#I kid you not this fic has been eating my brain alive

[ambii15]

May I present (part of), the “we met at a bar and I kinda hate you but still want to fuck you” Caitvi fic that’s been rotting my brain away

Enjoy 😉:

The familiar thump of the heavy base pounded along the floor, curling its way through heel covered feet and reverberating through her spine. The smell of booze and sweat and smoke lingered in the air, making Caitlyn scrunch her nose.

No matter how many times she has walked into the now familiar bar, she’d never get over the stench.

But it was one consequence she’d live with if it meant her night would end the same way every time she’d walked into The Last Drop.

Two months.

Two months since these little…trysts had started.

All because Caitlyn couldn’t resist Jayce’s pleading to accompany him and Mel to the newly popular bar that had suddenly started gaining traction after an apparent ‘small renovation’.

And also because of her.

Two months ago

“Come on, Cait. Stop pouting. You’re going to love this place, I promise,” Jayce spoke radiantly as they stepped out of the car.

Caitlyn cast her sullen gaze along the newly renovated exterior, the large sign smack above the bar’s entrance boosting its name and a simple beer mug filled to the brim, a single drop frozen in time just above it, ready to crash into the awaiting glass.

“I’m not pouting,” Caitlyn remarked, eyes laser focused on the small crowd that spilled from the bar’s doors. “I’d just rather be somewhere else.”

It wasn’t that she didn’t like crowds and music and drinking, it was simply that Caitlyn preferred the comfort of her perfectly cozy loft apartment cuddled up on her couch with a good book or the newest crime documentary and a glass of wine. She’d grown up forced to attend her mother’s parties and other functions deemed necessary for her station as a counselor's daughter and now?

Now she just likes peace and quiet.

Jayce simply chuckled, shaking his head as he threw an arm around Caitlyn’s shoulders, “You mean holed up like a loner? You’ll never find anyone that way, sprout. You need to get out. Explore the city and the many things it has to offer…if you know what I mean.”

Caitlyn scoffed as Jayce subtly tipped his head in the direction of a group of women mingling outside the bar, skin exposed through more fishnet than she’s ever seen, skirts and shorts shorter than even Caitlyn’s little black number. And that was saying something.

“As gorgeous as they are,” Caitlyn mumbled, eyes lingering just a little too long. “I’m not interested in finding anyone and you know that.”

“Oh, please, Caitlyn. When are you going to just stop being so focused on work and actually let yourself have some fun for once?”

Caitlyn groaned as Mel stepped up next to Jayce, smirk in place as she sided with her boyfriend. Thankfully, Mel was normally the one to leave her be and let Caitlyn do her own thing as she pleased, but that didn’t seem the case tonight.

Mel stepped towards her, fingers moving to fluff up the long dark blue strands of loosely curled hair. Caitlyn begrudgingly waited for her best friend to finish primping her. There was no sense in trying to talk Mel out of it when she was the one to force her into the makeup and the silk dress clinging to her skin and the outrageously tall heels. Not that Caitlyn would complain about the outfit. She wasn’t daft…she knew she looked damn good. Fuckable even. But that was not the goal for tonight. Caitlyn simply wanted to accompany her friends and leave…as soon as possible.

“Let’s just get this over with please. The faster we’re in there the faster I can leave,” Caitlyn groaned as she pushed the couple towards the doors.

“Such a spoilsport,” Mel laughed.

The bar was filled to the brim. Bodies cramped together on the dance floor like a pack of sardines, the scent of sweat and booze wafting through them, as Chase Atlantic bled through the dj’s speakers, lights a colorful array flickering with the beat. Caitlyn clung to Mel’s arm as Jayce led them through the throng of bodies towards the heavily packed bar.

With the amount of people that were currently bumping into her, making contact with her skin, a drink was going to be a heavy necessity.

They quickly claimed a rare opening at the end of the bar, Jayce and Mel offering the only open stool for Caitlyn to sit. Caitlyn vaguely listened to the couple behind her as she surveyed the bar. An array of alcohol lined the shelves behind the bar, each shelf lit by purple and blue lights, an…interesting choice Caitlyn had never seen for bar lighting. Two male bartenders quickly and efficiently worked the crowd while balancing cups and bottles of booze and the inflow of cash from customers hands. Caitlyn watched with wonder as the taller of the two began flipping two bottles of expensive looking liquor before pouring them into the awaiting cups in front of a group of young women.

“Names Mylo. What can I get for ya?”

Caitlyn broke her gaze away from the now cheering women to acknowledge the other bartender, shorter and leaner, she hadn’t even noticed had approached them. She quickly looked back at her friends, silently telling them to go ahead and order first.

“Whiskey, neat, for me,” Jayce called over the music before gesturing to Mel. “Martini for my lady and then whatever sprout here wants, on me.”

Caitlyn rolled her eyes as Jayce elbowed her shoulder before turning back to the bartender who watched them with a bored expression.

“I’ll take a glass of Riesling, please.”

Caitlyn seemed caught off guard as the bartender –Mylo– reared back slightly as if burned.

“Riesling? You want a glass of wine here?”

“Yes?” Caitlyn muttered, unsure if the word would have even reached his ears through the pounding music.

Mylo laughed darkly while he began working on Jayce and Mel’s drinks, something about the sound stiffening Caitlyn’s spine, “Can say I haven’t had many people, if any really, order riesling at a place like this. Then again, we don’t see your type around here too much.”

Caitlyn bristled a little, “My type?”

“Yeah,” Mylo drawled, like it should have been completely obvious to her what he meant. “A topsider, clearly one of the elite if the way you're dressed and rigid posture is anything to go by.”

Two drinks clicked against the counter, a small bit of Mel’s martini swishing from the glass as they were shoved in front of her.

“I’ll be back with your riesling, piltie. Gotta get it from the back.”

Caitlyn was left gaping like a fish out of water as she watched Mylo yell something to the other bartender over the music before disappearing through a door behind the bar. Being called a piltie or topsider was nothing new to Caitlyn, hell, it was the truth…but she’d never been called it with such detest.

The unsettling emotions of whatever the hell she was currently feeling swirled in her stomach as she slowly turned to Jayce and Mel. The couple was completely oblivious to the interaction, both swaying along to the music and taking gracious sips of their drinks, more than ready to lose themselves into the thriving life of the bar.

“Cait,” Mel practically yelled as she grabbed onto her shoulder. “We’re going to go dance! You coming?”

Caitlyn shook her head, thumb hooking over her shoulder in a gesture towards the bar behind her, “I’m still waiting on my drink. I’ll join you once I get it. You both go on ahead.”

Mel pursed her lips, glancing around the bar with quizzical and sharp eyes.

“You sure? We can wait.”

“No. No, you guys go have fun. I might actually just keep my butt in this seat for a while. You did force me into a pair of obnoxiously tall heels,” Caitlyn laughed, legs shifting to show off said heels like Mel didn’t already know what they looked like.

Laughter tumbled from tastefully painted gold lips, a hand lightly hitting Caitlyn on her outstretched leg, “You better not stay here all night or I’m going to drag you onto the dance floor kicking and screaming if I have to.”

Caitlyn scoffed in amusement, “You can try. Doesn’t mean you’ll succeed.”

Mel rolled her eyes and decided to give Caitlyn the last word as she turned to Jayce, who was all but jumping along with the deep base that pulsed through the bar and not even paying attention to their conversation in the slightest, to yell something in his ear before grabbing his hand and leading him through the throng of bodies. Jayce spun as he held Mel’s hand, making a ‘cheers’ gesture with his whiskey to Caitlyn before letting the music fully consume him as the couple was swallowed into the crowd.

Caitlyn let her eyes linger on the crowd, completely comfortable with people watching and more than thankful that her seat at the end of the bar allowed her ample space away from the press of random bodies.

“You’re riesling, topsider.”

The voice behind her was sudden and smooth and rough all at once…and definitely not male.

Caitlyn swung around on her stool, cerulean eyes dropping to the glass of white wine that was pushed towards her and the thick curl of fingers around the stem. She reached out, mind bristling at the tone that slithered along the ‘topsider’ jab, and anchored her own fingers just under the surprisingly scarred ones that had yet to remove themselves from the glass.

“Thank you,” Caitlyn muttered just barely audible over the music, very consciously aware that she had yet to make eye contact with just whoever was the owner of the voice and scarred fingers.

Before she could even try to take full possession of the wine glass, it and her hand were all but yanked forward. Caitlyn released a small gasp of oxygen that was practically forced from her lungs as her chest made impact with the bartop and the feeling of those thick fingers, attached to a hand much larger than her’s, coiled around her wrist with a tight, but not painful, squeeze.

It took all but half a second for Caitlyn to realize that whatever the hell was happening, was actually happening and not just some funny trick of the lights or due to her normal tendency to daydream. She tried to wrench her hand from the stranger’s grip but was only met with a chuckle and a steadfast squeeze. Where Caitlyn might have felt panic begin to curl at the edges of her being at the inability to release herself…she only felt warmth.

A strange warmth that curled deep in her belly and spread like wildfire, fraying her nerve endings in ways she hasn’t felt in…well…maybe ever.

And Caitlyn didn’t even know what this person looked like.

At least not until she finally levered her smoldering gaze onto the being currently holding her hostage across the bar.

She was strikingly nothing like what Caitlyn was expecting…but also everything she was expecting just from her voice and hands alone.

The first feature that pulled Caitlyn in were those stormy grey eyes, hazy with wonder and mirth, almost deep enough to drown her gaze before she could glance at the small roman numeral six tattoo just under her left eye. The nose piercing was her next focus, which then pulled her to the scar on a full upper lip that was currently set in a smirk. A single strand of pink hair fell forward, distracting her gaze from those plump lips, and Caitlyn never thought she could appreciate hair so much.

Vibrant, deep pink hair, almost red, was pulled back into a bun revealing a short undercut that left Caitlyn wondering just how her fingers would feel running over it.

And with one last once over, this handsome stranger’s face was no longer…well, strange.

Now, as for her body? Well, Caitlyn could tell plenty just by the way the black button down’s sleeves strained against sturdy muscles.

If those muscles didn’t have her licking lips already, then the feeling of a single finger lifting her chin back up to those glorious grey eyes sure did.

“My eyes are up here, sweetheart,” Grey eyes purred.

Caitlyn quickly snapped out of the lusty fog that assaulted her brain, retracting her chin from the fiery finger that felt close to burning her, and finally jerked her hand free along with her glass. The mysterious woman’s smirk simply widened further as she folded her arms and leaned against the bar, those grey eyes scanning her with something intense behind them.

“I didn’t really want to believe my brother when he told me a topsider actually showed their face here, but here you are, and with friends no less.”

Caitlyn could practically feel flames of anger licking along her spine –if she was called a topsider one more time with that damn insulting tone, she was going to lose her shit. When Mylo had thrown the term around it was…briefly unsettling at the most, but when this woman tossed it around…it almost felt like a slap to the face.

“And what’s so wrong about a topsider coming to a bar? Is there a rule against us being here?” Caitlyn inquired as she finally sipped her riesling, grounding herself in the way the liquid slid down her throat and warmed her empty stomach.

Grey eyes laughed, a single hand gesturing towards the space to Caitlyn’s back.

“Take a look around, sweetheart. Not much of your type around these parts.”

Caitlyn didn’t need to look around to know what the woman was implying. She’d noticed it from the second they’d walked in the door…hell, she’d noticed it while they were in the parking lot.

They weren’t so deep in Zaun that it would be uncommon to see someone from Pilitover here or there. They were just on the outskirts of the city…barely. But just from one sweeping look around the dancefloor and bar was enough for Caitlyn to confirm that her and her two best friends were definitely the only people from Piltover.

Where Piltover was all white and sparkly and clean, Zaun was dark hues and smudged paint and…well not necessarily dirty. More like a haphazard mess.

In other words, they were complete opposites.

Caitlyn swirled the remaining wine in her glass, brow arching as she fixed the woman with a heavy glare, “So I guess what you’re trying to say is we’re not really welcome here?”

“Bingo, sweetheart,” Grey eyes snapped her fingers before dropping her chin atop her knuckles and fixing Caitlyn with a sweet, fake smile. “My family has dealt with enough topsider bullshit that we don’t need any of you in our place of business. Now, you can take your riesling, get your two little friends and be on your merry way back to your shiny mansion.”

And Caitlyn’s shit was lost.

Caitlyn chuckled deeply, legs crossing as she leaned forward over the bar, a mere inch away from grey eyes, “And just what are you going to do if I don’t? What if I prefer to stay right here in this seat and happily sip my Riesling while my friends dance, hm?”

Those fingers that had been wrapped around her wrist only minutes ago, tightened, knuckles turning white, as grey eyes leveled her with a dark stare. Caitlyn knew she was playing with fire, but something about that look just set her body aflame more than scared her off, which she’s sure is what the look was intended for.

“You’re messing with the wrong one, sweetheart.”

