.

Vincent Sinclair.

Catching this waxy fish from his sculptor’s pond is no small feat, he’s utterly consumed by his work, more so than most people can imagine.

He can disappear into the basement and not reemerge for three days — no food, no sleep. That’s the price of genius. And the burden... is mostly yours.

You’ve learned to tell him it's bedtime in a tone that leaves no room for discussion. You turn off the lights in the next room and wait patiently until Vincent finally puts down his tools and follows you to bed.

You might fall asleep in whatever position, but come night, the sculptor always drifts closer and clings tighter. Sometimes he holds on so firmly, it wakes you. Then, with a low, hoarse murmur asking what’s wrong, he’ll kiss whatever bare skin he can reach and stroke your hair until you calm down.

If you didn’t know him well, you might think he’d died, he breathes so silently without the mask.

Morning always starts the same: you wake first, trying to sort out what limb belongs to who is in the knot of bodies and blankets, before slipping out and leaving him to rest. Artists don’t exactly keep normal hours, let the man catch some sleep.

Lester Sinclair.

Lester took a bit from both his older brothers and made it into something uniquely his own. He can fall asleep anytime, anywhere, with anyone simply because it’s bedtime. He might toss you the truck keys and immediately move over to the passenger seat and pass out. No seatbelt, of course, he knows these roads. What for? He’s already snoring.

If you’re at home, he’s always the first one upstairs while you’re still wrapping things up downstairs.

He used to sleep with the dog before you came into his life, but he’s since adapted. If you want, Lexie will curl up at the foot of the bed. If not, she’s got cozy beds in the living room, on the porch, even the bedroom.

Be ready for snoring. This man works hard and barely rests. You can nudge him, but don’t do it too hard, he might get hurt and head to the couch. (Honestly, he prefers you over the dust mites, but he worries about whether he’s being too much.)

It’s hard to remember the last time you saw him well-rested. Oh wait, it was Thanksgiving, when he drank too much with Bo and couldn’t get up the next morning. Even disheveled, Lester looked so heartbreakingly peaceful in sleep.

Jason Voorhees.

You never really got to enjoy him fully when your need for touch crept in. Not because Jason didn’t like affection — he did. But he was never the one to initiate it.

You wanted to cuddle, to curl up beside him. But come nightfall, Jason always went off to patrol the camp, making sure no unwanted guests had wandered in. By morning, when you woke, he was already gone again doing another sweep of the grounds.

A hundred thoughts ran through your head: maybe he just wanted to keep things secure, maybe he needed control… or maybe he was afraid to let you see him without the mask.

Everything changed one summer day. You dozed off by the lake, drowsy from the sun, and when you woke, Jason was still there, unmoving, silently keeping watch.

After that, he started coming back earlier. And in the mornings, he lingered a little longer, waiting for you to wake up, understanding that in those quiet moments, you needed him just as much as he needed you.

On especially hot days, Jason would lie down beside you, acting as your own personal cooling system — machete in one hand, the other slipped under your head. Just… make sure he never mixes them up.

Michael Myers.

Michael either goes to bed in the dirty clothes he wore all day (if you're lucky, they're not bloodstained), or completely naked. There's no in-between with this man — nor does he consider any alternatives. Why bother? He's perfectly comfortable either way.

If you manage to convince him to shower before bed, it’ll only be if you join him. You can even scrub his back with a floral body wash, he doesn’t really care about scents.

Sleeps like a corpse, arms straight at his sides. He gets annoyed when you throw your legs over him, it disturbs his already fragile sleep. But he also refuses to sleep elsewhere, so you’re left finding creative compromises.

One night, seemingly out of nowhere, he brings you a pregnancy pillow, the most comfortable thing you’ve ever used.

Everyone’s content. Everyone’s happy. And on the rare nights when you’re sick or not feeling well, he taps into a hidden reservoir of affection, doling out careful, measured touches.

Thomas Hewitt.

At first, Thomas was terrified to share a bed with you. You scared him more than a loaded gun pointed at his face. He knows how to handle weapons, not delicate girls, he might have a crush in his sleep.

If there had been any books about human relationships in the house, he would’ve devoured them in a couple of nights. But the shelves only held trashy romance novels, basic crime thrillers, and not a single piece of classic literature.

He usually naps in the basement, but at night he comes upstairs to guard your sleep from the other housemates. You picked Cerberus and turned him into a house-trained puppy who melts under your care.

Some nights, the fear of his own strength fades, like when you have nightmares and he rocks you gently in his arms, stroking your hair before lying down next to you.

To help you feel safe, he even moves the bed so one side touches the wall. That way, your body is nestled between the bricks and its broad back.

And of course, he installs a bolt on the door from the inside.

Art the Clown.

It’s hard to say if he even needs to sleep, but Art is more than happy to pull out a black-and-white striped pajama set and make the bed like he’s playing house.

His bedtime routine plays out like the start of a bad joke — pulling knives, axes, a bloody costume, and a lonely shoe from under the bed. Then, seeing your horrified expression, he sheepishly shoves it all back in place.

He prefers to sleep with his head on your chest like it’s the softest pillow in the world or curled up on your stomach, perfectly content.

He suffers from what you call "bedtime hyperactivity", he can’t settle down, pokes your side to check if you're asleep, readjusts his pillow, changes position every few seconds.

Eventually, you give up and let him do whatever he wants, if he lets you sleep. At first, he finds ways to keep himself occupied… but that doesn’t last long. One night, your eyes adjust to the darkness, and you spot him standing in the doorway like a guilty child, pillow in one hand, the other gesturing desperately to let him back under the covers.

Pennywise.

This clown has a habit of falling asleep next to you in different shapes, which pretty much sums up your bizarre relationship.

No matter how many times you ask him to just stick with his human form (or at least the clown — just don’t look at him at night), Pennywise always listens… and does the exact opposite.

“Since when you have a ginger cat?”, your friend asks as she turns to leave. You glance at the stairs and spot a smug feline face watching from above. He swishes his fluffy tail dramatically as he struts past, and you’re forced to spin some tale about feeding stray animals and how this one just won’t leave.

He only falls asleep with you, the moment your breathing evens out, he vanishes into the shadows. It would be a waste not to use such a perfect opportunity to snack.

But mornings are reserved for human form, he senses the gentle warmth radiating from your sleepy self and doesn’t want to scare you… well, maybe just a little.

Expect naked strutting and elaborate breakfast trays in bed. Pennywise is still adjusting to being “one of you,” so give him free rein to try all the weird things he’s seen on TV. Maybe a few of them will even grow on you.

[searchingforserendipity25]

actually no, the best lawrellini conclave post-canon/au concept i can summon rn is innocent iv attempting to very earnestly match-make his dean of the college and secretary of state.

breaking their vows Would be a sin but considering the byzantine methods they are deploying to avoid being anywhere near each other inside the smallest city state in the world is:

an unnecessary complication to the new pope's ongoing mission to Make Empathic Changes For Good (Intersectional Version), which is going full steam ahead, with the sort of dedication a man who lives life expecting to be assassinated still, and means to make every day count.

oh, they're professional, of course; but poor monsignor o'malley is left trotting up and down the apostolic palace to share messages between their offices, because they refuse to text for post-conclave paranoia reasons (bellini) and because the expectation of replying in a digital format is a psychological torture for the emotionally-repressed luddite (lawrence). poor ray does not complain, but he has confessed to the pope his ankles aren't what they used to be.

they are old men, they are kind and very capable men. breaking their vows is a sin, of course. but to live is to sin inevitably. wasting good love into discomfort is far worse, vincent benítez thinks. they have to talk it out, at least. if he is to trust them to salvage something worthwhile out of the church, he has to believe they can salvage something true out of their friendship.

just kinda sad at this point, honestly.

the thing is. well the thing is. there is no polite way to tell the supreme pontiff you and your bestie already tried the secret romance thing once. and it didn't take.

they had their friends-to-secret-lovers, their shared office, their upstate drives with autumn leaves rusting and good music on the radio.

desperate embraces in the confessional of the new york cathedral. brushing hands and long glances that turned to long pining that turned to a summer of forbidden romance, turned to the anxiety of hiding their relationship to the world.

the rush of joy turned to unsustainable amounts of guilt, the longer it went on. misunderstandings, really: a lot of assumptions without communication. more resentment than either of them wanted to have for each other. the love was there, a great deal of it, but it was far from enough, when it put into question the work they were doing.

twenty years, give or take, since they last kissed in the pantry of a food kitchen in brooklyn, and put an end to the thing between them. they had their sad break up, their ex-lovers-to-friends again arc.

aldo went to paris, lawrence went to rome: they wrote, sometimes. called, met during conferences, meetings, conclaves.

the late holy pope's managed to get them to stop avoiding each other and get their shit together to pull off his own liberal win election years ago. they're fine now; they're good, they're okay. genuinely, mostly.

twenty years. recent events had made clear how much there was still to be understood between them, but they'd recognize each other's breathing in the dark anywhere. innocent xiv had managed to get them in the same confessional, on false and well-intentioned pretenses.

'it is sweet, really.' aldo says, trying to straighten his cassock, trying for wry irony, trying not to guess at the familiar profile, near enough to touch. 'are you going to tell him, or am i.'

'later,' thomas says. he swallows. it would be the easiest thing in the world, to press a hand against the grid of the partition, to pull it back, tug apart the curtains; for the curve of his adam's apple to move against aldo's palm. 'i'll explain it all.'

aldo snorts. 'maybe not all of it, if you please,' and it is enough to make lawrence quirk his mouth. the quality of the air between them alters, just enough for the closeness not to feel too suffocating.

there's nothing to be told, really. nothing to fix. only a misunderstanding. there is no way to explain the distance is not spite or shame, it is just distance. the measure of grace they give each other, now, after spending too long secluded together.

self-protection, yes; but also kindness going both ways. there is nothing to be talked out. there hasn't been anything to talk about for twenty years. if they give it enough time and enough turns of the rosary, one day that will even be true, god willing.

their eyes adapt to the gloom quickly. this part has never been difficult.

it would be the easiest thing. moving in the dark, pressing close, quieting gasping breaths with a mouth or a hand. he tilts his cheek, brushes the evening's stubble against aldo's. lightly, so it does not leave a mark - he has felt the phantom-sense of it before, he always does when they sit near.

the thing is, the confessional is closed from the outside.

but they are, after all, the secretary of state, the dean of the college of cardinals. between the two of them, they have enough master keys to open anything in the palace from the inside out, if either of them truly wanted to get out.

[pandoraroid]

(nearly) live reacting to Pack Smash Tournament II: The Remix

i dont get shit about smash so a lot of shit probably went above my head 😃

Warning Spoilers Ahead!!!!

milo is appalled?? shocked?? that asher has a spreadsheet for the whole thing

david shares in his astonishment. bro (asher) is locked in he does not play about the tournament !! (haha get it... doesnt play about the tournament.... i'll see myself out)

david: "that's my laptop"

milo: "and that's my hat from two solstices ago!"

THEYRE SO SIBLINGS LMAAAOO

asher: "uh milo, sam says he's hungry byeeee"

bro pinned it on the vampire. the one of two (well three) guys who dont need to eat. genius.

BABE AND SWEETHEART LAUGHING THEIR ASSES OFF. MORE MATES BONDING SJDGJDVD

milo: "what are you eating sam? (proceeds to list off all the foods)"

sam: "milo im a vampire"

the fact that asher got milo to shift his attention to sam, whether or not he forgot he was a vampire, and milo also probably forgetting that is HAHEFSBDFV

milo: "nobody's going hungry on my watch" THE IMPLICATIONS!!!! somebody shoot me.

vincent: "then i hate to see what quickly going insane looks like" VINCENT BABY LOOK AT ME AND YOU'LL FUCKING KNOW

the reference to the summit 😭 im fucking deeaadddd

david: "i know i've said it before but, if there's anything we can do for the two of you you've got it" MY POOR TENDER HUMAN HEART. that wasnt meant as a jab at... yknow

NOT ANGEL AND DARLIN HOARDING THE BROWNIES (same)

NOT LOVELY JOINING THEM??? (would)

asher: "babe give me the glasses" BLIND ASS FUCKER HHAHAHAHAHHAHA same. haha ass fucker... well 😏😏

vincent: "always a great sign when you're stunned by your own success *giggles*" VINCENT UEHSIBDCV SIJFUHBD that was so cute omg

asher: "how many times are you gonna kick me in the head david?"

david: "how many times are you gonna roll onto my feet?"

milo kissing sweetheart as like a comfort thing :( the way the gun appeared into my hand IM KIDDING

milo: "not the victim blaming"

asher placing milo with the two vamps... that was a targeted attack wasnt it

milo: ur majesty? ash i dont know if he still calls himself a prince anymore!

ash: i had limited material to work with!!

vincent: it's a great name asher dont worry about it

sam: "hey milo look you're in the background" BYEEEEEEEE

the way my foot stepped off the building /POS I SWEAR

THE TRASHTALKING BETWEEN ANGEL BABE AND LOVELY. FUCK I NEED TO HEAR IT

milo: "LISTEN GRAMPIRE-" CACKLING WHAHHAHA

judging by asher's reaction im guessing babe told him to shut the fuck up THEY ARE LOCKED INNNNN BROOOO

NOT ANGEL HITTING(??) ASH WHAHAHAHAHAHA

sam: "holy shit darlin i actually won" LEMME KISS YOU MWA MWA MWA MWA YOU BEAUTIFUL MAN

asher: "ONLY SLIGHTLY FLAWED COWBOY HIMSELF - SAMUEL COLLINS!!!" SLIGHTLY?????

vincent: "i dont think he's gonna survive the night"

david: "Sam?"

everyone watching david and sam fight ARE LOCKEDD THE FUCK INN or at least i imagine angel and darlin doing the shit talk for their manz

vincent: "Asher"

SAM WINNING AGAINST DAVID HOLY FUCKK

sam: " i cant believe i just fucking did that" i can HEAR the disbelief and the smile in his voice DHEFSAVNJ

milo to vincent: "you got so much recovery and i got none"

asher: "dont get hit them you wont need it"

milo: "oh stellar advice lemme write thaat down" HAHDWEHBSCXA

milo: "next time give me one of my mains"

vincent: "who's that? pichu?"

had to look up what the fuck a pichu is but LMAAAOO

vincent: "you got this lovely *kisses* beat his ass" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA IM IN LOVE WITH YOU

vincent: "it's the home court advantage it has to be*giggles* *kisses*" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

sam: "i get to see it twice"

milo: "i wanna be mad but he's so earnestly happy"

oh samuel collins i love you

babe and asher facing off ToT

asher: "honestly i have no idea how im still in this"

milo: "neither do we"

babe DECIMATING asher. put the relationship on pause for sec It's On Site.

