#she canonically is a reality tv personality

[jenchwuq]

Just thought of something terrible--a body count au featuring Chiara. She wouldn’t be finding the killer--she’d be the killer

[visenyaism]

ASOIAF POV characters ranked by how good of a guest judge they would be on drag race (definitive ranking)

24. Arys oakheart. spectacularly bad in a way that would also be bad TV because he simply would not know what to do. and would be icky about it.

23. Ned stark. canonically gets suspicious of people just because they are gender nonconforming.

22. Aeron greyjoy. people are going to wonder why i put him as Victarion on this list. this is because I think victarion has a better personality for reality TV.

21. Victarion greyjoy. good TV, would win reverse GLAAD award for most homophobic event on television.

20. Areo hotah. too stoic.

19. Quentyn. little nerd in over his head. if Barristan Selmy is telling you that you are not serving hard enough it’s already over.

18. Barristan selmy. a #ally for revealing that egg legalized gay marriage for his kid daeron and being happy about it, but does not have a lot else going for him. would probably say everyone looks nice

17. Bran. seven.

16. Joncon. IS gay, but does not seem like he’s super into all that.

15. Jon. Would probably awaken something in him.

14. Jaime. does not serve cunt, is one.

13. Brienne. Listen she’s trying her best okay.

12. Samwell Tarly. Would DEFINITELY awaken something in him. too busy blushing and telling everyone they look great to be an actual judge.

11. Arya. One thing about her is she WILL be finding people and she WILL be talking to ALL of them which makes her a great TV personality, but i think she would get bored.

10. Davos. Can’t explain this one i just think he would be down.

9. Cat. Serves, afraid to FULLY serve. Ally.

8. Asha. gets off on being mean to pretty boys so you know she is having a great time.

7. Dany. what can i say she’s a star.

6. Tyrion. definitely has the personality for it.

5. Cersei. is a fascist but showing up in full rhaegar eleganza to her husband who she murdered’s funeral. cuntress. You KNOW she would kill it.

4. Arianne. Definitely the first person you would think to ask to guest judge and for good reason.

3. Sansa. 13 year old fashion icon who loves gay people so much. Is so into it the whole time. meticulous notes.

2. Theon. could be the greatest to do it if he could ever get over himself but as it stands simultaneously knocks it out of the park and is a total train wreck. extremely fun to watch.

1. Melisandre. Serves like her life depends on it which she thinks it literally does. Obsessed with appearances and performances. off putting antagonistic cryptic and weird. fantastic TV.

[heaven4lostgirls]

promises and dreams

pairing: finnick odair x reader

warning: angst, mentions of throwing up and blood, canon typical death and violence included!

summary: finnick odair is your best friend, but somehow you cant find it within yourself to be aanything more. Now that the 75th Hunger Games calls for Victors to be reaped you make it your plan to bring Finnick back home to Annie or you will die trying

word count: 1.3k

a/n: sorry ive been gone for so long! i have just finished uni so i am working on getting some more content out as soon as i can! have this to tide you over in the mean time but i can't wait to get back to posting! part 2?

part 1, part 2, part 3

You were sitting in the victors village of district 4 as you turned on the television to listen to the reaping news for the 75th Hunger Games. Your glass on the table in front of you was filled with amber liquid to quell the anxiety you felt as you hear Snow’s grating voice flood your home. Your hands are shaking as you’re forced to relive the memories of your own hunger games, which you had won at only 16.  

The victors that came after you were mentored by either you, or Finnick Odair, the Capitol’s prince. You had a harder time disassociating from  being a mentor when your tributes were in the games, Finnick always seemed so determined to get them sponsors and help them  in any way he could but for you, it was almost as worse as being in the games yourself.

Finnick and you had always been close, only drifting apart when his womanly companions found it necessary, he spend more time with them rather than you. You couldn’t blame them, if Finnick was yours you too would probably be uncomfortable but that never meant it hurt any less to see your best friend discard you as though you were nothing.

The only person you could never find it in yourself to dislike was ironically the only one of his  partner’s that  never dismissed  you, Annie Cresta. She was the epitome of beauty to you, there was no question about why Finnick fell in love with her. She had  been dealt just as bad of a hand in her own games and the both of you had found solace in one another. She could  not have been a better fit for Finnick and although your heart felt as though it was shattering each time you were forced to watch him look at her the way you longed, he would  look at you, you stayed strong.

That was how you found a paternal comfort in Haymitch Abernathy, Katniss Everdeen’s mentor, he was one of the only people who understood how easy it was for you to turn to drinking in favour of trying to find your tributes sponsors because of your own trauma. He knew just as well as you did just how  hard your games were for you; you had fought tooth and nail to make it back to your family only for them to turn you away in disgust for the atrocities you had committed in the games.

One of them always haunting you, You and 12-year-old George were the last tributes standing in the arena and you knew straight away that there was no way you would  be going home, you couldn’t kill him. That was until he ran to attack you and in a strike of defence you had pushed him, he had landed on one of the spears of the dead tributes. His lifeless eyes have haunted your nightmares to  this day.

As you tune back into the Capitol TV, you hear Snow’s voice state, “…the third quarter quell games, the male and female tributes are to be reaped from the existing pool of victors from each district”. Your heart thuds inn your chest as bile rises in your throat. You can feel your eyes burning with unshed tears as you disconnect from reality.  The only thing that brings you back is the realisation that the other victors may  just as well be in the same predicament.

You get up to go to Finnick’s house, the light is on, so you know he must be at home so as you knock on the door, shaking on the front step in either coldness or fear, you’re no longer sure, you’re greeted with Finnick’s hard gaze as he opens the door to let you in. You whisper a small greeting as your eyes travel to the couch in front of the TV where Annie sits, she’s a mess of tears and you can only hold off for so long before you make your way towards her to comfort her.  

Finnick watches the both of you in pain and worry as you try and keep yourself composed to focus on Annie, you know just how hard it must  be for her, she had never truly been okay after her games so right then you had made the decision. If Annie’s name was ever called, you would volunteer for her, you could not sit at home and watch one of your best friends relive their pain on national television as you sat back and did nothing.

“I can’t believe this; how can they  do this?  After our games we were supposed to live! I can’t go back there” Annie says, and you softly rock the both of you as you rub her back, you look over her shoulder to where Finnick is standing and watching you both as his features tighten in anger.

“It’s going to be okay, I promise, you’re not going into that arena, okay?” Annie pulls away and looks  up at you in shock and she’s shaking her head as she lifts her hand to her mouth to stifle her sobs. “You can’t” She says, and you smile back at her as you tuck her long hair behind her ear as you move to hug her, whispering in her ear, “I will make sure he comes back to you” and Annie  squeezes you tighter.

You realise then that whatever happens in the reaping and the games, that  its much bigger than you. Since Finnick had a high chance of volunteering for any of the younger and older victors you  knew that it was up to you to bring him back home. He had a reason to come back, Annie needed him more than you did, and you acknowledge that even if he had never loved you the same way you may love him, that with you dying breath you would make sure he came back to Annie.

The day of the reaping, you stood in the middle of Annie and Mags as they took out  the name for the female tribute, “The female tribute from District 4 is, Annie Cresta-“ Before the announcer is done speaking your mouth moves without thinking, “I volunteer as tribute.” You state with confidence and hear Annie flinch as tears rise in her eyes. You let go of her hand and walk to the front of the podium, the announcer looks at you in shock and sympathy before she announces, “Our Volunteer in place of Annie Cresta, Y/N Y/LN!” she states.

You feel Finnick’s hard gaze on you as they wait for the announcement of the male tribute. When Finnick’s name is called, your heart clenches in pain at the thought of your best friend having to see you die in the arena. His demeanour instantly  switches to play the part of the Capitol’s  prince as he makes his way to stand next to you.  You both smile at the crowd as you make your way towards the train to say goodbye  to your loved ones.

As Finnick and Annie say heartfelt goodbye’s you realise that nobody has come to see you, you wipe the tears pooling in your eyes as Annie turns to you after saying bye to Finnick, she runs and hugs you and thanks you softly in your ear. You squeeze her tightly and reiterate your previous promise before you’re met with the solemn gaze of Finnick.

You nudge him with your arm and playfully tease him, “That looks isn’t very Capitol Prince of you Finn”, his strained smile does not go unnoticed, but you attest it to the pain of having to relive the games however the only thought running through Finnick’s  mind is how he plans on keeping you safe.

Somehow you both think that trying to save the other might just be your own downfall.

[nexysworld]

Summary: It was like staring at a finished puzzle, everything clicking together correctly. Yet despite his fantasies, and how peaceful you looked – he knew deep down a piece was missing. The truth was you weren’t really his, at least not in the way he wanted, and he was going to have to change that. Pairing: RE4R!Yandere Leon x Reader Tags: Suggestive themes but no smut, Yandere, Mentions of murder, stalking, canon typical violence, kidnapping, obsessive behavior, drugging A/N: This was a ko-fi commission for a really wonderful person. I had so much fun writing a little self contained story about Yandere Leon. <3

Read on AO3 || Ask Box || Masterlists || Ko-Fi

Part I: The Small Details

Leon tapped his fingers against the scratchy worn fabric of the couch as he watched you curled up on the other end of the sectional nearly asleep. The colors of the TV flashing across your skin, the only light in the dark living room. He’d lost count of the number of times he’d found himself admiring you like this – running his eyes over the contours of your face, imagining what it would be like to trace them with his fingers. You were always the cutest like that, eyes lidded, mouth parted slightly as you teetered between dreamland and reality.

It was like staring at a finished puzzle, everything clicking together correctly. Yet despite his fantasies, and how peaceful you looked – he knew deep down a piece was missing. The truth was you weren’t really his, at least not in the way he wanted. As close as the two of you were, he was aware of the fact he was only a friend to you.

Every time he felt he was getting closer to making you his, you would wander off into the arms of another asshole. Every time it ended the same way, with you running back into his arms sobbing, if only you could see how much better off you’d be with him. If only you knew. 

Though, what he neglected to tell you was he was the reason each of them ran off. Typically it didn’t take much. Some blackmailing via the use of government tools coupled with the threat of violence usually did the trick. They’d be off, tail between their legs leaving you with nothing more than a break up test or worse, being ghosted. He hated to see the downfall of it, the way the tears spilled down your cheeks as your face scrunched up. The sad way you’d ask him if you'd done anything wrong. It crushed him, but he knew it’s what you needed, what was best for you. Leon sighed, scooting slowly over to your sleeping form reaching a hand out to gently brush some of your hair out of your face before leaning down to place a soft kiss to your forehead. He let his lips linger there, taking in the scent of your hair and relishing the feeling of the contact. ‘Goodnight Sweetheart.’ He thought to himself before making his way to his own bed, down the short hallway. He curled under the plush sheets wishing you were with him.

The next morning he found you moving about the kitchen, cracking some eggs into a pan while the smell of bacon wafted towards him from the other. He loved watching you do things, somehow you managed to make even the mundane beautiful in his eyes. “Good morning.” “Oh, morning!” You said in return, pushing the eggs around in the pan as they cooked. “Hope you’re hungry. I think I cracked too many eggs by accident.” “Starving actually.” He went to pull the chair out to sit, interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. A sigh escaped his lips as he saw Hunnigan’s name on the caller ID. If there was anything of note about the woman, it was that she had the world’s worst timing. “Give me a minute.” Leon said, bowing out of the room.  It was just a run of the mill mission, but the details took forever to get through, at least that’s how it was feeling when all he wanted to do was get back to you. The moment the woman finished her speech, Leon tucked his phone back into the pockets of his cotton gray pajama pants before sliding back into the kitchen and taking his seat.  “Work again?” You asked, scooping food onto his plate. “Unfortunately.” He replied, slightly muffled as he was already chowing down. He used his hand to cover his mouth before swallowing.  “You know, they’ve been reaching out to you a lot lately – are they ever going to give you a break?” Taking your own seat, he was already half finished by the time you scooted in and took your first bite. He shrugged, a smile coming to his face at your concern. “Comes with the territory.” “Territory? I mean the last time I was over here they were calling you at what, 3am? You had to book it out the door before barely saying goodbye.” “Like I said, it comes with the territory.” “Uh huh…” You replied, an eyebrow raising. “What kind of territory are we talking about? I know you’re not a doctor, or a cop, so what kind of job has you on-call 24/7?” Leon let out an annoyed sigh. This was a conversation the two of you have had many times since you met. He’d tried just about every tactic of avoiding the topic as he could, but you seemed unrelenting in your quest for knowledge about his line of work. “I work for the government.” “Sure, I know that, but most government workers are like 9-5’s, I thought that was the point.” “Not that kind of government – You’re always asking me this, why do you want to know so bad?” “Because you’re my friend Leon.” Ouch. “And I care about you.” ‘Then why can’t we be more than friends?’ He thought to himself before shooing the thought from his brain. He considered your words for a moment, taking a sip of his orange juice. “Will you take no for an answer?”  “No!” You said firmly, a triumphant smirk overtaking your features. “Especially not this time. C’mon Lee, please? Please?”

As much as he wanted to stay firm, like he always did, something about this particular morning and the sound of your pleading voice cracked his shell just a little. “I can’t tell you, because I don’t want you to get hurt because of it.” “Oooooh spooky.” You replied with a roll of your eyes. “If you won’t tell me I’ll just have to start guessing. Let’s see, what kind of government job would be dangerous and have you darting off at all hours of the night. Hmmm.” You brought your chin to your face in mock thought – Leon would’ve thought it was adorable if not for how much he didn’t want to be having this conversation. “Are you in the mafia?” Well that’s not what he was expecting, he almost choked on his OJ, brow raising as he let out a snort. “Mafia? You can’t be serious!  Where’d you even get that from, you think just because I’m Italian I’m in the Mafia.” He teased in return.  “It makes sense, a secret life of crime – working with the government to take out rival families.” “You watch too much TV.” “Ok, ok, that was ridiculous. But seriously, I thought we were close. You can’t even tell your best friend what you do for a living? Do you not trust me? I’m hurt.” Your bottom lip jutted out into a mock pout and you batted your eyes dramatically.

He knew you well enough to know that you were half kidding. The pout and exaggerated tone were part of the joke, but damn if that look still didn’t kill him inside. “Fine.” He conceded. “I work for a special part of the federal government. Let’s say we handle things like viruses and stuff.” “Viruses…and stuff?” The way you tilted your head like a confused puppy made his heart trump out of beat for just a moment. “What does that even mean?” “I guess you could say we clean up after them, make sure they don’t spread. That kind of thing.” He was hoping her questioning would stop soon if he gave just enough information to satisfy your curiosity finally – he should have known better though. “But then why would knowing that have anything to do with me getting hurt?” Your eyebrows knitted together, frustration evident on your face. He wanted to smooth out those anger lines with him thumb. “Leon, there’s something you’re not telling me and I don’t like it. What do you really do for a living?” “I just told yo–” “No, cut the crap. Tell me the truth. The real truth. The whole truth –” “Or so help me god? What is this, an interrogation at the witness stand?” “Not funny.” You said firmly, crossing your arms as you leaned back in your chair, staring him down. “Not only am I hurt that you’re still not being honest, but now I’m worried too. Worried about you.” Leon matched the intensity of your stare, taking the last bite of his food. He mulled over things quickly, knowing he had to reply soon before the situation grew more tense. On the one hand, he still didn’t want to open that can of worms with you. On the other hand, maybe if you did understand what was out there, what he protects you against every day it would bring you closer. Maybe it was just the thing he was needing to take things to the next step, have you all to himself – to finally fit that last piece of the puzzle into place.

“Ok, if you really want to know what I do for work, let me show you.”  “Really?” “Really. But I do have to warn you, you might see some pretty gnarly things.” “I can handle gnarly.” “If you say so.” He knew this was a gamble on his part, but he was too committed now to back out. Scooting his chair out, he stood grabbing his dishes. “Wait here for me, I’ll be right back.” He gently set the glass and porcelain into the sink as you gave him a thumbs up, a tiny piece of egg stuck to the corner of your mouth. Instinctively he reached out, flicking it off your face. “So messy.” He chided, teasingly.  Leon headed down the hall and past his bedroom at the locked door of his home office. He’d never let you in there before, and he wasn’t about to let you in there now. Too much evidence of his love for you, among other things. Pictures of your smile scattered about in the forms of polaroids, documents he printed for keeping tabs, and an extra file cabinet dedicated to those he deemed unworthy of your life. 

None of that was important though, what he was really looking for was the heavy metal laptop on the center of the cheap wood desk. The “Property of the United States Government’s Division of Security Operations” logo was worn down from years of use. Leon hadn’t bothered to request a new one, only ever using it for filing and reading reports – or a virtual meeting on the rare occasion. Grabbing it, he slunk back to the living room, leaning back down onto his couch. 

A wave of anxiety washed over him as he considered what he was truly about to do, what he was about to show you. “Done eating?” He asked, patting the seat next to him.  You responded by standing and stretching for a moment before walking over and plopping down next to him. Eyeing the laptop a smirk came to your face. “I guess you really do work for the government. I’ll be damned.” “The sticker give it away?” He asked with a chuckle. With the press of a button, the laptop came whirring to life. As it loaded he looked at you. “I know this probably goes without saying, but anything you see is confidential. Anything. I could get in a ton of trouble if a civilian saw any of this.” “Scary. But yeah I get it.” He could see the subtle change in your expression. Underneath that excitement and confidence there was a hint of trepidation. 

Leon gave you one more moment to back out, before he entered his information into the login screen. Once the desktop was in view, he opened the web browser and pressed his finger to the scanner on the keyboard. “D.S.O Case Archives,” read the top of the web page. He toggled through a few navigational pages until finally an archive of folders appeared. “There’s two case files I want to share with you. The first was the incident that lead me to my current job.” He clicked on the file titled, “Raccoon City,” a document appearing on the page. Details of the year and date were at the top along with a case summary. “Go ahead, check it out.” He handed the laptop over to you, letting you scroll through the document. Eyeing your face carefully, he studied each change in your expression, each hitched breath as you made your way through it. A gasp left your mouth at a photo halfway through. It was a clip taken from security footage, one of the ‘lickers’ as Leon remembered dubbing them. The monster had its tongue out, deformed face almost staring at the camera. “This is a joke right? That can’t be real.” Despite your best efforts to remain brave, Leon could sense the unease beneath it all. “It’s not a joke.” He assured softly. 

“Is that you?” You asked, pointing to a picture farthing down on the document. It was an old photo of himself, still in his RPD uniform. It looked more like a mugshot, he was in a gray room bandage wrapped around his shoulder.  “Yeah. It was my first day as a cop when the outbreak happened.” “You were a cop, I never knew that…. But Raccoon City? I’ve never even heard of a place like that.” “That’s because you didn’t read far enough.” You leaned back for a moment taking in that information before returning to the webpage, scrolling through as you finished the report, eyes scanning over every line of text, every image. “Wait, the government bombed the city? Just like that? Wiped off the planet?” He nodded solemnly, patting you on the back. “Yeah. They thought it was the only way to prevent national panic and contain the outbreak. I managed to get out, but so many people weren’t as lucky.” “I don’t understand.” “That’s just how the government operates –” “No… I mean… Why would you work for them now? After knowing what they did?” 

Not expecting the question, he thought for a moment before deciding to just be truthful. “It wasn’t my choice. After I managed to get out, I was picked up by some agents wanting to interview me. Afterwards I was “asked” to join this government program.” He shrugged it off. “I don’t mind it though. I became a cop because I wanted to help people, and I still get to. The money’s good, and if not for this job I’d never have moved here and met you.”  A dry laugh escaped your lips at the last part. “You’re insane. But I guess it’s good you can think positively after…that. I’ll be honest though, I don’t know if I fully believe this. I don’t think you’re lying but like, monsters? Zombies? If I didn’t know you as well as I did I’d be calling you crazy.”  ‘If only you knew just how insane I am for you.’ He nodded in agreement. “I get that. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed it either.”  “And so like, you deal with things like that all the time?” “I wouldn’t say all the time. Some missions are more normal y’know? Stand bodyguard for some high ranking official. Escort this person, investigate this lead – a lot of which don’t go anywhere.” He shrugged it off.  “What…what was that second one you wanted to show me?” “Are you sure? You look a little freaked out. We can stop.” “No, no I want to see. Please.” You said, handing the laptop back to him.  He didn’t question you further, instead exiting the document before scrolling to find the next one. “The Kennedy Report - Las Plagas” was the title. Again, the folder contained a document littered with information and photos. 

