#Moments of happiness is so underrated so thank you for giving me the chance to talk about it!

[munkustance]

hi hello!! What’s ur favorite musical moment within the show? For example, I really like Jemima’s moments of happiness solo, or the part where the orchestra gets to build during old Deuteronomy :)

Hello!!!

First of, super agree on the two moments you brought up! Jemima's solo is so beautiful and then the music just brings it all together! And in my opinion the whole Old Deut music motif is so extremely wonderful and just feels like a warm, fuzzy hug.

So big surprise, my favourite musical moment is alssooo during the moments of happiness!

Right when the music swells until Jellylorum begins singing Gus's song. It just feels so powerful, majestic and most importantly magical. You hear exactly what compels them to stand up, Rumpleteazer's face a second earlier describes the feeling best to me.

Like her expression is exactly what I feel when the build up for the moment comes up.

[bronx-bomber87]

Evening all :) This is the second to last ep of s2. Unreal. I LOVE this episode. For so many reasons. I think its underrated which tends to be some of my fav moments and eps with them. Love this one for couple reasons. One of them being we’re re-tapping into why Tim is the best T.O. for Lucy. Little more look into Tim’s growing feelings for her. Also their continual growth as friends and their deepening bond. I love them so much. Like I said already this ep is underrated and one of my favs and you’ll see why. Let’s get started on this goodie.

2x19 The Q Word

We start off with Lucy's alarm going off for her shift. She turns it off saying how she doesn’t want to work today. (Me either girl...) We see she has a special guest with her. Heh. It's Emmett. Dude still fine as hell. Guess she finally took him up on his offer. Damn girl proud of you cashing that card in haha Way to come back into the dating world.

He tells her to be few minutes late continues on to say ‘Bradford's chill’ LMFAO Not even a little and definitely not with training Lucy. You'll experience that soon enough and see how wrong you are sir. Lucy tells him she’s in the final stretch of her training. Just 30 more days and she’ll be free. (Like you really wanna be free of Tim…we'll let you believe that though.) She is excited to be free of the mind games, Tim tests and being chewed out in public. I can’t blame her there even though it molded her into who she is now as a cop.

Emmett jumps on the chance about making her late after her probation. Lucy has to basically say down boy LOL It’s honestly really nice to see how happy she is. Like I said in the last ep with Tim. With not being Lucy level happy. In this case not Tim level happy or comfortable but nice to see none the less. She clearly has allowed herself to not let Caleb drag her down as much anymore. That's a massive victory for her. Should be noted and appreciated.

Can truly appreciate the relationships they had prior and what they had to give to them before they’re together. Lucy NEEDED someone like this post-Caleb. Needed a sweet goober. I am thankful for the role Emmett played in that. Helping her start to move past Caleb and the damage he inflicted. Her commitment issues showing themselves hard when she asks him to play it cool if they run into each other. To keep them on the DL. Also I don’t blame her she’s in the home stretch of this. Wants to do a final focused push to complete her training as well.

We get to roll call. Grey announces today is the rookies one year mark in the program. He tells them congratulations on not washing out. Tim can’t help himself and poke the bear. Saying ‘We’ll see’ that shit eating grin of his and heart eyes I can not. How proud he is of her projecting off him.

Excuse me sir you’re doing a work flirt right in front of everyone. Look at the way he’s looking at her when he says it. A blind person could read his intentions. Her reaction is perfection. Like she can’t believe he’s doing their banter unabashedly in front of roll call… for all to see LOL Our marriage scene of the episode please enjoy.

Grey says this is the start of their 30 day push. To remind them they’re not there just yet. That they shouldn’t be celebrating until they cross the finish line. Pretty much a foreshadowing for Lucy in this ep. All of them but mainly Lucy and the SL her and Tim have in this one.

Immediately following roll call we join them in their shop. Lucy mentions it’s weird they haven’t had any calls yet. Tim puts on his T.O. hat and barks ‘Crime doesn’t have a schedule boot.’ Lucy just smiles his T.O. company line having no effect on her. Tim notices it right away and asks ‘What she’s so happy about?’ Lucy plays it off says nothing. Can’t she just smile? Tim doesn’t let it go. (Wonder who he learned that from?)

Tells her she’s been doing it a lot lately is all...Lucy bites back she didn’t know being happy was an impediment to being a good cop. Tim remarks he’s just surprised she hasn’t talked his ear off about whatever it is. Tim Bradford speak for he actually wants her to. Whether he likes it or not he’s come to enjoy her sharing things with him. When she doesn't he gets antsy like in this scene. Questions what's going on with her.

Tim acts like he can’t stand how chatty she is. When really he can’t handle it when she isn’t sharing stuff with him. Doesn’t want to feel left out in her life. Especially since she "granted" him re-access to it in 2x17. (He always had it she just had to remind of that fact) Lucy doesn’t budge on any info. So Tim starts taking shots in the dark. Asking random questions. 'Did she rescue a kitten?' 'Adopt a star?' LMFAO Timothy what? Haha god I love this man.

Lucy tells him what early s1 Tim would’ve been thrilled to hear. That her personal life is none of his business. He smiles and says there’s hope for her yet. Ok Tim I’m sure that’s EXACTLY what you want. Smh. My god these two. Do they even realize how much flirting just went down in that interaction? The banter, the looks, the cute little smiles. Look at them in those last two gifs above. As transparent as glass. These idiots I love them so much.

If you needed to see their chemistry in one glorious shot. This is it. What a beautiful shot of these two. How the sun shines mostly on her is lovely nod to them as characters. They're checking in with one another silently as they hear a ‘shots fired’ call come over the radio. Processing the severity of the call together. The lighting is beautiful, the looks glorious, that silent communication ever present. I adore it.

They can hear how amped up the rookie on the radio is. Tim attaches them to the pursuit. Harper and Nolan attach themselves as well. Jackson hears his friends panicked voice. Tells Angela they we’re in the academy together. He the follows suit of the other two. Such an intense drive to where Chris and his T.O. are in pursuit.

Sadly Chris disobeys his T.O. to stay in cover while backup arrives. This kid has something to prove and leaves cover. His T.O. shouting at him to stay back. Unfortunately he’s shot instantly in the chest multiple times by their assailant. The guy takes off leaving Harper/Nolan to chase him as they arrive on scene. Tim and Lucy show up after all the chaos has ensued. Tim pulls Martinez Chris’s T.O. to the side. Says he’s going to need to talk to him since he was a witness to the shooting. Jackson decides to ride with Chris easing Martinez to go talk with Tim.

Tim then does what he does best. Deescalates the situation. This man is trying to justify himself to Tim. Tells him how he taught Chris better than that. That he’s made mistakes before but not like this. Tim is incredible in this moment. This scene shows us how good Tim is at his job. How important he knows training rookies is to T.O.’s Why Martinez is panicking like he is. Feels like he failed this kid and is spiraling.

Tim uses that common bond to get through to an emotionally heightened officer. He's coming off his rookie being shot. He's not seeing straight and blaming himself. So Tim calms him down using logic and listening to get the statement from him. The empathy and understanding that follow are a skill that was sharpened by a certain rookie of his. (So damn proud) He's trying to relay to him this wasn’t his fault. He doesn't need to defend himself to him.

I love how he relates to Martinez in this moment. All the while he is looking at Lucy. His words carrying extra weight to them. Almost like he's telling himself this as well as his fellow T.O.. This is hitting closer to home for him than he'd like. His look says so very much to anyone who is watching closely. Eric crushing it per usual saying so much with so little. The depth of how much he cares for her at this point. The man was gone for her long before they got together. (He just hasn’t been clued in yet about that fact.)

The way his eyes dart over to her while he’s comforting Martinez. What happened to this man is Tim’s greatest fear on the job. Not preparing Lucy enough and she gets hurt as a result. If he could only realize how much he’s already impacted her. She would not have survived 2x11 if not for his training of her. 'The Cop Eyes' he instilled in her to drop that ring for him.

She had the grit and determination all her own to survive no doubt. That 'No quit' paired with his training is why she made it. If you wanted to see Tim’s PTSD in action it’s this next portion. That deep fear of losing her the way he almost did back in 2x11. This next entire scene is screaming that PTSD from that. This moment a stark reminder for him that he could lose her just as quickly on the job due to a mistake. That it would be his fault. Again.

Some may think Tim is too harsh here. He’s being a dick etc. That’s not what I see here at all. I see a man in emotional panic. A spiral really. Talking to Martinez shook him more than he’s leading on. Watching his biggest fear happen to someone else is triggering his PTSD more than he'd like. We all know even with Lucy’s forgiving him how he’s still haunted by her almost death. Tim is still learning how channel his emotions. Lucy has opened a floodgate of having them and he hasn’t learned to control them just yet.

I can relate so very much. When you’ve repressed feelings for so long, then allow them to the surface they can be overwhelming. The anxiety of drowning in those emotions comes out in one of two ways. Anger or a complete shut down. For Tim anger is an old friend of his. He can’t seem to tamp down how this situation is making him feel.

Nor does he know how to deal with why it is. So he sees a small mistake she makes and lashes out. His current anxiety is manifesting into anger right now. His fear taking a life of it's own. Losing it on her over something he wouldn't necessarily been happy about but not to this current level of anger.

He is panicking because after the final 30 days elapses he won’t be by her side to protect her anymore. Its a harsh reality he isn't handling too well right now. Rios being shot bringing that into sharp focus. That this could happen to her without him there to guide her. So naturally he’s going to be hard on her especially in this moment. His way of controlling it and his emotions. He just watched a rookie get fatally shot and carted off to hospital due to a small error in judgement.

All those emotions and all that panic are coming through in spades in this moment. Tim isn’t handling his emotions about potentially losing her well. It more than shows in this scene. If he was trying to hold his emotional cards close to his chest about Lucy in this scene he failed miserably. It comes out when he asks her if she wants to end up like Rios? Showing his hand so much in this scene emotionally.

Now Emmett making the mistake of trying to intervene bites him in the ass badly. It’s bad for a couple reasons. The road to hell is paved with good intentions as they say. Reason one it was a terrible idea. Don’t get between Tim and his person. Emmett caught an emotionally exposed Tim and ran into an actual buzz saw doing this. Today was the WRONG day to interfere with him. Not gonna lie I do love Tim going all alpha on him. Saying she’s HIS boot. Destroying Emmett completely asking if 'He's got it? Before walking away.

Second reason it was not his best idea. Lucy. I adore her telling Emmett she didn’t need him to save her. Damn right you don’t. She is capable of defending herself especially with Tim. That's one of her super powers really. It was more embarrassing for Lucy he tried to step in to "protect" her. Not only that but mess with her work dynamic with Tim. She asked him to be cool at work and he wasn’t. Lucy makes sure he knows that before she takes off herself. She isn't a damsel in distress and lets him know. Leaving Emmett stunned.

Nolan and Harper get a finger print ID off the ditched car they pursued. They’re gearing up to break into Serj Derain's. Tim knows Lucy is shaken up for multiple reasons. Her friend Chris being shot, Him chewing her out and her mini fight with Emmett. He is always thinking of her first even when he doesn’t even realize he’s doing so. It's second nature at this point. He does this by resetting her mentally before they walk in the door of this man's house.

Saying how they already lost one cop today. She’s not going to be another. He refuses to lose Lucy by her potentially losing focus in this moment. This man just knows her like the back of his hand. It always floors me. Knows innately she needs these words of focus. That her mind is elsewhere and he needs it shifted back to the task at hand. The continuous proof of why he was the perfect T.O. for her. Tim reading her emotional state and directing her emotions. This is his version of taking care of her. By telling Lucy exactly what she needs to hear before they start this.

Her look of understanding after he dispenses his words of wisdom to her is perfection. Complete understanding of what he's saying and doing for her in this moment. ❤️ Everything this man does for her has her best interests at heart and ultimately to protect her. (Just like she does for him) It’s a beautiful thing to watch honestly. The two way support these two have for one another. This is an underrated moment for them. I wanted to expound on it. It shows that bond they have.

That even though they’re closer than they used to be with how she can sass him from time to time when it comes down to it that instant respect she has for Tim and his guidance. It is evident in this scene. His wisdom is guiding her right now emotionally and she knows it. That when he is serious like this she takes notice and listens immediately. She would follow him into hell if he asked her to.

They get inside with no issues. He isn’t home and the house is cleared. They’re searching his home office. Lucy asks Tim what they’re looking for? He tells her anything that can tell them where he is. It’s then Tim runs across some disturbing info. Confidential Police files on the Derian’s. Makes sense why nothing has stuck to them now. Someone’s been leaking info to the Armenian mob. A dirty cop in their midst…

We rejoin them in their shop. Lucy asks if they can talk about earlier? So much has happened today he’s not sure what she means. Lucy says about Emmett. Tim is immediately defensive. Tells her nothing to say about it. He tried to tell him how to do his job. On today of all days. Tim says he doesn’t care if he’s her BF. Lucy instantly cuts him off and corrects him. Says he’s not. (ahhh Lucy your commitment issues are showing again my dear) Tells Tim he’s a little dead to her right now anyway. I’m sure in the back of Tim’s mind that gives him a little peace.

Then comes one of the best parts of the episode for them. In not so many words this scene is Tim revealing something. Showing Lucy he cares about her in the most Tim way possible. He voices in a much kinder way his fears from earlier in the ep. That yes she’s only 30 days from the finish line. What scares him is when she crosses it he won’t be there to keep her from washing out anymore. 'Or worse...' The way she looks at him when he says this *heart clutch* Tim Bradford speak for I don’t want to lose you.

He solidifies it by reinforcing yeah he’s going to be tough on her. That is a straight fact. Then rolls a compliment into it as well. (How far we’ve come. *wipes tear*) Tells Lucy he’s only doing that because he KNOWS she can handle it. No one one knows her better than he does. No one will ever look out for her best interests better than he will. Or will prepare her the way he can. He only has 30 days left with her. Tim is going to make her as sharp as possible. So he can let her go when the time comes. Only way he will have peace of mind is if he does it this way.

Lucy’s reactions says it all. Beaming a little as she explains how sweet it is. She knows how he struggles with his emotions. That he tends to show them through actions rather than words. The fact that he told her this means so much. Tim in a roundabout way, told her he cares so much for her he’s afraid losing her after they're no longer riding together. That he can't protect her anymore after that. So he’s going to do everything in his power to safeguard her from this jobs worst moments and possibilities like today.

She makes sure he knows how 'oddly sweet' she finds his words. Tim is trying to bite back a smile above. That sunshine of hers seeping in just a little bit more. Trying to be a grump and be like 'That's not what I meant' when that's exactly what he meant. Revealing more cracks in that emotional wall of his. God I love it so Much.

Lucy continues on and says he’s not the one she’s mad at right now. That’s she’s used to Tim. Then he does something S1 Tim would be appalled at. Gives her advice on her personal life. Doing it not to please her or get her to stop talking. But because he genuinely cares about her. Giving me all the feels in this one. My shipper heart may implode.

Tells her Emmett is a fireman. So naturally they’re idiots LOL He makes Lucy smile in a way only he can. Tim forges on saying they mean well and Emmett is a 'not bad fireman'. Tells her not to write him off just yet. That he meant well by it. Look at our boy. I’m legit beaming with pride as I write this. How far this man has come in 2 seasons hell just this season alone. Leaps and bounds all due to the the sunshine human to his right.