SAM WON YAYAYAYSYAYAYYAY

vincent: "am i rooting for you sam? what does the equal opportunist say?"

IMMEDIATELY GOING IN FOR THAT KISS WITH DARLIN THAT'S FUCKING GOLDDDD

that was indeed fact gold

milo: everything?

vincent: for what it's worth milo, when you all leave for the solstice, he has to hear everything.

david: everything.

vincent: everything.

HAHAHAHAHHAHA

i still dont understand a thing about smash i love to see vincent and lovely get included and sam winning. it's a good day to be a vamp lover.

[eemamminy-art]

I was talking with some friends about it just now and I wanted to share my headcanons for the bachelor/ettes ages in stardew valley! These are just my own personal interpretations of them and of course you can disagree if you feel differently, but I wanted to share anyway! I actually put a lot of thought into picking them and have reasons for each of them being the ages they are, which I summarized a little bit below :3

Alex - 20 He seems like he's still in this mindset of someone who just graduated high school and is about to move on to bigger things, but he's spinning his wheels talking about all the things he's gonna do and never taking meaningful steps toward achieving those things (until meeting the farmer, that is)

Elliott - 32 He seems like someone who maybe had a privileged background and lots of opportunities, spent a few years in a career and just realized he yearned for something more romantic and wistful out of life. He has these lines that seem kind of out of touch and idealistic, which makes me think he hasn't had to struggle too much in life but wants to experience that in order to live out his dreams as a writer (thus, living in the conditions he does and trying to live a very simple life in the valley)

Harvey - 35 He has to skew older just due to him being a doctor with his own clinic, but Harvey seems like someone who doesn't have too much practical experience in life and relationships, and also isn't really good at taking care of himself. So mid-30's fits perfect: still at that stage where he hasn't quite found himself or had a lot of experiences but has a very extensive education and on the surface seems very put-together.

Shane - 30 There's all sorts of reasons why Shane went off the rails (general listlessness in life, Jas' parents passing away, maybe unfulfilled dreams?) but I picked 30 for him as like, he had been struggling with all those aforementioned things and then hitting that milestone birthday kind of was a wakeup call that compounded his mental health struggles. I think he could even be older than that, honestly, but I like the idea of him still being somewhat young but just hitting that sort of "now what?" feeling in his late 20's and never pulling out of it.

Sebastian - 28 To me, Sebastian is similar to Shane in the sense of not having a direction in life and just getting by with the bare minimum while being unhappy overall. He has less life experience than Shane seems to so I put him in his 20's, but I like to think of him as someone going through a quarter life crisis who is maybe a bit more immature than people his own age but has no idea how to course correct and opts to just sleep his problems away as a means of coping with his depression.