Not even waiting for him to speak, you grabbed it from him, hunching over as if getting as close to the screen as possible would help you take in the information. “Wait, you wrote this report? And…Leon this was the last time you were away.” The shock on your face was palpable, mouth agape, eyes wide. He found it amusing that information alone had such an effect on you and you hadn’t even made it to the meat of the report yet. It made his heart thud. “Yeah, and yep.” He confirmed.  “The President’s daughter? No way…” You continued to mutter little comments to yourself as you read along – nose nearly touching the monitor by the time you reached the first picture of a plaga. “Jesus christ! What the fuck is that thing?”  He could tell you weren’t really asking, as you just continued your venture through the webpage, face becoming more contorted with confusion and an unreadable expression to Leon. The bottom of the report held a photo of him and Ashley Graham standing next to one another outside a helicopter. You reached out to touch the screen, finger on his chest. The look of discomfort on your face was quickly replaced with a smile, as if you were masking whatever it was you were really feeling. “That’s what you wear at work? If that shirt was any tighter you might bust through it, really showing off the muscles, damn.” 

He couldn’t contain the snort that left him. You were too precious, making jokes to deflect how you were really feeling. It was something Leon himself was all too familiar with, just another reason he knew you were that missing piece to him. 

Grabbing the laptop, he closed the lid and set it on the side table. He didn’t speak, giving you a few minutes to process. 

“That was real?”  “Yeah.” “All of it?” “Yeah.”  Nodding, you flopped sideways to rest your head on his shoulder. He felt his chest tighten at the contact, resisting the urge to wrap his arm around you and kiss your forehead – just like he’d done when you were sleeping. “Thank you for telling me. I get now why you didn’t before. I’m sorry for prying.” “It’s alright. I get the curiosity.” Daring to take a chance, he did wrap his arm around you, combing his fingers through your hair. He felt you relax against him. “Made me feel a little better actually.” “Really?” “Yeah, it’s not often I get to open up like that.” “Can I ask you a question?” “Of course.”  “You said part of why you never told me before was because you were worried about me getting hurt. What…what did you mean by that?” “Working on missions like that puts me in front of  a lot of dangerous people. That’s not even including the government itself – they like their secrets. I guess I’m just worried the more you know, the more there’s a possibility of you being a target.” It was there, only for a second, but he caught it – a look of fear, it nearly crushed him. “Don’t worry though.” He added. “I’d never let anything happen to you. Ever. Promise.”  “Lee…” The nickname you only used on special occasions, your voice so soft if you weren’t leaning on him he wouldn’t have heard it.  “Yeah?” He didn’t expect the way you moved so quickly, moving so you were straddling his lap, staring directly at him – looking into his eyes with an intensity he’d never seen before. You gulped down and took a few breaths in as if to stop yourself from crying before wrapping your arms around him tightly, chin resting tightly on his shoulder. He mimicked your actions, squeezing you tightly against him.  It affirmed his decision that telling you was the right thing to do. He could already sense that you two were closer after this, knew you’d be his soon. For now though he chose to linger in the moment, enjoying the way you felt against him – how you clung to him.

Part II: The Short Interlude 

Leaving that conversation with Leon left you feeling indescribable. It was easy at first to shake away those icky feelings, burying them under the ongoings of day to day life – but at nighttime the struggle would begin. The lingering memory of those awful images and nearly worse the stories behind them. 

Denial was the first thing you tried, shaking your head as if the thoughts would empty themselves too. ‘That would never happen here. That stuff couldn’t possibly be real. The government wouldn’t really do that, right?’ The more you thought about it though, the more feelings of anxiety would wash over you. It had you rethinking a lot of things, things you wouldn’t normally have taken so seriously. Several late nights were spent suddenly missing your family, or old friends you haven't seen in a while. 

The growing ‘what ifs’ weighed on you heavily to the point where you decided you wanted to be home again, close to your loved ones. If god forbid something happened they were who you wanted to be beside.

Of course you felt bad for leaving Leon, especially after how he admittedly opened up to you. It made you feel guilty, like the world’s shittiest friend. But worst of all, you knew you’d miss him. He was a great friend. The best really, more than you could ever ask for. The thought of leaving him behind tugged at your heart – but this is what you needed, at least for now. 

It took all of your willpower to muster the courage to pick up the phone and dial his number. Swallowing down the nervousness, you pressed the cool glass to your ear, letting it ring. Each loop of the dial tone made your resolve falter. About to end the call – he picked up on the last ring.  “Hey, Lee.” You said, pacing back and forth inside your own apartment, not wanting to stand in any one spot too long.  “Hey, it’s been awhile.” “Yeah – you know I wanted to apologize for that. I know I’ve been acting really weird since the day you showed me all that.” “That’s ok, I know it was a lot. Is everything alright? You don’t normally call, just stop by.” “Yeah, yeah.” You said clearing your throat awkwardly. “I just had something I wanted to tell you, that’s all.”  “Something to tell me over the phone and not in person?” You could hear the speculation in his tone. “Sounds like it must not be good news.” 

“I mean, I wouldn’t say it’s bad news.”  “Uh huh…. So what’s up then?” “Well this past weekend I went to visit my parents. While I was out there, I started looking around at places to move to.” “Wait, you went out of town and didn’t tell me? And now you’re talking about moving? Why?” “Well, I didn’t think I needed to tell you.” Shocked by his upsetedness you frowned, biting your lip in thought before adjusting the phone between your neck and shoulder. “Look, just after everything it got me thinking. I just think being near family is what I need right now.” “Is it because that stuff freaked you out? Because if it is, I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intent–” “No, no….I mean maybe a little. I know you didn’t mean it but –” “Come on, your whole life is here, you can’t really be planning on moving so abruptly.” “Leon –” “I’d miss you.” 

Those words crushed you. “I’m going to miss you too, Lee. A lot.” “Then don’t go.” His voice was quieter now, softer. If the phone wasn’t right up to your ear, you wouldn’t have heard it.  “Leon, I have to.” “No you don’t.” His voice was flat, authoritative – the abrupt tone shift shocked you.

“I already made an offer on an apartment.” The phone clicked, ending the call on his end. You stared down at the black screen for a moment before trying to redial the number. It rang twice before going to voicemail. You tried again a second time. Then a third time. By the fourth of him clearly declining your calls, you gave up. ‘Asshole, hanging up on me.’

It’s not how you wanted any of this to go. You slumped down onto your own couch, head in your hands as you thought about everything. “Man this sucks.” It was starting to get dark out, the streetlamps of the parking lot just flickering on, adding a soft yellow glow through the window. Even though you had lived alone this whole time, suddenly your apartment was feeling very lonely. You bounced your leg as you thought about your next move.

With nothing immediately coming to mind, you decided to try and distract yourself, flipping through the channels of your TV, not lingering on any one station for more than a minute or two, before starting back at the top of the list. When that didn’t work, you curled up under the throw blanket hoping sleep would be enough to distract you – instead, all it did was bring back the memories of the countless times you found yourself wrapped under one of Leon’s blankets, always soft and smelling like that fancy cologne he wore, as you’d fall asleep at his apartment. 

You fell asleep missing him.

Part III: The Whole Picture

The morning sun beat down heavily against your eyes. Mumbling you rolled over, not ready for the day to start yet, hands grasping at the plushness beneath you. The softness of the duvet lulled you back into that sweet sinking feeling, nearly unconscious again when it hit you. 

You fell asleep on the couch.

Where was the scratchiness of the knitted throw blanket? How did you have so much space to move? Jolting upright, you looked around, nearly blinded by the light against your sore sleep-filled eyes. Rubbing them quickly, you looked around while they adjusted, heart racing as you realized it wasn’t your living room. “What the–?” It was a plain white room, nothing really in it besides the bed and closet doors at the far wall. 

Attempting to stand, you almost fell, catching yourself against the tall bed. It felt like you were drunk, your head was clear, but your limbs felt numb and heavy, like walking with noodles for legs. It took a moment of deep breaths and sheer will for you to finally fling yourself from the bed to the window, putting your weight against the sill. 

All you could make out in the distance was a flat field of tall grass blowing in the wind, stopping only at a wall of trees. It was a far cry from the urban cement and neon lights of the city. You craned your neck to see if you could make out anything recognizable in either direction – it was just more of the same. A sea of unkempt grass surrounding whatever building you were in. 

A noise behind you made you jolt with panic, in fear you let go of the sill attempting to run as you collapsed to the ground. 

“Oh sweetheart…you’re not ready to be up and walking yet.” 

The familiar voice made you turn instantly, eyes locking with those sky blue ones you were so accustomed to. Your mind was so scrambled by everything going on you didn’t even register the pet name at first. “Leon?” “In the flesh.” He replied, moving to crouch down next to you. He ran his hand from your shoulder down your side to your legs, eyes scanning every part of you. “You alright?” “Where am I?” “Not important, with that drug in your system you might not feel if you hurt yo–” “What drug? Leon where the fuck am I?” Attempting to crawl away from him, he stopped you easily, wrapping an arm around you to hoist you up. Any attempt to kick your legs was futile between his strength and whatever was in your system, there was no helping you when he tossed you back onto the bed. 

“Calm down Angel, calm down. I’ll explain, just, you need to calm down.” “I don’t need to calm down. I need to know what’s going on!” You tried to sit up, but he pushed you back down gently. He leered over you, hands on your arms with a grip that was firm but not tight or painful. His face read full seriousness as you peered into his eyes – he didn’t speak, the cold mix of his stare and the ensuing silence made you wash over with fear.  “I said, calm down.” His words were flat, cold. You couldn’t ever remember hearing him like this. The cold aura that seemed to be emanating from him had you biting your tongue only for a brief moment. “How the hell do you expect me to calm down? Tell me what’s going on right now Leon.” “Always so stubborn.” He said softly, whole body relaxing above you before he let go of his hold. Making his way to the other side of the bed he flopped onto it, pulling you close so you were resting with your head on his chest. He wrapped one arm around you and used the other to gently caress your hair. The switching of emotions nearly gave you whiplash.

“I–” “Shh.” He cooed, continuing to pet you like he was taming a pet. “Shh, don’t speak Angel. I know you have a lot of questions, just relax.”

Your brain wasn’t comprehending anything going unless, especially not his odd demeanor or the pet names he was using in abundance. It’s not like you had never imagined yourself curled up with him like this before – but given the situation it just didn’t feel right. You dared to bring your eyes back up to his, and there they were soft, caring, just like you always remembered them being. Once comforting they were now unsettling. Nothing felt right at this moment; your stomach churned with unease and anxiety. If physically capable you’d have squirmed away, pushed at him, but you were stuck. All you could do was bite with your words. “I’m not going to shush. Not until I have answers, and quit calling me that.” You looked up at him, giving your best icy stare. He stopped running his fingers through your hair. “Alright, alright.” He conceded. “What’s your first question?” 

“Where am I?” “You’re home where you belong.” 

That wasn’t very helpful and certainly didn’t answer your question. “You know that’s not what I mean. Where is “home?”” It was brief but you caught his eyebrow twitch at your pushing, something you’d only ever seen when he was irritated and trying to hide it. 

“Home is with me, the exact location of this house you don’t need to know. Understand, princess?” The cold, flat tone was back again. “Any more questions?” “What did you do to me?”  “Nothing, silly.” “It’s not nothing, my arms, my legs –” “It was just a little medicine to help you sleep on the way here. It’ll wear off soon.”  “How did –” You actually didn’t want to know the answer to that. “Why?” “Why what?” He raised a brow as he tucked some hair behind your ear, an action that was once sweet – something you loved that he would do whenever you were upset. Right now though every touch of his fingertips stung, his non answers beginning to irritate you beyond belief. “What do you think I mean? Why are you doing this? Why did you bring me here?” “Because this is where you belong. I told you that already.” “Leon, come on. You know damn well that’s not what I meant!” You finally snapped out of frustration. “You know what? You’re fucking crazy – take me home right now!”  His grip on you tightened slightly, not as tight as before, but just enough as a warning. “This right here is exactly why you’re here.” He snapped back. “You don’t listen. You don’t think. You have no idea what’s best for you. I’m sorry but I can’t keep letting you go on like that, I have to keep you safe.” “Wha–” “I love you.” He said the words with such firm confidence you were stunned. Despite yourself your cheeks dusted red from hearing the confession, thoughts swirling through your head in hazy clouds of confusion. 

“Leon what the hell –” “I love you.” He said again, cupping your cheek with his palm. “That’s why you’re here. Why I have to keep you safe.” You swatted his hand away as best you could, confusion, anger, and shock morphing your features. He didn’t seem to care for your discomfort as he spoke again. “No more questions. Just relax.” He emphasized his point by sitting up and leaning forward to rub at your thigh. You weren’t sure what he was doing,definitely suspicious of his intentions, until he began kneading at your muscles with both hands. “Feel good?” He applied more pressure as he wired his way down, at first it was a strange sensation, pins and needles mixed with numbness, until it faded and all you could feel was the warmth of his hands on the spot he was working. “Use your words sweetheart.” “Don’t patronize me like that.” “You don’t have to be that way.” He sighed, but continued massaging your muscles. “It’ll help get you walking a little better so I can show you around, help you get settled in. I’m sure your attitude will change after a while” He spoke while he worked, pushing and rubbing against the flesh on both legs.  “Doubtful.”  You couldn’t deny it was pleasurable, but most of all you were keen on getting your movement back. It was clear that he was – crazy, to put it mildly. Either he snapped, or he was never really the Leon you knew, regardless, one thing was true: you needed to get out of here. “That should do it.”

He admired his work before slipping off the bed, and grabbing your hand. “Let me help you up.” Sliding both your legs over the side of the bed was much easier than before, though you were still lacking the ease of coordination you were used to. “You’re going to show me around now?” “That’s right.” Without the ease of proper limb movement you knew there was no making a run for it at this exact second. Considering your situation, you decided to be neutral, allowing him to show you around without much hassle. At best you figured it would be a good way to scout for information, a better understanding of your surroundings.  The house itself was basic. An old ranch style home, one story only a few rooms. Each one was sparsely decorated and furnished, similar to the bedroom you had woken up in. No personal items in sight, white walls, nothing cozy about it. It felt eerie, too cold and open. 

Leon prattled on with an explanation for everything. He left it blank so you two could make it your ‘own space’, he couldn’t wait to settle in with you and make it a home. You replied to his excitement with automatic answers when he forced them out of you, refusing to even feign appreciation. The wood flooring echoed loudly with each heavy step you placed down, you made note of that. Where he talked about putting up photos, you saw the window next to the wall as a potential escape route. The back door had an odd lock set up, several on the outside and the inside, clearly designed both for keeping you in and anything else out. ‘Don’t try that door.’ You added to your mental notes. The bathroom was the last one shown to you, simple, a white claw tub with a pull-string style toilet, mirror, and sink. Nearly nothing was noteworthy about it until your eyes caught the inside door lock, the push button kind. Sure enough, the outside of the knob lacked a keyhole, only that tiny circular pinhole – the only door in the whole house that locks only from the inside. You of course made note of that, bolding it in your head. “So, what do you think? I know it’s a lot different from what we had in the city, but I’m sure once it’s spruced up a bit you’ll feel better.” “Are you going to let me invite friends over?” You asked, sarcasm dripping from your tongue.

Of course if he noticed, he didn’t care, blowing past your attitude with more of his delusional talk. “I wouldn’t get your hopes up. It would be a long while before I would feel comfortable letting anyone step foot in here.”  “Sounds lonely.” You replied flatly, rolling your eyes before scanning around some more, trying to see if there was anything else that could help you. “You’ll have me.” He replied, pressing his lips to your forehead in a soft kiss. You steeled yourself to whatever emotion it brought out in you, resisting the urge to slap him. “Of course and when you’re halfway across the world for work, I bet I'll have tons of fun staring at the grass.” “We’ll get you a cat.” “Leon, I’m getting really  tired of this –” “You’re  pushing it.” “I’m pushing it? You take me to some texas chainsaw style house in the middle of nowhere against my will and I’m the one pushing it? You’re lucky you drugged me, otherwise –” “Oh cool it.” He ruffled your hair. “You’re adorable when you’re upset, know that? Like a kitten.”

You saw red, biting your lip, your hand came up to make contact with his face not able to contain the frustration anymore – disappointed when he grabbed your wrist catching it easily.  “Exactly what I’m talking about.” He pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand, letting out a deep sigh. “Look, I know something that will chill you out.” “I don’t want anymore medicine.” “It’s not medicine.”

“I don’t believe that.”  “You don’t have to.” He said with a shrug, before turning you and leading you carefully back through the house, stopping at the large set of french doors at the front. To your dismay it held the same, if not more locks than the back door. The large window next to it was a casement type with a crank, the slats looked just big enough for you to slip through if you could manage to get them open; another note added.

You watched as he dug in his pocket for his keychain. The green and black one made out of paracord, you recognized it as the one he always used for his car keys, except now it held a slew of others. Leon made quick work of the lock system, expertly flipping through each colored key. Anticipation burned in your core with every click of a lock turning into place, closer and closer to the smallest taste of freedom. 

The air outside was colder than you expected, the breeze that made the grass sway had picked up since your view out the window. It stung slightly against your cheeks, but felt great compared to the stale air of the house. Taking a deep breath in, you closed your eyes just enjoying the smell, the feeling, pretending he didn’t exist for a moment. The urge to run created an uncomfortable uneasiness in your legs.

The view wasn't much different than the one from the bedroom window. An endless sea of grass stopped only by a wall of trees in the far distance, except now the sunset was adding purple and yellow hues to everything. It occurred to you that you had no real idea how long you were out or what time it had been when you woke up. Nothing outside was distinguishable, nothing recognizable. At least until you scanned all the way to the right and noticed where Leon’s jeep was parked – if his vehicle was over there, then likely the path in and out was too. 

“I know how much you love the sunset, it’s better here too. Another reason why I picked this place just for you.” He took a few more steps out with you, but held you close to him. More of the property made its way into your vision, not a ton, but enough that when you looked to the side, you could definitely see the dirt path that led out into the thicket of trees. ‘That’s the way I need to go.’ “Sweetheart, are you listening to me?” “How could I not be, you’re right there.” You could see the annoyance on his features again, he didn’t bother to reply to you this time, instead looking off at the sky himself. You weren’t exactly sure what the plan was yet. Even if you hadn’t learned about the details of Leon’s work, it wouldn’t take a genius to know he would be hard to get away from. Anyone with working eyes could see how built he was, but coupled with knowing that he was skilled at likely this exact kind of thing – if you even had a 1% chance of escaping, you needed an advantage. A head start, a distraction, anything.

As the sun dipped lower and lower, the hazy warm colors of the sunset disappeared into the ever growing darkness that began overtaking the landscape. He wasn’t wrong, it was different from the city, no neon lights or dull street lamps for illumination. As pretty as the stars were twinkling above, the rest of the world was dark. Another thing to worry about, if you even managed to get outside long enough to run. 