Caitlyn smirked, eyes wondering the form of pink hair and grey eyes and muscles over her glass, “Oh, but I do think I’m messing with the right one, darling.”

The air between them, formerly somewhat hostile after grey eyes tried to kick her out onto the curb, shifted completely. It grew thick and heady, curled around them like a scorching blanket and Caitlyn felt herself unconsciously shift on her stool, thighs pressed together in an attempt to soothe the dull ache building at her core.

If she was being honest with herself, this is exactly what Caitlyn didn’t want to happen. She hadn’t been lying when she told Jayce and Mel that she just wasn’t interested in finding someone tonight. Caitlyn did not want to deal with the hassle of a one night stand or a few times fling, let alone a relationship, at this point in her life. No, this time was for advancing in her career. Showing everyone that she was more than capable of finding her own way around without any help or guidance from her mother. This was a time of focus.

But damn did those scarred pink lips just beg for her to bite them.

Maybe, if Caitlyn played her cards just right, she could get her brains fucked out by this handsome woman who obviously somewhat detested her and just forget it happened. That would be fine, right? Just once and it’ll be over. She deserved it.

A dark chuckle fluttered in the space between them and Caitlyn could feel the wheels of her hastily put together plan beginning to turn. She just needed to push the right buttons and grey eyes here would be putty on her hands.

“Oh, sweetheart, trust me when I say you don’t want to play this game with me,” the scarred eyebrow that Caitlyn had been drawn to earlier perked up, as if asking if she really wanted to continue.

Caitlyn finally stood from her stool, the freakishly tall heels giving her more height than her already long legs did, and leaned fully over the bar. Her breasts were practically put on display now, the black silk of her dress plunging just enough as she leaned to show off a generous amount of cleavage and she mentally clapped herself on the back when stormy eyes glanced down to catch the view. Caitlyn’s free hand moved suddenly, drifting over warm fingers, a wrist, a forearm corded with hard muscle, and flowing up the length of the woman’s arm before curling around her shoulder.

Without warning, Caitlyn tugged her forward, cheek pressing against cheek as she whispered in her ear.

“If the game you’re talking about is where you fuck me like you hate me, then yes, I really do,” Caitlyn husked before slowly backing away, fingers skimming down the front of the woman’s chest before reaching over to grab her wine once more. Caitlyn finished her drink in one sure swig then deposited the glass into the woman’s dangling hand, a small bit of shock now showing through her hardened features.

“That is unless you’d actually prefer to kick me out,” Cailtyn shrugged, picking imaginary lint off her dress before glancing back up. “Then I could simply go home, as I have wanted since before I even walked in here. Or, you could take me into whatever corner is dark enough to hide us from prying eyes and we could have our way with each other. Ball is in your court, darling.”

—————————

Wanted to get a little feedback on this before finishing it up and posting it. Hopefully in the next week or so if I don’t get carried away 😂 be on the look out 😉

[numericalbridge]

These are super rough, but i just wanted to share some tidbits from the fics i've plotted but not sure whether i would write in full. All are from different stories:

A.

"Darius?! Darius! Please, please, wake up!"

The voice is sending pinpricks of pain right through his brain. Darius opens his eyes. Everything is swaying. It feels like all the energy has been drained out of him. What happened? He blinks groggily and attempts to sit up.

"You're alive!" Eda's human ward - Luz - lets go of his shoulder and mutters something in a language Darius doesn't understand. "Is Eda all right? Everyone else?"

"Where are we?" He doesn't recognize the place. There are lines of strange glyphs around the two of them. "And what are you doing here?" he demands. He doesn't like this. Where are the other kids? His head is still foggy. The Ceremony. The fight. The translocation. "Yes, Eda and the rest should be safe. Are you here alone?"

Luz twists her mouth into a forced smile, "Well, you see... But first ugh..." Her eyes shift. "Please don't freak out..." she mutters.

Is she looking at his arm? He follows her gaze to his sigil...

B.

Raine knew that look. Imperious and somewhat disgusted, as if he had just seen something so beneath him that it fascinated and repulsed him in equal measures yet wasn't worth a verbal reaction. That look was enough to shut up even the oldest Coven Heads. Only... Raine couldn't recall it ever being directed at them.

Then the boy's lower lip wobbled, and the illusion was shattered.

C.

"I assume the Great Demon King has not heard the blood-curdling tale of Brie the Blimp?"

"Brie the Blimp?" Ha! The name was catchy. But King had his mission.

"Oh, yes," the witch said. The abomination on his head shifted. "The mysterious and frightening witch-eating flying apparatus." He raised an eyebrow and then nodded towards the window. "They say she prowls the skies on nights just like this."

"And?" King asked - just in case. He had to find Eda, but this was something new. He needed the intel!

"Oh, I don't know," the witch leaned his head on his hand. "Perhaps this story is too much..."

"No!" King objected. "The King of Demons is not afraid of some old nursery story. I demand to hear the blood-calling... blood-curling tale of the evil Blimp!"

"Hmm, all right," the man smiled, "if you insist."

King grabbed one of the abomination toys closer to himself - also just in case - and plopped down to listen.

"It all started one bright and peaceful morning..."

D.

"Oh my Titan! Are you Perry Porter?!" one of the scouts squealed. "From the Crystal Ball? For real?!"

"Yes, yes," Perry forced himself to say. Normally he would be embarrassed, but this time was different. "Glad to meet a fan..."

"Do you even know who this is?" the scout pestered their colleague who shrugged non-comittally.

"I love seeing you on the Crystal Ball!" the first scout addressed Perry again.

"Thank you. But can I help you?" Perry knew his voice sounded polite, but his heart was pounding. Here we go.

"We are looking for dangerous rebels, potentially wild witches," the less enthusiastic scout announced. "They were seen in the vicinity of your house. Have you noticed any suspicious activity?"

"I don't think so," Perry answered. "But there is a forest behind these houses, it would be easy to hide there."

"Are you sure you didn't see anyone?"

"Come on," the chatty scout interrupted them. "It's Perry Porter! He would've noticed if the rebels were here. Thank you for your time!"

No, thank you.

"No problem."

E.

"Oh, wow, this Construction Coven's book is surely a brick," Luz waved the book in front of herself. Judging by the blank stares, the joke didn't land.

"The most prominent figures of the Construction Craft, tome 2," Skara read the title from below.

"Sounds fun," Luz started - she had a really good one...

"Hey!"

Eberwolf grabbed the book right out of her hands, and she nearly fell down the ladder. Eber hurried to the other side of the room, put the book on the desk and began hastily turning over the pages as if looking for something specific. Then they seemed to find that something. He read the page, chirping almost silently to themselves and tugging on his mane from time to time.

"Eber?" Darius had stopped mending the abominations and came up to stand by them.

Eber shook their head, jumped down the chair and silently trotted out of the room, leaving the book on the table.

Darius sighed.

"What happened?" Skara asked.

Luz leaned to look in the book. There was a portrait.

"Galatea Vault," Darius said. "She was the Construction Coven Head before Mason."

[soleadita]

Okay. Babe. My mutual in closest proximity. Talk to me about Stargate Atlantis pls.

OHMYGOD. okay. okay. i accidentally wrote you an essay. i'm not sure how much of it is coherent. i love u thank u for sending me this it made my night. <3

disclaimer: i'm so new. many people know much more than i do. and i still have about a season and a half left; i've been watching with a bestie so i've been forced to pace myself more than i would otherwise.

plot/premise: SGA is a spinoff of a movie (Stargate) and another show (Stargate SG-1). i was told, repeatedly, to watch the others first, but i'm impatient...i was a little confused but i got the gist eventually. ANYWAY. it's like...the lost city of atlantis has been located, except it's in another galaxy, and a group of scientists and military fools are going there for an expedition to like...explore/learn things? they're kind of in space, but it doesn't feel like that too much—by my standards, at least, and i am a known hater of media that takes place entirely in space. there's a team, they're a family, they get into Situations...u know the drill.

why i, specifically, enjoy the show:

john sheppard. JOHN. SHEPPARD. babe, i have not been this down bad for a character since DEREK HALE. im NOT KIDDING. i wanted to say more about him but i don't feel qualified enough to have my own thoughts yet. (or at least, i still feel shy about saying them out loud on the internet. i can and will go on and on about him in private, though.)

i did go into this for john sheppard. i will fully admit that. (i had a few mutuals who'd put him on my dash every so often and i could just tell he was gonna do me in.) HOWEVER. i am falling in love with nearly every single character. the character development is genuinely some of the best i've seen, and the way the team gradually turns into family who have each others' backs no matter what?? I'M EATING IT UP. (here is a video of the team, i CANNOT talk about each of them individually, i'd be here all night.)

john and rodney's dynamic is DELICIOUS. they're both obnoxiously intelligent (and they're both obnoxious, but in different ways). they annoy each other. they delight in each other's presence. they're teammates. they're best friends. they keep each other alive they'd do anything for each other they know each other better than they know themselves. (AND I KNOW I'M ONLY SCRATCHING THE SURFACE OF IT MYSELF, BECAUSE I HAVEN'T EVEN FINISHED THE SHOW.......)(here is a video bc there's no way my words are gonna do it justice.)(also here are more words.)

the fic is SO good, too, and it's been especially fun bc the authors of a lot of my fav sterek fics had also written for sga back in the day, and getting to read stuff from them that i hadn't read yet....aughhhh. i love fandom.

the dialogue is hilarious, the situations are WILD (cannot tell you how many times i've been like WHO WAS IN THE WRITERS ROOM HOW DID THEY COME UP WITH THIS), and generally i'm just having such a great time.

in conclusion (bc i'm cutting myself off here), i'm never really sure whether i should recommend things to people or not bc my own tastes are basically just whatever happens to hit the unpredictable switch in my brain, but GENUINELY it's just SO FUN. i'm having the time of my life. i cannot shut up about it. <3

[jademickian]

hello! long-time lurker here. feeling very brave right now and very much felt encouraged by @callivich​, so here i go.

Name: jade

Age: 20 sumn

What made you fall in love with Gallavich? aside from the fact that their love story probably covers every possible trope ever and noel and cam truly lived and breathed these characters into life, as a closeted kid who had once ‘loved’ and was extremely afraid to be found, i also deeply related to their initial struggles with the hiding and the pushing away. but the way ian and mickey made it ! and got married ! and things are generally looking up ! it’s such a joy to witness and fills me with great hope.

How long have you been a fan? a year and three months! i know, i know... i’m a baby. but there is nothing very baby about how this show and ship changed my brain chemistry because i have never devoted this much on anything until... well.

Favourite Gallavich moment/scene? oh man it’s like picking a favorite child... can i say everything? no? okay i would say s3e3, when they were running away from the cops after mickey headbutted n*d on the street. it’s so carefree, they were just two boys laughing and running without a hint of what’s to come and now i’m crying!

Favourite Shameless character apart from Ian and Mickey? fiona. is that a red flag? idk but i’ll defend her and let her knock me out actually.

Do you write or draw or make edits? i create when i feel too much or when an idea is ping ponging around my head and demands to be known by the world or when something i want to consume has not existed yet. so i have a very sporadic relationship with making stuff (also because college sucks). i (sort of) write and make video edits or memes.  

Favourite type of Gallavich fics? i love AUs. god i LOVE aus. i prefer multi-chaps, but i also adore extremely witty one shots with good dialogue or banter. nothing in particular. just put those boys in situations and i will eat it up.

Favourite Gallavich quote? SO many great ones. my first one would always be the classic “what you and i have makes me free”, but aside from that there’s also “we got nothing to be ashamed of” “what fucking world do you live in?” because holy shit.

Anything else you’d like to share about yourself? head empty no thoughts. just want to say, every one on here is so fucking talented and welcoming. the words, the art, the fics, the gifs, the manips, the hilarious text posts, the metas, the podcasts, etc. i see you. you keep this community alive and it’s the most beautiful thing i’ve ever seen. and i’m so, so grateful. i internally squeal every time someone makes something because wow i get these treasures for free. all for the love of some silly lil boys. wonderful, wonderful gift. i am a chronic introvert folks and is a very awkward human and sometimes i still feel shy but really, all i want to do is scream at you for how great you all are.

[leprosycock]

God thank you for everything and all you do for the jlud community, the founding and community of it all.

I’m going to be honest, your work scares me sometimes but it also doesn’t miss!! I love your art, collages and fics, they are so fascinating and descriptive I want to print them out and eat it I’m not even kidding I really love them so much.

With their dynamic only evolving from admiration to friends to co workers and more, I’m excited for what the future of the jlud community entails :)

I also wanted to ask whether you’d be writing more based on this new development in the ship, and also what inspires your creative drive? And as a genuine question, are you doing alright lately?