Sam - 25 I like to lean into Sam's relationship with his little brother and the role he plays as the man of the house while his father is overseas, so I see him as someone who has ambitions in life but he is very caring and sentimental toward his family so he has been stalling his own life in order to care for Vincent, since he feels like he's the only one who can.

~~~

Maru - 21 Given the way her dad talks about her "bright future" I imagine her being in college still. I liked the idea of her and Sebastian having a decently large age gap too, to better highlight how dysfunctional their relationship is and how she looks up to him while he is unable to connect with her in any positive way. On that note, I think her being so much younger and finding more success than Sebastian also could contribute to their sibling issues.

Penny - 23 I think with Penny I put the least thought into with picking her age-- she's someone who is relatively naive and inexperienced in the world but she has an air of maturity to her as a result of her parentification. She could easily skew older or younger than this, but putting her at this age just felt right!

Leah - 26 I see Leah as being someone who is well into adulthood but still quite young, but old enough to have experience living on her own in a way that makes her so self-sufficient as she is. I can imagine her leaving home at a young age and really struggling to make ends meet for several years while creating her art. Also her creeping toward 30 could be a reason for her ex to become so pushy about her settling down to have kids and a stable, boring life, as that's the expectation for a lot of women as they get older (or at least, after 30+).

Emily - 29 She just has big sister vibes to me. I wanted her to be older than a lot of the other characters who are from Pelican Town, as this idea that like, she's always been looking out for them like they're her siblings. :3 Plus she just has wine aunt energy, I wanted her to be older than the rest.

Abigail - 23 I think I make her older than a lot of people do, though I still keep her quite young at 23. She's in college still so I wanted her to be around that age, but maybe just going through it slower than her peers. The kind of person that had to retake classes because she didn't plan out her studying or homework appropriately, or she got overwhelmed and dropped classes, or she took a semester or two off, you know! That sort of thing!

Haley - 19 Out of all of these characters, Haley seems the most immature to me so I wanted her to be very close to high school age. She has these desires to shop and to travel and to just enjoy herself, she's not really thinking about the future because she is so young she doesn't really have to. She doesn't really think much about other people initially either, because she has this worldview that doesn't extend much farther beyond herself.

[nataliaphantomhivesblog]

Hi hi!! Idk if you remember me but we had a discussion in one of your analysis comment section! You're still one of my fav kuro people honestly.

Anyway! I wanted to know what you think about Modri Vladis in the newest manga chapters? There has been a lot of theories and speculations about him. Do you think he's going to be a key piece of the current arc?

Hey there! I do remember you, thanks so much for engaging with my content and going as far as sending in an inbox :)

I think it's still very early to come with a very defining conclusion about Mordi Vladis, but I do think he will be a very key piece in this arc, and definitely a threat...or a distraction from something more sinister beneath the surface.

What I really like is how this character seems to be more of a rock in the way for Sebastian, than to our earl.

So far, there's been many theories:

some fans speculate that Mordi Vladis is confusing Sebastian with Vincent.

others believe he truly is one of Sebastian's past contractor , lots of fans on tik tok adopted the concept that Mordi and Sebastian were possibly lovers in a past life (likely manipulated and used by Sebastian if that was the case)

then there's also the theory which i believe is the closest to the truth, which is that Mordi Vladis is possibly just a bizzare doll whose memories got altered in order to give the demon a hard time.

Again, i think it's too early to have a proper concept/conclusion, but one thing i'm sure of and it's that Mordi Vladis as well as the hotel in general is going to give Sebastian a hard time.

So far, it's intresting that ever since they arrived to the hotel, Sebastian has been getting slight jabs and quiet insults about his job. I dare say they sound like quiet threats about Sebastian's position, considering they want to "relieve him from his duty."

One confirmed fact is that Undertaker oversees these facilities. What’s another thing we know for sure about him?

This grim reaper does NOT like Sebastian and the way he makes the earl miserable, he literally attempted to get rid of him because he is aware that the demon's presence is slowly draining the life out of o!Ciel.

The message in book of atlantic was clear and simple, Undertaker doesn't want to harm o!Ciel, he just wants Sebastian gone.

So isn't it intresting how the hotel keep making a clear separation from "master and servant" as the staff is going to basically take over Sebastian's duties.

A moment free from inconvenience’—what an interesting way for Yana to place emphasis on that particular word.

Especially if we consider, that's quite literally how Undertaker views him.

Though their methods and motives differ, both Sebastian and Undertaker have their sights set on O!Ciel—one intends to devour his soul, the other to preserve it.

The Grim Reaper is clearly searching for a way to break the contract. He shares a special connection with the Phantomhive family, and if he went as far as bringing one of them back to life, it’s likely because he doesn’t want the one still living to fall into the demon’s claws.

Given that Undertaker has no real intention of hurting O!Ciel, it becomes increasingly clear that his real aim is to bring harm to Sebastian, and most likely, getting him elimanted.

(which i think is clear, if thats UT plan, it's not going to work lol)

Both of them continously clash, and Sebastian seems to be not just an inconvenience to not just o!Ciel, but Undertaker as well.

And isn't it quite riveting that the moment Sebastian has stepped his foot into that damn hotel....

He is met with someone who directly affects Sebastian NOT o!Ciel and is possibly a threat, a distraction or maybe just an inconvenience.

So while I don't have a real idea who Mordi Vladis is, I think it's clear that the hotel is built to mess with Sebastain.

I don't think we are getting a Sebastian backstory, Yana herself said it's not relevant to write it in the story considering that all we need to know about him is his newfound identity as a butler.

I doubt we’ll get a full deep dive into Sebastian’s past, but I do believe we’re heading toward an arc centered on him—one that will unravel his butler façade and place him in a conflict where the emotional and mortal stakes are dangerously high.

Tysm for reading !! :)

[missyandthemisfits]

FF7 Headcanons – Do They Like Their Partner Playing In Their Hair?

I write sometimes so Imma put some Final Fantasy VII headcannons here in honor of tomorrow’s release 🍷🍾

Cloud Strife – He absolutely does, he also absolutely won’t own up to it because he’s EMBARRASED. That said, if you really wanna hear him say it that badly, you can always threaten to never do it again. He’ll pout, complain softly, and confess. THEN he’ll immediately ask you to do it.

Tifa Lockhart – YesssSS, she adores it! But she makes you wait until you’re alone to do it because she is CONVINCED she makes questionable faces when you do it. She does. She does make those faces-

Aerith Gainsborough – You’d better believe she does and is happy to return the favor! She might actually be better than you at it though…awesome scalp massages.

Barett Wallance – Not really…? But he can be convinced. Especially after a long, hard day and a hot shower.

Cid Highwind – NOPE. Don’t even try it, you’ll get an earful and will NEVER hear the end of it, I assure you.

Vincent Valentine – He is FIRMLY on the fence about it. On one hand, it feels amazing and he really does love it. On the other hand, he’s still convinced he just doesn’t deserve that kindness, from you or anyone. You may or may not be able to get him to agree to it, depending on the day.

Reeve Tuesti – He does indeed like it and he is also not afraid to ask for it. Hell, he’ll ask for it mid-speech sometimes, right in the middle of the explaining something to the party members. You will probably say no.

Reno Sinclair – YES, for the love of God, PLEASE play in his hair. I cannot stress this enough, HE HAS NO SHAME. He will beg, with or without company, outside or inside your home. He does not care how it looks to those around him, he’s a man that knows what he wants an when he wants it.

Rude – I wheeze, but yes. He enjoys…scalp massages.

Elena – She actually only likes it when and if you wash her hair for her while you’re doing it, something about the combination of nails and water – she’s a little strange, but it’s cute.

Tseng – Another fence straddler, but he’s a lot easier to convince. For him, it’s about intimacy, something you two share that he doesn’t wanna share with anyone else so it stays in home – because he’s a little possessive.

Rufus Shinra – Oh yes, he definitely enjoys it – he’d ask for it more if it didn’t mess up his hair so much before meetings. He’s always got this smug look on his face when he teasingly asks though, so that’s a thing. Also possessive.

!! BONUS !!

Zack Fair – He’s got this lopsided grin on his face when you first ask him because he’s never had someone ask. But after the first time, he’s almost like a puppy.

Genesis Rhapsodos – He does like it, but he saves that sort of intimacy for after…‘The act’. Makes it more special. I think he’s just dramatic, honestly.

Angeal Hewley – Apprehensionnn, but if he’s feeling particularly stressed he may let you do it. It’s a hard sell though, be strong soldier.

Sephiroth – YES, thoroughly enjoys someone playing in his hair but understands they could be there for a while given the length of his luxurious locks – not that he minds. He could sit there all day, grinning and praising you for your time and effort. Unnecessarily suave, always.

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Pictures aren’t mine, Headcannons are!

[babymetaldoll]

Are you mine? - Chapter eleven: "The pieces this job takes"

Summary: The Reids welcome little Vinny, and Raven will have to deal with being a sister now. The team has to say good bye to a member, and Spencer will just have to deal with changes one more time.  Word count: 11.094 Warnings: This is a painful chapter for Spencer.  A/N: Sorry I couldn't post last week,  I had an accident (don't worry, I'm ok). I love Anderson's moment to shine in this chapter, and I hate putting Spencer through more trauma. Also, I was so sad writing Raven's tantrum... I totally understand her. 

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(Y/N)’s point of view 

Morgan took six months off after what happened to him. He had to recover mentally and physically, which was neither easy nor fast. I know some things happened to him he wasn’t sharing with us, not even with Savannah. He didn’t want to be a burden for her, and that’s a feeling I can absolutely understand.

We saw him a lot though, which was good. We were there for him the day he and Savanna got married in a beautiful ceremony, and he was there for us the day Vincent was born.

Considering the team was down two members, Hotch couldn’t let Spencer stay at Quantico the last couple of weeks before the baby’s due date. Of course, that means I was in the bullpen when my water broke.

Honestly, sometimes I wonder why we didn't leave the FBI sooner. I'm fully aware I keep saying the same the entire time, but it’s shocking how things were a hot mess and we never noticed. Why were we so blind?

I wanted to kill Hotch for forcing Spencer to go with the team to solve a case in Alabama when I was so close to my due date. I understood things were critical without Morgan on the team and with me not being able to fly. But yet, you’d expect some humanity. I guess sometimes work comes first for some people.

My water broke as I walked from Garcia’s office to my desk to pick up some files. I froze on my spot and didn’t know what to do for a few seconds. My mind went blank. That was not supposed to happen like that. Not with Spencer away. And definitely not in the middle of the office.

- “Anderson…”- I looked around me and found him at his desk, typing something.- “Sonny, can you help me?”

- “What happened, Reid?”- ever since I married Spencer, he has loved calling me by my new last name.

- “Uhm… can you come over?”

- “Give me a minute.”- and he kept typing, not even looking at me. I didn’t want to yell I was almost popping a baby right there, but my friend wasn’t giving me another chance.

- “I can’t wait. Please.”

- “Come on, Reid.”

- “Agent Grant Anderson, I need you. Now.”- a few other heads turned as my voice filled the bullpen. Anderson turned to me shocked, but I’m guessing my freaked-out face forced him to bite his tongue at whatever he was going to say and he rushed over to me.

- “What… oh shit.”- he looked at the puddle on the floor between my legs and understood it all in a second.

- “Yes.”- I cut him a short smile and took a deep breath. I had to do my best not to freak out too.

- “What now?”- Anderson whispered, remaining calm.

- “I need you to drive me to the hospital. Garcia is busy helping the team.”

- “Ok, do you wanna call Reid first?”

- “First, I wanna call my doctor. And I need to tell Garcia. Spencer is gonna freak out and there is no need to get him worried when this can still take a few more hours.”- I did my best to remain calm knowing as soon as Spencer knew what was happening, he was ditching the team and taking the first flight back home.

- “Ok, you wanna sit down while I get Garcia?”

- “I don’t wanna get the chair all dirty.”- I argued as Anderson moved a chair closer.

- “Don’t be silly, Reid. Sit down, I’ll bring Garcia and your phone so you can dial your doctor, ok?”- I simply nodded and watched him sprint across the office.

Raven took her sweet time when she was born, but not our Vincent. He was ready to take over the world in no time. Contractions hit me hard and I was worried my husband wasn’t going to make it on time to be with me during labor. Did I tell him? Of course not, I knew he was freaking out and I didn’t want to worry him anymore.

Spencer called me as soon as he could. I didn’t get to him the first time I dialed, so he got the news from Garcia when Anderson was taking me to the hospital.

- “I’m ok, honey. I promise.”- I whispered as soon as I heard his voice on the other side of the line.- “Doctor Feldmann is going to be waiting for me at the hospital, and Frank and Mikey are on their way over.”

- “I’ll ask Morgan to go too.”

- “He has his very own pregnant wife to take care of, hun.”- I reminded him, but I could almost see Spencer’s scowl all the way from Alabama.

- “I can’t believe I am not there with you.”

- “It might take a few more hours, so you’ll be ok. We’ll wait for you to start the fun part.”- I joked knowing there was no way I could predict that, but I needed to give Spencer some peace of mind.

- “I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’ll call you when my flight arrives.”- I heard Spencer sigh at the other side of the line and my chest tightened knowing how bad he felt being away from me at that minute.

- “I love you so much honey bunny. Be safe, ok?”

- “I’m so sorry, chipmunk. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

- “I know. Please, take care.”

- “Ok, nugget. Your mom is on her way with Raven, I got you ice, and some marshmallows in case your sugar drops. I think we are covered. Do you have to start pushing already? Shit, I’m not ready for that. Please don’t start pushing yet.”- Frank rushed into my room, nearly hyperventilating. He paced across the room, clearly freaking out, as I stared at him, and the nurse raised an eyebrow.

- “Is he the dad?”

- “Nope-” I replied chuckling- “He is not even the godfather. Just my best friend.”

- “Basically I’m like a brother to you.”- Frank replied right away, and pretended to be shocked - “And I am not Vinny’s godfather? Are you serious? What are you talking about? I feel betrayed.”

- “I told you, it’s gonna be Mikey. You are Raven’s godfather. You can’t have all the kids.”

- “We are not having this conversation right now. You are clearly sedated.”- I chuckled and stared at my friend, who crossed his arms on his chest and looked at me from the end of my bed.

- “You do realize I haven’t gotten anything yet. I am not even…”- but a contraction stopped my words and ended that silly argument. Frank moved quickly to my side and held my hand tight. He didn’t even say a word, he just stared at me, obviously concerned, and waited until the pain had passed.

- “I’m so not having kids.”- he whispered after a few seconds, making me chuckle.