Lucy being herself can’t help but rib him about this. That the reason he’s giving her this advice is cause they’re friends. Honestly yeah. At this point they are. S1 finale was the start of the friends foundation but they weren't there yet. It was the beginning of that deeper bond of theirs and we’re nearing the end of s2. All that foundation has now been laid. The fruits of it are they are friends now.

Best part of this section Is he doesn’t even deny it really. He scoffs a little af first (denial isn’t just a river in Egypt Tim) but concedes at the end. The light in his eyes and the crooked smile. You know this man is happy to be considered her friend. Her confidant. Once again Eric saying so god damn much with so little. I’ll never be over how good he is with that. Like ever. Could go on for miles and miles but I won’t do that to you all haha That wraps up their scenes together in this one. SO much good content thought. Oh my lord.

Sadly Chris passes away and Jackson is distraught. Lucy being there for Jackson is so sweet. Taking care of her business with Emmett but putting him first. I love their friendship. I do admire he came over to apologize and say he was wrong. Saying she’s the strongest woman he knows. That the last thing she needs is a protector. Well you as her protector yes. sorry Emmett lol That role is not meant to be yours. She has her fierce protector already. Tim is that but her emotional protector first and foremost. I mean he would smash a dude's face in for her LOL but she doesn't need that. That's it for this one. Such a good episode for them I can not.

~~~~

Side notes-Non Chenford

Longer than normal cause the entire episode is so good. The Chenford would’ve been enough but the ep being so good on top of it I’m happy.

Angela seeing Smitty’s cam footage LOL he’s such an idiot and we all love him haha sadly how she finds out Erin Cole is a dirty cop though. Or one of them…

The whole SL with Chris, Derians and Armstrong it’s so solid and stressful to watch baha his SL was shocking when I watched it the first time. Watching this squeaky clean cop fall from grace and become a dirty cop. Tragic af but compelling as hell.

Rewatching it through the eyes of knowing you can see how much he was giving away in his scenes. So sad the ending for Cole. Debt erasure is a huge motivator for most it’s truly so sad.

Watching John and Grace continue to fall apart sucks. I truly liked them more so than him and Bailey TBH. Their chemistry was evident.

Harper thanking John for all his help in getting her kid back. That she wouldn’t be here if not for him. The impact he had. Such growth for her. Since day one she has marched toward growth and where she is now. I adore her arc and how far she has come in this moment. Such an overall amazing episode. Hell of an ep before the finale.

Thank you all for the continued support through likes/comment and reblogs. Means more than I can ever say. Our next ep is the finale. Woo. I’ll see you all then :)

[nochangeintheplan]

hiii! just want to say how happy I was to find your page. it seems like everywhere on the internet (except tumblr- but even then I've seen some hate) DESPISES yakuza 3.. like they won't even acknowledge the good the game has. is it the best? no! but they would sooner brush off the plot the game set up and the amazing characters to say it's ass and looks bad, just say ur going through a quality drop from yakuza kiwami 2. yakuza 3 brought us MORNING GLORY. THE PLACE THAT IS KIRYUS MAIN MOTIVE?? like it's the whole reason kiryu went into hiding.. it set up the future games. (also humanized him soo much but that's a topic for another day) THEN I CAME ACROSS THIS PAGE! your love for this game clearly shows through your introspective art and beautiful ask blog! I spent ab a whole night going through ur page gushing bc 'omg someone who writes mine and daigo correctly! and doesnt make mine's ONLY character trait about being obsessed with daigo!!' keep up the amazing work!! I also look forward to seeing your other works that are unrelated to yakuza! have a wonderful day!

(In case u see this ask again somewhere else I sent it to the wrong blog at first LOL)

Thank you so much for sendin in your ask! I'm really glad you've enjoyed the stuff I've been throwing up on the internet about my favorite little guys.

And yeah, for a good while in most fan spaces people had a pretty big dislike for Y3, and I think a lot of it just comes down to fandom bandwagoning dissuading people from playing it or giving it much of a chance. Right now actually I've seen somewhat of a shift in some spaces where suddenly 3 is underrated and people are apparently (?) dogging on 2 where it used to be considered peak. It's all cyclical really, but I'm glad when 3 gets the attention I feel it deserves.

I do understand where people's dislike comes from honestly, but it is definitely my personal favorite! For all its faults, I think it has some of the strongest character moments of the games, personal stakes, and drama, with stellar animation that more than makes up for the older graphics that might put some people off. And of course, Mine lmao. I can't say how right I am in how I characterize Mine and Daigo since I'm sure I fall pretty short of even my own standards of how I see them (and am guilty of simplifying them because its funny lm ao), but I'm happy folks like my take on the guys! I have A LOT OF THOUGHTS on these dudes (obviously) which I'd love to write up sometime. I have an ask about my Minedai HCs where I will probably dump it, but that and a lot of asks have been put on the backburner until I get the time to address them all to the extent I want to.

If you wanna look at my non-yakuza stuff, I have a main which I basically do not use; but it does exist!

Anyway, thank you again for writing in! I really do appreciate it a ton, and I love all the lil things y'all send me.

[smokersbaby]

Hello :D first of all, I love your Tumblr blog and writing, your posts about Smoker make me feel butterflies in my tummy. (Yeah, he deserves more love, he's such an underrated character and husband material, so I'm really happy to read all your writing about him ✨) Sorry for not sending a request or leaving a comment sooner (I was nervous because I don't speak italian, my native language is spanish, and I'm insecure about my english knowlege 🙏) I'm so excited to see blogs like yours, Smoker is my favorite One Piece character and let's say he was my unexpected fictional crush from the series haha. (He is such a handsome, kind, righteous and complex character, I feel an unhealthy amount of love for him😭)

So, after all that thirst for Smoker, the request. Do you have some thoughts or headcanons of him being a husband or even a father? I've noticed that people often forget that he is such a sweet man with children and that side of him just melts my heart. (The moment with the ice cream little girl in Loguetown made me fall in love with him in the first place💖)

Thanks for all the love and effort you put in your writing :D you don't need to answer my request if you don't feel comfortable with it so feel free to ignore it, I will understand 👍🏻✨ And keep on writing, you're doing amazing🌟

Thank you so much for all your kind words! Don't you worry about the language since I'm the first one who makes a lot of errors here! Moreover, my sister lives in Spain so when she comes to Italy with her little daughter we speak in Spanish (at least I try).

Smoker is the perfect husband material, I'm sorry if I haven't written more SFW about him until now but I didn't have the chance, so I am more than happy to expose him like that! (that scene in Loguetown lives in my head/heart rent free and I go look at it every time I'm sad, just to let you know) 💕

Characters: Smoker TW: mention of sex (intimate moments part) Notes: if you love Smoker and need some comfort, this is the perfect fanfic for you, I hope you enjoy this as much as I did writing it 💕

-> As a husband <-

Jealousy -> he isn't the kind of person that demonstrates openly how jealous he is towards you when someone else gives you attention (there will not be jealousy dramas), but he'll look at the other person with a deadly look from distance. He is jealous of you, more than you could imagine, he can't think of you in someone else's arms.

Sleeping together -> He loves when you use his chest as a pillow (and you love poking and squeezing his boobies too, let's say that), with his arms caressing your back when you fall asleep on him. He doesn't move a muscle when you nap, even though he grunts as he starts to feel his arms getting dizzy from the uncomfortable position due to your weight on him. He snores when he sleeps (sorry for that) and can be a quite heavy sleeper when it's with you (the opposite happens when he has a mission and must be alert).

Protection -> do you remember Smoker saying "you ain't laying a finger on my soldiers!" when he fights pirates? Well, he's protective towards you as well, but hundred times as much! Nobody could harm you when you are with him, if someone does, that person would be torn apart within minutes.

Cuddles -> he doesn't demonstrate his love in public, and Smoker blushes a lot trying to stay calm when you try to do mushy stuff with him in front of people. But, when you two are alone, he loves cuddling you whenever he has the opportunity. The thing he loves the most is hugging you from behind and placing his chin over your head as he does so, it happens almost whenever you are in the kitchen cooking or just brushing your teeth in the bathroom.

Cooking -> Smoker is not the best cook in the couple, he tried a lot of times and with a huge effort trying to impress you but he ended up throwing away a lot of pans since they were almost burnt or too difficult to clean after he finished. Once he gave you the only edible meal he cooked and he thought you were joking as you told him that it was quite good.

Living together -> Smoker never thought he could enjoy living with someone else this much. Since you two moved in together, he started to do everything with you, most of all because his work schedule it's quite strict and he tries to spend time with you as much as possible in your shared house. He's quite an organized person, if you thought he might be messy with clothes you're wrong: it's mostly the times he reproaches you for not putting your things in order (he's a marine after all, what did you expect?)

Going out -> He loves taking you out to play pool with him. He can't help but chuckle seeing you try your best and lose against him. When you make mistakes missing the balls with the billiard clues Smoker laughs a bit, but just because he can use this opportunity as his advance, placing his hands on your waist trying to teach you how to play properly (of course most of the time you pretend you can't play to make him approach you).

Intimate moments -> He's intense, for real. He won't let you leave the bedroom until he satisfies every desire of yours (it's him that insists to do that, not you). He loves your body and kisses every inch of you before using his mouth to make you see stars. Smoker adores you when you ride him taking the lead since he's accustomed to giving orders in his job, it's like a kind of role reversal to him. He can be a little bit rough at times in bed, grabbing you by your thighs and leaving small bites on your neck, but he won't ever push you beyond your limits. Smoker also loves when you ask him to spank your butt since he can't take his hands off of it. He has a slightly praising kink and loves telling you how good you are at taking him all inside of you.

-> As a father <-

Smoking -> he doesn't smoke around you when you are pregnant as doesn't smoke around his children since his family is the top priority to him, but since his kids want to be with their dad all the time he's quite stressed about abstinence from smoke.

Protection -> Good luck to everyone who tries to harm his children, no one could ever think about such a thing, and when the idea of someone harming his children comes into Smoker's mind, he can't help but think about all the things he would do to make these people pay in the most atrocious ways.

Boy or girl? -> He wants a girl, definitely, but he'll be hella protective towards her when she starts growing up. He'll treat her like her little princess and bring her on his shoulder every time he can. Smoker can't resist but give her all she wants, even when he knows he shouldn't spoil her but he can't say no to his little princess.

Cherishes your body -> There's no need to be insecure about your body after giving birth since he'll love every curve of yours during and after pregnancy: every pound you gained in the 9 months is a pound more for him to love. Your stretchmarks are just a sign of you bringing to this world his child. He doesn't care if your body changed after the birth of your babies, this is just another reason to make you feel appreciated more than before since he can't see you sad about it and won't ever let it happen.

Finds time to stay with you -> Probably it won't be easy for you two to find time for yourself when you both have children to take care of and he's away in marine missions for days. But when you finally find a little bit of time to spend alone with Smoker it's like when you were just married, snuggling in bed as he gives you all the attention he can to the person he loves the most.

Playtime -> Smoker tries to find time to play with them, which can be kinda difficult at times because of his job. His children love pranking him while he's busy or distracted. Smoker sighs and puts on a (fake) grunt on his face as this happens and then starts chasing them playfully all over the house. They love pretending to be pirates escaping from the big marine that is their father, Smoker plays along but he's kinda worried when he sees his children enjoying this game, he hopes with all his heart that his kids won't ever become pirates.

When the kids grow up -> He teaches them the difference between what's right and what's simple, which can be difficult since he has seen so many people taking the wrong way in life, but he tries to not push them about it since he knows he'll probably get the opposite reaction from them. He loves his children so much and is a little bit scared of them growing up, Smoker wants the best for them.

[ghostbabby]

Heyo! Are you a fan of the criminally underrated game Jet Set Radio? Do you wanna read some expanded fan material? Well I got just the thing! I'm currently working on my fan novel: "Stories From Tokyo-To"!

Excerpt from Chapter 1: Beat It!

...Letting out a sigh, the only thing that came out of my mouth at that moment was a defeated "Damn."

I've encountered the law before. Usually, a good lie, a tragic story with some tears, and a swift getaway solve my issues. But not with this sadist. The dude knows. Every scheme, any lie, all of my possible aliases. It's scary. So all I can pray for is that somehow, along the way, he slips up. 

Ever so slowly, I start creeping away from Onishima. Having no other option, I try smooth-talking with the guy. "Oh! Sergeant Onishima! Is that you? You looked so tall, I hardly recognized you! Have you been hitting the gym? Maybe you're wearing platform boots?"

"Shut your trap!" his voice echoed throughout the warehouse. He wasn't having it. Better yet, seeing me back up made him more than happy to take off his gun's safety. "Do you know how long I've waited for this moment? I finally get a chance to slap the cuffs on the damn shitass who's been causing me months of headaches." The shady fuck laughed a bit. "I knew it was you who gift-wrapped the front of my house last Christmas!"

"I was short on cash that year!"

"You made the letter saying I was cast in my favorite show, 'Power Office Girls'!"

"Aw, man... you didn't get the part of 'Handsome Officer 1'? But you were so happy that day."

"And most heinous of all... you put Vaseline on my squad car handles!"

"Really? That was the worst?"

"I WAS LATE FOR A WEEK! I'VE NEVER BEEN LATE, NOT ONE DAY ON THE FORCE!"

"I'm sure your days must be real busy if eating curry rice in your car and harassing me is the only thing on your schedule."

"All that doesn't matter now. I have you right where I want you. Criminal trespassing, vandalism, and hell maybe I'll throw in theft! These spray cans are most likely stolen." He shrugged and leaned back as if his next point was some sort of stupid revelation. "But hey, it's your life, right? I'm just the swift hand of authority here to take you in. Besides, you're no better than all the other filth in the streets." Onishima tightened the grip of both of his hands. "And we both know you ain't talkin' yourself outta this."

"Officer, I just have one question..."

"And what's that?"

"How fast can you run?"...

If something along those lines sounds interesting, be sure to give all available chapters on either Wattpad or AO3!

Thank you so much for reading and keep on tagging those walls! (Special thanks to @skronklpus for the KICKASS ART!)

Wattpad:

AO3:

[chelleztjs18]

Vision (E.O)

Elizabeth Olsen x Fem!Reader

Sumarry: Both of you and Lizzie find a little sweet treat moment while grocery shopping.

Warning: None. A late Halloween late fluff fic from my Halloween event.

Requested: Yes by @xxxtwilightaxelxxx . I hope you like it! :D

A/n: Hello! Here's the second to last of my Halloween fics. I just finished writing this literally few minutes ago. lol. Thank you @honey-sweet-hiraeth for helping me brainstorming and share an idea i can put in this fic. :) Happy reading! Reblog and comments are highly appreciated.

Halloween Masterlist | Main Masterlist

“Okay babe, so we got the bread, anchovies, avocado, your favorite chocolate milk and all of the ingredients for our dinner tonight.” Your wife of three years mumbles as she checks the inside of the cart while reading the shopping list at the same time.

