#eventually I decided to only include the ones where I don't 'skip to the good bits'

[ereborne]

Top 7 Comfort Films

Tagged by @piratefalls Hi Kelly!!!!! I also watch the same movies on rotation lol

The Three Musketeers (1993)

The Swan Princess

The Blues Brothers

Hansel and Gretel, Witch Hunters

The Martian

Charlie's Angels (2019)

Logan Lucky

Tagging: @goingsparebutwithprecision, @acountrygirlsfun, @tulmultuous, @zahnie, @ialpiriel, @alwaysboth

[ririblogsss]

what if Danny give no fu-ks

Ok hear me out, Dannys obsession has never truest been confirmed by the show itself (that I remember) I've seen a lot of people say his obsession comes from wanting to help / protect people. But what if he feels as though that he is now doing more damage than good, after all there are a lot of people getting hurt as colateral damage from the chases he has to go on. Or simply when he has to run away from getting captured.

What if one night he was up late and saw a post about a tragedy that happened because he slipped up (it wasn't even his fault, but he still blames himself for everything). And then he starts looking at all the bad comments against him ignoring all the good ones saying how much Danny Phantom has helped Amity. Because Danny is still human and confirmation bias is real. Imagine how he felt the moment he realized that he was causing people to get hurt instead of keeping them save.

Image the desperation clawing at him with the realization that he has never been able to fully manage his obsession. it makes him sad, desperate, angry.

His entire self is filled with too many emotions at the sametime he isn't even able to identify them and catalogue them properly like Jazz taught him.

and then everything stops and he feels nothing.

Completely and utterly numb.

Like his whole reason to keep going suddenly disappears.

And it has.

He gave up on his obsession and now he has to make / get a new one.

But it's not that easy.

This drastic change could've ended any ghost as they run on (live off) emotions.

Luckily because he's a Halfa, so that has given him the upper hand. Unfortunately it makes it so that he is completely devoid of any emotion.

Months go by and people immediately notice changes, the more drastic one is that Phantom went missing, and eventually a lot of ghost that where coming in looking for him stop. Amity Park is no longer populated by ghosts, and slowly the GIW started to retreat from Amity going to another place following a lead that says there are more ghost activities up north.

But those changes aren't the only ones noticeable. Dannys classmates and teachers can vouch that Danny has changed. Most say he was always quite , and others say he looked down right depressed. Danny didn't do much in classes not that he paid attention before. Its just this time it seems that its not out of being sleepy or anxious about another ghost attacking the school instead Danny looks like he coundn't give less of a fu-k about anything.

He never smiles anymore not even when his favorite subjects (mechanics and space) are brought up. Not even a quirk of a smile. The school decided to contact his parents about Dannys new behaviors. That includes skipping classes, not handing in work, not doing the assigned work in class ect....

And its not like his parents havent noticed, they've had more time in their hands since they aren't using hours of the day/night going out hunting anymore. and they have witnessed their son become a shell of himself. They don't know what to do, and they don't want to worry Jazz about it because she's at collage and needs to focus on her studies.

So when the school contact them and told them that the behavior is the same in school they decided major changes needed to happen. Starting with a change of environment.

Maddie and Jack decided that Amity park was too big of a city with too many people. They could nearly see the stars at night because of the light pollution, hence they decided to move next door to Alicia, Maddie sister, home in SmallVille.

They decided it was the best choice, Danny would be surrounded by nature and he could do online classes that would go the pace he wanted. The move was immediate, the day off they packed everything sold the house and moved.

They only stopped to say goodbye to Danny's friends. A small bye and hug later they were on a 7 hour road trip to their new home.

When they got there the old resident handed them the keys of the home and told them to ignore the their neighbors 'The Kents' as they often made a lot of noice and had group gatherings every month.

The one thing Jack and Maddie forgot to double check was if the house was an actual house or a farm house. Sounds similar, but completely different as they now had 2 cows, 16 chickens, 1 rooster, and 3 pigs to take care off.

Danny was put on duty of taking care of the animals, such as feeding them on time and making sure they were healthy. Jack and Maddie made more of the heavy weight as to re building broken fences and fixing the questionable roof.

(The first thing Danny did when meeting all the animals was name them. After all this was about all the interaction he was going to do.)

Danny didn't have time to think about his lost obsession or his lack of emotions as he was now too busy making sure each animal was taken care off.

Marcy and linda (the cows) were danny's favorite they were very gentle and he felt that they could understand him when he spoke to them the stories of his vigilante past.

On the other hand The Chickens were a nightmare, Glinda was cool as she never chased him down. But Matilda and Bethany were a nightmarish duo spiteful too when he was seconds late to the finding time. Mark the rooster was chill he mainly acted as of he was part of the group that needed protection.

Marice, Betty, and Miss Piggy were the chillest of the bunch never gave Danny any trouble when feeding them and always made a point that they loved their new mudbath installation that Danny made for them on his first 2 days on the farm.

A month after arriving at the farm house Danny noticed that mark was missing. Danny looked everywhere around the property and saw him from afar, at the road. So Danny did the sensible thing anyone would do when spotting a run away pet, and that is call their name at the top of your lungs whilst running after them.

naturally Mark the escape artist run the opposite direction. By the time Danny caught up to him Danny didn't recognize the house he was infant off. So with Mark comfortably in his arms He swears he can see a smug look on marks face. Danny turned away from the house to start his walk back to the farm, but he was met with a kid his age looking at him with distrust.

"Ehhh look kid Im sorry to have crossed the properties border but Mark here" Danny made a point to acentuate Mark in his arms "Runaway from me this morning and I've been trying to catch him ever since, anyways I need to go feed the girls"

The kid starred at him for a second "OMG your from the new family in Mr.duncans farm right? in Aver ST.?" and wow the kid was like a ray of sunshine.

"Yea-" Danny could even finish his sentence before the kid cut him off by starting to talk a mile a minute about how he was so exited to meet people his age that lived near by and how farm chores were harder that normal house chores.

"Jon, give him time to respond. Im Damian this is Jon" Danny jumped he hadn't noticed the second kid at all

"Oh yeah... sorry about that what's your name?" The kid (Jon) slightly less enthusiasm, a bit embarrassed if his tone of voice was anything to get by.

"Danny, Im 15" he responded before he started walking away after all he did need to get in time to feed the chickens unless he wants to suffer their furry. Danny shuddered at the memory that popped up in his head.

"Wait!!! I just thought we could be friends cause we live close by u know" Jon said catching up with Dannys steps. Damian was following from behind.

"Sure kid I don't care" Dannys voice was monotone much like it had been for months.

"Hey were not kids for your information, Im 14 and Damians 16 soon to be 17, so if anything you night be the actual kid!" Danny chuckled slightly it was more similar to releasing air from his lips than a laugh.

Soon a quite and enjoyable science encompassed the group as they went to Dannys home.

"Hmm... you're hold on Mark is adequate and the your determination for getting home in time for feeding is acceptable" Damian spoke up after a while of the passive silence.

"yeah and what is It to you" Danny was slightly urked by Damians default setting speach. He told him as such.

Jon blanched before erupting into giggles that sent him to lay down on the grass uncontrollably laughing. Damians right eyebrow quirked up in what Danny assumed was amusement.

Thus a new friendship grew that day.

They often gathered at Dannys or Jons yard to have picnic in the weekends (as Damian and Jon has school in Metropolis on week days) and hangout with the animals. Danny found out that Damian was a vegetarian and that he had various animals at home. One time he brought his Great Dane Titus, who bodied Danny on sight to give him kisses.

Also Damian was Damian Wayne as in bruce Wayne, Batman sugar daddy. When he said that, Jons milk flew out of his nose and Damian choked on his cucumber wrap. Even Titus gave him a judgemental stare.

Slowly Danny started to smile more, laugh every so often. And things were feeling so much better after not being able to feel anything for a while.

Jazz, Aunt Alicia and especially Maddie and Jack felt so relived to see that Danny was slowly coming back to them.

Danny to this day backs the fact that Mark knew something and planned the whole thing.

[oneshotnewbie]

Hello! I hope you're well :)

Would you so kindly be able to do an Emily Prentiss x victim child!reader where reader is kind of young, maybe like between 6-10 and they've been held captive by the UnSub for weeks now and when the team finally finds the location, reader has gone mute and very cautious/scared of everyone and only allows (to an extent) Emily near them? Since she's the one who first finds them? Emily is very patient and comforts reader even if they don't speak and such. But reader eventually becomes comfortable enough to speak again, using short sentences and few words with Emily (maybe even some other team members, too).

Emily could possibly take them in but that part can be up to you!

I can't wait to see more of your work btw, you're so good!! Thx! Xoxo 💘

⚠️Trigger Warning⚠️ This one-shot includes the topics of abuse, trauma, child neglecting, punishments and the plots are presented. If this triggers you too easily or you just can´t handle the subject, I urge you NOT to read this work. I am NOT embellishing this topic under any circumstance. Read at your own risk.

Authors note: I have tried my best to accommodate this request. I have to say that I changed the request a little because I didn't want to write a 6 year old child being kidnapped by a stranger, so I just had to do it with the father who has a criminal record. I also had to shorten it and basically skip a period of time in order to fulfill the second part of the request. I hope it is still okay. Also had to split it into two parts, Tumblr wouldn't let me post it all at once ♥

ᕚ---ᕘ

Walls. Excessive tightness.

You did not know how long you had been in that closet, and you did not want to know either. Far too exhausted from all the panic attacks and the walls threatening to crush you. Your stomach was growling like it had been ever since your father decided to punish you for everything you did.

Your hands were shaking, your eyes were glassy, but you were long past crying. That only made things worse. Your father knew no mercy, and certainly not for his scared and crying little daughter.

Sometimes you imagined what it would be like if you actually suffocated in that closet. Better to suffocate from the reducing air than to be suffocated by your own father. You would not grow old, you would not reach the age of 10. You were sure of that. You were convinced that something would happen to you before your next birthday. But so far you had gotten older every year and every birthday you were sure that it would be your last.

Your father would not let you sleep in your bed anymore, but at least today it was in the closet and not in the gazebo that you had to sleep in. It was late autumn and in the arbor, the roof of which had tiny holes, there was a risk of hypothermia and finally freezing to death. Your hand, which was squeezed between the closet door and your thigh, had now fallen asleep and despite your constant shaking, you felt immensely hot. You noticed your face starting to glow again- you had a fever from the cold that blew through the room at night. You carefully pulled your hand out from under your leg, hitting your head on one of the wooden insert panels of the shelves, causing a dull thud as it came loose and fell onto your body.

Your heart skipped a beat before stopping briefly, you squinted for a moment, hoping that the noise had gone unnoticed and that your father had disappeared from his guarding position in front of the closet and was downstairs in front of the TV. But then you heard footsteps, quiet and muffled through the ajar door and the wood that surrounded you. It sounded nothing like your father and his firm, jagged steps and you begged that you had not misheard and were now in for a lot of trouble.

The door creaked and your breathing became increasingly quicker. You did not mishear. You closed your eyes tightly, trying to calm yourself and prepare yourself for what was to come. If your father saw you so upset, he might keep you here longer or deny you food for the next few days.

The key turned in the lock that locked the two doors together and you heard them slowly open, but did not dare to look outside. The fear of provoking your father when you greedily gasped for fresh air and light was too great. You felt a slight breeze on your bare shoulders and cheeks. Still, you kept your eyes closed, hoping to avoid your fate.

Instead of your father's disapproving shouts and rough hands that would normally drag you out of the closet, there was only a careful, barely noticeable touch on your shoulder. When you raised your eyes, you saw a strange woman with black hair. "Hey, sweetie. I am from the police, you are safe now," the older woman's eyes were glassy. She seemed unsettled, as if she was afraid of breaking you with one wrong move, as if you were made of delicate mass. "You can come out now, your father can not hurt you anymore."

You nodded and a few moments later she had pulled you out of the closet, carefully and slowly so as not to hurt you, and immediately drawn you into her arms. You just let it happen, completely unable to understand that this was a foreign woman you were clinging to.

Your father had forbidden you from speaking to strangers and your fear of upsetting your dad was huge. But something about her voice made you give in. "I am Emily. What is your name?" she asked and rubbed your back soothingly, your courage to speak failing you. When the rest of her team stormed into the room a moment later and looked down at you in front of the open door, you panicked and shook yourself away from her before returning to the closet where you felt safe.

A hand signal directed to Derek and Hotch, they disappeared silently from the bare room with the remaining SWAT workers and left her alone with you. It took some time for you to gain confidence and crawl out of the wooden wardrobe again. The young woman had talked her head off with various topics in order to give you a feeling of reassurance.

You followed Emily's hand movements carefully, and at the sight of the little package of gummy bears, your mouth watered and your stomach began to make itself known. "Someone is really hungry!" She whispered and smiled softly before opening the small package and holding it out to you.

You carefully sat up, occasionally glancing at the door so that you could move back into the closet as quickly as possible in case of an emergency. But nothing happened. The black-haired woman pointed uncertainly but grinning at the package. "The green ones are my favorite. And what are yours?" you rummaged through the tiny package with your fingers until you held a red gummy bear between your fingers and showed it to her. "The red ones? Uhh, they are yummy!"

You jumped away while the first bite, she had raised her hand too quickly. She shook her head, swallowing hard. Emily had not thought for a split second. “Can I feel your forehead?”she asked after a short hesitation and you nodded, afraid of upsetting her like your father, granting her permission.

She gently placed her hand on your sweat-covered forehead. You were feverish. She slowly lowered her hand carefully again and watched you as you hesitantly gnawed on a gummy bear. Your father did not like it when you just wolfed down your food and often had taken it away when fell into a deep hunger.

Emily continued to watch you, her eyes sad and exhausted. You cocked your head, wondering if you had done something wrong. When your eyes met for a moment, you hesitantly reached for her free hand and placed her favorite gummy bear in her palm.

You found a kind of care and hope in her presence. Hope that you can still lead a normal life and never be locked in the closet by your father again. Emily caught the very first smile you gave her before you stood up and carefully fell into her arms. "Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?" she giggled softly, her heart swelling and beginning to pound wildly.

"No,"

Surprisingly, she widened her eyes while keeping her mouth wide open. After hours spent in this cold room with only forensics downstairs doing their work, she had finally managed to hear your gentle and childlike voice.