- “That’s ok, just can you check my vagina and see if I’m dilated already?”- I joked and saw the color leaving his face.- “I’m joking! Go out and wait for my mom. I’ll be fine.”

- “No way. I am not leaving you alone. I’m not getting anywhere near your vagina, but I am not leaving you alone until Spencer is here.”

And he didn’t leave. Frank stayed in my room until my husband got there, five hours later. Morgan, Mikey, and my mom kept me company too. They took Raven to get ice cream from the cafeteria and honestly helped me stay sane. Savannah, who was four months pregnant by then, and still dealing with all the nausea and morning sickness, helped keep me sane during the entire time. She was not only my friend, but also a doctor, and that always helped during delivery.

I will always be grateful for the family of friends we’ve created along the way.

Spencer’s point of view

It was a mess, nothing went as planned. I was in Alabama with the team and took the first flight back home. Garcia called me, nearly crying ‘cos she couldn’t go with my wife to the hospital, she had to work the case along with the team. I froze in place for a few seconds, not knowing what to do first.

- “Anderson is gonna drive her to the hospital. I'll be with her as soon as I can.”

- “I’m on my way.”- that was all I could say before I hung up and turned to Hotch.- “I have to leave. Now.”

Morgan, Frank, and Mikey had to take my place in the hospital while I was away. I nearly got into the pilot’s cabin and yelled at him to take us home faster if possible. Those were the longest four hours of my life, it was torture. I thought I was going to go crazy sitting there thinking my wife was alone in a hospital delivering our baby, and all because work forced me to be out of town.

When I finally got to the hospital, I rushed in flashing my FBI badge to everyone and anyone who could even think of trying to stop me. Am I proud of that? No. Do I regret it? Hell no! I just wanted to be with my wife as soon as possible, no matter what.

- “Reid!”- I heard Morgan’s voice as I rushed down the hall, trying to find the right room. He was with Savannah, Mikey, and Raven.

- “Dada!”- she escaped Mikey’s arms and ran to me. I squatted and opened my arms to hold her. - “Mommy said bad words.”

I chuckled at her comment and kissed her forehead as I stood up and walked toward our friends, who stood up as soon as they saw me.

- “I think today we can spare her a few bad words.”- I whispered into my daughter’s ear and heard her giggle.- “Guys, thank you for being here.”

- “Nothing to thank us for”- Morgan replied immediately- “You should put an eye on your pretty girl. She looked like she was about to pop your kid five minutes ago.”- I widened my eyes, gave Raven to Mikey, and ran to the room.

(Y/N) was squatting on a ball, holding her mother’s hand as Frank kneeled beside her, talking nonstop and looking honestly confused.

- “Oh thank god.”- he mouthered the second he saw me. I rushed in and held my wife tight. She grunted and shook in my arms. That’s when I realized how late I was.

- “I’m here, ma cherie. I’m here.”

- “I know. Vincent is almost here too.”- she whispered and didn’t let go. For a few minutes, it was just us holding each other. I wanted to ask her to forgive me for being so late, but words didn’t leave my lips. Instead, I just kept her close to me for a little longer.

- “I’m gonna get the nurse.”- Sofia said, probably to give us some privacy.

- “And I'm gonna leave this room before our friendship is forever scarred with gore scenes I will never be able to forget.”- Frank added and walked to the door.- “I’ll be out with the guys and my goddaughter.”

- “Thank you.”- that’s all I managed to say, but I’ve always been sure he understood the depth of my words. For a few minutes, it was just us. (Y/N) asked me to help her move to the bed, and I wrapped my arms around her to help her support the weight of her belly.

- “Did you tell Hotch I hate him for keeping you away?”- she muttered in the middle of what was clearly a very painful contraction.

- “Yes, I did.”

I did not. It wasn’t necessary, (Y/N) had made it clear before we left for the case that she was never going to forgive Hotch if the baby was born while I was out of town. The entire team knew it, my wife hadn’t been subtle at all. She stood next to the elevator's door before we left for the case, looked him in the eyes, and said: “If the baby is here and Spencer is still away, I won’t be back for work, ever again.”

- “Good.”- she whispered as I helped her sitting on the hospital bed.- “Honey Bunny, I think I’m ready to push.”

- “Wait just a few more minutes. Your mom is coming with the doctor.”

- “Shit, fuck, for Christ's sake! What shitted mother fucker thought this fuckery was in fact fair for women??!- my wife shouted every curse with such profound heart and pain, it was clear she needed more medication. Who knew when she had gotten her epidural.

- “You know, the first thing Raven told me when I got here was how you had said many bad words today.”- I whispered in her ear as I kept rubbing her back, trying to help her through the pain.

- “I fucking told Mikey to take her out, I didn’t want her to be traumatized and watch me losing it in pain.”- (Y/N) seemed mortified.

- “It’s ok, I told her you were allowed to curse a little today.”- Sofia and a nurse walked into the room, and a doctor followed them a few seconds after.

- “Ok Mrs. Reid, your baby boy seems to be ready.”- doctor Feldmann announced as he sat at the end of the bed and checked on my wife.

- “He feels ready as well.”- she mumbled, doing her best to be strong. I just scooped a little closer and held her a little tighter. I’ve never known what to do during delivery but praying and holding her hand tight. Being next to her while she delivers our babies is magical and agonizing at the same time. I will never love the process, not if I know she is going through an excruciating pain and there is nothing I can do to stop it.

It only took thirty minutes and Vincent Spencer Reid was there with us. His soft cries filled the room and my heart stopped. He was so small, so innocent, so vulnerable. Dr Feldmann placed him on (Y/N)’s chest and she caressed his back carefully, as the two of us stared at him with a loving smile on our lips.

- “Hello baby boy.”- she whispered and her voice shook as tears fell from her eyes.- “Aren’t you a pretty boy. My pretty boy.”

- “Hey there, Vincent. I’m your dad. Hello.”- I ran my fingers down his tiny arm and smiled at him.- “I hope you like baseball ‘cos it’s the only sport I’ve managed to learn so far.”

- “Maybe he’ll teach you, look at those hands, they are so big.”- (Y/N) whispered and touched his fist with her index - “Looks like the hand of a basketball player.”

- “Or maybe he’ll be an artist.”- I suggested and (Y/N) looked at me with a bigger smile.

- “I would love that.”- I stared into her eyes and caressed her cheek a few times, then ran my fingers up to her temples, and wiped a little of her sweat off before kissing her.

- “You did you good, ma cheriè. I’m so proud of you.”

- “I’m glad it went well and that he is here. Wanna go tell the rest?”

- “Not yet.”- I whispered and touched Vinny’s back one more time, enjoying the feeling of having my son there with me for the very first time - “Give me another minute of this.”

- “All the time you want.”- my wife answered and chuckled- “We have a son.”

- “We have a son.”- I smiled at those words and tears blurred my vision for a moment. I had a son, and he was perfect. Life was perfect.

Mikey stood up the second he saw me and his smile mimicked mine as I announced Vinny was there and that everything had gone well. He, Frank, and Morgan hugged me, tapping on my back, and congratulating me. Well, us. I smiled at them as I turned to Raven and opened my arms for her. She was cuddled in Sofia's arms and hesitated for a few seconds before moving toward me.

- “Come on birdy. Do you wanna see mommy and meet your brother?”- Sofia kissed her cheek and encouraged her to go with me, but she still wasn’t sure. I held her and kissed her cheek a few times before announcing.

- “(Y/N) said you guys can come in and say hi after Raven meets her brother. He really wanted to hang out with her first.”

- “Of course man.”- Morgan replied.- “Your baby boy has to meet his big sister first.”

- “I’m not big.”- Raven whispered.- “I’m a baby too.”

I should have seen that reaction coming, honestly. Raven hadn’t been excited during the first few months of (Y/N)’s pregnancy. She actually threw a massive tantrum the day we explained to her what was happening. It hadn’t been easy and Frank stepped up as her godfather and helped her see the benefits of having a little brother. However, we knew Raven would get jealous no matter how. And it was our job to show her nothing was going to change.

- “Baby girl, are you ready?”- I whispered as I held my daughter in my arms and started walking to the room. Raven hid her face on my shoulder and wrapped her arms around me very tight. I could almost feel her little heart beating hard inside her chest. It was a big day for her. The same as it was for us.

- “Hey birdy!”- (Y/N) whispered from her bed, where she sat, nursing Vincent.- “Vinny was just asking for you.”

Raven’s curiosity was bigger than her fear, clearly, ‘cos she slowly moved her face from my neck and turned to look at her brother.

- “Look, that’s your brother, Vincent.”- I sat next to (Y/N) and Raven moved in my arms, trying to get the closest look she could to her brother. She was silent judging the baby. I kept my eyes on her as she raised her little hand and carefully pressed a finger on his cheek.

- “He is so Squishy!”- Raven whispered and giggled.- “Vinny is squishy!!”

- “Yes, he is. And he is very tiny, are you gonna help us teach him all the fun things we do?”- my wife held Raven’s small hand and placed a kiss on it, making our daughter giggle one more time- “Like singing and playing and having tea parties?”

- “Can he wear a tiara?”- I tried not to chuckle at her question ‘cos she was incredibly serious about it.

- “If he wants to, of course.”

- “Don’t worry Birdy. We are still going out every Saturday morning on our dad and daughter dates.”

- “Just us?”- Raven looked at me and her little eyes shone with excitement.

- “Just us.”- I murmured and kissed the top of her head.

- “Do you wanna hold him?”- (Y/N) asked and Raven couldn’t believe it.

- “Yes Mommy!! Please!!”

- “Ok, sit here next to me.”- and as our daughter followed all the instructions my wife gave her and I placed a pillow on her small lap, I stared at the scene unraveling in front of me as I did my best not to cry, but tears kept filling my eyes. My daughter was now a big sister and was holding her little brother in her arms. I chuckled and locked eyes with (Y/N) for a moment. And as we smiled at each other, all I could think of was: I have two kids. Everything I do, I do it for my wife and our two kids.

You don’t know how that thought can change a person. The way it made me feel so much stronger and weaker at the same time. I would do anything for my family. I would fight the world to keep them safe. And at the same time, it petrified me knowing I was now living with my heart outside my chest. They were all I had, all I loved. My entire life.

I never thought I’d have a conversation about this a few months later, with Morgan, right after he came back to the team. We first had a surprise baby shower for him and Savannah in the meeting room. She was nearly on her due date and Morgan was clearly freaking out about becoming a dad, so we tried to help him relax a little and share a nice moment before a big case. (Y/N) was already back working, so she organized everything with Garcia and Savannah. Raven was in Playground and Sofia took care of Vincent while we worked, and though life was crazy, you could say we were managing.

We had a case that very same day that took us to Witchita, a double homicide and a child abduction. It hit differently when they were kids involved. To all of us now, but I’m guessing Morgan wasn’t ready to be back on the field and dealing with something like that.

We were in the police office, just us, going over some information while the rest of the team gathered a few things. I was going over some info, and Morgan seemed lost, sitting there, his mind and thoughts just weren’t in the room with us.

- “The glue our unsub used is sold practically everywhere, so we can't isolate the point of purchase.”- I pointed out as I read one of the files we had.- “A mineral analysis from the sand, however, indicates that it came from the Seneca River in upstate New York.”

Morgan didn’t reply. I doubt he even heard me. I kept my eyes on him as I straightened up and walked a little closer to him.

- “You ok?”

- “Yeah.”- he replied, but his eyes were so sad and concerned it was clear he was not, in fact, ok.

- “Morgan, we're gonna find the people who tried to kill you.”- I said as I sat on a chair in front of him, trying to reassure him that things were going to be ok. But that was not what clouded his mind, not that minute at least.

- “He was in his pajamas.”- he mumbled, staring at a point on the wall. He must have felt I wasn’t getting where he was going, ‘cos he quickly added. - “Ronnie Brewer. Out there by the side of the road, he was still in his pajamas.”

I looked at my hands and took a deep breath. That was a fact I knew, but I was trying my best not to overanalyze it. Not to imagine my kids in his place either. Not to lose it in the middle of an investigation. It’s hard to keep your head cold. You might think it gets easier with the years, but no. It only gets worse. The more you get involved in the cases, the more parts of you you give.

- “I'm sorry, kid.”- Morgan tried to justify his behavior.- “I, uh, I don't know, man. Six months on the sidelines. I guess I still have a few blisters where I used to have calluses.”

- “I don't think that's what this is.”- I say looking straight at his face with a short smile.

- “Oh, no?”- I shook my head when he stared at me confused - “Then what is it?”

- “You're about to be a dad. You know? You have to expect the world to start to feel different.

- “Did it happen to you?”

- “Of course. And it’s terrifying!”- I confessed and tried to be as honest as possible, ‘cos maybe that would help him relax a little. He sighed and held his head with one head for a minute, trying to focus and rearrange his thoughts.

- “It just feels so hard. Not as in difficult. Literally hard.”- Morgan started explaining how he felt. And it was something that I could definitely understand. - “Like asphalt is hard. Like pavement.”

- “And children are soft.”- I added, and the thought of Raven touching Vincent’s cheek saying how “squishy” he was filled my mind and my heart with love and fear. These two feelings that, apparently by rule, always came together in my life.

- “Yeah. Defenseless.”- Morgan added, mumbling under breath.

- “That's why every day we try to make this world a little safer.”- I said and tried to smile at him, though the frown on his face didn’t move.

- “How do you do it? You have two, you’ve seen the worst people can do.”

- “We are making a change, one day at a time. I will never look at the world the way I did before I was a father. But it helps knowing there are people like us, catching bad guys. I guess focusing on the good instead of the horror is what keeps me going.”

Morgan stared at me in silence, like analyzing everything I had just said. For the first time in my life, I felt like he was the one who needed my help. I was usually the one lost in a world with too many messages I couldn’t understand. And Morgan was the one helping me decoding them and teasing me about it.

But not this time.

- “If there's one thing I'm sure of, is that you and Savannah are going to be great parents.”- I added and smiled at him. Morgan chuckled and realized the position we were at. Me, giving him advice for once.

- “Charge by the hour, Doc?

- “Yeah, but you need to book your appointment at least two days ahead.”- I teased and my friend finally laughed. For the first time in what seemed to be years.

(Y/N)’s point of view

I tried to be rational. I swear. But after baby number two and going back to work, I hated how everything had changed. I could feel it around me, and I know Spencer felt it too, though I’m not sure if he felt it at the same level I did.

It was clear Morgan was leaving. I could feel it in my guts the second he walked back to the bullpen after those six months away, and I tried to prepare my husband for it. Change is part of life, that I can not change (see what I did there?). But that doesn’t mean we are always gonna love each one of the changes of ties that life sends our way. Derek had the right to start a new life, and the time felt right. It made me wonder, yet again, if leaving the BAU was the right path to follow. But at that time, it didn’t make as much sense as it does now. I guess I wasn’t ready to deal with everything that would unravel with time.

One of those things was so embarrassing I kept pushing it aside and failed. But it was so incredibly embarrassing, that I couldn’t tell anyone but Lu.