“I love how fresh the fruits and the meat this store has.” the blonde comments with a smile, her green eyes look at yours.

“See…I told you, Elizabeth. This store has better produce than the one you used to go to before we met.” Your smile and tone has obvious pride in it. She laughs a little right after that. “Y/n, honey, the other store has as good produce as the one in here. We started going to this one because it sells your favorite chocolate milk and cheese.” She jokingly shakes her head as she walks with you while you push the cart.

“Oh, let’s go to the candy aisle at the end. I want to get some just in case trick or treat-ers come to our house.” Lizzie points to the aisle.

“Ouh yess candy! Let’s go!” You respond excitedly.

Lizzie looks around as soon as both of you get to the candy aisle and grabs a few different bags of candy and chocolate. You put a bag of dark chocolates into the cart. Before Lizzie gets her chance to say that she is done and it's time to leave, something caught your attention and you exclaimed “Ouh babe, look! They have some Halloween stuff too. Look at those decorations they sell!”

"Oh yeah. They have pretty good stuff here." The blonde shows her agreement with you.

“Wow, out of all the Halloween themes and myths they can pick, they still don’t have werewolves stuff. Werewolves are so underrated!” Disappointment is written all over your face right after you can’t find anything werewolves related among the things.

“Aaawww, my poor puppy. Don’t be upset.” the Scarlet Witch cast teases you. A soft pat on your head from her then she gives a peck of kiss on your cheek. Surely, a blush magically appears on your face. You smile. “Well, I guess, I can’t be upset when you call me that and get a kiss too.” she winks and giggles at your comment.

“Oh, there’s some costume too, y/n. Oh, they have a kid's werewolf costume.” She excitedly shows it to you. “Oh! Yay, something werewolf! Oh, Liz! Look what I found!” You take your turn showing what you have found.

“It's a Scarlet Witch costume for little girls! Aaawwww!” Pride wraps your tone while holding the costume.

“Oh my gosh! That actually looks so cute! I remember the first time I tried on my real Scarlet Witch costume, it was a little tight and they put wires around me for the flying scenes. It was fun.” a titter jumps out of her lips while her mind recalls the funny memories.

“Oh yeah, I remembered the first time I saw you on set with that suit. You look insanely stunning in it” You wiggle your eyebrows with a teasing smirk and she playfully rolls her eyes.

“I remember that day, when I walked past you wearing the suit you tripped on a cord on the set after you were done doing Paul’s makeup.” Both of you laughed together from the quick trip on the memory lane.

You and Lizzie observe a little more until you see something interesting. "Look at these mason jars mug, darling! Witch's brew!" You try to say the last two words in a scary horror way followed by a fake witch laugh. She laughs at your antics, she always adores your silliness.

“Oh yeah, those are cool. Maybe we can use this for your apple martinis or absinthe cocktails. Isn’t witch’s brews always green in color?” Lizzie proposes her idea.

“Oh yeah, we’ll take this. Wanda should use this as her cup.” You joke and it easily gains another laughter from your wife.

“I know right. I’m gonna take a picture of this and send it to Aubrey since she is turning into a witch soon in Marvel with Kathryn.” a giggle slips out between her words as she smiles while she takes a picture of the said mug.

“Ssshh, Elizabeth! People might hear what you just said.” You remind her to be more careful about the confidential content in a whisper. “Oops, oh yeah. Sorry..sorry.” she apologizes in whispers as her right hand moves as if she is zipping her lips to keep the secret in her.

Then both of you hear a little voice from behind you. “Excuse me, Wanda? Is that you?”

Lizzie quickly turned around, so did you and found a cute little girl wearing the same exact Scarlet Witch costume. The little red haired girl is looking at your wife with such admiration. Her green eyes sparkle in excitement.

“Uh oh. Liz, do you think she heard what you said about Aubrey?” You ask in a whisper to her. “Babe, she’s just a kid. She probably doesn’t understand what we were talking about even if she heard it.” She answers you shortly before she greets the little girl.

“Oh hello, sweetheart. Yes, I am Wanda. You look exactly like me.” Lizzie’s warm and welcoming smile appears across her face. Soon after, the exhilarated girl’s mother comes. “Emily, there you are! Why did you run like that? I’m sor– Oh my god! Ms. Olsen! My daughters and I are fans of yours. She bought her costume here and she wanted to wear it early.” The mom was talking to the mini version of Wanda until she realized who her daughter was talking to and instantly got as excited as her daughter while explaining..

“Oh no. She’s fine. Don’t worry about it. She’s really cute. Also thank you so much.” Without any doubt Lizzie gives the brunette mom the reassurance she thinks that she needs as she crouches to the little girl’s eye level. You were going to do the same she did but you falter your move and stand there awkwardly instead when she asked your wife “Who is she? Where is Vision, Wanda?”

Lizzie and the little girl turn their heads together and look at you. “Her? Well, let me tell you, sweetie. So the world you see in the comic or movie is a different world than ours. In this world we live in, she is my Vision. She loves me as much as the other Vision loves Wanda and I love her too.” Her soft voice warmly explains and her hand rubs the girl’s arm gently.

“So she is Vision even though she looks different? Why she doesn’t look like a superhero? Where is the yellow stone?” Emily asks innocently.

Lizzie instantly laughs a little because of the cute row of questions. “Oh yeah she is. I know she looks different than the other Vision. Right now, she doesn’t look like a superhero because we are on a secret mission now and nobody can see us in our superhero suits but we can show you the yellow stone if you want.” Patience fills Lizzie’s answer and she starts to whisper a little saying the last sentence as if it’s a real secret. As usual, you take her answer as your cue to join in.

“Hello, sweetheart. My name is Y/n. I’m Wanda’s Vision here. I heard that you want to see the secret mind stone?” You ask excitedly in whispers and pretend to carefully look around.

The second after Emily nods in agreement followed by a whispered "yes, please." You pulled out a necklace with the mind stone replica diamond charm that was under your shirt.

"Whoaaaa! So cool! Mommy! Look! It's the yellow stone!" Emily's eyes fill with amazement as she looks at it and she soon forgets to keep it as a secret.

Her mom watches everything in awe and decides to play along and reminds her daughter "Ssst…Emily, they said it's a secret, remember?" She puts her index finger in front of her lips.

"Oh yes, I'm sorry, Wanda." Emily acknowledges her mistake.

"Aw, it's okay Emily. Do you want to know another secret?" You offer another secret to share with her and of course she nods one more time and this time with a bigger smile.

Lizzie knows what she has to say next. "Y/n and I share the stone together. We have the same necklace. So we will always remember each other." Just like you did, she pulls out her necklace and shows it to Emily.

Without missing a beat, she admires Lizzie's necklace as well.

This is not the first time both of you have to handle cute innocent Marvel little fans who ask these adorable questions. Since the first time a situation like this happened, you and Lizzie decided to have matching necklaces with the yellow diamond charm and always use this trick whenever some kids or family’s / friend’s children come up to both of you.

“Wow, Emily! That is so cool! Don’t forget to say thank you to Wanda and Y/n. We need to go, baby and I’m sure that they need to continue their secret mission too.” The lady walks closer to her daughter and initiates the idea to give your privacy back.

“Thank you Wanda! Thank you Y/n! One day, I will be a superhero like you.” Emily exclaims with confidence.

Warmth spreads in Lizzie’s heart, her eyes twinkle with joy while she responds to the girl’s gratitude. “You are welcomed, sweetie. Y/n and I will go back to our mission, to make sure there are enough fresh fruit and veggies for all the kids in the world including you.” She gently taps the tip of Emily’s nose and giggles together with her.

“Yes, kiddo. Don’t forget to eat your greens so you will be a superhero like us, someday.” You added.

“Come here, Emily. Let’s have a group hug.” invites Lizzie. The three of you quickly bundle up in the tightest hug a happy little hug a kid can give. WIth that, you and Lizzie spend a little more time talking with Emily’s mom then the four of you take a picture together.

Right away after you gain your privacy back with your wife and as you walk back to your car then put the groceries in. You look at her. You fall in love with her all over again. A thought came out of nowhere. It instantly draws a smile while you get inside the car.

“Babe, why did you look at me like that?” Her interest lures the question out of her.

“Oh nothing. You looked so adorable when you were interacting with Emily. She was so cute. You always love kids, so do I. We’ve been married for three years so I’m think—”

She gasps and her hand rapidly grabs yours in such elation. “Oh my god. Y/n, honey, are you thinking what I’m thinking?!”

All you can do right now is smile and that was more than words to answer her question. Her eyes glisten, she smiles from ear to ear and pulls you into a hug. Excitement raced through both of you.

You felt drunk with happiness because of a vision and a future you have planned with her.

A/n: Welp, that's it for today! Let me know what you think. See you in next!

Cheerio!

Taglist: @madamevirgo @musicinourlips @unstable-sapphic-hoe @fanboy7794 @chloe7076 @b0mbdotc0m @trikruismybitch @ichala @californianwhiterabbit @honey-sweet-hiraeth @imfuckinggenius @sxfwap @chaekhan @daenerys713 @luvmcgrath @stupidsapphicsstuff @pattypavo @frvny @franfineashell @heyyoweveryone @ygtft-chen @yaaskasey @sweeet-likeeee-cinnamonn @paumxmff @dopeyouth @beaniejennie @ineedafinghug @idkwhatimwriting @lucydiibi @mainly-rebloging-fics-i-like @gloriousfoxruins @grxvitye @mcubreakdown101 @aos22 @wandanatstan @paulawand @yeeterthekeeper @femalehomosexual666 @snowdrop1026 @modernmonalisa @nothingisrealanyway @idamaemann @sweeterlust @royalityofmultifandom @playboysaleen @peabrain112 @gwhaley127 @harleyswanda @bodhi-j @darth-rain @cristin-rjd , 

[sonofthesaiyans]

To my girl, to one of the Scouts' finest warriors, Happy Birthday Lynne. 🎂

(NOTE: Her birthday has always been listed as February 17th, people. NOT December 17th as is still believed by some on Twitter and elsewhere. So can somebody be kind enough to tell these folks not to make this mistake in the future? It's right on the Wiki. Thank you.)

To most folks in the fandom, Lynne is probably just another face in the background, another random gal who got swept up in the action and was gone just as fast as she appeared in the relentless insanity that is Attack on Titan. But to me, she's one of the most underrated gals and to me, she's become somebody very close to my heart.

I have long been intrigued by Lynne from the moment she first appeared way back in Season 2. She may not have been with us for long, but she left a lasting impression on me.

A member of Squad Miche, under the command of Miche Zacharius and serving alongside our old gal Nanaba, Lynne definitely earned her place on the squad of humanity's second-strongest warrior, showing herself to be courageous and determined in combat, even when faced with overwhelming odds. She remains professional all throughout, and is a capable commander in her own right, doing her damnedest to give her comrades in the Scout Regiment a fighting chance to survive as Zeke and his army of Titans were closing in. She's an invaluable member of her team, with whom she successfully fought off the enemy for quite some time before Zeke dealt his next hand.

It's really no mystery how she found her place on Squad Miche. One good look at Lynne and you can tell, she's something special that too often has slid under the radar. In my opinion, she's truly one of the most beautiful ladies in the show, and she has a look about her that just screams of an absolute badass, a dependable warrior who you can always count on in the thick of battle, and the one you always want to have by your side.

Plus, it's been shown that she is very kind and caring. Always looking out for her fellow Scouts, particularly those younger and less experienced than herself when the situation appears hopeless. And when danger is near, she will not abandon you. Truly, Lynne is a gal with her heart in the right place.

It truly is a shame I think that Lynne did not get more time to show what she was really made of. As someone who appreciates the characters in the background, I have a particularly soft spot for Lynne, and as such I have tried to give her the attention and love she richly deserves. For me, she's virtually tied with Sasha as my favorite AOT character. And for me, I think that's really saying something.

I don't know what draws me to Lynne, but I wish she had gotten another chance, especially as she counts as one of the most elite Scouts in the Regiment. For the last year and a half I have worked to give her a character and a backstory that gives her a much fuller and more active role in AOT. And I hope to share this in the near future with anybody who might be curious enough to look.

In my mind, Lynne is the hero of another story not yet told. As quite possibly her most devoted fan, I only hope I can help to draw more attention to her, as AOT's diverse cast goes way beyond the trio of Eren, Armin and Mikasa, or even the other members of the 104th.

Plus, she introduced me to the many voices and characters of Felecia Angelle, a truly phenomenal actress who I also hope more people will take note of. You've all heard her in My Hero Academia and elsewhere, and what she gave us with Lynne was brief, but dearly appreciated. For me, Lynne s just as near and dear as Sasha, Petra, or Hange, and for that she deserves another lease on life.

Until then it only seems fitting to acknowledge the birthday of my favorite AOT side character. Happy Birthday Lynne, lots of love for you and I hope she will continue to find infinitely more throughout the fandom. ❤️ ⚔️ ❤️

Oh and just to spice things up, I think I'll share this as well:

Credit goes to KrazyKamikaze44 on DeviantArt for this old but awesome piece.

Hers is not the only birthday today as I'm sure some are well aware, so keep an eye open for another as the day goes on. 😉

[ahundredtimesover]

Okay firstly, wow. Mimi the way Jungkook redresses OC's bandage, it's so domestic and cute. And how they're both vulnerable to each other (Jungkook especially since it's the first time), it's so sweet and it's actually something that happens in real life..

I love how realistic this whole fic is mimi. 1) They sleep on TWO beds and not on one like how it goes in most stories/dramas/movies. 2) OC does not end up wearing Jungkook's sweatshirt and she wears other actual clothes. 3) The owners of the guesthouse don't automatically assume they are a couple and how one person addresses Jungkook as OC's friend to her. I love thisss. Mimi you're giving us such nice butterfly-inducing scenes that are not only REALISTIC but also when both OC and Jungkook are PROFESSIONAL. The way Jungkook and OC both know they're attracted to each other and they both want to seek eachother's company but refrain from doing so because they know it's not professional and they have to stay in their limits, that's really nice mimi. And also how OC acknowledges the crush she has on Jungkook and tries to act on it like an actual mature adult.

And let's not forget that teeeenyyy bit of jealousy Jungkook felt and acknowledged when Jimin and OC hug

Maybe it's only me thinking this way mimi, but isn't OC always on the recieving end when it comes to her friends? I mean yes, she's not as free as Jimin and Soomin but what about Yoongi? Yes, OC is kind and understanding to Jungkook, but (correct me if I'm wrong) she also did accept to Yoongi that she does this because it's also beneficial to her, right? Maybe it's not mentioned in the fic because the plot focuses on Jungkook and OC's relationship but I really am curious to know how OC is her friends..

And I'm saying this again coz of how you told you literally had to ask people on how they should give a chance to The Light of Dead Stars. That fic is literally my most favourite fic of all time 🩷 It's just so beautiful and how it's with Jin and how it also shows OC's feelings' transition from Namjoon to Jin 🩷🩷

I love it so much mimi🩷🩷🩷

I'm waiting to re-read it once I'm done-done with my exams

Okkk I’m back to asks and I’m sorry this is late but I remember being so happy when I read this! ☺️ As for that whole guesthouse scene - yes, I didn’t go with the usual bc I didn’t feel like it was time, and I’m glad it’s something you appreciate bc there’s also something intimate with a two-bed situation?? And ok, with all the tension, there’s bound to be some butterfly-inducing moments bc they’re honestly so cute about their feelings (savor this) 🤭