Take care and best of luck on future endeavours:))

i didn't found it all by myself!! it couldn't have possibly gotten where it is now unless there weren't a lot of talented people working as hard as me to get it off the ground. i really appreciate that you engage with my work despite it being intimidating, that's super sweet and i'm glad you enjoy it so much! <333

i'm REALLY interested to see where things are going to go........ it'll have to depend entirely on what streamer projects offbrand engages with and that's all up to chance, so we'll just have to pay strict attention. i doubt the ship is going to grow enormously like it did over streams like juiced and beerio kart, but i'm fine with that as long as what we have rn is alive. and i get extra notes and attention on meta and art and fics that i post in the tags every day, so as long as it continues to garner curiosity and attention, it'll keep thriving, however tiny of a community it has.

i'll ABSOLUTELY be writing more based on this development. i have a lot of stuff going on in the meantime alongside all my wips that i talked about the other day and a lot of art and shit that i want to make. as far as my creative drive goes, part of it is just debilitating autism but another part of it is that i just want SOOO badly to make things. i want to make collages and i want to make sculptures and i want to make illustrations and i want to make pieces of prose. my brain is just so insanely active and a lot of it is trauma-busted, so making a ton of weird shit is an easy way for me to vent and divert attention to a more interesting, horny, and lively place. i'm just really passionate about art and i think more (all) of it needs to be weird and i want to put more of that out there.

i'm doing okay!! money is really tight as per usual but i have a super exciting full-time opportunity coming up that'll really improve things if i don't blow it. plus it'll give me a ton of time to write and draw which i'm really looking forward to. i have a tiny dog that i love so very much and i've been sticking to a diet that's kept me from having acid reflux and migraines and crazy fatigue. good things are coming! thank you for asking! <33

[tealty]

(I'm so sorry this turned into an essay and I couldn't stop once I started TLDR!!) Okay its not dpxdc which first off, wild, how dare my brain branch out like this and get fixated when I have WORK to do and cannot CATER to it. Rude. Anyways, so I've been obsessed with all kinds of crossovers of DP because i think there's a lot of opportunities there but there is one I've really only seen i think a single fic about and it wasn't really actually about Danny, it was just about elements and mechanics of the universe being present in another one. So walking dead?? idk i know in the comics rick is at one point in Kentucky so if you included comic TWD locations it wouldn't be absurd that if the apocalypse occurred Danny might venture out of Illinois. Thoughts include the following:

Danny is already half-dead at the least, I don't know if this would make him immune but he has already done the 'come back' part so I would theorize that his ectoplasm probably worked similarly to the virus in that when he was electrocuted and his DNA was changed that the ectoplasm took over some of the normal functions of the body, things like keeping his brain going and replacing the parts damaged with ecto constructs so the virus which attacks the brain would attack the ecto instead and thats not really alive so... it would probably dissolve it honestly. Or eat it? Id imagine the virus could work as an emergency ecto-dejecto depending on how that works

family - I'd imagine he'd TRY at least to keep the people close to him alive, I feel like depending on how this went Amity Parker's would be resistant to the virus due to their ecto contamination but not actually having the dna structure to fully resist it. So like, they might survive a bite for a week or two instead of a day or two perhaps but it WOULD kill them.

on that note, probably would have the military immediately cull them. people who can spread the infection because they are resistant and could spread it even further faster because of that length of time? Yeah no they'd probably be bombed.

In this AU I'd imagine Danny would probably be on his own. Dani is around somewhere too I assume but I'd imagine Walkers being undead would mess with the ghost sense at least a little bit. Not the same but they'd be able to sense them and that would meddle with being able to find each other easily.

No Amity Park (cuz bombs obviously) means no ghost portal, so either a trek to Wisconsin to use Vlad's (probably not, Danny is not known for necessarily smart thinking when panicked right away, it takes him a little bit past the feral first response to get that process started) or he'd book it. Maybe that first initial rush of trying to save someone ANYONE and now he's lost in Wisconsin, the undead barely notice him and people are turning on each other so fast that Danny who frankly is a small town guy who's been fighting ghosts since he was 14 and has seen a lot of shit, is mostly just like shit lets get out of here.

Getting shot at is nothing new, but gunshots are a new experience that is both worse and better than being shot at by parents who once thought he was the enemy. Not his forte.

Probably meets up with TWD crew hmm yeah the Kentucky trip to ricks police station would still be the best option but depending on how fast he flew to get out of a mess, could have them meet up pretty damn early or really late based on what direction he goes, whether its straight east or south first.

I envision Danny being not at all normal in this, as much as the whole hiding being a ghost thing is wonderful, Danny's obsession has always been to protect, and the place and people fueling his haunt is GONE, i imagine that's damaging to a ghost? Guy probably wouldn't be able to keep from helping people if he tried. I could see him potentially saving one of the kids perhaps and then latching on from there, or seeing someone and seeing Sam, tucker or Jazz in them. Also i imagine he hasn't had to hide in Amity for a while, Danny is just odd, he's colder than normal, his eyes glint green, sometimes the world seems to warp a little around him, and occasionally he forgets to breath or it rattles oddly in his chest when it starts back up again. This guy is not human and its been a good few years since hes had to pretend otherwise.

Ricks crew is not known for being accepting of strangers and honestly i bet they wouldn't even notice him following right away. Daryl might. The kids definitely. Danny would rarely use his ghost form, too noticeable by those who are alive but when he IS in ghost form, the dead who normally wouldn't bother him anyways unless already agitated, fucking avoid him. He eats the virus after all even if hes not necessarily aware of it at first. Ectoplasm can be jealous, and halfa's are territorial, other undead in the vicinity? Ghost instincts would be stronger in his ghost form so probably would be an instinctual thing to just drop corpses like fly's and come out of it going 'wow i feel great!'

Everyone Right here right now. Stop what You’re doing and give me your thoughts. What’s on your mind? How’s it going? Yeet your funky little mind worms at me

[veritable-trash]

Find The Word Tag Game

eight millennia later i am finally able to answer @iguana-braces call and take part in this super fun game that also made me realize that i have minimal wips and somehow use zero of these words rip to me but I TRIED!!!! and it was fun and actually just made me want to write more so here's to finding motivation in the strangest of places!!!

the words: glare, try, fresh, time, and glasses

alright so i have nothing for glare so instead i'm gonna do two different things for try as compensation for the fact that i clearly don't use many words in my writing(riperoni):

my baby. the thing i hate the most but also adore beyond reason. my soldier boy original fem character fuck feast slow burn that i have been taking ages to do anything with..... per usual. but this is from the next chapter! so it's happening!!

It took an hour for Soldier Boy to get her to move on from fruitlessly trying to explain the plot of the original Karate Kid(which honestly he actually found extremely interesting and pertinent to their situation but would rather jump off a building than admit that to her), before she then proceeded to try and explain the cultural impact of the collaboration of Jaden Smith and Justin Bieber in Never Say Never, the theme song for the remake of Karate Kid. 

That took another 30 minutes and he swears she must have this speech memorized or something because she had at least 10 separate main points and they were all very concise and made scary good sense. 

ah yes me trying to write the second part of my finnegan fic and failing miserably because i have writers block up my ass but it's sorta happening! i swear!!!!!

Would he wait for you? Would he try and confront you? Would he avoid you? Would he pretend that nothing happened? Would he, would he, would he?

And then the bell rang and it all felt too soon, too quick. 

i don't know how i don't have anything for fresh but i don't :( on to the next!

ok so this is another chaos fic because i will probably never finish this one but this is a The Deep wip because The Boys took over my life and i loved the idea of the deep being an absolute needy little baby ugh HOT maybe i will finish this someday who knowssssss

Because he wanted you. Pretended like he didn't, scoffed at the notion, but he couldn't keep his eyes off you. Just peaks here and there, eyes swirling with something like longing and neediness engraved in the blue.

And you just had to bide your time. Walk around in those leather pants you had to wear anyways and watch primetime as his eyes glazed.

He was such a needy boy, it made you want to eat him alive.

sadly i have nothing for glasses so rip to that but! instead i offer my idea of a benny miller greek au fic where he is apollo(because duh) and falls in love with a nymph and it would just be so splendid except my brain doesn't want to actually write it..... so there is that

alright clearly i only use like three words when i write so cheers to that! but this was super fun thank you so much for the tag i would tag people but my brain has given up on doing anything after the exertion of finding all these things in my wip bullshit!!!

sorry for being so mia from this place i just have been traveling and exploding internally and exhausted beyond belief but i'm trying to get back into writing again because i miss it like crazy :,(

hugs and kisses little beanie babies <333333

[penny-anna]

Just thought I’d let you know that your onslaught of Back to the Future content inspired me to rewatch the movies this weekend, which was such a delight :)

Do you have any fic recs, by any chance?

ah glad to hear it!

*rubs hands together*ohoho let's see what i got here

Like Water Flowing Underground by Kleenexwoman

Marty struggles to fit in with his new reality, but is any other world a better fit?

i read this one back in 2015 and come back to it every so often. just beautifully done.

Becoming Marty by butchcassidy

Scenes and glimpses from Marty's childhood and how he came to be Marty.

obligatory trans marty rec!!

Time is a Wave and a Particle by Kleenexwoman

Another one of those "Marty has trouble dealing with living in an alternate universe" fics.

heavy content warning for mental illness & specifically psychosis on this one!!

beautifully written, absolutely gutwrenching, this one is gonna haunt me ):

Alternates by Wildgoosery

Marty's life isn't at all like how he left it.

i eat up post-canon 'marty deals w being in a new timeline' fics like candy nom nom nom

wish someone would tell me who to be (ready to try anything) by Adanska

(“Fashion cycle,” Doc had explained, looking more ‘50s than anything else. “The Eighties just came back around in a big way for kids your age, you shouldn’t stick out too much—people will just think you’re hipsters.” “What, like the pants?” “No, a nostalgia-obsessed movement—ah, nevermind.”)

lesbian marty & jennifer visiting Actual 2015 its great give this one a read!!

we can't live in the present forever by ideal_girl (trainwreckdress)

Marty wonders if Doc has the same problem; histories overlapping, memories colliding in the space of a single, shared moment. He hopes not.

a 'marty deals with having 2 contradictory sets of memories' story

Inevitable by nbfutureboy

It's a bizarre twist of fate. When they’d found out they’d been expecting twin boys, Jennifer had suggested, sensible and sweet, that they pick out two new names. No comparisons to the kids of the first 2015 - they could be their own people, without having to compete with a future memory. 

very sweet fic about trans marlene mcfly!!

The Man in the Box by makesureyouwashyourhands

People said the strangest things about the McFlys. They said that Marty McFly went to bed one night and woke up a different person. Or, the two Martys: how they differ, and how they're the same.

*throws another post-canon new timeline fic at you*

The Human Body Is Incredibly Faulty by ThePhenomenalStingray

Written for the ask, "For that headcannon prompt, Doc is a complete mother hen mess when Marty’s hurt".

cute!! <3<3<3<3

First Impressions by Kristen Sheley

To say that he had been surprised when the kid had showed up that evening at his doorstep was an understatement. He hadn’t ever imagined anything so fantastic, and his was a mind that had visualized a lot of unrealistic and fantastic things! But a seventeen-year-old time traveler from the future was never one of them. Equally surprising to him was that this kid was apparently a friend of his. What a sixty-five-year-old was doing hanging out with someone so young, Emmett could only wonder. Maybe Marty was a student of his, from the University.

an oldie but a goodie!! absolutely banging bit of missing scene work from the first film w doc & marty adjusting to each other in 1955

The Longest Odds by leaper182

Marty McFly just had two more years to go before he could start thinking about the future.

But then the odds shifted, and the only future he has to think about now is whether he'll make it home alive.

wip not updated since 2016. not a whole lot of this one as it looks like it didn't really get off the ground but the central concept (tribute marty + former victor mentor doc brown) is just gutwrenching and im going to be rotating it in my brain forever!! ETA: totally failed to clock the ship tag on this one oops!! its tagged doc/marty but i don't remember anything shippy happening in the chapters posted. read at your own risk ig.

that's all for now!! i got more stuff in my to-read so stay tuned hopefully!!!

[doctorstethoscope]

Yes, Mr. President || The Complication

art by @multiverse-mxdness

happy saturday my loves!

story summary: Scandal! AU– your mentor, David Rossi, has recruited you to make Senator Aaron Hotchner the next President of the United States. Once described as a political nun, the Senator helps you see that maybe you can mix business and pleasure.

Read previous chapters of this fic here!

contains: hospitals, food consumption and discussion of not eating

wordcount: 2.8k

Haley’s at her sister Jess’s house when the call comes in. Jack is in the backyard with his cousins– they’re a little older, and they’re positively basking in the sunlight, teaching him which branches are sturdy enough to support his weight on the trees surrounding the treehouse Aaron and his brother in law had built for the kids, nearly a decade ago now. The treehouse has survived tough winters, four consecutive Senate terms, violent DC thunderstorms, and more late-night floor votes than Haley could count. It still stood strong.

