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#but seriously him and any of his kids can team up and no directions needed no watching out where the other one is they just know
whalehouse1 · 2 years
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DC Comics and edgelord Batman fans: He works alone and only under the cover of darkness.
In canon: Has been out during the day plenty of times and has had 8-12 protégées more or less with 7 who he still actively teams up and will team up with that are so entuned to how each other fight that when one of them who had just came back from the dead after lord how knows how long in comic time and was actively trying to kill him, Batman and him were in perfect synch and Batman wasn’t worried that he’d get backstabbed by Jason.
But yeah, edgy loner who hates and mistrusts everyone 👍
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hijinxinprogress · 11 months
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I need Billy thinking he’s so great at hiding things (and he is) no one knows he’s like fucking eight but they are pretty sure he hates like half the league
Like I need Billy getting along with everyone but he’s kinda stiff around flash and Batman but it’s get worse after most of them have revealed their secret ids and the jls so confused
Billy 100% thought Batman had all these fucking gadgets bc he was like some high up government official and then he found out no Batman’s just some rich guy and he’s like god no why is that worse
Batman just doesn’t care (he does 💀 he’s so fucking offended esp bc Marvel used to call him Mr. Batman sir but also bc he thought it’d be easier to get marvels secret id and weaknesses) as long as it doesn’t affect missions but Flash is kinda concerned bc ‘I’m pretty nice to him…does he think I don’t like him?? Did I offend him?? Do speedsters like set off the magic balance or whatever??’ 
They decide to pair up flash, Batman, and Captain Marvel to make sure their issues won’t affect team cohesion so after they’re done rescuing these kids that got involved in some supervillains masterplan Batman and flash are doing the usual spiel of ‘the laws exist for a reason,’ ‘you can trust the police’ and ‘there’s no good reason to turn to crime’
These kids want nothing to do with that shit and they’re trying to edge away while making excuses ‘thank you sm!! But no this is so safe, I know this area so well! We can get home ourselves!’ as soon as Batman starts asking about their parents so captain marvel just grabs Batman and flash and starts flying in the opposite direction ‘do you see that?? No guys seriously look at this cool thing!!’ and Batman’s growling about ‘childish to a degree that’s entirely unprofessional’ and ‘needlessly endangering civilians, civilian children at that-!’ and flash is trying to mediate but batman is shoving documents in his face ‘They were runaways, they don’t have anywhere to go and now they’re on a hitlist’ the ‘you fucking imbecile’ goes unsaid but they all hear it so marvel takes them back to villains lair and grabs a henchman at random and goes ‘This guys a cop…you can check that with your fancy equipment, right??’ and batman checks solely to prove him wrong but that guy is a cop and so are about 60% of the henchmen they took out then marvel goes ‘So they wouldn’t have been safe even if you took them to a hospital or child services’
Before the id reveals there’s a mission where the police are involved and flash mentions something about police protocol and marvel is so concerned bc ‘you’re still undercover? How long have you been under cover dude??’ and flash is confused bc ‘you know I’m not undercover right?? That is my actual real life day job’ and no one believes him when he says marvel shot him the most disgusted look you can imagine and edged away from him 
Batman tries to hold a meeting to address how marvel deals with the police and it goes no where bc marvel is fucking menace and goes ‘don’t you do that too?? And technically I’m also a vigilante sooo’ and batman is scrambling to get the jls attention back like ‘marvel hits cops 62% percent harder than other criminals and is 43% less friendly when interacting with the police in any capacity’ but they don’t care bc they want to know why marvel considers himself a vigilante 
They start letting Marvel be the one to approach children and notice that he’s advising them on how to make food last longer and maintain good hygiene while taking care of themselves and a jl members like hey wtf?? and Marvel says some bullshit about how ‘he’s lived many lives and not all of them were charmed’ and it gets back to cyborg who starts a rumor that he was dracula bc he can’t believe marvel had the balls to look WW in the eyes and lie to her fucking face
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roosterforme · 1 year
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So Fresh, So Clean | Rooster x Reader
Summary: At first, Bradley is mortified when the guys force him to stop at a carwash featuring bikini clad women from a college softball team. But when he meets you there, he starts to think he should thank his friends instead.
Warnings: Fluff and swearing
Length: 2000 words
Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female Reader
I wrote this for a request and for @wicked-remarks Summer Festival! Check out my masterlist for more!
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"Dude, stop at In-N-Out. I'm starving," Payback whined from the passenger seat as Bradley zipped down the road in his Bronco.
"Nah, just stop at Starbucks," Jake argued from the backseat. "I need more caffeine."
"We're going to be late," Bradley groaned, passing the fifth fast food place while Payback whined and pointed out the window. 
"We told Nat we'd be there around noon," Coyote said from the back. "I mean, if we stopped for food, we could grab something for her too."
Bradley rubbed his hand over his face, wondering why he had agreed to drive all of these idiots. "Guys, if I stop, I'm only stopping once. Then straight to the beach. So decide what you want."
Then Coyote started stuttering at the same time Payback said, "Holy shit! Pull over! Pull over!" Bradley looked where Payback was pointing, and then he saw a sign that said University of San Diego Softball along with a car wash and a lot of scantily clad women.
"Fuck caffeine. We're stopping here!" Jake said, practically climbing into the front seat. "Come on, Rooster!" He started trying to grab the steering wheel, and Bradley had to smack his arm away.
"Seriously!" Bradley yelled. "Stop reaching for the steering wheel!" He slowed down as all three of his passengers started loudly begging him. "You want to look at a bunch of college girls who couldn't care less about you more than you want burgers?"
"Hell yes!" Payback sang as Bradley put his turn signal on and pulled into the parking lot where the collegiate softball team was holding a very popular looking car wash. There were so many cars lined up, and a lot of men milling around. Bradley parked next to a pickup truck and eyed the women in wet tee shirts and bathing suits while Jake pounded on the back of his seat. 
"They are practically naked! Get out so I can get out!" Jake whined.
"Chill!" Bradley said, loud enough that he had the attention of all three of them. "You guys need to be on your best behavior. I'm not kidding!"
"Look at them," Coyote said, pulling his sunglasses lower on his nose and whistling. "These girls are hot."
Bradley groaned. "Yes, I see them. And don't call them girls. They're women. And please don't touch any of them. Oh my god, I'm already so embarrassed."
"Let's go," Payback said, opening his door. "Time to flirt."
"They don't want to flirt with you," Bradley muttered. "You're thirty five."
"I dunno about that," Jake drawled, fixing his hair. "That redhead looks like she might like a daddy."
"Oh my fucking Lord, we are going to get kicked out of a fundraiser," Bradley groaned as he climbed out of his door and was nearly trampled by Jake.
"Relax man, I'm about to pay for your car to get washed," he said, shoving Bradley out of the way to get over to the redhead holding a hose. "Hey, sweetheart, my name's Jake...."
Bradley headed in the opposite direction, cradling his forehead in his hand. The last thing he wanted was to try to chat up some nineteen year old. He was almost thirty seven, for fuck's sake. But if they wanted to humiliate themselves, that was fine with him. But it didn't mean he needed to watch.
He thought he had found a nice spot to stand and wait while listening to a car stereo blasting Pour Some Sugar On Me. He was out of the way of the guys who were being roped in to helping the girls wash cars now. Jake's shirt was mysteriously missing, and Payback was spraying the hose while a few of the girls screamed.  
"Grown ass men," Bradley muttered, pushing his aviators up higher on his nose.
He heard soft laughter and turned to see you standing next to him. And of course you were gorgeous. And young. And looking up at him with a smirk that he should not have found adorable. 
"Yeah, well, the deans at the college are always amazed by how much money our car wash fundraisers make every summer," you said, smiling at him. He found himself smiling back. 
"My friends almost made me wreck trying to get me to pull over, so I guess that does make sense," Bradley replied with a nod. You were the only one on the team who was still dry, and he could see the straps of your bathing suit tied above the collar of your USD Softball tee shirt. You had on some tiny denim shorts and flip flops, and Bradley bit back a groan and forced himself to look away from you. 
"Your friends look like a bit of a handful," you told him. Bradley was treated to the sight of Coyote dancing to the music in the spray of the water. 
"Just show them women in bathing suits, and this is what they turn into." You were laughing and gaping up at him, as Bradley quickly added, "They're harmless though! I promise! Your teammates have nothing to worry about! They just like to flirt."
"Teammates?" you asked, head cocked to one side.
"Yeah," Bradley grunted, really trying so hard not to look directly at you. Fuck, this was getting difficult. He could tell that your bathing suit was red through your snug fitting white tee shirt, and now he was looking at your chest. He pinched the bridge of his nose over his sunglasses and rolled his shoulders, trying to focus on the dirt being rinsed off a filthy car. "Your teammates? Uh, are you a senior? Or team captain or something?"
Your laughter rang out as you said, "No, not exactly."
"Oh. Uh, what position do you play?" He knew he was rambling now. Really, he should just get out of here. 
"I used to play third base."
And now Bradley was biting his knuckle, because he was thinking about getting to third base with you, unzipping those little shorts in the backseat of his Bronco and slipping his hand inside. "Oh god," he swallowed hard. He was worse than the rest of the guys who were currently covered in soapy water and surrounded by softball players. 
"I'm their coach."
Bradley froze, looking at you out of the corner of his eye. "You're the coach? The softball coach?"
"Yeah. They're not my teammates."
Bradley turned to face you and let his eyes drift down your body and back up to your face. You did look a little older than twenty two. And that's probably why you weren't actively washing the cars. He must have been staring for too long, because you were smirking again as you held out your hand and introduced yourself. "Head coach of USD women's softball."
He took your smaller hand in his. "My name is Bradley, and I'm really hoping you're going to tell me you're like twenty eight years old?"
"I'm thirty," you said slowly, still holding his hand and looking at him with a confused smile. 
"Even better," he said, smiling happily and pulling you a little closer by your hand. "So, you played third base? Which school?"
"University of Oregon."
"Shit. You must be good."
"I'm very good," you told him, and Bradley squeezed your hand a little tighter. 
"I'll bet you are."
"Do you play?" you asked, really sizing him up now. 
"Yeah, just on a Navy rec league. But I'm very good, too."
"Bet I can guess which position you play," you told him before you bit your lip, and Bradley swore he was never going to let go of your hand. 
"Okay. Go ahead and guess."
"But...if I'm right, you owe me a drink," you said coyly.
Bradley's eyebrows shot up. "Then you better fucking get this right."
With a bright laugh, you told him, "You look like a shortstop."
"Damn. You are good."
"I'm right?" you asked, and he nodded. "You owe me a drink."
Bradley took his sunglasses off with his left hand, and your smile grew. "Listen, as soon as you told me you're not a student, I was absolutely going to ask you out. So all you did was make it easier for me."
You pressed your lips together in pleasure, and it was so adorable. "You're still holding my hand."
"I know," he confirmed with a nod. "When are you free? Tomorrow?"
You licked your lips. "I'm coaching a game tomorrow, Bradley. You know, since I'm not a student."
He smirked at the way you were sassing him before asking, "Is it home or away?"
"Home. At USD."
"You gonna invite me to watch?" he asked, and you looked so damn pleased with yourself now. 
"Would you be coming just to ogle the players?" you asked, nodding toward the soaking wet women who were now spraying the hose at Payback. "You know they wear their uniforms to the games instead of bathing suits, right?"
He narrowed his eyes and glared at you playfully. "It's much more likely that I'd be ogling their coach."
"Oh, I like that," you told him. "You can come then. And we can get that drink afterwards?"
"Absolutely," Bradley said, and he finally released your hand as he added, "Can I get your number?"
"Mmhmm." 
He retrieved his phone from his pocket, unlocked it and handed it to you. He watched you enter your contact information, and then you handed it back to him, letting your fingers linger on his. "Text me later today, and I'll send you a ticket to the game."
"Sounds good, coach. I can't wait."
You glanced to the side and then met his eyes again. "It looks like your car's done. And your friends look like an actual disaster."
Bradley groaned as he saw the three of them getting the soap hosed off so they could leave. "Yeah, let me go babysit them for the afternoon. I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yes, you will." And then you put your hand on his chest and kissed his cheek before you turned away to help one of your players who was calling for your attention. 
Bradley tucked his phone away and watched you as he made his way toward the Bronco. You waved to him and he smiled back before turning to assess his three sopping wet friends. 
"Rooster, you idiot!" Coyote said, dripping water on the pavement. "You just stood there like a lump, man."
"We got phone numbers," Jake drawled, holding his wet phone while Bradley snorted. 
"Yeah, we did," Payback said, high fiving Jake. "And we're going to meet up with Sylvia and Taylor later tonight at a bar on their campus."
Bradley just shook his head. "Wring out your shirts and get in the Bronco. Nat's already going to kill us, I hope you know that."
"Worth it," the three of them said in unison. And while Bradley waited for them to dry off a bit, he sent you a text. 
Can't wait for tomorrow.
And right before he pulled out of the parking lot, you wrote back.
XOXO
And there was a ticket to the USD softball game for tomorrow afternoon attached. 
"Hey, what the fuck?" Jake said as Bradley drove down the road toward the beach. He had his phone to his ear as he added, "Taylor gave me a bogus phone number!"
Payback scrambled to unlock his phone, and a second later, he had it on speaker. "Oops, it looks like the person who gave you this number is not actually interested in you! Better luck next time!"
"Damn," Coyote said, completely crestfallen. "Sylvia gave us a bogus number, too."
"I spent fifty bucks to get this thing washed for nothing!" Jake complained, gesturing around the Bronco.
"I can't believe we all struck out today," Payback whined. "We should have just stopped at In-N-Out."
Bradley bit his lip and shook with silent laughter. "Yeah, you all struck out. What a shame." But he was already thinking about where he was going to take you out for a second date.
-----------------------------
The way Rooster flirts, just holy shit. Thanks @mak-32 and @beyondthesefourwalls.
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palajae · 11 months
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hypegirl! | final.
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PAIRING ▸ soccer player! niki x afab! reader
GENRE ▸ soccerl! au, roommates!au, she's the man! au, romance, fluff, angst, humor
WORD COUNT ▸ 4k
SUMMARY ▸ all you want is to join the boys’ soccer team. all niki wants is to get minji’s attention. as roommates, what better than to strike a deal and help each other out? nothing really, except for one glaring issue: your blossoming feelings for said roommate. oh, and the fact that you’re technically supposed to be your brother, kim sunoo. 
AKA a hopefully more sfw version of she's the man? 
NOTES ▸ based off she’s the man (2006), reader is sunoo's sister and pretends to be her brother sunoo, gender swap, like one curse word, kissing,— please let me know if there’s any typos!
masterlist. | previous.
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I DON’T WANNA FIGHT YOUR SHADOW…
“what? you want to do what?”
niki doesn’t say anything as his head hangs low. he stares at the ground, dark eyebags prominent. 