As for your question regarding OC as a friend… yes, it seems like she’s always on the receiving end especially with Jimin and Soomin who drive to her, treat her, are affectionate to her. But she’s the type of person that people like being around bc of the emotional safety she provides - as I got older, I learned that this is an important yet underrated aspect of any relationship. Yoongi told her once that she gives comfort to people, and her friends feel this. Jimin and Soo are rich socialites who also deal with alot of stress and drama but they let all that go with OC. They’re themselves with her, and she doesn’t push them away. Yoongi has a no-nonsense attitude but she doesn’t judge him; he’s introverted and she doesn’t force him to socialize or anything. He didn’t want their friendship to change and she didn’t let it. There’s something welcoming about her. She can’t offer much of the material things but there’s safety in her presence, and that’s what Jungkook has realized, too. And that’s what I love about her. They’re all subtle since she’s not a grand person, but the care is truly felt by the other person.

And yay, another TLODS enthusiast 🥹🥹 I’m so happy you loved it! I think it’s my one fic where neither one of them started with feelings for the other, like it organically just happened hehe THANK YOU.

And thank you for this. This was such a lovely message 💕💕 I hope you’re well, anon!

[lonelychicago]

Do you recommend any songs?

🎶

ANONNNN i'm so so so happy you ask me this (also im sorry it's taking me so long to answer yours asks, i just really wanna take my time listening to every song you send me <333)

now MY song recs!!! (tbh i've been waiting for someone to ask me for song recs, so thank you for this and also i'm so so soooo sorry bc i'm about to become the most annoying person to ever exist <333)

under the cut so im not annoying for the ppl who don't care <33

FIRST OF ALL, I'VE BEEN OBSESSED WITH THIS BAND CALLED INHALER??? (the lead singer is bono's son)

my favorite songs from them are

if you're gonna break my heart : this song is so good???? idk why i love it so much but something about the lyric 'if you're gonna break my heart, smash it to pieces bc I'm not gonna need it as much as i do right now' JUST BREAKS ME IN THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF WAYS, y'know??

my honest face

ice cream sundae

and !!! if you end up liking them, i have a playlist with all their songs right here

i'm also getting REALLY into maisie peters music???

my favorite songs from her are

history of man : I'M SORRY BUT THE LYRIC WOMEN'S HEARTS ARE LETHALS WEAPONS DID YOU HOLD MINE AND FEEL THREATENED HAUNTS ME. LIKE??? GUTTED. and also also!!! this song is so beautiful lyrically speaking and i cannot shut up about it. like, it changed me as a person. it changed my brain chemestry.

run

coming of age: the lyric "baby i'm the iliad of course you couldn't read me" MAKES ME CRACKLE EVERY TIME. KSJSKSJ ICONIC.

neck of the woods

the party (such a buddie song)

helicopter (THE BUDDIEST OF SONGS. THIS WAS GHOST WRITTEN BY EDDIE DIAZ AND YOU CANNOT CHANGE MY MIND)

funeral

i also love boygenius and i really recommend

not strong enough

AND THIS SING I RANDOMLY DISCOVERED

new york by the kills : it gives me such good vibes??? also idk, i listened to it and got inspired for my buddie rockband au. it's so beautifully daunting and amazing and awesome and cool and i feel like i'm in this grunge kind of bar in new york with my best friends and also strangers listening to a live band when i hear it??? idk if that makes sense.

the lyrics are also so !!!!

ANYTHINGGGGGGG by renee rapp. she's iconic, she's a legend, she is the moment <333

BUT SPECIFICALLY

bruises

just !!!!! PLEASE THE LYRICS ARE SO !!!! i relate to this on a deep personal level. this reaches the darkest corners of my soul.

tattoos

in the kitchen

bruises

too well

bruises

snow angel

did i mention bruises??

literally anything ANYTHING by louis tomlison. that man is soooo underrated. songs like chicago??? angels fly??? saturdays??? DON'T GET ME STARTED ON SATURDAYS.

LIKE THAT SONG LITERALLY HAS THE LYRIC "MY HEART MIGHT BE BROKEN BUT I WON'T BE BROKEN DOWN." LIKE???? WHO COMES UP WITH STUFF LIKE THAT FR FR

what i love about louis is that you can find so much light and positivity in his lyrics and it's literally so comforting??? when i listen to angels fly i feel like i'm being hugged tenderly and softly kissed in my forehead.

so, yeah!! listen to him, please!!! give him a chance!!! i promise you he isn't only one direction. HE'S SO FAR FROM BEING WHAT THEY SHOWED US AS 1D IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY. (also he's the reason i discovered inhaler and im soooo grateful)

I ALSO RECOMMEND THE ENTIRETY OF WHEN FACING THE THINGS WE CAN'T TURN AWAY FROM by luke hemmings. THAT ALBUM LITERALLY CHANGED ME AS A PERSON. like. wow.

it deserved so much more than it got???

songs like baby blue?? diamonds??? siagon??? motion??? THEY FUCKING SLAP. THAT SHIT SLAPS SO HARD.

PLACE IN ME???? SLIP AWAY???? FAVESS. ALL TIME FAVESSSS.

just, please listen to him. you won't regret it.

AND !!!!

if you're into indie, folk-y musocy. just watch this video. just. pleaseeeee watch this video. ALL OF IT. the artist is not the most talented or the best vocally but he has SO much passion for his craft and for music and he's soooo wholesome and just!!!!

THIS WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE YOUTUBE VIDEOS EVER AND THERE'S A SONG AT THE END THAT MIGHT NOT BE THE GREATEST HIT BUT IT HAS HEART AND IT'S WARM AND IT'S JUST !!!!! IT'S MUSIC!!! THIS IS WHAT MUSIC IS ABOUT!!! THIS IS WHY MUSIC CAME TO BE IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! to share it with the world, to share with each other!! to just dance and feel and aaahhh!! i could write an essay about this video and about this artist in particular, i'm not even kidding.

and anyway, i have way more song recs but u feel you might be regretting asking me for them rn so i'm gonna stop and shut up <333

[shame-is-a-wasted-emotion]

Rate your favorite ND female characters

Hey question asker! Thanks for asking. It's been long since somebody asked me. I never thought about this question because I solely love Kurt Hummel only with Blaine, Puck, Mike and such. I actually have no ranking for girls as well as boys. But let's see.

In order to get myself away from less trouble, let me rank it in s1-3 and then s4-s6

1.Tina Cohen Queen Chang

She has more plus for me than minus. I am not saying because I am an asian myself but she takes the cake. She sings well(underrated girl), she dances well(they put her in grp A:Better dancers in "Ice Ice Baby") and she is an unsung hero: sewing costumes for and members. She accepted many things without a say. I can feel her emotions.

2.Mercedes Jones

She is a less problematic character. Her smile is just out of the world. She just wonna sing and succeed in her life. I am glad she didn't end up with anybody because she showed me that it's okay to be without a partner. Sometimes, solitude let's you achieve more. I am subjective about her voice but Human nature is my favourite. Her duo with Kurt lit up my screen in early seasons. I didn't like her in Troubletones. It brought worst of everybody.

3. Quinn Fabray

This is somewhat unpopular now. But I prefer her. She started as a normal high school cheerleading head with head weight and had almost everything she wanted. But once she got pregnant, the harsh reality of life hit her life rock. She was pulled down many times after a development but she was a work in process. She learnt that there was life after high school. And she sticking with nd in s3 after Troubletone was formed warmed my heart.

Also, she is one of my favourite voices. She"?'s got stage presence.

I am going to kill myself for ranking these people after this. They had good moments but I disliked them some times.

4. Santana Lopez

She is really ,"darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream". She is Charming, hot (yes, I'll admit) but she was a little Satan. But I survived the NYC plot because of Kurt and her. Until that famous funny girl fight came.

Her rants were okay sometimes, but it got worse in later seasons. She started to rant just because she wanted too. But she was a better friend. She is one of the people who will be like," I can roast my friends like barbeque but I can only roast."

And anybody who says Kurt cried for unnecessary reasons, think of this girl who cried for cutting tanning privileges and for calling out she was mean.

Her voice is subjective too for me.

5. Lauren Zizes

She was nice addition to nd when Kurt left. Plus, Ashley Fink has good comedic timing and is charming. I love her attitude where she didn't give 2 shit about what other people said but she lowkey was a bully too.

Her voice isn't for singing but she is entertaining.

6.Rachel Berry

Her whole character started as somebody who will do anything to achiever her cake. I didn't care about her most of the times but she she really got on my nerves in later seasons. I felt like slapping her multiple times. She doesn't want to listen to anybody, she sent a person to a crack house just because she was threatened, she threw many people under the bus for no reason. She is one of the worse dancers too.

She was annoying downright at nyada and successses were served in her plate. I know she was work g hard but she had to let her work speak, not her mouth. I still can't digest that Rachel kept pestering Carmen when Kurt waited patiently. He did go to Carmen for second chance, but at least he did his first audition better, and he took effort to make a video tape if him singing another song(wake me up before you go go in acoustic version is pretty questionable though).

I was so happy that her tv pilot failed and she became slightly better. Also confusing your boyfriend about his career when he was already confused just so he could be with you?Nope for me.

I do t know how people love her and hate Kurt.

Her songs are totally subjective .

7. Brittany S. Pierce

I don't like her for some reason. She was bland for me. Not interesting. And I don't care for Brittana. Also she posted a sex tape of herself and girlfriend and got away. She kept dating people, she didn't have a stable mind on loving people. Also, her lines were sometimes hilarious but they were insulting.

9. Sugar Motta

Sugar Motta was... There. That's it. She was just a cash cow. She was funny sometimes but she is not for me.

Now for s4-s6

1. Unique Addams

The love child of Kurt and Mercedes. I liked her among later season nd members. She is a diva but she didn't throw people under her bus. Much like Kurt. I like her voice. I didn't like her catfishing but she was ok.

2. Tina Cohen Chang

Her explanation suits her too and I agree her on being bossy because putting up with a glee club for 3 seasons and when it's her senior year, she gotta enjoy and have her privilege. Her crush on Blaine was creepy but I understand. That's it.

3. Madison Mccarthy

She was an adorable munchkin. She was a supportive twin, I liked her energy. Wish we got her more.

4. Jane Hayward

Unfortunately Tumblr doesn't allow more than 10 pics.

I didn't care about her. She was okay.

5. Marley Rose

She was nice. She had great voice. She had sympathetic story. But I have nothing special about her

6. Kitty Wilde.

She was annoying to an extent. But she was better in s6.

That's it, folks. I had a nerve wrecking fun type. Thank you for making me think.

And oh, you can expect my 3rd Valentine one shot by tomorrow :)

See you then. I don't mean to trigger anybody. These are my personal opinion.

[solarsavoy]

For the fandom ask, Chrono Cross! ^^

I saw this right before I fell asleep and my phone wouldn't let me copy/paste stuff properly, so I'm finally doing it now. 😅 Thank, by the way. Didn't expect one for Chrono Cross, but I'm very happy about it. ^^

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

Serge. 🥰 It might be main character syndrome, seeing as he doesn't really have much personality, but in a way, because of that, he reminds me of Deshi. He's the ideal game MC, one that just does what the player wants, but I like to imagine he's just introspective most of the time. In some moments, it's easy to imagine how he feels. Who would want to change their appearance so suddenly like that? (As in not in a preferred way. I'd love to suddenly wake up with Stag's body instead of my own. XD) And he's timid, but he still shows fear by backing up, and it's just so cute. I often wonder if Serge inspired the character that is now Deshi more than I originally intended because of that. I really just want to give him a big hug and just smush his face with my cheek. XD Which is why I almost named him my scrunkly.

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

Van. He doesn't exactly inspire cuteness aggression, but I do want to adopt him and give him a better life, kind of like what Serge did. And he's so spoiled in the other world.... XD Kind of reminds me of Izzy, who would inspire some cuteness overload. XD Most of these characters are more tragic though instead of cute, so it was hard to pick one. 😅

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

Miguel. Yet another tragic story, and one of the hardest battles in the whole game to me. Poor guy. He really got the shit end of the stick, but he's a good friend, and in my opinion, a really good soul. After not going crazy stuck in a place like that, he only went hard on you because he knew the battles after that moment were only going to be harder. And they were.

I'd like to add a second one here, because she's also truly underappreciated. Orlha. She's the only twin mentioned in the game and her backstory is also quite tragic (a theme I'm sensing). She's essentially like Tifa from FFVII, a lady you don't want to mess with, but she eventually gets some catharsis from her sister's death by visiting the other world. She's also one of the few that's closely tied to the very tiny bit of background you get from another character (since there are so many). They really did well with her, but you get her so late in the game compared to most. Anyway, I really like her. And now I'm wondering if there isn't a bit of her in Lannamay. XD Wow, this game subconsciously inspired more for Krystar than I thought.

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

I wasn't sure where to put kid, but I do like her. And because her other half probably is underappreciated, I'll put it under the guise of Schala. This is more from Chrono Tigger, but Schala was once a powerful magic user (think Panko strong). For her to be the one that was eternally bound to Lavos for a neverending battle... and to send out Kid just so she could find happiness... only for it to end up tragic because of Lynx.... This poor girl. :/ And I love her for the depth she provides in Kid's character. It's the sole reason she ends up in the credits the way she does. She wants to find the one she loves, but she's living, because that is her purpose now.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

Harle. Arguably my favorite character in the whole game. When you really dig down into her story, it's so tragic. The poor girl really never had a chance or choice, but she still flirted and smiled and took everything on with a kind of playful attitude. No wonder. She was expecting what happened to her...

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

Pierre. Look, guy's super pathetic, okay? And you can't argue that watching him get teased and tormented would be entertaining. XD Cue Stag chasing him with a sword screaming "I thought we were going to fight!" XD Thanks again for that little ficlet of yours. About time I reread it....

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

Lynx. He's pure evil. You might feel bad for him because he was ultimately used just like everyone else, but he was literally made for that and did it gloriously, unlike Harle, and without reserve. He truly did not care, and for that, superhell for you.

Jerk.

Thanks again for requesting Chrono Cross! Again, soooo happy you enjoyed the game. ^^

Ask thing.

[book-of-baba-fett]

hi Iris!!

🍉 Do you prefer to write short fics or long fics? Multichaptered works or single ones? Why?

🍓 What’s a fic you’ve written you feel is underrated?

🍐 Is there anything in canon that you absolutely hate and love to fix in fics? A wrong choice made, a fuck-up in characterization, a misunderstanding never cleared up, a conversation never shown onscreen, etc…

🫐 What’s your favorite underrated thing in your fandom? (A ship that only you seem to write for, a character there’s almost no fics about, a trope that criminally hasn’t been written yet, etc.)

hi Leo!!! Thanks for asking!

🍉 Do you prefer to write short fics or long fics? Multichaptered works or single ones? Why?

So for this it’s kind a double answer. Cause if I’m thinking of just a little moment piece, or a reader thing i always find it’s better as a short fic. But anything other than that, I tend to like more, especially with OCs cause it gives more of a chance to get into characters. I guess I always plaay around in my head a bit with "does this feel more impactful with context, or can you just drop this blurb and people will still be able to feel something from it"

🍓 What’s a fic you’ve written you feel is underrated?

I mean it feels like a copout to say Illicit Affairs, cause I feel like it's the one I talk about the most, but compared to my other fics it's notes are nothing. It does well on AO3, but I feel like that's just the tale of how OC fics work. Like I know it's my best work, but I also know that more people will go for my smutty x reader oneshots and that's totally ok.

🍐 Is there anything in canon that you absolutely hate and love to fix in fics? A wrong choice made, a fuck-up in characterization, a misunderstanding never cleared up, a conversation never shown onscreen, etc…

Ooooh I had to really think on this one, just because I feel like a lot of what I tend to combat the most is fanon stuff lol. And I haven't written anything in that era, and I don't see myself doing it tbh, BUT I hate what the sequels did to Han and Leia. Do I believe their relationship would have been all sunshine and roses? Absolutley not, but for them to just basically not be together??? a fucking CRIME.