Jess has made tea, presented it with a tray of cookies and crackers and cut fruit. Her little sister hasn’t eaten a full meal since… the incident, but she’ll graze and pick anxiously if food is left out, more out of a desire to do something with her hands than anything else. It’s not ideal, but it keeps her on her feet, Jess thinks. Sometimes, that’s all you can do as the big sister, is keep everybody on their feet. Even when it’s not enough.

It’s startling to hear Haley’s phone ring. After the first day, she’d updated the settings, put the damn thing on Do Not Disturb, only allowing a few numbers through. It had been ringing off the hook, and she just couldn’t take it a moment longer. They all meant well, Haley and Jess both knew, but there are only so many sympathy calls you can take while your husband is still alive.

So, when the phone goes off, a million miles away on the counter, both heads shoot over to it in an instant. Haley rises, picks it up, and when the phone continues to ring, even after Haley has picked it up, Jess follows.

“It’s the hospital,” Haley whispers, still holding the phone in her hand, and she’s already crying.

“You have to answer it, Hales,” her sister encourages gently.

“I can’t,” She shakes her head, her tears dripping off her face and onto the counter. Her shoulders are already shaking.

“You can, go ahead,’ Jess encourages.

“He’s still alive. As long as I don’t answer this phone, he’s still alive,” Haley says shakily, and she knows it’s irrational, knows that her husband’s life doesn’t truly hang in the balance of this terribly macabre Shroedinger’s experiment, but when so much has been taken out of her control so quickly, it’s hard not to cling to the tiny bit that you do have left.

Jess, ultimately, makes the decision for her, picking up the call and pushing Haley’s arm gently up, so that the phone rested against her face.

“Hello,” Haley said weakly.

“Is this Haley Hotchner?” A voice on the other end of the phone that she recognizes, but can’t quite place, asks.

“Speaking,” she croaks out.

“This is Doctor Gallagher, Chief of Surgery at Walter Reed Medical Center,” he identifies himself. Gallagher, that’s right, Haley thinks to herself. “Your husband is awake. We’re going to let him rest for a little while before we remove the ventilator, and we’ll want to–”

Haley feels her brain buffering. He says more, but she doesn’t hear it over the sound of her own brain processing what she’s just heard.

“He’s awake?” She gasps.

“Yes, but he still needs to focus on recuperating and—”

“He’s awake?” She asks again.

“Yes, Mrs. Hotchner. Your husband is awake.”

“I’ll be right there,” She says, hanging up the phone before the doctor could get another word in edgewise.

Jess is crying, too, when she hangs up the phone, and Haley throws her arms around her sister.

“Oh, Hales… Haley,” Jess says as she holds her sister through her joyful cries, the two of them nearly collapsing into hysterical giggles. “Go, go. See if you can catch him before he falls back asleep.”

You’re no better than Haley as you drive away from the hospital. He was awake. He was alive. What more could you ask for? You went home, took a deep breath for what felt like the first time in weeks— felt the air sink all the way in and hit the bottom of your lungs before breathing back out. You’re so unbelievably relieved that you’re nearly made useless by it– you want to celebrate, to dance in the streets and praise God, but you can’t be seen like that– the cat would be out of the bag in an instant. You already had to cancel on Derek via text just to keep your composure.

Another part of you wants to get the first night of sleep since all of this started, but your adrenaline is pumping far too hard for that to be possible. You settle for takeout— your favorite pasta— and a big glass of red wine. The classics are classic for a reason, you decide. Your bliss lasts all of three uninterrupted hours before Rossi calls.

“Hi Dave,” you smile. You’re sure he knows by now, but if not, you’d be happy to break the news.

“Hey kiddo,” he sounds heavy. “Can you meet me at the hospital? We have a problem.”

“A problem?” You say, gripping your wine glass so tight you think it might shatter. You force yourself to lighten up, thinking of your white couch and carpet.

“Aaron is fine,” he assures you. “We’ll talk about it when you get here, okay?”

You flick on the radio as you drive back to Walter Reed, and figure out the problem soon enough.

We spoke with the First Lady as she headed to the hospital this afternoon,” the voice of a reporter you don’t recognize echoes through your car’s stereo system. It cuts to a recording. “Mrs. Hotchner, you’re smiling for the first time in recent weeks! Is the President awake?”

“Yes!” She answers tearfully.

“When can the American people expect to see him back at work?”

“Oh, soon, very soon, I’m sure. He’ll want to call the Vice President himself, of course, but he’ll be ready to get back to work. Aaron won’t want to be off the job any longer than necessary,” Haley answers, and you hear a car door shut– likely a Secret Service agent shutting her into the car before she can create a further press maelstrom.

When you arrive at the hospital, Rossi’s pacing around the suite, and Haley’s folded in upon herself in one of those damn uncomfortable visitors chairs— looking nowhere near how joyous she should be allowed to be, given the circumstances. Poor thing. Aaron’s asleep again, which isn’t surprising. His ventilator is still in— if he hadn’t changed positions, if you hadn’t seen his eyes with your own, you may not have even believed that he had woken up at all.

“I heard it on the way in,” you tell Rossi as you enter the room.

“The Vice President has already called and asked to speak with him. There are rumors— Republicans talking about asking the President to resign, to focus on his health and his family. They’re suggesting he won’t make a full recovery,” Rossi explains.

You huff. “They’ll get further with Strauss than they ever would with Aaron. He’s too firm in his convictions for them. They’d rather work with someone they can manipulate politically.”

“Well, regardless of their reasons, they’re about to make the American people doubt him, too.” Rossi sets you back on track.

You turn to Haley. “When you talked to the doctors, what did they say? How is he, actually?”

“I didn’t mean to do this, really. I didn’t know. I was just so excited, I didn’t think,” Haley babbles, crying a little. You crouch in front of her, take both of her hands in yours.

“I know, Haley. I know you didn’t mean it. Not everyone is as good as you. You deserved that moment of happiness, and I’m sorry someone took it from you,” you tell her. “I’m going to do everything in my power to fix it, but I need your help. What did the doctors say about Hotch?”

“They said that… given everything, he was really lucky.” Haley’s speech comes in fits and starts. “They said they’ll take out the respirator later tonight, and that he’ll need more rest after that. Then, tomorrow, they’ll check his cognitive function. The bullet—” she stops, takes a deep breath. “They don’t know about the bullet that grazed his skull, if it’s going to have any long-term effects. They said maybe aphasia, or that he may have lost some motor function. They’re going to try to get him out of bed tomorrow— to see if he can still walk,” she explains.

“Okay, Haley. It’s going to be okay,” you tell her, shooting a glance to Rossi. This was bad– worse than you thought it was. He was barely in any shape to head home, let alone go back to work– back to the most important job in the country. But you’d figure it out. You’d fix it, for him. That’s what you did, what you’d always do.

Your phone rings at 6:30 the next morning.”Rossi, we said we’d meet at 9,” you groaned.

“I know, I know, but I think you’ll forgive me.”

You start to ask him what he means by that, but then there’s a shuffling on the other end of the line, and the phone changes hands.

“Hi.” The voice is gravelly, worn, and exhausted, but wholly, undoubtedly Aaron’s. You nearly fall out of bed.

“Hi,” you say back. You hear Rossi excuse himself in the background. You know you should say more, but what is there to say? Where do you begin? “How are you feeling?” you ask.

“I’m okay,” he lies. It’s so like him, you could almost laugh. You’re relieved, yes, but you’re not in a laughing mood just yet. “You left the other day. When I woke up,” he says. His tone is neutral, but you know better.

“I stayed until Haley was almost there. I didn’t want— she deserved to be the first person to see you, Aaron.”

He chuffs out a little laugh. “You’re a better person than I am.”

“Well, you just took a bullet for your country. Four of them, actually. So you’re allowed to be a little selfish.” Not to mention the man didn’t have a selfish bone in his body prior, never mind the fact that you could count on one hand the number of times he’d acted against the instincts of his better angels.

“Oh, is that all I had to do?” He asks sarcastically, and this time you grant him the laugh. It brings tears to your eyes, too, and in any other situation, you might try to hide them, but not today. “I’m okay, angel. Really,” he assures you, picking up on your desperate, shallow breaths.

“I know,”

“We’ll figure out the rest, remember? I meant it.”

“I know,” you repeat. “Has Rossi told you about—”

“About Haley trying to Weekend at Bernie’s my return to the White House?” he scoffs, and you laugh.

“Aaron! She wasn’t trying to shred the Constitution to pieces. I’m coming in this morning, and we’ll figure it out,” you remind him.

“We’ll figure it all out. You and me,” he says. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

++++

“We could move him to Camp David,” Rossi suggests.

“Sure, if we want to tell the American people that I’m the old dog their Dad sent off to a nice farm,” Aaron huffs.

“Don’t say that, Aaron! You’re not dying,” Haley chastises.

Aaron opens his mouth, and you can tell by the look on his face that he’s about to say something harsh– it’s the same he used to make before delivering something particularly biting when you first met him on the campaign. He’s either too tired, or he thinks better of it, because he closes his mouth with a sigh. You try to put the conversation back on track.

“Maybe he could meet with the cabinet virtually to discuss reinstatement? We could sit him up in bed and get him some fresh clothes,” you suggest.

Rossi’s buzzing phone interrupts the flow of conversation. “It’s Reid. I should take this,” Rossi says, excusing himself.

As he slips out of the door, Dr. Gallagher steps in.

“Mr. President, is this an okay time for an update?” He asks.

“Yes, please come in,” he says, clearing his throat and shifting to sit up straight— attempting to be Presidential, even from his hospital bed. You’re overwhelmed with the urge to lay him back down, encourage him to rest, but you stay put. He needed to do this his way. And you didn’t want Haley to remove you from the room by your hair, either.

“The bullet that hit your skull grazed your frontal lobe. We managed the swelling in surgery and throughout your recovery, and we’re hopeful that any effects you see will be minimal.

“Effects such as?” Haley asks, standing next to Aaron and squeezing his hand in her own. He doesn’t squeeze back.

“Dizziness, fatigue, irritability— the symptoms we commonly associate with concussions,” the doctor explains.

“And if they’re not minimal?” Aaron asks.

The doctor draws in a deep breath. “Our frontal lobes control executive function, Mr. President. So in some situations we’ve seen an inability to make decisions, a shorter attention span. We’ve had patients who haven’t been able to write, who suffer from aphasia,”

“Aphasia?” You interrupt. You know this medical update isn’t really for you, but you can’t help it. You’re invested, in more ways than one.

“A speech impairment,” he explains. “Either you can’t speak at all, or if you can it’s hard to find your words.”

The thought of Aaron, silenced, makes a chill run down your spine.

“We’ll also be on the lookout for personality changes,” Dr. Gallagher continues, completely unaware or oblivious to the mental anguish he’s cast upon you. “It all depends on the patient, which is why I’d like to get our head neurologist in here as soon as possible to do a full workup.”

“When can I go back to work?” Aaron asks, as if it’s some menial desk job.

“At least three weeks, assuming there’s no permanent damage,” the doctor says, and Aaron heaves a sigh. “Walking across a room is going to feel like a marathon. You need to–”

“Am I interrupting?” Rossi says as he re-enters. Clearly, he is, and he knows it, so you and Aaron both know whatever it is, it must be urgent.

Never one to waste a good crisis, Aaron turns to the doctor, levels him with a glare that has made Senators yield for decades. “You’ll sign my return to duty?” He asks, but it’s not really a question.

He hesitates, but not for long. “Yes, Mr. President.”

“Thank you,” Aaron says, dismissing the doctor.

“Vice President Strauss has called the Cabinet to the Oval tomorrow afternoon to request your formal resignation.” Rossi drops the bomb you all had been waiting for.

“Okay, the game has changed, the timeline’s moved up, but we knew this was coming— this is what we were preparing for,” you prepare to keep the emotions in the room under control.

“He doesn’t have to sign it, right?” Haley asks, her tone the picture of hopeful naivete. “What if he just doesn’t sign it?”

“Well, first, you’re assuming that she doesn’t already have a letter in her desk signed by the cabinet removing me from office permanently,” Aaron starts. “But if she doesn’t, then she’d surely find someone in the House of Representatives who’s willing to draft up articles of impeachment for me. There are plenty of Republicans who would love nothing more than to be the guy who took down Stoic Senator Hotchner after he became President. They’d all do the news circuits, ask every anchor in the country why they haven’t seen the President since his wife swore up and down that her husband would be back to work just as soon as he could see straight. It would divide the country, a country that’s already shocked and scared and recovering from an act of terror,” he continues on his tirade. “She’d never have the votes to impeach me, but in reality, it doesn’t matter, because at that point I’d have to resign for the good of the country— because it’s not presidential to get into a petty turf war on the South Lawn of the White House!”

“Aaron,” you warn him gently— Haley didn’t deserve this cruelty, even if his anger was warranted, and you didn’t want him spiking his blood pressure.

“There’s no way out. She deserves to know the reality of the situation just as well as we do,” he insists.