Despite spending the entirety of the sunset in deep thought about your escape plan, nothing came to mind. Settling in on the fact that you would have to remain here at least for the night, you didn’t protest when Leon corralled you back inside.  “We should start getting you ready for bed.”  “I haven’t even been awake for more than a few hours.” You protested, not wanting to relinquish consciousness yet. “Today’s been stressful, and you’ve been extra fussy. It’s clear you need more rest.” He patted you on the back before toting you back to the bedroom, ignoring your protests. Sitting at the edge of the bed, you turned up your nose and looked away when he began to strip himself out of his day clothes, peeling the fabric off of himself to make way for his pajamas. “Sweetheart, you shouldn’t stain your neck like that, might hurt yourself.” “Whatever.” When you turned to look at him your eyes landed on the fact he was only choosing to wear a thin pair of pants as his ‘pajamas’. You’d seen him less than dressed before, but in this context it was definitely different. While you’d indulged in admiring his physique before, now it was a reminder of just how strong he was. The pants too left little to the imagination, him obviously having opted on going commando. “You don’t seriously plan on sharing a bed, do you?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t we?” “I don’t want to share a bed with you.” “That’s not up for you to decide. Besides, I’ve seen you sleep, you’re beautiful like that – I refuse to give up that view ever again.”

The words made your stomach churn. “Well, I’m not tired.” “That’s alright, you will be once you take your medicine. It’ll help you sleep.” Another protest died on your tongue as he disappeared from the room before returning with a few pills and a glass of water. They were small and pink, nothing you recognized. Accepting them from his hands, you considered if you should take them or if you could get away with only pretending. 

The decision was made for you as a crack of thunder outside jolted his attention for a moment, pulling him to the window. In a snap decision, you stuffed them into the pillow case before pretending to put your hand to your mouth the moment he turned to look at you before gulping down the water.  “Open for me.” You did as you were told. “Tongue up too.” You moved the muscle up and down, side to side to make sure that he could see nothing was within your mouth. “Stand.” “Oh come on, you told me to take the pills. I did.” “I said, stand.” He repeated, gently pulling you back to your feet.. He looked at where you had been sat, running his hand along the sheet and lifting the pillow before doing one final search on the floor. Pleased with the lack of what he found, he smiled at you. “Good girl. Let’s get some rest.” There was no avoiding the inevitable now as you slipped under the covers against your will. He’d pulled you in close to him, hot breath on your neck, body heat and muscles pressed into your back. His heavy arm laid over you like a blanket made of stone, keeping you in place. There you were stuck, trapped. Plush lips placed a few kisses on your neck as well, stiffening your body like a plank of wood. “Stop that.” You commanded, doing your best to jerk your neck from him. For once, he did as you asked, allowing you to adjust far enough away that you were out of the range of his lips, still stuck under his arm.

It made you sad, angry, every emotion in between. Despite only being aware of your situation for hours, it felt like a lifetime away that things were normal. You and Leon were friends, crashing on his couch while you watched movies – clinging to him at your most vulnerable emotional moments. Still no comfort was found in his touch, especially not in the dark silence of the room. If anything, it was making you feel worse than it had earlier, claustrophobic even. Despite knowing you needed to remain still, pretend to at least sleep, all you wanted to do was fidget, brain recounting the day's events over and over again, landing on that bathroom door. The knob, the only lock in the house that could benefit you.

The unbearable need to get away was gradually becoming all consuming the longer you were left with your thoughts. “Leon?” You called his name gently once his breathing had evened out along with his heartbeat. No response came, just a mild fluctuation in his breath, a twitch of his arm. ‘He must be sleeping.’

While no grand escape plan had come to you, the opportunity to at least get some solitude and to abate the restlessness in your legs kept tugging at your brain. Gently, you lifted his arm off of you, squirming out from under it to scoot to the edge of the bed. “Where …you…going?” His voice was slurred with sleep still, and he made no motion to move.  “I have to pee really bad.” You did your best to match that same slurred sleepiness, hoping he was still under the impression you’d taken whatever medication it was he’d given you.  “Just be quick.” He rolled over to the other side pulling the blanket with him as if he was settling back down to sleep.

Slowly you creeped around the bed, mimicking the heavy gait you had earlier when first waking up, even once you creaked the bedroom door open you continued allowing your footsteps to be heard, not wanting to make him suspicious of anything. 

The bathroom was exactly the relief you had intended. Freedom to stretch and move your limbs, freedom of silence that didn’t feel all encompassing as you lightly drummed your fingers against the porcelain of the sink. Time was limited this evening so once you had enough time to breathe, you flushed the toilet before splashing some water onto your face, resolving yourself to head back to the room.

Turning to make your way back, the little button lock on the bathroom door was pushed out towards you, catching your attention once more. Clicking the button into place, you attempted to twist the knob – sure enough it stuck in place just like you had hoped. ‘No fucking way!’ You cheered mentally. 

‘Ok, he forgot one lock… but how does that help me?’ Looking behind you, you took a chance by sliding the shower curtain open as quickly and quietly as possible. There eye to eye you came with a window. It was the same crank open type as the living room, but with only one panel that opened out. It would be a tight fit, but with enough determination you could probably fit. Debating on if this was something you should try tonight, or hold onto the idea for a better occasion. ‘But what better timing would there be before he noticed the lock?’

Taking a chance, you closed the door again making sure the lock was in place and testing the knob. “I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.” You chanted to yourself, stepping into the cold tub. The crank on the window was old, and you were sure it would be loud. “Quickly. Gotta do it quickly.” It took all your strength to get it to budge, arm muscle aching, but finally it gave way beginning to turn. A loud screech echoed within the tiny bathroom. Immediately you stopped, listening for movement from the other room. 

Nothing. So far so good. You went back to turning it, the window opening slowly with each turn. At the halfway mark you halted, this time the sound of another door creaking made the hair on your back stand straight. The thudding of heavy steps barrelling towards the door had your fight or flight mode going haywire.  “Sweetheart.” His voice was low with having just woken. “Come out here.” The sound of his fist against the door made your heart skip a beat and made your stomach churn as if you were going to throw up.  “No.” You called back, hurriedly trying to finish getting the damned window open.

His hand met the knob, attempting to turn it when it stuck. He jiggled it a few times, fear settling ice cold in your stomach at his voice. “Open. The. Door.”

It was a command. His fist continued to beat against the door and his other hand fought with the doorknob behind you, the wood creaking and bowing with each blow. It felt like time stood still and sped up all at once. The impending fear of him breaking through the door felt like it was only milliseconds away, while the crank of the window felt like it would take years to get open.  “Angel, I’m worried about you. Just open the door.” He called through this time, his voice a soft coo in comparison to the harsh way he was handling the few inches of wood that kept you apart. “No you’re not you freak! Leave me alone!” You shouted, voice wavering as a loud boom was heard behind you, followed by the sound of wood cracking. “Angel, I don’t want to scare you. I just need you to come out right now please. Just come back to bed. It’ll be alright – we both know you won’t make it far even if you get out the window.” So he did know your plan, if it weren’t for the adrenaline coursing through you, that might have rattled you. But you were determined, with one more push, the window was open enough for you to pull yourself up and through, just in time for one more solid blow to the door behind you. 

Plopping to the ground, you had just enough time to see Leon through the window staring down at you before you took off. Legs moving as fast as they could take you, you just ran. No thought for the path you saw earlier, no thought of where, just pure speed. 

It was so dark you couldn’t see anything through the tall grass as you ran, feet stinging as you stepped on various rocks and anything else hidden in the dirt between patches. Had your arms not been held out in front of you, a head-on collision with a tree would’ve been imminent as you reached the edge of the property. 

Not a track star by any means your stamina was waning as your legs grew sore. Knowing you couldn’t outrun him, you hoped you could at least hide, scrambling into the blanket of trees staying as quiet as you could. 

“Sweetheart!” You heard his voice calling you in the distance. “It’s not safe out here.”

You ducked down under the root of a large tree, shivering against the cold and silently praying nothing was under there with you. “Just come back and we can talk. You have no shoes, you’re not in outside clothes, it’s dark. I’ll give you one chance to come back, you’re not going to like it if I have to play chase Angel.”

‘I’m not your Angel, asshole.’ You hunched in on yourself more, trying to make yourself smaller as his voice grew louder, hoping you wouldn’t be noticeable. You didn’t hear him again, or any impending footsteps after several moments. Ambient noises of the forest overtook your ears, crickets chirping a frog in the distance croaking – hyper aware of everything, the hairs on the back of your neck stood straight up. You felt like a cat, ready to pounce at any second.

When there was still no sign of Leon, with limbs trembling, you stood, tilting your head to see if you could hear anything. The whistling of the wind picking up was the only difference, the cold air biting at you. Mustering up the courage, you took a single step forward. Then another, and another. Moving from one tree to another, praying to the universe that you made the right choice, that you were heading opposite of whatever direction Leon fucking Kennedy was in.  With each progression forward, the fear ebbed away as your confidence slowly renewed. The farther into the woods you managed to get, the darker it was getting. The canopy above began to block out any remnants of the small moonlight that guided any of your previous moves. Feeling vaguely safe, you stopped to take a breath and to assess what to do next – one possibility hunkering down until sunlight came. ‘Who knows how long that could be, and he’ll be scouring these woods all night.’

“You got this. Just think….think…”

And that’s when you felt it from behind, his arms clamped around you, one hand covering your mouth. A muffled “mmph” escaped you before you registered a sweet smell overtaking you. You flailed desperately, feet digging into the mud, nails making crescent shapes in his tight forearms, desperate to get away. Your movements were becoming uncoordinated again, head hazy as the world turned hues of pink. “Got you Sweetheart. It’s alright, it’s alright.” Leon’s voice cooed in your ear again. “I’m not upset, I promise. You don’t have to be scared. We just gotta get you home.” His words warped and began to sound strange as your vision went funny – the few dark shapes you could make out twisted and bowed like looking through a circus mirror. You couldn’t help the giddy and giggling feeling you had, leaning back into his touch. “That’s my girl, come here.” 

“N-no.” You protested between the laughter, like a child being tickled.

He lifted you bridal style, kissing your cheek before stealing a quick peck from your lips you neither returned nor rejected, watching for a moment his face was swirling in different shades of skin tones as he stepped out of the thicket of trees back into the field. “See? So much easier to be a good girl, isn’t it?” You flopped your head against his shoulder as he continued the trek back, not answering. Vaguely you heard him mumble something about making sure the windows were locked down, but you were too focused on the cartoon looking building that kept swaying in the breeze like grass, eyes becoming heavier and heavier. “I’m s’tired.”  “I know, Angel. I know, get some sleep. Tomorrow will be our real first day home.”

Too close to unconscious to process anything else, your eyes finally slipped closed, the sinking feeling of sleep wrapping itself around you. 

[aloneinthehellfire]

The Introduction

A (possible) brand new series featuring Robin Buckley x Reader set in ST4

Summary: When Vecna comes to town, Robin and her friends need all the help they can get in the final battle. The gang searches for an old friend she's never met before. But what Robin didn't know, was that the help would catch her attention in more ways than one.

Word Count: 4.1k

Warnings: canon deaths (mentions of vecna killings), reader appears at the end it is mostly a set up for the series, nothing really to report here tbh

[A/N: well hello there. I have *finally* storyboarded a new series that would be an episode by episode ST4 fic where Reader and Robin are endgame. It's something new and something I've been dying to create for a while now so I wanted to test the waters and see if anyone would be interested in reading this? I will literally take one person's yes and go with it, I am very persuadable]

The Introduction

Since when was it too much to ask for a normal spring break?

Robin had enough of the excitement in Hawkins last summer when she ended up in a secret Russian lab, tortured and shot full of some serum she was sure was unsanctioned.

The horrors of that day were flushed down that bathroom toilet along with those drugs, some kind of wave of reality hitting her hard when she realised she didn’t want to be alone anymore. She confided in her new friend, her closest friend, and hoped that it would end a horrible day with a weight off her shoulders.

And then she was crashing a car into a possessed guy and hurling fireworks at some freaky flesh monster. So, nothing good lasts forever.

But after that, it all had been pretty quiet. Robin worked Family Video every other evening and weekends, had Steve drive her to school for the first couple of weeks before it became a habit, secured her place in band and forgot that anything ever really happened. She didn’t want to remember. She wanted to graduate, to have that silly little crush on her bandmate, to save enough money to get out of Hawkins for good.

Then the first day of spring break hit. The first day. And she was stood there staring up at that TV, feeling nauseas in her uniform, knowing that the brutal death of a high school student wouldn’t be as simple as murder.

“So we got, uh, some good news and some bad news.” Dustin says awkwardly and Robin’s lips tighten, looking at where Eddie sat munching through Honeycomb cereal like it was his first meal in days. “How do you prefer it?”

“Bad news first, always.” Eddie responds with his mouth full.

Robin shifts on her feet. It would be dishonest to say that Dustin and Max dragged her into this. All they had done really was show up demanding their computers and a name. She didn’t have to help, or find the address, or go with them anywhere.

The urge to be a part of something always had been a habit of hers. The only reason she joined the marching band was because she figured she’d be safe there. The Russian radio communication was only of interest because she craved involvement. And now she had Steve, her best friend. Where he went, she followed. Which is why she was stood here now, contemplating her decisions.

She was scared, afraid that last year would have only been the baby of all problems she would have to face in Hawkins. And it was understandable, she wasn’t built for pressure situations. If anyone could take a look inside her brain, they’d be questioning why she was even here in the first place.

She has this theory where her mind and her body act completely differently. She’ll rethink everything until she’s overthinking it, but her body will never not react immediately. Whether its her mouth rambling or her legs running, her mind and body haven’t been in sync for a while now.

“Alright, bad news.” Dustin shifts in his seat and Robin exchanges a wary look with Steve. “We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they’re definitely looking for you.”

Eddie’s face falls and Robin hates seeing the way the light in his eyes dim even darker.

“Also, they’re, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy.”

“Like, 100% kind of convinced.” Max chimes in.

“And the good news?” Eddie looks for Dustin’s answer but Robin spoke first.

“Your name hasn’t gone public yet.” She says, resting her arm against a shelf. She really felt for him. He didn’t deserve this. “But if we found out about you, it’s a matter of time before others do, too. And once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you.”

“Hunt the freak, right?” Eddie spits and Robin feels that little stab in her chest. Hunt the freak.

“Exactly.” She says and Eddie curses under his breath.

“So, before that happens, we need to find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence.” Dustin tries to bring a positive note, Eddie’s face remaining unswayed.

“That’s all, Dustin? That’s all?”

“Yeah, no, that’s pretty much it.” He concludes, the older boy looking very unconvinced. Robin can’t help but think that Dustin almost was as bad as she was in these situations.

“Listen, Eddie, I know everything Dustin is saying sounds totally delusional, but we’ve actually been through this kind of thing before. I mean, they have... a -a few times, and- and I have… once.” Robin adds, hoping that somewhere in her ramble there was a coherent message that he shouldn’t be afraid. “Mine was more human-flesh-based, and theirs was more smoke-related, but bottom line is, collectively, I really feel like we got this.”

“Yeah, see, we usually rely on this girl who has super powers.” Steve follows her direction and Robin nods, “But, uh, those went bye-bye, so…”

Everyone’s faces start to scrunch in realisation.

Robin searches for words. “So, we’re technically in- in more of the…”

“Kinda…”

“Brainstorming phase.” Max decides and they all hum in agreement.

“Brainstorming.” Steve snaps his fingers.

“There… there’s nothing to worry about.” Dustin splutters and Steve nods along with him.

If Eddie had been following on at all before, he was completely lost now, looking at them like they were maniacs. They tried their best, Robin thought just as a high-pitched noise started approaching in the distance. Sirens.

“Tarp.” Robin immediately says, pointing to Eddie. “Tarp. Tarp.”

Everyone starts scrambling to their feet and rushing to the windows, Robin’s heart rate unusually high. She hadn’t even experienced what she would assume to be the worst of it yet and she was already hating every second.

Her eyes follow the police cars and the ambulances drive directly past the boathouse, further down the road. Towards the trailer park.

“Trailer park.” Steve mutters, on the same page as her.

“They might have found something new.” Max suggests, looking at her friends in worry.

“Or someone new.” Robin grimaces and they all frown. “The ambulance.”

“Shit, okay, we need to-” Steve turns around, “Hey, Eddie.”

The tarp comes flying off once again, his hair looking a little dishevelled as he still tightly hugged the cereal box.

“You gonna be alright here?” He asks, and the boy simply shrugs.

“We’ll be back when we find out more.” Dustin promises, nodding. “With food.”

Either he didn’t mind or was too freaked out to argue, but Eddie remained impartial on their decision. It was a matter of time before they’re all clambering into Steve’s car, following the same route the police had taken earlier.

“What if the place is completely cornered off and we can’t see anything?” Robin voices her worry, Dustin’s eyes flickering to hers in the rear view mirror.

“It’s too early for that. Plus Max lives there, we can just say we’re dropping her off.”

The girl in question nods her head, her bottom lip stuck between her teeth.

“Doesn’t look like we need to worry about that.” Steve says and everyone’s heads turn to look ahead, focusing on a familiar girl stood among the cops, looking like she wanted to be anywhere else.

Once the car stops, their doors are opened and they all stand, patiently waiting. Even from a distance, Robin could see Nancy’s face light up with gratitude that she wasn’t alone.

Just as Nancy makes an excuse to walk over, Robin’s eyes are already scanning the place, actively ignoring the sheet covering something on the ground. There was this pit in her stomach, an unsettling mix of regret and panic. Whatever they were dealing with this time, she knew it was going to take more than an array of fireworks.

They were alone now, any help shipped away to California, and she was still barely caught up with their previous battles.

Robin really didn’t remember life before sitting around a picnic bench discussing freaky incidents that always seemed to link back to the Upside Down. Maybe that day in the lab had ruined her brain chemistry in a way that reduced her life before as meaningless. Or maybe her life before just wasn’t any better. Either way, a police report of a dead student wasn’t normally followed by a theory of some weird mind wizard from an alternate dimension. Then again, anything was possible in Hawkins.

“So you’re saying that this thing that killed Fred and Chrissy, it’s from the Upside Down?” Nancy asks, but it wasn’t the same scepticism Eddie had.

“If the shoe fits.” Steve raises his brow with a sigh.

“Our working theory is that he attacks with a spell, or... a curse.” Dustin says, “Now, whether or not he’s doing the bidding of the Mind Flayer or just loves killing teens, we don’t know.”

“All we know is this is something different.” Max frowns. “Something new.”

“Doesn’t make sense.” Nancy mutters beside her, looking down.

“It’s only a theory.” Dustin defends but Nancy shakes her head.

“No, Fred and Chrissy don’t make sense. I mean… why them?”

Dustin shrugs. “Maybe they were just in the wrong place? They were both at the game.”

“And near the trailer park.” Max cuts in.

“We’re at the trailer park.” Steve comments, looking around. “Uh… should we maybe not be here?”

A shiver rolls down Robin’s neck as she peers around, the wind picking up at the worst moment. It was eerie here, even without the knowledge of two murdered kids.

“There is something about this place.” Nancy shares, “Fred started acting weird the second we got here.”

Robin’s heart jumps. “Acting weird as in…?”

“Scared, on edge, upset.” Nancy explains, her brows permanently scrunched together.

“Max said Chrissy was upset too.” Dustin looks at her.

“Yeah, but not here.” She frowns. “She was crying in the bathroom at school.”

Robin’s mind began flittering around with theories, nonsensical ones for the most part until she pulled out something that felt comprehensible to their case.

“Serial killers stalk their prey before they strike, right?” Robin begins, forcing herself to reduce the speed of her words to ensure they were properly heard. “So, maybe Fred and Chrissy saw this Vecman.”

“Vecna.” Dustin corrects and she represses the urge to roll her eyes.

“I dunno about you guys, but if I saw some freaky wizard monster, I would mention it to someone.” Steve expresses.

“Maybe they did.” Max theorises, “I saw Chrissy leaving Ms Kelley’s office. If you saw a monster, you… you wouldn’t go to the police. They’d never believe you. But you might go to your-”

“Your shrink.” Robin finishes and the younger girl nods. “They keep files, right? Maybe something in Chrissy’s file will point us in the right direction of who, uh… Vecna is.”

“It’s worth a shot.” Max says and Dustin nods.

“But how are we meant to get it?” Steve frowns, “It’s the counsellor's office, wouldn’t they be locking that thing up tight? The whole school, even.”

“I can get the key.” Max says with confidence, “Ms Kelley said I could come to her house out of hours if I need it, maybe I can find where she keeps her keys and sneak out before she realises.”