🫐 What’s your favorite underrated thing in your fandom? (A ship that only you seem to write for, a character there’s almost no fics about, a trope that criminally hasn’t been written yet, etc.)

Ok i'm speaking on my pedestal that like two people get from my Kotor end of the fandom and my current hyperfixation but for the love of gods we need more Revan x Canderous Ordo fics. I don't dislike the Fem Revan romance option of Carth, but that man is unbuttered toast at times in comparision to Canderous when I think of potential. Kotor spoilers coming in but even before the reveal, Ordo talks about how the only Jedi who had his respect was Revan, and when the reveal happens there's no grudge for what Revan did to the Mandalorians, in fact he's even more eager to fight by your side because of how worthy of a warrior he conisdered Revan.

But the real kicker??? What we see in Kotor 2, and the way that Kreia calls him out in reference to Revan (light side and dark side options) "Do you wonder where she wanders now Mandalore? Why she cast you down and left you broken at the edge of the galaxy/why she gave you your orders and abandoned you at the edge of the galaxy?"

like I know it wasn't written with romantic intentions but the way I feel this in my yearning soul??????

also I will always be a sucker for a good mandalorian x jedi pairing it just hits me in the happy mental place.

[scuttling]

Paper Rings

Fandom: Criminal Minds Pairings: Aaron Hotchner/Female Reader Word Count: 10,191 Tags: SFW, Fluff, Literature, Friends to lovers, Everyone thinks they're dating, There was only one bed, Some angst with a happy ending, Confessing love in the rain, TW fire and blood/wound Summary: Some of my favorite tropes rolled into one cute fic inspired by Taylor Swift's Paper Rings. (lyrics and music) Link to A03 or read below! “Good morning, my friendly neighborhood crime fighters,” Penelope says as she enters the briefing room, wearing a dress that is bright bubblegum pink, with fingerless gloves and glasses to match. You, Derek, and Spencer groan your replies, because you just got home from a case last night, with less than seven hours between arriving at your apartment and returning to the office, and that is everyone’s least favorite thing.

You can’t deny that her typical sunny disposition makes you smile a little bit brighter, but you’re still exhausted, and even your usual extra large travel mug of breakfast blend is barely taking the edge off.

That’s probably why, when Aaron enters with trays of steaming espresso drinks from the cafe down the street, and a striped box of donuts, you act like a kid on Christmas morning.

“Oh my god, I love you. Thank you, I love you.” He got an array of basic drinks based on everyone’s usual orders, and you scan for one that has something with latte, but he takes one out and hands it to you, smiling when you take a sip and sigh—okay, he’s smiling with his eyes, but you are well versed in his body language and facial expressions, and he’s practically grinning at getting your order (triple one pump hazelnut extra hot latte) correct.

You are not the only one to notice.

“Get a room, you two; it’s just coffee,” Derek says, taking the white mocha from the tray and drinking half of it in one sip. “Now if you tell me there’s a bear claw in there, I’ll confess my undying love too.”

“I don’t know; I asked for an assortment,” he says, and it’s clear he did, but your cup has your name on it; you cover the ink with your hand and take another grateful sip. “I do know there’s a plain glazed in there, though,” he says a bit lower, just for you, and you smile, give his wrist a squeeze, and dive for it before Jennifer Jareau can get her hands on it.

That’s all the morning meeting consists of—bickering and bantering and caffeine and carb consumption—and when the group disperses, you follow Aaron to his office and sit down in the chair across from his.

“Thanks again for breakfast. You definitely raised the morale of the troops,” you say with a sip of your perfect latte, and he shares the hint of a smile.

“You’re welcome. It helps that you’re all so easy to appease.” He flips open his bag, pulls out a small, worn, paperback book, tosses it toward you. You pick it up, run your hand over the well-loved cover, and hum.

“The Call of the Wild—this made it into the Aaron Hotchner Nightstand Collection?” He arches a brow.

“It’s so overrated that it’s underrated; no one ever actually reads it, they just assume they know what it’s about. It’s a great book, if you’ll give it a chance.”

“Hey, you’ve read all of mine without complaint; of course I’ll give it a chance.” You take the last, sad sip of your latte and stand up, point out the door with your thumb. “Speaking of, mine’s still downstairs on my desk. I’ll be right back.”

Exchanging books started as an offhand comment one night, on a flight home from Georgia, when he’d mentioned that he never buys new books, only cycles through the same ten or twelve he’s been reading since college. He knows what he likes, finds something different in the text each time he reads, and you’d found something so profoundly beautiful about that that you’d asked for the list. You wanted to know more about the books that tug at his emotions enough that he’s read them day in and day out for over twenty years with no boredom in sight.

He’d done you one better, said he’d be happy to lend them to you, if you’d like, and that was an offer you couldn’t refuse. Seeing college-aged Aaron’s notes in the margins of battered paperback novels was a prospect too good to be true.

Of course, you couldn’t accept the gesture without returning one of your own, so you’d offered to share your favorite books with him too, only... you don’t exactly give him your favorite books. You purposefully buy the cheesiest romance novels you can get your hands on, pass them off to him while he hands you poignant, classic novels that have won literary awards and Nobel prizes.

Today’s is called Lord of Scoundrels, complete with a shirtless man on the cover, kissing a woman with dark, flowing hair and a light blue dress; you snicker the whole way to your desk and back up to his office—earning curious glances from the rest of the team—and when you drop it on the desk in front of Aaron, you watch closely for a reaction.

As usual, he doesn’t really give you one, just flips the book over, skims the summary on the back, and nods.

“Sounds interesting,” he says, and your heart does a little flip.

He could easily hand the book back, laugh in your face, refuse to read something so clearly out of his wheelhouse, but he thinks these novels are important to you, and he never fails to read them, offering his favorite parts the same way you do for his.

The world probably doesn’t deserve Aaron Hotchner; you definitely don’t.

“I think you’ll really like it. Sebastian and Jessica start out kind of indifferent toward each other, but the more they interact, the more they find they have in common. It’s very acquaintances to friends to lovers, if you’re into that.” He looks up with an expression you place as uncertainty, even if you’re not quite sure the reason for it. You smile softly. “I should get to work, but thanks for the book. I’ll see you at lunch?”

It’s been so nice lately that you started taking your lunch outside, sitting on a bench beneath a huge, shady oak tree, and Aaron had taken to doing the same; you both quickly realized it was stupid to sit outside together, apart, so you meet up in the bullpen now and walk out side by side, spend the hour talking about your books or the team or Jack or life in general. He shakes the uncertain expression, nods his head.

“Of course. Thank you,” he says with a wave of the book, and you head back downstairs to start your day.

You’ve become mostly accustomed to the feeling, but it still surprises you a little when all that gets you through the day is thinking about your next conversation with Aaron. A week later, you’re on a case in Pittsburgh, and you and Aaron are paired up to room together. That’s nothing unusual—it seems like you’ve been rooming together more often than not lately, which is fine by you; he’s tidy, quiet, always interested in a late night snack, pretty much the perfect roommate—but when he opens the door and you step inside, the single king size bed in the middle of the room takes you by surprise.

“Uh… do you think it’s a mistake? Or maybe they just ran out of doubles?” you suggest; he's kind of frozen in place, and while it’s not ideal, you know it’s not actually going to be a problem. You’ve shared a bed with JJ before, and Spencer, and even though you don’t feel the same way about them as you do about Aaron, you think you can manage a couple nights in close quarters.

“Probably just ran out of doubles,” he agrees after a moment; he doesn’t bring up calling the front desk to ask for another room, so you don’t either, just hang your clothes and head into the bathroom to change into your pajamas and do your nightly routine.

It’s a little awkward at first, and you don’t know why; over the last six months or so, he’s actually become your closest friend on the team, and conversation usually comes easily, but silence settles over the room uncomfortably as you slip between the sheets on your side of the bed.

He goes into the bathroom, does his own nightly routine, then comes out in his pajamas and turns on CNN.

You take out your book, pay no attention to Aaron, but the longer he sits on the edge of the bed, staring at the news ticker on the television screen but not actually watching it, the more you wish he’d just get over himself and come to bed. If he’s trying to wait for you to fall asleep, he’s going to be waiting a while.

“So you were right; I love Buck,” you say as a way to start some conversation, to bring some normalcy to this unusual situation. You hold up the book you’re reading, the one he let you borrow. “His struggle between remaining loyal to his owner and answering the call of the wild—I love dogs, but I never imagined a book about a dog could be so moving.”

He turns back with a soft smile, then switches off the tv and heads over to his side of the bed; he pulls back the comforter, slides between the sheets, meets you toward the middle of the bed.

“I told you you’d like it; what chapter are you on?” He leans over to look, so close it wouldn’t take much to lift a hand and brush it over his hair; it looks unfairly soft, and part of you wants to card your fingers through it, to tug on it and mess it up a little. He probably wouldn’t even mind if you did.

“Chapter 7—I only have a few pages left.” You snuggle more comfortably against your pillow, lean into his shoulder, and move the book so it’s more evenly between you. “Want to finish it with me?”

He does, and you read silently at a similar pace; he reaches up to turn the pages, and you think about how these hands have flipped through this book so many times before, what he might have been thinking, feeling, while reading. It’s a more intimate act than you’ve shared with anyone in a really long time.

When you finish the book, you sigh, let the feeling of reading a really great story envelope you; you turn to face Aaron, and he’s looking at you… and then there’s a knock at the door that startles you both.

He gets up, walks over and checks the peep hole, then opens the door.

“Are you sure?” you hear JJ ask, and he steps back so she can enter the room; when she sees you tucked snugly into the middle of the bed, she shoots you a soft smile and mouths you’re welcome, which makes absolutely no sense without context. You’ll have to bring it up to her later and ask what exactly you’re supposed to be thanking her for.

“So you said the detective called?” Aaron prompts her, and she looks away from you, nods.

“Yes, he wanted me to ask if we could have a few agents meet him at the second crime scene tomorrow instead of the precinct, figured it could save a little time.” Aaron looks confused, like he doesn’t see why this couldn’t have waited until tomorrow, but he ultimately agrees.

“Sure. You, Reid, and Prentiss can head straight there, if that’s what he wants. I’ll let them know in the morning.” JJ nods, and looks over at you, and then back at Aaron, who makes a kind but curious face. “Was there something else?”

“Huh? Oh, no, that’s it. I just didn’t want to forget. I’ll let you guys go—enjoy the rest of your night,” she says with a smile and a wave, and when he closes the door behind her, you both exchange a look.

She’s definitely acting a little weird, but it’s late, so you give her the benefit of the doubt.

You scoot over to your side, put the book on the nightstand and switch off your lamp; Aaron climbs back into bed and switches his off, too, and he turns to face the wall while you lay on your back and stare at the ceiling.

It takes about half an hour, but he falls asleep first; you turn to face him, watching his back, following the rise and fall as he softly breathes in sleep, and the peaceful rhythm lulls you into submission, and you drift off as well.

When you wake up a couple hours later, he is on his stomach with his face pressed into his pillow, and you are draped over his back with your cheek against his t-shirt. It’s soft, and warm, and smells like him, and you glance at the clock and realize it’s too early to do anything but get comfortable and fall back asleep, so that’s exactly what you do.

The next time you wake up, to light creeping in between the curtains, Aaron is no longer in bed, but you’re holding his pillow, still warm beneath your cheek. He doesn’t act weird when you get up and start moving around, just pops out of the bathroom with his toothbrush dangling from his mouth.

“Got you a latte,” he says around it, gesturing to the desk and the pair of paper cups that sit on it, and you grin.

“Seriously, you’re my favorite human,” you answer, and you grab your coffee and lean against the doorframe, sipping and sighing until you’re a little more clear-headed. “Sorry if I crushed you; guess I was restless last night. I usually don’t move around that much.”

He just shrugs, spits out a mouthful of foam into the sink.

“You didn’t crush me. I’m pretty solid, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“I’ve noticed,” you tease, looking at him over the lid as you take another sip. “Now hurry up and quit hogging the bathroom if you want to leave here at a decent hour.” He rinses, zips up his toiletry bag noisily for dramatic effect, and slips past you, rubbing a hand over your unruly bed head as he goes. The day passes quickly, with lots of interviewing witnesses, following dead-end leads, and bad police station coffee. When Aaron calls it and tells everyone to get some dinner, you all split off into smaller groups—Spencer and Derek go for Chinese, JJ and Emily opt for pizza, and you and Aaron end up at a retro diner with burgers and milkshakes and a plate of fries between you to share.

“I think we should be focusing more on the docks,” you say, dipping a fry in ketchup and taking a bite. “Even if that’s not where the bodies end up, it seems to be where the unsub is meeting with the victims. We could stake it out tonight, maybe. If you want.” You never want to step on his toes, because he is the boss, the leader, even if you’re friends too; you try to be careful how you phrase things, especially in front of other people, because you don’t want your comfort to look like disrespect, however unintentional.

“That’s a good idea. You and I can head down there after this; I’ll let the others know to patrol nearby, in case we need backup.”

He dusts off his fingers and pulls out his phone, types out a text, and you look around the restaurant—the place looks like it was ripped right out of the 50s, with a checkered floor and lots of red vinyl, a shiny jukebox in the corner. Out of place is a flatscreen tv behind the counter; during the day, when it’s busier, it might play news or sports, but you two are the only ones here at the moment, so the staff is hanging out beneath it watching a movie. It’s Titanic, you realize, when the iconic ‘Rose floating on a piece of debris’ scene plays, and you snort, take a long drag of your chocolate shake.

“I always hated this part. They could have found a way for him to survive, too. Unnecessary death for the heartache factor,” you say, and Aaron looks up from his phone to the screen, makes a sound of contemplation.

“I always thought it was kind of romantic. When you love someone, you’d do anything for them to be okay, even at your own expense. Even if it’s stupid.” You look over his face, study the features you know like the back of your hand, and you guess you can kind of see that, but you can’t say that, so you just sigh.

“I suppose you think Romeo and Juliet is romantic, too,” you tease, and he looks back at you, rolls his eyes.

“It’s very much of its time; it's a lot harder to suffer a miscommunication like that these days. And there is something to be said for star-crossed lovers—people who shouldn’t be together, for one reason or another, but can’t help but drift close anyway.” You swirl your straw in the metal cup, thinking briefly of how that happens to describe the two of you, and when you look up at him, you think you see a hint of that same thought on his face.

More likely, that’s just wishful thinking.

“I like the sword-fights,” you say to lighten the mood, and he laughs, and you both polish off the rest of your food and then head for the docks.

Two hours in and absolutely nothing has happened, but just when you’re ready to complain, or suggest playing I Spy or something, there’s movement from one of the shipping containers to your right. You nudge Aaron, point to the container, and you both creep closer, trying to make out the situation.