“That’s not true,” Rossi interjects. “What, do you think we can’t beat Erin at her own game? I seem to remember you coming back from 70 to 1 odds to beat her just a couple of years ago,” he reminds the room with a twinkle in his eye.

taglist: @shmaptainhotchner @call-me-mrsreid @dadbodhotch11 @the-modernmary @ssamorganhotchner @choppa-style @ssahotchie @rousethemouse @angelfxllcm @arsonhotchner @skyler666 @mintphoenix @gspenc @g-l-pierce @wheelsupkels @chelseagirl77

[smidgen-of-hotboy]

i am dragging petrushka aurinkovich nureyev out from your tags bc WHAT EXCUSE ME WHAT I LOVE THIS??? I want a fic about this. a fic where Peter makes a name for himself, his own name, molded the way he wants it to be remembered, shaped how he wants, yet he's still peter, he's still nureyev, but he's also Aurinko. Petrushka Aurinkovich Nureyev. smth smth- Juno breathed life into his name, Peter gave him the most important thing he had to offer all those years ago, the Aurinko Crime Family is his family, Hyperion is his home in equal parts Brahma and New Kinshasa and the Outer Rim his home, and Buddy is NOT his mother is not a maternal/parental figure but she is important to him and she does lead this family he is a part of.

I DIGRESS- Juno putting aside his pettiness and being kind to Slip would be so much character growth. Juno from S1 could never. Juno knows that nureyev's journal was a careful curation and he knows that the "revolutionary Peter Nureyev" was also a careful curation. He knows to some extent that Peter dreams and that some, if not most, of what he knows about Peter has been the truth stretched out. So whatever version of Slip Peter put into the journal and whatever version Juno has in mind is bound to not match up at all. Peter talks him up as the coolest and wisest person ever. He's more likely to be a lil nerdy loser (affectionate). (also mista nureyev really does have a type doesn't he? i don't have the brain power for it rn but I'm sure it could be done to find all the parallels between slip and juno, smth smth foils? Is Slip Jackson a Juno Steel foil? idk not my problem rn at close to midnight)

And the way you described Nureyev honestly makes it sound like he's not just floundering he's disassociated(? that's not the right term i don't think but it's the closest i can get to what I'm thinking right now.) He's stuttering and stumbling for his footing and forced to unpack twenty years of filing away for future consideration. THE DREAM IS OVER PETYA BUT IT'S STILL OKAY THAT WE DREAMED IT!! twenty years of stress that's been eating him alive and guilt that's been knotted so tight around him he can't breathe- all gone. no executives. no dark matters. no GAS. he's been dreaming of this moment this whole time, and he doesn't know what to say or how to act (smth smth parallels to Juno "say it, say you never want to see me again- and oh shit you said it, i don't know what to do or feel anymore" Steel)

Miscellaneous things:

Rita would tell Slip all about the Freedom in Chains play and Juno's bad acting and he'd grumble about the whole thing but smile behind his hand

Would Slip even have an inkling of an idea who Buddy and Vespa are? They met about 20 years prior to Juno's Murderous Mask case, and in those 20 years Slip's been in a coma. Math and timeline unclear. I could obsess over this for a day if given the time

But also i think it funny Slip is put off by Buddy bc she calls Peter Pete and he clicks with Vespa and meanwhile Peter would later tell him "do you even know who they are?" because he used to idolize them, and Slip laughs until he realizes Peter is serious and "No. Are they important or something?"

Juno would talk fondly about Old Town and his love for his home, Slip would say something about getting to see it since they're on Mars, and Juno would have to tell him it's all gone. "Well it sounds like you have a lot of good memories, and that's what's important" and suddenly Juno understands why Peter thought Slip was so wise when they kids.

Juniper is such a good ship name, i don't see it happening, but it's still okay that we dreamed it etc etc- BUT IF IT DID HAPPEN!! Slip telling Nureyev "your lady friend- he looks good next to you" and Juno detecting it out "you still love him. I can't take that away from you" and Nureyev seeing how well they click and now there's a new thing eating at him "i love my girlfriend but i also love my boyfriend why can't we all be happy together". Shenanigans ensue.

it's just. the lock, the fucking lock right? the stim toy lock where the combination changes as you try to pick it. like we actually saw them do it, the executives scrambling the parameters to force him to keep up (also WHOOP right in tandem with the impact of the 'making radiation treatments free' thing!) but also there's this sense of it almost doesn't matter because it's literally their game and they can make him play along, nothing's going to give until they show their hand

[chifuyuzu]

leap of faith — sano manjiro x reader.

word count — 1.3k.

genre — fluff fluff fluff, i love sweet mikey.

contains — cursing, timeskip SPOILERS present, reader is gender neutral.

description — sano manjiro is in love with you, and he realizes how much he loves you at the ass crack of fuckin' dawn.

author's note — hey besties, this is my first published fic here, kinda short but mikey brain rot is heavy. i hope you enjoy this cute fic before i rip your hearts out with some angst in a few days :^) reblogs and likes are always appreciated! and please give me feedback in my inbox! hehe, enjoy.

“it’s late.”

you know. but you still wanted to hear the sound of his voice before bed.

“mm… i missed ya’, is that a crime?” your voice echos through the receiver, the sound of your duvet crinkling in the background as you shift in place. sano manjiro was a busy man. always has been, always will be. being the leader of a biker gang was never easy—let alone some “new age” criminal organization.

you didn’t understand why manjiro persisted to play this game of russian roulette with his life. but it was never your place to overstep, especially since this was his life. it was all he knew, all he understood. you’re not sure what he’s doing, or if he’s even allowed to talk on the phone at this hour, but you still wanted to hear him. just so you know he’s alive and well.

you hear him chuckle, the sound of his feet scurrying against whatever floor his sandals were clacking against. the background noise that accompanied him earlier has dissipated; you realized he probably went outside to hear you better.

“your crime is loving a fool like me way too much. don’t think you’re sane.” he’s right. you’re actually crazy for even pursuing him. there was a lot of push and shove in the beginning, both parties scared of being hurt and getting hurt. but you were always there, even when manjiro went through whatever darkness was eating at his soul.

“crazy for you.”

“corny.”

“you love me.”

a pause. eerie enough to send shivers down your spine. why wasn’t he responding? did something happen? did you smother him too much? is he regretting—

“marry me.”

… not what you were expecting. especially not over the phone.

“sano manjiro, did you just propose over the phone? what kind of shitty rom-com are we in?”

“is that a no?”

“... never said that.” you wanted to marry him. but you wanted him to put that lifestyle behind, for the sake of the family you might have in the future. kids, dogs, cats, etcetera. you wanted him to be in, one hundred percent. but you knew he was too deep into this world to run now—especially since he’s so well-known as the ‘invincible mikey.’ you still longed for a happy home with manjiro, and a normal life.

“maybe you’re right. it’s not my style to ask you this over the phone.”

“try again later. when you’re really ready.”

the gag is, he is ready.

manjiro hurries home, blond locks hidden underneath a thin, black hoodie. he’s shaking, like a pomeranian in the presence of fireworks. his hand meets the left side of his chest, back pressed up against the grey colored wall of your shared apartment as he slides down to sit on the floor. it was four in the morning, and manjiro was about to shit himself.

he gulps, eyes peering around for you, double checking that you were fast asleep before he makes a phone call. his fingers tapped the back of his iphone, impatiently waiting for the other caller to answer. though it was the crack of dawn, he still needed some moral support.

“mikey? fuck you callin’ for at this hour? haven’t heard from you in mo—”

“ken-chin. i’m proposing.”

a loud ‘flop’ rang through the receiver, accompanied by the bedsheets seemingly slipping underneath draken’s feet. it was a huge bomb to drop, especially when the duo has been separated for months on end. manjiro hears more shuffling, followed by a few curses. “you’re fucking lying. the one you’ve been one since—?”

“yeah. i’m crazy as hell. but i love them. head over heels. i’m a goddamn simp.”

“why the hell am i the first to know, man?”

“you’re m’best friend, even if i need to stay away from you. and, also… you’re not the first to know. i asked them already.”

“you WHAT? don’t fuckin’ tell me you did it some dumb way like over the pho— you did. you’re impulsive enough to do it like that, too.” regardless of how long it’s been, draken still knows and understands manjiro like nothing ever happened.

“yeah… not romantic. but i can’t see myself with anyone else. i trust no one else. but i… am…”

“scared? man, you’re the head of a criminal organization. ‘course you’re scared. you don’t want the love of your life… to get hurt…” his voice trails off and manjiro’s heart tenses even more. the memories of the past still felt fresh. all the people they lost in tokyo manji… could never be replaced. not in a million years.

but the living must live.

“i love y/n. never felt like this before. i’d quit everything. but i would have to make sure they’re safe and whatever future we have together is secure. i know i promised takemichi that i’d protect everyone and that future he worked so hard to save… but what about mine?”

manjiro really did sacrifice everything for his friends. being the type of person who carries everyone else’s burdens takes a toll on his mental. he felt selfish for wanting to leave it all behind. but maybe being selfish was beneficial once in a while.

“listen—”

“do you think i’m stupid?”

“mikey. you’re not stupid,” draken sighs, shuffling again in place. “you just want to love someone and be loved in return. nothin’ stupid about that. what is stupid though, is you proposing over the damn phone.”

he’s not wrong. it was a spur of the moment decision that could drastically change his life forever. but with you, he doesn’t care. as long as you’re his, forever.

“how do you think i should do it?”

“well. i guess, tell me some sappy shit. how do you feel about them, and whatnot.”

“i don’t think i could ever imagine me with anyone else. a lot of people have tried to grab my attention but i only have eyes for y/n. sometimes when shit gets real hard…” manjiro takes a deep sigh, fingers threading through his hair, tilting back the hood to let it fall onto his back. “i think of y/n and i remember that even in this shit world, someone is here for me. someone cares about me. they make me feel like i’m not alone anymore.

i have dreams ‘bout us, y’know? me and y/n… kids running around. a little mikey clone. pissin’ them off because we want little flags on our meals. going to the park and letting kids be kids. maybe i’ll teach ‘em at a dojo like gramps did for me and my siblings. maybe i’ll teach ‘em about bikes—with your help, of course.”

draken laughs, letting his friend continue his little speech as he gets comfortable in bed again. don’t think i’ve ever seen mikey like this, ever, draken muses.

“man, we can own a whole zoo if we wanted. chifuyu could hook us up, in secret, of course. still have to protect everyone,” manjiro is grinning from ear to ear, head resting against the wall. “i wanna grow old with them. honestly, i didn’t think i’d make it to my twenties. more so, i didn’t want to live past twenty-something. but now… things are different. wanna be old and gray. see grandkids terrorize our children. die together.”

the tension in manjiro’s chest has faded away, only left with warmth that only you could bring him. his free hand reaches into his pocket to fumble with a small box, snapping it open to reveal the engagement ring his grandfather handed down to him.

he wasn’t the marrying type. but for you, he was.

“that all? you sound good like that, man. make an exception and let us come to the wedding.”

manjiro wants that more than anything. his friends, you... all safe. all happy. but again, the fear creeps up. he doesn’t know what to do with himself if any of you get hurt.

“... how do i tell y/n that?”

“you already have.” your voice makes him jump, knocking the velvet box out of his fingers and onto the hardwood floor. his face pales, followed by a huge lump forming at his throat when he sees your figure emerge from your shared bedroom.

“i-uh… i thought you were a-asleep.” manjiro mumbles, earning a huge laugh from draken on the other side. he hears him say something along the lines of ‘my cue to leave. good luck. send me an invite.’

“i was waiting for you.” 

he’s sweating now, a small bead forming at the base of his neck. his phone is now at his side, the screen flashing from draken’s caller id to the lockscreen photo of you on your first date together, a few years back. your eyes zone into the box, though.

“i was going to do this… better. god, i fucked up, huh?”

you’re laughing now, rubbing your tired eyes before you join him near the wall, picking up the box. “what makes you think that, dummy?”

now he’s confused. you wanted him to ask when he was serious, but in his head, serious meant rose petals, candles, someone singing celine dion in the distance.

without a word, you slip the ring onto its appropriate finger, holding up to the small rays of sunlight that peaked through the window from the approaching sunrise. manjiro’s hands fly up to your face, holding his whole world in his hands. his eyes are shiny, on the brink of tears. you nudge your noses together, foreheads connecting tenderly. your hands hooked onto the hem of his hoodie, bringing his frame closer as you whisper a soft ‘yes.’

“yes?”

“yes, i’ll marry you.”

manjiro’s lips curl up into the silliest grin you’ve ever seen him sport, before he presses a soft kiss to your lips. now he’s kissing you quite desperately. as if he’s trying to make sure you’re real, that this isn’t a dream. you feel his words vibrate against your lips, “gonna make you so happy, i promise. i love you. i love you so, so much.”

“forevermore.”

“forever yours.”

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

So...Misery style, how would you make Tomione work? (Or how would you do a Tomione story?)

Thanks, Anon, this might be harder than the Dramione one.