“niki,” jungwon sighs in exasperation, “let’s think rationally about this. we’ve been working toward this day for weeks. this is it. we can’t make any last minute changes now.” 
“right,” jay chimes in. 
“sunoo’s become a valuable player on the team. we need him. seriously, what could have possibly happened that you suddenly want to kick him off the day of playoffs?” 
niki only shakes his head as the rest of the team exchanges looks. 
“sorry man, but we keep personal business off the field. sunoo’s in, whether you like it or not.” 
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sunoo’s worried—to say the least. between you not replying to any of his texts and the current dilemma at hand, he isn’t sure what to do. 
all he can do is clench his trusty flute as his band arrives at your camp. 
it’s hectic, with kids and directors running around attempting to prepare the performance for the game. essentially a perfect chance for sunoo to sneak and snoop around. 
sunoo manages to spot the boys locker room, and he takes his chance. 
the minute he steps in, he’s greeted by the smell of deodorant, grass, and… the mustiness of sport locker rooms. 
guys are everywhere, clothes and gear strewn all over the place as they prepare for the tournament. 
he glances around for any sight of you, not exactly sure what to look for but still keeping an eye out for a smaller figure. sunoo takes about three steps forward, until he yelps. 
he feels an arm roughly pulling him toward the side, and he whips his head around. 
“sunoo-dude, where were you? we were starting to think you weren’t gonna show up! get changed, the first match is gonna start soon.” 
his heart drops. no way, did they think he was-
a jersey is flung at his face. somehow, in the midst of the chaos, face paint is slathered onto his face, effectively concealing his identity even more. 
where were you? 
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first match, first half—to everyone’s shock—enhypen’s down. 
most yells are directed at, who’d you least expect, kim sunoo. 
“kim! what are you doing?” 
“pass! no-here! to me! ”
“why are you so slow today?!”
all sunoo can do is apologize while wheezing. he wasn’t built for this. it’s not like he had much of a choice, he was shoved onto the field. 
at one point, jungwon’s eyes flash at him and he visibly shrinks.
“dude, i don’t know what’s going on, but we’re subbing you out.” 
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you jump up to the sound of cheers, an announcer yelling—
“and enhypen takes home their first win with a great comeback in the second half!”
enhypen? win? comeback?
you scramble to your feet, heart racing. 
crap. what time was it?
you pat your pockets to no avail. 
that’s right—your phone was left in your dorm…that you couldn’t access because niki kicked you out. 
more cheers from outside bring you back to your current situation. you overslept since you didn’t have your phone alarm. 
the tournament started. enhypen played and won their first match, without you. 
you frown, scrambling to get to the stadium. who in the world played for you? 
once you make it past the crowd of people, coaches, and players, you scan the field. 
and your mouth drops open. 
on the opposite side of the soccer field, sitting on the bench right in front of you, was kim sunoo. the real one, your brother. 
he was decked out in face paint and—
was that your uniform? 
somehow, you manage to make eye contact. you begin mouthing words furiously at him, only for him to point at the crowd. 
frowning, you turn around toward the audience and performing band. you squint. 
your mouth drops again. because there in the crowd, sitting in the middle row right in front of you, were your parents.
immediately, you turn around and flee toward the locker rooms, signaling for sunoo to follow while everyone was still distracted with your team’s win. 
you don’t even get to take a single step when the announcer clears his throat to say something. 
“attention everyone! enhypen is disqualified. they must forfeit this match and immediately report to the main office.” 
gasps and protests immediately ring out. 
you hide behind a water cooler, gauging the guys reactions. they all look confused and upset. 
niki stalks over to the camp director and coach, where an unimpressed taehyun stands with his arms crossed. 
“what’s going on? why do we have to forfeit? we won fair and square, there’s no-“
“i wouldn’t count lying and having a girl on your team as fair and square, nishimura.”
the whole team outbursts, while your coach sighs, rubbing his hand over his face. 
the director eyes sunoo, “we have pretty good reason and evidence to believe that kim sunoo is not who he—or she—states they are.” 
sunoo immediately stands up as the rest of the team gapes at him.
“females are not allowed at this camp, let alone allowed on a team to play in the final championships.”
taehyun nods. he had found too many irregularities with you, kim sunoo. the conversations with your mom, video footage of you sneaking into the locker rooms as a guy and exiting as a girl, and the fake sideburns and eyebrows in the trash can. 
niki stands still, hands clenched as he glares at sunoo. 
he can hear the rest of the guys whispering in disbelief.
“this makes no sense. how could he be a girl after all this time?”
“and no one noticed…”
“—this is absurd.”
the announcer sighs, and speaks up once more to the entire stadium. “i apologize once again to the crowd and opponent team for the inconvenience. enhypen will be removed from the tournament due to dishonesty and lack of regards for the rules. 
i do not want to repeat it—no females are allowed to play on any team for any reason whatsoever!”
you gasp, covering a hand over your mouth. you were still partially hidden, and you know if you were found, it would be over. 
sunoo sighs, facing the guys and camp director. 
“put enhypen back in the game. we didn’t break any rules. i’m not a girl.” 
taehyun’s eyes narrow. “you can’t lie your way out of it again. we have all the evidence we need.”
sunoo gestures out grandly, toward your team and the crowd. 
“do i have to spell it out to you? i’m a guy. this is ridiculous. what, you want me to prove i’m not a girl? i’ll pull down my pants or-“
clamor follows, but it’s stopped by a desperate yell. 
you watch from afar, as your parents stalk up to the director. your mother, as expected, seems adamant as she validates her son’s words. 
“excuse me, but there seems to be an issue with my son, here. there’s no possible way you would be doubting his identity?”
“ma’am, we have submitted evidence that your son sunoo is actually a-“
“and so do i. would you like to see his birth certificate? i didn’t pay for my son to attend this camp to simply get disqualified for a ridiculous accusation.”
after a few minutes of deliberation, against taehyun’s protests, the director sighs and rubs his hands together. you hold your breath. the verdict?
“we apologize for our mistake—enhyphen is not disqualified and will be moving on to the next round. let the next match commence!”
you watch your team breathe a sigh of relief, clapping sunoo on the back. but your gaze can’t seem to stay off of niki. he stays off to the side, fists still clenched. he hasn’t looked or said a single word to sunoo—you. 
you know him, there’s a storm brewing inside. 
and it’s all because of you. 
you see the crowd return to normal, your mom furiously spewing nonsense as your parents walk back to their seats. 
you nod at your brother, this is your chance. 
you run towards an empty hallway, waiting for your brother to bring you your clothes. 
“sorry,” sunoo heaves, “they’re sweaty.”
“it’s okay,” you grab them and shut the unused closet door behind you. “i’m used to it by now.”
sunoo waits outside the old janitor closet, keeping watch as you change and exchange identities, once again. 
once you exit, sunoo’s eyes widen.
“wow, you look exactly like me.” 
you smirk. “and you’re horrible at soccer.”
he shoves you softly and you laugh. “thanks bro. i really owe you one for saving me out there.”
he nods, “anything for my sister. i need to sneak back to the band though. let me know if you need anything and good luck.” 
you hug him quickly. “of course.” the confidence that surged through you as you walked back toward the field, knowing your brother had your back, empowers you. 
“guys,” you call out, “i’m back. what’s going on?”
some of the guys still send you weird looks, but you ignore it. niki’s still ignoring you, and it makes a dreadful feeling grow in the pit of your stomach. 
the matches were cut down in order to fit all of them in one day and preserve the player’s energies. 
but your team was excelling. you had already advanced to the semifinals, as expected. with you back and eager to play, the team was running smoothly. 
after winning your third match, jay and heeseung high five you. 
“nice, sunoo. i don’t know what happened to you during the first game, but you redeemed yourself.” you cough, muttering some lame excuse. 
everything was going great, all except for one person. every break, time out, the whole time, niki acted as if you didn’t exist. 
in the middle of the game, you would keep up with him, waiting for him to pass the ball. but niki being the stubborn person he was, ignored you and tried to keep going even when you were open.
mistakes were costly, and you could feel the tension building up. the other guys were getting agitated, you could tell, but he wouldn’t budge. 
you kept telling yourself, one more match. all you needed to do was win one more match and that would be it. 
it was nearing the end of the day. everyone was sweaty and exhausted. half the crowd had left, but your parents were still there, cheering for their son meanwhile in reality, he was playing in the band a few meters away in the stands and their daughter was on the field. 
the final match was occurring, enhypen vs. zerobaseone. you knew, it wasn’t going to be easy. not with an uncooperative niki. 
and by the first half, you were right. after calling out niki so many times to pass the ball and receiving nothing in response, everyone was on edge. 
the score was still 0-0. several times niki would get the ball stolen or make the ball go out, all while ignoring you. you swear he even tripped you at one point. 
at halftime, your coach and teammates were fed up too. “come on, niki. get your head in the game!”
“what’s going on with you and sunoo today?”
“you’re costing us too many opportunities. kim’s open and you’re obviously not giving it to him for a reason! figure it out, nishimura.” 
all he does is shake his head, chugging water and staying silent. 
you’re tired. your coach shakes his head in frustration, muttering off about personal issues.  
the team is completely off balance, and everyone can feel it. 
but only you can do something about it. 
with heavy breaths, you match up to niki in front of the whole team. 
“nishimura riki!” you call out his real name, causes him to react for a second with the slight widening of his eyes before he reverts to his cold facade again. 
“why are you doing this right now? we’re a team, now that we got so far, don’t you want to win?
“maybe you should’ve thought about that before lying to me and breaking our friendship,“ he replies ruthlessly.  
you sigh, pinching your nose bridge, “it wasn’t my intention to do so! i never had any intention of doing so, and i never will! i don’t like minji and i never tried to get with her.”
you exhale, trying to calm yourself while the whole team was watching. 
“i will never like minji.”
he scoffs, “why should I believe you after everything?”
“because the whole time i’ve been genuine. you’re one of my closest friends i’ve made here at the camp. if i really wanted to date minji, i would have told you that. you know i tried my best to help you,” your voice cracks at the last sentence. 
he looks confused for a second before his eyes harden. 
“whatever, it doesn’t matter anymore. i can’t trust anything you say or do now.”
you grab his arm, desperate. 
“we’ve been honest about everything, haven’t we? i don’t want to lose you, and i don’t want our team to lose this chance of winning. i don’t care about minji. i could prove it right now.”
he challenges you, eyes dark. just like he had since the first day. 
“how? how will you prove it?” 
you close your eyes, taking in a deep breath. you decided this was your chance to let it all out. after this, you would go home anyway. whether you would be forced back to your old, mundane life as your mother wanted was up to the future. you open your eyes, finally feeling like yourself as you begin taking off the fake sideburns, eyebrows, and finally, the wig. 
“like i said, i don’t care about minji.”
you finally untie your hair and shake it out free. 
“i care about you.” 
with an eruption of shocked gasps and whispers, you falter. perhaps you should have waited until after the final game. your true identity and appearance were revealed. everything was out in the open.  
niki states blankly at you, chest heaving. 
you think you faintly hear your parents shriek your name. ignoring them, you step closer to him. 
“i’m sorry. i’m sorry that i lied to you about this. but please believe me when i say i’m y/n, and i never meant to hurt you. so for right now, can we save this for later and just focus on beating the crap out of our opponents?”
you take the chance to glance around, seeing everyone’s shocked expressions.
silence falls as your coach speaks up, “this is illegal…”
you glance away, unable to say or do anything. 
what you don’t expect is the team’s clamors, especially from jungwon who you abruptly make eye contact with. 
he’s the first to speak up and advocate for you staying on the team. 
“coach we all knew the rules… but we can’t not let her play after she’s proven herself all this time.”
“it’s unfair to deny her the right to play after she’s been working so hard this entire season with us!”
as the rest of the boys join in, your coach looks helplessly at the director. soon enough, people from the audience join in too. 
you can’t help the hopeful smile that breaks out on your face, seeing your parents still in shock yet not disapproving.  
after a couple of minutes of deliberation (and your internal praying and pleading) along with the crowd and band’s support, the camp director begrudgingly allows you to play. 
the guys cheer, clapping you on the back and high-fiving you. all except niki, who still lingers at the side with an unreadable expression. 
then, it’s time to play. 
it feels different, already. you feel different—with the wind blowing your hair behind you and the ability to speak in your normal voice, act as your normal self.
no, to be your normal self.
you ran faster, spotted clearer, worked harder. you felt renewed. 
and once you saw the opening, with three minutes left, you glance at niki desperately. you hoped you conveyed everything in your face at that split second, like extending your arm out and hoping he would help you up from the ground. 
niki cleanly passes the ball to you, just so you can score a final goal. 
you don’t even realize it, once the final whistle blows, you almost collapse onto the grass. 
roars erupt in the air, people around you lift you up and throw you around. yet, your eyes are only on one figure to your left. somehow, in all the commotion, niki grabs your hand in happiness. then he realizes the situation and your grip is broken by your ecstatic team. 
your eyes lock for a moment before niki turns away, head slightly shaking and you frown. 
you won. but at what cost? 
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on the last day of camp, after surprisingly receiving a lot of praise from your parents on your performance (as well as an apology from keeping you and sunoo from your respective passions), you finish packing up everything. 
when you got back to the dorms last night, niki was sleeping with the lights off and his back to you. you were still hurt, but at least he let you back into your room. 
you pack up silently, in case he was sleeping. 
even if he was asleep, you speak up softly. 
“i’m sorry. i’m really, really sorry niki….”
his shadowy figure remains unmoving. 
“i-i hope you know everything i ever said and did was genuine. at least, to me it was. i li-“ you bite the words back on your tongue. 
“i cared about you a lot. i care about you a lot. i’ll cherish this summer forever. thank you for the best memories. thank you for changing my life completely. thank you for being you, riki.” 
figuring that anything you two had was over, you got your stuff ready to go while blinking away the tears. 
during the final breakfast, you talked to minji and apologized. she took it much better than you expected, promising to keep in touch as real friends now with no hard feelings left. 
the boys on your team were just as quick to warm up to you. besides consoling you over niki, they promised to keep in touch as well. you were more than glad and appreciative to have friends and soccer mates. 
in your daze, reflecting over the course of the last day or so, you feel your phone vibrate. 
[11:36 am] sunbro: we’re on our way back  
[11:37 am] sunbro: better hurry up if you’re not packed and ready!
you gather your stuff and say your final goodbyes to your coaches, friends, and finally, the camp. 
you’re happy and sad to be leaving it all behind. maybe until next year now that they decided to let girls join this soccer camp. 
with your heavy bags, you trudge along your way outside. you stared around at the campus for the last time by yourself. 
it was strange to have some peace and quiet without the ruckus of the soccer camp and guys. one last attempt to capture everything one last time—one of your most memorable and life changing summers. 
and maybe a tiny bit of you was searching, holding onto that little piece of hope just to see that one person’s face for the last time. 
but it’s silent. you come to a slow when you reach the gates, gathering your stuff to head out. 
now you wait. you wait to leave with much more than you entered with. 
sighing, you freeze when you hear shuffling, the sound of… footsteps approaching you?
you don’t want to get your hopes up, but you hold your breath. 
turning around, you see him. 
your grip on the suitcase squeezes harder. 
he looks divine, comfy in his last day fit that wasn’t his jersey or training uniform. 