[malicedafirenze]

I unintentionally skipped a lot of the romance content in Baldur's Gate 3 and I want others to learn from my mistakes:

So: I managed to lock myself out of romance entirely and ended up alone, which was a huge bummer and a serious crack in my motivation to play the game. I finished my playthrough (because I was already close to the end of Act 3 when I realized it), and plan to do another one eventually. I'm making this post in hopes of a) keeping others from making the same mistakes and b) to possibly get some additional insight re. what to watch out for in my next playthrough.

PSA: Pick a Partner before Act 3

The key learning here for me was this explanation from the poly mod

In BG3, romance is divided into 2 steps: dating and relationship(also called partner). Dating is basically where you are at after the 1st romance scene. Relationship is where you are at after the 2nd romance scene (relationship also unlocks the kissing menu). BTW, If you enter A3, all dates will break up with you (partners won't, ofc).

I hadn't realized this until well into Act 3, at a point where going back to a save to properly fix it would have meant replaying large parts of Act 2 as well - I decided to finish my run instead and then start a completely new one later.

Note: lots of spoilers below. (click here to read this post on reddit instead)

My Romance Woes

I read in advance that you couldn't romance multiple people (except for the specific Halsin combos with Shadowheart and Astarion) and therefore turned down Gale and Lae'Zel early in the game (not realizing you could just date/bonk them without fully committing or getting anyone upset)

I didn't take approval all that seriously, thought I'd have more opportunity to fix things later. I was playing pretty good guy, and ended up with high approval for Karlach and Shadowheart, but low for Astarion. Weirdly, I don't recall an option to romance Shadowheart (no clue what I missed?) and the only option I had for Karlach was at the Tiefling party, where I went with Astarion instead. I had a scene or two with him, but then didn't progress further in the relationship, without really realizing what I was missing.

I wanted to romance everyone, sat on the fence for too long, and ended up not romancing anyone at all, by missing a thing or two in act 1 and 2 and being too late to fix it in act 3. Don't be like me, it feels bad man.

Early Act 3, I got Astarion's breakup dialogue ("we haven't spent a night together in some time" --> him explaining it was just transactional and he doesn't see the value in it anymore) and got super worried, but when trying to look up if I'd messed up, I didn't find a clear answer for without more spoilers, so I just continued playing Act 3, including all of the companion quests.

I later learned that I missed out on at least one important Astarion romance interaction by not going to Moonrise Towers until after freeing Nightsong. (when the Towers are already on high alert, i.e. I could only fight and not have a lot of conversations)

After realizing I had messed up companions romance, I instead fucked everyone it was unwise to fuck (Emperor, Mizora, Harleep...) for fun and to see what would happen... but chickened out and reloaded after Emperor and Mizora. Still, got to enjoy some fun content that way!

The ending I got (going to Avernus with Karlach) was really cool and made me cry a lot. I then did try to reload my last save though, to see if I'd get any other epilogue content if I didn't go to the Hells, but... apparently that scene on the docks (Astarion goofily running off, everyone kinda agreeing to go party after this, no other conversations with anyone again.... is just... it?

Idk how much of this is the lack of romance, but I really felt like something was missing there. I at least wanted to talk to everyone again one last time.

This is a post about my romance failures and regrets so I'm not gonna talk about everything else that I loved about the game, but just in case this is getting a bit too negative: I had an absolute blast with the whole game regardless, I'm stoked to give it another go the "proper" way (i.e. with romance). I also generally think it's really fucking cool that this game's romance options depend on how you behave, and that you can't just e.g. give someone the right kind of gift 20 times in a row to make them love you, like it works in games like Stardew Valley.

Next Playthrough Plans

I'll probably wait for another patch or two - considering how much got fixed and tweaked with the first three patches, I suppose it's worth to wait a bit and see what's coming

I'll play with the Poly mod next time and try to romance all of the Origin characters.

I plan to play with the camp notifications mod, as well as the approval ratings in dialogue mod. Both in hopes of being able to game the romance a bit better and get much of the romance in one playthrough

I'll play Dark Urge (haven't seen any of that so far!), but probably still go for a "good" playthrough mostly

I plan on equipping & levelling all Origin companions and switch them out more freely, in order to get approval from everyone and edit my party as makes sense depending on story events (e.g. take Lae'Zel to the Creche, take Gale to the Ketheric fight...)

I want to romance everyone. I already saw some tips for early game Astarion approval and assume the aforementioned mods will help in optimizing this

Am probably not gonna do anything all that differently otherwise because my heart can't take an actually evil playthrough

Aand that's about it. As mentioned, I'm mostly posting in case this helps anyone else.

I was really damn sad when I realized I had locked myself out of all romance, because the romance was a significant part of my motivation to start playing this in the first place. At the same time, I loved so much about the game that I still got a lot out of it in 110+ hours even with minimal romance content.

If you see any red flags about my plans for the next playthrough (or if you have experience with the mentioned mods!), I'd appreciate comments and insights. Other than that, here's hoping others can learn from my mistakes. Thank you for reading <3

[natashasfilms]

Chapter Six - Local

Summary: FBI agent Leila faces a profound life change after giving birth to a baby girl, supported by her loving husband. Despite the challenges of motherhood, Leila returns to her role as a dedicated agent a few months later, ready to confront gruesome and haunting cases with the BAU team.

Pairing: BAU!Fem!OC x Male!OC , EVENTUAL Aaron Hotchner x BAU!Fem!OC (Like much later)

Warnings: This story contains mature themes such as sexual content, strong language, violence, mentions of alcohol and drugs, blood, gore, and death. All the usual Criminal Minds stuff. And there is NO CHEATING.

Note 1: I imagine Leila Kade as South Asian but I have decided to let you, the reader, imagine her appearance, hence the reason why I have not given her a face claim. However, her race does not affect the story, whatsoever. You, as the reader, are free to imagine her however you want. If you don't see her as South Asian, then that's fine. It won't affect the storyline. I also imagine the OC!Male as South Asian, but again, it won't affect the storyline.

Note 2: The team will consist of the main cast (Emily, Derek, JJ, Spencer, Penelope, Aaron, and Rossi) but will also include Elle Greenaway and Jason Gideon because they were some of my favorite characters and I wanted to include them with the rest of the team. Basically, Elle and Gideon never leave when Emily and Rossi join.

Note 3: There will be multiple time skips throughout this series. For example, the first chapter will begin on the first season and episode of the show but then there will be a time skip to later episodes (because there are obviously way too many episodes to write this series on and I wanted to include specific episodes that would help the plot of this story). This means that this series will be a slow burn romance but I believe it to be better this way. This will also stray from the actual show a lot, so don't expect it to follow the plot precisely.

Series Masterlist

Original Chapter

"It sounds like a big one." Leila remarked, watching her husband pack his bag for work. "Have there been any more updates on the murders?"

Zaid zipped his bag and grabbed the file on the bed, quickly scanning its contents to ensure everything was in order. "Just that there have already been four murders. They're probably going to call in the FBI soon."

Leila nodded in agreement and then flashed him a smile. "Well, make sure to call me in."

He mirrored her smile and leaned down, planting a lingering kiss on her lips before breaking away. "Who else would I call, honey?"

A phone on the nightstand began to ring, and Leila swiftly grabbed it. Glancing at the Caller ID, she smirked and directed her gaze back to Zaid. "Agent Kade." She answered, listening intently to the voice on the other end. "Okay, just tell the team to meet me there."

"Guess I didn't have to call you after all." Zaid chuckled, taking hold of Leila's hand to help her stand up. His hands slid to her waist, drawing her closer. "Let's go to work, baby."

Leila and Zaid left the house, ensuring Jasmine was in capable hands with Grace, and drove to the local police department where Zaid worked. Leila had informed JJ, who had called her earlier, that she would meet the team there instead of at the BAU. It was more convenient to accompany Zaid, and they would conduct their briefing once everyone had gathered at the police department since it was a local case.

Entering the station, the couple was greeted by Zaid’s partner, Michael Ramirez. He extended his hand to Leila. “Good morning, Zaid, Leila. Your team should be joining us shortly. Thank you all for coming.”

Leila responded with a warm smile and a nod. “Of course, we’re here to assist in any way we can. Thank you for reaching out to us.”

Michael couldn’t help but smirk, his eyes shifting playfully to Zaid. “Well, we didn’t have much of a choice. Someone here was quite insistent that your team was the only option.”

Zaid rolled his eyes at the remark but couldn’t hide a faint smile. His grip on Leila’s hand tightened, reluctant to let her go.

Leila playfully glanced at her husband, her tone teasing. "Oh, really? That's a first." She quipped with a hint of sarcasm.

“What’s a first?” A voice asked, causing the three to turn towards the voice. They were met with Leila’s team, the voice coming from Spencer.

Zaid cleared his throat, glaring at Michael. “Nothing. Thanks for coming guys. Let’s get started.”

Suppressing a giggle, Leila followed Zaid, their hands still entwined, and entered an unoccupied office where they would conduct the case briefing.

JJ handed a file to Leila, who offered a quick thanks before perusing the documents. "So, what do we know so far?" Leila inquired, her brow furrowing as she examined the photographs of the four victims.

JJ took the lead, summarizing the case for Leila since she wasn’t in the briefing with them. "We have a string of homicides here in D.C., all within a short timeframe. Four victims so far, each found brutally murdered in their homes."

Derek added. "The thing is that all of them are prominent individuals, well-known in their fields. We've got a lawyer, a doctor, a professor, and a journalist. High-profile targets."

Elle interjected, "And there's a connection between them. They were all involved in some controversial cases or investigations in the past. Nothing obvious links them, though."

Zaid provided his perspective. "Our local intel indicates there might be a vigilante group involved, possibly targeting these individuals for their perceived injustices."

Michael chimed in, scratching the back of his neck. "We've got no murder weapon though. These scenes are clean, too clean for such brutal killings. It's like the killer wanted us to find these victims."

Leila, her mind racing, summed it up. "So, we're looking at a calculated, methodical killer or group of killers, possibly with a vendetta against those they perceive as corrupt or guilty.”

"The first murder occurred last Monday, and now it’s Friday of the next week. He’s escalating quickly, and we need to figure this out before he kills again." Gideon stated urgently.

Maintaining his usual stern gaze and crossed arms, Aaron nodded in agreement. "Right, we should get started. Reid, Morgan, I want you to go to the coroner's office and check the victims."

"Michael and I were actually going to check out the latest victim's house if anyone wants to come along." Zaid added

Aaron gave an approving nod. "That’s perfect. Leila, Elle, you two join Zaid and Detective Ramirez."

After Aaron delegated tasks to the team, Leila, Zaid, Elle, and Michael left the station and headed to the most recent victim’s house. Upon arrival, they offered their condolences to the victim’s family before embarking on a thorough search of the house, hoping to uncover any potential clues that might have been overlooked.

The four began to search the victim's room, noticing the journalist's computer on her desk. Leila reached for the computer and started it up, pondering the mystery that surrounded the killer's knowledge.

"How did this psycho even find out about all of the victims' pasts?" Elle wondered aloud, scanning the room for any clues. "Garcia had to dig through encrypted files of the cases they were involved in. They were all sealed shut."

Michael raised an eyebrow, considering the implications. "Yeah, but why were all of the victims' crimes sealed shut? They went on to do big things. Maybe the guy knows them from somewhere, and all the victims are related."

Zaid, who had been inspecting the room for any hidden notes or clues, chimed in. "If that's the case, it's like he's holding them accountable for something they did in the past. But we need to know how he's connected to them."

Leila agreed, her eyes fixed on the computer screen as it booted up. "Whatever the motive is, it's deeply personal. Let's see if we can find any leads on this computer. Garcia might be able to decrypt any relevant files."

As Elle and Michael waited by the computer, Leila and Zaid continued to search the room. Michael had his arms crossed and glanced at Elle, smirking. "Say, uh, how long have you been with the BAU? Don't think I've seen you around before."

Elle side-glanced him before looking back at the computer. "It's only been a few months. I'm still pretty new, I guess."

Leila couldn't resist adding a playful comment. "Oh, don't let her modesty fool you, Michael. She's already a rising star. She had the highest number of solved cases in her specialty back in Seattle before joining the BAU."

Michael raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Wow, that's quite the track record.”

Elle gave Leila a wide-eyed look, before turning her head back. “I suppose so.”

Michael and Elle's playful banter continued, with Michael attempting to flirt in a lighthearted manner, and Elle being a little tough on him.

Michael grinned mischievously, leaning in closer to Elle as they waited for the computer to load. "So, Elle, you never told me what your secret to solving all those cases was. I bet it's something impressive."

Elle smirked, pretending to ponder his question for a moment. "Well, Detective Ramirez, it's all about having a sixth sense when it comes to catching the bad guys."

Michael chuckled. "A sixth sense, huh? I knew there was something special about you."

Elle raised an eyebrow and flashed a sly grin. "Well, Detective, I'd hate to disappoint, but my secrets are closely guarded. Can't be revealing all my tricks on the first case together."

Michael laughed, enjoying their banter. "Fair enough, Agent Greenaway. I guess I'll have to keep trying to crack the case of the elusive Elle Greenaway."

Elle couldn't help but laugh too. "Good luck with that, Ramirez. You're going to need it."

Leila exchanged a knowing glance with Zaid, both of them silently acknowledging Michael's flirtatious nature. While Michael had a reputation for being quite flirty with the women, Leila trusted him completely. She observed his playful interaction with Elle and couldn't help but think that they might make a great pair. However, she had no intentions of pressuring Elle into anything. She believed in letting things happen naturally and respecting her friend’s choices.

The computer finally turned on and Leila called Penelope to surf through the contents to check if there was anything valuable on it. After the call, they searched the house a bit more, but found nothing that could be possibly linked to all the other murders or the unsub.

Penelope called back, most likely about to give information she must have found on the computer. “Hey, Pen. Go ahead.” Leila spoke.