I was jealous. Seriously jealous. Of JJ.

At that time it was mainly because my stomach kept telling me there was something odd about how sometimes, especially during cases. She acted somehow territorial about Spencer. Like he was hers. That made no sense, obviously. He was my husband and only her friend. I wasn’t proud of how I felt, but a voice deep inside of me kept warning me about her attitude.

But instead of listening to my instinct, I tried to bury it. I excused my own brain, telling myself it was all because I had just had a baby and I was feeling insecure. Which was probably true, in part. But there was something about how JJ always found an excuse to be close to my husband that bothered me the second I came back to work after my maternity leave.

It didn’t really help that we were under similar conditions. Both had two kids and husbands on the field. A very demanding job, eyes for Spencer the entire time he was around. And it felt like she had her shit together, not like me, who struggled every day. Not JJ. She was fucking perfect. From her hair to her attitude and her outfits. There was no way she was a mother of two, her body was, for lack of a better word, perfect. I was filled with stretch marks underneath my clothes, making me feel incredibly self-conscious. I knew it was normal, I had two babies, my body was going to change, and Spencer seemed to be ok with that. But it felt unfair. JJ looked the same. I looked like a mom. I hated it.

- “You do realize you are being incredibly hormonal about this. Right?”- Lu suggested one afternoon when I managed to call her in between kids, cases, and house chores. Spencer had taken Raven to the store to get some things I needed to cook dinner, and Vinny was napping. So I called my friend as I started catching up with laundry.

- “Define being hormonal, please.”

- “You are not being rational, and you always keep your head cold, and this is so not you. Who cares about JJ? Spencer loves you!”

- “I know, but… she is so much better than me in every single fucking way. It’s annoying.”

- “That’s all in your head!”- I could basically hear my friend’s grin through the line. - “All this ‘cos you are no longer a size… what’s your size again?”

- “No! all this ‘cos I feel like a big fucking failure!”

- “How are you even failing? You do more in a day than Frankie does in a year.”- I tried not to chuckle at the comparison because I was trying to show her how upset I was.

- “I mean it, Lu! I know this is not a competition, but what if Spencer realizes I am a shitty wife, a lousy mother, and a sickening sight when naked.”

- “Aren’t you being silly? That man has loved you since before he could even start talking to you or even looking you in the eye. So stop it.”

- “He loved her first”

- “He had a silly crush on her before he met you. That’s it. You’ve always felt threatened by her. It’s not just now. And that’s because you can not believe something this good could happen to you. But it did, so be grateful and enjoy it.”- Lu gave a very compelling speech, I gotta admit. But one thing kept bothering me.

- “What if she is in fact in love with him and tries to do something?”

- “Then she is the most stupid FBI agent I’ve ever met.”

I remember chuckling at her response, thinking if JJ ever tried to make her move on my husband, not only I was going to go absolutely unsub with her, but probably Lu, my mom, and even Frank and Mikey could definitely bring her down.

But, much as I tried, things had changed. I could feel it. It was obvious even when nothing was happening at the bullpen. And it was clear the second Morgan came back to work. He wasn’t the same man that had left six months earlier. None of us were anymore.

The last case we worked with Morgan was the worst we had had since he had been kidnapped.

Savannah got shot. That day we were about to leave the bullpen when Garcia got the call. Spencer was talking with JJ as I grabbed all my things, already late to Raven’s school spring recital. Our daughter was so excited about the recital, her class was going to sing a song and she had practiced for weeks. She was confident she was good at it, and all she could talk about was how much she wanted to show her dad how well she and her friend were going to sing. It broke my heart to miss that show. I know it broke Spencer’s as well.

Pen rushed over, tears already falling down her cheeks, as she explained what had just happened. Morgan was at the hospital with Savannah. They were trying to save her and their baby. Things didn’t look good. In a second we were running to the elevator and Hotch drove us to the crime scene.

You don’t know how hard it is to call it a “crime scene” when it’s the place your friend was hurt. Hotch tried to keep Derek out of the investigation for obvious reasons, Morgan wasn’t in his right mind. None of us were, to be honest. But I knew keeping him out of the investigation was basically impossible. So I entered mode S.A.A Reid, and hid all my fears and worries, even my daughter’s deception (I knew I was going to deal with that later). I needed to help our friends.

I called my mom from the car. I tried to explain what had just happened and why we couldn’t be there with our daughter. We jumped out of the SUV as soon as we got there, Morgan was trying to cross the police line, looking like a madman. I heard him yelling “That’s my team” before JJ walked over and explained to the police he was in fact an FBI agent and not a psycho. I couldn’t blame him, I would look the same if my family had been hurt. I know I did when it happened. You see red when they hurt someone you love.

- “Tell me you got something.”- Morgan demanded, fire in his eyes as he spoke to us.

- “A casing and a rifle up on the roof.”- Rossi explained in a single line everything we knew.

- “This guy isn't sloppy. He's sending us a message.”- JJ added, but really didn’t say anything new. I turned to Morgan and held his hand for a moment, giving it a small squeeze, trying to comfort him. He was hot, and anger was running through his body as adrenaline kept him going.

- “Garcia, we need to access the surveillance footage.”- Hotch said and Pen nodded immediately.

- “Of course. I'm on it.”- and off she went.

- “What else we got?”- Morgan asked, and none of us said a thing. ‘Cause of course, after fifteen minutes, we didn’t have much to add.

- “That's it right now.”- Rossi sighed and shook his head

- “Where were you and Savannah standing?”- Spencer asked, first ‘cause Morgan was the only witness we had, and even under the stressful conditions he was under, he had to tell us what he saw. And second, ‘cos we had to keep him busy or that man was going to go crazy.

- “We were standing right over there on the side of my truck. We were just talking. She was to the back and I was facing her. I was the vulnerable one. I was the easy shot.”- Morgan finished that sentence screaming.

- “How's Savannah?”- I whispered, trying to calm him down.

- “She's in surgery.”- our friend’s voice was cracking, just like his strength. I grabbed his arms and pushed him with me to start walking.

- “Come on, let's check in. Rossi, are you coming?”- David nodded and started walking along with us.

- “You guys got this?”- Morgan asked and looked at the team. Spencer nodded and looked at me for a moment. He confessed sometime later that all he could think of that minute was that if that was me in the hospital, shot, he’d kill whoever was responsible for hurting me. I never forgot it 'cause I kept thinking the same thing.

We checked in at the hospital, where Rossi did most of the talking, and then we sat in a waiting room on the second floor.

- “Metro PD's gonna secure all the windows and have an officer placed in front of Savannah's room 24/7.”- David explained as Morgan walked and nodded, like a zombie.

- “Thanks.”- he mumbled though I know he didn’t process what Rossi had just said.

- “I got us a conference room down the hall to work in, and I'm getting access to the security cams right now.”- Penelope announced as she walked into the room, nearly hyperventilating.

- “Great. You two need coffee?”- Rossi offered

- “I’m good.”- Garcia replied immediately

- “No. Thanks.”- Morgan nearly bit Rossi’s head off as he replied. I couldn’t blame him, though, he was under stress, and he was going to be a nasty asshole until he knew Savannah was safe. Rossi looked at me and asked.

- “No cream, no sugar?”

- “Thank you.”- I whispered and cut him a short smile as he walked out of the waiting room.

- “Tara's donating blood in case Savannah needs more. It turns out they're the same type.”- Pen added as Morgan continued pacing across the room.

- “I’m a universal donor. I’m gonna sign up to donate for her as well.”- I said and turned around to leave. I knew Morgan well enough to leave him be for a moment. Now that he was in the waiting room, pacing and with Garcia, I could be useful somewhere else.

I was still signing papers when I heard Morgan storm out of the waiting room, smashing a pile of paper towels in a cart he found on his way down the hall. The nurses winced and I sighed as I grabbed my phone and read my husband’s text. Hotch had taken Morgan officially off the case.

- “Is he ok?”- Spencer texted me.

- “Nope. Stormed out. I’m donating blood for Savannah.”- I quickly replied. A nurse asked me to follow her to another room and got me ready to

- “Looking at the footage with JJ in the conference room.”- my stomach tightened at the thought of him and JJ being alone. But we were at work, and doing something incredibly important and personal. There was no time for jealousy.

- “I’ll be there in a second.”- I replied and put my phone back into my pocket. The nurse asked me to raise my sleeve, and for a couple of minutes, all I could do was pray for Savannah’s health.

- “So if security footage has no angles of the shooting or the rooftop, where does that leave us?”- Rossi asked as we all stood around the table, trying to find something new to call a clue that might lead us to the shooter.

- “We're running facial recognition on everyone in and around the hospital to see if they match any loose ends from Morgan's abduction.”- JJ announced as I sipped on my coffee. Hotch walked into the room that second. It had taken him an extra fifteen minutes to get there after I was done donating blood, which only meant one thing: whatever Morgan had said to him, got to him.

- “How did he take it?”- Spencer asked what we all knew had happened. Hotch’d face didn’t move when he simply replied

- “As expected.”- and that was all we talked about our friend’s emotional tantrum.

- “Sir, I know that when Morgan was on leave after his abduction, you encouraged him to stay away from the case.”- Garcia started explaining what we had all done behind Hotch and Rossi’s back.

- “And let me guess, he didn't.”- David interrupted her, and we all shook our heads.

- “We all knew in our hearts it wasn't over, and, look, we were right, so in an extra-curricular kind of way we kept sleuthing to see who was working with John Bradley.”- Garcia explained and I looked at Rossi with a shy and almost innocent smile.

- “Everyone needs a hobby, right?”

- “You of all people here have enough going on in her end to add more to her table.”- Rossi argued and Spencer frowned.

- “I helped her.”

- “Getting her pregnant again isn’t helping.”- David joked, and Hotch ignored us as he started talking.

- “Before he came back to work, Morgan said that he'd found a connection between the men who held him at the cabin and the Montolo family.”- Hotch added, looking at Rossi, who seemed lost. Like he never saw coming the fact none of us was going to let Morgan’s kidnap go.

- “Right. So, basically, we're dealing with a big crime family tree, of which Bradley was certainly a branch. And the Montolos had hired him multiple times.”- Garcia added, simply explaining we were obsessed with his case.

- “Did you scan the drawing?”- I asked her and she nodded.

- “Yeah, it's right here.”- at those words, Spencer leaned closer to look at the screen with me.

- “So, has everyone been working on this?”- Rossie asked, surprised.

- “Yeah.”- I said not taking my eyes from the screen.

- “Basically.”- my husband supported me.

- “Kinda.”- Pen added with a shy/busted smile and then she started explaining what we had. - “Ok, with Morgan's research, plus our bad guys/gals tree here, we've cut all the legs off the evil table. So like look… you got assassin mother, father, siblings, all deceased, one aunt in therapy for family trauma, and each line is like that.”

- “Montolo's line's the shortest of them all.”- Spencer pointed out - “The only living child of Chazz and Rosemary Montolo. Rosemary died when Giuseppe was just a boy.”

- “When you thought your family was fucked up…”- I shook my head at my own words, trying to ease the mood ‘cos for the life of me, I can’t deal with so much gravity from time to time.

- “Right. And then Giuseppe went to live with his family in Italy, and Chazz went off to build a criminal empire.”- Pen added. Rossi walked to me and grabbed one of the files.

- “Looks like Chazz Montolo was killed last year.”

- “Yeah, in a bank fire in Germany. Got a positive I.D. On the dental and fingerprints.”- Pen even showed him the newspaper of the fire.

- “One week after his son was murdered. What if that's not a coincidence?”

- “So whoever poisoned the son also killed the father.”- JJ suggested, but I shook my head, reading Hotch’s mind.

- “Or he staged his own death so we wouldn't suspect him of this.”- I said and felt Spencer’s hand resting on my lower back as I spoke, supporting and comforting me.

- “Hey, wait, wait, wait.”- Pen suddenly freaked out and started typing as fast as she could- “I only ran facial recognition on living people for obvious reasons, but this guy right here, walking out of the hospital, this guy, that is… That's Chazz Montolo.”

- “Well done, ma cherie.”- Spencer whispered in my ear and I turned to smile at him for a fraction of a second. We were finally going somewhere.

- “Garcia, play the footage.”- Hotch asked, and a few seconds later, we were all able to watch Montolo senior walking out of the hospital.

- “Mother fucker.”- I whispered thinking that asshole had been there with us in the building.

- “Garcia, contact the city, get access to traffic cameras. Now that we know he's here, we can find out where he went.”- but her phone ringing freaked her out before she could do anything.

- “Oh, wait, Morgan's calling me. I told him I'd keep him in the know before I knew it was an order that he wasn't supposed to know.”

- “All right.”- Hotch sighed and looked at me and my husband. - “Reids, you talk to Morgan. JJ, you and Garcia track Montolo and find out who his accomplices are. He doesn't work alone. Dave, you and I will find potential witnesses who might have seen him on the property.”

And before we could even argue or plan what we were going to tell our friend, we were forced to move and face him.

- “Wait, wait.”- I grab my husband’s sleeve and stop him- “We should get him something.”

- “I don’t think he is hungry.”- Spencer raised an eyebrow as he stared at me.

- “Still. Maybe something to drink to warm him.”

- “You wanna stress him more by adding caffeine to his body?”- he questioned me.

- “Hot chocolate?”

- “He will throw it on our faces.”- Spencer was probably right, but he could read my worry.- “Green tea?”- I nodded and walked to the closest vending machine.

- “Raven must be so angry with us.”- I whispered as I pushed a few buttons on the machine, and a cup with some suspicious-looking tea appeared in front of our eyes.

- “I know.”

- “We are gonna have to deal with her when we get home.”

- “I know…”- Spencer sighed and rubbed his hands against his face, trying to rearrange his thoughts. - "I really can’t deal with that right now.”

- “I know, I’m sorry. I just can’t stop thinking about her and Vinny, and if any of this happened to them, or you.”

- “I understand, ma cherie. So much.”- Spencer moved a step closer and kissed the top of my head.- “But right now we have to focus on helping Morgan. Ok’”- I just nodded and grabbed the cup of tea.

- “Ok.”- I looked at my husband and took a deep breath. I know he was doing his best to keep his head cold and focus on the case- “Alright, let’s do this.”

Morgan was back in the waiting room. He kept pacing, still looking like a madman. But now he was an angry madman. Angry with us ‘cos he knew we were keeping things from him.

- “Were you with Garcia?”- he asked as soon as we walked in.

- “Yeah.”- I replied and tried to smile at him, to maybe calm him down, or make him feel less threatened- “Here, we brought you a green tea.”

- “It won't make you as jittery as coffee.”- Spencer offered the cup to our friend and he grabbed it, but not without reading every single movement the two of us made. It was annoying, Frank was right.

- “You came instead of Garcia because you know I'd be able to read her.”- Morgan didn’t ask, it was a fact.

- “That is correct.”- Spencer nodded and whispered.

- “And Hotch sent you both here to see if I'm stable.”

- “He didn't say that, but…”- my husband made a pause and I just sighed.