When you’re just around the corner, it’s clearly two men fighting, but you obviously don’t know if this is your unsub, two random guys having it out on the docks, or what, so you mutually agree to wait until you have some kind of sign that this is your guy. When one of them pulls out a hunting knife that looks vaguely similar to your murder weapon—as close as you can tell in the dark, anyway—you raise your guns and identify yourselves as FBI.

The unsub drops the knife, but fists his hands in the other guy’s jacket, manhandles him to the edge of the dock, and shoves him into the water, then jumps as well. You swear, and Aaron takes off his jacket, throws it on the ground, then his phone on top of it, and looks back at you.

“Stay here and call for backup,” he instructs, and then he jumps in too; you call the team from your comms, get a response from Emily, and then toss your phone onto Aaron’s jacket and follow him.

He, of course, went for the victim first, so you look for the unsub, who is not visible above the water. You completely submerge yourself, feeling for more than looking for him, because the water is cloudy on a good day and pitch black at ten o’clock at night; when you pop your head up for air, you see Aaron getting the victim up onto the dock, and the unsub bobbing a bit further out. You swim to him, limbs aching, and he seems to know it’s time to give up.

He’s winded, gasping for breath, so you keep him above the water to your own detriment, dragging him by his wet jacket instead of cuffing him, because you’re not trying to kill the guy or lug his unconscious body back to shore. You just barely keep your own head above water most of the time, coming up for big gulps of air when absolutely necessary.

You finally make it to the dock, and your team has arrived, so Derek pulls him out of the water, makes sure he’s alright, and puts some cuffs on him. Aaron’s hands are on you right after, getting you up on the dock, wrapping a towel around your shoulders.

Despite the warm spring breeze, the water was freezing, and you can feel your teeth chattering. He rubs your arms for warmth, crouches down to look you seriously in the eyes.

“Thought I told you to stay here,” he says with an arched brow, a scowl you can tell is more concerned than angry. You wet your frozen lips and try your best to smile.

“You jump, I jump, Jack.”

He looks at you like you’re an idiot, but fondly, if that’s possible, then hugs you so tightly, guides your face to press against his warm neck. How he’s not teetering on the edge of hypothermia is anyone’s guess.

“Your lips are practically blue. Stupid,” he murmurs, but his mouth dusts over your temple in what is unmistakably a kiss, and when you’re able to feel your lips again, you reciprocate, press them a little harder against his throat while you shiver in his arms.

It doesn’t mean anything except I’m happy we’re both alive. Probably.

That night in bed, he faces the wall, and you stare at the ceiling, but you wake up with your nose against the back of his neck. The way he’s breathing tells you he’s not asleep, and when you wrap your arms around him, he holds them tight. Things don’t change after Pittsburgh, and that’s okay. You are comfortable with the way things are, and you love what you have—lunches under the oak tree, the exchange of books, late night texts when you both can’t sleep, hands brushing when you walk to the parking garage, glances shared across the jet. All those things make it easy not to focus on what you don’t have, what you’re not even sure Aaron would want anyway.

You exchange books again on Friday at lunch: he hands you Beloved by Toni Morrison, a book you already know and adore, and you hand him Ravished by Amanda Quick.

“Dubbed the Beast of Blackthorne Hall for his scarred face and lecherous past, Gideon,” Aaron shoots you a glance—“that’s purely coincidental”—“was strong and fierce and notoriously menacing. Yet Harriet could not find it in her heart to fear him. For in his tawny gaze she sensed a savage pain she longed to soothe... and a searing passion she yearned to answer.”

You hold back a smile.

“It’s a modern retelling of a classic story��Beauty and the Beast,” you add, taking a bite of your sandwich. He looks you over like there’s something he wants to say, but he just tucks it under his arm and steals a piece of melon from your lunch.

“I have Jack this weekend, so I probably won’t get to read much, but it sounds intriguing.”

“Well I hope you like it when you read it. Tell him I said hi; it’s been too long since I saw him. I bet he’s looking more like you every day,” you say, popping a piece of melon into your mouth. He smiles softly.

“A little, but Haley says she sees her father in him, and I have to agree. We may have to wait a few years until he looks like me; he’s too cute for that now.” He doesn’t sound self-deprecating, just fond, but you can’t let a comment like that stand, regardless.

“You’re cute; the difference is that kids are cute all the time. You’re an adult, so sometimes you’re handsome, sometimes you’re cute, sometimes you’re hot… it can be hard to reconcile.” This time, he looks you over with something light and playful in his eyes, and it’s something you want to explore, but the timer on your phone goes off, indicating that lunch is over, so you just exhale softly and pack up your things.

You don’t talk much after that—his Fridays are usually busy with meetings, and he leaves in a hurry to pick up Jack, which is understandable.

Emily, JJ, and Penelope invite you out for drinks and dinner—“because we know Hotch is busy,” Penelope says, which has literally nothing to do with your weekend plans, but you don’t correct them—so you don’t linger either.

You go out for Italian, so you are sleepy and full of wine and pasta by the end of the evening, and you smile at your friends.

“Thanks for inviting me out tonight, guys. I had a really good time.”

“Of course,” Emily says, taking her last sip of Pinot Noir. “We barely see you anymore; it was long overdue.”

“Definitely,” you agree. “I should really try to drag my ass out of bed more often.” You can’t help it, though, that after a long day, your bed and a good book just call your name. You’ve always been introverted in that way. JJ laughs softly, chin in her palm, elbow on the table.

“Honeymoon phase. Give it another couple months and you’ll be past that.” You do have a new memory foam mattress that has made sinking into the pillows and blankets all that more indulgent, but you didn’t think JJ knew about that. And you’ve never heard of a honeymoon phase for a mattress before.

“Eh, I don’t think so. There’s literally nothing more satisfying on this earth.” The three of them exchange an amused look, but your phone vibrates, and that catches your attention; you smile when it’s Aaron, sending you a photo of Jack with a toothy grin and his hands covered in fingerpaint. You look up to the sound of chairs scraping against the floor.

“Alright, we’ve lost her. See you all Monday,” Emily says, pulling you in for a hug; when she steps back, she smiles. “And tell Hotch we said hi.”

“I will,” you promise as you hug the other two. You hang back a moment, type out a reply—Looks like you’re having lots of fun without me!—and get into your car to head home.

You change into comfy clothes, drink a glass of water, and climb into bed with Beloved, and at around 9:30 you receive a reply.

Having the most fun we can without you. Maybe next time Jack is over, we can tempt you with dinosaur chicken nuggets and fingerpaint?

You smile, the happiest you’ve been all night—and that’s saying something, because you really did have a great time—and send back, It’s a date. Come Monday, you’re feeling pretty good, well-rested and relaxed from probably too much time in bed, but Aaron looks upset when he walks into the morning meeting. He keeps it short and sweet, and everyone disperses quickly, giving you sympathetic looks as you hang back to try to have a word with him. He clears off the white board, tidies up the table that doesn’t need tidying, and you place a hand on his back, gentle and comforting. He sighs, and you can feel the tension leave him almost instantly.

“Hey. What’s bothering you?” you ask softly, leaning around to try to catch his expression; he looks tired, sad, and maybe a little conflicted, leans into your touch.

“Taking Jack back to Haley’s was rough last night; it always is, but yesterday was really bad.” You know a little about this from weekends past, how Jack always cries when Aaron has to leave, how he feels terrible about it for the rest of the evening, but it must have been extreme for him to still be so upset. “And Haley…” He sighs again, runs his hand through his hair. “It’s like it’s one step forward, two steps back with her sometimes.”

“Why don’t we go sit in your office and you can tell me more?” You want to continue discussing this—that’s what friends are for, and he’s clearly in a bad state emotionally, you think it could help—but he just shakes his head.

“No, I… it’s okay. I don’t want to weigh you down with my problems.” You take your hand off his back, lean a hip against the table and look up at him.

“I’m not just your friend when it’s all easy breezy, lunch in the sunshine, talking about our favorite books,” you say with a sad smile; he reciprocates a little, which is more than you expected. “I’m here when things are complicated, when you have bad days, too. The Monday blues especially.” One of his hands rests on the table, and you cover it with yours, lean in to press your forehead to his shoulder. “Let me be here, okay? Even if all you need me to do is listen.”

It takes a moment, and his eyes are wet when he finally responds; he inhales deeply, nods, and brushes his free hand over your head in something of a hug, murmurs a rough, “okay.”

You sit in his office for an hour—which, again, is more than you expected—listening to him talk about his weekend with Jack, how heartbreaking it was to take him back to Haley’s, how he tried talking to her about taking him more often and she just wasn’t sure she could trust him to do what he says he’ll do. He understands where she’s coming from, knows he’s been unable to keep his word in the past, thinks he doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt; he hasn’t asked for advice, seems to just want to vent, so you just listen.

“Then I mentioned you, that you might come for dinner next time he’s over, and she was worried about that,” he says, exasperated, and you frown.

“Why would she worry about that? I’ve been around him lots of times.” It doesn't make sense, because Haley has always been nothing but sweet to you; Aaron looks up at your question, and it seems a little like maybe he hadn’t meant to say that part, though you can’t imagine why.

“It’s just different now… because he’s older,” he says after a brief moment of hesitation. “She doesn’t want him getting attached to someone who might not always be around, you know.” You sigh softly, because if that’s all it is…

You lean forward, take his hand, squeeze it tight.

“I’m always going to be around, Aaron. I can talk to her, if you want, tell her that.”

“No, it’s—you don’t have to do that.” He squeezes your hand back, closes his eyes for a beat. “Just hearing you say it, it makes things easier. I’ll talk to her again next time.”

You talk a little more, and he seems a lot better afterward, even if he is a bit less expressive during lunch; you figure any progress is good, but it makes you sad to see him so down, so naturally, you formulate a plan to help get him back to the Aaron you know and love.

At the end of the day, when he makes his way to the bullpen, you spin around in your chair, take him by the sleeve.

“You’re coming home with me tonight,” you say in no uncertain tone of voice. “For a few hours. I’ll bring you back for your car.” He agrees with a fond look, and you lose yourself in the expression for a moment, then stand up, grab your things, and walk with him out to the garage.

Rush hour traffic is what it is, and you leave Aaron in charge of the music, which means you get The Beatles and The Who, Rolling Stones and Neil Diamond, and you’re both singing along and so much happier by the time you pull into the parking lot of the bodega nearest your apartment.

“Just running in for provisions—be right back,” you say with a grin, and when you return with two paper bags of loot, he looks at you like you might be his favorite person in the world with an age in the double digits. It’s a look you love putting on his face.

“Do I get to see what provisions you’ve acquired?” he asks, teasing, but you shake your head and tell him he’ll see it when you get there.

With a pit stop in your apartment to grab a blanket and a few throw pillows, you take him up to the roof and get things ready for your makeshift picnic. There is white wine, still mostly chilled; cubed cheese, far from gourmet but no less delicious; crusty french bread that was fresh this morning but at this hour is a little extra crusty; blueberries, because they didn’t have grapes; dark chocolate, because you share a fondness for it; and paper cups for the wine.

Aaron takes a look at your bounty, spread over the blanket, and smiles the first real smile you’ve seen all day.

“Fancy,” he teases, and he takes off his jacket, gets on the ground with you. You pour each of you some wine, pop a blueberry in your mouth.

“No, but I thought a meal—and I do call it that loosely—under the stars might do you some good.” You lift your paper cup and tap it against his, brush your fingers over his hand. “To the best boss, best dad, best friend I could ask for.” You take a sip, but he doesn’t at first, watches you with something simmering behind his eyes.

“Do I get to make a toast?” he asks after a few beats, and you smile, nod, and hold up your cup. “To the only person stupid enough to jump into a freezing cold river after me. To the only person I would consider eating a bodega dinner with. To the only person who sees me the way you do.” You both take a sip, which is hard to swallow around the lump in your throat. He looks into your eyes, then breaks the dark chocolate into slivers and hands you a piece like he didn’t just say the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to you before.

You eat, and talk, and drink, and when you’re done with dinner you put everything back in the bags and lay back on the blanket, side by side, and stare up at the stars. The moon is high and full, shining while the stars twinkle around it, and you can’t think of a single time you’ve ever felt more at peace.

“This was really perfect,” Aaron says, almost a whisper, after about twenty minutes of companionable silence. “I can’t thank you enough for being there for me today.” You turn to face him, hands curled up under your chin, and he turns toward you as well. He’s so handsome in the moonlight your heart almost aches.

“You don’t have to thank me. I just wanted to see you happy.” You feel your eyes well up with tears, because he deserves to be happy; you sigh, blink them away, and he leans in and presses his lips to your forehead, rests them there for a long time. When he eventually pulls back, you bring a hand to his hair, brush it back at his temple, and then the creaking of the door makes you pull back, sit up.

It’s your neighbor from 422, who you’ve seen on the roof a handful of times, sneaking away from his wife to smoke a cigarette. He squints in the dark, recognizes you, and waves.

“Hey, 418! You’re not alone tonight.” Aaron sits up too, and you laugh softly.

“Nope, but we were just leaving. The roof is all yours.” Aaron stands, pulls you up, and you grab the blanket and pillows while he grabs the bags, and the two of you head back down to your place.

It’s after ten when you get the groceries put away, and you stand next to Aaron in your small kitchen, contemplating what you want to say next. Your mouth betrays your brain, says what you’ve been thinking but weren’t quite sure how to approach.

“It’s late; I know I said I’d take you back to your car, but you could stay here if you want. I have a spare toothbrush, and I know you have a spare suit at the office, and it’s not like it’s the first time we’ve shared a bed before.”

You’d completely understand if he’d rather go home—you hate when your plans are changed at the last minute, and you prefer to do your full nightly routine for your sanity’s sake—but he only nods, and you lead your way to the bedroom, show him the master bath.

You are in your pajamas, tucked into bed, when he comes out in his boxers and undershirt; he hangs up his suit in your closet where you’d left him some space, then climbs in beside you. He looks over at you, then past you, at your nightstand, which has a stack of books on it—none of them romance novels. You grin, busted after months of book exchanges, and he leans over you to look at the titles.

“Persuasion, To Kill A Mockingbird, One Hundred Years of Solitude—Beloved.” He looks from your copy of the novel to his, which you hold in your hands, and you shrug sheepishly.

“I like reading the notes you put in the margins,” you say meekly, hoping he’s not angry, but all he does is laugh.

“Let me guess: you don’t actually like romance novels.” He leans back against your pillow, and so do you, resting the book on your lap.

“I mean, I don’t not like them… but I’ve been buying those just for you.” The smile on his face is brilliant, and only makes you yearn for him more; things you have been purposefully not feeling are flooding your heart and mind and body now, with him so close, laughing over this stupid secret you’ve been hiding for so long. “And you, sweet man that you are, have been reading them, and discussing them.” You put your hand on his shoulder, and he ducks his head to laugh again.

“Since we’re being honest… I didn’t read all of them. I tried,” he says when you act offended, shoving the shoulder you’re resting against, “but some of them were so bad. I just flipped through, found something I thought could pass as my favorite part, and hoped to hell you didn't ask too many questions.”