“hey,” he starts off. 
“hi,” you breathe. for some reason, you can’t bring yourself to meet his intense gaze.
niki doesn’t say anything at first, so you take the chance to speak up. 
“what’s up? i figured… you wouldn’t want anything to do with me.”   
hands shoved in his pockets, he fidgets on his feet. a tiny smile appears on your face. 
“i don’t know, there’s a lot i’ve been thinking about.”
your chest tightens. “i see. d-do you want to share?” you finally look him in the eye and it’s like time freezes. 
niki isn’t able to handle seeing you like this, your real self. he thought you were too pretty for your own good. too good at pretending to be a guy and too good at making him react like this without even doing anything. without even knowing. 
he thought it was over too. but after he heard what you said that night after the championships, he couldn’t stop thinking about you. about the entire summer with you. this time, he wouldn’t let you slip away from him like you did at the fair.
niki glances down, taking a few steps closer as your eyes widen. “i miss my roommate who was also one of my closest friends. i really, really liked him. but i also really, really like the girl i met at the fair. she was beautiful, charming, uplifting.”
you place a hand over your chest, “i think they feel the same way,” you whisper. 
“i’m really sorry that i didn’t tell you,” you start off, “i was afraid of getting caught-and of all the consequences, so i tried to hide and cover everything up. it was incredibly selfish of me to hurt others, you, without realizing it. i’m so sorry.”
niki reaches a hand out to grab yours, “yeah, you hurt me. but you also healed me. in more ways than you think. i think, if you hadn’t snuck in as a guy, we would have never met and gotten as close as we did. you really changed my life too.” 
he says your name, and you look at him. hesitantly, fearfully. 
as if you would mess it all up again and he would leave you once more. 
you swallow. 
“everything we did together as friends, as someone i wasn’t, just made me like you even more as myself.” 
he takes a step closer. 
“is there any chance we could start over?”
niki chuckles and you feel your face getting hot.
“i’m nishimura riki. and you are?”
you stare down at his offered hand in shock. 
it takes only a second for you to proudly state your name, reaching a hand out to meet his. 
“a pretty name for a pretty face.”
you flush. where did this side of niki come from? 
“it’s very nice to meet you,” he adds, “quite nice. almost an honor after all the things i heard about you, well, from yourself-“ 
you shove niki. there was his playful side again. you relax a little seeing him be more like his old self. 
although, he catches your arm and quickly pulls you into him. 
you almost yelp, wide eyes boring into his playful ones. it feels comfortable in his embrace, almost like home. 
the distance between you two closes, smiles on your faces growing as you feel your heartbeats collide when his lips finally touch yours. 
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“bye mom! i’ll text you later, sunoo!”
your mom yells for you to be careful as you slam the door shut behind you (not without giving your brother a quick hug on the way out).
you carry your duffel bag on one arm as you head over to the waiting vehicle, with a particularly dashing man inside. 
he, however, gets out as you run towards him. he picks you up and spins you around as you laugh at his excitement—it was his favorite sound that he could never get enough of.
he places a sweet kiss on your lips and you smile happily at him. 
“you ready to play, babe?”
“as ready as i’ll ever be, bro.” 
“you totally just did not call your loving, awesome, superior boyfriend that…”
“but i did?” you raise an eyebrow as to challenge him, “and you’re gonna accept it because you like me too much.” 
with a sigh, your boyfriend heeds your words as he always does. 
niki’s arms stay forever wrapped around you and your soccer bag as he awkwardly walks the both of you to your side of the car. 
“whatever, let’s just go kick some ass.” 
“oh, you bet i will.”
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a/n ▸ hi guys... surprise?? yes, i'm alive. i was in the hospital for a little and really needed to focus on my health so i decided to take a break. i apologize for the longass wait on the ending of this series, so i crammed to get it done :) thank you as always for the support and love. i appreciate all the feedback <3 i'll be trying to get back on a better, more consistent schedule so see you guys soon again!
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Note
College Rafe AU where he plays football and they win the big game. because we all saw THE GIF from ‘The other Zoey’ and needed a football au
Was I listening to The Alchemy when I wrote this? Absolutely. My only football knowledge comes from watching Taylor at the games and the smallest from TV shows...so don't take it too seriously. I hope you enjoy <3
Warnings: possible inaccurate football stuff and Taylor references
my taglists are here + you can send requests here at any time
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The February wind blew as you sat in the stands and watched the team finish practice. You usually were tutoring at this hour, but the person canceled at the last minute, leaving you with an hour to spare before your work shift. You hated when people made you waste your time. Going to your dorm would be pointless since your job was on campus, so you went on the football field to surprise Rafe.  
He ran across the field with the football, sweat dampening the collar of his gray tee shirt. You couldn’t help but worry about him getting cold. This Friday was the big championship game and, as the star player, Rafe couldn’t afford to get sick. No offense to the other players, but the team would lose without him.
Coach called the boys over and you watched Rafe taking off his helmet and wiping his face with the bottom of his shirt, flashing his abs. The few girls sitting lower in the stands were wetting their panties at the sight, dreaming impossible things. These abs were only yours to touch. 
Minutes passed, and then Coach blew his final whistle, calling the end of practice. You went down the stands and called out Rafe’s name, tearing his attention from his teammate’s. When his eyes found you, he changed direction and told his teammate he’d catch up with them later. 
‘’Shouldn’t you be tutoring that swim team jerk?’’ 
You tried to not look too annoyed as you explained the situation. ‘’He canceled on me two minutes before the lesson...’’ 
Rafe closed the last steps to you and pulled you in a loose hug, knowing you didn’t like it when he was hugging you with his sweaty body. You didn’t mind the sweat, it was the smell that lingered on your clothes that you didn’t like. One time, your co-worker asked why you smelled like a football locker room after a game… You’ve never been more embarrassed.
‘’I hope you’re charging him for the lesson. He made you waste your time waiting for him.’’ 
You wished you could do that, but that’s not how it worked. 
‘’How was practice?’’ you asked, changing the subject. ‘’You ready for Friday?’’ 
‘’Coach doubled our pre-practice run because Robbe showed up hungover.’’ Rafe groaned, his legs sore from the extra running. 
You drew your eyebrows together. ‘’It’s only Wednesday…’’ 
‘’Exactly. It’s the second time he shows up hungover this month. He better clean his act up before Friday or else Coach is gonna bench him. Just because his father gives big money to the school doesn’t mean he can do shit like that.’’ 
‘’Fucking entitled rich kids.’’
You scoffed. ‘’Sure, Mr. My-Father-Is-Ward-Cameron-And-Owns-An-Estate-Company.’’ 
Rafe rolled his eyes. ‘’Alright, alright.’’ A brisk of wind blew and he scrunched his nose, his cheeks red from the weather. You reached to touch it, and he leaned into the warmth of your palm. ‘’Mmh, that feels nice. Do you want to get pizza and watch a movies?’’ 
‘’Tempting offer, but I have to get going soon. I have work in twenty minutes.’’ 
You pouted and Rafe pulled you closer. 
‘’Fuck work, stay with me.’’ 
A laugh left your lips. ‘’I can’t do that. I’ll get fired.’’ 
On Friday, you met Rafe’s family in the stands. You had met Ward, Rose and Wheezie before, but never Sarah. She was graduating high school this year and hadn’t been able to make it to any of Rafe’s games. It was nice to finally meet her. 
‘’Ah, so you’re the lucky charm,’’ Sarah said, flashing you a smile. ‘’I’ve heard the team is on a winning streak since you and Rafe got together.’’ 
The lucky charm was a joke Rafe’s teammates made after noticing the team had been winning every time you attended. You thought it was only running around school, but apparently Sarah had heard about it. 
The game was close to begin — seven minutes left before kickoff. From high up in the stands, you watched Rafe bouncing on his feet on the sideline, the stress of the game turned into bursts of energy. Damn, did his ass look good in his tight pants. Beside him, Topper was talking to the coach and pointing at something on the field. Perhaps a tactic idea?
You jumped up when the scoreboard came to light and cheered loudly as both teams were welcomed on the field. The ambiance was unlike any of his past games. Players took their positions, adrenaline coursing through their veins and waiting for the referee to blow the whistle. 
As the game unfolded, your focus was on Rafe. He was running across the field, trying to catch the pass Topper made. He caught it, his fingers closing around it securely, but a beefy guy from the other team came from behind, driving him to the ground with a thunderous tackle. 
You winced at the sight. You hated the contact part of football. 
Soon enough, the second period was ending and the half-time began, the score 17-14 in favor of Rafe's team. Sarah and Rose went to the bathroom while Ward went to get drinks and a snack for Wheezie. 
‘’Do you think they’re going to win?’’ she asked, scooting closer to you. 
She had taken a quick liking to you, the girl who had taken her big brother’s heart. 
You took a sip of your drink. ‘’I don’t know. I hope so. Rafe worked hard this season.’’  
Wheezie nodded. ‘’Rafe knows how to play the game and he knows how to win. I’m confident we’ll win this one.’’ 
The third period had barely started when Rafe crossed the field, carrying the ball. He was running so fast and ducking the other players without losing his speed. You held your breath, sitting on the edge of your seat. As expected, someone from the opposing team went to intercept him, but Kelce saw him coming and tackled him, allowing Rafe to score another touchdown. 
‘’Touchdown, Rafe Cameron!’’ The speakers echoed around the field, causing most of the spectators to stand and yell simultaneously. 
You jumped in excitement, a proud smile lighting up your face. ‘’Yes, baby!’’ 
Later in the game, with only thirteen seconds left on the board in the fourth period, the teams were tied. 
A score of 21-21 flashed on the scoreboard. There wasn't much time left, but you’ve seen Rafe score in eight seconds.  
‘’Come on, Rafe, you can do it,’’ you said, although he couldn’t hear you. 
Beside you, Sarah was holding Wheezie’s hand, stressed. 
The referee blew his whistle, signaling the resumption of the game. The crowd erupted into a frenzy of cheers and applause as Rafe dashed across the field, evading defenders with lightning speed. With just three seconds left on the clock, he made a spectacular leap, soaring over the goal line to score the winning touchdown.
The crowd in the stands went wild. Rafe's teammates rushed towards him in a jubilant huddle, their cheers drowning out the roar of the crowd. In their excitement, they lifted him high above their heads, his helmet coming off in the process.
Wheezie jumped, loudly cheering for her brother. ‘’I told you he would win!’’ 
You took your jacket and headed down the stairs, Rafe’s family following behind as the game reporter declared the grand champions, his voice booming over the stadium speakers. 
A lot of people had the same idea, which caused the large field to get crowded quickly. It was difficult to see over the taller heads, but your lips curled into a grin when you saw him standing at the center of it all, with his coach and teammates around him, looking both exhausted and exhilarated. His hair was tousled, his face flushed from the exertion of the game, but there was a radiant smile on his lips as he basked in the glory of victory.
You called out his name and his eyes searched around the field, high on adrenaline. Once he saw you, he broke away from the ecstatic mob of his teammates and sprinted towards you, his eyes shining with excitement. Without a moment's hesitation, Rafe enveloped you in a tight embrace, lifting you off your feet. You wrapped your arms around his neck, giggling and ignoring the sweat that was transferring to your clothes. 
‘’You did it! It was unbelievable,’’ you said, your voice filled with emotions. ‘’You’re the best, baby. The absolute best.’’
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luveline · 2 years
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hi!! i was wondering if you would write more ab spencer, r, and baby amanda from your single dad au? :o they’re so precious <3
Thank you for your request! ♥︎ fem!reader 1.6k
"How come you aren't hungover?" Spencer asks. 
You can barely hear him over the cacophony of the crowd. You're waiting for Hotch to finish his decathlon, the girls in their sunglasses, Jack and Morgan holding a homemade sign aloft. 
Amanda's sitting on the barrier with her weight against Spencer's chest, her soft brown hair splayed out against his collar like a wave. 
"I know the meaning of moderation," you say with a sweet smile. 
You might be imagining the pinking of his cheeks. "Not moderate enough, clearly," he jokes. 
JJ hadn't picked Henry up until three in the morning. Which is fine, Spencer will take Henry whenever he needs to, as per his self-ordained godfathering duties, but when JJ hadn't appeared at 11 like she'd promised, Spencer had obviously been worried. 
"Things got a little… out of control." You dip your face to his ear. "I've never seen Emily dance like that. It was crazy." 
"I wish I could've been there, but we had a date with Edward Tulane, didn't we, Amy?" 
Amanda tips her head back at her father's affectionate tone. "Daddy, I can't feel my butt." 
"Not your butt!" he says, taking her seriously but chuckling at the same time as he pulls her up and off of the barrier. With some careful manoeuvring, he's tucked Amanda into his chest, one hand held protectively over the bottom of her back. The other hooks behind her knees. 
"Is that better?" 
He speaks to her with the same fatherly fondness as always and every time you find yourself melty like butter in the summer sun. In Spencer's eyes, Amanda is the smartest, most interesting girl alive. You're tempted to agree. 
"I was worried it might be depressing for her," he says, tucking her hair behind her ear. "It's sad for a children's story, you know? But she's really interested, and it's important for kids to hear sad stories. Children who read stories with unhappy plotlines are more empathetic, and have a stronger sense of justice." He smiles at her. "Plus, I think it's her favourite so far. She asked if we could read it again, all in one go. It's gonna take hours." 
"That doesn't surprise me. I mean, she's yours. I thought you'd be reading her Tolstoy by now." 
"I'm saving Tolstoy for first grade." 
He's serious. 
Hotch runs through the finish line and the members of the BAU that are assembled cheer loudly. He doesn't seem embarrassed at all, only proud, ducking down to give Jack a sweaty hug. Then he, Jack, and his new girlfriend move away from the group. The remaining members of your team start to break away, too.
The girls all want to go home and die in their own beds. Rossi and Morgan have separate dates. You're thinking you'll go home and shoot the breeze until a more reasonable bedtime when Spencer turns to you with his usual genial smile.
"Do you want to come over? We're gonna make pasta and watch Fraggle Rock." 
Spencer's changed a lot since he became Amanda's primary caregiver, but some things stay the same. He loves doing things with other people and he'll always extend an invite if he thinks the other party might enjoy themselves. Going over for dinner feels a lot more intimate than his having an extra ticket for a foreign film festival, or late night takeout, though. 
"I don't want to impose," you say awkwardly. 
"Do you think you're an imposition?" Spencer asks in concern. 
"No, just, you know, I don't…" 
"Amy doesn't mind. Do you, sweetheart?" 
"What?" says Amanda's little voice. 
