#but these are the two main theories I have in my mind

[syluses]

big girls dont cry QNA

i know you guys have lots of curiosities about this fic lolll so i’ll try to answer some of the questions i received (∗ᵕ̴᷄◡ᵕ̴᷅∗) 💕 if u still have some, just shoot me an ask!! :] also im really bad at explaining so i apologize 🤦🏻‍♀️ i have the plot nailed in my head but its tricky to articulate it in a clear, linear way for yall considering all the little nuances i added lol. i’ll try my best tho hehe :,)

Okay so there’s a whole ‘nother plot that exists in the background of this fic- which was super fun for me to write, but im sure from a reader standpoint it’s also kinda thrilling to try to connect the dots i left lol. thats why theres so many interpretations for this story (which i love!! i loved reading all yall’s theories)! 💕 BUT. that being said, the ‘canon’ goes like this:

SPOILERS BELOW read it first then come back! ( ⸍ɞ̴̶̷ ·̫ ɞ̴̶̷⸌ )

was caleb really dead?

No. Caleb staged his own death and then, similar to the main story homecoming wings, didnt tell mc :,) for his own reasons, for a time, he decides he’ll let her go on believing he’s truly gone…

why did he stage his death?

I dropped little crumbs of it in the fic, but it’s hinted that mc, on top of all her grief, feels a bit bitter over the whole shebang and also blames herself for it. hmm… why would that be? 🤔 well because their final moments together (or so she THOUGHT) were emotionally charged and volatile.

the foundation of their sibling relationship was growing weaker and weaker before the explosion. arguments are forming out of nowhere- things are becoming more tense and mc, for the life of her, can’t understand why her gege is always pulling her into a heated debate about safety, danger, blahblahblah, this that and the third, every time they interact. He’s being wildly unreasonable, which she knows, and protective- a trait that has snowballed as they entered their adulthood- but what she doesn’t know is the why behind it. she tells herself she just has a super protective older brother who views her as a little baby in need of his guidance- which isn’t entirely wrong… but she doesn’t see the full picture. His true feelings. All this tension eventually climbs to its peak. Caleb just gets worse and worse. He needs to do something before the world collapses on them both.

Now, in this au, he works at EVER, a somewhat shady but lucrative company- which dabbles in robotics amongst other things. I imagine they have abundant resources and wealth- and what with his promotions, it’s safe to say caleb is making a LOT. So, the delusional guy he is, he buys a big fancy suite with the idea in mind of two eventually living in it ;) but mc doesn’t want to- she has her own life in linkon!! She wants to spread her wings and separate from the nest anyway. Partly to start her own life; partly to prove to her gege that she can take care of herself. The argument that unfolds over this is the last they have before the big tragic explosion 😭 caleb, putting on a show with his beaten puppy eyes, leaves and then that’s the last time she sees him.

Caleb meticulously plans his ‘death’ out (with some help from his wingman ofc) and then eventually the robot is introduced to mc. It serves as a trojan horse. He’ll finally conquer her heart with it and win full autonomy over her. THIS IS HIS MAIN GOAL WITH THE ROBOT. WHY HE EVEN DOES ANY OF THIS TO BEGIN WITH.

Caleb gets to spy on mc with it and also slowly reshape her to accept his feelings; his ‘death’ has left her in a fragile state of mourning and he knows, after she warms up a bit to not-Caleb, he can more or less get away with anything- bc she will claw for whatever’s left of her family member. He can make her finally reciprocate and understand him— whether that be his feelings or fear or love. He tried to be patient, to be good, but obviously he had to travel a new route. He’s thinking of her 24/7. He’s obsessive, longing, protective, you name it- and all of this just worsens the more she denies him. When push comes to shove… well, caleb will do whatever it takes to win her :] He knows it’s unconventional and he’d be lying if he said it didn’t hurt him too- monitoring his endearingly stubborn, but sweet meimei and the shattered pieces he left of her through his android’s eyes— but it’s all temporary, and he truly believes it’s for the better.

did gideon know?

Yes, Gideon knew all along. He’s Caleb’s best buddy after all. To be matter of fact- Gideon didn’t just know, he quite literally ‘herded’ mc into the lion’s den in a way. Mc knew vaguely of their work at EVER, but not too much; so Gideon was the one who shined that light on their robotics and really introduced her to the concept of not-Caleb. Now, i wouldnt say Gideon is exactly comfortable with his involvement, but he actually really does care for mc and thinks she needs that help- as dubious as the means are. Anyway, it’s almost impossible to shut out all of his buddy’s demands: the brunet is nothing if not insistent on getting what he wants. In his own whacky way, Gideon thinks what he did- playing into Caleb’s plan- was for the better as well. I mean, Mc clearly wasnt doing good before not-Caleb came along,… but with the few visits he managed before the android got a little too stingy and sent him off, Gideon actually managed to catch a smile or two from her! So clearly he did the right thing 👀 not to mention… the real caleb seems very pleased with the progress, too. besides- the whole robot situation is temporary anyway :] She’ll be reuniting with the beloved gege she misses so much sooner rather than later.

how accurate was not-caleb?