You both laugh until you’re breathless—he is so different from how he was this morning it makes you want to cry—and when your laughter dies down you look at each other, sharing breath, two heads on one pillow; is it any wonder you bridge the distance, pull him close for a warm, gentle kiss?

When you break the kiss, you are instantly worried about what Aaron will do—you aren’t drunk, aren’t even tipsy, so you know he can’t be, so much bigger and more solid than you, but will he think it’s a mistake? He kissed back, you’re pretty sure, but maybe that was an accident, something done on autopilot—

He leans in for a second kiss, mouth deceptively soft, and you curl your arm around his back, press into it with lips desperate not to let this end now that it’s started. When you separate, you are both looking into each other’s eyes again, breathing a bit heavily, and you meet in the middle for a third kiss, the best kiss you’ve ever had in your life.

That kiss ends when you yawn in his face, and he chuckles softly, leans over and switches off your bedside lamp; you smile at the ceiling, and he wraps his arms around you, presses his lips to your shoulder, and tells you good night. The next day, the two of you arrive at work early so he can shower and change into his fresh clothes without anyone on the team noticing—not that you think they would really care, but they’re nosy, and a little annoying, so you both agree that’s probably for the best.

You don’t talk about the kisses, even though they’ve been the only thing running through your mind since they happened; you promise to discuss it at lunch, though, and that’s such a sweet, romantic prospect that you think you prefer it better that way anyway.

Only, you don’t ever get to lunch, because there’s an urgent case in Minneapolis, an all hands on deck situation, meaning even Penelope joins you on the jet. You debrief on the flight, hunker down in the conference room, and split up to cover more ground; you barely get to speak to Aaron the whole time you’re there except to be given instructions and to fill him on what, if anything, you’ve learned.

You don’t even make it to your hotel that night, working around the clock to catch the people responsible for terrorizing the city. It takes not one, but almost two full days, and when you board the jet on Wednesday evening, everyone is dead on their feet. You barely remember the flight or the trip home, and you fall onto your bed fully clothed and crash just like that.

Thursday is your birthday, which you almost forgot, and so you assumed everyone else would too. You should have known better, because even if your team can be annoying, they are still your friends, and they love you, so you are well and truly spoiled.

You are treated to a latte and bagels from Emily, purple cupcakes with silver sprinkles from Penelope, a piggy back ride from Derek, a book of poetry you’ve had your eye on from Spencer, and a card from JJ—really, it turns out, from all of them.

“Enjoy a romantic getaway on us?” There’s some kind of certificate in the card, and when you flip it over, you discover that it’s for a hotel and spa that offers couples massages, mud baths, intimate aromatherapy? You arch a brow. “Uh, thanks, guys. Are you trying to tell me something here?” JJ’s face falls a little and she points to the card.

“It’s a romantic getaway. For you and Hotch? Since things have been so hectic lately,” she says, but your ears are kind of ringing and your brain is stuck on the for you and Hotch part.

“Oh. Um. Sorry—it’s just kind of soon, I think? How do you guys even know about that?” you murmur. The two of you haven’t had time to discuss Monday yet, and you haven’t spoken a word to anyone; you wouldn’t have guessed Aaron would have either, but there is a gift certificate for a romantic getaway in your hands, and you’re kind of spiraling.

“Well come on, we haven’t exactly been pretending we don’t know,” Emily says, and you can feel the confusion in your features when you look up at her. “And you guys haven’t been exactly secretive. We’re happy for you, though.”

“I mean, we haven’t been secretive, but we haven’t really had a chance to talk about it yet. It’s only been three days.” You are met with looks similar to the one on your own face.

“What do you mean, three days?” Spencer asks with a frown. “You and Hotch have been dating for almost two months. Right?” he says, looking at the others, and they nod, but it’s tentative. Your first reaction is to flush, and you close the card, fan your face with it.

“You guys think… You guys thought…” You look at them, then up at Aaron’s office; there’s no way he can know that you’re having a moment, but he chooses then to come downstairs, coincidentally. He’s smiling at first, but it falls when he looks at your face.

“Hey. Is everything okay?” He presses a cool hand to your hot cheek, flicks his eyes over yours, and JJ makes a noise; when you glance over at her, she’s gesturing between the two of you.

“I’m sorry, we were wrong? What were we supposed to think?” Aaron frowns, not following, and you take a deep breath.

“They got me a gift certificate for my birthday. To a spa. For you and I to have a romantic getaway, because they were under the assumption we’ve been dating… for two months.” The way he pulls back quickly makes your stomach ache a little, but you say nothing. You should have known.

“You say I love you,” Derek begins like he’s listing evidence. “You have lunch together every day. You’re always smiling at each other.”

“Seriously, some of the softest, gooiest smiles I’ve ever seen,” Penelope adds.

“You eat together on cases, you’re texting all the time when you’re not together.”

“I’ve been pairing the two of you up in hotels since I first figured out you were dating,” JJ says, and the whole ‘you’re welcome’ thing suddenly makes some sense. “I booked you that room with just the one bed so you’d maybe feel more comfortable about us knowing, so you’d see that we don’t mind.”

“You’re always looking at each other, always touching,” Spencer says. “In Pittsburgh—that was the first time you really hugged or kissed each other in front of us. We were trying to pretend it wasn’t a big deal, but it was kind of a big deal.”

You look over at Aaron, try to gauge his reaction, but for the first time in a long time you can’t tell what he’s feeling. You can’t really tell what you’re feeling, either. Sadness. Worry. Loss? But what have you lost?

“We’re friends,” you say, even if it sounds weak to your own ears. “We’re… close.”

“We wouldn’t exactly make sense as a couple, would we?” Aaron asks rhetorically, and your heart clenches when he says that. He told you this morning that he’d made dinner plans for you, both for your birthday and to discuss the kisses, what they mean, where you go from here, but that doesn’t sound very promising anymore. “We’re just—”

“Star-crossed,” you say, but you feel like your eyes are vacant. You can hear your heartbeat pounding in your ears. You’re stupid for kissing him, for letting yourself think he could feel the same way you feel, have felt for a while. Isn’t friendship enough? Don’t you already have this special bond so unlike what you have with anyone else in your life? Why press your luck? You know better than that. “We should get back to work.”

You don’t look at Aaron, so you don’t know whether or not he looks at you. JJ does, and you can tell she knows you’re upset, but she just nudges everyone on their way, and you take a seat at your desk—it’s covered in balloons and streamers, the Penelope special.

You’ve never felt less like celebrating.

At lunchtime, Aaron stops at your desk, and the two of you walk out to the bench, open your bags in silence. You’re almost halfway through the hour before he tries to speak.

“Uh. I. About earlier,” he finally gets out, looking down at his sandwich, and you shake your head even though he’s not watching you.

“It’s fine. We don’t have to.” You take a bite of your salad even though you don’t taste it. “You’re right, it doesn’t make sense. You are who you are,” smart, sweet, handsome, tender, caring, “and I am who I am.” Too quiet, too young, too impulsive, too silly, too emotional. He nods, looks at your face for the first time in a while, swallows.

“Right.” You’re due to exchange books back—his is on your lap, yours is on his—and he picks them both up. “I’m like this,” he says, holding up Beloved. “Faded cover, dog-eared pages, scribbles in the margins: middle-aged, divorced, a little broken, barely holding it together for the kid I don’t get to spend enough time with. You’re like this,” he says, holding up Ravished. “Fresh and glossy and shiny and new, with your whole life ahead of you, the whole world ahead of you. You could do anything, with anyone.”

You frown, because this is not what you meant, at all. How could he think that about himself, when the well-loved cover and the dog-eared pages and the scribbles in the margins are all the best parts of him?

“Aaron,” you say, but it sounds like pleading; you reach out to put your hands on his arms, but he pulls them back. His eyes are rimmed red, lips pressed together to hold back everything he’s not saying.

“I think lunch is almost over.” He packs up his things, leaves you with tears in your eyes and a wilted salad and a brand new romance novel you’re never going to read.

Later, he cancels dinner, says something came up, and you go home to your empty bed and watch Titanic and bawl your eyes out when Rose tells Jack she’ll never let go. Friday, you get another case. Weekend cases are no one’s favorite, but especially not yours, when you desperately needed that buffer of time away from Aaron to sort out your feelings and get back to some sense of normalcy. Instead, you’re flying to a small town outside of Nashville to catch a serial arsonist, and when you get to your hotel, you and Aaron are sharing a room.

At least there are two beds, this time.

You go with Emily and Spencer to a crime scene, walking around a house that was once picture perfect and is now all charred wood and ash, and you quickly tell yourself to get a grip and not look for metaphors for your own life while trying to solve a case. What kind of investigator are you? Pathetic, apparently.

You work until evening, and when it’s time to break for dinner, you buy a sad looking assortment of items from the police station vending machine and eat in the conference room by yourself.

It’s a good thing you do, because they get a call about the fire while everyone is still away, and you and a few locals are the first on the scene.

It doesn’t start out bad, mostly located in the back of the house, but you know how quickly these things can spread, and the fire department is working hard to put it out. One of the officers is talking to the family, and the mother is crying, so you come closer to figure out why.

“She said the daughter was supposed to be staying at a friend’s, but sometimes she changes her mind at the last minute and comes home. She can’t get ahold of her,” the officer says, and you nod, thinking.

“Where would she be? The front or the back?”

“Her room is in the front, second floor; if she’s here, that’s where she’d be,” the mother says, wiping her eyes with a tissue, and you tell the officer to stay with them, that you’ll take care of it. You talk to the firefighters—this town is so small there are only two that were able to respond, and they’re both busy trying to put out the fire, but they clear you to go in if you stick to the front of the building and get out of there as fast as you can.

Your team isn’t here yet either, too far out for comms to be effective, and you can’t get ahold of Aaron, so you make a judgement call and head inside.

The front of the house is so eerily normal it’s almost easy to calm your nerves and pretend the back isn’t in the process of being destroyed. You open the front door, run up the staircase, and call out for the girl; she answers, not from the front of the house, but the back—a bathroom maybe? Flames lick up the wall beside it, but you can get to the knob, and she comes rushing out, into your arms, terrified. You weren't expecting that, and you both fall back: your head hits off the floor, but she seems okay, so you tell her to run out the front door and find her mom.

You press a hand to the back of your head, and it comes back tacky with blood. There’s ringing in your ears for a couple of minutes, and then your favorite voice in the world comes through.

“Where are you? We’re here, where are you?” You’re getting hotter, and when you crane your neck up, you can see why: the fire is getting closer, creeping toward the staircase, creeping toward you. You inhale, cough, and press your walkie button.

“I’m upstairs in the hall; hit my head. It’s not safe.”

“I’m coming for you.” You groan. Stubborn man.

“It’s not safe, Aaron.” You hear the crackle of static, hope maybe he heard your warning and will wait until more firefighters arrive—but knowing him the way you do, that’s just wishful thinking. His voice rings out again, and despite the pain, you can’t help but smile.

“You jump, I jump, Jack. Just stay put; I’ll be right there.” You close your eyes, drift in and out of consciousness; when you see him, all you can think is how ridiculously in love with him you are, and that you really hope you’ll be around to tell him. You are, of course, fine. Your head is the worst of it, even the smoke inhalation was mild, and the fire didn’t touch you, so there are no burns. Aaron doesn’t leave your side the entire time you’re being checked over, looks serious and concerned, though he smiles when the mother comes over and squeezes you so tightly you wince a little. It starts to rain, making the firefighters' jobs a little easier, and it feels oddly cleansing, after the day you’ve had. Someone offers you an umbrella, but you decline.

The fire is successfully put out, and the half of your team that didn’t respond to the scene responded to a call for suspicious activity, which ends up being your unsub. You are all happy no one was killed this time, and since you’re staying the night again, the group decides to grab a drink to celebrate. You don’t have a concussion, but your head still aches, so you pass, and Aaron passes with you.

You head to the hotel, park in the lot, but you don’t even make it halfway across before you stop, a hand on his arm.

“I need to say something,” you tell him, and he looks up at the dark sky like, right here? Right now?, even though you’re both already drenched. You nod, because if you don’t do this now you might never—almost dying always gives you an unhealthy amount of confidence, which you attribute to equal amounts of adrenaline and stupidity. “When we first met, I didn’t think we’d have a lot in common. We’re both quiet, but in wildly different ways, and I’m quick to trust and let people in while your guard is almost never down.”

He looks a little sad at that, and you realize you’re kind of doing what he did, putting the two of you into completely different categories, emphasizing the ways you don’t belong together. But that’s dumb, so you don’t give him time to focus on that for long.

“But being your friend, Aaron—the more time I spent with you, the more I came to feel like no one has ever understood me the way you do. No one has ever seen me the way you do.” Rain is pouring down all around you, beating against the pavement, flattening your hair against your head, but you don’t care. Regardless of his reaction, this is actually kind of perfect. “I didn’t mean to fall in love with you—that was an accident, I admit. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” You step closer to him, put your hands on his waist; he doesn’t pull away. “I don’t need shiny, glossy things; you're the one I want—faded cover, dog-eared pages, notes in the margins. I love you exactly as you are.”

He is gorgeous in the rain, water in his hair, dripping off his nose. His expression looks hopeful, and you pray to god that’s not wishful thinking.

“Say something, anything,” you beg, anticipation killing you, and he presses his hands to your cheeks and pulls you close for a deep, passionate, soulful kiss that says it all.

The words are nice to hear, though.

“I didn’t mean to fall in love with you either,” he breathes against your lips when the kiss breaks. “I told myself it was just a crush, because someone so young and beautiful was paying so much attention to me, treating me like more than just the guy giving orders. But the more time I spent with you, the more undeniable it became. You are everything good about the world—bright, optimistic, caring, funny, sweet. How could anyone not fall in love with you?”

You swallow hard, lean up to press your lips against his again.

“When you said we wouldn’t make sense as a couple…” He shakes his head.

“That was just me chickening out. After we kissed, I was all but ready to ask you to go steady,” he says, and you both smile, because he’s such an old fashioned dork, but god, do you love him. “And then we found out that the team thought we’d been together for months, and you looked freaked out, so I freaked out. I’m sorry. I should have made us talk about it sooner.”

“Classic pointless miscommunication,” you say with a laugh, and he chuckles too, kisses you again.

“Let’s go inside and get dried off; there’s a birthday gift in my bag I’ve been meaning to give you.” He takes your hand, and you head up, duck into the bathroom to change into dry clothes, squeeze the water out of your hair. There is a small, flat, wrapped present on your bed when you emerge, and you smile, sink down to open it.

It’s Romeo and Juliet, a brand new copy, but when you flip through it, there are blue inked notes in the margins. Aaron comes to sit beside you, touches your face like you’re something precious.

“The course of true love never did run smooth,” he murmurs, and you smack him on the arm with the book.