"Can Y/N come for dinner?" he asks. 
Amanda smiles, pearly white teeth and cheeks chubby with baby fat. "Yes! We're gonna make pasta and watch Fraggle Rock!" 
You laugh in delight. 
"We decided in the car," Spencer explains. 
"Here I thought you were telepathic." You direct your smile at Amanda's doe eyes. "I'd love to come for dinner. Thanks, baby." 
Spencer has the cleanest car any parent has ever had. You know he spent days choosing the safest one he could find in his budget, and even more days on a car seat. His apartment is just as clean but way more crowded, stuffed to bursting with Amanda's toys and his books. 
"I'm gonna change, do you mind?" he asks, leading you down the hall into the kitchen. Amanda had tipped half a juice box down his front, and the stickiness is clearly making him uncomfortable.
"No, by all means."
He smiles. "Stay here," he says with a feigned sternness, pointing one of his pretty fingers at Amanda. His daughter only giggles. 
You follow Spencer with your eyes as he leaves. 
"Will you take off my shoes, please?"
You look down. Amanda stares up at you, her round eyes pleading, one foot held a half inch off of the ground. 
You leap to action, and say, "Oh! Yeah, baby, no problem," as you get down on your knees. 
They're simple buckles and take all of ten seconds. Amanda holds onto your arm and lifts her feet one at a time so you can pull them off. Her small toes wiggle in her socks when she puts them back on the floor.
"Feel better?" you ask knowingly. 
"Daddy says shoes are a con-d-struct," she tells you. 
"They are!" you say, though whether you really agree might take some thought. "They're silly, huh?" 
"Yeah. If we walked with no shoes, we would have tough skin like trees!" 
"Like trees," you repeat. You love listening to little kids speak because they're so full of joy to share what they know, and Spencer Reid's kid? She is a walking book of facts. "That's so cool, did daddy tell you that?" 
"Daddy tells me everything." 
Spencer appears in a graphic t-shirt. You've only seen him dressed down through barely open hotel room doors or in photographs with Amanda. It takes a second for your brain to recognise what you're seeing. 
He's a genius, so he understands what you're doing immediately. 
"Oh no," he coos, bending down to take Amanda's shoulders into his hands. "I'm so sorry," —he kisses the top of her head— "I forgot all about your shoes. How will you ever get tree bark feet?" 
It's sweet to see how she responds to his affection. Her eyes squint closed and she smiles softly, giggling when he scratches her shoulders through her dress. 
"Thanks for releasing her, she can't stand wearing shoes when she doesn't have to," he says to you, nudging her out of the way to offer you his hand. 
You take it, letting him pull you up. He doesn't let go of you straight away, instead brushing his thumb over your fingernails, one after another. 
"I've been meaning to ask you to dinner for a while. I– I've never been any good at this part, I thought it would be harder, because Amanda's the only girl in the world I understand no matter how many books I read, and that's not going to last forever, but I…" Spencer's voice steadily quietens, until the tone he's using is dulcet, and his brows have pulled together. He's just as pretty frowning as smiling. "It feels easy, with you," he finishes. 
"Are we having macaroni?" Amanda asks. 
Spencer looks torn. "I was thinking rigatoni," he says. 
"Gross, dad." 
"Farfalle?"
"Bowties?" she questions suspiciously. 
"Is that better than rigatoni?" he asks. 
Amanda dwells on this, leaning her weight into your leg. It's an unthinking gesture that fills you with light. 
"We can't have macaroni?" 
You know from Spencer's bemused sigh alone that she's about to get her way. 
"Do you mind?" he asks you. 
Amanda pins you with a pout, raising her hands into a praying triangle. Her puppy dog eyes are killer and unnecessary. 
"Whatever you want, babe," you say hurriedly. 
She bursts off to her toys with an excited cheer. You're sorry to see her go, petrified of embracing yourself, and still majorly caught off guard by what Spencer said. He's wanted to ask you over for dinner for a long time, does that mean he likes you? And the way he'd held your hand — that's not an ambiguous affection. 
You like Spencer. All the small things that make him him, and the huge things too. His daughter, his books, his genius mind and his clumsy heart. If he likes you too, you might just combust. 
Spencer nips into the living room to put Fraggle Rock on TV. Amanda's sweet voice chases his heels, her singing a mixture of melodic gibberish and passionate recitation. 
You linger as he starts to gather what he needs for dinner. He's either not worried about what you think of his confession or trying to hide that he is, knee deep in a recount of the invention of boxed mac and cheese when you touch his elbow. 
"I know what you mean, about what you said before, I feel the same. It feels easy with you." 
You don't know what it is. But Spencer knows everything, so you aren't worried. 
He beams. His smile warps each word he says as he turns back to the saucepan he's filling with pasta. "Maybe we should get dinner without Fraggle Rock, sometime." 
"I don't know, I don't think it gets any better than this." You nod your head toward the living room, Amanda's singing an adorable echo. 
His smile grows impossibly bigger. 
"Me neither," he says. 
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celiawrites14 · 2 months
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Revelation S.R.
Summary: based on the Criminal Minds episode Revelation (2x15)
Y/N Hotcher (Little Hotch) x eventual Spencer Reid
Warnings: angst, Spencer being tortured, Tobias Henkel, usual Criminal Minds stuff?, swearing, reader/I being really angry at the world because she loves Spencer but won't admit it, friends to lovers, emotions, idk if I am missing anything
LONG AF AND NOT PROOFED
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“Where’s Spencer?” I asked, looking around the farm. “And JJ?”
“I don’t know, come check out the barn with me and Prentiss.” Morgan told me. We made our way to the barn and when we opened it, JJ pointed her gun at us, eyes wild.
There was a lot of commotion with trying to get JJ to lower her gun. I noticed the dead dogs. Jezebel. Oh God.
“Tobias Henkel is the unsub.” JJ told us once she realized it was us.
“We know,” I said gently.
“We just thought he was a witness. I had to kill them.” She said referring to the dogs. I glanced at the dead animals again and rubbed my temples. “There’s nothing left.”
“JJ, where’s Spencer?” I asked her but she didn’t answer me.
“JJ, look at me,” Prentiss prompted. JJ focused on her. “Where’s Reid?”
“Oh, uh, we split up. He went around back.”
I ran back outside to tell Dad and Gideon that we found JJ but not Spencer.
"Dad,” I called, running up to him. “Dad, JJ was in the barn, but Spencer’s not.”
“We searched the rest of the property and the house and he’s not there either. Neither is Henkel.”
“So,” I gulped, looking at my dad. “So where’s Spencer?”
“I don’t know. But we will find him.” Dad promised me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was standing with JJ and Emily by the ambulance while they checked JJ out.
“Hey, any sign of him?” Prentiss asked Morgan and he shook his head.
"You can't find Reid?" JJ asked, confused.
"Not yet," Prentiss told her.
"Prentis, Little Hotch." Derek pulled us away from JJ. "I think Reid followed him into the cornfield, it looks likes somebody got dragged." I rubbed my temple, trying to push away the stress migraine that was impounding.
"Hey, what's going on?" Prentiss asked the officer who just got off the phone.
"The sheriff two towns over. He just gave directions to a man who fit Henkel's description. It's to a motor lodge in Fort Bend."
"Let's get Hotch and Gideon." Morgan said and I went back to JJ.
After hours of not finding Spencer, morning came which brought Penelope too.
"You know they do have hotels in Georgia." She told me and Aaron.
"There's no sense splitting time between here and a field office." He told her, ushering her into the house.
"Right." She agreed warily, looking around the property.
"Think of the house as a witness," He explained to her. "If it could talk, what would it tell us?"
"My guess is it would tell us to get the hell out." She responded.
We made our wait into the main living room and JJ greeted Penelope with, "Welcome to our nightmare."
"His computer is an extension of his brain," Gideon told her. "I need you to dissect it."
"I'll get you set up, come on." Derek told her, taking her to where the computers were at.
"I'll come with," I mumbled, walking past my dad and everybody else, to go with Penelope and Morgan.
The rest of our team filled Dad in on everything, but there was no evidence pointing where Spencer and the unsub could be.
"Okay, right out the gate, the guy is self taught." Penelope told us. "His mainframe is totally idiosyncratic, but it's pretty brilliant."
"Talk to me about what this son of a bitch watches online. What the hell is all of this?" Morgan told her, trying his best to figure out the computers and how we could use it to help us know Henkel better.
"It's tame stuff, video games, software sports. Seriously, if I had to guess whose system this belongs to, I would say a crazy smart high school kid."
"Well clearly it's not Penelope. Can you please find us something that will help us find Spencer?" I snapped before walking out the room and back outside.
I hated this. How could Spencer have gotten so far away so fast? Where the hell was he being held? Please God, I begged, please bring him back to me. Please. I hadn't prayed in years, especially with my mom and dad fighting, but I knew we had a slim chance at getting Spencer back, and God was probably the only person to bring him to me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey guys!" Morgan called to us, I looked up at him from where I was sitting with Gideon on the steps. "I think I got something."
I ran over to where he was and he found a cellar.
I pulled out my gun as Morgan opened the door. "Tobias Henkel, FBI!" Dad and I followed him inside. We got our flashlights out and searched the ice cellar. "Tobias Henkel! Tobias!"
Dad moved closer to the unmoving body. "I think we just found Henkel's father." Well, shit.
We made our way out of the cellar and let CSI do their thing while we went back into the house.
"You need to get some sleep." Gideon told me and I rolled my eyes. "Sometimes it felt like I had two dads between Hotch and Gideon.
"I'm fine."
"When was the last time you slept?" JJ asked me.
"When was the last time for you?" I snapped back, my anger seeping through. I wanted to find Spencer. I wanted him back.
"Y/N, you need to get some sleep." Dad told me and I stomped my foot.
"Is that an order?" I demanded, looking my dad square in the face.
"Yeah, it is." He shot back and I threw my gun on the table, making JJ jump at the noise. I went into the living room and grabbed my blanket and my dad's pillow from the corner and laid on the floor to take a nap. There was no way in hell I was sleeping on any of the furniture here. After a few minutes, I felt JJ come sit by me, resting her back against the couch.
"I'm sorry." She muttered.
"I'm sorry too." I muttered back.
"I'm so stressed out that I can't sleep." She admitted after a few minutes.
"I can't either. I just want to find him." I relented.
"I saw you guys, at the club. You danced."
"Liquid courage fixes a lot of the world's problems. Sometimes."
"You guys would be cute together."
"You must be sleep deprived."
"I know what I saw at the club. You both like each other, you're practically dating anyways, why not just make it official?" And with that thought running through my brain, I fell asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Morgan just told me that he thinks the stressor is the father's death, which happened about six months ago." Dad told me and Gideon as we sifted through the papers.
"So basically he has split personality disorder?" I banged my head on the table.
"This journal is filled with religious ramblings." Morgan told us, coming into the room with the journal. "He notates hour by hour. November 15th, 3:17 - if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offering unto the Lord, ye shall offer it at your own will. And it goes on and on. 5:04, 7:41, 10:22, 1:42. But then it goes blank for days."
Morgan handed me the journal and I looked at it, getting a sense of who Henkel was. Dad put a hand on his head, thinking. "Maybe he got sick of writin'," The sheriff suggested.
"I think I got it," Dad said, and I looked at him hopefully.
"What is it?" Gideon asked him.
"Yeah, Dad, what did you figure out?"
"Journal entry - December 6th - father sick, wants me to put him down. I say, "Thou shalt not kill," He says, "Honor thy father." Must pray for guidance." Oh. So he killed his dad...
Before I could finish my thought, Gideon interrupted. "So he kills his father as an act of mercy?"
"Some sick sort of mercy." I muttered, flipping through the journal in my hand before giving it back to Morgan.
"This is two months ago. Tobias Henkel's father had been dead for four months already." Dad told us.
"That's exactly it. Look at the floor," Morgan told us, pulling a chair out for us to see. "These scuff marks are fresh." He was right, they were. "I mean it's like two people were moving the chairs constantly, trying to fight for control."
"So?" The sheriff asked.
"This journal matches Charles Henkel's handwriting, but it was written after he died. Upstairs, Tobias' bedroom - it's got junk puled from the floor to the ceiling, but the other bedroom could pass a military inspection." Morgan explained.
"So are you telling me, one of Tobias' personalities was his father?" The sheriff asked, trying to make sense of this situation.
"Well," Gideon put in, "Tobias was raised with a strict religious code - black and white - right and wrong. When his father asked Tobias to kill him, something had to give."
"And his brain couldn't handle the moral contradiction, so it split into two personalities." Dad said.
"To keep his father alive." I finished.
"So... who is Raphael?" The sheriff asked, confused.
"My guess - he's a mediator between the two. Angels have no human emotions. Live or die, they don't care, as long as it's God's will."
"We need to start profiling Tobias' father. He may be the one who chose where to take Reid."
"I'll get Penelope on it." I said, standing up and walking to the computer room.
"Pen, I need you to log into the system as Tobias' father."
"The system was set up three months ago. The dad was already dead."
"She knows that, smarty pants, but do it for your favorites anyway, alright?" Morgan said, coming in behind me.
"Okay," Penelope said, starting to type.
"Charles Henkel." Derek told her.
Tons of horrifying imagines and videos showed up on the screen. I closed my eyes and cracked my neck. This was going to be bad.
"Woah," Penelope said trying to take it all in.
"He's crazy." I mumbled. "Like crazy crazy. I can't imagine having split personalities, let alone, one of them be insane."
After a few minutes of Penelope trying to do her thing, the computers went blank.
"What happened?" Morgan asked her, confused.
She wasn't much help because she was equally confused. "I don't know?"
"What do you mean, you don't know?" I demanded, scared.
All of a sudden on most of the screens, Spencer showed up. He was bound to a chair beaten and bloodied.
"Oh my god." Penelope said, taking the words straight from my mouth.
"Guys! Guys!" Morgan shouted to the team. "Get in here!"
"He's been beaten." Prentiss said, assessing him.
"Can't you track him?" JJ asked, confused. I put a hand over my mouth, trying to remain composed.
"Henkel's only streaming this to his home computer." Penelope told them.
"This is for us, for Y/N, he knows we're here."
"I'm gonna put this guy's head on a stick." Morgan spat, angry.
"Why can't you locate him?" Dad asked Penelope.
"He's rerouting to a different I.P Address every thirty seconds. I can't track him."
"Can you really see inside men's minds?" Tobias asked Spencer. "See these vermin. Choose one to die. I'll let you choose one to live."
"No," I gasped at Spencer'svoice.
"I thought you wanted to be some kind of savior." Tobias said.
"You're a sadist ina psychotic break. You won't stop killing. Your word's not true." Spencer told him, trying to snap him out of the personality he was in. Tobias was either Raphael or his father at the moment.
"The other heathens are watching. That whore of yours, she's watching. Choose a sinner to die, and I'll say the name and address of the person to be saved."