"Right, my lovelies. So I didn't find anything totally riveting on this computer, but there's a strange amount of cat videos, memes from the early 2000s, and a surprisingly detailed recipe for chicken pot pie." Penelope's voice crackled through the speaker, her usual eccentric self shining brightly even in the midst of a serious case. Zaid and Michael exchanged puzzled glances, while Leila and Elle just shrugged. “But I managed to decrypt a sealed folder! Inside, I found a series of encrypted emails that our journalist victim exchanged with an anonymous sender. It seems like they were getting information on various high-profile individuals and cases. This could be our link to the unsub."

Leila’s eyes widened, impressed with Penelope's quick progress. "Pen, you're amazing! Can you trace the origin of those emails? We need to know who our journalist was communicating with."

Penelope didn't miss a beat. "Already on it! Give me a few more minutes."

"We should head back to the station and share this information with the others." Elle suggested, prompting the team to leave the victim's house after a fruitless conversation with the family. Their earlier discussion had yielded no relevant information for the case.

Having thoroughly discussed their findings as a team, they reached a point where they could present a detailed profile. Gathering all the authorities from the police station, including Zaid and Michael, they shared their insights about the unsub.

Aaron began. "Based on the information we've gathered so far, our unsub appears to be a highly intelligent individual with a deep knowledge of the victims' pasts. The fact that they were able to access sealed records suggests either a background in law enforcement or a close connection to someone with such access."

Gideon continued. "The victims all had their past crimes concealed, indicating a possible vigilante motive. It's likely that the unsub sees themselves as a judge, jury, and executioner, targeting those they perceive as corrupt or guilty."

Spencer chimed in. "The escalation in the murders suggests an increasing need for control and power. This could indicate a need for recognition or a desire to send a message."

"We should also consider the possibility of a copycat or an accomplice who may have a personal connection to the victims." Derek added.

Standing beside Derek, Leila continued. "Our unsub is likely male, displaying a high degree of intelligence and a methodical approach. He possesses a deep understanding of the victims' pasts, possibly owing to a background in law enforcement or access to sealed records."

Elle added on. "Our primary objective is to unearth potential connections between the victims and identify the unsub's underlying motive. We anticipate that he will continue targeting individuals he perceives as corrupt."

JJ concluded with conviction. "Stay vigilant, and if any of you come across information or leads, please report them immediately. Do not go up to him or else it’ll only trigger him into killing."

Everyone went their separate ways, while Zaid walked up to Leila. “Aren’t you a smart little thing?”

Leila rolled her eyes, playfully shoving him. “Shut up. We’re at work.”

He chuckled but agreed, knowing there was a time and place for that. “You’re right. I think we’re doing a great job, though. We’ll find that bastard in no time.”

A few tense hours later, the team received a lead that brought them to the unsub's location. They arrived outside his residence, their collective determination etched onto their faces. It became apparent that the unsub had taken a victim hostage, her life hanging in the balance.

With bulletproof vests secured and guns at the ready, they prepared to enter the house. After ensuring it was safe, Derek forcefully kicked down the door, and they swiftly began their search of the premises. A shout came from the basement, prompting them to rush downstairs. There, they confronted the unsub, who was holding a terrified woman hostage, a gun pressed against her temple.

"Come any closer, and I will shoot her." The unsub barked, his eyes filled with anger as he glared at their team. Zaid stood firmly by Leila's side, his gaze locked onto the unsub.

"Evan, please, just let her go." Leila urged, her voice filled with empathy as she tried to calm the desperate unsub, Evan George. "We don't want to hurt you. Just put the gun down, and we can talk about this."

Evan glared at her, shaking his head vehemently. "No, you don't understand what she's done."

Elle stepped forward, drawing Evan's attention away from Leila and onto herself. "Evan." She said calmly. "We do understand. We know what she did, and we know about the others."

Evan George, the man who had become their prime suspect, had a deeply personal vendetta driving his crimes. As the team gathered more information about him, they discovered that Evan had experienced a harrowing tragedy of his own. Several years ago, Evan's family had fallen victim to a corrupt and influential individual who had evaded the justice system, escaping punishment for a heinous crime.

In Evan's eyes, this individual represented everything that was wrong with the legal system. Fueled by his grief and anger, Evan had devoted his life to seeking justice for his family. He believed that the victims, the ones he had targeted, were complicit in enabling the corrupt individuals to escape their rightful punishment.

Each victim had a connection, either directly or indirectly, to the man who had wronged Evan's family. Some had been directly involved in the case, while others had shielded the culprits from prosecution through manipulation or bribery.

Evan had meticulously planned his acts of vengeance, ensuring that each victim would face their own moment of reckoning. He saw himself as a self-appointed avenger, determined to ensure that those who had eluded the grasp of justice would no longer be able to hurt others.

Now, as the team confronted Evan, they knew that they had to diffuse the situation carefully, not just to save the hostage but also to understand the depths of Evan's pain and desperation that had led him down this dark path.

Evan’s eyes darted from person to person, and Leila could sense his growing agitation and frustration. It was clear that he was on the brink of a violent outburst, and they had to intervene before he did something irreversible, endangering both the hostage and himself.

“Evan, please.” Elle urged, her voice stern as the unsub aimed the gun in her direction. The tension in the room was palpable as Evan shouted, demanding them all to silence.

Then, unexpectedly, Evan released his grip on the woman's arm and firmly grasped the gun with both hands. Panic coursed through the room as the hostage seized the opportunity to escape. At the same moment, Evan pulled the trigger.

As Elle braced herself for the impact of the gunshot, another shot echoed through the basement. However, she soon realized that she hadn't been hit. Instead, someone had taken a bullet meant for her. Her heart raced as she crouched down to find Michael clutching his abdomen.

Aaron had fired the shot that struck Evan, killing him instantly. Leila and Zaid rushed over to check on their wounded friend, their eyes wide with shock.

Michael groaned in pain but managed to raise a reassuring hand. “I’m okay. It hit the vest. Don’t worry, guys.”

Leila let out a sigh of relief, her shoulders slumping as the tension in the room finally began to dissipate. Elle, still trembling from the adrenaline rush, shook her head and rubbed her face, trying to process the intense situation they had just experienced. Zaid, with a wry smile, simply rolled his eyes, knowing that Michael had a penchant for theatrics even in the most harrowing of moments.

"What kind of bulletproof vests are these if they're just going to cause bruising, anyway?" Michael scoffed, holding an ice pack to his now shirtless abdomen. He winced as he pressed it against the sore spot. "You'll get injured either way."

Elle, still visibly shaken, muttered as she sat beside him at the back of the ambulance, "That was really stupid. Who just jumps in front of people like that? I mean, were you even thinking?"

Michael flashed a mischievous grin and locked eyes with Elle. "I was only thinking about how I had to protect the pretty lady beside me or else I wouldn't forgive myself if something were to happen to her."

Leila observed the two from afar, grinning to herself. She crossed her arms as she felt a presence next to her. “Those two look cozy.” Derek said.

She turned to look at him, before her gaze fell back onto Elle and Michael. “They’re cute.”

Derek chuckled, leaning in closer. “He’s been flirting with her since we got here.”

Leila chuckled, shaking her head. "That's Michael for you. He's kind of like you, Derek, always flirting with the ladies."

Derek raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Well, you know, it's all in good fun. Keeps things interesting."

Leila playfully rolled her eyes. "As long as you don't cross any lines, we'll let you keep your 'ladies' man' reputation."

Derek chuckled and teased, "My 'ladies' man' reputation, huh? Is the Leila Kade suggesting I'm a little naughty?"

Leila smirked, winking at him. "Lucky for you, I like my men naughty." With that, she walked away, leaving Derek momentarily stunned. However, he soon realized Zaid was there, witnessing the exchange and laughing.

"She's not wrong." Zaid quipped, his amusement evident as Derek blushed in embarrassment.

[drunktuesdays]

..... please explain syracuse? pretty pretty please???

i shouldn't answer this because i've gotten a few really good juicy asks lately, including a fun one about some song lyrics, and one about the shameless au, and I WILL be answering them when i have half a brain again. i'm SO tired and worn out that my brain feels like a stupid noodle lately.

but i will tell you about syracuse, which is the joint property of myself and @longnationalnightmare. it's a sprawling au which we have discussed 10000000 times and each time it's slightly different and stings in a slightly different way. immersing yourself in syracuse is the most perfect example of cheesegratering. you should only do it when you wanna hurt your own feelings and then cry about it for fifteen years.

lea, get to the point I'M TRYING MY BRAIN IS BROKE.

okay so generally the syracuse imagine goes like this--the fic opens on the most miserable dustin you've ever imagined. please imagine a miserable dustin and make him 8 times more miserable. he's sleeping on the living room couch, and drinking too much and he's as angry as a bear. you, the reader, have no idea what the fuck he's angry about. he goes to tv, and he's an awful angry bear to greg who is visibly trying to stay cool and not raise to the bait. someone they know but who's not part of their circle comes by and says cheerfully, "where's jim?" and dustin borderline attacks them, and greg has to intervene. greg's really convinced dustin's gonna get fired and he's not in a place in his life where he can break in a new tag partner. dustin growls something shitty and stalks back to the hotel.

misery stew. misery stew!! the MOST misery stew montage interlude anyone's ever experienced!! you, the reader still do not understand! you don't know! you're not being told!!

dustin goes back to philly. he lets himself into the apartment (miserably), putters around a little bit. opens the mail, tosses most of it. throws out the takeout that's gone bad in the fridge. then he grabs his bag and brings it upstairs, and as he's passing one closed door on the left, he pauses for one (miserable) second. then, all at once, he opens the door, and steps in. it's a clean, empty bedroom. there's nothing in it except a bed on a bare bed frame in the corner. it's' just a bare mattress. on the mattress is a note. dustin doesn't look surprised to see it, he's seen it before. he just stares at it blankly. it says "take care of yourself. please don't dustin about this. -jim"

then dustin stalks out, slamming the door behind him and goes to play 9 hours of resident evil while drinking whiskey, first from a glass, and eventually just from the bottle.

the fic then goes on--obviously, like all great imagines, the middle part is pretty hazy. longnationalnightmare and i love to kind of skip over the beginning and the end. but it's a work-backwards story--dustin becomes convinced that jim had to have had a conversation with someone and that's what set him off. that's what made it leave. people don't just get up and leave one day. something had to have happened.

so then he's haunting all of he and jim's places, talking to he and jim's friends. talking to people at tv. getting so frustrated that he wants to scream.

and during this time he does work it out. and the answer is that of course it was dustin that happened. dustin set him off. jim got sick of wanting dustin and waiting for dustin and somehow, he came to dustin and said "aren't you tired yet?" and dustin pretended he didn't know what jim meant and laughed it off and that's when jim decided to leave. it didn't happen overnight or even right away, but that was the first time jim thought "i gotta have some fucking self respect."

so then you have a montage of dustin dealing with THAT, and ARGUING with himself and with an imaginary jim and trying to fight it out and what he keeps coming back to is--he should be having this fight with jim. jim should have had it OUT with him. jim fucking LEFT? jim just LEFT? that's not what they do! that's not how they WORK. if jim had a PROBLEM with something dustin was doing, it's literally his fucking responsibility to fight with dustin about it.

so he manages to get jim's address from someone. he borderline has to bully it out of whoever it is--bryce or someone. jim's moved to fucking SYRACUSE? almost in a fugue state, dustin gets into his car, and starts driving. he drives all the way from philly to syracuse. no radio. barely aware of the road. still having this FIGHT in his head with an imaginary jim. honing his points. extremely angry and feeling possessed.

and then he roars into town at some psycho hour. like 7am on a sunday or some shit. jim's house is kind of shitty, actually. like, it's fine, but it's pretty dated. there's a dumpster in the driveway, and a tarp with random pieces of rotted wood on the side of the house. dustin barely notices. he knocks on the door, and then starts pounding.

jim finally opens the door, and he's in a thin t-shirt and sleep pants and he's bleary eyed and fuzzy and he's like dustin? and dustin bullies his way into the house, and is like "you just fucking left? you left? your house looks like shit, by the way."

"i'm flipping it," jim says. "what are you doing here?"

"oh you're a flipper now?" dustin says. "is that your new personality now? you quit wrestling and move up to syracuse to be come a fucking weirdo house flipper? how do you even know what you're doing?"

"i worked in construction for eight years," jim says, bewildered. then, again, "what are you doing here?"

"we're gonna have it out," dustin says grimly. "you owe me that." and that's syracuse baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lulu-nightbon]

Appears from the ground, crawling on your until I get face to face

I heard Hollow Knight Wukong.

Explain.