- “Let’s say we were the chosen ones ‘cos Hotch trusted we could read you, and if you were too angry at him, we wouldn’t take it personally in case you’d yell.”- I couldn’t lie to Morgan, so I didn’t. He nodded and didn’t even try to say he wouldn’t yell. It felt good to know we were above that bullshit.

- “I don't get jittery.”- of everything we said, that was what Morgan wanted to point out. Why? I don’t know. Maybe that was an insult in his mind. He moved to the other corner of the room and left the tea on a little table Food, he wasn’t going to throw it in our faces.

- “Usually you don't, but your carotid tells a different story.”- Spencer started rambling- “I've counted 10 heartbeats in the last 3 seconds. That's about 20% higher than your usual when you're under stress.”- his voice was soft and almost shaky. My husband was nervous and worried. Scared.

- “I know you're only trying to protect me, I get it, but knock it off.”- Morgan nearly yelled, annoyed with his speech- “I just want to know what you've learned.”

- “Seriously, Derek. You know we can’t tell you.”- I sighed and shook my head.- “So don’t take it with us. We are just trying to help.”

- “If you were trying to help you’d tell me what the hell is going on”

- “We are doing our fucking best. That’s what’s going on.”

I know we didn’t plan it, but Spencer and I were doing the old “good cop, bad cop routine.” And I was the bad cop. Again.

- “When you first told me about Savannah, I'd never seen you like that.”- my husband started talking and his voice was still soft and sweet, trying to keep it together. - “The decreased levels of central serotonin in your brain cause intrusive thinking. When I finally saw you guys together, that's when I knew for sure. Your pupils dilated, your posture changed, and I saw you involuntarily reach for her hand. Science confirmed it. You've found the one.”- Morgan stared at him, speechless. - “Do you believe that?”

- “Yes.”- Derek replied, not an inch of hesitation in his voice.

- “Then believe this. Our team loves you, and we are not going to stop until we find whoever did this. But we can only do that with a completely dispassionate and unprejudiced point of view. Paternal instinct is a deadly bias that we just can't risk. It's for your protection, Morgan, I swear.”

- “Ok.” - Derek answered coldly, though you could almost hear the cogs in his brain going a hundred miles an hour.

- “You would do it for us, wouldn’t you?”- I asked him, and Morgan raised both eyebrows- “If we were you and you were us, you would try to keep us away from the information. Try to keep us calm. We did it with Kate when her niece was taken. Hotch and JJ did it for us when he pretended Em was dead. We did it for Garcia when the Dirty Dozen was trying to kill her. We’ve all done it. ‘Cos that’s what families do, they protect each other.”

- “The unsub is a father, isn't he?”- Morgan ignored my speech and looked right into Spencer’s eyes.

- “Why do you say that?”- my husband lied between his teeth as Morgan analyzed every single one of our movements.

- “A paternal instinct is a deadly bias? Those were your exact words.”

- “I meant… we are both fathers…”- Spencer was nearly sweating and I didn’t know how to help him.

- “I know what you meant. But that's what you said.”- Morgan stared at us, and neither of us said another word. So he simply walked away from us.

- “Shit, shit, shit.”- Spencer whispered and closed his eyes.

- “It’s ok, honey. We both knew it wasn’t going to be easy. And we would be the same under these sick circumstances.”

- “I know, I just…”- Spencer bit his lips as tears filled his eyes.- “I wish there was more we could do. He doesn’t deserve this.”

- “Who does?”- I held his hand and gave it a soft squeeze.- “You did well. It’s just hard keeping things from a profiler.”

- “He is my brother. And someone hurt his unborn child and wife. And all I can do is tell him things will be ok.”

- “We can help him, but he has to trust us.”- my phone ended our conversation. It was my mom, which only meant one thing: Raven’s presentation was over. And she knew we weren’t there.

- “Hello?”- I whispered and closed my eyes.

- “Mama…”- it was worse than my mom. It was Raven.

- “Hey there, birdy. How was the recital? Did you have fun?”- Spencer moved closer and I put our daughter on speaker. - “I’m with your dad at work. We are both so sorry we couldn’t be there today, Raven.”

- “Emma says I don’t have a mom or a dad.”- Raven was crying, and my heart broke as soon as I heard her.

- “What? Why?”- I knew Emma, she was three and a half years old, but that night, I wanted to kill that brat. I’m not proud about it.

- “You are never there.”- Raven wept and all I managed to do was hold Spencer’s hand as I turned to him. His tears ran down his face as he tried to get himself together.

- “I’m so sorry, Birdy. But we have to get the bad guys.”- my voice shook at the end of the sentence.

- “Why is it always you? Why can't Uncle Derek do it?”

- “Oh, Birdy”- Spencer mumbled and took a deep breath, trying to get himself together.- “We are helping Uncle Morgan right now get the bad guys.”

- “I just wanted to sing for you.”- Raven kept sobbing. - “Why don’t you love me?”

- “Raven Marie, we love you so much.”- I managed to say before I broke into tears. I hid my face in Spencer’s chest as he continued talking.

- “Your mom and I are very sorry we couldn’t be there today. We promise we’ll make it up to you.”- Raven didn’t reply, instead we heard my mother’s voice on the other side of the line.

- “I’m sorry kids. She wanted to talk to you.”

- “Thank you for taking care of her, Sofia.”- Spencer managed to say. I know he was trying to be strong, but honestly, both our hearts were broken.

- “Frank and Milkey came along. We are having ice cream and then I’m gonna take her home.”

- “We’ll pick her up as soon as we are done here.”- Spencer added.

- “Take care, kids. I know you are doing the best you can. And she will see that when she is old enough.”

- “Thank you, mom.”- I whispered and tried not to sob too hard.- “We’ll call you later, ok?”

- “Sure, peanut. Love you.”- I couldn’t talk anymore. I just broke into tears one more time as Spencer hung up and placed the phone in my pocket.

- “It’s ok, ma cherié”

- “It’s not ok. This is what I always hated about my dad’s job. This is what I swore to myself at ten years old I was never going to put my babies through!”- I sobbed against his sweater, feeling like the worst mother on earth. The sound of Raven’s cries on the other side of the phone had been way too much for me to deal with, especially considering what was going on.

- “This is wrong.”- I murmured and tried to put myself together. - “We don’t have time for this now. Derek needs us.”

- “It’s gonna be ok.” Spencer whispered as he wrapped his arms around me tightly. - “We are not going to miss any more recitals. And she is going to forgive us. She knows we are doing this to help other people.”

- “Spencer, she is about to be four, she doesn’t have to understand this. She needs her dad and mom.”- my husband kissed the top of my head and sighed.

Spencer’s point of view

The night Morgan became a dad was the night I understood he was going to leave us. My wife had pointed it out a few times before that, trying to prepare me for that moment, but I didn’t want to believe it. I thought we were going to be a team forever. But he had a new team. One that was more important than anything else.

It made me feel I was a lousy father for a moment. He was quitting to make sure his wife and kid were alright. It was something I had thought of many times until that day, but I had never found the guts to do it. I couldn’t blame him, though. He had been through hell and back.

Meanwhile, I kept overanalyzing everything that had happened that day, hell was waiting for us when we picked up our kids from Sofia’s house. Raven had refused to sleep and also refused to talk to us. Vinny was fast asleep when (Y/N) held him in her arms and kissed his forehead. Sofia offered us something to eat, but we just wanted to get home and get some rest. It had been an eternal day, and seeing our daughter’s teary eyes and hardened face made it even worse.

- “I don’t wanna.”- she argued right away as I tried to pick her up. Raven kept fidgeting every time my hands tried to reach her.

- “Come on, baby. We have to go home. Don’t you wanna go to bed? We can have a special breakfast tomorrow.”- I offered her, but she hid behind Sofia and started whimpering.

- “No! I don’t love you!”

- “Birdy, you don’t mean that.”- I whispered as I knelt closer to her. She stayed behind Sofia’s legs and refused to even look at me. Her eyes were filled with tears and I could see her struggling to both stay awake and not to cry. It was heartbreaking.

- “Raven Marie, we talked about this.”- Sofia moved and took my daughter in her arms carefully.- “Your mom and dad had to work tonight and they couldn’t go to your recital, but they still love you very much.”

But our daughter ignored my words, (Y/N)’s words, and her grandma’s words. Instead, she decided to give us the silent treatment and ignore us all the way back home.

(Y/N) made us some tea after she put Vinny in his crib, and I was struggling with Raven’s bedtime. She didn’t speak but refused to brush her teeth and put on her pajamas.

- “Birdy, I know you are upset. And you have all the right to be mad at me and your mom.”- I whispered as I sat on her bed and put my hands on her shoulders, trying to make sure she was paying me attention.- “But you have to know your momma and I were helping Uncle Derek. No one is more important than you, but when someone needs our help, we can’t turn our back on them.”

Raven refused to look at me, but at least she got into bed. I read her a short bedtime story, kissed her cheek, and wished her a good night before I left the room.

- “How is she?”- my wife asked as I walked into our room. She was already in bed, sipping her lavender tea.

- “Still angry.”- I untied my tie, left it on a chair, and unbuttoned my shirt before falling on our bed.- “She didn’t say a word.”

- “And she is just three… I don’t wanna think of our lives when our girl is a teenager.”- (Y/N) cut me a short mile, but it was clear she was trying to make lights off of what was happening.

- “I’m glad we still have a few more years until then, ma cheriè.”

We both stayed quiet for a moment. I grabbed the cup of herbal tea my wife had left on my bedside table and took a long sip.

- “Am I a bad mother?”- her whisper broke the silence and made me whip my head immediately.

- “You are not. Of course, you are not.”- I held her hand and kissed it, as tears fell from her cheeks.

- “We broke her heart, and she is three years old.”

- “She will forgive us.”

- “But how do I forgive myself?”- my wife broke into tears and I wrapped my arms around her, sitting her on my lap. I wanted to be strong for her, I wanted to find the right words to make her feel better. But I had nothing, ‘cos honestly, I was feeling very low.

- “Maybe we should quit.”- it was the first time one of us had said it out loud. I froze at her words. I didn’t see it coming. But my wife had been brave enough to say the words that had haunted my mind so many times.

- “Quit?”- I asked, half shocked, half confused. - “Morgan is gonna leave, what will do the team without us?”

- “What will our kids do without us?”

And I didn’t know what to reply to that.

- “Mommy…”- Raven’s voice ended that conversation, or the start of it. She stood at our door holding the stuffed unicorn Mikey had given her.

- “What is it, birdy?”- (Y/N) asked, sitting on our bed, whipping the tears from her face quickly.- “Did you have a bad dream?”

Raven shook her head as she walked slowly toward the bed. Her big brown eyes were filled with tears, and she kept biting her lower lip, the same way her mother always does when she is nervous.

- “Do you wanna sleep with us tonight, birdy?”- (Y/N) whispered and tapped on the bed. Our daughter nodded but didn’t move from the spot she was standing at. My wife stood up and took a few steps until she stood in front of Raven, kneeled, and opened her arms to our daughter, who nearly ran to her and wrapped her arms around her neck, sobbing.

- “I’m sorry mommy”

- “It’s ok, baby. I’m sorry too.”

It was such a moving scene tears fell from my eyes as I stared at my wife and daughter hugging as they lay on our bed. I scooted closer to them and wrapped an arm around them, kissing Raven’s cheek and (Y/N)’s temple.

- “Your mommy and I love you so much.”- I whispered and watched our daughter sob a few times before she fell asleep on (Y/N)’s warm chest.

Neither of us said another word after that. We just laid with her on our bed, Vinny sleeping peacefully on his crib near us. I wanted to put a bubble around us all and never let anything hurt us.

I didn’t know it back then, but the only way I could do that was by quitting the BAU.

The following week, Morgan came back to the BAU for the last time. We all knew he was leaving, Hotch had told us. But it was still hard for all of us to deal with what it meant losing him in our team. In our daily basics.

When we walked to the bullpen’s door, I saw Morgan hugging JJ and I knew what was happening next. I knew he was there to say goodbye. It was going to be our last time there, and I didn’t feel I was ready to face it. So I left (Y/N) standing there alone and ran away to the meeting room.

Chicken much? Yeah, I know. But everyone knows I am not a fan of changes, and that day was especially hard for me. I was losing my brother. It wasn’t just another profiler leaving. It was my best friend we were talking about. And I was happy for him, of course I was. He got everything he ever wanted. It was just hard dealing with the guilt of not being as brave as him and doing the same for my family.

But of course, I wasn’t ready to deal with that truth just yet.

- “I know you hate goodbyes kid. And change.”- Morgan found me and walked into the room, facing the issue upfront. I wasn’t expecting anything less from him. I turned to face him, my eyes already filling with tears, and he cut me a warm smile, knowing how hard it was for me.

- “Hey. It isn't always a bad thing.”- he added- “And you’ve been getting better at dealing with changes. At least with changing diapers.”- I chuckle at those words. I liked the fact we could keep that conversation closer to the fun side because it was too painful to deal with.

- “You are gonna be better.”- I whispered and he smiled.

- “Only ‘cos I learned from the best.”- Morgan added and we both stayed in silence for a few seconds. Everything about saying goodbye to my best friend hurt. So I sighed loudly and finally accepted the truth.

- “I just can't imagine this room without you.”

- “So don't. Don't think about it.”- Morgan quickly answered, still smiling. - “Just know I'm always gonna be by your side. I'm just a phone call away.”

- “I know. Raven won’t let you go either. She loves Sunday brunch with you and Savannah.”- we both smiled for a moment, but tears quickly threatened to fall again.

- “I'm sorry I can't stay.”- Morgan apologized and I shook my head right away.

- “I don't want you to stay.”- I quickly replied thinking I wasn’t sure I wanted to stay either, but I also wasn’t ready to deal with that just yet.- “Because I know why you're leaving and I couldn't be happier for you.”- I simply looked at him with a smile, because I honestly didn’t want him to feel guilty about leaving. Still, his eyes watered up as he took a step closer and grabbed something from his back pocket

- “Listen, we were gonna mail these, but I wanted you to have a birth announcement first.”- he opened the envelope and handed the announcement. I didn’t know what to say or how to react to it. So I just read it out loud, feeling a knot in my throat.

- “Hank Spencer Morgan.”- my voice broke as I stared at the picture of baby Hank in my hands. I couldn’t stop smiling as I looked at it. It was the sweetest gesture. It was more than I deserved. My best friend had named his baby after me. What had I done in life to deserve that much love from him?

- “Yeah. Hank is for my pops. But Spencer is for the best little brother anybody could ever ask for.”- his words were too much, and before I knew it I was sobbing. Morgan wrapped his arms around me and tapped on my back as he whispered.

- “I love you, kid.”

- “I love you.”- I replied knowing he was doing the right thing. It was just too painful to deal with how it felt at the moment. But it was meant to happen.

- “So, look, my little dude, he's gonna need a favorite uncle. To teach him everything he knows about life. And chess.”- Morgan chuckled at his words and I nodded smiling.

- “I can do that.”

- “I know you can.”

- “Which reminds me, I’m gonna need you to teach me how to play soccer, so I can teach Vinny eventually.”- my answer made him laugh.

It was comforting knowing Morgan was leaving the team, but he wasn’t leaving my life. That was a big change. We weren’t going to stop meeting, he wasn’t walking out of my life. He was just taking a step back from work and focusing on his family. The

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[altocat]

Alto did you know there are actually people in the fandom getting mad at ecpeeps saying that Zack and Angeal look alike?