"I won't choose who gets slaughtered and have you leave their remains behind like poacher." Playing into the fantasy. Good job, Spence, I thought.
"Can you really see into my mind, boy?" Tobias demanded lifting Spencer out of the chair. I gasped audibly, grabbing onto Gideon's arm. "Can you see I'm not a liar?" He yelled. "Choose one to die, and save a life. Otherwise, they're all dead."
"Alright," Spencer gave in, not wanting more people than necessary to die. "I'll choose who lives."
"They're all the same." Tobias spat at him.
"Far right screen." Spencer finally said.
"Marilyn David, 4913 Walnut Creed Road." Tobias said.
"You got that?" Dad asked Penelope.
"Yeah." She said, typing her fastest on the computer.
Gideon typed the phone number on a phone and it dialed.
"Hello?" The voice on the other end said.
"Marilyn David. My name is Jason Gideon. I'm with the FBI."
"What?" She said alarmed, Gideon told her to turn her computer off immediately and she did so.
"You're Raphael." Spencer said. Before anything else could happen, the screen went dark. Morgan walked out of the room, angry, and punched the door. I gripped JJ's hand hard, needing the contact to stay grounded.
"So now what? We wait for a 911 call, and hope we get there in time?" The sheriff asked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the next victims were killed, Dad, Gideon and I went to the crime scene.
"Slaughtered, same as the others. We've got roadblocks for a fifteen mile radius. Every unit's on the road, but so far nothing." I pushed the stray hairs out of my face and looked at the crime scene.
"I don't know how much longer Reid can hold out," Dad said quietly, giving in to his fear that Spencer might not make it.
"Who were the victims?" Gideon asked, ignoring Dad.
"Pam and Mike Hayes. He was a local defense attorney."
"And what Bible passage was left?" Gideon asked another question. I went and stood next to him.
"Isaiah 59. No one calls for justice, "no one pleads their case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies they conceive trouble and give birth to evil."
Gideon got close to the camera, "Reid, if you're watching, you're not responsible for this. You understand me? He's perverting God to justify murder. You are strong than him. He cannot break you."
"We're not getting any closer." Dad told us.
"Reid's brilliant. He'll figure out how to survive." Gideon said, trying to reassure us, himself included.
"You know, I always take advantage of Reid for his brain, but I never actually teach him how to deal with things emotionally."
"Lead by example." Gideon responded.
"What kind of example is that?" Dad asked.
"He'll make it."
"He has to." I whispered. "He has to make it." God, I prayed. Bring him back to me. Please just bring him back to me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We can trace their whole family history." Morgan said, looking at the evidence board we made up. "Here we got happy, smiling pictures of Tobias. Report cards all As and Bs, but as an eight year old, we get nothing."
"That's his mother leaving." Prentiss said from her spot next to me. "Six months later, on the other side of the board, we have a form from child services saying they paid a visit."
"Then Charles starts keeping journals about punishing sinners and needing to remove the devil from his son." I added. "Which corresponds to Tobias' drug use. He's trying to escape."
"So wherever Reid is, it was Tobias' choice, not this fathers." Morgan told us.
"How do you figure?" Prentiss asked him.
"Look at these two lives." Morgan pointed out. "They're like inverse graphs. One's getting weaker while the other one's getting angrier. Tobias would run away, his father would have stood and fought."
"Okay, so Tobias uses drugs as an escape. I'll go back through the journals with Y/N and see if we can find anything connecting his drug use to a hiding place."
"Uh, where's Gideon?" JJ asked walking into the room.
"He's upstairs. Why? What's going on?" Morgan asked her. JJ glanced at me before responding.
"Henkel's jut posted the latest murder."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We all gathered in the computer room to watch. It was horrific. Absolutely horrific. In everyway imaginable.
"I don't understand, why can't we just shut it down?" Gideon asked, pacing, confused by technology.
"Because I can't pinpoint his IPF." Penelope tried to explain.
"Just remove it once he sends it." Jason told her.
"It doesn't work like that." I said. "It's the internet."
"It's the internet, sir. Like Y/N said. Once something's out there, you can never take it back."
"It must remain. You can't undo anything."
"Right, you can't once it's up. Once it's up, it's up forever."
"I hate technology. Can you please do something? Anything? I do not want him thinking he has a pulpit."
"I have a list of everyone from the file-sharing chain. I could send out a mass warning that the video is actually a virus. I'm gonna do that. Okay." Penelope sent it out.
After a few moments, Tobias, as Charles, started streaming live again. "Do you think you can defy me?" Tobias said.
"I don't know what he's talking about." Spencer pleaded with him.
"You're a liar! You're pitiful! Just like my son. This ends now." I gasped when he pulled the gun on Spencer. "Confess your sins. Confess!" He hit Spencer in the face, making me cry out.
"I haven't don anything! Tobias, help me!" Spencer begged. I covered my mouth, tears streaming down my face.
"He can't help you. He's weak." Tobias, as Charles, said to him.
"Tobias!" Spencer cried.
"Confess your sins!" Tobias, as Charles, demanded again.
"Help!"
"Oh my god. He's killing him." Penelope said. I put the other hand over my mouth, trying to stifle my cries as Spencer started choking and the chair toppled over with him in it. He was dying. Actually dying.
Gideon stormed out and Dad, Prentiss, JJ and Morgan raced in. I hugged Dad tightly as Penelope explained what happened. Dad pulled away and went to get Gideon. I continued to silently cry. God, please, please save him. Let him come back to me. Please. I kept praying it over and over in my head, hoping He was listening.
Tobias came back into the room and started performing CPR on Spencer. Eventually after a few rounds, Spencer started coughing and breathing. I let out a strangled cry before clamping my mouth shut.
"Wait, wait a second." Prentiss said. "When was the last video posted?"
"9:23." Penelope responded.
"And - and what was the time of death?" She asked.
"The 911 call came in at 9:04 and the murder must have been moments later." Dad told her.
"That's only a 19 minute difference!" I said, looking over at JJ who nodded.
"How long would it take to post the mpeg?" Morgan asked Penelope.
"Two or three minutes." Penelope mumbled, guessing.
"Let's call it two." Morgan said.
"You figure a maximum of 60 miles an hour in a residential area." I piped up again. "That means Henkel has to be within a seventeen mile radius of the crime scene."
"Garcia, can we see it on a map?" Dad asked her and she did what he asked and pulled it up on the computer.
"Call Farrady." Gideon said. "I want that area locked down like it's martial law." JJ got up to go call him.
"Guys."
"You came back to life." Tobias said as Raphael.
"Raphael." Spencer said.
"There can only be one of two reasons." He declared.
"I was given CPR." Always with the science.
"There are no accidents. How many members are on your team?" Tobias, as Raphael, asked.
"Excluding me, seven."
"The seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The first sounding followed hail and they were thrown down to earth."
"He thinks it's Revelation. The seven archangels versus the seven angels of death." Dad said, understanding the unsub.
"Tell me who you serve." Tobias, as Raphael, demanded. Pulling Spencer up to sitting.
"I serve you." Spencer croaked.
"Then choose one to die." My eyes widened in fear.
"What?" Spencer asked, confused, trying to stall and come up for time.
"Your team members - choose one to die." He repeated himself.
"Kill me." Spencer pleaded. What?
"You said you weren't one of them." He reminded Spencer.
"I lied."
"Your team has seven other members. Tell me who dies!"
"No!" I grabbed Dad's arm in a panic when he pulled a gun on Spencer. Dear God, please save him. Please save him. Please. Please Please.
He rolled the chamber of the gun. "Choose, and prove you'll do God's will."
"No." He clicked the gun. Dad used his free hand to cover his mouth.
"Choose." Tobias, as Raphael, demanded.
"I won't do it." Spencer told him, looking him square in the face. He shot again, but no bullet came out.
"Life is a choice."
"No." The gun clicked again. No bullet.
"Choose."
"I... I choose Aaron Hotchner." There was a moment of relief before Spencer started talking. "He's a classic narcissist. He think's he's better than everyone else on the team. Genesis 23:4. "Let him not deceive himself and trust in emptiness, vanity, falseness, and futility, for these shall be his recompense. In emptiness, vanity, falseness, and futility, for these shall be his recompense."
Tobias, as Raphael, took the bullet out of the camber. "For God's will." and put it back in and spun it.
We all walked out into the main room. "I'm not a narcissist." Dad said.
I looked at Gideon and then my dad. "Come on. Look. You can't take anything from that. He's not in his right mind, Hotch."
"Dad, he's trying to live." I pointed out.
"No. Stop. Stop." Dad said. "Alright, everybody right now - what's my worst quality?" Nobody said anything. "Okay, I'll start. I have no sense of humor."
"You're a bully." JJ said, referring to how he treats unsubs.
"I'm a bully," He agreed.
"You can be a drill sergeant sometimes." Morgan said.
"Right." Dad agreed.
"You don't trust women as much as men." Prentiss said.
Dad looked at me to say something but I shook my had. I wasn't going to say anything back about my dad.
"Okay, good." He relented. "I'm all of these things, but none of you said that I ever put myself above the team, because I don't ever."
"You don't, Dad." I agreed with him. Not sure where he was going with this, I indulged him nevertheless.
"I don't. Reid and I argued about the definition of classic narcissism, and he knew that I would remember that. And he also quoted Genesis chapter 23 verse 4." He picked up one of the many Bibles around the house and handed it to me. "Read it."
"I am a stranger and a sojourner with you. Give me property, forbear a place among you that I may burry my dead out of my sight." I read from the Bible.
"He wouldn't get it wrong unless it was on purpose." Dad scoffed, knowing that Spencer tricked Tobias/Charles/Raphael.
"He's in a cemetery." Morgan concluded.
"I don't see a cemetery." Prentiss said, looking a the map on Penelope's screen.
"Call up the first time we saw Reid." Gideon thought aloud. Penelope did what he asked. "I won't choose who gets slaughtered and have you leave their remains behind like a poacher."
"Check to see if there's any poaching in the last couple days." I demanded, pacing back and forth in the back of the room.
"Okay, uh." Penelope typed as fast as she could. "A farmer reported two sheep being slaughtered on his property."
"Where are we talking?" Morgan asked. She pulled it up on the map.
"What's that patch of green there?" JJ asked her.
I moved closer to the computer, wedging myself between Dad and Gideon.
"Marshall Parish. I think that it's an old plantation." Dad said.
"Wait." Prentiss said.
"Tobias wrote in his journals about staying clean and keeping away from the Marshall." My brain rapid fired.
"Guy's there's a cemetery on the grounds." Penelope told us.
We all rushed to the vehicles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Spread out! They have to be on foot! Let's go!"
"Spencer!" I screamed. "Spencer! Spencer!" I screamed when I heard the gun shot. I ran towards the noise, everybody else right with me.
"You alright?" Dad asked Spencer after getting him on his feet. I stared at him blankly. He was here. He was alive. He was here.
"I knew you'd understand." He told Dad, hugging him before moving on to JJ.
"I am so sorry." She told him. I put my hands on my face and tried to remain calm. He was alive. He was alive. Thank you God. Thank you for bringing him back to me. Thank you.
"It's alright. It wasn't your fault."
"Let's get you out of here." Gideon said, reaching for Spencer. Spencer pushed away from him and into my arms. I burst into tears.
"I'm okay, you saved me." He mumbled into my hair. "I'm okay."
I clutched to him, holding onto him tightly. “Please don’t leave me again.” I begged. “Please.” I bagged my hands in his shirt.
“I won’t. I’m okay.” He repeated pulling away after a few minutes.
“Okay, let’s get you to an ambulance.” Gideon said again.
“Please - can I have a minutes alone?” Spencer asked.
“I’m not leaving you again.” I clutched his hand.
“I’ll just be a minute.” He squeezed. “Okay? Just a minute.”
Gideon pulled me away from Spencer, giving him a minute.
When Spencer caught back up to us, I held his hand again.
“Please don’t leave me.” I begged as we got to the ambulance.
“I won’t, I won’t leave you.” He promised me sitting in the back of the bus. I leaned my head on his shoulder, sighing at the nightmare this case was.
Part 2 coming soon!
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quirkwizard · 2 months
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Pro Heroes at the Olympic Games
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Well, it's been another three years and another Summer Games has rolled around. Only seems fair I'd try again with a post about what heroes would belong in what games. This can be based on anything from powers to skills to whatever I think would be the funniest to see.
Kamui Woods-Archery: I just think it'd be really cool for Kamui Woods to make a bow and arrow from his wooden body. I don't need any more reason than that.
Midnight-Rhythmic Gymnastics: I mean, a whip is pretty close to a ribbon. And it's not like the outfit she has to wear is that much different from her hero costume.
Sir Nighteye-Golf: Sir Nighteye seems like the kind of guy that would be into golfing. That's it. I just thought it'd be fitting for the guy that looks and dresses like a stoic businessman.
Hound Dog-Handball: This is a sport all about catching and throwing a ball around and keeping it away from another team. Naturally, this should be no problem for the man who is part dog.
Beast Jeanist-Diving: The need for precision and elegance would, in this event, fit great with someone like Best Jeanist. That and it's the sport with the least amount of clothing for him to cheat with.
Mount Lady-Sports Climbing: She's got mountain in her name. Of course that means she's good at climbing. Oh, who am I kidding? She'll just turn giant-sized and reach the top instantly.
Snipe-Shooting: Considering all of his shots are guaranteed hits, I would want to see how disrespectful Sniper would get with this. Like doing it with his eyes closed or even shooting other people's targets.
Miruko-Basketball: I could have chosen any leg-based sport for her, but I wanted to pick the one with some more direct competition. Plus, there is the easy reference in putting her in a Toon Squad jersey.
Present Mic-Breaking: Yeah, apparently breaking dancing is considered an Olympic sport. And look me in the eye and tell me Present Mic of all people doesn't know how to break dance.
Nezu-Table Tennis: This is just the only sport that I think could fit him. Literally. He might be too small to use or do any of the sports on the roster. Even then, he's going to have to wield the paddle like a claymore.
Wild Wild Pussycats-3x3 Basketball: Considering this is one of the few team events that requires such a small number, it only feels fitting to place Ragdoll, Mandalay, and Pixie Bob here. And what about Tora? He can be a cheerleader.
Fat Gum-Wrestling: Could you imagine someone trying to wrestle as big and plushy as Fat Gum? They're going to go in for the grapple and immediately sink right inside of him. Now the real question is whether or not it counts as a clinch or a pin.
Eraserhead-Artistic Gymnastics: I wanted to give him Rhythmic Gymnastics so badly with how well it fits him, he even has the ribbon for it, but it's a women's only sport in the games. Still, this fits well enough with his impressive acrobatic skills.
Edgeshot-Fencing: Perfect set up for a fencer. He can make himself as thin as an epee and extend himself out as his pleases. Plus, it's the only official sport that lets you wear a mask in game, which should be no issue for Edgeshot.