SO

when brain rot originally sent out the post wanting to collab on an au a few weeks back, i suggested making a hollow knight au, and ive recently done more thinking about it i decided that wukong would be thk, as wukong does canonically get possessed in the show and. cmon. mothra lbd. do i even need to explain? she's the only vindictive bitch that would canonically fit the role of course, this means i may end up having to make whoever the fuck fills joni's role be orange but eh, whatever, i dont feel like orange-ifying lbd then i had a bit of trouble deciding who would be the knight, as mk is the main character of lmk, but macaque... well let's just say that it would make a LOT of sense if macaque was the emotionless chaos bastard we know and love. however, i ended up going with mk because of main character correlation and i also like the idea of a more bastardous mk in general- most of the mk content i see is him still being a wholesome good guy and while i enjoy the fluff GIVE ME THE LITTLE SHIT AUS. I WANNA SEE THE ONES WHERE MK'S THE BAD GUY, OR INSANE, OR JUST WANTS TO STIR UP TROUBLE, I NEED MORE OF THAT so, of course, if mk is the knight, the only role macaque could logically fill is hornet. half spider, half god. princess of the kingdom. not only do i get awooga mac titties, but mac's still sibling to wukong like this (as while i enjoy some good shadowpeach content, im fairly sure that the show's canon is going to have them as brothers). just, instead of being the only non-failed vessel, she DOES have emotions- a lot of them. and she wants to save her sibling, even though her first duty is to this dying kingdom as the only other one possessing royal blood, despite the queen still living in her garden. of course, this does present... some logistical difficulties. it means that, as it stands, whoever is the pale king fathered mac, wukong, mk, and all the other vessels (including whoever ends up being the broken vessel), the white lady mothered all of those people except for mac, who was mothered by herrah the beast (im leaning towards spider queen for her, but im not too sure yet). it also presents difficulties for silksong's canon to this au buuuuuuuuuut we'll cross that bridge when we get there i don't really have much else figured out, rn im using hollow knight as bone broth and throwing in lmk as veggies to make stew and the meat, which runs the show, is made up of crack because lord knows that's what happened to the fandom when trying to draw interactions between those three (ie ghost committing shade skip to reach the cookie jar, hollow becoming a christmas tree, and hornet being the one that has to keep these two idiots in line), but i will figure out more! ... eventually im more than willing to accept help on placing people because brain does not want to think hard yet

[fordarkisthesuede]

I got tagged by @fractualized - and I had to think about this for a while. Sorry for the delay, frac'! I pretty much felt like this all week (lol):

GIF by lostwithoutmyboswell

Ok, so we're gonna start from #5, because I decided to rate these like a loon:

#5:

Birth. Starting off on the disk horse topic of HP fanfic. Listen, regardless of how I feel about the series now (which is messy, to say the least), there's one thing I still can't help but love about it...and it's not only tiny, but half of the reasoning behind it is of my own making. It's Peeves the Poltergeist. I LOVE Peeves. He's my favorite character type - short, temperamental, powerful, 90% humor and fun, inhuman, and neither a Good nor Bad guy. I rarely used to read HP fic back in the day, but I noticed that for such a big fandom, he never had much to his name. (And what I did find was...disappointing for me.) I reread the series in 2015 for the first time in a while and did some Deep Thinking about him. What his limits are. How he's presented. Where he even came from. The bare scraps of canon and Word of God (distasteful) material pushed my buzzing brain to write about him, and eventually churned out this little origin story. I wrote several one-shots surrounding him, but this is my favorite of the bunch. In my eyes, it's simple, short, and effective in storytelling. So I like it. (^_^)

#4:

The Whole Nine Yards. Yes, my current WIP is on the favorite list. It started off as a sex-romp list, because I had too many positions and kinks I wanted John and Bruce to try. It first grew into showing Bruce/John as a couple at home, because my main fics in the Perseverance Project series don't get to show them being all lovey-dovey as much as I'd like. Then I added a few dashes of angst for character building. Then it evolved into including what AtBoM skipped over (for various reasons) - visits at Arkham showing their [growing] love and trust rebuild post-S2, and showing different sides to them.

So what we have now is: "Two guys in love met in an asylum 2.5 years ago, and less than one year after they first met, one keeps coming to visit the other. The visits' subjects are then related to current day, where they finally live together like a real couple, with all it's ups and downs, and sexy results". It's a mouthful, I know. ;D But I think it works!

It's great to explore all these things and essentially back-track a bit versus rewrite any part of AtBoM. Plus, I get to mumble about something that always interests me in this 'verse: Bruce's relationship with his parents. To go from loving them and putting them and their deaths on a pedestal to look to for inspiration to keep going on being Batman, to learning they were the biggest criminals in the city and a key reason while he's even having to be Batman... That's gotta affect how he looks at things. Like, I mentioned Bruce's dislike of his house in AtBoM and TToJ, but here it's full-force. It was a mausoleum for their memory and now it's just a means to an end. He doesn't consider it home, or even rightfully his. But John living there with him makes it a home. Their home. :')

Also, I feel like I'm playing a decorating game and a dress up game with it! Kind of like The Sims, I guess. xD John's room and summer wardrobe are fun to craft as I go. (Don't worry, you'll get to see John's classic outfit at the end. For...reasons.) Plus, soon* you'll see Bruce's bedroom revamped!

#3:

A Ghost Too Far. Disk Horse, part two. Peeves is the one thing I still wistfully sigh over and go "ah, what could have been"...all while knowing that I took the bones of my blorbo and crafted him a full body myself. It's been 7 years since I started writing this particular story, and it clocks in over 230K words. As things are now, I have no idea if I'll ever actually finish it, for a myriad of reasons. So to make a long story short (HA!):

Out of the hundreds of thousands of HP fanfics, and the handful that had Peeves as a character, I found Peeves had no proper big epic romance story of his own and decided to make him one, combining it with one big exploratory setting of How He Is, all set in 2003/2004. His destined romantic partner is an American witch (queue eyeroll), acting as a one-year-only DatDA teacher (queue harder eyeroll), who I can describe in modern** terms as a gender-non-conforming adult punk who is absolutely fascinated with ghosts. She makes it a point to study the castle ghosts, especially Peeves, as poltergeists are super rare and physical ones are apparently unheard of outside of him. She makes a deal with Peeves that he can break just about anything she owns and annoy her all he wants, in exchange for information on how he works. Which I worked out via the aforementioned HP reread and lots of Deep Thinking as literally by feeding off of (aka absorbing) magic from humans, like his "relatives" the Dementor and Boggart. Unlike them, he primarily eats high energy feelings of "anger" "sadness" and "excitement", because he was created in a castle with children who can have powerful feelings of all three very easily. Is this theory of mine presented in canon? Who fucking cares anymore, the author's dead in all senses but literal.

It might not be finished, and it might never be, but writing out this monstrosity of a theory while getting a guy like Peeves to fall in and explore love for the first time holds a special place in my heart. Because not only does Peeves reside permanently in my brain (I'm pretty sure he's the Writing Gremlin who suggests those "this is what goes painfully wrong" scenarios), but so does Dandrane, who I hand-crafted to be Peevesy's romantic partner. I love her. I owe her. Her favorite color is hot pink; because of her, I have gotten over my old feud with the color pink. I wrote her to be 30 while I was then 24; after a while, nearing/turning 30 no longer bothered me. I wrote her to be cool, confident, and a little horrible. Because we all have that bitchy little voice in our head sometimes... The desire to break something without consequences... The need to have our anger recognized rather than ignored or attempted to be placated... Dandrane is a wonderful vessel for these feelings, even after all this time.

She's my cool girl. My tall bean. My silly little flamingo. I want to put her in an enriched enclosure and watch her with a set of binoculars.

#2:

At the Brink of Midnight. My most popular fic is second-place in my heart, at this current hour. (Ha!) For reasons I'm sure you long-time readers already guessed, that I have mentioned time and again in it's author notes: this fic was FUN to make!!!

The Halloween setting! The fresh takes on Scarecrow and Poison Ivy! John recreating Joker! Bruce rescuing John! Bruce finally hugging John! THE CONFESSION SCENE! A rave scene in a graveyard!!! Batman and Joker teaming up to kick ass!!!!!

It's! So! Great!!! It's not too long, but still a big novel-length! Easy to read and get lost in! It presents an original character who carries the possibility of redemption! It hits all those story beats I craved to see for a Season 3! Hell, even now I'd be hard pressed not to expect to see Dr. Crane in any potential sequel we'd get IRL!

Are there things I'd change? Sure. But nothing major. I'm still happy with it, even 4 years later. Maybe part of my love for it is also a desire to be able to pump out 110K words within a few months again...

#1:

The Tolls of Justice!

Is it my most popular fic? Nah, it's #2. But it's my #1. The king of my heart. It took 2-and-a-half years to finish, in no small part because 2020 was a bitch. And despite the frustration at writer's block, despite the silly errors that I still need to go back and fix, and despite the time it took...God, I LOVE it.

Whenever I reread part of it, I get sucked in and read more than I meant to. I know the majority of the little notes I made, but whenever I read one of the tarot hints I can't help but go ehe he he. I read John's breakdown in Arkham, and his transformation into what is his final form of vigilante!Joker, and I still tear up. I see the theme of a writer playing God, of having a defined inescapable ending but proving that choices still matter, and just sit with it in utter delight.

I have many favorite moments: Tiffany and John's day out, the entirety of the Wayne Gala, John and Iman's investigation at the theater, Batman's descent into the Court of Owls' secret lair with Robin... But I have a favorite bit. It's the kind of thing I giggle over while kicking my legs in my seat.

So in Chapter 12, Batman and Joker are having a few moments together before the Big Battle in the high tier of seats above the main floor/"stage area", able to watch the Court of Owls' mock-trial below. In theaters, the highest tier is sometimes known as "the gods" seats.

As my version of the CoO has their whole thing built on "our God wrote down our destiny exactly and the Evil God keeps causing chaos to interfere", and considering the DC multiverses and that Batman and Joker are constantly in them, and as Bats and Jokes are generally simplified as "Order and Chaos"... They're figuratively 'gods' in "the gods" seats watching the show below. ౧(*മ് ധമ്)੭ु⁾⁾

As for WIPs, I only have 2 at the moment. I use OneNote to write all my ideas for it (when I'm actually writing them down):

As you can see, I have sections for The Whole Nine Yards (abbreviated "W9Y" in notes only) and the untitled "BtTTS S5" below. (The "After Hours" is just IRL work notes, when I had to use my personal PC for work in 2020, and "Noir "is literally a list of film noir movies I'm keen to watch. I've been really into them lately!)

Right now S5's notepad only has 2 sections - the Thinkbox and "J Tech". The Thinkbox pages are pretty much the brainstorm dumping ground...but TWNY's is actually laid out rather nicely, like this. I'd post a screenshot, but then this post would...uh, turn nsfw... (; ' o' )

Right now, the only WIP word docs are here, in my "BtTTS - The Perseverance Project" folder:

As for tagging...hm. Um... Since it was frac' who tagged me... I choose @distort-opia, if they're so inclined! (And anyone else who wants to!) Edit: I am a fool who does not reread properly. 😭 Sorry hun, you already did it! So field's wide open!!!

*at the time of this posting, TWNY Chapter 7 is still in progress. It's 2/3rds of the way done! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

**at the time of writing the story in question, the term "gender non-conforming" was not known about as widely as it is now; basically, I knew what it was without knowing what it was called.

[sophieinwonderland]

how should i start off with making a tulpa? (first time)

That question is going to depend a lot on what type of tulpa you want. There are a lot of different techniques out there, and making a fictive with a solid template will use a different method than making a tulpa from a seed.

Do a lot of research and get different perspectives because what works for one person may not work for another.

Tulpas.info has a lot of guides to check out. You can find them here:

Read several of them if you can.

For us, what worked was starting with NPCs. When we started interacting with Abby and Almond, they were about 90% autonomous, and we needed to parrot a bit to fill in the blanks.

Within a few weeks of only occasional interaction, they were operating completely autonomously. Shortly after that, Abby developed self-awareness in spite of me actively trying to prevent that from happening.

If you were to use the NPC route instead of growing a tulpa from a seed, the development path should roughly be as follows:

Stage 0, pre-existence: create an inner world NPC with very defined characteristics and inner world memories that make up their identity. You should be able to run mental simulations relatively easily to test their performance. Don't include yourself in these first tests and have them interact with other NPCs instead. Each test should be with a different instance of the character to prevent accumulation of autobiographical memories.

Stage 1, semi autonomy: let this be your first interaction with the proto-tulpa. Introduce yourself in the Wonderland. Their responses should usually come naturally, but you may need to use some executive control occasionally. Try to do this as minimally as possible. Be sure to talk about past interactions in each session, reinforcing the proto-tulpa's experienced autobiographical memories and their sense of self.

Stage 2, autonomous but controllable: by now, the proto-tulpa has begun to act completely independently. You probably can still control it during this stage. Maybe if you say the wrong thing, you can rewind and pretend it never happened, for instance. Try to resist the urge to do this. You want to use executive control as little as possible. You want the brain to get so used to running this proto-tulpa without your involvement that it no longer answers to your will. Encourage them to make choices now that they can do so consistently. Let them decide where you go and what you do. Play games like Simon Says which gives them power over you.

Stage 3, autonomous and uncontrollable: during this stage, any attempt to exert influence will feel like you're facing resistance from them. Even if you can control them in some cases, that control is tenuous and feels like an uphill battle. Contine what you were doing in the previous stages to reinforce both their autonomy and ability to resist control.

Stage 4, awakening: Abby eventually got to a point where we heard her voice intrude in our thoughts when not interacting with her in the Wonderland. We ignored it because, again, I didn't actually want her to be a tulpa. However, if you're trying to make a tulpa and this happens, you obviously want to respond. This may happen before stage 3. If so, take it as a good sign that you just skipped ahead. If they don't arrive at stage 4 on their own, we intentionally woke Almond and it worked just as well.

This isn't the most common way of making tulpas but it's what worked for us. You can use this, use a more traditional method, or find something entirely different that works just for you. Hope that helps, and good luck! 😁💖

[missspringthyme]

February 8th, 2024

So before I explain today, I have to give a little context for last night. Due to not having a period in over a year, I missed the retrospectively obvious signs of what was about to happen and bled onto my sheets while I was blow drying my hair. Why was I blow drying my hair? Because I decided to make sure I showered before coming to my sister's because from what she's described, I'm not stepping foot in hers. This also meant that I didn't go to bed until past midnight even though I had an alarm set for 5am. Lovely.

Alarm goes off, I'm in hell. After a few too many snoozes, I get up and start to get ready. I've packed all my toiletries already, so I'm using my B list backup products. This includes a brand new tube of concealer that is allegedly the same shade as the one I've packed, but this is a lie. It looks clown white on my face. I decide that perhaps I could fix it with some bronzer, but I don't use it very often and the one I have in a palette I mostly use for my eyes. Now, I look like an orange. I try my best to fix what has gone wrong, but I look at my clock and see I'm running out of time. I drop third culture Australian's hairdryer in front of his door, skip breakfast, grab snacks and rush out the door. Google maps estimates that I will not get to the bus station by 7am, I still have to try.

I power walk through the cold, misty morning where the only signs of life are the bakeries. I press my feet into the ground again and again until my 30 minute walk becomes a 24 minute walk. I'm going to make it in just the nick of time. I get there and I wait and wait and wait before discovering the heist I've pulled off on myself. I put the time the bus leaves as 30 minutes earlier in my calendar so that I would get there on time. I only wish I had stopped to eat breakfast.

Bus ride is fine, I mostly sleep. Get off at Rotterdam to get my train to Utrecht and sit freezing for about an hour. I manage to get on an earlier train and sit next to a woman who smells like my grandma. Like a bathroom after someone's blowdryed their hair, a little perfumey. I haven't smelled that in a very long time and I think about it the entire train ride.