That's...a really weird thing to get mad about.

Honestly, getting mad about people coming to those conclusions doesn't actually make any sense. Angeal and Zack are two characters narratively tied together as mentor-student. Not to mention Zack is positioned as Angeal's living legacy, a physical representation of Angeal's teachings, even carrying his own trademark weapon. Both characters also serve as companions for Sephiroth in both FS and CC respectively, serving a similar purpose in evoking a sense of connection and positivity. And then there's obviously the intentional physical resemblance between young Angeal and Zack---black hair, blue eyes, similar posturing with their art, etc.

Like yeah, obviously they have different distinct features to distinguish them--different face shape, skin tones, etc. But I would not blame ANYONE for assuming that the narrative intent is to have them resemble each other. It ties into their bond, the role they serve in the narrative, and the intrinsic themes that guide both their character arcs. I 100% see this. And I wholly believe it's intentional.

Additionally, just as a final bit, the concept of non biologically-related characters resembling each other, whether physically or via personality, isn't anything NEW. It's an extremely popular trope in fiction and is more than often present across various forms of media, including movies, tv shows, manga, anime, folk stories, etc. Angeal and Zack looking so similar is probably a nod to the idea that Angeal was once a lot like Zack. And that Zack is ultimately a representation of his ideals, his lighter half.

Idk man it's just a really weird thing to complain about. I can understand people getting annoyed at Glenn constantly being called Cloud's father because they both happen to be blond. Or even people who don't like the Vincent-Dad Theory just because he and Seph both happen to be attractive men. But in this case, these two characters are specifically connected to each other on a narrative level and serve similar roles. Fans seeing them as looking similar to each other is often centered in the narrative connection that the characters share along with intentional physical callbacks from the devs. Simple as that.

[finsterwalds]

Got my hands on the script of Anatomy of a Fall, and I couldn't help but compare it with some scenes from the movie because that's how deep I am rn :'D Anyway, here are some of my finds and things I personally enjoyed. I'm sure there are more things to dig out but these are what I wanted to share with the world. The order of my finds will be chronological, for the most part, but keep in mind that sometimes, some scenes were edited to show up later, or earlier than originally intended. Spoilers for the whole movie obviously so you've been warned!

Takes place when Vincent first visits Sandra to discuss Samuel's death. In the movie, Sandra stops Vincent and cuts him harshly, saying "STOP, I did not kill him". Vincent then says a line that I think is pretty iconic in the movie, a sarcastic : "That's not the point. Really". His line is much harsher than on the script, where he's a bit softer. "You don't need to tell me that" implies that he has some deep, loyal faith in Sandra, while "That's not the point" cuts any further discussion. He really doesn't wanna know if she actually did it. Comes from a wish to remain blind still, but with less innocence and a lot of denial. Oh, Vincent.

In the movie, his last line is way better imo, he says "No one's gonna believe that. I don't believe that." I like the emphasis on his opinion rather than the fleeting and impersonal "it's really hard to believe". Truly hits way harder and puts Vincent back in the position of a lawyer.

The rest will be under the cut because I think it's gonna be a wall of text I apologize guys...... This movie does things to my brain.

There's a scene that was cut where Vincent phones Nour while still at Sandra's, which I would have enjoyed a lot but I'll admit it's a bit filler-y. Doesn't add a lot and kinda cuts the serious tone of Sandra's confession, imo, as they discuss the judge's antics in a pretty comical manner. I just love Nour so I'm based......

Another, REALLY long scene that was cut where a medium comes into Sandra's house to feel Samuel's ghost and foreshadows Daniel poisoning Snoop with aspirin. I had a good laugh at that one, honestly. It feels pretty out of place with the tone of the movie, and the personality of the characters even... I can't picture Sandra calling a medium. I'm glad they removed it because the foreshadowing was unnecessary too. It's still interesting that they had planned it however.

This takes place after Vincent finds out about the tape. Interestingly, his whole line was cut after "before he died". In the movie, he never comments on Sandra's affairs/sexuality. He never really asks much about her life at all. He truly is blinded by his wish to shield himself from her inner demons, in order to maintain his undying loyalty towards her. To see what he wants of her...

Another scene that was completely cut (a flashback, I believe?) where Sandra makes Daniel pose for a german photographer to make some money, which Monica dislikes, and then they argue. I think it really frames her as too unsympathetic, so I'm also glad it was cut.

Okay, so now, here comes The Big Change. The scene where Vincent and Sandra drink together after the first trial was heavily altered, because its tone in the movie is pretty tense when compared with the lightheartedness of the script. In the script, they laugh and reminisce together about the past and even kiss at the end of the scene. In the movie, none of was I screenshot happens : instead of playing along with the 'firing Vincent' suggestion, the scene ends with Sandra scolding Vincent for judging her in his head. Vincent backs off and the scene ends. Another instance of him not pressing emotional depth to shield himself.

There are other scenes I liked (many that touch upon Sandra's books) but I'll stop there. Hope you'll enjoy that... I might draw some of these so stay tuned... This movie has absorbed my soul but it feels good to be alive, thank you Justine Triet.

[wombywoo]

Thank you for all your answers! I can't explain how excited I am about this story of yours. I want to gnaw on your brain. 😅 Hope that doesn't sound too weird.

Marc is one fucked up guy. They need to arrest him because that's so damn bad. Seriously, how did Quinn get away from him? Why do I get the feeling that Quinn didn't fully get away from him?? Is he going to make a surprise villain appearance? D=

I think Danny and Vincent should team up and stab Marc. <3

Please tell me Quinn doesn't pull the same choking RACK stuff with Vincent. I can't imagine Vincent would be happy with Quinn pushing himself like that, even if he's feeling low.

I know a psych eval would bench Quinn forever, and that wouldn't be good for him, but boy does that boy need some better coping mechanisms. A couple of therapists. A lot of hugs. Just, all the love.

I'm glad Vincent cares about Quinn so much, but I'm also excited for the potential drama as he tries to get Quinn realise he cares about him. It sounds like Quinn is going to make it as difficult as possible for Vincent before melting into his arms.

I'd love to know more about Vincent's complicated feelings, especially about the evil vampires, and Quinn's visions. I just love hearing all your speculations and lore domes, no matter how drama or trauma filled they may be. <3

Please by all means continue munching my brain, it's very motivating !!!!

Marc is the worst for sure. And his ass needs to be incarcerated stat, but unfortunately he's rich and powerful, sooooo... dot dot dot Quinn had 'broken up' with him a few times, but there was always a something pulling him back, so maybe he's still feeling that tether.... (don't worry, Marc will have his comeuppance eventually, I am just building sweet sweet tension)

I would not be opposed to Vince and Danny giving him a stab or two 🤔..

(And he will make an appearance btw; his company is funding the task force, hehehe.....)

As for Quinn and his, uhh. not great habits in the bedroom, that's also something that may come up as a point of drama. I can see him trying to push Vincent into being rough with him, even taking it too far when he's feeling particularly..not great. Predictably, Vincent will not be a fan of this, hence the ✨drama✨ I do think they can eventually develop some healthier bdsm-type stuff for Quinn, but for now--he's not got the best history with sexual risk-taking, and he's probably going to steer towards something that's not very safe or sane 😬

asdfgh honestly at this point, I'm not even sure if there's therapy strong enough to help him 😭 Which is why it's crucial that he has Vincent now, and more importantly--FIG, who is perhaps the best thing he has for feeling good and happy in his life 🥺🙏 hugs are also appreciated

There will definitely be a lot of future drama, in fact, I keep chewing over potential scenes and rubbing my hands together like a totally normal not-insane villain...

Vincent is *very* concerned about Quinn's visions, moreso than Quinn himself. He's got sooo many questions and very little answers. And his ties to certain evil vampires in the past might start becoming relevant again, so that's always fun to revisit....

I have a loooot more stuff I've been contemplating, so I will share accordingly, or perhaps get off my ass and actually write this damn thing 😤 Please standby <3

[kavalyera]

Hey! I appreciate you for appeasing my marquis hyperfixation. Could you do some headcanons with a gender neutral reader?

hiii!! of course i can!! (i love other people who are hyperfixated on him bc i am too lol)

warnings: none

only sweet things here<3

ʚ♡ɞ

‪♡ In the rare cases where he wakes up before you, he’ll make sure you’re not falling off the bed

‪♡ Well, it’s just rare for him to be waking up before you

‪♡ He’ll pester you to go to places

‪♡ Well it really just depends on your mood or what you’re feeling

‪♡ Sometimes it’s easy for him to get you to go somewhere with him!

‪♡ ….sometimes it’s not!

‪♡ “Please, amour, you know I’m not strong enough to pull you—”

‪♡ His love language is gift giving and just being overall really clingy

‪♡ He has a great memory aswell

‪♡ If you say something that you need or want, expect in the next two to three days

‪♡ Or maybe just in a few hours

‪♡ It depends really

‪♡ Vincent just really loves giving gifts since he gets to

‪♡ Literally amazing at gift wrapping

‪♡ If you’re an art nerd like him, you’ll definitely have fun talking to him when he’s half asleep or when he’s just reminded

‪♡ He loves art and if you’re an artist, he will not stop talking about it

‪♡ Vincent has a sweet tooth it’s honestly kind of obvious

‪♡ No matter how much he says it’s kind of childish for him to enjoy sugar

‪♡ He will still enjoy dessert

‪♡ And he’ll probably try and get you to eat some aswell

‪♡ “Can you make sure it’s not poisoned?”

‪♡ “Am I really gonna save you from poisoned vanilla pudding?”

‪♡ “Just one bite!”

‪♡ You two spend lots of time just talking

‪♡ In your shared place, outdoors, on benches, in cars…

‪♡ He likes to play with you by purposely pushing you back into your car seat

‪♡ Just so he can open the door of the car for you

‪♡ Of course, you do it back to him and it always catches him off guard

‪♡ Vincent is the one usually giving gifts to you

‪♡ So when you got him a gift for the first time(a painting you thought he would like)

‪♡ He was so happy!

[cedric-k-rossignol]

HIII!!!!! I'm sending an ask because responding in a reblog or a seperate post feels weird and awkward!!! But you reblogged one of my Claudia sketches and briefly mentioned t4t Claudiataker in the tags (thank you so much by the way you are super nice) and that set off MY brainworm.

I am in a rush so this is very badly put together and I'm honestly just brain dumping in your ask box and I apologize for that, I am fully aware that my t4t hc for them DOES NOT qualify as a proper theory and I don't expect it to be canon or anything, but omg, I have thought WAY too hard about it.

First of all, I think it could work with the fact that Claudia kept the Phantomhive name, and even passed it to Vincent and Frances, it's not just because she's a cool female watchdog, but also because she wasn't born as an heiress, she was supposed to be an heir. My thoughts about her are actually wayyy to complicated so this is just. The simplest way I can put it. And it's also not entirely accurate to my actual interpretation of her, nor is it accurate to actual historical evidence, I like having my Victorian Flip-Phone moments with her.

As for UT, pretty much everyone at this point has pointed out that he's a wonderful parallel to Grell and augh I just love the idea of that. They are sooo similar, Grell just hasn't approached UT's level of crash out yet, and him being trans would just... Make this so much more personal me thinks...

Anywho!!! Sorry about word vomiting about them in your ask box 🫶 I love them a lot and felt the need to share because I need to soread my t4t Claudiataker propaganda.

TL/DR: I am mildly insane about t4t Claudiataker please ask me about them

Hi hi hello you lovely artiste 🤗 personally I live for being weird and awkward and generally unhinged in the tags, but that's just me. I also enjoy word vomit in my ask box, so it's all gravy either way.

You know I realized the name thing when I had that ask not too long ago that claimed Claudia must not have been married in order to pass her maiden name to her children. This isn't true, she just would have needed royal assent - but her being trans does work perfectly, doesn't it? I also love the thought that three generations of Phantomhive heirs were wearing dresses. Claudia really set the trend there.

"Victorian Flip-Phone moments" - brilliant.

I've always thought Claudia would have been incredibly isolated as a female watchdog; unaccepted by the other male heads of noble families, her predecessor's associates, and the other women of the peerage. She would have been an outcast, even moreso than the watchdog typically is, for the unique position she held. This would make a lot of sense if she were trans, too - and it would make her connection with Undertaker all the more significant.

Funny that you say that Grelle is a wonderful parallel to Undertaker, because I personally haven't seen much about that. I've always seen much more in common between Undertaker and Will - at least, within their careers as reapers, and I very much like the theory that Will will be guided down the same path of rebellion that Undertaker took.

I do think Grelle and Undertaker have some traits in common, but Grelle is much more uninhibited than Undertaker was as a reaper. They both seem to be very unusual reapers, but for very different reasons. Grelle's own rebellion seemed more... Unserious, I guess? And perhaps, more motivated by love and personal freedom than Undertaker's, which I believe was more motivated by a sense of moral righteousness. I have always adored the line Undertaker says in their fight on the Campania, "you've been seduced by the lives of humans too". Like, there's so much to dissect in that one line - though tbh I can't remember if that was the official translation or not.

So I'd be curious to hear more about their similarities from you, and where you think Grelle is going with her level of crash out. Spread your propaganda and the brain worm will do its work. Undertaker and Claudia's love story is so important to me and THANK YOU for drawing them 💙 I've stalked your blog for a while before I rejoined Tumblr so it's lovely to chat. Your art is wonderful, and that meme about Vincent looking like Claudia killed me.

[sunny-panda-agere]

(Trying to make sure this is post big enough so it makes it to where you can’t see the whole thing immediately because heehoo agere but also don’t touch unless you’re completely comfy and old enough to interact)

Actually trying to use this account oops,, Wanna type out/write stuff for this au, at least for me and my bestie

DISCLAIMER:

WHILE STRICTLY SFW, THE SERIES AND THIS POST FOCUSES ON IS NOT! PLEASE KEEP YOURSELF SAFE AND DO NOT PURPOSEFULLY GO TRIGGER/UPSET YOURSELF! ESPECIALLY DO NOT INTERACT WITH THE SERIES WHILE REGRESSED AND ESPECIALLY NOT IF YOU ARE A MINOR/CHILD

18+ SFW INTERACTION ONLY

(And past all those warnings… !¡!Diaper/Pull-up/Accident warning!¡! as well as talking about fake caregivers and two regressors in abusive relationships. This au takes place AFTER said relationships, but I will be talking about them both.)

So this is an au that mostly focuses on Farz (he's genuinely one of my favorite boys and I project onto him ALOT), Raven, and Sid. The au takes most elements from This is Not Romance (honestly all of it, minus Farz and Raven sharing a body. They get their own, separate bodies in this au. It's also... very much post-BTD2. An au where Farz leaves Vincent because good lord he deserves so much better.

Regressor! Farz

He regresses so itty bitty, it’s not even funny. He’s almost never verbal, except for a few specific words, and the oldest he regresses to is about 3