Well, again, to please my deranged captor, I'd likely follow the plot of your standard Tomione fic and hope it passes muster. "Oh yeah, Hermione's back in time and she's doing back and forth mind games with Tom and it's really intellectual." With any luck, my feet aren't smashed into oblivion.

But I think you're trying to get at what I would really do if I really had to write Tom/Hermione and I had to make it something I would read. At least, that seems to be the spirit of this ask.

So, we're going the thriller route people. A lot like Misery, actually.

Instead of Ginny, twelve-year-old Hermione picks up the diary. Like Ginny, Hermione quickly becomes besotted with Tom Riddle trapped inside. However, unlike Ginny, Hermione goes straight to the library and starts asking pesky questions.

Hermione's never heard of memories stored in objects before, the theory behind portraits and pensieves are completely different, what spells did Tom use and where did he find them? Did Tom Riddle invent an entirely new branch of magic at the age of 16 without anyone noticing? What was Tom's special service to the school?

Tom starts sweating when it becomes clear that Hermione's stumbling a bit too close to the truth (that this is not ordinary magic and highly dangerous shit) and that she's clearly going to start asking around about Tom Riddle (to Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Hagrid, who were all near Hogwarts at the same time Tom was going to school).

Tom confesses that he may have created the diary using something very... illegal. Hermione is appalled and asks if it was gasp dark magic! He admits it is but points out it's a bit late now, like it or not, he's stuck in the diary and running to Dumbledore isn't going to make that go away any time soon. And it wasn't like Tom asked to be shoved in a diary either.

Hermione's very conflicted, on the one hand, Tom's the first real intellectual friend she's ever had. Harry and Ron are nice, but they're morons and they thinks he's a nerd. Tom encourages her intellectual pursuits and confirms her concern over various what not and what have you happening in Hogwarts.

Eventually, Hermione decides that Tom in the diary can't help being a diary (though the other Tom, the real Tom, she'd have words with), and decides that she'll try to help him get a body.

Great, that's great, Tom says.

But it keeps getting worse.

Tom tries to possess Hermione, but unlike Ginny, Hermione knows that Tom is a dangerous, dark, artifact. If she's suffering negative health effects, losing her memory and ending up in the girl's lavatory, she's going to research this and decide that either a) she's suffering ill effects of using dark magic b) she just got possessed by Tom.

Either way, she tells him she can't use the diary anymore, it's affecting her health and she must research. Well, Hermione researching does Tom no fucking good, but he can't stop her.

The Chamber of Secrets, as a result, is never opened.

Instead, Hermione continues researching, and Harry and Ron... begin to get on her nerves. It's not like last year, there's no Flamel to research, no over-arching mystery, and they seem to be growing tired of her. In turn, Hermione's getting a little tired of quidditch, getting detention, etc.

She's a little tired of Hogwarts, if she's being honest with herself.

Hermione's now had a taste of having a friend who isn't there to simply use her brains. And it's very addicting. She decides not to tell Ron and Harry about Tom, they'd just get needlessly concerned (the irony of this isn't lost on her but what can you do)

In the end, she opens back up the diary, and point blank asks what Tom needs to get a body. Before Tom can tell her, Hermione lists out her own theories. Life cannot be created from nothing, golems and puppets cannot last in the long term, to get a real body... human sacrifice is on the table, isn't it?

Well shit, Tom thinks to himself. He tries to assure Hermione it isn't but ends up confessing that, well, yes, it kind of is.

They have another huge row about it, Hermione slams the diary shut, but the wheels in her brain are spinning.

Does anyone deserve to die?

Hermione, at first, adamantly tells herself the answer is no. No one deserves to be sacrificed. Tom's fate is cruel, but the original Tom made his bed and should lie in it. It's unfortunate, but that's just life. Not the diary's fault, of course, but nothing that can be helped.

But then she keeps thinking about it.

Malfoy struts through the school like a peacock, sneering every time he sees her, laughing every time Snape deducts points from her in Potions for being a 'smarmy know-it-all'. Every time he can get away with it he's shoving her in hallways, calling her a mudblood, and assuring her that she's worth less than the dirt beneath her feet.

She watches as Malfoy torments and bullies Harry, she looks at Draco's father, and she asks herself if the world would really be so much worse off if Draco Malfoy were to disappear?

Draco Malfoy's being groomed to use dark magic, he practically brags about it at every opportunity, why is his life worth more than Tom Riddle's, someone who has paid the price for dark magic?

Isn't Hermione, in a roundabout way, only giving Draco what he deserves? The fate he'd meet at some point in the not so distant future?

Draco does something phenomenally cruel and stupid to the trio, likely to Harry, and that settles it. Hermione's going to murder that motherfucker and get Tom Riddle a body.

Hermione tells Tom the plan, she's passing off the diary to Draco, she has her full blessing, her permission, and whatever help he requires from her to eat Draco Malfoy alive.

Tom is unwillingly impressed, he was a vicious gremlin as a twelve-year-old, but even he wasn't committing murder in cold blood.

Tom's not sure how he feels about murdering a Malfoy, that's bound to get noticed, but Hermione's unyielding. Draco Malfoy, or Hermione goes to Dumbledore.

So, Draco Malfoy it is.

The rest of the year is spent with Tom Riddle murdering Draco Malfoy and coming up with some excuse for his disappearance. The chamber isn't opened as Hermione reminds Tom that this would make it entirely too obvious who is behind this. Instead, Tom likely has Draco partake in increasingly erratic schemes to humiliate Harry Potter that end up endangering himself.

Near the end of school, Draco disappears into the Forbidden Forest to find acromantulas to put in Potter's bed and... never comes back.

A huge search is put on, Draco Malfoy is never found, and the acromantula infestation in the forest is now actively battled by ministry employees. Dumbledore is sacked as headmaster, Hagrid fired for having been responsible for the acromantulas in the first place, and Hogwarts is closed the following year.

Hermione is... conflicted about all of this. She certainly didn't mean to fire Hagrid (had no idea he was even remotely involved with the acromantulas) and certainly not Dumbledore. It wasn't Dumbledore's fault at all.

Tom, who is now a free man but has no idea what to do with himself, meets up with Hermione and points out that Dumbledore should have been sacked ages ago: he let kids get away with this stupidly dangerous shit and the year before actively endangered his students and lured a dark wizard into the castle. As for Hagrid, he raised a dragon illegally on school grounds, did release his pet acromantula into the wild, and more. They were terrible at their jobs.

Hermione, ever so reluctantly, agrees.

It's too bad though, Hagrid was very nice and Dumbledore's a great wizard (don't even get Tom started).

As for Tom, well, he had such dreams. Of course he planned to either meet up with his glorious self or (upon learning that Voldemort was blown up by a toddler) take the mantle of Voldemort for himself. But now that he's out, he has no idea where to start. Murder Harry Potter, certainly, but after that?

Tom only has the vaguest idea of who the original Death Eaters were, and they seem to have effectively scattered. More, how does he go about this? Sure, Tom had ideas when he was in school, but they were just ideas. He's never led a revolution before, has no idea how to impersonate an older, more knowledgeable, version of himself. He barely understands the political climate in this new, post-Voldemort, Britain.

Tom keeps hanging around Hermione because, well, inertia. He has no idea what else to do. (Hermione, while still torn over the consequences of her actions as well as the distant thought that she enabled murder, is quite delighted to have him around).

Tom tries to wheedle Harry's address out of Hermione and gets a lot more information than he bargained for. Harry lives with abusive muggle relatives, Dumbledore is apparently keeping him there, all of this sounds bizarre. Tom is officially weirded out.

Still wants to murder Harry, of course, but also wants to dig into this a little further...

And before this becomes a full on fic outline, eventually this will lead to the murder of Dumbledore, probably the murder of Ron when Ron inadvertently discovers 'the truth', Hermione telling Tom they're now an item, Tom trying to escape the relationship, only to learn there's no escaping Hermione.

Hermione becomes the next dark lord. Tom has no idea how this even happened.

[therealvinelle]

What if Bella got possessed by a demon in Twilight? Like pretty standard, The Exorcist type of stuff.

A lot of you anons should just head on to Ao3 instead of my inbox because whereever you went with this fic idea, I’m sure it’d be delightful. Lulzy, but an absolute delight.

Since you say Twilight, I’ll just set the timeline to the beginning of the series, when Bella has just arrived in Forks. She got possessed just before leaving, as Renée wanted to try an ouija board.

So, for the purposes of this ask, demons are real within the Twilight universe. They have to be very few and far in between, though, since humans don’t know about them and they presumably don’t care about following the Volturi law.

Bella is Reagan and the demon Pazuzu has taken up residence within her.

As happened in The Exorcist, this isn’t very noticeable at first. Bella starts saying some messed up things, yes, enough so that the other kids at school avoid her and the teachers give Charlie a call, but she’s not running down the stairs like a spider. Charlie is worried about her behavior and calls Renée about this, but he’s not dialing up any priests just yet.

Well, Bella gets worse.

Edward, for the record, was interested in this delicious smelling girl with the mystery box brain up until she started spouting profanities in the hallways at other students. Not being able to read her mind, he assumes Bella Swan is just like that. There’s no challenge, no reward, nothing to keeping her alive, his only real reason for not eating her at this point is Carlisle. Though his sheer distaste at that vulgar human who dares to tempt him so makes him resistent to drinking her blood, just out of spite. She’s not his perfect damsel with the delicious blood, and that ruins a lot of the appeal. Not all, mind, because that blood is still delicious.

Though it does help when she’s pulled out of school. Edward can pretend vulgar hamburger doesn’t exist, even as he ruffles through her wardrobe for sweaters to huff.

Back to Charlie, whose daughter is now running down the stairs like the spider.

He sends her to every shrink he can afford, has all the doctors in Forks look at her, and none of them give him an answer he can believe. He’s at his wit’s end.

And this affliction, whatever it is, that’s affecting Bella, it doesn’t seem natural, not human. She speaks in tongues, sexually assaults herself (yes, this happens in the movie), growls and hisses like an animal, in every way acts like- well, whatever it is, Charlie’s ability to deny that this his daughter’s affliction is supernatural in origin is growing thin.

But none of the shrinks can help him with that, and Charlie is a “lapsed Lutheran”, so I doubt priests is something he’ll consider all that seriously. He needs occult help, yes, but from someone who will actually help Bella.

His mind turns towards Carlisle Cullen and his children, and how Billy reacted when they moved into town.

Charlie laughed off his friends’ fears then, thought it was ridiculous to believe the Cullens could ever be anything but human. He dismissed their unusual looks as just that, unusual looks, their too-good-to-be-true cover story as them being that wonderful, and was quite happy about it.

That was then, now his daughter is fast becoming proof that the occult is indeed real.

And Dr. Cullen is so very kind, excellent in his work as a doctor and above all knowledgeable.

Say that Billy was right, that these guys aren’t as human as they appear. Well, that makes them the only people in the world, in Charlie’s world anyhow, who might be able to help.

Which is how Carlisle has the town chief walk into his office, tell him his daughter is possessed by a demon, and that Carlisle has to come over and have a look at her.

Now, as I think demons would be extremely rare, we’ll allow that Carlisle with all likelihood hasn’t seen any of these before. Quite the contrary, he was once a man who persecuted women suspected of witchcraft. He understands Charlie a little too well, but is also not touching this exorcism quest with a ten-foot pole.

Except, the chief seems convinced that Carlisle himself isn’t entirely human.

What would a human doctor do?

Carlisle really has no choice here but to come with Charlie. Besides, no matter how one looks at it what Charlie said about Bella is highly disturbing, the girl obviously needs medical attention.

So Carlisle has a look at Bella, and his “ahahaha we’re all human in here” smile quickly stiffens as he finds that whatever’s going on with Bella, it is indeed not human. She’s spitting green goo, talking Latin backwards, inhumanly strong, impersonating Carlisle’s father, and depending on how closely we follow Pazuzu’s actions in The Exorcist she may have killed a man. There’s scars on her body spelling out pleas for help.

It becomes clear to Carlisle that this girl really does need an exorcism. Or something, anyway, this is terrifying new territory for him.

But he has neither any clue nor the authority to perform an exorcism, and he lacks the network to get his hands on a human priest who’ll do this. More, even if humans could help (and considering how misinformed they are about vampires, the odds of that are extremely slim), involving more humans than have already been pulled into this would not make the Volturi happy.

There’s really only one place to go where someone will have the resources to help this suffering human, and that’s Volterra.

There’s a risk that demons are like immortal children and Aro will kill her on the spot, but Carlisle, still spooked from father Cullen’s voice coming out of this 17-year-old girl in the 21st century, has no other recourse.

So he tells Charlie he’s taking Bella somewhere Charlie can’t follow, and it’s likely they’ll never see each other again, even if Bella is saved. Charlie is devastated, but the promise that his daughter could get better means he can’t refuse. Just the fact that Carlisle isn’t entirely human yet benign makes him the best help Charlie is able to get her.