At the station I text my sister and tell her I arrived early. I lean against a railing near the turnstiles and wait for her to show up. I'm a little zoned out so she manages to scare me when she comes to say hello. She gives me options for lunch and we decide to find a restaurant in the city center because she never eats out and it's her birthday. We walk for a bit and pop into a store that I loved in Scotland. Inside, my sister finds one of those hats with a propeller on top and I take some pictures of her wearing it. She keeps saying she wants to go back and buy it. She also seems entranced by a geldautomaat that is just a yellow room filled with ATMs. She explains that it's because there's "no real banks here".

We find a little cafe that looks like it has good options, it's raining so we were looking for somewhere indoors but not too expensive. My sister doesn't like making decisions and she keeps telling me to do it for her because it's her birthday. She tries to order in dutch and doesnt do half bad, but eventually switches to english. I also find out she doesnt know what halloumi is, but we get fallafel pitas anyway, She does pay for my lunch, I'm guessing because she knows that I've not really had a ton of money because of the paying for family therapy thing, but I tell her that it's done. We talk about how and why that ended and about our family and speaking German and a bunch of other things.

We head back to go pick her bike up from the huge storage building. She's very excited to show me it, and she's talked about it repeatedly since moving here. The only empty spot we had found was a rack that was off the ground that seemed to be stuck, so I has helped her lift the bike up into it. Alas, when we retrieved the bike we discovered how to get it to slide out and down, you live and you learn

She has class today so we have to head to her campus quickly, and she offers for us to either take the tram or for me to ride on the back of her bike. I've never ridden on the back of a bike before so I go for that option. It's more difficult than I thought it would be (I was warned it was an ab work out but its actually my hip flexors that are burning), and I have to be careful with my legs because my sister keeps riding a little to close to the side of the road (she smacks me into a cone at one point). As she bikes, she point s out things we pass. Why this or that building is important or interesting, or the grocery stores that she likes best.

At her dorm, I drop off my stuff and meet the people she lives with before we go to pick up some flowers that are waiting for her at reception. The note says they're from my mom. Afterwards, she gives me a tour of her campus. I can see why she chose to go here, it suits her well, but it feels like a little bubble. Everyone here stays and lives on campus and everything she needs is a 5 minute walk away. Very American style. After she comes back from class we get ready to go out and eat dinner with a few of her friends. We go to a pizza place 15 minutes before the kitchen closes, but they still bring out a birthday tiramisu for her, which was incredibly delicious. We eat quickly and leave so that the restaurant can close. We stop and look and look at some tiles painted with chairs on the way back and I think of my insane AP lang and comp test that had the most batshit pieces of text i've ever read in my life including a long on essay on chairs and what they tell you about their owners.

Back on campus, my sister decided to take a running leap into a puddle and fell fully on her ass in the mud. Luckily, she was wearing her yellow raincoat, but her backside was still fully covered in mud. She decided the best course of action was to shower fully dressed in her concrete shower, but eventually I had to help her using the little hand held shower head. She was sad she couldn't wear her jeans anymore because she was counting on them to make a more basic top work, so I tried to help her find a different birthday outfit. Eventually she settled on something and her friends started arriving for the little get together she was having. She served chips and blue takis(?) And frantically washed cups and mugs so everyone would have a glass to drink out of. Their kitchen has a mouse so she doesn't trust any of the dishes in there.

They took photos and eventually everyone left to go to a reggaton night except for a few of her friends who brought out a cake covered in different photos of things that she likes/represent her. She thought for a moment and then blew out the candles, before begging everyone to please eat as much of the cake as they could. We then went to her campus bar, where we played some darts and danced. Initially my sister wasn't going to do this tradition where you stand on the bar and drink a cup full of shots while "its my birthday" plays in the background, but she caved and did it anyway. She also finally agreed to wear a paper party hat while we danced. Her friends kept trying to get her to dance with guy, but she was not having it. If she ever ends up dating anyone, I will be truly shocked.

We go to bed at 3 in the morning.

[d0enti]

I couldn’t find out if your requests are open or not, but if they are, could I request a scenario where Jax sees the reader abstract?

If not, that’s totally okay, but I find it to be an interesting idea

Digital circus—"Life is the art of dying"

➵Summary:Jax with Abstracted reader

➵Warning:abstraction(dead)

➵A/N:my request are open, and sure I completely agree with you that's idea is amazing

Jax and you became good friends after you joined the digital circus cast, unlike everyone you Didint mind his pranks you thought they were funny sometimes you even laugh when it was you who got pranked normally you would be sad but, you knew about abstraction and you wanted for Jax to Live and yourself included but if you had to chose one of you to live...it would be Jax he made you feel special but honestly who knew that the new person to abstract was going to be you after all you seemed happy you had a relationship with Jax and you never got pranked too hard, well maybe it wasn't you fault maybe it was someone's fault someone who just couldn't stop talking about the exit causing you to lose you mind... All of the cast met at the main part where Caine told them what's their new adventure though you weren't there, Jax got concerned but didn't show it assuming others would notice but they didn't so while everyone left to start the adventure Jax went towards your room, Jax knocked but you didn't answer

"Yo Dolly, are you alright?"

You didn't answer and Jax was worried so he took out the keys to open the doors to your room, Jax slowly opened the door only to be shocked by your abstracted form, Jax quickly close the doors and wanted to run to Caine to tell him or someone else but after remembering Kaufmo he couldn't... He couldn't let you get thrown out like that by Caine so he joined back to the crew hoping you stay in your room long enough for him to figure out something hopefully,

"Oh, Jax you here where were you?"

"I just went to check up on [Y/N]"

"are they alright...? They didn't abstract or something?"

"...no they didn't cry baby, why would they abstract after all I'm their partner they wouldn't leave me"

"Jax you seem upset?"

"I'm fine let's just get back to the adventure"

Everyone was looking around for whatever Caine put around the digital world while walking around Jax decided to ask Ragatha something

"Hey doll face do you think it's possible to bring someone back that was abstracted to normal?"

"hm? i'm not sure maybe yeah? Why are you asking Jax?"

"no reason"

"You're not asking me that just so you could prank us are you?"

"who knows maybe I am, anyway what are we looking for again?"

"some weird eggs with the letter C on it"

"Caine really is making sure to mark everything that his"

"...Jax what's up it seems like the question from earlier was important to you?"

"...do you promise not to tell anyone?"

"I promise"

"[Y/N] they...they abstracted"

"they did what...?"

"they abstracted and I'm trying to find out if there's a way to save them"

"Jax I don't think there's a way to save someone that is already abstract...I'm sorry to say that but, you should give up and let them go"

"but..."

"Jax I know [Y/N] since the day they got here I'm sure if they had to choose between them getting abstracted or you they would choose themselves"

"I guess you are the right doll face for the first time"

"Hey! You know what I'm not going to deal with you"

୨⎯ "Time skip" ⎯୧

After the adventure Jax and Ragatha tried to find Caine and they eventually did and told him what happened, Caine could see that Jax was especially upset but he had to do it and throw you in with the other abstract characters, after doing that Caine went to Jax and pat his shoulder

"Alright everyone tomorrow you guys can take a break, especially you Jax try to relax a little I figure it's hard for you to lose them but based on what I saw of them, they definitely don't want to see you be sad"

"Whatever you say Caine...I'm just going to go to my room"

୨⎯ "Headcanons" ⎯୧

I personally think his state after you abstract depends how long you both dated or were best friends the full scenario before this I put romantic but it can be platonic too.

If you dated for a few days or knew each other he would feel somewhat disappointed but not too upset he will still participate in the adventures just have a flash back while passing you room.

And if you dated or knew each other for a while then holy crap it changes a lot he probably started believing you won't leave him since you guys been dating or been best friends for a while so his coping with your abstraction is completely different.

He would probably not leave his room for a while he's just tired, tired about being in this place,tired about people he's getting close with leaving him behind, tired from the fact when there was someone he trusted and was weak around just gave up.

For a few days or adventures he would probably be a bit weaker and by that I mean not having energy to smile he's just getting used to the fact you aren't there to make him smile or he's hoping you return to make him smile again.

Jax probably didn't notice that but after you abstract he's normal excitement for dinner after the adventure just disappeared he didn't even eat and if he did it usually was something he never ate before the others found it sus but knew it's probably because he's just badly down from the fact you abstracted, Ragatha because of that feels bad she could just let him try to find a way to help but she didn't.

During the after adventure meal Jax would probably drink a lot more then eat others assume is because his avatar or the body he's in is a rabbit so him acting like one is normal.

I also feel like he tries his best to ignore your doors so he won't get more sad and break down.

Though After 2 or 3 months of coping with your abstraction he would change a lot, firstly he would chill down with his pranks he still pranks others but it's more about both sides having fun secondly he's certainly more kind he still might be mean but some habits don't die fast he would try to tell Ragatha it's not her fault you are gone, and even tell Pomni it's also definitely not her fault you started being desperate to find the exit too, technically it was her fault but who can blame you? If you were stuck in this place and there was more proof about a possible exit you might try to find it.

A silly headcanon(it's not silly) the reason you abstracted might be because you wanted to leave this place with Jax he probably figured out because of some papers he found in your room about escaping this place with him, and it made sense since you did ask him if he were to leave would he still be your partner/best friend.

[rawwkfingers]

The War Games

I have a lot of very conflicting feelings about this serial.

it follows the same pattern that a lot of the Classic Who serials have: very interesting initial episodes as they set up the mystery, a middle that feels needlessly dragged on, and then an ending that is either really good or really bad. In this case the ending was exceptionally good, and I really enjoyed the first like, three episodes as we figured out just what was going on.

But there was so much needless stuff thrown in to extend the episode run time. The serial could have ended with the Doctor's initial visit to the like, enemy headquarters and had a much tighter story but instead they added like, two entire episodes worth of trying to organize a revolution that doesn't matter when they're all just being sent back home anyways (and doing so would have skipped the insanely racist Mexican caricature)

The Time Lord stuff, however, was phenomenal. The first time we learn the name of the species, our first visit to Gallifrey (though oddly enough they never named it,) our first real explanation of who the Time Lords are and why the Doctor ran away from them, and I didn't know that the little cubes from The Doctor's Wife were a detail from the Classic era. I especially loved those first moments where they make their appearance really shows off the *power* they have, just instantly putting everything to right even as everyone tries to escape. It really sold that they were an almighty civilization

I know that the War Chief isn't considered to be a regeneration of the Master, but they look and act so much alike it's hard for me not to have seen this as a trial run of sorts for the character dynamic that the Master would eventually take over.

Zoe's departure was really sad for me, seeing her be forced to go back home and forget the Doctor (which has to especially traumatizing for her when she places so much of her identity on her flawless memory.) Jamie's, less so tbh. I never grew as fond of him, especially the way they continually had him back up any sexist comments men made towards Zoe

My ranking for the season is a little frustrating because I decided early on not to include any of the serials with missing episodes because I don't have all the info but I also really, really loved The Invasion (which is only missing two episodes) so it gets an honorary number slot

The War Games. My dislikes aside, the opening mystery and the huge lore reveals AND the Doctor being forced to except his consequences make this impossible not to be number one

The Seeds of Death. I'm loving the Ice Warriors more than I thought I would and the general plot was really believable and well done

The Mind Robber. The actual story is pretty weak, but it has such a cool concept

The Dominators. Not really a big fan of this one at all, but the Quarks are cute so thats why its not last place

The Krotons. Just an all around forgettable story with weird morals thrown in

[tehuti88-art]

8/26/23: r/SketchDaily theme, "Movie Week: Free Draw Finale." Well, I don't watch many movies, so couldn't think of any to draw, so decided to go off theme and draw one of my characters like I usually do for Free Draw Friday. (I feel guilty to skip a week as I plan to eventually draw them all.)

This week's character from my anthro WWII storyline is Noah Kirchheimer. He's not a major character, though does play a few important roles in the background, working for the resistance. He kind of has an attitude problem, though. There'll be more about him later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se.

Regarding his design, he should look a bit angrier rather than perplexed.

TUMBLR EDIT: There's quite a bit about Noah's role in the story in his cousin Johanna Wolfstein's entry. So I recommend looking at that. I don't really know his background yet except that something occurred to make him quite angry, bitter, and distrustful, as well as so overly protective of the much softer-hearted Johanna that Otto Himmel mistakes the two for husband and wife. There's nothing inappropriate between them, just that in the absence of Johanna's brother Jakob, Noah takes on a protective brother role and tries (a bit too hard at times) to keep her safe.

Noah and Jakob Wolfstein can easily be compared to Josef Diamant and Tobias Schäfer on the canine side of the story. While Wolfstein and Schäfer remain kind and moderate despite their awful experiences (both of them were incarcerated in labor camps, with Wolfstein being experimented on and tortured in Project Doomsday, while Schäfer was literally purchased for the price of a tapestry before he could be executed), and still try to believe in the goodness inherent in most people, Diamant and Noah go in the other direction, becoming angrier, more distrusting, and more militant. Although Diamant attempts to minimize civilian casualties as the leader of a resistance movement that often engages in bombings and attempted assassinations (the SS declares them a terrorist group), there are times when innocent people get killed anyway, and Diamant himself often engages in morally murky behavior including torture. He, too, was imprisoned in a camp, where he was deliberately targeted by the commandant, Ernst Dannecker, who subjected him to frequent physical and psychological torture (there's an instance of a sort of sexual abuse as well, though Dannecker uses a proxy for this) which left him badly traumatized and partly crippled in one hand; ironically, Diamant ends up taking on so many of Dannecker's personality characteristics, including his unnerving smile and his fondness for Russian roulette as an intimidation tactic, that Schäfer (who'd been in the same camp, yet at a different time) describes him as having "sold half his soul to the Devil," the Devil being Dannecker's nickname (der Teufel). In effect, Schäfer is saying that Diamant has partly become his own enemy and tormentor, Dannecker. And in some ways it rings true, the only real difference in Dannecker's and Diamant's actions at times is that they're on opposite sides. (Both Dannecker, if he were still alive (Diamant murdered him), and Diamant would vehemently deny this, which kind of proves Schäfer's point.)