Endeavor-Boxing: While I could say that I think that Endeavor is smart enough to handle the sweet science of boxing, the real reason is that he is that huge. I don't even think he'd need his powers to demolish someone in the ring.
Gang Orca-Water Polo: While Gang Orca would kill in any of the water-based events, he would definitely kill it in an event where hitting something really hard is part of the goal with his strength boost. Seriously, his spike might actually kill someone.
Ectoplasm-Rowing: This sport is all about being as in sync as possible with the rest of the rowers. Why bother when you can have your hivemind of clones work perfectly together? And if any of them run out of juice, just switch out one of your clones with a fresh one, no one will notice.
Hawks-Skating: Like Sir Nighteye, Hawks just looks and acts like he would be a skater. It wouldn't surprise me if it was part of his training at the Hero Commission to appeal to a younger demographic. Now he can truly become like his heroic namesake, Tony Hawk.
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strawberryseeded · 10 months
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thinking abt bllk (no surprise there) and how (at least until now) all (well, most of?) the characters backstories aka basically the reason for their most prominent issues are, instead of extremely tragic and complex events, simply children's logic applied to recurrent situations in their daily lives (and especially the sport they love):
bachira feels lonely: bachira was a weird and lonely kid who was also extremely passionate abt (and talented in) football, more than any other kid, making bachira feel isolated even when he was playing with others. this got even worse when the kids he played with started to resent him, calling him a "monster" and bullying him. while talking with his mom, she told him to keep believing in his inner voice and ignore those who dont understand him, resulting in bachira giving that voice the form of a "monster" that can play football with him to feel less lonely. which, obviously, made him even more lonely, even if it was an imaginary friend created to aliviate that feeling. because bachira still felt lonely, even after many years and even after playing with other people in school who werent any fun for him, he kept the monster by his side. believing no one could ever beat this monster (thank GODNESS he did 🎉!!! HE is the monster no one can beat!!!! his arc is one of my favs hes literally unstoppable now, i love him dude i love h)
isagi holds himself back too much: isagi (i read the light novel abt him hehe) was a timid and mild mannered kid until he discovered football, which he fell in love with. while playing the sport he could let go of his shyness and actually be selfish and go all out. uuuntil... he entered his high school's reputable football club, where the motto was to play as a team above everything else (a very anti-blue lock logic lol). isagi then, in an effort to accomodate to the social norms of the club (bc hes isagi, and off the field hes calmer and timider), had to simmer down in the field as well. supress himself. at times it seems like his on and off switch is kind of stuck.
barou has main character syndrome: barou was a very, on top of talented, meticulous kid and therefore the best in football out of every other kid he knew, who didnt take it as seriously and were more than happy to let him score all the goals. he didnt understand why they were satisfied with letting other people take all the glory, so he secluded himself, convinced that he was the only player that actually mattered on the field. the best. the Main Character. everyone else was completely worthless, their only use being to serve HIM. (until he got his ass kicked by isagi and became the villan instead of the main character, bc oh, shit, barou's not actually the main character???? then he'll hunt down & DESTROY the main character).
rin (god, rin) has a brother complex (i used to hate when ppl oversimplify whats wrong w him w this term but tbh it does boil down to this lol ToT): rin idolized his older brother like crazy and wanted to be just like him. bc he was also blessed with talent and also had a great relationship w sae, he had everything he needed to fulfill his dream of being the 2nd best striker, the 1st obviously being his older brother, who rin viewed as the best, most talented player in the world. when sae comes back from spain and tells him 'the world is big and im not actually the best, you go and be the best striker by yourself' (basically: our (your) dream is over), rin has a fucking breakdown. its not really a tragic, despair-inducing event, objectively speaking. but in the manga its framed as such bc for rin, in his childish logic, it is. bc his brother IS the BEST player, what the fuck do you mean hes not number 1 outside of japan?? ....then what about rin? if his brother cant be the best, rin cant be the 2nd best either, let alone the best. he feels like sae ruined everything, gave up, broke their (rin's) dream!!!! after sae humilliates him, rin directs all of his frustrations at him and bows to defeat him. as long as rin sees himself as sae's little brother, he's never gonna be able to surpass him, bc in rin's mind, sae is still the best, his talented big brother.
ness believes kaiser, not him, is the magician: ness's case is more serious bc his family was (is?) emotionally abusive towards him. basically, like every other kid, ness believed in magic. the concept of magic is exciting for children and gives them, in the form of play, the opportunity to express their creativity and exercise their imagination; work out a way to make the impossible come true. bc this is so important for their development, usually its the parents role to, at least to a certain degree, keep alive the belief that magic is real. ness's parents, on the contrary, shut down this belief bc it didnt match with their own views. they saw his interests as a waste of time, even letting his sibilings bully him and treat him badly to make him give up on them. ness, however, didnt, and instead found a more socially acceptable way to 'do magic' and express his creativity: football. he feared greatly, however, that football would be taken away from him, so in that faithful match in which he met kaiser he decided to put all of his trust and hard work on him, bc ness believed kaiser was the person who would be able to make the impossible, the magic that ness wanted to create, happen. i think the key to unlock his full potential is stop relying on kaiser so much and start believing in his own magic (kind of like what happened in hiori's arc). we have yet to know kaiser's backstory but i have a feeling those two enable each other's worst traits...
ETC !!!! sorry i got tired of writing lol
anyways these r just my interpretations of the characters feel free 2 b like "was is she ON about"
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wonderingpanda · 1 month
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MM/Tales Mikey and his S/O. being "improv bf and ballet gf"?
Improvisational Ballerina
Tottmnt!Mikey x Ballerina!Reader
Ok, I had no idea if that post was going to get out there but it did so that’ll you guys! I have 3 other request to work on at the moment and I love them all so thank you, keep it coming! I tried to stick to clichés mostly as I really wasn’t sure how to write this but I hope I did well so please, enjoy!
You and Mikey first met in dance
It seemed like a fun elective and most of his improv friends were doing it so he figured, why not?
Upon entering the classroom, you were one of the first people he noticed
You were just sitting there, doing some personal stretches before warm-up, and all he could think was
“Damn, that girl can bend like spaghetti! Or pizza I guess. Mmmm I love pizza. Shoot, now I’m craving pizza! With a golden crust and gooey, delicious cheese…”
“Mikey! We’re about to start dude.” He was so deep into his own thoughts his friend had to snap him out of it. Wouldn’t be the first time either
“Oh yeah totally, I’ll be right there.” And as he moved to go find a spot, he couldn’t help but notice you gazing over in his direction. Interesting… very interesting
As time went by he kept being drawn to you. He noticed you in the halls, at lunch, but most of the time he’d be caught looking over at you during dance
Eventually, the class had to split into groups and each work on an ensemble piece to present. Turns out, you guys had quite a few mutual friends and ended up being dragged into the same group together
Mikey, ever the extrovert, immediately took the opportunity to introduce himself and you guys got to talking
He found out you were mainly there to do ballet. Also contemporary (as that was the main focus of the class) but mainly ballet
Also apparently the school has a dance team, sick!
He did get to hear all about the ballet classes you take out of school and all the pain joy that rehearsal brings
In all honesty, you love it, it just requires a lot of physical strength
From that day onwards, you guys kept talking and hanging in class, then out of class, then out of school
It was awesome and Mikey couldn’t be happier, he had found a new close friend
As you two hung out more, some feelings started to grow
Nothing really changed much but close contact like high-fives and hugs became increasingly heart-racing
Even sitting next to each other was enough to raise your heart rates
Also villains might of seen you two hanging out every now and then so there may have been some kidnappery that left you in need of saving
But it’s fine, you’re fine
Everything’s fine
It was actually after one of those daring rescues that he finally asked you out, after an attack on the school
He had originally planned to do a dance with your friends and make it a big gesture
But after that fight, he didn’t want to take any chances and possibly leave it too late
So, once everyone was safe and everything, he immediately ran to you
Y/n! Are you hurt or anything? Don’t worry Mikey, I’m fine. Okay cos I kind of have something to ask you. Sure, what is it? Will you go out with me?
He said it, straight up just like that
You said yes, obviously, but it wasn’t your answer he was super worried about
He just wanted the chance to let you know how he felt
And so, you two were quickly recognised as a couple around school
A theatre kid and a ballet kid, two performers each with unique styles that somehow mixed perfectly
Now, you had known who Mikey and his brothers were long before you two even first talked
I mean, the whole school knew about them; it wasn’t any big secret
But you’d never really talked to them in-person before not until they started teasing Mikey about his crush on you
Then they had to help save you and from there friendship was inevitable
Seriously, you can’t just ignore someone after they’ve helped save you… multiple times
And believe me, it doesn’t matter that you two were dating now, they still loved teasing Mikey about it
So sometimes you had to take extra measures to ensure payback was efficient
But don’t worry they still have their shells on, for now
However, there was one close friend of Mikey’s whom you struggled to get comfortable with
April
While I hate to say it, you and April didn’t get along easily
Being a ballet kid sometimes came with a bad rep and for someone like April, who had been picked on by so many people (including the ballet kids), trust wasn’t always easy to instil in others
You did manage to become friends though. Yes, some of the ballet people you hung out with weren’t the best and yes, you may have laughed along with their cruel jokes to try and fit in but that was the past
Also, surprisingly, April is super forgiving and chill so everything’s good between you two now
As for how you and Mikey are as an actual couple, well…
There’s running through halls
MIKEY, DROP THE GLITTER BOMB! But Donnie made it just for meeee! That doesn’t-no-stop-get back here you turd! TURD!? What kind of an insult is that! Mikey! Catch me if you can!
Crying to movies
Why’d they have to kill the dog! I don’t know. I loved that little guy. *sniffle* I-I know *simultaneous sobbing*
Mikey teaching you improv
So the idea is we go around in a circle and keep a steady rhythm. And you keep that rhythm by using hand gestures and yelling ‘wah’? Exactly! Ok… just wondering, how does this relate to improv? I don’t know. I guess it’s cos it makes you think on the spot. Right.
And you teaching Mikey ballet
Come on, stretch! Ahhh! Stretch! I-I can’t! Yes you can! Now STRETCH! Aaaoooww!!!
Oh, and sometimes you have to be a bit strict with him
Mikey loves chaos and has been raised on it but you’ve been taught to follow the rules so much that not doing so almost seems terrifying
So if, on the odd occasion, Mikey is trying to hide something from you it’s ok
He’s not cheating, just breaking the law
He loves attending your concerts and follows no laws of theatre etiquette when attending which can be embarrassing but also adorable
You, on the other hand, found it almost life-changing to go to one of Mikey’s improv nights
The audience interaction and goofy scenes made it all so thrilling and exciting
And while you do have friends who had been doing improv for ages, you’d never actually attended one of the shows before
But your bf is the exception, forever and always
You still haven’t met his dad as you refuse to enter the sewers and Splinter still struggles with coming out in broad daylight
And your parents are yet to hear of your relationship as you have no idea how they’d feel about you dating a mutant turtle
They do, of course, know of your friendship but perhaps you’ll wait a bit before breaking the news that it’s a little more now
And the shots they’d make you take just for kissing him, the thought is draining
Besides, it can’t be that dangerous to kiss a turtle… can it?
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👀
And don’t worry, I didn’t forget about the precious mutanimals
They know of you but you are yet to meet, you’ll talk eventually though
Overall, your relationship is messy, chaotic, thrilling and partially secretive
But that’s just how it is when you’re with a theatre kid
I hope I did good. Also, I’m an ex-ballet kid and a current theatre kid so I found this hilarious to write. And I do mean ex-ballet kid, I haven’t done proper classes in years so apologies if I got some stuff wrong. Anyway, as usual, please have a lovely day/night wherever you are!✨
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Ok this is a question (many actually) about vira and the au in specific.
Does vira and dream ever meet while the brothers are still kids? Did nightmare ever mention dream to vira at all? Did he talked about her to dream?
And like does Neil exist in this au? like being a father figure to dream while vira is a mother figure to nightmare
And How would dream react in the present seeing this big dragon fighting together with his brother? Would vira even fight in the first place? Or would her appearance cause a truce between the brothers?
I have had those and many more questions about your aus for a while because they a super cool, i was (and am) just shy to ask so if wanna more questions just say so
Vira never meet Dream but she did know about him. Nightmare has mentioned him quite a bit. Nightmare had also talked a little bit about Vira to dream but stopped after awhile. A part of him feared if he showed Vira to Dream then She would like Dream more than him like the villagers did. Years later after the incident Dream assumed the stories where just his young brother's imagination. I'm not super knowledgeable about Neil but I do think he would exist in the au since i can't think of a reason he wouldn't. Goodness knows Dream needs some sort of sane adult around. Vira never fights with Nightmare on missions. She isn't a part of the team technically and has her own reservations to her son's method of keeping his side of the balance. She also Just hates the idea of attacking a town because of past events... Vira would attack if Nightmare was in real danger. She keeps a close eye on Nightmare to keep sure he isn't harmed seriously. Vira has also been pushing Nightmare towards a truce. Mainly pointing out ways it would improve things. Dream would eventually meet Vira briefly when their was some unforseen circumstances during a certain mission and Nightmare was in real danger. She mainly Just decimated everyone who stood against her and took the team back to the castle. Dream was honestly kind of terrified of Vira because of the pure rage he felt from her during the event. Dream is unaware of Vira's true role until the eventual truce meeting. needless to say surprise was an understatement, that and also a weird mix of jealousy and happiness directed at his brother. Vira does end up adopting Dream as well.
Feel free to send as many questions as you want. I may not be able to answer them as frequently as i would want because L I F E but I will get to them when i can and look forward to any more questions you ask. <3 :)
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i originally wrote this when gushing to someone about my love for keishin but i thought i might as well post it here now that it's already been brought into existence
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We can all agree that Ukai Keishin is the best coach Karasuno could have asked for and in this essay I will rekindle my undying love for him by rambling about why that is.
First of all Ukai “I’m not interested in being a coach” Keishin adapted the time of his shifts at the store as well as woke up at the asscrack of dawn to help on his family’s farm, so he could coach these kids, which we see is quite exhausting for him as Takeda (our hero) asks him about it. It’s pretty easy to assume that you would not go to that length if you did not care about these students. 
Keishin also got the Neighbourhood Association on board, initially as practice partners but indirectly introducing some very loyal supporters to the team (seriously these guys watch every match, even if they have to rush to the gym from their jobs), as well as opportunities to learn something new (think Yamaguchi’s float serve).
As a very young coach, Keishin might not be the most experienced at teaching but he makes up for it easily by being able to relate to his players, putting himself in their shoes and acknowledging that not every practice method works for everyone. We also see that the players don’t hesitate to approach him, like Hinata does during the Shiratorizawa training camp. When he calls his coach -well outside of practice hours mind you- Ukai firstly does not reprimand him for it but also gladly helps Hinata with the questions he has around building a balanced diet, since he knows it will help his players grow.