“That’s from A Midsummer Night's Dream, and I know you know that,” you say with a grin. He nods in admission, and you wrap your arms around his shoulders, lean in for a warm, loving kiss. When you pull back, it’s with a soft smile. “Give me my sin again?”

“My pleasure,” he whispers, and you sink into his embrace and promise never to let go. The following week, you both leave work at noon on Friday so you can enjoy your romantic getaway. You drive to the spa, and Aaron reads over the brochure on his phone with a tone you find hilarious.

“Mud bath—I’m not bathing in mud. That’s counterintuitive.”

“It’s special mud; more like clay,” you say, but he snorts, scrolls.

“Seaweed wrap—nobody is wrapping me in seaweed. That sounds like a nightmare.” You laugh softly and take your exit.

“It’s supposed to be rejuvenating. JJ recommended it.”

“JJ weighs fifty pounds. It would take all the seaweed in the Atlantic to wrap me,” he says, and you roll your eyes, jab your finger into his ribs.

“But what if I get to unwrap you?” you ask, eyebrows raised; you briefly glance over and he makes a face of contemplation.

“Okay, that’s a maybe. Intimate aromatherapy—what does that even mean?”

“I think it means we do something that makes us smell good and then we go back to our room and kiss and stuff.”

“Now that doesn’t sound half bad,” he murmurs. “Foot massage? I’m not letting a stranger touch my feet, that’s weird.” You look over at him, squinting.

“You literally plugged someone’s bullet wound with your finger yesterday, but someone touching your feet is where you draw the line? Will you do anything on the list?” He scrolls down it, and his extended silence makes you laugh.

“Meditation. Couples massage,” he says, reaching over to rest a hand on your thigh. “There’s a sauna.” You think of him, sweat-drenched in a fluffy white towel, and take a deep, calming breath. “I bet the room is nice; did you bring a book?” You smile indulgently, reach out a hand to brush through his hair.

“Yep. It’s called A Duke’s Wild Kiss…” He gives you a mildly withering look, and you lightly tap the bridge of his nose. “Just kidding. I brought To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf.” His answering smile is brilliant.

“Are you serious?” You nod, and he gestures to the backseat, where your bags are. “That’s what I brought, too.”

You spend too much of your romantic getaway in your room, but it is really nice; you do the couples massage, though, and aromatherapy, and the sauna, and then you take turns giving each other a foot massage while the other reads To the Lighthouse out loud.

The world probably doesn’t deserve Aaron Hotchner; you definitely don’t, but somehow you get to keep him anyway. A/N: Though I snuck in a few parts of a few different lyrics, two lines in particular inspired this fic: 'Now I've read all of the books beside your bed' and 'I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this.' A lot of my fics lately have incorporated books... guess I better get reading!

Taglist ❤️: @thaddeusly @arsonhotchner @mrsh0tchner @ssahotchie @sleepyreaderreads @mintphoenix @meghannnnnn @disgruntledchowchow @azenpal @g-l-pierce @my-rosegold-soul @ssamorganhotchner @heliotropehotch @angelhotchner @qtip-blog @gspenc @wishuhadstayed @averyhotchner

[dulcetscen]

Hello!! Thank you so much for writing for Tsurune, bc no one else seems to :( could you please write some Shuu and/or Seiya angst with a happy ending?

Tsurune is definitely one of those underrated shows that I wish got more attention than it did. Maybe the movie that’s coming out will help give these boys the attention they deserve? I hope y’all enjoy this - although I’m not the best at writing angst. ♡

Shuu Fujiwara

“Just please go back to being my best friend, not the guy I confessed my love to.”

It hurt to say that — so much. The kind of hurt where you could feel your throat burn, and the brim of your eyes fill with tears that you struggle to hold back.

It hurt to know that Shuu possibly, most likely, didn't share the same feelings that you did for him. It hurt not speaking to him for days after your confession, avoiding each other like the plague and darting your eyes away in embarrassment.

But above that, the thought of losing him as your closest friend hurt even more.

You’d finally caught him alone, mustering up enough courage to finally speak to him. Someone that used to be your confidant now the source of your nervousness, and ever present flutter in the pit of your stomach making your words shake more than you’d like.

Going from talking seemingly day in and day out about any and everything, to going radio silent and cold was something that you would have never expected. But you figured that if you could go back, or at least try to, then it would be worth putting your feelings on the back burner as you’d always done.

Shuu as your friend meant more to you than your own heart.

“I can’t lose you as a friend, Shuu.”

You hated how small you felt in front if him, how you couldn’t even glance up to look him in the eyes.

You especially hated how even in this moment when all of your nerves were unraveling, he somehow - like always, had this calm unbothered air about him. Like the ocean of emotions you were feeling in that moment were just like ripples in a pond to him.

It hurt, and quite frankly, it was starting to piss you off.

“You really are an asshole, huh Shuu?” You let out a bitter laugh, your hand raising to rub away at the tears that threatened to fall.

“You never gave me the chance to respond.”

“What?”

You looked up at him just as he leaned in closer to meet your eye level.

And there was that look. The one in his eyes that you live sworn you’ve seen more than once when you catch him subtly staring at you. The look you pick up on when you manage to get a genuine smile out of the typically stoic Prince that stood before you.

It was the same look you wished you saw the day you confessed to him. The same one you missed during the days you made it a point to avoid him.

It gave you butterflies, and your heart soar until Shuu’s next words met your ears.

“I can’t just go back to being your best friend, [y/n].”

But before your heart could break fully, he followed up with the only words that could completely heal it.

“Because I like you, too.”

Seiya Takehaya

“You’re my friend, but sometimes I really wish you could be more than that.”

And sometimes you really, really wished that you could take back words as soon as you said them. Or maybe, you would start to think before you said anything at all.

The look Seiya shot over to you mid laugh when his mind finally processed what you said, told you everything you needed to know.

He hated the idea of it. He had to.

“I was kidding!” You force a smile, “I’m more than happy with us just being friends Sei, not like I’m in love with you or anything.” Your words trailed off at the end more than you would’ve like them to, your mind performing mental gymnastics as you fumbled for more things to say to end this awkward situation.

He turned his head back to the text and notebooks that were laid out in front of the two of you, snacks and empty juice bottles laying forgotten at the edge of the time, marking the time you two have spent studying this nice so far.

This was probably going to be the last study date that you and Seiya would ever had. Out of all the things you could’ve said - all the times you could’ve waited to confess to him.

Your heart began to race, and the corner of your eyes prickled with the first warning signs of tears but you willed them away, forcing out another laugh.

“I guess I should probably get going then?” You glanced over at Seiya, passed his face still gazing down at the textbooks, to his alarm clock that sat on his bedside table. “I didn’t realize it was so late, maybe that’s why I’m saying crazy things now, huh?”

Sometimes you really wished you’d know when to shut up, but Seiya’s silence, the rushing sound of your heartbeat in your ears, and the way you felt like bursting into tears left you no other choice but to keep rambling.

It was either that, or cry.

“You know Seiya, we’ve been friends for so long. Since when? Like middle school? And I have no idea what I’d do if I lost you as a friend, so don’t look into what I said too much-“

“Me too.”

“You what?”

Seiya, who had been looking over at you since you started your nervous ramble, smiled. The smile that would always make your heart skip a beat.

“I wish I could be more than a friend to you, too.” He wiped away a stray tear that managed to escape the corner of your eye.

“More than you know, [y/n].”

[mxmentos]

bluebird.

song ; bluebird by alessia cara. character(s) ; venti genre ; songfic, hurt no comfort word count ; 562 cw/tw ; none a/n ; HAPPY BIRTHDAY VENTI MY LOML MY EVERYTHING <333 ilysm you're my comfort char you deserve everything eshkendfn also hi please listen to the song i begs it's so underrated bye

i wish you bluebirds in the spring to give your heart a song to sing

venti closed his eyes as he pictured you in his mind. it had been so long since you both parted ways, but his love for you never seemed to fade away. so much so that he was in the exact place where he met you.

forest rendezvous was the same as it had ever been. venti smiled, admiring the surroundings as the trees swayed in the distance. the bluebirds chirped in the trees, singing with glee. oh, how he wished he were a little bluebird just like them.

a little bluebird that could fly from its troubles, soaring through the skies with the wind by its side.

and then a kiss, but more than this i wish you love

although he had a longing to feel your touch once again, he also wished that you were happy, wherever you are. he hoped that even if you were in someone’s arms or not, you would still feel comforted. and if you weren’t, he would always be the hand for solely you to hold.

venti hoped that even if you had done something wrong, which you would never be capable of doing in his eyes, celestia would give you a chance in this world. a chance for you to prosper in life with whomever you desired.

the sad truth was he wouldn’t be by your side as it all unfolds. he wasn’t the one for you; the one who would kiss your forehead every single morning when you awoke from your slumber. the one whose shoulders you would rest your head upon on a sunny afternoon.

the one who was fated to be yours, always and forever.

bluebird in the spring told me that your new girl makes you sing

“venti?”

his heart skipped a beat – was that really you? perhaps you hadn’t hated or forgotten about him after all, maybe you wanted to try again? he turned around in excitement, hoping to be met with your twinkling eyes and a welcoming smile.

but, where were you? all he saw when he turned back was the endless meadow of grass. perhaps that voice he heard was a figment of his imagination? no, he heard you and he was sure of it. trying to bring his hopes up, he kept looking for signs of you, striding around in the forest. 

guess my loving only clipped your wings so, i let you go

venti sighed, settling down on the grass as his excitement faded away. if only the voice he heard was real, he thought, then he’d have the perfect opportunity to tell you everything that was stuck in his throat. he’d use all of the time that was wasted and spend each and every second with you.

he’d tell you that the day you met him in the forest was no accident, it was fated to be. the stars in the sky of teyvat had aligned and, as promised, found the perfect place for the both of you. if only he had known this sooner and cherished the moments with you.

if only he had let go of his fears of losing you and let you fly, just like the bluebirds in the trees, who were now fluttering their wings in the sky as the gentle breeze tickled their feathers.

fic by @/mxmentos on tumblr. note: i do not own any of the lyrics in this story, they belong to the original creators of the song. please support the artist(s) by listening to the song linked above, thank you <33

[gaybarbiegirl]

My Top 5 Gay Barbie ships

As an avid Barbie fan and a lesbian, I feel like it was only a matter of time until I made this. I think we can all agree that the Barbie movies blessed us with some of the best lesbian relationships gal pals of our childhoods, and I guess this is just my way of paying homage to my favorites. A little disclaimer, this is all just my opinion, so I'm sorry if your favorite ship isn't here.

5. Kristyn and Hailey - Barbie and the Pink Shoes

Starting out with a painfully underrated ship from a painfully underrated movie, we've got Kristyn and Hailey. In my opinion, Barbie and the Pink Shoes is the funniest Barbie movie, and these two are a big part of the reason why. They bounce off of each other really well, they have a great and believable daydreamer/down to earth dynamic, and their relationship is really sweet. I mean, it's hard to watch two people navigating an unknwon world together with no one to count on but each other and not end up shipping them. Plus, the scene where Hailey gets captured by the snow queen and Kristyn runs crying through the frozen road always breaks my heart.

4. Mariposa and Catania - Barbie Mariposa and the fairy princess

I'm gonna be honest, the way the pairings went in the Mariposa franchise actually makes me kinda bitter. And that's because they had these two characters who I think are perfect for each other, but they totally disregard their relationship for the sake of pairing Mariposa with Prince Carlos (who is honestly just a male version of her).

I mean, seriously - Mariposa and Catania have this Romeo and Juliet type of story, being from rival fairy kingdoms and all, and it would definetely have ended in romance if this was a het ship. Catania is the only one who's kind to Mariposa from the start, she bothers to learn about her culture and to make her feel welcome in her kingdom, and she trusts her blindly even when everyone around her tells her she shouldn't. In return, Mariposa listens to Catania about her struggles, and does everything in her power to help her overcome them. They have a lot in common and a lot to teach each other, their relationship development feels very natural, and their bond is what saves the day in the end. But nooo, Barbie has to end up with the prince. Smh.

3. Barbie and Sal-Lee - Barbie Starlight Adventure

These two probably have the most down to earth relationship in this list, ironically. They have no big dramatic bonding moment, no speech about believing in each other, and their love isn't what saves the universe. It's all very simple and low key, and that's kind of what I like about it.

I love how nervous Barbie is to meet Sal-Lee in the beggining, how it takes a little while for them to get used to each other, and how even in the end there's still a bit of healthy competition between them. You can tell both of them weren't what the other one was expecting, but once they get to know each other, they realize they're something even better, and I think that's really great. I also love how Sal-Lee gets all protective of Barbie, always looking out for her in the end. Overall, their relationship is just very wholesome and comforting. 10/10.

2. Merliah and Kylie - Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2

Rivals to lovers, anyone? Truly one of the best relationship tropes out there, and it was executed beautifully in this movie.

Merliah's and Kylie's flirty rivalry in the beggining is everything, and I like how it's not one sided. Like, Merliah isn't the nice "let's all be friends" girl who's being cornered by mean girl Kylie, they're both mutually competitive, which is pretty unique for a Barbie movie. And, of course, as their relationship develops, all of their scenes are just the cutest and the gayest.

Kylie saying "since when does the queen of the waves give up?" when she's pulling Merliah out of that whirpool? Amazing.

The two of them holding hands while swimming together? Beautiful.

Merliah swooning over everything Kylie says, from her plans to her bad jokes? Lovely.

And the whole ending sequence to that movie lives in my head rent free. Merliah is all upset over being a mermaid forever because, in her own words, this means she can't surf with Kylie anymore. Then she turns human again and gets to compete with her one more time, but with love instead of animosity. And finally, the two of them thank each other for everything they got to learn together and agree to share the 1st place trophy. Incredible. Lesbian excellency. Love it with my whole heart.

1. Liana and Alexa - Barbie and the Diamond Castle

Surprising no one, Alexa and Liana get the 1st place, and for a good reason. To this day, they're the biggest wlw icons from any Barbie movie ever. Everyone has seen the posts talking about how the colours of their dresses are the colours of the lesbian flag and the bi flag, or about how they're the og cottagecore lesbians, or about how there's a scene in the movie where the two of them literally float away from their "love interests" on a rainbow, and they're all 100% right.

But while the sheer amount of gayness these two have is great, I still think this isn't the best part of their relationship. The best part, I think, is just how devoted they are to each other.

Like, we know they regularly write songs about how happy they are together, and both of them consider their relationship to be the best part of their lives. They take care of each other in a way that is so casual but still so meaningful, and you can tell it comes from a place of real love. When they get the chance to make a wish, they don't even have to think before wishing to be together forever. And throughout the movie, we see them risk their lives and rethink their values for the sake of keeping the other one happy and safe.

They're not just my favorite barbie ship, they're one of my favorite ships of all time, and they totally deserve all of the praise they get.