Which brings us to Noah. Noah's attitude is described quite well in Johanna's entry; even well after the war, he's openly hostile toward Himmel, who had actually worked to undermine his fellow Nazis' efforts in wartime--largely with Noah's assistance. It doesn't matter to Noah (not until very late, at least)--like Diamant, he can use somebody to achieve a goal, yet then they become expendable, especially if they're allied with the enemy. Considering the circumstances, such a mindset makes sense; even Himmel acts in such a manner when he confronts Corporal Anna Julian. What is somewhat a mystery still is WHY Noah has such a militant attitude. He's the only one of these four, as it happens, who DOESN'T spend time in a camp, or end up nearly killed. Although he does have to go into hiding with Johanna, his life is relatively safe and much easier in comparison, as he has a wide network of resistance allies to help and protect them. So what's the basis of Noah's occasionally over-the-top rage?

Like I said, given the timeline of the story, it's not unreasonable for Noah to be this way just because he sees what's happening to others. His behavior strikes me as a little TOO aggressive at times, though. There's almost a feeling that he's overcompensating. And in fact, I feel this is what he's doing: He knows he's relatively safe and well off, he has people to help him, he has a good number of resources that many of his fellow Jews lack. He's working from a position of privilege, and I think it wears on him. He likely has not only a sense of guilt at being in such a position when so few other people are, but also more than a trace of spite that he can't approach this battle from the same angle of struggle that many of his peers can. Noah's never been a soldier, he's never fought in a war. He's never been in a ghetto and he's never been in a camp. No Nazi has ever experimented on him, tortured him, forced him into slave labor, played mind games on him or relegated him to death or traded him for a wall hanging. Aside from Himmel, he's never even directly faced a Nazi down--and Himmel was Noah's captive, not the other way around. Noah's entire existence, even during the war, has been pretty safe and cushy, and I think he resents that. He likely feels like a bit of a fraud and wishes he had a more appropriate background to be fighting from.

Result, he tends to overdo things. He acts like more of a tough guy than he actually is (Himmel nearly calls his bluff, and Noah ends up regretting it when he's thus forced to try to prove himself by following through on his threats--Himmel's son Kolten flies into a rage and turns Noah into a ragdoll until Himmel convinces him to stop), antagonizes both friends and foes far more than he should (even Wolfstein gets fed up with him more than once), and basically infantilizes Johanna by insisting she's too weak and gullible to effectively look out for herself or make her own decisions. Late in the story he nearly ostracizes himself from the rest of his family due to making every disagreement into the hill he's going to die on.

Oddly, it's Himmel who talks him down from this, or rather, Himmel's letters, written to his deceased wife since the birth of their son. Noah finally gets a glimpse of the human behind the enemy's face, and learns his reasons for making the choices he did. (Himmel never believed in the Nazi cause, joining the party only in the hopes it would protect Kolten.) Himmel may be a very rare exception to the rule, but that's the point. An exception exists yet Noah had been willing to pretend he doesn't, at the risk of losing his own family. His entire worldview doesn't change--he still rightly distrusts and despises others like Himmel--but there's a very slight shift. He realizes he can't just take at face value that everyone in a group is exactly the same...that sort of mindset is what got everyone here.

(PLEASE NOTE, I'm talking about fiction here, where I know all the characters' true motives because I created them. This doesn't apply nearly so cleanly to real life, where if somebody is wearing a swastika, you can likely correctly judge their mentality at a glance; I'm by no means saying give Nazis a chance. I know I wouldn't.)

Anyway, without taking a good deal of time to brainstorm Noah's past, and maybe not get anywhere yet (these guys reveal stuff on their own schedule), this is what I've got for him. I suspect his past was quite normal and tame, and that's ironically what helped make him so tense and hostile in the story; he feels he has to go out of his way to prove himself to everyone else who didn't have it so easy, and always worries that he's not good enough. Unlike Wolfstein, Schäfer, or Diamant, who each had concrete, external enemies, he put the chip on his own shoulder.

[Noah Kirchheimer 2023 [‎Saturday, ‎August ‎26, ‎2023, ‏‎2:00:17 AM]]

[lazywriters-blog]

Yandere scenarios [modern AU]

Includes childe, zhongli, diluc. More to come later..

Warning: May contain triggering content, mentions of kidnapping, implied violence, yandere content. This is purely for entertainment purposes only.

Kinda edited. Apologies for any errors.

𝓒𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓭𝓮 /𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓪𝓰𝓵𝓲𝓪

His family wants him to get married soon, he understands their intentions, but he just wants to enjoy his life and obviously his rebellious statement doesn't go unheard. So they decide it was time to take matters into their own hands, gradually, he starts meeting new peoples, forced to attend weddings with his family, he doesn't particularly mind going to marriages but he does grow tired, in one of these weddings, he meets you. After he successfully managed to escape the deadly clutches of his family and roam around awfully bored by himself, he stumbles across you. Standing with your sister he assumes, smiling and laughing, not caring how boring the event was like himself. For whatever reason, he is interested, very interested. While following you around, he manages to retrieve your name. Hmm maybe his family could help him out.

He lets his parents know that he has taken a liking to someone, of course being as delighted as they were, immediately agreed to ask your hand in marriage, he watches you as his parents and yours speak, his siblings busy clinging to him, he could see how awestruck your sister seemed by the cuteness of his adorable siblings. Too busy calling them over to play, to notice your discomfort. He likes your shyness.

The unfair advantage he gets is delightful. His parents are anything but determined to get you by his side, eventually he knows where you live, how you behave, your unique habits. He takes sick pleasure in seeing your thinly veiled uneasiness, you should be pleased to know he has taken such a huge liking to you, if anything he rejected almost every girl he met. You are a exception.

When he comes to know you rejected him, he can't help but laugh, he's not marrying anyone other than you, he's made that much clear to his parents, he's not giving up on you. Whilst his parents try to persuade him into meeting another woman who is more willing to marry him, he makes it so she hates him, he's done worse than this, this shouldn't cause any trouble.

Clawing his way into your life, he comes to know how many proposals you've had, how many are interested in making you their wife, it truly makes him angry, he likes a good chase, he likes the thrill, so he's gonna enjoy taking down every last one of them. Then you won't have a reason to reject him again. He's going to be the only one you can accept.

Because there's not going to be anyone else left.

"I knew the moment I saw you we were destined to be! You don't believe me? Then how come everyone other than me remain to take your hand and pledge life long loyalty to you? Surely, that's enough proof, is it not?"

𝓩𝓱𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓵𝓲

He works hard for the both of you. His pure little angel, his beautiful wife. His day is instantly brightened when he comes back home from a strenuous day, to see you dressed beautifully, giving him a smile that sends his heart beating and easing his nerves. He truly loves you.

He loves it when you look at him that way, fondly watching him as the both of you sit together to have a peaceful meal, he feels content to know you've come around, those dark days are behind you now, you've become his beautiful spouse, now forever destined to be together till the time comes for your death and his. He's happy to know that his affects weren't in vain, his hardwork has comes to fruition. He can't be more happier than now.

Expect.. now you've become a little.. spiteful.

Have you come to know of his ways? Or are you simply attempting to test him? He knows what he did was for the best, he is aware that you might not understand, but he knows better. You are quite naive, he likes that about you, now when he says it, it is not in the purpose of shaming you, he wants you to know that you simply too fragile to face the world alone, you need him. He is more than happy to aid.

Hugs are a little hard from you, recently, you have managed to leave the house without so much as his consent, he remembers telling you to stay put when he's not around, however, you've rebelled and decided not to heed his word. He's forgiving though, mistakes happen, he just hope's you learn your lesson.

When he comes home, there's no smile, you don't greet him the way you used to, he figures that you are just having one of those days, where you are moody, where you don't feel like doing anything. He trys his best to understand your womanly needs, he does his hardest to adjust for a while. If only your behaviour didn't worsen, he wouldn't have.. extended your time kept in solitary confinement, he needs you to know that your questionable behaviour isn't welcomed.

No matter your struggles or shouts, he will always be there, to make you understand that everything he's doing is to ensure the relationship between you and him isn't threatened.

"How are you feeling now dear? Much better I hope."

𝓓𝓲𝓵𝓾𝓬

Lovely eyes, silky hairs and a timid facade. You smile more often than you are awake, you struggle not when he snakes this arm around your waist, deep in dreamland, peacefully unaware. You softly giggle as he traces his finger across your face, his heart skips a beat, rapidly picking up the pace. You are so much more accepting when you are asleep. You don't react violently. You make such faint sounds while you are slumbering, he can't quite describe how it makes him feel. Your lips are much more tempting. He will not make any moves that might ensure your violent reactions, he must keep his feelings under check.

When sleep does not willing come, he ends up watching you instead, which.. some might find it to be creepy, including yourself, but you don't have to know. Your skin is soft against his fingers, he finds this.. sensation to be quite pleasant.

Perhaps, slipping a sleeping pill into your drink might not be the solution towards your submissiveness, but he.. almost prefers this.

Almost as if you had felt his intentions, you turned away, leaving him to his own thoughts, of course you weren't submissive enough, at least not yet, he knows he shouldn't force it out of you, he can not remain patient forever, he has his limit just as you.

He wonders how long can he suppress this.. unhealthy thoughts.?

He really hopes you can forgive him, because he is going to do something that he knows he's going to regret soon.

"Now open your mouth, I need to get going soon. Don't worry I'll be back before you wake up, what do you mean you don't want it? Dear we've discussed this before.. you are not going to escape like the last time. In order to make sure that doesn't happen, I need to do this. You get it don't you?"

[ameliterature]

Neil and Todd Jealousy POV (Yes, there's more)

Charlie POV | Cameron POV

Neil was an only child and this obviously came with minor character flaws. Not only was he given all of the attention by his parent (even if it was the bad kind) Neil never really had to share anything.

Not that he didn't want to share. He just never had many opportunities to, with the lack of siblings and all. The closest he had to a sibling was Charlie. Unlike Neil, Charlie would share everything with him because he had so much to give. Was it the fact that Charlie's family was rich and that he has at least 3 of each item? Maybe, but Charlie was sure to share what he had with his best friend.

Another thing Neil "the Welton Golden boy" Perry had as a flaw was that he simultaneously wore his heart on his sleeve and yet always tried to hide his feelings. Case in point: when Charlie made a move on Todd.

Now, it's only been roughly 2 semesters since they've known Todd Anderson. Neil had the gracious chance to be his roommate, so in some way, it was like having another best friend aside from Charlie. But what he felt for Todd was vastly different from his friendship with Charlie. Something about the way Todd smiled at him, something about the way he makes sarcastic remarks, something about the way they shared glances between each other every now and then.

Neil was completely enthralled by Todd. Some might say to the point of being possessive. Neil would say protective because Todd was the kind of person who needed to be kept safe. Todd wasn't good at standing up for himself, he wasn't good at speaking the same way he wrote poems. Neil took it upon himself to be the one to make Todd feel the included. He had to be included, he had to be where Neil was.

Thankfully the whole Dead Poet Society thing worked out well, Neil was surprised how well Todd was integrated into the group. They even spent Christmas break as a group with Todd. Things were going great between him and Todd, Neil couldn't ask for more than to share his experiences with Todd.

But one night, a regular ole Study group session, something caught Neil's eyes. Todd was helping Knox out with some love poem, obviously meant for Chris, and he could hear the contents of the poem.

"Hymns from above casted when you're near

Heaven's light shine atop a golden-haired angel

My heart's full of whims and vivid dreams

but in your presence they're obligations I hold close

Be mine and I'll keep your heart guarded

Because mine is with yours, unthwarted."

Neil hears Todd recite their draft poem, hearing it as if it were meant for him to hear. His own golden-haired angel was biting the end of his pencil as Knox was scribbling the rest of the poem. Neil catches himself staring just before Todd looks up at him so he brings his attention back to the trigonometry problem he was answering with Cameron.

He couldn't concentrate on sine, cosine, and tangents at the moment, not when Todd's hand is in his peripheral view; all perfect with it's blemishes and tapping to an imaginary beat. Every so often, he'd steal a glance at Todd's eyes, darting back and forth from his paper to Knox's. He'd be jealous of any pupil Todd would eventually have if he became an English teacher. To be consulted with his sweet voice, to be seated by him as he explains anything, to be taught how to express feelings he wasn't sure how to jot down.

Oh have Todd's untampered attention.

"Hey Todd," Charlie's voice resonates across their small table. Neil accidentally shot his eyes to his friend's direction without skipping a beat. "Mind helping me out with a poem too?"

Since when did Charlie ever ask for help from Todd? Not that he wasn't allowed to or anything, Todd was the right person for this task but-- Something about it wasn't sitting right with Neil.

What wasn't a surprise was Todd's hesitant acceptance. He watched as Todd moved over to Charlie's right hand side and Neil felt his back become warm. It wasn't just his back, his guts turned into an unrested sea, and his eyebrows twitched, trying to avoid a scowl.

"What do you wanna write about?"

"I wanna write about Love." Neil saw Charlie lean forward to look Todd deep into his eyes; for a moment, he thought he saw Todd blush. Neil didn't like Todd showing that expression to someone else, or at least someone like Charlie.

"S-So... We'll use cosine to get X--" Cameron muttered, snapping Neil back to his assignment. He looked at the blurred numbers and symbols, trying to remember what the other problem was.

"Right, cosine-"

Just before dinner, Neil catches up with Todd to walk with him to the dining hall.

"So," Neil started, not exactly sure where to lead the conversation to. "I guess it's spaghetti and meatballs again, huh?"

Todd pushed out a chuckle in response. "Yeah, I guess it is."

Neil had Todd to himself for a tiny moment, for a stupid one-liner too, but it felt like he was in Cloud nine. Todd's calm expression was all he could ask for, paired with his blue eyes looking back at him.

When they reached their table, they assumed their usual spots, Neil being on the left side of the table and Todd on the other. However, Charlie decided to change up the seating arrangement and sat beside Todd instead of him.

There's that funny feeling again. Neil's stomach was nothing but a pit that resembled a deep well without a bucket, nothing to retrieve and remove the sludge that was forming in it. He hated how Todd was so responsive to Charlie's words, how Charlie was so capable of making Todd blush, he hated the sight of Todd rubbing elbows with Charlie as they ate. Neil wasn't sure why he was feeling this way, why he even thought something innocent between Charlie and Todd could make him so agitated. It could all be his imagination.

When Todd left for the bathroom, Neil decided to interrogate his best friend.