His favorite toys are the Velcro fruits, early 2000s toys like Zhuzhus and Hex bugs… and two giant cardboard boxes that Sid, Chet, and Anthony had all worked on together to make a makeshift dollhouse, but bigger, for his stuffed animals.

Sid and Chet are his main caregivers, but Anthony and Raven are also caregivers for him. Sid and Chet are “Dada” and “Papa” respectively. Anthony is “Fairy” or “Fifi” and Raven is “sissy.” He calls her sissy whether she’s taking care of him or regressed with him.

He adores being called “baby bird”, especially since he feels like it cements the fact he’s Raven’s little brother.

Farz is a very shy and jumpy little one, and the second someone unexpected walks in, he’ll try to act as though he hasn’t been regressed at all, even if there’s a paci in his mouth or he’s in a onesie.

He’s a blankie baby, carrying his lovey around wherever he goes. Sid gave it to him…

He is also very attached to a weighed duck plushie that Raven had picked out for him.

When with Sid, there’s not a lot that makes him uncomfortable when regressed, at least before Vincent.

Now getting to the worst bits, talking about Farz's ex: Farz was in a horrific relationship with his past “caregiver” Vincent. He made everything uncomfortable, made everything weird, yelled when Farz did anything that made himself feel comfy, and god forbid the poor thing had an accident. He used to be so nice… but then Farz opened up to him about something he could take advantage of. Opened up to him about everything he’d experienced before. Vincent would slowly start to separate Farz from his friends, and assure him that he would be there while treating him so badly Farz would ask to be hit. In his mind, he was in a happy relationship with Vincent… He didn’t want to accept he was being hurt. But eventually (like one of the endings) Vincent throws some pity party, playing the victim… and Farz finally leaves.

When Farz returns to Sid, to Raven, he’s not the same friend they had before. Flinching at every little sound, movement. Refusing to regress, at all, even when Sid used to be his most trusted babysitter/CG before. Thanks to his own stubbornness and Vincent’s impact, Farz is a very avoidant Regressor. At least unless he knows his home is empty. Minus Raven…

Padded almost 24/7, even when not regressed. Living with Vincent literally destroyed his bladder, the man denying him bathroom access to fulfill his own sick fantasies. When regressed, he gets very very scared when he has accidents, thinking one of his caregivers will do something gross to him because of it. This of course is completely untrue, and Sid or Chet would carefully change him as slow and carefully as Farz needs.

Raven is kind of a given, always following Farz around like an overprotective sister, like Farz will suddenly disappear again. He likes hiding in her wings.

He also hides behind her wings, or snuggles with her while she shields themselves with her wings when he “needs to go potty” or he had an accident. Raven, knowing the hurt he endured at the hands of his old “caregiver,” would be unbelievably protective of him, glaring at any caretaker who tried to get to him. He hides with his sissy so often after going potty that his caregivers don’t even have to check him, they just wait for him to hide… Of course, it wasn’t a forever thing, Farz slowly healing. The first time he just continued playing, not running to hide, Chet probably almost cried.

Whenever he’s given bottles or sippy cups, he’ll look the cup over and over, as though making sure it hasn’t been tampered with or to make sure it’s actually what his caregivers say they are…

The simplest of things can send him into a panic, even when not regressed, but it’s only worse when he feels so small already. Sid could offer to change his shirt for him because he spilled a bit of yogurt, and it would end in him screaming in crying in fear of bad touching…

Sid will kiss all of his scars over and over, promising he’ll never let it happen again. Even the scars he can’t see; where he would’ve had black eyes or would’ve been choked.

Sid didn’t let a single scratch harm the cardboard house when Farz was gone all that time… It was the first thing he tried to get regressed Farz to play with when he finally slipped down. But Farz had had none of it, just hysterically sobbing and clinging to Sid like he’d suddenly be dragged away again…

Regressor! Raven

Raven is not romantically interested in Farz even a little. That's her baby brother (obv not biologically.) She first grew very attached to Farz, finding another regressor like herself. She grew very VERY protective of Farz after her past relationship with Strade. And if she had been there when Vincent did any of that to him, she would have more than likely have ended him herself.

She’s around 4-5 when regressed, but enjoys things younger regressors would often have such as pacifiers and often needs to be padded as well.

She cannot leave Farz alone, especially when regressed. She’ll lay in bed with him, and hide him in her wings, acting as a shield for him. She is unbelievably protective of him, and will sometimes try to fight caregivers who want to help him.

She used to have a fake caregiver herself (Strade (I hate even talking about him in canon)) and cannot wrap her head around the fact she let him end up with someone like that… She tries to be strong for Farz, hating admitting to herself that she knows exactly what his pain feels like.

When Farz and Sid need one on one time to keep him as calm as possible, she’ll start “preening” her feathers to the point she’s just pulling them out and creating bald spots on her wings. She can’t stand to leave him alone, and will send herself into panic episodes over it. She’s not the best at self soothing, and will desperately go to Anthony if they’re there. (She trusts them the most out of Farz’s three caregivers)

Farz likes to collect the fathers she sometimes loses, even if from excessive preening. He keeps them on paci clips so he can run them over his cheek or just to hold. They’re like a sensory toy for him.

Anthony will read her stories and try anything to distract the distressed avian, whetherr it be coloring, puzzles, watching cartoons, or even making pillows forts/nests for them to “hide in.”

If Anthony is also regressed, Chet will try to step in, being cautious but caring with Raven. He is the sweetest papa bear caregiver, but also knows Raven doesn’t, and will probably never, trust him.

Anthony has also painted her nails before when little. Raven saw them doing Farz’s nails, and was oddly intrigued. Anthony offered to do hers too, a bejeweled paci between their lips. Raven very hesitantly slinks over when they’re done, but doesn’t hate her sparkly silver nails.

Her favorite toys when regressed, are anything that she can justify are “big kid toys” because they require thought. Puzzles, marble towers, water towers, color by numbers, etc

She DESPISES baths, but they have to get her take them every once in a while. It takes so much coaxing, promises of bubble bath, and toys… and usually, Farz will bath with her. Oddly, it seems to be the biggest way to get either to bathe. Baths are too vulnerable, but she doesn’t mind if Farz is there. Caregivers can never touch her in the bath, but she’ll wash herself, caregivers walking her through it.

She hates regressing when Farz isn’t regressed, locking herself away, crying into pillows and blankets, terrified someone’s going to hurt her. Caregivers aren’t a real thing in her head, and she’ll only come out if a little Farz asked.

When regressed alone, she will very very rarely do anything for herself, like pad or play… As much as she needs to be padded, she refuses to admit it and will not let anyone help. Sid tries not to get too frustrated when he has to clean up after her, but also doesn’t really mind… That’s his little man’s sister. And he loves her too. I’m so

When she’s with little Farz, they’ll play whatever he wants. Even if she’s unsure how to play, she’s more than willing to try for Farz.

If he won’t give an answer or doesn’t want to make choices… or is even too little to verbalize anything, she’ll bring out any of his favorite toys.

She’ll refuse to go to bed unless she can say goodnight to Farz and tuck him in herself, and tuck his favorite weighted duck plushie in with him, even when neither of them are regressed.

When Farz regresses down to only a few months, completely unaware of almost everything but physical comfort, Raven will just loving stare and watch for hours. When he’s sat on the floor, watching Baby Einstein… her eyes are on him. When he’s in the playpen, fumbling with whatever he can get his hands on, her eyes are on him. Being fed, bathed, anything - she has to be watching him like a hawk.

Adding this here at the end: I think Sid is a flip (CG lean), Anthony is a flip (regressor lean), and Chet is just the sweetest papa bear CG

Some doodles for this au because it took me so long to get out (the second one,, “mama” is my oc, maybe I’ll post selfship stuff idk, anyways, there’s the post)

[the-elden-henson]

I wish I weren't an Elden fan,

Seriously

For those who know me, this is not new, but I'll share my story for those who might not be familiar with it. I'm not trying to be dramatic; I just want to provide some context.

I've known Elden since I was a kid, and I've been a fan of Foggy since my teenage years. I've always related to the good-hearted sidekick who rarely gets anything good in his life. Yet, he never complains—he's content just being there, existing.

There was a time when I stopped reading comics as much as I used to when I was younger. And then adult life happened, I met my Foggy and I got married.

But a little before that... a year before, to be precise, one night I got an email alert. "Elden Henson would be playing Foggy Nelson." I squinted, read the email, put on my glasses, clicked on the website... Read the article... Squinted again. I stared at the wall for a moment and then I chuckled with my hand over my mouth.

So, yeah. It was a dream. It was a dream come true. I had never imagined it would actually happen, but there it was, unfolding before me.

But if I had my way, I would like to not be an Elden fan today.

It pains me to see how Daredevil fans are just accepting Foggy's death for the greater good. It deeply pains me that all the marketing in which actors seem to celebrate his death while Elden just accepts it. Even though Foggy is back in one way or another, he knows he is no longer needed, he knows he is no longer the heart of the show.

It hurts me deeply to see leaks and rumors being confirmed and him no longer being there.

See, I don't own anyone's feelings and I've been avoiding posting and reading comments. But occasionally I come across a mutual sharing a post that really hurts.

Don't get me wrong, I fought for years for the trio to be saved. But the feeling I have is that we went from Nelson and Murdock

>Nelson, Murdock and Page

>Page, Murdock and Nelson

and now Page, Murdock and Castle

and the fans are totally fine with that.

Feeling happy about some leaks feels like a betrayal of everything I’ve fought for, and I won’t do that.

I wasn't pleased when a leaker claimed that Karen would be the only one to die. I raised my voice, made supportive posts, even though deep down I believed she wouldn’t be the one facing such a fate. Look where we are now.

Here we are. Foggy is insignificant in the grand scheme of things now.

Deborah Ann Woll mentioned that *Born Again* is a tribute to Foggy and Elden. Vincent said they care, a lot, and Charlie emphasized that Foggy is the heart of Marvel!

Wow!

However, to me, this all sounds like a message saying: "He no longer holds any significance to the show, but we don't completely hate him. We're the good guys here. Please don't hate us for shattering your dream."

Meanwhile, Matt is holding Karen's hand, and Frank is there for Karen too. The Kingpin will persist in his battle against Matt and the other vigilantes. Dex will do whatever Dex does, but technically he will want revenge on Matt and Karen.

Life goes on for everyone, but there’s a tiny, barely audible voice keeps asking, "Where's Foggy?" And the shouted response is, "Who cares?"

And that's why I feel sad about being an Elden fan right now. I could have coped if they had announced from the beginning that Foggy would die permanently. Of course, I would have cried, but I would eventually move on.

However, what Marvel has done with Elden is disheartening. They have been pushing their agenda as if Foggy meant nothing to Daredevil, and their marketing feels incredibly cruel. It's hard to watch the actors cheering and laughing—although it's part of their performance—while Elden is practically mourning his beloved character.

And the fans, the fans are happy, and I don't blame them.

But honestly, I wish I weren't an Elden fan. Maybe then I could stop caring about the disrespectful treatment Elden has received. I wish I weren't an Elden fan; maybe then I could be excited about the show I loved so much and waited so many years for to come back, and not feel an ache in my heart with every rumor, leak, and interview…

If I weren't an Elden fan, I think I would care a lot less.

[midnight-in-town]

Hello. I love your blog very much, honestly, thank you for sharing your ideas, theories... My first language is not English, so excuse me if you don't understand everything I'm going to say. It's about Black Butler... I've been thinking and I would like to know what do you think, about the idea of the end of Kuroshitsuji where O!Ciel gives his soul to Sebastian, but his physical body becomes resurrected just like his twin brother? Do you see that idea possible? Do you think O!Ciel would learn how to live for himself and not for revenge??

Hey Anon ! Don't worry, my first language isn't English either and your English is very good ! :))

Thank you very much for reading and for the nice words (^3^) that question is very interesting.

First of all, I'd like to remind you that, for now, my favorite possible ending for Kuroshitsuji would be Seb not getting to eat our!Ciel's soul, whether our!Ciel survives or dies at the end.

Aside from that, I don't think our!Ciel's meant to become a bizarre doll, mostly because bizarre dolls are a plot point correlated with not mourning one's grief and being unable to move on.

Take UT who made it happen,

take Queen Victoria who's interested in it (for war and maybe to bring Albert back),

take any of the Parliamentarians who were afraid to die,

take even Bizarre Dolls themselves who are perfect if they have a lot of "yearning for the future"...

...and you have the main recipe for antagonists in Kuroshitsuji (UT perhaps being the sole exception since Yana said "he may not be exactly an antagonist").

Our!Ciel himself is a main character obsessed with living to get his revenge, with finding out what happened to his family 4 years ago, knowing very well that, through his contract with Seb, that means giving up voluntarily on his happiness and hope for his future.

For me, what makes Kuroshitsuji such a good story is that it establishes, despite having a demon eating souls as its main character, that getting obsessed about revenge is not a good thing, because ultimately one has to move on with their life.

Mourning is painful and takes time, but it's a process that is necessary if one intends to move on. The Bizarre Doll project in all its aspects is the antithesis of that and that's why I don't think our!Ciel, whom the story establishes is on the wrong path for being revenge-obsessed, is meant to become one.

In fact, it's because real!Ciel is a potential big bad antagonist (please read the RCMT recap post, in case you don't understand what I mean) that he's the one who became a Bizarre Doll. Just like Queen Victoria being in a contract with a demon and possibly the culprit behind Vincent's and Rachel's murders is paralleling our!Ciel wanting revenge through a contract with a demon like Seb.

It's all about parallels and about our!Ciel facing people who made the wrong choices before him, hence why 1) I'm hoping that Seb won't get to eat his soul, because 2) our!Ciel will finally admit that losing his soul to Seb is not what he wants, since only living for revenge is not exactly living in the first place [x][x] and breaking the cycle of revenge his family was caught into is perhaps his fate.

The way I see things, Yana hinting that UT may not exactly be a villain is because UT is the only character affiliated with the BD project who will maybe realize that, by not mourning dead Phantomhives, he'll lose the ones who are still alive (our!Ciel, Frances, Liz, Ed).

TL;DR for me the story calls for the failure and destruction of the BD project first and for our!Ciel to give up on the contract with Seb second, because moving on is ultimately what Kuroshitsuji is about (and don't even get me started on the fall of the Shinigami organization for the exact same reason).

So I don't know if our!Ciel will survive this story, but I certainly hope he won't become a BD, because thematically it makes no sense ! As always, I could be wrong though.

I hope I answered your questions ? Thank you again for reading and for the sweet words !! Have a good day. :))