Rather than question her alibi, it seemed like everyone was in agreement. They were off that bench in a second flat and following Steve to his car. Robin was trying to push away that fear of the unknown, the anxiety that they would find an answer they wouldn’t like.

She always loved puzzles, brain teasers, classic crosswords. Solving that Russian broadcast was a riddle she enjoyed, assuming it would be nothing but a small summer project to cure her boredom of the ice cream slinging world. But beyond games and word scrambles, she felt completely useless.

“Woah, woah, Nance.”

Robin snaps out of her haze to turn back around, her hand still steady on the passenger door.

“Nance!” Steve calls out and Nancy guiltily turns around from where she was straying from the group. “Nance, where you going?”

“Oh, there’s just something I wanna check on first.” She dismisses, her footsteps still leading her back to her own car. She looked like a woman on a mission.

“Something you maybe wanna share with the rest of us?” Dustin says and Nancy scrunches her face.

“I don’t wanna waste your time, it’s a real shot in the dark.”

“Yeah, okay. Are you out of your mind?” Steve expresses and Robin’s eyebrow raises. “Flying solo with this Vecna creep on the loose? No, it’s too dangerous. You need… you need someone to…”

There’s a pause and Robin’s mind is already drifting when keys are suddenly being hurled at her, only catching them in the last second.

“Here. I’ll stick with Nance, alright? You guys take the car, check out the shrink.” Steve says and she blinks at the metal in her palm.

“I don’t think you want me driving your car.” She points at it.

“Why?”

“I don’t have a license.”

“Why don’t you have a license?”

“I’m poor.”

“I can drive.” Max suggests and Steve is quick to protest.

“No, no, never again. Please. Anybody but you, no.” His eyes drift to Dustin’s smile. “No chance.”

“Look, if it helps, I’m not gonna be alone for very long, okay?” Nancy interjects with a smile. “I… I need to call in a favour.”

“Call in a favour?” Steve frowns, “Who?”

Nancy purses her lips and looks down, shrugging. Robin notices Steve’s stance shifting into one she had labelled ‘the annoyed babysitter’; hands on hips, a slight furrow in the brows and a pouty lip. She had to refrain from pointing it out as she had done many times before, usually resulting in a random object thrown at her head.

“Y/n.” Nancy eventually says and Steve groans.

“No, come on. Literally anyone else.” He protests, shoulders dropping in defeat.

“What’s wrong with Y/n?” Dustin frowns, shaking his head.

“She’s just…” Steve sighs, not bothering to finish the sentence. Robin mouths your name, no familiar face ringing a bell.

“Whatever she is, she’s saved our asses on multiple occasions.” Max spoke up, Dustin nodding in agreement.

“It’s…” Steve starts, shaking his head. “She’s not even in town, is she?”

“She’s visiting her grandparents.” Nancy shrugs. “Look, we don’t have time to argue about it, I’m heading to the library.”

“And what if you don’t make it there, huh?” Steve objects, “What if Y/n is busy? Do we really want to drag another person into this?”

“We need all the help we can get.” Nancy says.

“Do we really want to drag Y/n into this?” He rephrases and Robin watches Nancy’s eyes dart away. Whoever you were, you were a sore subject it seemed. But they didn’t have time to be arguing about this.

“All right, okay. This is stupid.” Robin finally breaks, snagging the exposed radio from Dustin’s backpack and thrusting Steve’s keys back at him. “Us ladies will stick together. Unless you think we need you to protect us.”

Steve pulls a face at her and she laughs, already walking away.

“Be careful!” He shouts after her and she throws up a peace sign.

In all honesty, she was relieved to be heading to a library instead of sitting around in a silent car with her own thoughts. Anything but that.

“So, um… who’s Y/n?” Robin queries as Nancy starts up the car.

“An old friend.” She explains briefly, waiting until the others had driven off before following them out.

“She wasn’t at Starcourt, right?” Robin frowns, repeating your name in her head over and over.

“Uh, no. I don’t think you would’ve met her. She was with me and Jonathan, at the hospital, and…” Her voice trailed off, lips tightening.

“And?” Robin prompts but Nancy simply shakes her head with a smile.

“It doesn’t matter.”

As she looked over, she could just read a hint of guilt on her expression, a hard stare on the road ahead as she turns towards the public library. Robin wasn’t always the greatest at reading social cues, only when she was rambling and paying more attention on getting her thoughts out than how people were receiving them. There was something different about the way they were talking about you, however, like there was something unspoken.

The first thing Nancy did was find a phone.

Robin could just make out Nancy’s expressions in the payphone as she stood waiting by the car, her brows scrunched and mouth constantly moving. When she finally hung up, she wrapped her arms around herself and headed back to the Robin, nodding.

“She’s meeting us in a few minutes.” She explained, and Robin figured she didn’t want to talk about it any further. So, as she made a turn to the library, Robin decided on a different bugging query.

“Okay so, help me get this straight.” She starts as they climb the steps, the bell tolling above the building. She was recalling Nancy’s brief summary on the drive over. “Eddie’s uncle, Wayne, thinks that Victor Creel escaped from Pennhurst Asylum and that he’s the one running around Hawkins committing all these murders?”

“Pretty much.” Nancy responds with a tight-lipped smile. Robin wasn’t finished.

“But Victor committed the eyeball murders, like, way back in the ‘50s.” Robin frowns and Nancy pulls open the door.

“Well, ‘59.” She says.

“So, that means these murders predate Eleven in the Upside Down by about 30 years?” She continued as they walk up to the librarian’s desk.

“Yeah.” Nancy responds bluntly.

“Which makes spooky Victor Creel like 70 years old.”

“Yep.” She reaches out and dings the bell.

“So…” Robin keeps talking, occupying her brain with this theory so she didn’t have to worry about anything else. “He’s a grandpa murderer who can turn invisible and lift people into the air.”

Nancy takes a breath. “It doesn’t make sense. I know. That’s why I said it was a shot in the dark.”

She rings the bell again and, once again, Robin doesn’t catch the hint Nancy’s throwing her way.

“I know. I just thought that by ‘shot in the dark’ you were being modest or hiding something super solid up your sleeve that you were gonna wow us with later.”

Nancy rings the bell twice this time but Robin barely registers it.

“But this is really, truly a shot in the dark. Like, we are snipers with blindfolds on who’ve been spun around 50 times.”

She starts ringing the bell rapidly and Robin looks down at it with a frown, finally realising she’s yet again talked too much.

“Coming!” The librarian calls out, carrying a stack of books.

“Hi, sorry, we’re in a bit of a rush.” Nancy smiles apologetically at her, “Could we get the keys to the basement archives?”

“Of course. Give me one sec.” The woman nods, turning away.

Robin stares down at her hands before the anxiety takes over.

“Did I come off mean or condescending or something?” She blurts and Nancy hesitates.

“No.”

“Right.” Robin sighs, still staring at her, “Sorry. It’s just, you seem annoyed. You don’t know me very well. I don’t really have a filter or a strong grasp of social cues.”

“Okay.” Nancy whispers.

“So if I say something that upsets you, just know that I know it’s a flaw. Believe me, my mother reminds me daily.”

Nancy nods quickly, pretending to be interested. “Got it.”

“Alright, ladies.” The librarian returns with a smile, holding out a set of keys. “Here you go. Have fun.”

“Yep.” Nancy accepts them, forcing a smile. “We’ll… try.”

She starts walking away while Robin remains there frozen, earning a grin from the woman opposite. Robin simply shrugs and begrudgingly follows Nancy.

The archive room was… dusty. A little too dusty to Robin’s liking. Everything was old and smelt weird. Nancy starting looking over some books, inspecting the covers before spotting the Microfilm Readers.

“We should probably get a start while we wait for Y/n.” Nancy says, sitting at the machine and Robin hesitantly leans against it, pursing her lips. Nancy notices and looks up at her, already anticipating another ramble. “Yes?”

“So… Y/n?” Robin holds out her hands, “I don’t want to keep being nosy but, uh… how does she fit into all of this?”

Nancy reluctantly turns towards her with a smile. “She’s been a part of our, uh, group for a while now. Since Will was possessed.”

Robin blinks. “Right.”

“She was the one who figured out heat was their weakness – the things that live in the Upside Down. I’ve known her since we were kids and she’s always been amazing at…” Nancy searches for a term, “Detective stuff.”

“Detective stuff, right.” Robin nods and Nancy slowly turns back to what she was doing. “So, like…”

Nancy sighs and Robin shuts her mouth.

“Sorry, I’ll shut up.” She raises her hands in surrender and Nancy scrunches her face.

“No, I’m sorry. It’s just… I haven’t seen her in a while so I… I’m not trying to be rude, there’s just a lot going on.” She explains apologetically, surrendering her attempt at scrolling through the machine. “I can’t believe I’m dragging her into this.”

“Why are you?” Robin asks genuinely and Nancy tilts her head in contemplation.

“She did a project a few years back on the Creels.” Nancy begins, resting her chin on her hand. “She was researching into small town murders. Y/n was obsessed with the unexplained ones. She likes uncovering truths, solving the mystery. I don’t remember how far she got with this but she’ll have more than enough information to get us started.”

“Right, right.” Robin slowly nods, thinking it all over. You weren’t the new addition she assumed you would be. In fact, she was the only one here who was really new to everything.“Should I be here?”

“Sorry?” Nancy frowns.

“I mean, it sounds like you two are pretty close. And I- I don’t want to ruin the reunion or whatever, I don’t even know how to- I suck at meeting new people, basically.” Robin stresses, holding up her hand when Nancy tries to protest, “I already know. Everyone I meet pretty much hates me from the get go. I’m already ruining it with you and we’ve literally met before. Briefly. But still, I- I don’t know this Y/n and I don’t want to annoy her out of helping you-”

“Robin.” Nancy laughs, “It’s fine. Y/n isn’t like that. To be honest… you’ll probably get along.”

“What does that-”

Her words are cut off by the sound of the door opening and slamming shut, the wooden steps creaking beneath the weight of descending footsteps. They both whip their heads to the noise to see someone stood there with a folder in their hands.

“Got here as fast as I could.” You say, letting out a breath and smiling Nancy. You quickly notice the girl standing beside her with a startled look on her face. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“No, you- we were, just- I’m Robin.” She stuttered, her face flushing with embarrassment before she turns away from you. Calm down, she begs herself.

Nancy looks at her in confusion, “Are you-”

“I’m good.” She insists and Nancy shakes her head, getting up from her seat.

“Hi, Y/n.” She smiles, walking over to you. “Thank you for coming.”

“Of course.” You say, but your heart didn’t really feel in it. “I brought the project you wanted. It’s got the newspaper reports from the original killings. If that’s of any help.”

“It is, thank you so much.” Nancy takes it from your hands and starts flipping through, carefully reading each of your headings and findings.

You shift on your feet before glancing at Robin, her eyes widening slightly when you look at her.

“I’m Y/n.” You offer and she nods quickly.

“Yeah, I, uh, I know.” She laughs awkwardly, “Nice to put a face to the name.”

An incredibly gorgeous face, Robin screams inside. Of all the problems she was facing today, this shouldn’t be one of them. Monsters, Russians, that was pretty much up her alley right now. Sudden introductions of pretty girls that literally took her breath away? Not on her bingo card.

Robin noticed the tension in the air between you and Nancy, that same unspoken theory recycling in her mind. What happened last year? Why weren’t you there at Starcourt? Why were you back?

She didn’t really know if she would regret knowing the answers. All she knew was that you had been here all of two minutes and Robin already felt like you were going to change her life.

Because, you were. In more ways than one.

Update: The Pariahs That Saved The World

[if you want there to be more chapters, pls comment below or leave it in my asks to be added to a taglist, i don't want to post something no one wants to read <3]

[art3misg33k]

i see ur most recent post and obviously i have to ask abt trent

My favorite character right out the gate lets go!!

(Ok wow this got sooo long I am sorry)

Starting with my personal takes & headcanons Trent is so nonbinary to me. They give such vibes of being like “idk man I’m just existing” as well as at first thinking they just really didn’t care about gendered stuff bc society is stupid about it but then realized just how deep those feelings were. I also love just any headcanon of Trent not being cis in general. The gender queer vibes are so strong with that one. In terms of sexuality I’m really not sure? I think they’re to multiple genders but idk in what way. Bi, Pan, and Unlabeled are the ones I’m stuck between.

On a slightly more analytical note in I think in Island they are well showcased as a nice chill person but also having the capacity to stand their ground and be intimidating (that one scene with Cody).

I don’t think they’re really good with social queues and may be a bit gullible seeing how things went down with Heather. On the outside has that mysterious energy but can be a real goober when you get to know them. Insane silliness potential that was wasted in my opinion.

Crossing into the semi-headcanon but also canon implied type stuff is their neurodivergence. In TDA it’s obvious that Trent has some neurodivergent tendencies. I personally think OCD and autism. I hate the way it was handled, not because they gave Trent these traits in the first place but how they framed them as a crazy person. That treatment was definitely very damaging to Trent and most likely made them go to heavily masking, even more so than before. Being pitied so much also felt incredibly frustrating to them.

The way that Trent was launched into fame right after a messy breakup on international television definitely made things worse. They seemed like they were thriving while the band was together but in reality they were only being seen for their music and not who they really are, pointedly ignoring their neurodivergence, flaws or any wrongdoing on their part. It hurt seeing how they were treated so horribly when it came to their mental health but as soon as they started singing they were suddenly this sweet, emotional, amazing guy.

And in terms of my headcanon they were also dealing with a ton of dysphoria being seen a guy in the Drama Brothers because they were closeted. I personally think that they had only found out a couple of months before Island so they weren’t comfortable telling anybody yet. They felt like they could tell someone close like Gwen eventually but didn’t want to come out on tv so they said nothing. I think in the days between the finale and TDA Trent became afraid again not wanting to ruin things with Gwen in fear of her being upset that they wouldn’t be the cool talented boyfriend that she expected. On the Aftermath they didn’t really have anyone truly there for them only having those who pitied them or who thought they were an awful person, leaving them isolated not just about dysphoria but just their existence in general.

I do believe that between TDA and WT as well as onwards that Trent was able to build a genuine friendship with Justin, Harold, and Cody despite how messy things got with the band at times. Unintentionally they started unmasking a bit around them closer to when WT started and when they weren’t met with judgement (maybe a bit that was just genuine misunderstanding that got corrected but still) Trent was starting to more and more feel like they could be themself. (Back to more headcanony for a sec) After WT Trent came out to the three of them and was met with acceptance! From there Trent is able to progressively come out more and more from their shell and from the closet to more people!

Also hopefully patching things up and becoming friends with Gwen eventually but that’s just like a wish I have

I think I just unintentionally typed out a whole outline of what I think their life is instead of just my opinion on them in general but yeah.

Some random headcanons!!:

- (Stolen from Courtney-deserved-better) A lot of people think that Trent looks so cool and mysterious but in actuality they are usually just zoned out

- Biggest sensory issues are with sound. They’d go insane without headphones/earbuds bc the music is nice and their noise as opposed to how horribly loud life can be (Kinda projecting on this one but it makes sense for them so shhh)

- Listens to most genres but especially the ones within the general indie/alternative umbrella. A good amount of ppl think that they only listen to mainstream pop type stuff so when they’re with Trent and some darker/depressing type shit like CSH comes on from one of Trent’s playlists they are so surprised.

- Likes some of what the Drama Brothers made but a lot of their brand was pushed into them by producers and the whole band kinda hated how fake things felt at times. After WT they manage to get away from that company and the band gets a lot more creative freedom making what they want. (Also changing the band name eventually bc of Trent if we’re talking in a world with my nb headcanon. Not sure when or if Trent would publicly come out but if not before the name change then they all just make something up about rebranding)

About ships! - I personally love tons of td ships being a massive multi shipper, especially with characters that are my faves (With an exception of Raj I don’t rlly see him with anyone but Bowie). Gwent was the first ship I ever got into with Total Drama and it has a special place in my heart. It’s not my absolute favorite but I still love seeing them together and au’s where they actually work things out healthily during Action or where Action and or TD didn’t happen. I love a lot of other ones too like Trustin and Trody and a lot more! I think my favorite Trent ship may actually be Trenoah, it’s really my favorite rare pair. Ik they didn’t really interact but the POTENTIAL!! They would play off of each other so well and ahhh dude I think I’d need to make a separate post just taking about those two

And that’s the basics of my thoughts on Trent! (well maybe not the basics but trust me it’s not all that I have to say about them).

I think in the future I’ll make a post about what I think their potential backstory is bc I got carried away and didn’t rlly cover that here. @ashyjingles if you want me to @ you in that just let me know!

[boldlyvoid]

I Know Places 2: Minimal Loss

18+ Aaron Hotchner x Fem Reader | Masterlist | AO3 link

Summary: Away on a case with Reid, he and our dear reader are held hostage by Libertarian Cult Leader, Benjamin Cyrus. It's now Aaron's turn to try and keep his cool while Leading the Hostage Recovery and Support mission at the same time he's realizing he's fallen in love with his subordinate…

Warnings: Canon Typical Violence (child sexual assault, hostage situations), hurt/comfort, Drug use tw, unrequited love (so he thinks), mutual pining, angst with a happy ending, drug-induced love confessions

Word count: 10.3k

It’s weird being in the office without her. She flew out to Colorado with Reid last night, the two of them stayed in a hotel (one with two queen beds this time) and she texted him this morning before she headed out for the case. He missed her. He missed picking her up this morning. He missed their coffee banter and how every morning without fail she got the same breakfast that always left his car smelling like a buttery croissant.

He smiles to himself as he thinks about her. He wonders how she’s doing, he can’t wait to call her tonight and catch up… hopefully, the interviews don’t take more than a day. He’d miss her too much if he didn’t get to see her tomorrow too. Maybe he could pick them up from the airport? No. She drove herself and Reid there, so maybe he’ll bring her a baked good and they can watch TV together? Either way, he wanted to see her as soon as she got home.

When they were approached by Colorado child protective services, they received a copy of the 911 call that sparked the investigation and a short summary of the alleged unsub. Libertarian cult leader, Benjamin Cyrus of the Fringe Religious group called the Separatarian Sect. was being accused of being inappropriate with the young teenage members. The age of the caller who made the 911 call is 15. This was a crime, no matter what the libertarians personally believed, under Colorado state law, he was breaking the law by having any kind of sexual interaction with a minor.

Sending Y/N and Spencer was a no-brainer. They couldn’t send JJ because she was pregnant, but they wanted a woman there to make the children feel safe. Spencer went because he’s memorized the entire bible and most historical quotes, he’d be able to deal with a libertarian cult leader the easiest. He had faith in—

“HOTCH!”

With his door open, he’s able to hear Morgan's scream even better, he’s immediately up and out of his seat, rushing towards the door when he notices everyone watching the TV.

“The TV, Y/L/N and Reid,” he points to the screen.

The report on screen is standing a few miles from the compound, showing footage from a raid and cutting back to his face as he speaks. “No one knows for sure how many people are inside. It is believed that at least three child service members are still trapped inside the compound.”

His heart drops into his stomach as if he just fell 30 feet in 10 seconds. His eyes widen, he steps towards the railing outside his office and grips the metal pole for dear life.

This can’t be happening.

She can’t get hurt.

He can’t lose her too.

Just then every single phone in the office starts to ring, he’s pulled back to reality and he catches his breath, “alright, that means we’re the lead with Hostage Rescue and Support. Let’s go!”

He runs to his office and grabs his go bag, he shoves his phone in the bag, makes sure his gun is still on his hip and his badge and wallet in the back pocket of his suit pants. He doesn’t bother bringing his suit jacket, he honestly doesn’t even remember to take it as he bounds down the stairs and runs to the elevator.

They all rush to the plane as quickly as possible, it’s always fueled and ready to go, so getting into the air takes less than 15 minutes. Once in the air, they open up their laptop and Penelope patches over a live feed of the Colorado news.