"Hey Charlie, why the sudden change of seating arrangement? Thought I was your cute best friend." He tried to sound like his usual self.

"Well, I'm trying to get closer to Todd."

"W-what? Why?" Neil felt his voice crack, much like his confidence.

"I dunno, he's pretty cute. Don't you agree?"

"I--" Neil felt his whole body stiffen, his hand tightened it's pressure on his spoon like a clamp.

"I'm thinking of asking him out soon. No one else seems interested." Neil saw it, he saw Charlie smirk. Neil's emotions became unreasonably irrational, they became unhinged and even if he tried to hide it, they were all bubbling to the surface. Charlie had everything already, he and Neil shared everything before this, but for some reason, Neil couldn't share Todd with someone like Charlie.

"Oh hi, Todd! Welcome back" Neil glares at Charlie while he greets Todd.

"What did I miss?" Todd asks innocently, still taking his seat beside Charlie.

As Charlie began his sentence, Neil cuts him off. "Nothing-" Todd shifts his eyes to share eye contact with Neil. "By the way, we should head back to our room, I need help with my poems." Neil's last attempt of gaining the upper hand on Charlie failed when Charlie brought up his and Todd's prior arrangement.

Neil didn't get it. What did Charlie have that he didn't? Or better yet, what does Charlie not possess yet that he would try to make the moves on Todd?? Neil hated this feeling- this vicious vine-like feeling trapping him. Was it... Jealousy?

Neil's never had much of a reason to be jealous about someone before. He's only been jealous of people who were freer than him-- people like Charlie. Was he jealous of Charlie in that regard? That he could proudly express what he felt for Todd and Neil couldn't? He guessed that was the difference. Charlie did have everything; down to the personality that could make Todd fall for him.

Neil was in Meeks' dorm room, resigning himself in defeat like a pathetic loser he thought he was.

All Neil could do was blankly stare into the shine of the wires that coiled around parts of their machine. A brief knock on their door broke his trance- It was Cameron.

“Do you guys mind if I hang out here? I’m just gonna do my reviewers for a bit.”

“Sure, no problem.” Meeks nods, still measuring out some amount of wires.

“Wait, how come you’re not studying in your room?” Neil questioned,

Cameron took a moment to respond. “Charlie… he wanted to focus on his homework with Todd… Alone.”

This was the last straw for Neil, the final push that made him stand up for once. He couldn't bury his jealousy anymore, he had to confront Charlie.

He left his friends to march his way to Charlie's room. He wasted no time when asking Charlie about his motives.

"Well hello, Perry! What do I owe the pleasure?"

"Quit it-" Neil cuts him off. "Are you serious about Todd?"

"... What?"

"I- I'm asking if you're really interested in Todd?"

Maybe this was all a trick, maybe Neil was just being jealous, maybe Charlie was playing a cruel joke on Neil and he had to shake it out of him.

"Yes." Charlie's expression was ripe with confidence.

With that, Neil felt his world shatter. What was he doing? Was he gonna fight his friend over his feelings for Todd? Was he gonna deny Todd of someone as fun and as romantic as Charlie? Charlie's given so much to Neil and the way he was acting was nothing short of being selfish.

If Charlie really liked Todd, then Todd would be lucky. If Todd would return those feelings, Charlie would be the luckiest man to ever live.

Neil had nothing to offer to Todd that Charlie couldn't top. Neil felt his bitter feelings turn into catharsis, accepting that Todd's better off sharing his moments with Charlie than him.

"T-then... Please take care of him, okay?" Neil buckled his shoulders.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"If you ever hurt Todd-- You're a dead man, got it?" Neil's eyes were like daggers, piercing right at Charlie's own brown eyes.

"R-right..."

Neil figured he had to leave, he couldn't bear to see Todd and Charlie exchanging looks. But this of course wasn't the case. A knock echoed in the room.

When he opened the door, Todd was right there, his beautiful eyes staring up at Neil will a quizzical expression.

Neil assumed that Charlie would most likely profess his love to those eyes, and that knowledge broke Neil's heart.

"Sorry Todd, looks like I'm gonna have to move our study session for now. I think Neil needs your help more. Right, Neil?" Charlie spoke, catching Neil's bewildered expression.

"I'm sure he's got something more important than mine anyway."

Neil looks at Charlie and Todd, bouncing a confused face between them. He sees Charlie's wink before Todd guides Neil out of the room.

Todd sighs as he returns to his room with Neil, his sweaty hands in the midst of sticking to his papers.

How did he end up in this situation?

How could he explain the entire day?

It all started when he told Charlie about his crush on Neil in private. All he wanted was advice from the best friend of his crush and nothing more.

"Glad you came to me, Toddsie!" Charlie pats him on the back excitedly.

Todd didn't like how enthusiastic Charlie was being in this situation, though he was grateful Charlie immediately accepted him for coming out.

"I know exactly how to make him fall in love with you!"

"L-look Charlie, I'm not trying to get Neil to like me! I just-- I just wanted to know how to deal with all these feelings I'm having."

All these feelings- Todd's had these "feelings" ever since Neil shook his hand for the first time in the courtyard. He's never met someone as perfect as Neil. Yeah, he had Father Issues, impulsive actions, even the tendency to make weird noises (but he found those the cutest) and yet Neil made Todd's world move.

Neil's laughter, Neil's smile, the stolen glances he catches Neil casting his direction-- It was all Todd sought after in his recent days at Welton.

"Oh please, Todd, those 'feelings' are straight up love from what I hear. We just have to know if Neil feels the same way!"

"We don't even know if he's interested in men! Charlie- What am I supposed to do?" Todd buried his face into his hands.

"Don't worry, I'll find out a way to not only check if he swings that way, but I can guarantee I can get him to return your feelings."

"That-- That doesn't make any sense, Charlie." Todd wasn't able to question his friend any longer as they dashed into the study hall.

The Study group went on as usual, Todd assisting Knox with his poem for Chris, Meeks and Pitts building a contraption he was sure was the Radio Mark II, and Neil, Cameron and Charlie trying to answer some trigonometry homework.

What didn't help was Neil being directly in front of him. Todd could see Neil in his glasses, unabashedly handsome and very distracting. Todd would try his best to help Knox with his poem but Todd's eyes would linger onto Neil's perfectly "framed" face.

He then hears Charlie call him over. At first, Todd didn't think much of it, but he soon regrets ever telling Charlie of his crush on Neil.

The whole evening, Charlie tried to make Neil jealous without planning it out with Todd first. If Todd had at least known, he wouldn't have been trying picture Neil in Charlie's place as some sort of "method acting" to go along with this scheme. When dinner began, Charlie took Cameron's spot for 'maximum efficiency'. It didn't help when Charlie called him "cute" in front of Neil. Would Neil agree? Would Neil even describe a guy to be cute? Would Todd be able to enjoy his spaghetti and meatballs without Charlie's arm around him?

Todd decided that he should excuse himself to the bathroom for compose himself. (And to evade the plethora of compliments Charlie showered him with.)

When it came from Charlie, it felt like a joke, like a friendly description, really, than an actual compliment. Then Todd thinks if they came from Neil... then those words would make him swoon.

Would Neil even fall for this type of trick? Was it even right to trick Neil like this? Would Neil be even okay with the idea of Todd being in a relationship in with a man? He wasn't even sure if Neil would accept Todd's feelings, let alone feel jealous of Charlie.

As Todd approached their table, he's immediately greeted by Charlie.

"What did I miss?"

"Well Todd--" "Nothing." Neil cuts of Charlie with a serious tone.

Oh no... did Neil find out? Did Charlie rat him out already?

"By the way, we should head back to our room, I need help with my poems." Neil looks up at Todd with an expression that is both deadpan and attractive to him, Todd had no other choice but to accept.

"What? Todd, I thought you'd help me out?" Charlie pouts. "I did ask first." Todd didn't want to miss his opportunity to be with Neil, especially not when he looks at him like that. But Todd looks back at Charlie, raising his eyebrows as if to say "Just go along with it."

Todd was reluctant, of course, he didn't want to perpetuate fooling Neil in any way, but he wasn't sure if Neil had anything to return at all. They were always alone after all, nothing would be stripped away if he spent one evening in Charlie's room to make Neil jealous.

"Right, sorry, Neil. I'll go back to our room after I help out Charlie." Todd replied with a pained expression hidden behind his face.

That evening, when he approached Charlie's room, he hears Neil's voice muffling through. Todd wished had the will to listen in but he assumed it wouldn't be his business if it was said behind closed doors. He took another moment before knocking on Charlie's door.

Neil opens the door for Todd, their eyes meeting briefly, like a celestial occurrence that Todd took note of. Have they always been this brown?

"Hi Todd!" Charlie greets him, breaking him from Neil's gaze.

"Hey Charlie, Hi Neil."

He was expecting Charlie to pull another stunt to make Neil's brown eyes angry, but instead both his and Neil's eyes lifted in surprise when Charlie told him Neil needed his help more.

Did they come to some agreement?

And Todd could've sworn Charlie was winking at Neil... or was it at him?

All these questions didn't matter when they were alone in their room.

Their chests rattled like cages, their hearts ready to jump out at any moment.

Neil bit his lip as Todd took a seat by his desk.

"S-so Neil..." Todd muttered, "Can I ask you something? B-before I help you with your poem..."

"Oh- Yeah, sure."

"What do you think of... of men dating each other?"

Neil lets out a tiny cough. "W- Excuse me?"

"Do you think... it's ok? For two guys to like each other?"

Neil wasn't sure how to respond, was Todd telling him that he liked Charlie? Was Neil too late? Did he miss his chance to tell Todd what he really felt?

"I-- I guess it's alright," Neil answered, slumping his shoulders down in defeat. If he was gonna lose Todd to Charlie, he might as well be supportive. "But- you have to make sure it's the right person." Neil wasn't going down without a fight though.

Todd's face brightened with Neil's response. So 1 part of his query is answered; Neil is ok with the idea of men liking each other. Now it's the question of Neil's feelings for Todd.

"I-If someone, a guy, liked you, how would you feel?" Todd stood up, turning to face Neil. Both of them were by their desks, like two sturdy posts defending their base. Todd awaited Neil’s response with the anticipation akin to a war officer in a meeting room.

"I... would really only prefer it from one guy." Neil took a step forward, with the courage of a powerful Chesspiece during an endgame.

Todd took note of this, mimicking his step, this time walking a bit closer to Neil with his hands in his pockets. "Y-yeah? Who?"

Neil noted this feeling being similar to a spelling bee, like spelling out a complicated word letter by letter, taking a breath to make sure the next thing he was about to say was exactly what the world wanted him to say.

"You, Todd. It's always going to be you."

Todd looks up at Neil, who's now inches away from him from, fully realizing their slight height difference. "I'd say the same for you."

"I hope... I'm not... taking you away from Charlie-" Neil slowly brings his hand to sweep Todd’s hair aside to see his eyes better.

Todd snickers slightly, catching Neil by surprise. "Neil... You don't have to worry about Charlie. I don't have any feelings for him."

"But-" Neil looks concerned, feeling like he betrayed Charlie. "He... He likes you. Todd, I--"

"Is that what he told you? Neil... I hope you won't be angry when I tell you he's been pulling your leg."

Neil jerks his head backwards. "What?"

"I.. Just promise you won't be angry okay?" Todd had to come clean, he couldn’t handle Neil thinking badly of him if he never admitted Charlie's plan. Neil nods before Todd reveals Charlie’s idiotic scheme to get them together by means of tomfoolery.

Neil sighs with a smile, leaning forward to rest on Todd's shoulder. Todd was still getting used to the fact Neil's VERY close right now.

"Well, you guys did a pretty good job of making me extremely jealous." Neil laughs a bit. He was in relief that he didn't need to compete with Charlie.

"I'm... I'm really sorry, Neil. I told him I just wanted advice." Todd looks down with embarrassment.

Neil tilts Todd’s chin up with his hand, bringing his face up to look at him. "You're gonna have to make up for it, y'know?"

Todd’s face simmered under Neil's touch. "I know."

Todd learned that Neil was a Jealous type of guy, not the type to be possessive, but definitely the type to mope around rather than steal someone else's love interest.

Luckily for Neil, he already had Todd’s heart to begin with.

Neil wasn’t used to sharing, but he and Todd shared their first kiss that night. That's a compromise he was willing to do.

Bonus:

Knox, Meeks and Pitts POV:

4 of their friends (the roommates) getting paired up in one night made them:

Thanks again to @sweettodd for that one post that spawn all these POVs haha

Taglist: @anderperrytheplatypus @she-nuwanda @andersonsdeskset @sweetnessbythesea @maisietheweltoncow [tell me if u wanna be added/removed next time]

[chocolatecakecas]

Rockin' the Suburbs: Destiel Fic Chapter 1

Chp2 Chp3 Chp4 or read on ao3

Pretending to be married to his best friend who he's secretly in love with? Dean's totally got this under control. But pretending to be married and raising an actual toddler with his best friend who he's secretly in love with? Yeah so maybe he doesn't have it totally, under control, actually he's screwed. Fake married case fic+actual baby Jack? What could go wrong?

This was all Sam's fault.

Sam had strolled into the war room yesterday afternoon announcing that he had found a case in Sudbury, Massachusetts. Six people died, all parents, all with one kid, kids lived, but the parents, they weren't so lucky. It was in one of those Stepford gated communities where every house looked the same, "Pleasant Acres", or some crap like that. Meaning, Jody, Donna and Claire were all set to take the case, but they called twenty minutes ago saying they got caught up on a hunt in Montana. So now they were all shifting through their contacts, trying to find hunters with kids, since whatever it was only seemed to target families.

And Dean's been feeling well, weird, ever since Sam brought up the case yesterday. Something itching in the back of his mind. He's of course been  trying to ignore it, but now that he's reading over the case it's getting stronger, making his twist in way he definitely doesn't want to unpack.

He glances up across the room, eyes quickly finding Cas and Jack. Cas is seated across from him on Jack's blanket, helping him build unstable block towers, just so he could knock them down.

(read the rest under the cut)

Dean's stomach twists again, and an all too familiar feeling washes over him.

Yeah, he definitely doesn't want to unpack it.

"Hey, I think I got something" Sam calls pulling Dean from his trance as Cas stands, making his way back to his chair.