Sure, being able to empathise with the students is not always a good thing as a coach, as we see when he hesitated between choosing Kageyama or Suga for the setter position in season 1, projecting his own feelings onto Suga. But after Suga approaches him, he listens to what he has to say and compliments him for making such a tough decision.
Similarly, when Hinata first brought up the idea of changing up the quick, Ukai was against it too, but after listening to Hinata felt, he decided to trust in his players and try a few different practice methods, even going so far as to separate the two and introduce Hinata to his grandpa. I don’t think any coach would have taken the risk of changing up a useful attack if it wasn’t clear that whatever they’d practise for would pay off.
The summer training camp is a good example for the healthy mindset Keishin tries to impart on his students. Over the course of the whole show, he shows that learning and growing means more to him than winning. Mistakes, failures and losses are all part of the progress to him as long as you can take something away from them for the future. I don’t think Karasuno would have picked themselves up as well or as fast from the Aoba Johsai loss in season 1 if they didn’t have Coach Ukai.I also really love his mentality around food and that you need to eat plenty of good stuff to replenish your energy and give your body the fuel it needs. Also treats his teams to meals regardless of the outcome of a match.
Overall, Keishin is much more encouraging rather than reprimanding. He will obviously tell them off when they mess up, it’s not like he coddles the kids, but he always makes sure to compliment them or nudge them in the right direction. Sure, he lets Hinata know that breaking into the Shiratorizawa camp was a reckless idea but also tips him off on how he can capitalise off the opportunity. Another great moment happens after Kageyama comes back from Youth camp and a fight breaks out as he returns to being the egocentric king for a moment. Takeda asks if they should step in but Ukai tells him that it’s necessary for them to communicate and sort out themselves. Knowing not to step in at that moment leads to Kageyama learning a lesson without which I don’t think they could have won against Inarizaki (and which would have left him lacking in the grand scheme of professional volleyball later on, I suppose).
Also, side note, despite the bleached hair and him saying he never was a model student to Hinata, we see him take out his piercings while he’s coaching and also see that he went back to his natural hair colour post timeskip (plus he still coaches Karasuno then, he clearly loves this job). Sure you could say he takes them out for safety reasons but I’m not sure he’d be the type to care much for that (I know I’ve never taken out or taped over my piercings) but even so, look at him being a good role model. (Not saying piercings and bleached hair are bad, I love them…. But sOcIeTy /lh)
There are of course many more great scenes I could get into for Keishin (since every scene he’s in is great) but I think these are like the major aspects that make me love him so much. We see that he goes to great lengths to support his students, be it through advice, getting video recordings of opponents and analysing them or working out the best practice strategies together with his students. Yes he’s new to being a coach but together with Takeda, I don’t know if Karasuno could have had a coach which fits in better with them than Ukai Keishin.
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sunshinemarauder · 1 year
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what would you do?
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what would you do? (AO3)
written for @thegobletofweasleys's Jily Week 2023 day one (it's still technically july 31st where I am, I swear)! fluff/angst day, because this fandom needs a laugh every now and then. gifted to the lovely lovely @kay-elle-cee <3 playlist here!
James has always thought that Lily Evans looks exceptionally breathtaking when she’s angry.
It’s the sort of thought that he keeps shamefully locked-away in a crevice of his mind with all his other foolish Evans-induced blatherings. He wouldn’t dare say it aloud in front of his own mates, let alone Evans herself. After all, he hardly needs to hand her more reasons to dislike him. The post-OWLs incident sends a miserable shiver down his spine every time he recalls it.
Right now, the intensity in Lily’s bright green eyes, staring him down with enough force to bore a hole through his Quidditch gear, reminds him of the fiery expressions she’d worn that were precursors to all their fights last year. 
They would all begin this way: he, a bumbling prat desperate for her attention, would say something thoughtless to garner a reaction from her. Evans, prouder than a Hippogriff and sharper than a Basilisk fang, would take the bait immediately, eyes flashing with affront, and volley a creative insult his way. James would comfort himself with the thought that she never seemed to mean her insults seriously; every so often he'd catch her hiding a smile as they parted, and sometimes he could coax the occasional laugh out of her.  
But since the beginning of their sixth year, things have been different between him and Lily Evans. They’re friendly, sort of, and rarely argue these days, but it’s tenuous. Fracturable. He inevitably seems to screw up every normal conversation they have and leave an awkward tension in his wake.
Today, as Lily stares him down with an intensity he hasn't seen from her in months, James hasn't a clue what he said to garner such a strong reaction from her. 
He had been heading to the Quidditch locker room for a quick shower post-practice when Evans — an occasional spectator at their team drills, thanks to her friendship with the Gryffindor Beater, Marlene — had fallen into step with him. He immediately straightened to his full height, hyper-aware of her presence beside him. 
James, as always, is desperate to impress her.
Thankfully, she hadn't seemed to notice his apprehension. She struck up a conversation about their assignments, which soon devolved into James waxing poetic on NEWT-level Transfiguration theorems. It marked the longest civil conversation he’d had with Lily Evans in ages, and he’d thought it was going swimmingly — he was just starting to tell her about tutoring younger kids in remedial Transfiguration essentials — when she abruptly stopped walking, placed her hands on her hips, and fixed him with that fiery, indignant look he’s come to both yearn for and shrink from over the years.
Now, James gulps. Shit. What had he done now? 
“You know, Potter,” Evans begins innocuously, but her eyes flash in his direction and James knows he’s in seriously deep water. “Sometimes I have no idea what to make of you.” 
James stares blankly. 
“You can be such a prat, you know, when you go around hexing people for the fun of it and acting like you’re the king of the castle. Sometimes I want to—” and here she starts getting agitated, her pale cheeks reddening rapidly: “—to shove your head down a toilet and leave you there until all that arrogance seeps out of your stupidly large skull.” 
His heart drops instantly. He’s only half-aware that the rest of the team is long-gone into the showers, and that it’s been only him and Evans for several minutes now. 
He thinks: arrogant, bullying toe-rag.  
“But sometimes,” Lily continues in a way that he can’t describe in any way other than heated, and then says: “Sometimes I want to cut off all your air circulation.” 
That’s typical, James thinks, picturing her hands locked around his throat, staring him down with that scorching stare as he slowly perishes. 
Then: “With my mouth on your mouth.” 
His brain flatlines. 
continue reading
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slafkovskys · 2 years
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owen introducing his baby girl to the umich boys !
she was so, so small.
and maybe it was because owen was so big and this tiny, defenseless two-week-old baby was just wiggling around in his arms still trying to figure out the world, but until you had elaine, you never realized how small babies actually were. she makes a noise of discomfort when owen stops rocking her and he immediately starts back, shushing her, “i’m sorry, sweetheart. i won’t do it again.”
“you’re going to have to when you put her in the car seat, o,” you mumble, leaning your head against your hand just taking in the sight of your boyfriend and your daughter.
“don’t tell her that,” he shushes you before looking up from elaine to you, “we don’t have to go today, y/n. if you need another day of rest, i’m sure that they would understand-”
“owen, if i have to spend one more second in this house i am going to lose my mind. and besides, i think that brendan might seriously never speak to me again if i make him wait another day to meet her,” you sigh, sending him a gentle smile. “let’s get this show on the road, power while she’s content.”
he stands up off of the couch carefully and bends down at her car seat, strapping her in ever so gently. “do you have her-”
“owen, baby, calm down. her bag is packed and i triple-checked that everything is in there. we’re just going to be gone for a couple of hours max,” you run a hand through his hair, “you might want to put a hat on. yours is worse than mine and i’m the one that had the baby. you’re the one that almost fainted.”
“you said you wouldn’t bring that up,” he whines as he goes to grab a hat, “especially in front of the team.”
it was almost thirty minutes later when you were making your way down the tunnel of yost, owen carrying a blanket-covered car seat while you trail a few paces behind. the boys were in the middle of a drill so that gave owen a second to balance the car seat on the bench. you watch him hesitate letting go, making sure that it was completely secure before doing so, but making sure his hands were free just in case. no one notices you for a moment, but you jump when there’s a shout of,
“the baby is here, boys!”
suddenly, skates are rushing in your direction and chatter coming from everywhere. when you and owen send them a glare, however, they go silent. you point, “she’s sleeping.”
“well, wake her up. it’s time to party.”
there’s a sharp nudge sent to the junior’s hip whose name you had not been around enough to memorize, jacob shakes his head, “that’s not how it works with babies.”
“if any of you wake her up, you will never skate again,” you give your best glare, “that’s not a threat that’s a promise.”
owen chimes in, throwing an arm over your shoulders and tucking you into his side, “and i support her wholeheartedly. i will assist her even.”
“okay, okay,” brendan chimes, having pushed his way to the front, “can we see the kid at least? she better be wearing the onesie i bought her too.”
“no, she better be wearing the one that i bought for her-”
“she’ll get through them all eventually. now, i can not stress this enough,” owen sighs as he turns the car seat around so that it’s facing the boys who have started pushing each to get a view of your baby who was still hidden from them, “you can look, but you can’t touch. and keep quiet. understood?”
“i think the freshman’s coming for your job, becks,” dakota chimes with a laugh, nudging at jack’s arm.
it goes quiet as owen lifts the blanket, setting it on top of the car seat. you lean forward to see if elaine was still sleeping and let out a sigh of relief when you see that her eyes were closed and she still had her mint green pacifier bobbing between her lips.
it was almost comedic watching a group of college-age men dressed in full, hockey practice gear leaning against each other trying to get a peek at your child, but they were so respectful about it. maintaining the silence so your daughter could maintain her peace. when phillipe raises his hand, you nod, “when do you think she’ll be ready to play mini sticks?”
“oh my god, we need to get her a space in the locker room.”
“like a designated baby area! that’s a great idea-”
owen makes a noise of disapproval, “she will not be stepping foot in the locker room.”
“i hate to break it to you, op, but she won’t be stepping foot anywhere for a while.”
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inamindfarfaraway · 1 year
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Team Chaotix in Sonic Prime
My headcanons for what Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon and Charmy Bee are like in the Shatterspaces.
New Yoke City
Vector’s variant is called Missile (a missile is a vector, having direction and magnitude). He embodies Vector’s responsibility, practicality and seriousness. He was trying to make a difference as a teenage detective when the dystopian city appeared around him four years ago and it became clear that, with the Chaos Council’s control of the new justice system and law enforcement, the person he aspired to be would never make it. Of course he wants to fight, but the Council is brutal and their absolute power seems impossible to overthrow. He soon ended up with two children in his care, one only a toddler. If he got arrested, killed or roboticized, what would happen to them? If the three of them had the Council’s protection, on the other hand, as per the contract of an exclusive, specialized detective agency who would do whatever dirty work they were ordered to… he knows that those tyrants are the reason his kids have nobody else. He knows that the vast majority of people he leads the robotic police to don’t deserve any punishment, and none of them could deserve the cruel horrors they get. He knows that he isn’t a hero - that he may even be the exact opposite. And he hates it. But any money that keeps his family alive is money worth having, he’s regretfully decided. Big concepts like good and evil are none of his concern. He’s just trying to pay the rent. It’s too late to back out now, anyway. Now that the people are rebelling en masse and the Council is busy exploring the Shatterverse, he’s desperately waiting for things to stabilize and daring to hope against hope that some positive change occurs. And that the citizens don’t recognize the collaborateurs in their midst and turn on them.
Espio’s variant is called Trace. He embodies Espio’s stoicism and pragmatism. His ninja training was cut short - and his village razed and everyone he knew killed or taken prisoner - when the Chaos Council remade the world in their image. But he’s gained plenty of experience in stealth, deception, infiltration, espionage and combat working in the Chaos Detective Agency. Dishonour means nothing to a ninja. That’s what he tells himself, at least. On the outside, he’s reserved and aloof, a cold, ruthless foe. He will only show his family the slightest show of emotion. Internally, however, his repressed grief for his old family, community, home and life; guilt, shame and self-loathing due to his service to the Council; and years of accumulated trauma are brewing into a storm that he barely keeps contained under the surface. He’s afraid of his feelings burdening his teammates and distracting them from what’s most important: survival.
Charmy’s variant is called Sting. He embodies Charmy’s eagerness to be helpful and fighting spirit. He can’t remember anything except New Yoke and doesn’t understand much of how his society works, but he knows that his family’s work is very important to them being alive and wants to be a part of it. He does notice their stress and the general unpleasantness everywhere and can infer that circumstances could be improved. But their work being dangerous is all the more reason he should help! Teamwork makes the dream work, right? Danger just adds to the fun of stopping ‘bad guys’. He’s also terrified that if they leave him behind, they might not come back. So he kept breaking out and running away when Missile and Trace went on missions until they agreed to train him and let him join them. He revels in the thrill of action and finds people getting hurt amusing the way a six-year-old boy can, not emotionally connecting to anyone he’s told they need to catch and earnestly believing that their enemies must be in the wrong. He often imitates Missile when trying to be tough and intimidating.
Boscage Maze
Vector’s variant is called Reed. He embodies Vector’s optimism, lightheartedness and musical side, and tends to have his coarser manners too. He, the other two and Cream and Vanilla’s variants are in a different small tribe to the Scavengers and haven’t yet met them, so Thorn Rose didn’t banish them to the emergent layer; they are nomadic and moving toward the Scavengers’ territory. He’s cheerful and generous, always ready to raise the tribe’s morale. He can be immature and irresponsible at times, more focused on enjoying life and entertaining his companions than applying maximum effort to practical tasks. He’s highly resourceful when it comes to instruments and has invented drums and a reed flute. He loves to play them and sing. He’s also bold enough to flirt with Vanilla and the casual first stage of a romance is budding between them.
Espio’s variant is called Berry. He embodies Espio’s caution, wisdom and love of art and culture. Yes, that’s in this dimension. The tribe took him in after they crossed paths when he was eight, him having previously had to survive on his own for as long as he can remember. He’s mature beyond his years, highly knowledgeable about the forest’s flora and fauna, wary and prepared to defend his tribe from any threat using his carved flint blades and hand-to-hand skills. He used to find it difficult to relax, but has learned to unwind through playing a shamisen-esque string instrument Reed built for him and painting with plant pigments. While acutely aware of nature’s hazards, he can still appreciate its wonder and majesty and respects it.
Charmy’s variant is called Honey. He embodies Charmy’s innocent kindness, friendliness and trusting nature. He and Cream’s variant are best friends and adoptive siblings, since his parents entrusted their friend Vanilla with him when they left on an exploratory expedition in his infancy. They didn’t return. But Honey doesn’t mind. He has everything he needs right here. The one thing he can think of that would make his life better is a friend who can fly like he can.