“It turned deadly when the Colorado state police officers tried to serve a warrant. Colorado attorney general, Jim Wells, says the reclusive cult has been the subject of a 6-month weapons investigation”

“6 months?” Morgan repeats. “We didn’t check?”

“Oh, we did,” JJ pipes up, visibly pissed. “I had ATF call Wells and he told ATF there were no pending state investigations. He lied.”

“Why?” Rossi asks, not understanding why he’d lie about that.

“Wells is challenging the governor in the upcoming election,” JJ explains. “He thought that ATF were going to poach his big election-launching weapons bust. Now, it’s clear he didn’t know there were FBI agent’s there, he just thought the best time to serve a state warrant was when the kids were safe inside the school being interviewed.”

“What do we know about the sect?” Rossi poses the question to the group.

Penelope, listening in on a video call the whole time, flips the screen from the news to her face. “Liberty Ranch was founded in 1980 by Libertarian Leo Kane. He created it as a self-sustaining commune.”

“Libertarians believe that everyone has the right to do what they want as long as they aren’t infringing not eh rights of others,” Derek points out.

“But libertarians aren’t religious,” Dave reminds them. “Clearly this sect abandoned libertarian principles.”

Aaron takes a deep breath, he’s still anxious, and his heart is racing but he has to get his head in the game. “Benjamin Cyrus, the current leader, introduced religion 8 years ago when Kane left.”

“Garcia, what do we got on Cyrus?” Derek asks her.

“Oh, we got bupkis,” she sounds disappointed. “It's like the guy never cast a shadow on the known universe… however his predecessor, Leo Kane, is doing a 17-year stretch at Deerfield Federal Prison… apparently libertarians do not like paying taxes.”

“17 years for tax evasion?” Derek laughs.

“Oh no, that would be 2 years for tax evasion and 15 years for going after four IRS agents with a Louisville Slugger…” Garcia pressed her lips together awkwardly, what a dumb crime to commit.

“Let’s have Kane brought to the scene,” Hotch instructs her to get the paperwork going. “He’s our best chance at finding out some idea of who we’re dealing with.”

“You got it,” she cheerfully agrees and turns off her camera.

They all settle into their plane seats then. It was a 3-and-a-half-hour flight, all he could do was prep negotiation teams and worry about Y/N. He worried for Reid's safety too, of course, Spencer was like a son to him… his heart just yearned for Y/N and after losing Kate, he can’t bare going through that kind of loss again and so soon.

He felt as though he was destined to only know what it was like to be left, not loved. He had such a tumultuous relationship with his ex-wife, being high school sweethearts also came with high school drama. He graduated a year before her, he was in college and she wanted to see other people. So they took their first break. He was doing law school and she was in teacher's college and they took a second break because his studying took up too much of his time and she felt as though she needed physical attention he couldn’t give her… then he went to Scotland Yard, back when he didn’t know if he wanted to work for Interpol or the FBI and once again distance caused them to go on break a 3rd time. He met Kate Joyner, they had a thing and when he returned to the States he asked Haley to marry him. He should’ve known that she would run once his attention shifted to things other than her. He thought maybe having a baby would change that about her. He thought maybe she loved him— loved their family enough to stay.

He was wrong.

Now he’s divorced, Kates dead and… and he thinks he might be falling in love with his subordinate.

He takes a moment to go to the bathroom on the jet just for a chance to get away from everyone. He leans against the sink and puts his hands over his face, shaking his head with disbelief. It all happened so fast. One minute they’re co-workers and he enjoys working with her and the next she was filling the void in his heart. Mind you, he knew her when he was married, he didn’t have the capacity to see her as anything other than a friend… now that’s all changed.

He took the ring off and his heart searched for warmth. For comfort. For morning coffees and laughter on the drive to work. For late-night chats and gossip about celebrities. For a hand to hold. For a body to cuddle into in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. For someone to care for him. For Y/N.

He doesn’t know how he’s going to do this. How he’s going to stay calm and cool and collected while he knows she’s in there? He doesn’t know what he’ll do if she’s hurt. He isn’t sure how he’ll make judgements and do the negotiations knowing that every decision he makes could have consequences.

He heads back to his seat to see everyone else is also doing their best to stay calm. They all love Reid and Y/N, and each of them wants to bring their friends home in one piece… he’s not alone in being anxious and worrying for their safety. Maybe he can play it off, maybe they won’t guess he loves her in a way that differs from how they do.

—

Once they land they’re met with bureau issues SUVs and given an escort to the crime scene, all their sirens on, they speed down back county roads causing dust to fly behind them and rocks to flick up from under their wheels, hitting the car behind them.

When they arrive at the Hostage Negotiation and Support Command Centre, Aaron lets Morgan and JJ head in to set up and he pulls Dave aside. “They’ve left the choice of negotiators up to me.”

“I taught most of the hostage negotiation unit,” Dave reminds him. “You want a recommendation?”

“I’m making you lead negotiator.”

“Me?” Dave can’t believe him.

“why go to the students when I have the teacher,” he simplifies his decision.

“because the teacher is emotionally involved,” Dave spits back. “So is the agent in command.” He stares Aaron down, watching for any facial moment that would give way to just how much he cares for Y/N. Of course, he knew.

He gives in, looking down to the ground, he can’t explain how much this is hurting him. “I know I am. This is a unique situation. We have two agents who could affect the outcome on the inside.”

“True, but I can’t be objective. I know them too well!”

“This outcome depends as much on our ability to predict the moves of Y/N and Reid as much as it does Cyrus,” Aaron explains. “That’s why you’re the best man for the job.”

“Assuming that Spencer and Y/N—” he puts weight on her name to make Aaron know he caught that. The use of her first name and Spencer's last, it’s a hierarchy of needs. He knows Aaron subconsciously wants her safe just the tiniest bit more than Reid. “Are still in a condition to make moves.”

“I-I know how bad this is,” Aaron says, voice dropping down to a whispered tone. “That’s why I want you doing the talking. I need you doing the talking.”

“Alright,” Dave gives—.

“You’re obviously not in charge, I can see that!!!” A man's voice bellows through the air.

“I’m sorry sir, I’m under direct orders from the FBI,” one of the hostage negotiation team members explains.

“I’m the attorney General of this state, I demand to know why I wasn’t told the FBI was sending undercover agents into the Separatarian Ranch?”

It’s Wells. The man who got them stuck in the position, to begin with.

Aaron starts walking away from Dave, driven by anger, he walks right up to the man. “The only thing that you’re in a position to demand is a lawyer.”

“Who the hell are you?” The man asks as if he’s about to laugh at Aaron's voice of authority.

“I’m Aaron Hotchner, Unit Chief. I’m the guy who’s going to tell the Attorney General of the United States whether to charge you obstructing a federal investigation of negligent homicide,” Aaron spits back, getting more in this man's face.

“You can’t talk to me like that.”

Aaron takes another step in, towering over the man, “Get off my crime scene.”

And just like that, the man cowers, running away to his car and driving away.

Aaron turns to the other man, the one who was trying to answer Wells’ questions before. Aaron knew him from the bureau. “Hey Dan, you know Dave Rossi?”

“Sure do,” Dan smiles, reaching over to shake Dave's hand.

“We’ve been here before, haven’t we?” Dave jokes.

“Waco, Ruby Ridge, Freeman standoff,” Dan recounts. “Let's hope someone listens to you guys this time.”

“Oh, they did more than listen. They put us in charge,” Dave announces, hands on his hips, ready to go.

“So bring us up to speed?” Aaron asks.

“I've sent the state police packing. They started this mess and lost a man in the process. I hope that’s okay?”

“If you hadn’t we would’ve.”

“Good.”

“The county Sheriffs have had no run-ins with the sect, so we’re using them as support. We’ve had no contact with them so far. they’re got power. Solar. We can shoot out the panels if you think—

“No, no that’s an escalation,” Dave shoots that down.

“Okay, that means they have access to the news,” Dan reminds them.

“I’ll get JJ to talk to the press. Are your men ready to be briefed?” Aaron asks. Dan nods. “Let's go.”

Inside the trailer they’ve set up for secure meetings, Derek, Dave and Aaron start to give the preliminary profile and brief. There’s only a handful of men, which is best. Having too many cooks in the kitchen leads to chaos. 6-10 people, that’s much more manageable.

“We call this the Minimal Loss scenario,” Dave explains. “Every person we get out is a life saved. We won’t save them all. All of us have t be prepared to accept that situation.” He looks over at Hotch and then presses his lips together awkwardly.

Derek steps up to the whiteboard and picks up a marker, “cults are structured like pyramids.” He explains while drawing a triangle on the board. “You got the leader at the top, die-hard believers beneath… and the biggest group, the base. The followers.” He makes a point to circle that group and look at the other men. “Women and children are in this group. These are the people we can save.”

“The ‘trickle, flow, gush’ strategy is designed to get the base followers out,” Aaron explains. “First one or two, then three or four, then as many as we can, as fast as we can. And if at any point it starts to go bad. We go in.”

“The leaders are charismatic sociopaths who target the most susceptible to their seduction. They have the ability to see what each person needs and then they become that thing. We have to undermine their perception that we’re an invading army laying siege to their homes,” Dave explains.

“We’ll lose the fatigues,” Dan assures them. Losing the army look will make them much more approachable. “Ranchers clothes work for you? Like we did at the Freeman standoff?”

“Perfect. Anything we can do to demilitarize the situation,” Dave agrees. “But that’s about it… we have to make first contact and then we can act accordingly from there.”

“We have a phone set up for you guys outside by the lookouts,” Dave explains. “Nightfall is coming, they’ll be the most in need when it’s dark. We should call then.”

“Agreed,” Aaron nods.

--

Dave hits the speed dial button for the ranch, they wait for 5 or 6 rings and then they answer. “you killed my mommy and daddy, are you going to kill me too?” A little girl's voice answers, on speakerphone for everyone to hear.

“No one is going to kill you, honey,” Dave assures.

“This is Benjamin Cyrus, who am I talking to?” Comes down the line mere seconds later.

“David Rossi. I’m an FBI agent. We’ve sent the state police away, there’s just us and the local sheriff now. All we want to do is resolve this before anyone else gets hurt,” he explains.

“Then leave us alone.”

“I’m afraid we can’t do that, Benjamin, one of the police bled out on the way to the hospital,” he explains, wondering if they haven’t watched the news yet. “So let's just stop this before things get worse. Please, just put the guns down and come out.”

“we’re believers Dave,” Benjamin starts. “We believe that god says what he means and means what he says. His laws don’t depend on what state you live in.”

“I have no issue with your beliefs,” Dave reminds him.

“You don’t. But the state does,” Benjamin is clearly pissed off that any of this happened today.

That makes two of them.

“I can’t answer for other people,” Dave states.

“God will answer for everyone in the final battle that I’ve foreseen.”

Aaron sighs, leaning his head back and shaking it. He hates these religious types. Rossi makes eye contact with him as he keeps talking, “That’s why I’m here. To make sure that this is not that battle.”

“We shall see…”

Sounds more like a taunt.

“Now the three child services workers—

“one is dead,” Benjamin interjects.

Aaron's heart sinks down to his stomach further, he feels like he could be sick. They all have the same look on their faces.

“It wasn’t us,” Ben assures them. “It happened in the standoff, a stray bullet flying into our chapel clipped her.”

“We need a name, so I can alert the family,” Dave explains. Hoping to pry it out of him.

“Nancy Lund,” he says and everyone lets a wave of relief selfishly pass over themselves.

“Okay, now please, Benjamin, send out your wounded. I promise you they’ll be taken care of,” Dave asks. Trying to start the trickle.

“With enough supplies, we can tend to our own,” Benjamin explains. They’re not leaving any time soon.

“Okay, I need a few hours to put it together,” he explains. “I’ll bring them up myself at first light.”

Without a goodbye or a thank you, Cyrus hangs up.

They head back into the trailer after that, prepping med kits and retrofitting any electronics that get sent in with small microphones so they can spy on their every movement and plan. Aaron’s just excited for the chance to hear her voice again and know she’s okay.

“I’m going to go in and double-check that the kids, Y/L/N and Reid are okay,” Dave announces as he walks back into the trailer.

“Rossi, at least let me go with you?” Derek bags.

“No,” he shakes his head. “This is about building trust. I go alone.”

“I want the parabolic arc mics fixed on every window in that structure,” Dan announces to the rest of his crew.

“They won’t pick up much,” one of them pipes up. “They have blinds on all the windows, unless they’re shouting the glass won’t vibrate enough for us to get audio.”

“Well if they’re not shouting, these bugs will pick 'em up… at least until the batteries die,” Dan assures them, screwing the back onto an electronic thermometer. “How familiar are your agents with our playbook?”

“The BAU wrote the CIRG handbook,” Aaron reminds him. “They’ll know that we’re trying to get ears in there at all times.”

“Good, let’s hope they can get these people talking.”

“They will.”

—

At first light, Aaron sits at the listening station with a mug full of freshly brewed coffee and his headphones on, listening to everything as Rossi drives up to the compound.

He hears their introduction, muffled through the boxes of supplies. He hears Cyrus spout some more godly bullshit and claim he’s trying to protect the children. He’s not ready to let any of them go now, so Dave shakes his hand and heads out on his way. As soon as the door is closed, Cyrus says: “Prepare the wine.”

There’s a shuffling sound as everyone moves around the room, the elders no doubt do everything Cyrus says and the women and children stay seated. After a few minutes, he hears Cyrus again, muffled but there, saying something about being 1 day closer to god…

“Look at Jessica's body language,” Y/N’s voice can be heard as though she’s standing right beside the box of supplies. “The way she looks at him.”

“She literally worships him there’s no way she made that 911 call?” Spencer questions next.

Derek and Aaron look at each other, nodding with a small smile, they’re okay. Not safe, but okay.

“Look at how she comes between Cyrus and her daughter,” Y/N speaks again. “She’s inserting herself between them…”

Cyrus is getting everyone to drink just as Dave is running back into the trailer. “Reid and Y/L/N are okay.”

“what about Cyrus?” Derek asks.

“He's too calm? It's like he was waiting for this to happen?” Dave suggests. “And now that it has he feels vindicated.”

“Hey guys,” Dan calls their attention back to the headsets.

“We’ll be with him soon. We have drank the poison together,” Cyrus’ voice is heard.

They all turn to each other with horrified expressions. “What the fuck?” Aaron exclaims, “I thought you said he was calm?”

“He was! He wanted me to think nothing was going on, he’s a master manipulator! We have to take everything he says and does with a grain of salt,” Dave reminds him.

“We need to go in!” Derek shouts, gathering his things with Dan.

“If we go in there people are gonna die!” Dave shouts.

“People are already dying!” Aaron shouts back, headset pressed to his good ear, he’s still listening to Cyrus preach.

“What do we do?” Y/N whispers.

“Nothing,” Spencer assures her.

“We have to do something these people just took poison!” She snaps back at Reid.

“I don’t think they did?”

“Wait! Wait!” Aaron gathers them all back towards him. “Listen,” he switches the audio playback to the speakers.

“Cyrus just told them they did, I think he’s bluffing,” they hear Spencer’s whisper loud and clear.

“Why do you think that?” Y/N asks.

“Just after he told them they took the poison he waited for them to react and then he nodded to Cole who started to note down everyone who looked sad, look…. They're scanning the audience for the people who are fine with dying now and who are a bit skeptical. This is their way of narrowing down the true believers and those who he can send out to Rossi,” Spencer explains. “He’s smart enough to possibly know our strategies, he wants to send out a trickle of people and then do something during the gush…”

“Jim Jones pulled the same stunt,” Rossi reminds everyone, agreeing with Reid. “They did a test run just like this years before they did the real thing.”

“Dan, prepare your men to go in but not before I give you the go-ahead,” Aaron points back to him. “We need to wait just a few more minutes, if I hear Y/L/N or Reid say anything about people falling sick or passing out, we go in.”

“Got it!”

Aaron covers his hand over his mouth and hopes to god he doesn’t have to send men in there. They already lost one social service member in the crossfire, he can’t lose his agents too.

“Be still, there was no poison,” Cyrus speaks. “Instead a test of faith BECAUSE YOUR ADVERSARY THE DEVIL WALKETH ABOUT AS A ROARING LION!! Choosing who he may devour. Watch each other for signs of weakness. You are your brother's keeper.”

“Dan!” Aaron calls out to him, he comes popping his head back into the trailer. “Stand down, Cyrus said it was a rouse.”

JJ comes walking in behind him, “The former sect leader just arrived.”

“I got it,” Derek volunteers himself. “call me if there are updates.” He says as he leaves, holding his phone up to assure them he has it.

“Charles Mulgrew, convicted in Kentucky at the age of 18. Three counts of statutory rape,” Penelope says through the phone, recounting her findings to the whole team now… well, the free 4.

“So we need to talk to the warden,” Derek says with a sigh.

“Way ahead of you there, honey,” she assures him, making Derek crack a small smile. “Mr. Kentucky Warden said that once inside, Mulgrew found religion and became a model citizen.”

“Well it’s not that hard to behave when you’re in protective custody,” Derek reminds her.

“General populations a rough place for a child molester,” Hotch adds.

“No, no, no, I don’t think guys understand he was a Model Citizen. This guy volunteered at the prison hospital,— the aids ward, he was reading to prisoners dying of HIV… he was emulating saint,” Penelope explains father.

“Good stuff, mama,” Derek compliments her the way he always does.

“Damn straight now you get our friends back, baby,” she says before clicking off the call to do more digging.

“Well,” Dave stands a little straighter and sucks in a deep breath. “This makes things worse.”

“What? That he’s a model citizen?” Derek laughs.

“That he’s been to prison,” Dave looks at him, he’s completely serious. There’s no room for giggles now.

Derek closes his eyes for a moment and his shoulders drop, “right. He knows what happens to child molesters there…”

“If the current sexual allegations are true and he thinks we know it, he’s not coming out of there,” Hotch agrees.

“Then we have to make him think he’s not going back to prison,” Dave assures.

“JJ,” Aaron calls back into the main tent for her. “I need you to release a press statement saying that we have absolutely no evidence of sexual allegations.”

JJ comes marching back over to them, sweaty and exhausted, she rests her hands on her pregnant belly and shakes her head, “You need to see this, pop the laptop open. Click on the news tab and play the audio…”

They follow her instructions, gathering around the laptop they see the same news guy from yesterday, he’s set up a little camp for himself in the hills somewhere. He has a perfect view of the ranch and he’s keeping his voice low.

“Now well into its second day, the standoff at the Separatarian Sect Ranch is now been taken over by the FBI. There is much speculation in regard to hostages, but anonymous sources inside the state attorney general's office have told us there is an undercover FBI agent currently being held inside the ranch. Hostage negotiators say they are making headway with the sect's leadership and are hopeful for a positive outcome. There is still no word as to why an undercover FBI agent was sent in alone…”

“Are you fucking Kidding me?” Hotch stands, anger than ever before. “I’m going to I’m going to wring that fuckers neck. I’m going to make his life a living hell.”

“Hotch,” JJ can’t believe those words left his mouth.

“You two,” he points at Derek and Dave, “you get to the parabolic mics and listen in as best as you can. JJ I want you to circle back with Penelope and tell her she can dig into Wells' life as hard as she can and you can reach out to the press with dirt on him. He wants to win the election so bad he’s willing to get federal agents dead, then we’re going to air all his dirty laundry.”

“Got it,” JJ likes that idea and runs back into the tent to make her calls.

Dave and Derek run to the parabolic mic station, leaving Aaron to head back inside and listen to the other spy mics they sent in.

There’s a silent chatter in the church, the mics are picking up more now that they’re not trapped inside boxes and surrounded by supplies. There are a few different angles they get based on what supply was places where. They’re all synced up, playing at the same time and able to be pinpointed for spy-in on individual conversations.

Suddenly, they hear the sound of a struggle, “Get off me! I can walk without you pulling my fucking hair!” Y/N’s voice shouts back.

“FBI scum like you don't get to give orders,” one of Cyrus’ goons speaks back to her and then he hears a slap.