Carlisle takes Bella to Volterra, where Aro puts on his best Max von Sydow impression and says “Ah, demons... I’ve seen this once before, in the memories of a merchant from Ur...”

Knowing Aro while not knowing the lore of The Exorcist well enough to know what to do about a demon possession if you don’t have a Catholic priest on hand, I imagine Aro dresses up in whatever it is that Sumerian priests wore thousands of years ago (he always told Caius those bedazzled costumes would come in handy someday, and look who was right! VINDICATION) and tricks Pazuzu into possessing one of the humans Heidi brought in instead. This human is promptly killed. Ta-da, Aro smiles to Carlisle, he solved the problem!

Bella wakes up surrounded by insanely beautiful people in an underground palace in Italy and remembers nothing. Carlisle gets the honor of explaining to this human girl that she was possessed by a demon, Charlie asked Carlisle to fix it, and now the nice man who makes jingling noises whenever he moves because he’s dressed head to toe in gold wants her to be a different kind of demon because he can’t read her mind.

Bella caught maybe half of that.

Carlisle refuses to elaborate on the “possessed by a demon” part. No, Bella, you did nothing embarrassing, no one thought you were weird. We hardly noticed you were possessed at all!

But he was serious about that last part, Aro noticed she has a special ability so he’d like for her to become a vampire.

Bella, still, overwhelmed, makes a phone call to Charlie explaining nothing at all but assuring him that the demon is gone. She is then made a vampire.

Edward arrives too late to the party, so late that the party is in fact over, as he didn’t believe Carlisle when he said hamburger was possessed by a demon. Now it turns out that the disgusting, vulgar girl was in fact a delicate flower and a damsel in distress this whole time. Except, now she’s a vampire. Woe! Theirs is a love that never bloomed.

Bella has no idea who this guy is, and asks Renata to make him go away.

[serene-victory-77]

Autistic Kaz Thoughts

TL;DR at the end because this is really long again

So, obviously Kaz is neurodivergent, that comes from the affects of his trauma, but it seems myself and many others have sen a strong basis for Autistic Kaz specifically, and I thought I’d like to explore that.

Some other people have talked about this but I wanted to put in my two cents

Disclaimer: A LOT of things about Kaz’s behavior line up with the effects of his trauma. My response to that is that Kaz can be autistic and traumatized at the same time. Things That Make Sense In Canon (It’s Basically Everything):

Hyperfixation:

- Magic tricks (sitting in front of a mirror for hours practicing and trying to figure them out)

- Staying awake for hours wondering how things work

- He hyperfixates on every single job to hell and back, and he enjoys figuring out every angle

Special Interests:

- Goes hand in hand with above, but magic tricks and sleight of hand are definitely his special interests

- Lock picking might also count, and card games? He seems to like all of it. Robbing...?

- Being a criminal is Kaz’s special interest. Sounds ridiculous but think about it. It helps that it keeps him alive, but he does actively enjoy it

Sensory Issues:

- A lot of this is related to his trauma but again, he can be both autistic and traumatized *shrug*

- Regardless of the Reaper’s Barge, touch aversion could be another trait. Having gloves and clothing that covers can be a good buffer from sensations he dislikes.

- He dislikes crowds/crowded because of the higher probability of touch/the Reaper’s Barge, but you can also tie that back to autism since many many don’t like being in crowds

- He likes silence (talks about sewing people’s mouths shut). He’s used to Barrel noises, but he might not like voices stacked on top of each other. Auditory sensibility is really varied, and sometimes noises are fine/sometimes they’re torture

Behavioral: 

- Again, so much of this is related to his trauma, but REGARDLESS!

- Dramatic af in the books, but both he and Inej say he’s quiet and reserved. Good with words and doesn’t seem to mind talking, but he really only talks about his hyperfixations:

- The exceptions make up almost all of the books, which is why he might come off as talkative, but he’s usually talking about a plan, having solved something/tricked someone (think conversations with Van Eck, Rollins), so of course he wants to talk. The other big exception is when he talks to Inej.

- Kaz is good at reading people, but there’s a lot to disprove that all autsitic people are bad at reading others. Many actually “over-read” and notice a lot/see things others don’t pick up on. Doesn’t make someone more socially competent (just because you know what’s happening doesn’t mean you know what to do about it). I don’t think it disqualifies him from being autistic

- Kaz is incredibly mentally organized, so over-reading people is actually helpful for him.

- With stimming, he’s amuses himself with cards, magic tricks, playing with coins and lock picks. It happens enough times to be a “thing” in the books. Sleight of hand can count as stimming.

Mental Capabilities:

- Autism doesn’t equal genius, but many autistic kids are also prodigies, and with Kaz I think it applies. 

- Autism and really good memory aren’t uncommon, and it tracks with this from Kaz:

- “Once he learned a game, it took him mere hours to master it, and then he simply couldn’t be beaten. He could remember every hand that had been played, each bet that was made. He could keep track of the deal for up to five decks.” 

- He can also do complex mental math, which can also apply to this if you want it to

Other Things That Don’t Technically Mean He’s Autistic But For Some Reason Feel Autistic To Me:

- Autistic people can wear whatever they want, but for whatever reason Kaz’s wardrobe, regardless of mocking Mercher’s, seems like it could be a product of Kaz’s specific brand of autism

- Birds of a feather flock together, all his friends are neurodivergent

- The crow motif. Neurodivergent people seems to really like corvids? Also many have animals that are just “their thing” so yeah, crows

There’s probably other stuff but I’m currently forgetting it all

Exploring This In Fics/Headcanons!:

- People can write Autistic Kaz however they want, but here are my personal thoughts: 

- I noticed I already write young Kaz as autistic-coded, as he usually only touches and talks to Jordie and is very attached to him, is quiet and likes puzzles more than ‘acting’ games, and doesn’t speak a lot but has an advanced vocab.

- Kaz can eat just about anything for survival, but it’s easy to headcanon him as actually only liking a few foods. Some autistic people are picky, and others love food, because people are different. That being said, I’m picky, so I headcanon that Kaz doesn’t really like eating with a few exceptions (things like chocolate, breakfast foods, ice cream, chips, pasta, coffee, because I love those things) and greatly dislikes many other things (I like writing that he doesn’t like carrots?? Idk)

- In Alternate Universe fics that make it hard to justify Kaz’s touch aversion with Jordie’s trauma/more modern AU’s: Autistic Kaz With Touch Sensitivity! It keeps him in character, gives him a reason to wear gloves, and adds neurodivergence without compromising his canon traits.

- His boundaries being ignored or sensory overload could also work to explain why he’s so pissed off all the damn time

- Not a lot changed between Kaz and Inej. Autistic Kaz and Trauma Kaz overlap a lot and can both work in canon, so he can still want to touch Inej like in the books. Many people have exceptions, and Inej (and Jesper, and the other Crows) would make sense as being Kaz’s exceptions. Plus, it adds to Inej’s feeling of safety because Kaz wouldn’t even think to touch her without reason/without asking until they’re a LOT more comfortable. You can still write him as being touch averse to Inej regardless of romantic feelings though.

- I think a reason Kaz isn’t talked about as an autistic possibility very often is because he’s such a badass? The portrayal of autistic people is often that they can’t be leaders, or that they’re soft and a cinnamon roll. People are more likely to make, say, Wylan autistic, and ignore the fact that Kaz has a lot going for this. So, to write Autistic Kaz realistically, what do you have to do? 

- Write him how he is in the books, with all his same habits and thoughts. In a modern AU, you can actively acknowledge it. Tag Autistic Kaz regardless of it being a focus. And in “canon universe” fics, you can still tag him as autistic, and mention how Kaz was like as a child or use introspection

- Autistic Kaz, using his canon character traits, probably won’t read as OOC

ALSO!

Jesper’s definitely ADHD and while I was writing a fic I realized Kaz and Jesper have an ADHD/Austic friendship. It’s true that Jes and Kaz don’t always understand each other, but: 

Kaz actively appreciates and likes Jesper (otherwise he wouldn’t be so hurt by Jesper’s loose tongue), and similarly to being unbothered by Wylan’s disability, I don’t think Kaz would mind Jesper’s quirks.

Since Jesper often fixates in fights, Kaz doesn’t have to worry about interference from Jesper’s brain during a job, and when it’s casual hanging out, I think Kaz just doesn’t care/actively understands where Jesper is coming from.

It’s not too supported by canon other than Kaz internally deciding that one of his best friends is going to be the hyperactive and social Jesper, despite them outwardly seeming so different

And why Jesper would pick reserved, quiet, and oddly prickly Kaz to be his best friend too. They don’t match up but if they just kinda vibe with each other/understand their brains work differently, then you have a very interesting basis for why they’re comfortable with each other.

TL;DR A lot of Kaz’s traits in the books (hyperfixations, special interests, sensory issues, behavior, mental capabilities) can be read as very autistic coded. This helps with rationalizing his behavior in AUs that lack his Jordie backstory while remaining completely in character and can also help characterize Younger Kaz. Additionally, it would not and should not compromise his badassery or competence. He and Jesper are Autsitic/ADHD friends.

[bucky-at-bedtime]

Stucky Fic Recs

So basically I went through all of my ao3 bookmarks and collated a list of some of my favourites (I couldn't fit all of them on this list, so if anyone shows interest there might be a part two).

Please read tags and descriptions of the works before reading, some of them are pretty dark or extremely horny so just make sure you check that the fic is for you!!

Please please please send me your favourite fics in return! I am always happy to hear fic recs, headcanons and any other ideas/comments you all have!

Without any further ado, here are a few of my favourite Stucky fics:

‘Not Easily Conquered’ series by dropdeaddream, WhatAreFear

Rating: M, Words: 117,692

https://archiveofourown.org/series/115516

“I told you, you heard me: I told you never to follow me into Hell. Now I’m not vain enough to think that’s why you’re out here now — if there’s any person in what’s left of this God forsaken planet who’s part of a bigger picture, it’d be you. But I’ll keep saying it until it sticks. You got nothing to prove. I’m not worth much, I damn well know that, but I’ll ask you anyway: Stay for me. If you leave me alone in this world I’ll turn into something terrible. I’ll turn into the nasty creature that’s growing inside me. This war, it’ll swallow me whole”

[To me, this fic is like the classic Stucky 101 fanfic – if you're a Stucky fan and you haven't read this, I highly recommend it. The authors explore the Steve/Bucky relationship in such an interesting, tragic, emotive way and I cry every time I read it. I couldn't praise this work enough.]

‘Ain’t No Grave’ series by spitandvinegar

Rating: M-E, Words: 131,789

https://archiveofourown.org/series/426577

"Yeah, he never calls me by my name," Steve says. "It's always champ, ace, hotshot, that kinda thing."

"Man, that is flirting," Sam says. "That nicknames thing, he is flirting with you. He's just working his way up to calling you baby or something."

Steve goes redder than a damn coke can. Sam pumps his fist. "Yes, I am so right, I am wise as hell. He did, didn't he?"

"He called me sweetheart," Steve says grimly, "because he's a drug addict with brain damage."

"Or because he looooooves you," Sam says. Captain America throws a cookie at his head. Sam eats it, because he deserves a treat for being so damn wise.”

[I'm currently re-reading this fic and absolutely loving it. The way spitandvinegar writes Bucky's road towards recovery and Steve's entire characterisation – it's all just so good. It's another one that covers some pretty dark themes, so make sure you're checkin those tags!]

'Einherjar' by thecommodore_squid

Rating: M, Words: 71297

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7157024/chapters/16249814

But Steve was fine.

Sure, he hadn’t seen Bucky in months, and sometimes he was at the punching bag so long that his skin started to peel off to expose the bones of his fingers, and sometimes he couldn’t find the energy to drag himself out of bed, and sometimes he went weeks without sleeping, and sometimes he thought about throwing himself head-first off the nearest tall structure, but he was fine.

He was absolutely, perfectly, one-hundred percent, fucking fine.

AKA In which Steve learns how to deal with his shit, and Bucky learns how to stop leaving.

[basically the definition of a recovery fic, I absolutely adore it. This is tragic and amazing and makes me cry and smile. It’s got a bunch of fantastic cameos and It really just ticks so many of my boxes.]

‘Like real People do’ by 2bestfriends

Rating: E, Words: 67,775

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19887376/chapters/47103217

“"Ask me what?" demands Bucky. "I didn't hear a question."

Steve licks his lips. "Will you stay with me? Will you come back home, Buck?"

"Home," repeats Bucky in a small voice, and then he's crying for real.”

[Basically soft lumberjack!steve and lonely twink!bucky being horny and in love. This is a comfort fic for that’s really just about my favourite boys falling in love.]

‘This City Bleeds it’s Aching Heart’ by anonymous

Rating: E, Words: 34,537

https://archiveofourown.org/works/835829/chapters/1591736

“The one where Steve and Bucky pose as a happily married couple while on a mission for SHIELD, to catch an international arms dealer hiding in a suburban neighbourhood.”