"So Sarah and Mike Johnson? Jody met them, and their daughter, Katie on a hunt last year. They live somewhat close by, so I'll try to give them a call" Sam continues, reaching for his phone.

And now, Dean doesn't know why, but he felt that thing squirm deep inside him, and the next thing he knew, he was talking.

"Why don't we take it?" Dean practically shouts startling everyone, including himself.

Sam paused, cellphone halfway to his ear and Cas' head snapped up so quick Dean's worried he has whiplash.

And so Dean freezes, mouth suddenly very dry.

What the hell was he doing, why was h-

"Why don't we take the case? I mean the thing is only going after families right, and we-we've got an 18 month old super baby right here. So we cou-two of us could take Jack for a week, play house for a week, and gank the thing" Dean somehow chokes out, watching as Sam and Cas' stare with increasingly disbelieving looks.

Dean’s heart began pounding against his chest.

Dean could barely believe the suggestion to take the hunt came out of his mouth, let alone bringing the kid? Completely out of the question, way too dangerous. He's not just gonna put the kid directly in harms way, on a hunt for godsake! And yet the suggestion had rolled off his tongue anyway? Dean didn't know why.

God what the hell was wrong with him today?

But it's not like he can just take it back now that he practically screamed it, so in favor of looking like an idiot or delving into the reason behind why he said it, Dean sat in his own silent panic.

From across the table he watched Sam's face contort into about three different emotions, finally landing on something that looked like agreement.

Shit.

"Well, that might actually be a goo-" Sam started with a sigh

"You can't seriously be suggesting we bring Jack along on a hunt? It's too dangerous, we've barely even left the bunker with him" Cas immediately cut in and god Dean could kis-Dean was very relieved.

And Sam surely wouldn't argue with that. So he was in the clear. He could just forget about this whole stupid conversation like it never happened, and never have to think about it ag-

"Exactly, I mean you guys have barely left the house and Jack has barely even seen the world. I hate to say it, but I think it'd be good, for all of us" Sam replied reluctantly.

And there goes Dean's heart rate.

"Sam, we don't even know what we're up against it co-"

"I know Cas, but he'll be with us. And besides, it looks like whatever's doing this, is only taking victims with young children, not a single one is over the age of five. So it's probably better if we end up taking the case anyway, rather than Sarah and Mike, or even Jody and the girls. We're the only one with a kid under ten. Plus he's half angel, we're probably at greater risk than Jack is" Sam reasons carefully.

A tense silence fell over them, the only sound was Jack babbling to himself on the other side of the room. Dean wanted to say something, wanted to say he doesn't know what he was thinking and it's crazy and they shouldn't take the case, but his mouth wasn't exactly on his side today.

He snuck a glance at Cas who has his eyes trained on Jack.

The tension was killing him, Dean had to say something. He couldn't just let this happen because his stupid mouth started talking nonsense.

So he swallows thickly, opening his mouth to take it all back, so they could forget this whole conversation ever happened, so he wouldn't have to think about why h-

"You're right" Cas sighs, looking as if his answer deflated him.

And Dean couldn't agree more with that sentiment because suddenly all of the air was knocked out of his lungs. He must have looked like it too because Sam met his eyes across the table, leveling him with a look Dean can't decipher.

Then suddenly, a smile spread across his face, which in his experience, is never a good sign.

"Alright so, Dean can stay at a nearby hotel, while Cas and I take the nei-"

"I'll go with Cas" Dean blurted before he even realized what was happening.

He snapped his jaw shut, but apparently not quick enough. Again, Dean didn't know why he said that, but that thing was back swirling around his stomach so he assumed it had to do with whatever the hell that was. And his mouth must have a mind of it's own today because he's pretty sure he didn't tell it to start moving, let alone say that.

Dean's heart beat against his chest, face burning. He forced his eyes to look up at Sam, not daring to even glance in Cas' direction. He can't handle any look that might be on his face. What if he'd rather go with Sam? What if he's ang-

"Okay it's all settled then, I mean so long as that's good with you Cas?" Sam asked, smile turning into a smirk.

"Yes, that's good with me" Cas replied, tone unreadable.

Was he really okay with it? Was he creeped out by the way Dean cut in? Was he actually annoyed that he'd have to be with Dean?

All great questions, with sadly no answers. Because Dean would have to actually look at him, if he wanted any insight to what Cas was thinking, and that was so not going to happen. Not with his face still on fire.

"Alright perfect! I'll call the real estate agent, about setting up a house tour, you guys start packing? And oh, don't forget to think of your backstory so you're both on the same page! We can leave in the morning" Sam said with a too wide smile, as he pushed himself out of his chair. Sam stopped for a moment, giving him a look that Dean definitely didn't want to think about right now, before turning down the hall with a skip in his step.

Yup, this was definitely all Sam's fault.

Heart still racing in his chest, Dean braves a look over at Cas.

And a bit of relief floods through him when he catches those blue eyes. Cas seemed fine, doesn't look angry or disgusted at the thought of doing this thing with Dean. So he counts that as a win, and his heart rate slows a bit, but he still doesn't know what Cas is thinking, and he needs to know.

But he doesn't dare say anything, because at this point anything could come out of his mouth, and that's definitely not a risk Dean's willing to take after the mini heart attack he just suffered. So, awkward silence it was until Cas decides to speak up.

Eventually, after what feels like hours, Cas slumps forward folding his hands on the table as he stares over at Jack. Dean follows his gaze, watching Jack knock over his lopsided block tower with an excited shriek. A small smile tugs at his lips.

"Dean, I still think this is reckless" Cas sighs and Dean turns back, finding his eyes trained on him, filled with worry.

Dean's smile slips at the sight, his heart clenching and he pretends not to know the real reason why.

Things were already...weird between him and Cas lately, and now his dumbass had to go and make it worse. Because what the hell was he thinking suggesting they take this hunt, bring along the kid, and practically beg to pretend to live with Cas. Jesus, Cas is probably beyond creeped out and angry.

Dean has to fix this.

"Cas, listen I'm sorry it was a stupid idea-I don't even know why I said it. Because now we're putting Jack in danger-and it's not fair that you're gonna have to be stuck pretending to be married to me because I-I'm gonna go find Sam and we can just call the whole thing off, and he can contact that other family an-"

"Dean, no stop I want to do the hunt" Cas cut in quickly, effectively stopping Dean's rambling.

"But yo-"

"I said I still thought it was reckless, and it is-to bring Jack along I mean. But Sam's right he's barely gotten out of the bunk-we've all barely gotten out of here, so I think it'll be good for all of us. And besides Jack has his powers" Cas replied, gaze shifting back to Jack.

Dean let out a breathe he didn't realize he was holding. Cas wasn't angry at him, he wanted to go on the hunt. And he didn't seem too torn up about doing it with Dean so-

"Jack will have us to protect him the entire time. And I'm glad it's with you, I feel safer about the whole endeav-not that Sam isn't a phenomenal hunter. He is, but let's face it he isn't the world's best babysitter when it comes to Jack" Cas said turning back to Dean with an amused smile.

He's of course talking about the last time Sam watched Jack, where they walked in to see Sam trying to coax Jack off the ceiling into a laundry basket piled with blankets.

Dean couldn't help crack a smile at Cas' little joke. The squirming feeling had disappeared, leaving Dean feeling much calmer about the whole thing as he relaxed in his chair.

They'd be fine, this would be just like any other hu-

"So, Sam mentioned a backstory? Should we come up with that now, so we aren't caught off guard when someone asks?" Cas suggested, eyes staring into Dean's.

And just like that, Dean's calm had left the building.

"Uh yeah sure. Let's do th-let's start with how we met" Dean managed, now that his throat had gone dry again.

"Well, we met September 19th, 2008 in a barn in-"

"Okay September 2008, we can use that-but let's turn the barn into a bar instead? I saw you sitting at the bar alone, bought you a drink, we started talking, boom the rest is history" Dean raced, wanting very much to be done with this conversation.

"Dean, people always seem to be interested in these kinds of stories. We're probably going to need more information if anyone is going to buy it"

Damnit. Cas had a point, stupid angel always has to be right. So he puffed out a breathe, unclenching his fists under the table.

Breathe Winchester. It's just some fake story.

"Alright alright, so I saw you at the bar, you looked lonely so I bought you a drink and we got to talking. You uh...just got out of a long relationship with a bad ex, and I had just been through hell and back with my job-"

"Oh I see, like me rebelling against heaven, and you literally going to hel-"

"Yeah genius how'd you crack that cod" Dean quipped only to be cut off by a swift kick to the shin. Cas shot him a smug smile causing Dean to roll his eyes, and his stomach definitely did not flip.

Get it together Winchester

"So you helped me through a terrible breakup, and I helped you through the stress of your job. In a way we saved each other, which isn't so different from our real story" Cas continues.

And Dean swears his friggin heart stopped, Cas' words knocking the wind out of him.

God Dean should have stopped thi-

"By the way, what is your job going to be?" Cas questioned with his usual tilt of the head that definitely did not send Dean's heart racing even faster.

"Don't care you pick" Dean managed to force out, as he tried to gain control of his anxiety.

"A mechanic, I think. You love working on Baby, I think you'd enjoy getting to fix and help other people's cars for a living" Cas suggested in the most sincere tone Dean's ever heard. And how Dean somehow managed a nod of approval through his internal breakdown, he'll never know.

"Alright, so you pick what my job is then" Cas smiled softly, either not noticing Dean's panic or clearly ignoring it. Dean was grateful for either option.

Dean managed to reign in his stupid freak out long enough to get his brain working.

"A college professor-maybe like English lit or something. I know you like to read, and you always like to talk to about the books after you finish them. That is if you wa-"

"I think that's perfect, it sounds like a nice career"

"Great, so met in September 2008, mechanic and English Professor helped each other through their crap. Now they're moving to the suburbs to grill burgers in the backyard and fight to get the kid into a good preschool. Sounds like we've go-"

"Oh, we need a wedding anniversary" Cas cut in.

And yeah Dean's 100% sure his heart stopped this time.

How could Dean be so stupid, they wouldn't have to just pretend to be together (which was difficult enough within itself, for reasons he'd rather not discuss), they'd have to be married. Of course he knew this logically, but since his mouth had a friggin mind of it's own, he wasn't really thinking about the implications.

Married. To Cas. With a kid. A family.

And god, Dean couldn't even sa-no he's so not unboxing that right now.

"Uh, got married in our backyard. Just pick any date" Dean said weakly once he found his voice.

Cas was silent for a moment, expression unreadable. Then he nodded to himself

"November 2nd, 2017"

And that was the final hit. Dean was sent spiraling, losing any control he had regained.

The day Cas got out of the empty, the night he called Dean, the night Dean tried to-

"Alright, good. Sounds like we've got everything covered. I'm gonna get a start on packing, why don't you put Squirt over there down for his nap" Dean said jumping to his feet and quickly made his way to his room without a glance backwards. He feels like shit for leaving Cas just sitting there, but he had to get away before he really lost it.

Dean carefully tries not to slam his door and flops down on his bed. His thoughts buzz around in his skull, while about ten different emotions wash over him all at once. With a groan he reaches out and punches his mattress, which doesn't do much of anything seeing as its memory foam.

God what the hell had he gotten himself into.

He just agreed to be fake married to his best friend and live in a house in the suburbs with a 18 month old child.

He was crazy. He didn't even know why he said anythi-god who was he kidding. Of course he knew why he said it, he just didn't know why he let himself say them out loud. Now he's gonna have to play house with Cas and Jack for at least a week, when he can't even admit to himself th-

No. He can't let any of that get in the way. He can't throw himself a pity party just because Cas doesn-this stupid hunt was his own stupid fault, also partially Sam's (Dean's still sticking to that, thank you very much)

This is still a hunt, there are lives at stake. He can stow it. For everyone's sake.

So Dean sighs running his hands through his hair as he racked his mind for what he'd have to pack. On autopilot he began grabbing his clothes and usual crap, shoving it into his bag. As he zipped it up, his eyes landed on a box in the top of his closet.

In a flash he had the box down, lid off, sitting on his lap. Dean reached inside, pulling out two rings and his stomach flipped at the sight.

Yeah, it was gonna be a long night.

The next morning they were all in the garage packing up the trunk, getting ready to leave for their two day drive. Sam said the real estate agent was ecstatic that they were interested in the house. Must be a hard sell since the last three owners died inside.

Dean was strapping Jack into his car seat, rings weighing his pocket down, like a boulder.

"I'm gonna grab the last bag from the kitchen" Sam announced as he jogged out of the garage.

Well, it was now or never. So Dean drew in a shaky breath and walked around the car.

"Uh Cas, here" Dean said lamely, holding out a ring between his fingers.

Cas tilted his, eyes widening at the object.

"We're uh, supposed to be married right? So we need rings ya know" Dean continued unsure of how to proceed.

Cas nodded in understanding, carefully taking it from Dean's fingers, and slipped onto his left hand.

Dean gasped, and quickly tried to cover it up

"Uh yeah sorry of it's too tight, it's mind from years ago. I used to wear a few of them all the time, but they hurt like a bitch when you gotta deck someone" Dean rambled, face heating up.

"It's perfect, thank you" Cas smiled, meeting his eyes.

The squirming feeling was back, and squirmier than ever.

"What about you?" Cas asked looking at Dean's empty fingers.

"Oh! I've got my mom's old wedding ring. Had it resized to fit years ago, so I figured it would work" Dean rushed, pulling the second ring out of his pocket and slipping it onto his finger.

When he looked up again, Cas was staring at him with a look Dean had never seen on him before. It made his heart skip a beat in his chest.

"Alright! You guys ready to go?" Sam called as he walked back through the door, causing both of them to jump.

Moment ruined.

Without a word, they quickly climbed into the Impala. As Dean went to turn the key, his eyes traveled to the rearview mirror.

Jack giggling in his car seat as Cas wiggled his stuffed rabbit right above his head. Cas suddenly looked up catching his eye in the mirror, giving him a soft smile, which Dean found himself easily returning.

His eyes slid over to Sam, who was staring at the ring on his finger. Then Sam met his eyes, offering him a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

So Dean quickly snapped his attention forward, and turned the key a bit too hard.

Yeah, Dean was fucked.

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