Y/N groans at the pain and Aaron covers his mouth. He’s never been this anxious in his whole life. He wants to run down there, break in and kick the shit out of anyone who laid a hand on her. And then it gets worse.

More mics pick up the sound of the struggle. They hear what Aaron supposes is her body being dragged as she struggles and then the sound of her smacking the concrete. It sounded hard. Like she hit her head.

“I thought I told you not to put me in this position!” Cyrus shouts. Slamming the door behind himself.

Of course, he wouldn’t do this in front of the members.

He slaps her again, the sound of her struggle makes Aaron want to throw up. He doesn’t know what to do with his hands. One second he’s covering his mouth then holding the headphones to his ears and the next he’s just holding them out for no reason. He listens in as she keeps getting hit. Punched, kicked, slapped… he really hopes that this is the extent of Cyrus’ abuse. If he had to hear anything else…. He would actually throw up all over everything.

“We’ve gotta go in,” Aaron says as he takes the headphones off. Derek and Rossi come running into the trailer then.

“We can’t go in,” Dave reminds him. “We’d be risking the lives of everyone in there.”

He knows Dave is right, Dan’s put the sound of her struggle on the speaker for everyone to hear and Aaron can’t escape it. The sound of her being hit again and again, moaning from the pain, she’s struggling to defend herself.

“Get up!” Cyrus says, hauling her up and then punching her in the face again. She slams into something this time, there’s the sound of a window or glass or something shattering and then her crying.

“Proverbs 20:30 tells us blows and wounds cleanse evil,” he spouts his bullshit at her. Then he growls, tossing her in another direction and she falls to the floor once more.

She cries, breathing in sounds like it hurts as she whines as she does so, “I can take it!”

“Oh, you can take it?” Cyrus just gets more pissed at that. He slaps her again and she cries more.

“I can take it!”

“Listen to what she’s saying…” Dave suggests.

“She’s antagonizing him!” Derek gets defensive, on Hotch’s side and wants to go in.

“She’s not talking to him, she’s telling us not to come in,” Aaron agrees with Dave, bowing his head, he hates that he’s right.

He can’t take this anymore. He gets up and leaves the room, Dave can listen to the rest. He has to step outside, away front he watchful eye of everyone there and around behind the trailer. He rests his back against it and sinks down to the floor, his face in his hands. He cries.

The weight of everything comes crashing down on him in that moment. He lost his wife. He hasn’t seen his son for more than a few hours in the last 6 months, his friend and colleague died in his arms in the middle of the street and he almost died too. The only good thing that’s happened in all of this is that he’s gotten closer to Y/N.

If anything happens to her he’s going to actually go insane. He may have joked about it before, when he was off work and had nothing to do… but now it feels real. He can’t lose her. He can’t go through the trauma of burying another friend. He can’t imagine losing another woman he loves. Cause he does love her. He loves her more than he should love a co-worker.

It all started when he got divorced. He never had eyes for any other woman but his wife, however, after the divorce… he found himself enjoying her company for reasons other than friendship. Sure, getting coffee together in the mornings was nice and he didn’t care for her choice of TV shows but hearing her talk and knowing her opinions on things felt special to him. He knew a side of her that no one else on the team knew.

And sleeping beside her didn’t help his crush either. She was so soft. She cuddled into him like she was always meant to be there. When he woke up that next morning, spooned into her, he could smell her hair and he had his hand on her stomach… under her shirt. As if in the night they got even closer than either one of them ever thought possible.

Derek comes out to find him just a few minutes later. Aaron’s managed to wipe his tears and pull himself together a bit, he accepts Derek's hand and gets pulled back up to his feet. “They took her to another room but there are blinds on the windows so we can’t hear anything.”

Aaron just nods. “I don’t know why she did that, why she put herself in danger like that.”

“He probably held a gun to one of them and got them to confess, he did that to get Kane out of the ranch, too,” Derek theorizes. “Maybe she confessed to get him off Reid? Reid’s only in there because he knows the bible so well, he can get on Cyrus’s good side and help us out. She knew that.”

“Still,” Aaron can’t really argue.

“I know you love her, man, but we’ve got a job to do,” Derek whispers. “I feel the same way about Spencer.”

Aaron’s a little shocked to hear that but then again, not? It makes sense. The teasing, the closeness, the room sharing… that time Spencer missed his flight to hang out with another man he knew as a teenager. There were signs there from both of them, he just never thought to read them until now.

Aaron stares into his eyes, the two men would do anything for their team already, knowing they both loved someone in the ranch, which made them even more eager to do this right. “So let’s get them out of there.”

Back inside the trailer, Rossi has the speakers on still, and Reids talking. “Nancy said she was a child abuse interview expert from Denver. In the four years I’ve worked with her, Nancy’s never lied to me before.”

“As far as you know,” Cyrus spoke, believing him. “Their law says that a 15-year-old girl is a child when just 50 years ago that same law said that a 14-year-old was an adult. Have children changed so much in 50 years?”

“I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve investigated abuse charges against small religious groups… most all of them turn out to be false,” Reid lies to him. Successfully.

“What do you think of that?”

“What does it matter what I think?”

“It matters to me,” Cyrus assures him.

“Why?”

“Because god wants to save you,” Cyrus spouts.

“I swear to god if Cyrus comes out of there alive I’m going to beat him to death with my bare hands,” Derek mumbles under his breath to Hotch.

“Get in line.”

“I mean, that’s why god sent you here, isn’t it?” Cyrus poses, making reid feel like he’s a part of them now.

“I think… on the next call you should test them,” Reid suggests. “Test the negotiator. Make him prove that he isn’t a liar.”

“How would you suggest do that?”

“Ask for the identity of the FBI agent—

“We already know her identity,” his goon responds for him.

“They don’t know that we know,” Cyrus agrees with Reid.

“but the FBI would never tell is that?” The goon responds again.

“They keep asking you to release people, say you’ll release a kid only if they tell you her identity and if they really care about the children they’ll have to tell you her identity,” Spencer tries harder to get Cyrus on his side.

“You’re trying to get us to release a child!” The man fights with Reid.

“It’s one kid,” Spencer talks to him like he’s an idiot. “If they don’t hold up on their end of the deal then you know they can’t be trusted.”

“He’s right,” Cyrus ultimately agrees.

“Reid has ‘em,” Rossi turns back to them, clearly proud of the kid.

“What is it, Christopher?” Cyrus asks his friend.

“Well… some of them have been talking about… leaving?” He poses the suggestion.

“Leaving?” Cyrus repeats.

“yeah…”

“Wake the baby. Let them see the orphan they’ve made.”

“Okay, everyone!!” Hotch calls out of the trailer, getting the other's attention. “We’re about to get a call, we should expect some members to be released shortly. Get ready for phase one.”

Everyone rushes around then. Preparing to make room for the followers, cars are called in to collect people and take them to a hotel for the night and a few ambulances show up in case anyone is in need of medical support.

But no call comes in.

They wait all night until the sun comes up. But nothing.

“They’re probably going to ask when we call them,” Rossi suggests. “I’ll give my morning call at 6.”

“Okay,” Hotch agrees. “Morgan, I want you to take the truck up to the ranch and collect the little girl, if anyone else is released, Dan will come up and help escort them over here.”

“Yes sir.”

—

Rossi calls in right at 6. They haven’t heard anything else over the mics or through the windows. Most of the members must’ve been asleep in the chapel overnight. Sleeping in pews or on the floor… they all must be exhausted and mostly ready to leave now that the condition of their stay has changed.

“Good morning, Ben, how are you today?” Rossi speaks to him cheerfully.

“We are prepared to release a child if you tell me the identity of the FBI agent promise no harm will come to them from this point forward,” Cyrus leads right into it.

A wave of relief washes over Aaron.

“I can’t give you that information,” Rossi eggs him on.

“I will send the child now.”

Aaron waves his hand to Dan who’s got eyes on the ranch, a little girl has started to walk out of the compound and is standing in the gravel driveway. Dan motions to Derek who’s already taking his gun off and handing it to Hotch who hands him a radio in return. He takes off to the truck then, one of the other men drives Derek up and they watch on the cameras as Derek calmly collects the little girl and gets her into the truck safely.

“I’m taking a big risk here Ben,” Dave tries to play it cool with him.

“Trust is earned,” Cyrus reminds him.

“Her name is Y/N Y/L/N,” Rossi says her full name. “She came in with two child service workers to talk to the girls.”

“There’s a good chance we can work this out, Dave” Cyrus assures him. “I’m gonna provide another sign of good faith.”

“You’re doing a good thing here,” Dave assures him. Hyping up his confidence, getting on his good side.

Cyrus hangs up after that and they rely back to the microphones. “Assemble everyone in the chapel. Get agent Prentiss back down here,” Cyrus orders Christopher.

“This is it,” Aaron assures Dave and Dan. “We’ve started the trickle, it’s about to flow. We need to be prepared for women in children to be released as well as some of their husbands who’ve lost faith in Cyrus.”

Just as they thought, 10 minutes after the order to gather everyone, Cyrus starts to explain why he has them all gathered there. He points out that some of them have lost their faith, that he no longer can support people who don’t support him and his god. And then he starts to name names.

“He looks pissed?” They hear Y/N whisper.

Of course, the two of them would stand where they could be heard the best by the others.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” she assures Spencer.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispers to her.

“Look at who he’s releasing,” Y/N says again.

“It’s the ones who failed the loyalty test,” Spencer explains. “I’ll get word to the team. You wait for a sign from the outside that will tell us when the raid will come.”

The room goes quiet for a few moments and then they heard, “Take her back.”

Y/N was being sent back to whatever room they had her locked in, in the first place. They need to figure out where that would be… they need to be able to find her during the raid and get her out of there safely.

“Those of you standing, collect your belongings and meet in the main hall immediately,” Cyrus orders.

Not long after that, they start to see a bunch of people start to leave the chapel. Just then, Cyrus calls them. They send Dan and his guys out to collect the survivors and Hotch listens in on the phone call.

“We will surrender tomorrow at noon, we want the press there to make sure that we’re treated fairly,” Cyrus makes them a deal. “We’ll discuss the details tomorrow at our 7 am call… I’ll see you then Dave.”

“I look forward to it,” Dave agrees.

“Oh, and one more thing, could you send in some food in?” He requests.

“Sure, what would you like?” Dave pretends to be hospitable but by the look on his face, Aaron can tell he rather take a bite out of a leather shoe than keep this act up.

“Fried chicken, all the fixings.”

“You got it! I’ll have it brought right up to you.” Dave hangs up and shakes his head. “I hate this mother fucker.”

“I don’t understand, why did you let them go?” Another goon asks, more like, demands to know from Cyrus.

“They weren’t prepared to do what was needed of them,” Spencer butts in.

“Yeah, no offence but you’re not one of us so shut the fuck up,” he spits back at Spencer.

“Listen to him,” Cyrus sides with Reid. “Tell him, Spencer.”

“They failed the test,” Spencer explains. “They-they had a chance to prove their faith when Cyrus told them that they’d sacrificed themselves for god, but instead they showed they weren’t worthy…. That’s why he wants the media to bear witness to your true final act of sacrifice.”

“how do you know that?” The man asks.

“I’m always looking for signs of things to come.”

“Spencer’s asking us for what time to expect the raid,” Dave understands his meaning right away. “He’s telling us this is it! Time is running out! We’ve gotta go in!”

—

The food arrives around mid-day, and they have it delivered to the trailer first. They examine it all to make sure nothing's been tampered with by the restaurant and then they get it all boxed up and ready to go.

“We obviously can’t spike the food 'cause there are kids,” Aaron explains to Dan. “So we need to find another way to alert Spencer that there is a raid coming…”

Just then he picks up a red Sharpie marker and writes on the lid of the chicken box. “New management, open until 3 AM tonight!!” He underlines it a few times and then repeats it on the boxes for the corn and mashed potatoes and biscuits. Spencer has to see it somewhere.

Aaron and Derek are so positive that Spencer can find a way to prepare for the raid inside and figure out a way to get the women and children out of harm's way when Derek, Dave and Dan come crashing through the doors. He’s not going, he has to stay back with JJ and oversee the whole operation. He hates it. But it’s his job.

Derek and Dave go up to the ranch to deliver the food and just as there’s a commotion at the door and everyone is busy at the ranch, the parabolic mikes pick up Y/N’s voice.

“AARON!” Dan yells for him from outside, causing him to rush down to him.

“What?” He fears for the worst.

“it’s Y/N, she’s listening to the blinds with her high-heeled boot and we can hear her, listen,” he hands him the headphones.

“If you can hear me, I know you’re coming. I can try to get the women and children down to the tunnel but I need to know when you’re coming.”

She keeps repeating those two sentences over and over.

“come on,” Aaron gets up, grabs a riffle with a laser scope and they head to the hill closest to the ranch. Dan follows behind him with the transmitter, listening in on what Y/N’s saying still.

He points the gun right at the window and she sees the laser shine against the wall in the room she’s trapped in.

“I got you, what time are you coming in?”

He blinks the laser 3 times.

“3 am?”

He keeps the beam steady and nods the gun, up and down, as if he’s nodding yes.

“Got it. Reid is on the first floor somewhere with Cyrus, and please remember there are children here... someone's coming,” she’s quick to pull her foot away from the window and they lose signal with her.

Dan starts to retreat, leaving Hotch there with the gun and a hopeful feeling. “Hang in there, sweetheart.”

—

At 2:15 AM they start preparing for the raid. Swat is called in, they’ve got a supply of Humvees supplied by the army, weapons, ammunition, and tear gas. They’re ready to go. All without Aaron.

Aaron has his headset on and his radio with him, listening in on the Sect while also in contact with the team as they make their way closer to the ranch.

They know somethings up, that somethings coming… they should’ve cut the lights to the Humvees and gone in there blind.

Cyrus heads outside of the chapel, points his gun in the air and starts shooting the sky, gathering attention from the media just over the hill. He wants them to see how this all goes down.

Luckily, Cyrus just doesn’t know how much they know. When Derek met with the previous leader, Kane, he drew them a map of the whole facility. Secret tunnels, bunkers, you name it, they know where it is. So that’s where they go in.

On the radio he hears Dan give the go-ahead for phase one, the men storm the tunnel exit and surprise the guard down there with flash grenades and tear gas, subduing him. The men force their way inside, they drag the guard to the corner and cuff him up so he can’t cause any trouble and within seconds, Derek is on the radio.

“Y/N’s here, she got the women and children down to the tunnels,” Derek alerts him. “I’m sending them out to you, Dan.”

“Ten-4, I have a vehicle ready to transport them to safety,” Dan responds.

“They’ve wired explosives,” Derek alerts through the radio. “We need to move, now!”

Aaron throws on a bulletproof vest then and starts to run out of the tent, “where are you going!?” JJ calls after him.

“to help get them as far away from the blast as possible this is an all-hands-on-deck situation!” He yells back and keeps running.

He runs as fast as he can, following the dimly lit dirt road up to the chapel, he can see the women and children running out of the tunnels and towards the front of the building. “Over here! This way!” He calls to them, “Over here! You need to get away from the building!”

“Aaron!” Y/N shouts, as the last one to leave the tunnel, she ushers the women and children towards him and hobbles along as fast as she can.

She runs right into his arms, and they both make an audible “oof,” as their chests collide but he holds her close. “You’re okay?”

“I’m okay,” she assures him, pulling back, she turns to face the others, “Keep moving, follow the lights, head to that tent back there!”

They usher them up the road, keeping them at a safe distance from the building, he rests his hand on her back and when she turns to him again, he uses his other hand to cradle her face. He can’t really see in the dark, but he can tell she’s all beaten and bruised, “are you sure—

“I’m fine, we need to go back in there, they have Spencer,” she worries, almost in tears. “It’s bad Aaron, the whole building is rigged to go, they have TNT and gas everywhere, in every hallway way, doorway, support beam… it’s going to go up like a fucking tinderbox.”

“Dereks got it,” he assures her. “They’ll be okay.” She doesn’t look like she believes him, so he pulls her in closer again and cradles her head. “It’s going to be okay.”

They hear a few shots then, followed by the chapel door flying open, Derek and Spencer come running out of the building, and Dave comes running out of the tunnel exit with Dan just as the building goes up in flames.

“Jesse,” Y/N whispers, shocked.

They rush to the building, running up the few concrete steps toward where Derek and Spencer were knocked down by the blast. Aaron picks up Derek, Y/N picks up Spencer and as a team, they retreat away from the fire. At a safe distance, they all stop, turn to the blaze and realize they made it. All of them.

Y/N pulls Spencer into her arms, breaking out in a sob, she crumbles. Her knees give way and Spencer does his best to keep her upright, Aaron steps in and supports her, and Derek too. “We did it,” Spencer whispers, “we’re okay.”

“We’re okay,” she repeats, absolutely exhausted from everything she’s been through.

“We need a medic!” Aaron calls, “Someone, please, get a stretcher over here!”

“I’m fine, I’m okay,” she tries to push them away, standing on her own two feet again but she’s wobbly.

“No, you’re not,” Aaron argues with her. “You got beat up, I heard it all. You’re not okay, I don’t care how strong you think you are you’re—

She reaches out and covers his mouth, “Stop yelling at me, my head is killing me.”

“Sorry,” he apologizes, wrapping his arm under her to support her, he helps her down the stairs just as the ambulance is pulling up to the church.

—

It doesn’t take long for both Y/N and Reid to get checked out by the paramedics. Spencer has some general ringing in his ear from being so close to a blast, and Y/N has a concussion and severe abdominal bruising. They don’t suspect any internal bleeding, but they advise her to have someone watch her all night and to go to the hospital if she feels sick or light-headed.

Derek offers to drive himself, Reid, Rossi and Y/N back to the hotel, JJ and Hotch just have to finish up a few things and then they’ll join, but she turns down Derek's request. “I’m going to stay with Aaron and JJ,” she whispers, not really wanting to talk unless she has to. “You guys head out, it’s okay.”

“Are you sure?” Spencer gives her his puppy dog eyes.

She nods, giving him a sweet smile, “Yeah, I don’t think I can handle Derek's driving right now.”

“Fair enough,” Rossi pats her shoulder, heading off after Derek.

“Okay,” Spencer understands the real reason why she isn’t going, he looks at her and then at Aaron. He’s not dumb. Far from it, actually. Of course, he knows there’s something going on between them… Aaron just wonders what it is on her side.

“Spence,” she stops him, pulls him in for another hug and holds him there. She whispers something in his ear, something Aaron can’t hear, but by the look on Spencer’s face, it’s sweet. When she pulls back, she speaks louder. “You come get me if you need anything, I mean anything… okay?”

“I will, thank you,” he smiles before turning away and heading off to the SUV.

She comes to sit beside Aaron after that, he’s filing out some paperwork about the supplies they used and Dan’s signing off on everything, too. JJ’s wrapping up from things on the phone with the state, and firefighters are now on the scene putting out the blaze… it’s a commotion, but he doesn’t care about anything other than Y/N.

He reaches out for her hand, under the table, he holds it and looks at her. Asking if she’s okay with just his eyes.

She nods, “I’m tired.”

“I can do the rest of this,” Dan offers.

“Yeah?”

He nods, “Yeah, you guys go get some rest, you’ve done more than enough for us.”

“Okay,” Aaron doesn’t fight it, he simply lets go of her hand and starts to stand up, helping her up too. “Come on, let’s get you out of here… JJ?”

She’s still on the phone but peaks her head over, asking what’s up with her facial expression.

“We’re heading out, come on.”

She holds up her finger, asking for just a second, which is good. It gives him a chance to pack up his things and help Y/N into the passenger seat of their SUV. JJ comes rushing over not 2 minutes later, the phone still pressed to her ear, she gets in the back seat and all they hear is “Thank you so much, half our team should be there in a few minutes, we’re about 30 minutes out… thank you, again, bye.”

“Good to go?” Aaron asks.

“Yeah, and I got us all hotels for tonight Rossi is alone, Derek is with Reid and I will partner with Hotch tonight so Y/N can be alone and—

She cuts JJ off. “I don’t want to be alone,” she says in a low tone. It hurts to talk. “Not with my concussion.”