[The plot in this one is just a good time and i think it’s just a really fun take on the fake relationship trope. Also some really great characterisation.]

‘Home is Wherever I’m With You’ by cydonic

Rating: E, Words: 88,570

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18868081/chapters/44783077

“Bucky kisses Steve and Emma goodbye before they leave for school, which is why – partway down the road – Amelia turns to him and asks, “why are you and Daddy kissing?”

Which is definitely a conversation Bucky’s been expecting since Steve just did it, but it still takes him by surprise. Again, he thinks he should wait for Steve, but Amelia’s not the sort of kid to let anything rest. Plus, Bucky’s taking her to school where she will undoubtedly share the story with anyone who’ll listen.

He also stops to think that Steve’s asked him to stay, which means Bucky must be trusted with their happiness and well-being, at least in some small capacity.

Bucky clears his throat and searches for some explanation that will help Amelia make sense of this sudden turn of events. “Because we love each other,” is all he comes up with.”

[Bear with me, this is a House Flipper!Bucky Au. And dad!Steve. I just love a found family trope I’m not gonna lie to you. Another comfort fic that warms my lil heart.]

‘Lucky Seven’ by BetteNoire (WeAreWolves)

Rating: E, Words: 94,364

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7033105/chapters/16002481

“Back from where--?” James says, the sentence ending in a distinctly undignified squawk as Steve sweeps him up in his arms, bridal-style, and starts carrying him upstairs.

James tenses momentarily then relaxes into Steve's arms and throws back his head and starts laughing. The laughter peals out of him, his body shaking, his amusement occasionally broken by little gasps of pain.

“What's so funny?” Steve frowns.

“You are,” James says, still giggling. “You're ridiculous, Steve Rogers.”

“Behave. Or I will drop you,” Steve growls.

[The shrunkyclunks modern AU of my dreams featuring Mechanic!Bucky and cap!Steve and some really beautiful writing.]

'Dishonor On Your Cow' by mandarou

Rating: E, Words: 111695

https://archiveofourown.org/works/10659162/chapters/23589582

“Sergeant Barnes?”

“Oh, hell no, don’t call him that, man,” Sam warned.

“Captain Fuck Off!” Barnes shouted over him. “Fight me!”

Steve didn’t know whether to laugh or just slink away. He managed to combine the two by pacing two steps and snorting instead. Like a bull.

“I’m gonna need you to calm your ass, Barnes,” Sam said as he went limp again, obstructing Barnes’s struggling under him. “This is so undignified. That is Captain goddamn America.”

“Captain goddamn America!” Barnes repeated, louder. And angrier.

Steve cleared his throat again. “I’ve been looking for you,” he told Barnes.

“I hope you brought lube this time!” Barnes shouted.

[I’m not gonna lie it took me a minute to get into this one but by the end I was crying with them, laughing with them, and just really in my feels. Some very insane things happen so here’s a few of my favourite tags: ‘Seargent Barnes is done with your Shit Steve’, ‘blatant disrespect of a man’s motorcycle’, ‘Steve you ding dong’ and ‘PR nightmares in the form of Supersoldiers’.]

Propietary Information by Notlucy

Rating: E, Words: 85141

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11964402/chapters/27054777

“Okay, so Bucky Barnes has a crush on Steve Rogers. The guy's gorgeous, talented and, oh yeah, the Chief Design Officer of the biggest tech company in the world. In other words: he's so far out of Bucky's league that he might as well be in a different stratosphere.”

[We were never gonna get through this list without a Sugar Daddy!AU (I have a weakness). This one is… saucy and sexy and sweet and uh pretty kinky so read the tags and all. I’ve read it a few times, and I love the way the author has written Steve in this one, he just makes my heart go '!!!']

‘Roots Have Grown’ by AustinB

Rating: M, Words: 17280

https://archiveofourown.org/works/6912451/chapters/15767941

“Bucky is a mildly agoraphobic veteran with funds to spare, who becomes enamored with the cute blonde guy in his building.

So when Steve mentions needing a roommate to cut down on rent costs, Bucky decides it would be a good idea to volunteer.”

[Another weakness of mine is Roommate AUs, and this one is phenomenal. I tend to go for post serum!Steve stories more often, but this is a pre-serum Steve that I just adore.]

‘The Cold Never Bothered me Anyway’ by icoulddothisallday

Rating: E, Words:75562

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11728869/chapters/26425530

“Bucky Barnes has spent his whole life in a state of mild hypothermia. Steve Rogers has spent the last 70 years in the ice. The two things aren’t related until, suddenly, they are. Shrunkyclunks soulmate AU (AKA the awkward bb au).”

[I think this is the only soulmate AU in my bookmarks? I would totally be down to read more though! This one is really fun and really enjoy Bucky’s characterisation here!]

'War, Children' by Nonymos

Rating: E, Words: 106615

https://archiveofourown.org/works/5373050/chapters/12409394

“After Bucky was released from the hospital, it only took him a couple of weeks to give up on himself. Difficult to believe in any kind of future when the simple act of staying alive was almost too big an effort.

Out the frosted window, across the street, there was a tiny homeless guy burrowing under an awning.”

[An interesting exploration of Bucky’s PTSD with a trans!Steve which was a cool take on his character too!]

'The Company You Keep' by orbingarrow

Rating: G, Words: 51191

https://archiveofourown.org/works/3468605/chapters/7613072

“Hurt, hungry, and on the run, the Winter Soldier doesn’t have a lot of safe options to go to for help. Figuring that any friend of Captain Steve Rogers is unlikely to be HYDRA, Bucky takes a chance and reaches out to the first Avenger he can find.

It works out better than anyone could have expected. Eventually.”

[hurt/comfort, recovering Bucky, protective Steve, found family and domestic avengers, need I say more? I absolutely loved this one]

[winterscaptain]

mom.

Aaron Hotchner x Fem!Reader a joyful future fic

a/n: shoutout to aimz for affirming this version of this fic!! i had an image the other day and had to sit down and write it. thank you for your patience as i took a little break this week. 

words: 1.2k warnings: none!

summary: “mother is the heartbeat in the home; and without her, there seems to be no heartthrob.” — leroy brownlow

masterlist | a joyful future masterlist | ajf faq | requests closed!

Before you leave the room, you hear Jack call out for you in a small voice. 

“Yeah, bug?” You turn, leaning on the door jamb.

“Can you come back here a minute?” 

You nod and cross the room, kneeling at his bedside. “What’s going on buddy?”

He looks nervous, but you wait him out. He spends a few moments shuffling in bed, wringing his hands, generally looking a lot like his father, but then asks, “Can I call you Mom?”

There’s nothing but static in your brain. 

Recovering quickly so he doesn’t feel rejected, you grab his hands and kiss them. “Can I talk to your dad about it? I want to make sure he’s okay with it.”

Jack nods, but to your relief, doesn’t look disappointed. “Yeah.” 

With a kiss to the top of his head, you tell him you love him. 

+++

As soon as Jack’s asleep, you try to settle into bed, but the photo of Haley on Aaron’s dresser just stares you down and eats you alive. You shake your head and strip, jumping into the shower before it's even warm. 

+++

When Aaron steps into the apartment, it’s quiet and dark, save for the sound of the shower and the sliver of light arcing into the living room from the master bedroom. 

He drops his briefcase at the door and loosens his tie on his way across the room and down the hall. 

Pausing when he gets to the door, he listens. 

Is that….are you?

Crying? 

He trots into the bathroom and finds you behind the glass shower door, curled into a ball under the water. He toes off his shoes and steps into the tub to crouch in front of you, still in his suit, unfazed by the water. “Sweetheart?”

“I can’t be her, Aaron. I’m not her. I’m not his mom I’m not -”

“Stop,” he says. “That’s enough.” He pauses, taking a breath. “Did Jack ask if he could call you mom tonight?” 

You nod and curl further into yourself. “I can’t be her.”

He gathers you into his arms, the shower still running, and says, “You don’t have to. He’s not asking you to be her. He’s asking you to be something you already are.”

You sniff and lean back, looking at him. “What?”

“Come on.” He stands and brings you with him, reaching past you to turn on the water. “Let’s dry you off and get into bed.”

+++

After hanging his suit to drip-dry, he finds you in the bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed. He closes all the doors, turns the lights off, and sits beside you, pulling you up to rest against the headboard. 

You’re both still wet and without clothes, but that doesn’t matter. 

“I just...I froze, Aaron. I didn’t know what to say but I didn't want to scare him so I told him I had to talk to you about it first.” 

He traces your arm with his finger as he talks, grounding you. “That’s okay. I told him you’d probably say something like that.” 

“What?” You lean back and your brow furrows. “You what?”

A little smile crosses his face. “You think we haven’t talked about it? Honey, he’s been asking me about how to ask you for weeks now.” 

That basically takes all the wind out of your sails. “Oh.” 

If you’re honest, you feel a little stupid. Jack’s not the kind of kid to just do things out of nowhere. He obsesses and second-guesses and asks his dad about everything, so the very idea that he asked you out of the blue is as ridiculous as it is out of character. 

To your surprise, Aaron laughs a little. “Don’t feel stupid. I thought it would be a nice surprise for you, but now I’m realizing I probably should have warned you.”

“That might’ve been nice.” 

You can feel his smile when he kisses your temple. “I know, but I wanted him to feel...I dunno. Confident?” He pauses. “But, that’s not the point.” 

You look at him, a little confused. 

“How do you feel about it? I would understand if you’re not comfortable or -”

“No. I’m…” You trail off, feeling a little bad for interrupting him without really knowing what you’re going to say. “I’m comfortable. I just…”

Your eyes wander to the photo of you and Jack and Haley again. She still smiles at you out of the frame, just as she always has. You shift your attention to the one beside it - the one of Haley and Aaron on their wedding day, the one you insisted he keep up after he made an attempt to put it somewhere else after you moved in. 

He breaks your attention with a tap on the back of your hand. “Do you want to talk to her?” 

“What?” 

+++

With a certain degree of amusing theatrics, he threw on a pair of pajama pants, snuck into Jack’s room, and stole the little candle they use to “talk” to Haley. 

When he returns, he lights it, hands you the picture of her from 1997 at the Space Needle he keeps in his wallet, and walks out. 

“Hi Hales.”  

+++

You’re asleep when he returns, the photo loose between your fingers and the candle long out. He watches you sleep for a minute before gingerly tucking you in and slipping the photo back into his wallet. 

+++

The next morning, he hears you and Jack on the couch, talking quietly, but not so much so he can’t hear from the hallway. 

“...I’d love nothing more, my love.” 

“Did you talk to Dad about it?” 

Aaron hears you hum and kiss what he thinks is the top of Jack’s head. “Yeah. I talked to your momma, too.” 

“Really?” 

“Really. You know how much she loves you, right?” 

“Yeah.” 

There’s never enough time for Aaron to really consider how lucky he is. He doesn’t just have a partner who loves his son. He has a partner who loves the mother of his son. 

A partner who understands the weight of “Mom” in the Hotchner house. 

He finally rounds the corner to find the pair of you curled together around a plate of fruit, watching cartoons one low volume. 

“Hi, Dad!” Jack says, grinning up at Aaron. “Mom and I are starting an old show called Tom and Jerry. Wanna watch?”

You suppress a smile as Aaron scoffs, “Old,” and sits beside you, tucking the both of you under his arm. 

You turn to press a kiss to the side of his chest. “I love you.” 

“I love you too...” He kisses the top of your head and says, just for your ears, “...best mom ever.” 

+++

tagging: @quillvine @stxrryspencer @agenthotchner @hurricanejjareau @ughitsbaby @rousethemouse @criminalsmarts @genevievedarcygranger @ssaic-jareau @hotchsflower @hotchslatte @risenfox @mrs-dr-reid @captain-christopher-pike @pan-pride-12 @sunshine-em @jdougl-love @dreila03 @forgottenword @aaronhotchnerr @ssa-morgan @tegggeeee @abschaffer2 @ssacandice-ray @ellyhotchner @lotties-journey-abroad @mrs-joel-pimentel-23-25 @mooneylupinblack @ssareidbby @qvid-pro-qvo @mandylove1000 @jeor @roses-and-grasses @word-scribbless @bwbatta @capricorngf @missdowntonabbey @averyhotchner @joanofarkansass @popped-weasels @evee87 @nuvoleincielo @ssahotchnerr @this-broken-band-girl @winqhster @reidtomestyles @hotch-meeeeeuppppp @the-falling-in-the-danger @crazyshannonigans @softbibxtch @iconicc @mangoberry43 @andreasworlsboring101 @mac99martin @itsalwaysb33nyou @baumarvel @kerrswriting @messyhairday-me @ssworldofsw @deagibs @crazyshannonigans @moonshinerbynight @jhiddles03 @teamhappyme @mendesmelodies @starsandasteroids @unicorn-bitch @ambicaos