No Place
Vector’s variant is called Bullion (because of precious metal and a male crocodile is a bull). He embodies Vector’s sharp intelligence, charisma, greed and courage. He left his home island in a modest but sturdy vessel, dubbed the Treasure Trove, to seek his fortune and established himself as a travelling merchant. Cunning, socially savvy and theatrical, he is willing to (if you insist on using such accusatory language) ‘scam’ customers and has an endless supply of get-rich-quick schemes. He and his crew live in a fiercely competitive, unpredictable environment full of pirates! Material wealth is essential! That being said, he isn’t all talk. He will brave high seas and stormy weather, chart uncharted waters and do business with anyone to obtain the best goods and things no other merchant is selling, and the genuine quality and rarity of a lot of his stock keep people endeared to him despite his rough edges and occasional bad deal. He takes pride in his competence as a salesman and seafarer and part of him is more fulfilled by honest work. Not that he’ll admit that. He’s very attached to his swashbuckling rogue self-image.
Espio’s variant is called Fathom (a measure of water depth and a verb for contemplative thought and understanding). He embodies Espio’s firm sense of morality and diligence. He met Bullion when the crocodile docked at his home island and, struck with wanderlust and needing a job to get by, Fathom offered to manage his finances with his advanced mathematical ability and do some manual labour. Bullion agreed, but it didn’t take Fathom long to figure out that he was both running a con and a broke mess. A weirdly likeable broke mess. In the aftermath of Fathom exposing the con, the customers angrily demanding refunds and the Treasure Trove being hastily undocked, they made a deal to support and protect each other, with Fathom promising to follow his boss’s lead on the strict condition that Bullion stayed on the straight and narrow. He’s a dutiful hard worker, patient and polite. He tries to remain calm and be civil to everyone no matter how wild things get. He grounds his crewmates, restraining their more energetic, eccentric and, most frustratingly for him, selfish and amoral behaviour. He knows they can be better. And when they are, it’s extremely rewarding. But they certainly test him - though he won’t deny that the motley crew all truly care about each other and would stick together through anything.
Charmy’s variant is called Dodger. He embodies Charmy’s mischievous, irreverent side. He was born to pirates and left at an orphanage on one of the larger islands, but could never follow rules or be satisfied with a simple, mundane life in one place. He wanted excitement, and usually made his own by causing trouble and playing tricks. He totally wasn’t lonely. One day he stowed away on a ship. His plan was to steal all the stuff he could carry on him and fly off. Bullion and Fathom, the sailors who caught him, took a liking to him and were hesitant to send him back to his boring, miserable old home once he explained his life before. They were nice and cool and made him feel wanted and like he belonged more than anyone else ever had, so he hung around. Bullion makes him do chores, but respects his pranking prowess and nerve. Fathom is a great listener and playmate, albeit sometimes a killjoy.
#thought process for new yoke:#what if i made their ‘just trying to pay the rent’ motivation and vector’s apparent guardianship of two kids really dark and tragic#in an examination of how good people can be twisted by factors beyond their control?#thought process for boscage maze:#what if they were all fine and happy and chill actually?#thought process for no place: workplace/domestic sitcom hijinks ON THE HIGH SEAS#the nyc trio’s contract definitely has fine print that the council can roboticize them if they disobey any order or something#so that’s hanging over missile’s head!#them finally rebelling is going to be EPIC though#sting really wants to call missions ‘sting operations’ after himself without understanding what that means#bullion has big stan pines energy#like stan pines in his twenties career (with fathom exasperatedly shutting down the dishonest elements)#combined with his dream of sailing around going on adventures#fathom: business offer. i receive: FAIRLY earned wages. you receive: help getting your shit together#berry and fathom are the voices of reason in their trios like canon espio#but trace is NOT#firstly because missile is reasonable enough#but more importantly because trace is one more emotional straw away from a complete breakdown#which could be either sobbing himself into dehydration or a no-holds-barred rampage against the council#like. he’s ‘the calm one’ the way kit the fucking fennec is ‘the calm one’: NOT CALM#i could have just made a vector variant greedy to the point of evil#but i choose to believe that every part of vector fundamentally cares about his whatever versions of espio and charmy are present#they’re a three-pack - do not separate#plus that’s been done with knuckles the dread#and especially since they’re in the same dimension i wanted bullion and dread to be different#sonic prime#team chaotix#vector the crocodile#espio the chameleon#charmy bee
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idealisticrealism · 5 months
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TCL 3x09 thoughts
The main things:
Wanna feel sad? Just think about how much Arman would have loved to be at Luca’s basketball game in this ep. Because lbr, he absolutely would have dropped anything and everything to be right there in the front row with Thony, seeing Luca running around with his friends– finally out and happy and free, just like they’d hoped for for so long. Like seriously, I can just picture it: him buying one of the team shirts or like a cap or something; him giving Luca some tips at half time about how to deal with that kid that’s sticking to him and how to position himself for a pass; Fi shooting teasing looks at Thony that she ignores. Then at some point Thony grabs at his hand when something exciting happens, and only belatedly realises what she’s done and they look at each other wordlessly and then they just… keep holding on for a bit??? Ugh. And then after the game ends Luca runs straight to Arman for a huge double high-5 and chatters at him about ‘did you see my pass? Did you see this/that/etc??’ and Arman is so sweet and warm with him and Thony is absolutely melting but trying not to show it. And then they all head outside together and Luca begs Arman to come watch him again next week and Arman tells him that of course he’ll be there. And our Fi is a true wingwoman so she distracts Luca for a few moments so Thony and Arman can say their goodbyes, and it’s all warm looks and soft words. Maybe she reaches up to touch his new team cap and says "It suits you", then lets her fingers brush just lightly against his cheek and jaw before she drops her hand and just says “I’ll see you soon?”, and he only gets to nod before Luca is calling for her. Then he just stands there and watches as they walk away and wishes so much that he could be going with them, and as Thony gets in the car she looks back at him and smiles and uughhhhh someone help me I’m deep in my feelings rn 
Okay so I’m not sure how clear this was to the average non-medical viewer, but the medical stuff in this episode was legitimately hilarious. Like I cannot express enough that that is not how any of that works. I can’t even pick my favourite inaccuracy because there were just too many, but damn they were all funny as hell to watch haha. But overall I did really appreciate that the writers went in the poisoning direction with Ramona’s illness and that it wasn’t a cancer of some kind… though I guess I should have known that they wouldn’t do that to us or the cast or themselves after everything that happened with Adan.
But hooooo boyyy I was so delighted to finally see some clear glimpses of the Dark!Thony I’ve been hoping for!! First when she’s alone with an unconscious, apparently bleeding-out Ramona, and she has the exact kind of moment that I mentioned last week– that moment when something outside her control goes wrong, and she realises that if she does nothing, Ramona will die without anyone knowing she didn’t do everything possible to try to stop it. Like damn, our girl literally steps back and just stands there and watches Ramona bleed with an expression that almost borders on satisfaction, as if this– Ramona’s death– is what they both deserve, and I love that for her. As I’ve said previously, Thony’s saviour complex is a longstanding, central aspect to her character, so for her to actively choose not to help someone who desperately needs her is a huge marker of the way she is growing and changing in this new world, and also a clear demonstration of just how huge Ramona’s crime was in Thony’s eyes– in betraying Arman and causing his death, Ramona took the love of Thony’s life, and now Thony “I Swore An Oath To Do No Harm” De La Rosa is out to end hers. And hell yes I am so here for it. Too bad Jorge arrives right at the wrong time and so she’s forced to resume the rescue efforts… But dude. Just imagine the poetic justice if Thony later kills Ramona by shooting her… so Thony saves her life by taking out one bullet, then takes her life by putting another in??? Like c’mon writers please, we’ve suffered so much, just let me have my dream of seeing Thony commit revenge-murder for the man she loves. Please. 
And speaking of revenge, omg the moment when she finds out that Jeremy was the one who snuck into the house? And suddenly puts it all together about how he’s been using her and her family, and that he is the missing piece of how the FBI found out about Arman’s exchange– all because she gave him her trust when she was vulnerable, and he took advantage of it? Watching her face go from shocked disbelief to horrified understanding to just the tiniest hint of absolutely sickened fury was so fucking powerful, especially as One Way Or Another played in the background– a song which is about a dangerous stalker, and which now actually fits both of them. Before, Jeremy was the one stalking her, using her, wrecking her life without her knowledge– but now, the tables have turned. Now, she knows, and she’s going to make him pay for what he’s done not only to her, but to her family, and most of all, to Arman. She’s going to use his own advice against him, because she already knows his weakness (the fact that he thinks he’s pulling the strings, that he holds all the power and that she’s just his clueless little puppet) and she’s going to use it to her advantage. Honestly, the dream scenario is for her to maneouvre things so that Sin Cara is actually responsible for killing him, but she gets to be right there when it happens, so he can look at her in his final moments and realise that she did this, that his powerless prey was actually a predator after all, and that he made the biggest mistake of his life the day he abused her trust and cost her her future with someone she loved. And I legitimately do not care that this man is technically on the side of the ‘good guys’ and has just been ‘doing his job’, I want to see him fucking burn. And I want Thony to get to watch every moment of it and to feel Arman’s presence within her while she does, knowing that if he could see through her eyes, he'd be wearing his proudest, most vicious smile.
Watching Jorge and Thony interact vs watching Jorge and Nadia interact is honestly a bizarre juxtaposition, and I think it stems from the things that they connect over. He and Thony have connected over their kids and the challenges of being a single parent/having lost a partner, so with her he’s become more vulnerable and sincere, and seems almost bashful in the way he reaches out to her for that connection. Not to mention that the power balance between them had begun to level out even as early as 3x04, but now in the last couple of eps– first with her figuring out Dante’s betrayal and then here with the act of her saving Ramona– it has almost even started to shift in the other direction. At the beginning of the season, Jorge had all the power, and Thony was at his mercy. Then after 3x04 they moved to more even footing, with actual respect and regard forming between them. Now it has even gone slightly beyond that, to the point where Jorge looks to Thony for guidance, and doesn’t hesitate to follow her orders.
Meanwhile, with Nadia he absolutely has his bad-boy persona on (aside from the couple of moments of softness at the wake, and when he tells her he won’t let her go back to jail), because their connection is much more transactional, and is also based in their love of the business world they move in, and the power and thrill they feel when they bend people to their will. I think it’s why his scenes with Nadia have an undercurrent to them that is almost like sexual tension, yet not quite? I think it’s more a mutual ‘god we’re so hot and powerful and I want more of this feeling, and working with you will give me that’ rather than a ‘god you’re so hot and I want you’ thing (whereas obviously, with Arman, Nadia had both of those things plus more). I actually love the bluntness between them– she outright tells Jorge she wishes his sister had died lol, and he tells her he’s only working with her for her money– and honestly, that kind of openness between them about the foundation of this alliance is actually kinda refreshing haha. Ngl I do think there probably actually is a small amount of genuine regard between them that neither is admitting to– on Jorge’s part because I think he’s actually fairly kindhearted, and because she was so important to his sobrino; and on her part because he was the only one that actually comforted her at the wake and helped her since, and because he loved Arman. But still, their alliance only goes so far, and they both know the situation could change at any moment, which no doubt it will. Tbh I’m really enjoying seeing the two different dynamics of these duos and I reaaaaally want to see an ongoing team-up between all three of them, though based on the promo I think we’re out of time there :(
Loved seeing Fi using a bit of Spanish– no doubt she picked some up in the Philippines and then over so many years of working with hispanic immigrants, but it would be cute if she’s been trying to learn more lately to be able to connect with Gisele and Camila. But omg her getting into the van was such a terrible idea, yet honestly I kinda loved it bc it was such a Thony kind of move. Despite all Fi’s begging for Thony to get out of the shady world of crime, the truth is that both she and Thony are kind of suited to it, and I’m still hoping that S4 will bring us Thony and Fi and Jorge (ideally plus Nadia, but that’s sadly seeming unlikely) all working together to keep bringing people across the border for better lives, but in a much safer and more humane way than Sin Cara currently does it. It would be such a cool story to watch, given both Thony and Fi’s experiences with being undocumented/crossing the border, and it could allow for us to still get to watch Thony finding her place in the Vegas underworld; still going to-to-toe with criminals and playing cat-and-mouse with the FBI, but without her having to become unrealistically dark and engage in the actually harmful kind of crimes that would be OOC for her. Ugh I want my badass Mob Queens so bad. But anyway, tbh it was such a genuine surprise that that guy just let Fi leave the immigrant worker house without any issues?? Like not even any threats not to go to the cops? No trying to force her to stay as another trapped worker? Obviously I’m not complaining at all that she got out safely but it was just an unexpected relief given this show’s history lol
Some other stuff:
Given that Jeremy supposedly heard Thony and Fi mentioning Jorge on his cameras a lot, he should have also heard them talking about Ramona at some point, and so should have made the Ramona/Sin Cara connection a lot quicker. But tbh, him making the jump from Thony doing medical research for a woman to Ramona being Sin Cara was very presumptuous anyway; like it was just as possible that Thony was helping some random loved one for Sin Cara, rather than Sin Cara themselves. But whatever, I’m glad he got there quickly bc the less of Jeremy I have to watch, the better lol. Absolutely loved how annoyed Thony was getting with his questions and how clearly she just wanted him to go away haha. You and me both, girl.
Okay Jorge really should have known better than to basically imply to Ramona that Nadia was going to be his new business partner. He knows that she’s possessive and terrified of abandonment (tbh I still absolutely believe in that fan theory that she’s responsible for his wife’s death bc she was scared his wife would take him from her), and he knows that she has been behaving irrationally and impulsively as a result of her illness– and yet he still talks about Nadia like that? May as well have painted a bullseye on her back, the idiot. And speaking of Jorge being an idiot…. like, buddy, I like you and all, but maybe you should ask Thony for some more parenting tips because leaving your distressed five year old to cry alone in her room for hours is not really ideal parenting!
Can't believe we got another villain making Thony (semi) undress in front of them?? At least this time was far less gross than with Kamdar, but still. Dude.
Lol at the fact that every time we’ve seen Ramona or Jorge drink from a water bottle this season (and it’s been a few, especially for Jorge– they clearly like to show that he’s an active guy lol) it’s always been the typical unlabelled thin plastic bottles used in filming… until suddenly we need some kind of clue for where Gisele and Camila could be working, so we get this very pointed shot of the fancy labelled water haha. I love television. (Also damn, an additional nice touch-- there's actually a big banner advertising Bandera water up in the basketball stadium where Luca plays! Sneaky work, set decs!)
Ngl Thony’s conspiracy-theorist neighbour was actually kinda sweet… I like that he made her a cup of tea/coffee and was actually helpful and supportive even if a little bit wacky haha. And I enjoyed the writer’s clever little play with his line “Some aren’t even who they say they are. You better watch your back, you never know who’s watching” right as Thony’s seeing Jeremy on the monitor… neighbour guy might be a bit of a crackpot but he's onto something here...
So basically overall, this ep had some technical elements which were completely ridiculous and unbelievable, but who cares? It was a cool ep and it added to the story in an engaging and meaningful way, which is all that matters. Plus it's setting up for the Dark!Thony I so desperately want to see, so I loved it haha
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