“Oh,” JJ didn’t expect that. “Um, I guess we can be together, Hotch can be alone?”

She shakes her head, “No, mama you go be alone for the night, I’m sure you’re exhausted. You’ve done so much these last two days, Hotch can babysit me, make sure I don’t die in my sleep.”

“Don’t even joke about that,” he looks over at her, completely serious. “You’re okay, the paramedics said it’s not too serious, you’re going to be fine.”

“I was kidding,” she gives him a sweet smile.

It doesn’t take long for them to get to the hotel, they check in, they’re handed their room keys and off they go. The double rooms are on the same floor, they’re just across the hall from Derek and Spencer, JJ’s a floor above them and Rossi is on the top floor. He really doesn’t care how much money he spends, he always wants the best rooms.

He carries both their bags upstairs. He had someone go to her other hotel, the one she and Reid were sharing when they arrived, and get her things. He sets them all down on one of the beds and she just stands there, sore and tired. She looks like she wants to cry again. She’s bruising slowly, everything’s getting worse and darker in colour the more time passes.

“Are you okay?”

She nods, “Yeah… I just hurt all over.”

“I don’t want this to come off as weird, or anything,” he prefaces. “But do you need or want help changing? Do you want to take a bath? I can help you get in or out— I won’t look, I promise. I just want you to feel better.”

She laughs lightly, but it hurts to do that. “I don’t think I need help… but thank you.”

“You took such great care of me last month, I just want to repay the favour,” he gives her a small smile.

She takes a step towards him and wraps her arms around his middle, resting her head on his chest. He carefully holds her back, his cheek resting against her head. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“You need a lot more than a bomb to get rid of me,” she teases. He said the same thing in the hospital in New York.

He smiles, dragging his cheek across her hair until his lips are pressed to her head. He kisses her gently, “Come on, let’s get you ready for bed.”

She sighs as she pulls back, “Would it be weird to share a bed tonight? I really don’t want to be alone.”

“Not weird at all,” he assures her.

“Good,” she smiles.

He brings her over to the one bed that their bags are on, they each zip open their own bag and start digging for their things. She takes out her pyjama shirt and her shorts, her little bag of toiletries and her phone charger and then she remembers she doesn’t have a phone anymore. “I can’t believe that fucker blew up all my stuff.”

“We’ll get you a new phone when we get back tomorrow,” Aaron assures her. “Penelope knows to call me if anyone calls work looking for you.”

“Okay, good… I’m going to change in the bathroom first, I’ll call you if I need help?”

“Okay,” he agrees.

He takes the chance to change in the room, he slips out of his khakis and dress shirt and quickly replaces them with a new pair of boxers and a fresh white shirt. It's what he slept in beside her before… that was the best sleep he’s had in years. Even beside his ex-wife he never slept that good.

He heads over to the empty queen bed that their shit isn’t on and folds back the covers for them. He fluffs the pillows and even sets a complimentary bottle of water on each of their night tables, that’s when he remembers he still has medicine in his bag. She emerges from the bathroom soon after, all changed with a soft smile on her face. “Tada?”

“You look nice,” he compliments her. “I uh, I still have some medicine— the T3s…”

“Ooo,” she thinks about it. “I was just going to tough it out but that sounds like a much better option.”

“I just don’t like the idea of you hurting all night long, you’re supposed to be resting,” he reminds her, handing her the pill bottle once she’s closer to him. “There’s water on your side.”

She takes two of them, sets her water down and starts to get into the bed, Aaron stands at her side, watching as she hisses. “Are you okay?”

“Mhm,” she hums. “Getting punched and kicked in the gut sucked, I’m surprised I don’t have internal bleeding.”

His heart breaks even more, “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she waves it off. “Come get in bed.”

Before he does that, he flicks on the lamp on his side of the bed and heads back over to the door to turn off the main light. When he finally slips into bed, she reaches over for his hand and pulls him over so he can spoon her. She just wants to be held. He gently places his hand on her stomach, he doesn’t want to hurt her at all. She lets out a deep sigh, relaxing into his arms and waiting for the pills to kick in.

“I’m really glad they put you in charge of everything,” she whispers. “The second Rossi showed up in the church I knew we were going to be leaving okay.”

“You should’ve heard Morgan scream for me when the situation popped onto the news in the bullpen,” he recounts, still astounded by it himself. “I was just thinking about you when he called for me and then all the phones started going off and I knew we’d be the ones doing the rescuing.”

“You were thinking about me?” She repeats. “What were you thinking about me for?”

“Oh…” he feels suddenly embarrassed. “Just that it was weird not having breakfast together and I was thinking if you didn't drive to the airport, I would’ve driven you home.”

“Awe,” she swoons, she places her hand over his and interlocks their fingers. “We can get lunch together tomorrow after we land… before you take me back to the airport to get my car.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he whispers. “But we’ll have to take it to go…”

“Why?”

“I don't want anyone to think I did that to you,” he explains, a sick feeling in his throat at the mere thought of someone thinking he could hurt her.

“Oh, oh yeah,” she forgot. “Sorry, I’m starting to feel the medicine… if I fall asleep on you, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, go to sleep if you have to,” he assures her. “I’ll be right here all night if you need me.”

“Thank you, Aar,” she mumbles out, already slipping into her slumber. “Love… you.”

His heart skips a beat, he wants to say it back but he doesn’t know how much of that is just the medicine and him taking care of her and how much of it she really, truly means. He doesn’t want to risk it, so he just snuggles in closer, kisses the back of her shoulder and attempts to fall asleep with her.

General Taglist 

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[chiaracognigniart]

TDIOBCB challenge - day 7:

First Meeting - The Wedding of Prince Viserys and Larra Roagre in the Throne Room

"Many years later, the prince, reminiscing about how he and his wife had first encountered each other, would confess to his children, not without a blush, that even before laying eyes on her, the words Larra wrote during those years were enough to make him fall completely in love with her. He almost dismissed the revelation of her true appearance as playing any significant role in his infatuation. According to Prince Viserys, it was the eloquence and magnetic personality of his then-fiancée that enchanted him to the extent that concerns about her beauty took a back seat. Whether this is the whole truth remains uncertain; however, it is worth noting that the marriage between Prince Viserys and Larra Rogare, though not initially under the most auspicious circumstances, evolved into a great love story that culminated in a long and happy union. If, before the arrival of his promised bride, the mind of the young prince was primarily occupied with the company of beautiful courtesans and high-born prostitutes, from the moment the stunning Lyseni maiden graced King's Landing, no other woman crossed the threshold of the young man's bedroom except her. This continued until her demise in 165 AC. Every ounce of his energy, both physical and mental, from the day of their marriage, was devoted solely to his wife. She, no longer a girl, possessed not only extraordinary intelligence and culture but also breathtaking beauty, affirming the reality that the most beautiful women in the known world indeed hailed from Lys. Their union stood as a testament to the enduring power of love. Still, even if, want to believe him for the sake of historical honesty, I must report the multiple testimonies of some members of the court, present at this marriage at the time, who claim that the newlywed groom, who had never seen his bride before the ceremony, remained anything but indifferent to her appearance. According to them, during the grand entrance of the noblewoman, who arrived in the castle's Sept dressed in an exquisite and lightweight gown made entirely of golden silk that vividly revealed the perfect curves of her womanly form, accompanied by her fifteen ladies-in-waiting, the groom, was so dazzled by her dazzling beauty, that he needed to be supported by his brother Aegon to prevent himself from falling on the spot from sheer emotion. The young prince, who had always been famous for being an easygoing lad, remained dumbfounded in front of her like a statue of salt throughout the ceremony, unable to find the words to express his wonder, to the point that, for a whole minute, he mistakenly recited the marriage formula almost three times before starting to recite his vows correctly. It seems that the young prince was not the only one to be astonished by the entrance of the new princess. The same witnesses claim that even Prince Daemon was amazed by his new daughter-in-law, as evidenced by the widening of his eyes. During the celebration, he went so far as to congratulate his son conspiratorially, calling him "the luckiest man in the Seven Kingdoms."

- from TDIOBCB chapter 1

(warning: these illustrations are inspired by an AU Divergence and have nothing to do with canon (book or tv show) events and are not meant to be reposted outside of their contest)

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Taken from TV Tropes:

"In "Ephemeral" it's revealed that when the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous unify the power destroys the entire universe and recreates it based on the user's wish. Many fans didn't like this reveal since if the power is ever permanently used then the show would have an Esoteric Happy Ending (since the characters we've known are gone and replaced with new versions of themselves) and also because people liked the idea that if you wish for something for yourself or someone else another person close to you would be negatively affected. (A popular one being that if Gabriel does get his wish to wake up Emilie then someone close to him like Adrien, Nathalie, or even Gabriel himself would be put into her coma.) Even canon seems to feel the same, since the reset happens for real in "Re-creation" and the aftermath is treated as a variant of Ladybug’s World-Healing Wave rather than a Reset Button being pressed."

    Thoughts on this? If that's the case, the wish is just presented as a large scale version of Ladybug's cure wave. There's nothing to suggest everyone was replaced, meaning Gabriel's wish only fixed everything he'd caused, ex. Nathalie is alive again, with Ladybug pretty much giving the cover story that Gabriel died a hero a la Light Yagami. That's still not much better than a full reset since now she's written to possibly respect Gabriel's last wish, meaning Adrien never gets any closure, and stays oblivious about who his father truly was unless Lila or something causes him to learn the truth.

If they said that all the damage Gabriel caused as a supervillain was what was undone, that would be okay. But they didn't.

Not only was Gimmi explicitly stated to be the Kwami of Reality, they also said that each wish would affect the universe itself to maintain balance. Also, there's the fact that this happened in an episode called RE-CREATION. I'm pretty sure the universe itself was re-created if that's the title the writers were going with.

[marmalademouse]

I finally read Good Omens!🥳

Although I already knew a lot of book facts, just from being in the GO fandom, there were still quite a few aspects, that surprised me for one reason or another. So here are the notes I took while reading.

!Spoilers for the book “Good Omens” by Neil Gaiman!

Things that surprised me:

God is referred to as He?! (But I might have misinterpreted that?)

Nanny!Crowley has a gray dog named Rover with scarlet eyes.

Aziraphale & Crowley take on more roles during their time with Warlock, than it is shown in the show. Nanny!Crowley and gardener!Aziraphale leave, and return as Warlock’s tutors, Mr. Harrison (Crowley) and Mr. Cortese (Aziraphale).

Crowley is the one who resurrects the dead dove, that doesn’t survive Warlock’s birthday and Aziraphale’s magic show.😌

It is stated that Crowley isn’t good with animals. (Apparently he used to fall off of horses.)

In the book we get an answer on the whereabouts of the third baby. The boy lives in Tadfield as well. Adam calls him Greasy Johnson and he is the leader of another group of children in town.

Adam has a sister named Sarah!

Contrary to its portrayal in the show, Crowley’s flat is described as rather bright, with white walls and a white leather sofa.

Crowley met Leonardo da Vinci and explained “the helicopter thing” to him. One more example of Crowley’s strange bits of knowledge of the future.

The bookshop collapses completely during the fire.

Aziraphale briefly occupies multiple other bodies, before he stays with Madame Tracy, which was extremely funny to read.

Crowley doesn’t go to a pub after the fire and therefore he doesn’t encounter the disembodied Aziraphale. But later on it reads: “He [Crowley] might just as well find a nice little restaurant and get completely and utterly pissed out of his mind while he waited for the world to end.” So I guess they took Crowley’s musings from the book and made them reality in the show.

Crowley has bright red eyes while driving the burning Bentley.

Metatron was at the air force base and he appeared as a young man.

The wings of demons are the same as angels, however they are often better groomed. So book!Crowley’s current wings are white as well?

Satan never appears in person.

They don’t switch bodies/ appearances!!!

Unlike the show, the book doesn’t end with the nightingale line. The book ends with Adam, which is fitting in more than one way. Reading the book after watching s1 and especially after s2, makes it a bit difficult at times to acknowledge that the story/ the book is mainly about Adam, the Antichrist and the apocalypse, and only secondarily about an angel and a demon.

And then there are all the things that aren’t in the book…at all... Crowley doesn’t miracle away the paint on Aziraphale’s coat. No nose to nose scene in the former nunnery. No bandstand break-up scene. No “And when I’m off in the stars I won’t even think about you.”. No “Somebody killed my best friend.”. … And no flashbacks!!!🤯

Things I assumed were fanfiction inventions or fan’s headcanons, but turned out to be real:

It is explicitly mentioned, that Aziraphale has “elegantly manicured hands”!

Crowley loves the TV show “Golden Girls”.

I was sure all the posts, I read about Anathema’s thoughts on Crowley and Aziraphale, when they drove her home after the accident, were just fan headcanons. However she is indeed unsure what to make of the two (in her view) men, who picked her up. She even tells them that she has a bread knife at hand to defend herself if need be. But when Crowley says “Goodnight, miss. Get in, angel.”, she thinks “Ah. Well, that explained it. She had been perfectly safe after all.” 🤭

“For Go-, for Sa-, for somebody’s sake” is a book thing as well!!

Apparently wing grooming is canon. 😅

WTF- and 🥰-moments:

Nanny!Crowley’s description: “Something about her might have said nanny (…) It also coughed discreetly and muttered that she could well be the sort of nanny who advertises unspecified but strangely explicit services in certain magazines.” 👀😳😘

The scene when Crowley says goodbye to Aziraphale, who just found Anathema’s book in the car, broke my heart a little bit: “He [Aziraphale] fumbled for his keys, dropped them on the pavement, picked them up, dropped them again, and hurried to the shop door. “We’ll be in touch then, shall we?” Crowley called after him. Aziraphale paused in the act of turning the key. “What?” he said. “Oh. Oh. Yes. Fine. Jolly good.” And he slammed the door. “Right,” mumbled Crowley, suddenly feeling very alone.”

Adam argues with Metatron and Beelzebub about him not wanting to rule the world and says: “I’m pointing out things. Seems to me you can’t blame people for pointing out things.” This reminded me of angel!Crowley, who had only asked some questions, who had just pointed out things…😢

“He smiled at Crowley. “I’d just like to say,” he said, “if we don’t get out of this, that… I’ll have known, deep down inside, that there was a spark of goodness in you.” (…) Aziraphale held out his hand. “Nice knowing you,” he said. Crowley took it. “Here is to the next time,” he said. “And… Aziraphale?” “Yes.” “Just remember I’ll have known that, deep down inside, you were just enough of a bastard to be worth liking.” 😩😍I loved the whole passage, and for some reason I always thought it was “worth knowing” and not “worth liking”.

Towards the end, Aziraphale tells Crowley, that there are new books in his bookshop, books he never chose himself, due to Adam putting the world back together a bit differently than it was before. And then we get this: “Gosh, I’m sorry.”, said Crowley, who knew how much the angel had treasured his book collection.🥺

Book details used in season 2:

The season 2 conversation between Crowley & Aziraphale, in Scotland during the 1827 flashback, about people having the chance to choose between good and evil, is from the book.

In the book there is a witchfinder named Mr. Dalrymple, which is the name of the surgeon in Edinburgh in 1827. I doubt it is the same person though.?

In episode 6 of season 2 Crowley says to Muriel: “Angels are like bees. Fiercely protective of their hive if you’re trying to get in. (…)” In the book it says: “Sometimes human beings are very much like bees. Bees are fiercely protective of their hive, provided you are outside it. (...)”

Evidently Neil used some details of the book, which weren’t incorporated in season 1, for season 2, and now I’m super curious which remaining elements (if any) he will pick for season 3.

I know these are no new observations or groundbreaking thoughts, but I wanted to document my experience reading the book for the first time.😊

[extasiswings]

I said this to others already, but to me this finale had a lot of 4x14 vibes tbh. Season 4 was severely hindered in it’s production due to COVID and i am, to this day, convinced that that’s also what made them tie it up with such a neat little bow before (at least in Bucktaylors case) undoing a lot of it immediately as season 5 rolled around. Essentially giving everyone the happiest ending they feasibly could.

And there’s something to be said about how mainstream tv seems to think that “happy ending” always equals “in a romantic relationship” whether or not the relationship itself is developed or healthy at all, but for two characters with character arcs so intertwined with their love life, it does make sense.

The thing is, to me this makes sense. Am I thrilled? No. But I’m excited to see what they do because I understand how this fits with the rest of the season and I’m not worried about it.

There were three big themes circling around Buck and Eddie all season. 1) missing the things that are right in front of you; 2) fantasy vs reality; and 3) Fear holding you back/preventing you from living your life. All three of these themes are tied together and need to be worked through to get to a place of Buddie canon and Buck’s “I’m already Christopher’s father” realization. But the last one is arguably the most important in order to get to the heart of the others and that’s where I feel like Marisol and Natalia come in.

Buck and Eddie both started the season single. But not because they necessarily wanted to be, because they were afraid not to be. Afraid to put themselves out there, afraid of being rejected, afraid of making mistakes. But being single out of fear is not the same thing as wanting to be alone or being comfortable with your life as it is, it’s just letting fear control your life. So the way I see it, if they had ended the season still single, that would have changed nothing from where they started.

For Eddie especially, this is a baby step but a necessary one. Whatever happens with Marisol, Eddie’s going to wind up on the other side with some confidence in himself and his ability to be a romantic partner and that’s what he needs to ultimately be secure enough to put himself on the line and really be honest with Buck. It’s low-stakes, it’s fluff, but I think it’s good for him.

For Buck, I disagree with the idea that he is inherently repeating the same mistakes. Yes, it’s not an auspicious start, but we as the audience see things that Buck doesn’t, and also there are some pretty key differences between Natalia and Taylor. With Taylor, they had a preexisting relationship. Buck knew going in all of the things about her that were dealbreakers for him, and instead of being true to himself, he told himself that he could “learn to live with it” and stayed with her for a year. With Taylor, he knew she was fundamentally a person whose values conflicted with his going all the way back to Dosed. He never should have dated her to begin with.

By contrast, he’s been on exactly three dates with Natalia. He barely knows her, and by all accounts she seems like a perfectly nice person even if someone who isn’t ultimately going to work for him (which is something that has been projected to the audience, but not for Buck). She hasn’t done anything wrong (it was pretty reasonable for her to feel overwhelmed and leave when Kameron crashed their date) and there’s nothing about her so far (in her personality or otherwise) that shows Buck is compromising himself and settling. Right now he’s clinging to a woman he wanted to date and get to know better anyway because she wants to be with him too and he’s feeling vulnerable—okay? He wanted to be with her though, I didn’t get the impression this was just about him being afraid to be alone (the way I felt about BT all through S4-S5). If they’re still together after the hiatus when they’ve known each other for more than five minutes and been on more than three dates, and we have actual evidence of him compromising himself where he shouldn’t? Then I’ll be agree that he’s repeating the same mistakes. But if anything right now I’m assuming this is his chance to prove his growth when he is ultimately put in a position to do better—that when something significant comes up he will be comfortable enough with himself to break things off instead of settling for what he doesn’t want. In the meantime, idk about y’all, but it takes me more than three dates to figure out if someone I’m interested in is going to be a good fit for me in the long run. And in a similar vein to Eddie needing to gain some confidence in his ability to be a romantic partner, I think Buck needs to be able to prove to himself that if he’s put in a situation where he’s settling, he’s capable of walking away. And for both of them I think those are important steps for them to take before they’re ready to be together.

[malue-505]

you got any headcanons for laughing jack

Yes I do! My version of LJ is based off of how he was like in the comic Creeps as well as most of his canon information that I know of, sorry if this post is smaller than my usual ones!

Here’s some headcanons:

He doesn’t live in Slenderman’s mansion, he lives in Midrealm in a dingy apartment building with Will Grossman as his roommate (similarly like in Creeps) and Hookman is still their landlord

He’s quite the chaotic good/neutral guy, he can be a bit weird and eccentric but he can have good intentions too

LJ is quite popular in the realms though he doesn’t have any actual friends, let alone a lot of friendly acquaintances. That’s why he really does consider Will his only friend and by default his best friend

He and Will frequent bars, taverns, pubs, etc. They’re the types of bros that wanna get drunk and mess around like idiots for fun

He is 7 feet tall, he often has to bend down through doorways if they don’t have accommodations for beings like him

Is from England and still has his British accent

His eyes turn from light blue to completely black with white pupils whenever he’s angry or when feeling strong emotions

He has a sneaking suspicion that Isaac is not fully dead and might be wondering around. He’s kinda paranoid about it, like he would catch a glimpse of blond hair in the corner and think it could’ve been him

His guilty pleasure is binging reality tv. You name it, he’s watched it. He gets very emotionally attached to the cast and invested in the storylines (Honestly I feel like a lot of the Pastas binge reality tv)

Personality and behavior wise, he can be vulgar and eccentric. He’s able to also be quite the charismatic guy though can be quick to dum down to more powerful figures than him, mostly about his rent being raised

He is Panromantic Asexual! He’s generally sex neutral and doesn’t have much interest himself but will obviously crack jokes about it since he finds them hilarious

He has a celebrity crush on Jane (Arkensaw) since she started modeling for Trenderman. He’s pretty embarrassed/shy about it though and will deny it if someone ever asks

[accirax]

initial thoughts on DCAS episode 7

very notable that this was within the context of being about "love" specifically. (at least) one-sided trevek canon? (i'm not even a huge trevek shipper i just think this whole plotline is funny)

okay, so Yul's foot injury IS real. or at least, he's using it as an excuse to complain. still, the fact that it was brought up again an episode later makes me think that it's going to have SOME relevance to the plot.

any time that Yul has to parrot something in Emily's "you go girlfriend ;D" manner of speaking i cackle. he didn't choose the home decor saying any time is wine time lifestyle, the home decor saying any time is wine time lifestyle chose him.

Grett i am... genuinely confused. how can you possibly think that Yul is actually in love with you? did you really receive THAT little love in your home life? you have no ability to distinguish catty and fake praise for your accomplishments from real ones because your family gave you THAT little recognition? man. now i made myself sad :( ily Grett

okay, confirming that 1) it was Tom's trap, 2) they are willing to eat squirrels, 3) Tom is serving as the provider for the Cyan tribe. all things to take into account for any upcoming Cyan eliminations.

why

and how does said boyfriend feel about you kissing another man on television, Tom? this is a stupid lie.

again, why? it's probably already apparent from my earlier comments, but i changed my mind; i'm fully with Jake in this argument now. sure, Jake is really insecure and overly emotional, but what the HELL is Tom doing? making up a boyfriend is a really shitty thing to do, whether Tom had a legit reason for not calling Jake these past two years or if he didn't contact Jake due to his own mixed feelings/indifference. in either case, he should have told Jake the truth. at least when Jake was acting immature in S1, he was 24. Tom is a nearly 30 year old man. ACT LIKE IT.

Fiore slay

this is a really interesting response due to how vague it is, including in the vocal performance. was he taken off guard by his boss being nice to him? does he believe that she's telling the truth? does he feel bad for Trevor, or will he come to believe that he IS way better than Trevor? i'm glad that they're continuing on with the concept of the hosts having a plotline, because imo that was one of the highlights of S2, but they aren't doing it in a way that eats up as much of the screentime as it did in S2.

if Will was out of the picture i would be shipping these two so hard. who am I kidding, i kind of still am anyways.

Ally's other gf is here :,) glad that they got to reconnect (and neither of them were eliminated for it)

Fiore slay

the confirmation that Aiden thinks that the idea of him having any attraction to Tom is laughable and disgusting is HILARIOUS to me. bro really said, "why the hell would i be into YOU when i have JAMES lmao" straight to Tom's face. tbf, James and Tom are like... opposites in terms of personality and appearance (beyond being generally handsome and athletic young men).

"silly me, i keep forgetting that not everyone met their super cool and attractive boyfriend on reality TV. my bad!" (/pos)

(i tried to type "hubby" instead of boyfriend but i spared you all. it was too cringe even as the one subjecting others to the cringe.)

okay this was very fitting for her. iconic.

honestly, Alec and Riya's villainous alliance/friendship is really fun. leave it to Alec to always find himself in the least likely but most entertaining duos. Riya really benefits from being paired with a legitimate strategist, and someone who won't just let her totally get away with stuff.

we had to get in one last Fiore taking unnecessary damage for the road :,(

feeling like Jaiden is going to be winning the starting couples' survival roulette. and Wishley, to the extent they count.

now i'm no physicist, but how did this work? shouldn't the ball be a fast and heavy enough object at this point that it would jump over the log, not ricochet off of it? i suppose if the ball is made of something more like wicker than yarn, it could be a bit more likely to do that. but then why is it going to the side? it hit the log straight on!

... are you not allowed to help him anymore? what?

ellie is going full villain mode fr. if her and gabby's relationship gets messed up, that would definitely be karma. but, i suppose she survives this episode...

this is funny because nobody strikes me as the pizza and soda loving type. Alec, Grett, Yul, and Riya all seem like people who would want to eat something that's both fancier and healthier.

communication W (for both of them)

Fiore is such a best girl that she's not even a salty juror. she's not mad at them for so long that she can't use her final moments to throw a wrench in the works for everyone else. the grind never sleeps, clowns <3

and she even conquered her greatest nemesis, the bus, this time. fly high, queen. i'll miss you.

well, as a Fiore stan, this episode was a bit sad for me. but, i do totally understand why Magenta would both vote for Fiore and lose the challenge. (damn you, Ellie...) Fiore already did super well in both S1 and the original Adventure Camp, so i understand why they wouldn't have her go super far again in this season, especially when everyone knows she's such a threat.

i just hope that we can still get a little more closure for her and Alec than we got already in this season. all it has to be is, like, him being sad at her elimination for reasons other than pure strategy and maybe a nice conversation at the finale. it doesn't have to be Alec finally adopting her... even if i did want that to happen... i'd just prefer to know that they leave things on good terms.

anyways, another really solid episode! i look forward to the next one. thanks for reading!

[that-was-anticlimactic]

sits on a chair very politely. hi corey!! tell me about some of your bsd hcs ever

hiiiiiiiiiiiii

okay, so first and foremost, kenji and higuchi have tourette's syndrome (and i could go on about that but that's a whole other list lol)

jun'ichirou has a stutter and when he feels strong emotions, his eyes glitch like a neon green

kajii and ranpo hooked up once just cause

kajii is aroallo, so he was down for a one night stand and the two hold it over everyone's heads all the time like "remember that time i slept with the lemon explosions guy?"

dazai. kyouka, and akutagawa are all canonically afraid of dogs, but also like it's not like a silly hehe let's laugh fear it's like feel anxious around dogs, flinches when they hear them bark, hates their hair and has to shower every time they come in contact with one (okay the projection may be a lil strong with this one)

whenever kunikida and dazai are walking together and see a dog, kunikida makes sure he's the one closest to the dog and will wordlessly switch sides with dazai. atsushi does the same for kyouka and akutagawa, and gin + black lizard does the same for akutagawa, too

kenji struggles to process that he's experienced traumatic things, so when the adults around him try to shelter him (and kyouka, but it feels personal for awhile) from worse things, he feels like they're babying him and doesn't understand that they're trying to protect him. and then, eventually, it all blows up (prolly after the cannibalism incident) (okay... yes this is the plot of my kenji & tecchou fic but i stand by this lol)

i like to think that, no matter what universe, kenji has some kind of role in inadvertently getting kunichuu together

kenji has an eating disorder due to his ability, but he still hasn't Really processed that yet (like with his trauma) but the agency is really good about making sure he eats (but sometimes it gets hard during Tough arcs like with the hunting dogs and stuff... when kenji took food but only enough for everyone else and not himself... ough...)

kenji also (last one iuygcfghuji) has trouble sleeping at night due to his ability and bc he's so used to getting up early back at itahov. sometimes he doesn't get any sleep in a night, sometimes he can't sleep unless he eats.

when dazai and kunikida find out, dazai steals kunikida's credit card (and kunikida) and they go to the store and buy kenji a cow plushie so he has something to keep him company at night and is perfect for holding and cuddling

dazai suggests he names it kuni-san and kenji LOVES the name

dazai and kunikida get kyouka a cuddly bunny plushie after she joins, too

MARGARET MITCHELL IS A CONSPIRACY THEORIST AND HAS ADHD

lovecraft loves reality tv

the guild has mandatory weekly movie nights

nonbinary mark & lovecraft <333 and mark is Somewhere on the arospec... idk where, and neither do they, but they Are

one time mark pranked everyone by stealing their toilet paper holders and hiding them in a locker (... a student did that once. stole a toilet paper holder from the boy's bathroom, hid it in his locker, claimed he found it on the floor and put it in his locker for safe keeping)

this one is stolen from this AMAZING fic called "i can keep a secret if you hush" everyone should read it anyways kenji once walked in on tanihara making out (... heatedly... choking was involved) and they told him that it was a "fight between men" and "please don't tell anyone"

jun'ichirou is canonically afraid of earthquakes. the irl jun'ichirou's childhood home was destroyed by one. the real naomi died in an earthquake and so did the rest of his family and jun couldn't cope (he was A CHILD!!!) so light snow manifested naomi and it took him a couple years to realize she wasn't real and in this essay-

ranpo knew naomi was an illusion the Second he saw her and had a breakdown and hated her for a bit and avoided her and then told her she wasn't real once (and that lowkey traumatized him bc she broke Down) (anyways yes this is also the plot of a fic i wrote i just love this hc)

ranpo and naomi are gossip buddies and share Everything with each other. ranpo knows all and naomi was trained under dazai, so she's real close to knowing all. no silly secrets are safe.

anyways dazai taught naomi stuff, yes, but ranpo is the one who took her under his wing <333 (once he got over the illusion stuff)

yosano really likes reading, especially good mysteries, so when ranpo is busy or when poe wants a reader who won't figure it out right away, yosano is his test/beta reader <333

kenji lives with kunikida bc in wHAT WORLD would kunikida allow a fourteen year old who has never been to the city before to live on his own??? and clearly everyone else is too childish to host a child, other than jun but he already has naomi so there's two of them there, so ofc kunikida takes him in!!!

nathaniel isn't in love with maragret: she's like a younger sister to him and reminds him of his younger sisters

stealing this hc from "Poe's Baking Business: A Horror Story" but poe LOVES baking and is really good at it!!!

hirotsu owns a tractor and loves gardening <333 it's how he destresses

when people refer to "the black lizard", yes they mainly mean hirotsu, gin, and tachi, but over time, it started to include higuchi, akutagawa, and kajii <333

after the whole thing with fukuchi is over, kenji and tecchou have weekly lunches together

jouno comes along one day bc they don't "trust kenji" and now they accidentally adopted a son

kenji is willing to try tecchou's strange food combinations

bUT YOU KNOW WHO ELSE IS??? THE MAN WHO EATS LEMONS LIKE APPLES!!! PEELS AND ALL!!! KAJII!!!

anyways kajii and tecchou friendship supremacy

they also have weekly dinners where they just try the most obscure things (kajii is actually a really good cook)

jouno gets really jealous and thinks they're dating at one point lol

tachi is the resident forced babysitter at the pm, so when kyouka was there, sometimes he'd take elise to her cell and they would pass her paper and coloring utensils so they could color together

tachi still has some of her drawings

once kyouka decides she likes you, you get doodles and drawings <333

names mean a lot to tachi. he doesn't quite understand why and has lots of identity issues, but he suddenly feels more like a real person when jun'ichirou calls him "michi" for the first time

after the vampire incident, higuchi and akutagawa sit down and have a MUCH needed conversation about their relationship (not romantic lol) and it's awkward and a lil messy but oh SO worth it

ofc dazai, kunikida, tachi, and akutagawa never fully healed from their injuries from the whole... everything going on right now and all have chronic pain

elise's favorite game is tea party but with Roles. tachihara is always the sparkle solider and chuuya always ends up being the worm. never upgrades. sometimes, very rarely, akutagawa gets to be a sparkle princess

ATSUSHI HAS CHRONIC HAND PAIN BC OF THE ABUSE FROM THE ORPHANAGE so the gloves he always wears that ranpo got him? compression gloves!!! i will DIE on that hill!!!

kenji also gets compression gloves bc of his tics <333

atsushi and jun have hooked up at LEAST once. probably more.

hirotsu and yosano have chronic migraines

lucy is a t.aylor s.wift fan (s/o to grace for that one lol)

kunikida has ocd and undiagnosed adhd

poe, akutagawa, and jun'ichirou are lowkey theatre kids. also jouno.

no but jun'ichirou is an AMAZING actor, so more often than not, he's the one who gets sent on undercover missions

dazai has to frequently remind kunikida that yes, he's older than atsushi, jun, kenji, kyouka, and naomi, he's just barely an adult, too. he's still super young. cue a a kunikida breakdown. like genuinely.

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

PROPAGANDA

MARWA (WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS (TV SERIES)) (CW: Mind Control)

1.) okok so a major character (nandor) uses a genie wish to bring back the 37 wives he had when he was human (he’s a vampire who was turned in the 1400s but is alive in the modern day) to pick his favorite to live with and settles on marwa. she’s established as someone who’s passionate about science and mathematics, but nandor uses his genie wishes to essentially mold her into his perfect woman like a doll, from changing her hair color to making her not want to go to the night market with him to making her like all the things he likes. this culminates in him LITERALLY TRANSFORMING HER INTO A BRITISH MAN NAMED FREDDIE and that is her send off from the show. the treatment of her is disgusting i’m sorry for ranting i love wwdits but honestly the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth

2.) WHERE TO START my god. Marwa is introduced into the story as one of a crowd of women who are interchangeable to the man summoning them, WHO IS HER CANONICAL HUSBAND but he gives less than half a fuck about her, which is played for laughs. The writers made it completely unclear whether she is a real person or basically a magical simulation with no inner life and did not bother to clarify that at any point. Her plotline consists of her husband using magical wishes to modify various aspects of her body and mind and the writers never explore whether she is aware this is happening or not, much less how she might be experiencing it. It is a terrifying psychological horror story from her perspective but we are not given any insight into her perspective so who cares I guess!! For example, he wishes for her to have a rounder ass and then wishes that all of her preferences align perfectly with his own, so that she'll stop nagging him about wanting different colored flowers at their wedding than him. There are SEVERAL more examples. Her experience of having all of her desires replaced with her husband's desires shows up only for jokes, plus one moment that is used to confirm that her husband's real love interest is one of the other male leads in the show. (I ship the two male characters, I'm not complaining about that, but like COME ON SHE WAS A HUMAN PERSON ONCE AND SHE IS LIVING IN A HORROR MOVIE AND THIS IS WHAT YOU'RE DOING WITH THAT???) THE WORST PART is that when it's time for her to exit the story because her body and personality have already been essentially replaced by magic and she is now a boring toy, she is LITERALLY PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY transformed into a random British man so that her husband can have that guy as a love interest instead of her. She (he? It? Again it is never NEVER explored whether Marwa is like, alive inside this British man's mind somehow? Or if she was ever really alive in her body?) moves to England to be in love with the original British man she was based off of, so basically her twin. This is also played for laughs. Her entire personality and body are not even killed off with like a death scene but literally ERASED FROM REALITY AND REPLACED WITH A COPY OF THIS SHITTY WHITE DUDE.

3.) (Context: Nandor is a vampire who has been alive for a while. When he was human he had 37 wives. (Btw some of the wives were men but that’s besides the point.))

She was brought back to life (along with a couple others) via Djinn wish just because Nandor wanted to have a ‘wife’ (some of the ‘wives’ are men). After being deemed the ‘best wife’ by Nandor she is the only one left alive. It is clear the entire fourth season that Nandor doesn’t care for her much and she is only there because Nandor wants to be married to someone. He ignores her wants and interests the whole season. Via another Djinn wish Nandor makes Marwa like everything he likes so she is more agreeable with him. Later on, he meets another character’s boyfriend named Freddie. Nandor basically falls for Freddie immediately and via Djinn wish, wishes Marwa to be exactly Freddie. :| With that wish, Marwa is effectively gone. She now looks and acts like Freddie. The two Freddies meet and after freaking out a little (and some magic) they get along because they like the same exact things. By the end of the season both Freddies are sent off to never be seen again. Also, Nandor has some extra Djinn wishes so he could’ve turned Marwa back but he didn’t.

Additional links: Article about the Freddie thing: https://www.themarysue.com/what-we-do-in-the-shadows-missed-hard-with-its-treatment-of-marwa/

She likes what he likes:

Also This:

MIKOKO SAKAZAKI (KAIJI)

1.) She is one of two (2) women with a speaking role in the manga (which has been ongoing since the 90s), and was the first female character to appear at all. She has a crush on the protagonist, Kaiji, but this is treated as a joke/ as gross because of her appearance. She is meant to be ugly because of the size of her nose and lips and therefore is invalid as a person. She has no role other than to pester Kaiji with her crush, and despite him ignoring or acting weirded out around her constantly, her attraction to him never fades. She gets almost no characterization outside of this and is only seen once after Kaiji leaves, where she is drawing a manga where he comes back to her. When she's shown once in a bikini, the sight is so disgusting to the protagonist that he sprints away at full speed. Despite this, she is sometimes used in ads for the series.

2.) Her face looks "too much like her father's", yet he never receives any negativity for it. Every single male character in the manga has the same style of facial features, yet when the creator puts them on a woman it makes her mockable and gross.

[thgfanfictionlibrary]

Teen and Up Rated Fics Masterlist (14)

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12 / Part 13 /

Created: February 9th, 2024

Last Checked:—-

Baby It's Cold Outside-HGfanonezillion (ao3) Summary: Katniss needs help on a cold night and the only person she can get on the phone is Peeta, a guy she's had a couple classes with. He's more than willing to come to the rescue!

Cheese Buns and Garlic Cakes-winryofresembool (ao3) Summary: Peeta finally gets a chance to talk with his childhood crush when she shows up at his door to sell some ingredients for his pastries.

If We Met Up at Midnight-Mollywog (ao3) Summary: Had the messenger arrived a day earlier, he would have been greeted by a yellow flag above our door, and had to turn back, summons undelivered. The odds, however, are not in my favor.

In the Background-deinde_prandium (ao3) Summary: "But every so often he’ll touch her hand, or brush a wisp of hair out of her face, or something equally intimate that makes her feel like her heart is going to stop, and she has to to remind herself of where she is. Either this Peeta guy is flirting with her, or he’s too good of an actor to be doing BG gigs." Katniss and Peeta are movie extras who meet on a film set. Based on a tumblr prompt.

Intimate Bystander-burkygirl (ao3) Summary: Katniss said it was just for the cameras. Gale believed her until he discovered she screams for Peeta in the night. In the days before the Quarter Quell, Gale finds out there’s more to Katniss’s relationship with Peeta than she’s led him to believe. In-Panem, mostly Canon. Everlark Fic Exchange, Springtime Edition, Prompt 1 – Gale walks in on/eavesdrops/overhears Everlark being intimate.

Okay. Sure. If You Want To.-endlessnightlock (ao3) Summary: “You’ve never even touched yourself?”

Positive-rarepairheathen (ao3) Summary: In AU Panem after Katniss winner of the 74th reality TV show “The Hunger Games” she finds herself in a world of trouble.

Reunion-Mollywog (ao3) Summary: A kidnapped but not hijacked District 13 Everlark reunion

Strange Things Did Happen Here-Mollywog (ao3) Summary: In The Hanging Tree Universe-Katniss seeks out Haymitch for answers.

The Oktoberfest Effect-Alliswell (ao3) Summary: Prompt: Town boys (drunk?) dare each other to venture into woods (Halloween night? [Oktoberfest]). Katniss saves Peeta (from peacekeepers? storm?) by pulling him into a cave for the night. (Drunk Peeta talks too much and is cuddly?) by @567inpanem for Seasons of Everlark on Tumblr.