His programming is like 100% accurate. Mc, for a mix of both naiveity and delusion, thinks not-Caleb is flawed when he starts to show signs of amorous/romantic feelings for her. Really, though, after she tells him to stay the night with her (innocently; and after years of having not shared the same childhood twin bed), it triggers a part of his ‘brain’ that undoes all real caleb’s self restraint thus far :] If the same exact situation happened with the real caleb, his reaction would’ve more or less been the same. Homeboy can only keep his feelings in check for so long

who programmed not-caleb?

Real Caleb

how is mc pregnant?

Because the robot’s creator wanted to add his own special touch to his work if you know what i mean :) yeah he’s a freak like that. Dont think he WOULDNT install in his robot the ability to indirectly knock his ‘meimei’ up. I will say though, that while caleb wants to get mc pregnant, its not fully bc he wants to start a family- at least not right away- but because he wants to emotionally and legally trap her with him. Besides monitoring her/wearing down her walls while she thought he was ‘dead’, this was actually one of caleb’s biggest goals with sending not-caleb into her home.

is not-caleb self-aware?

Yes

what’s real caleb been doing all this time?

Basically climbing the ranks of EVER from his lil perch somewhere in skyhaven. all the while, of course, spying on mc like a hawk. Biding his time & waiting for the right moment when she’s at her weakest, most codependent state to replace his carbon copy :)

was caleb controlling his robot?

No. But he essentially created its whole program. And there are cameras inside its eyes in which he watches mc from :) and cant help but snap pics with sometimes: she’s just so pretty— and endlessly sexy when he finally, in a vicarious way, gets to lie her back and make love to her <3

what is real caleb’s motive/ultimate goal?

1. to control/protect/‘tame’ mc through the robot; get her to see things from his point of view (which means realizing she belongs with him- where it’s safe and he can protect & love her)

2. to knock her up (hence the. ahem. reproductive abilities of the robot) so that he can trap her with a baby on top of all the other emotional strings he’s hogtied her with.

does gideon want mc too?

the question is not would gideon smash her. the question is would caleb LET him…. 👀

also, below i just attached a screenie from some of the notes i took. theyre ofc a little disjointed but i think it might clarify things too :] im so bad at answering questions esp for a plot this spiraling but i really tried my best guys my brain is tired forgive me :,)

[foxbuck]

BuckTommy or Buddie (Endgame Spec)

Pt. 1- BuckTommy

I've seen a lot of theories about why BT/Buddie would go cannon, but I haven't seen anyone compile all of them yet. This is my best attempt at a semi-comprehensive guide to the theories that I think hold some weight! I didn't get all of them of course, so if I missed an important one please please put it in the notes. For the most part I'm using other users' ideas and then building on them, so all users and the post I referenced are linked next to their theory (go check them all out!!!).

For the sake of ease I'll be referring to all the pieces as "___ theory." Also I don't know what the fuck the writers are doing in that damn room so don't take any of this too seriously. It seems to be a general consensus that they're making some peculiar decisions recently so who knows what the hell is gonna happen next episode/season.

sahtinekryz post BuckTommy is Chekov's Gun

"A narrative principle emphasizing that every element in a story be necessary, while irrelevant elements should be removed. For example, if a gun features in a story, there must be a reason for it, such as being fired at some later point." (Wikipedia)

The Checkov's Gun theory claims that Tommy's repeated appearances must have a narrative purpose. Tommy has been consistently reappearing/mentioned in s8. His story hasn't closed yet because the gun hasn't gone off yet. Something major is going to happen with him, and a very likely explanation is that he will get back together with Buck.

Personally I started with this one because it has a lot of weight imo. Sahtinekryz mentioned this in their post, but the showrunners probably spent a significant amount of money to have Tommy and his expensive-ass helicopter stunt in 8x15. He is reoccurring in these episodes for a reason. I'm not going too into depth with it because a lot of the other theories build off of it, but definitely keep Chekov's Gun in mind while reading the other theories.

-

Main Character Tommy

vanpalmersgf post Tommy Character Independence

This theory states that Tommy is being set up to be more important in the show because they are giving him scenes where he is a) present and b) acting independently from Buck (maybe ((hopefully)) implying that the runners are trying to give him his own arc??)

The best evidence for this is Tommy's appearances in the 8x16 flashback saving Bobby and in the funeral procession. In both instances, Tommy was involved because he is a character that the show sees as important--he wasn't just there to interact with Buck. The showrunners want the viewers to like Tommy.

Building off this idea, giving Tommy's character more independence in the show and establishing his relation to the 118 in his own way (in contrast to his only connection being through Buck) allows for him to later be recognized as an important part of the 118 family, which is damn near exactly what distantreverbs brings up in their post about Tommy's 7x04 wish. distantreverbspost 7x04 Wish

“I was super jealous… All of you. The 118. How it’s become like a family over there. I mean, how you all… were willing to put everything on the line for one another. I wanted to be a part of that.”

I really do like how well these two theories fit together. Tommy outright said last season that he wants/wanted to be a part of a family like the 118. Tommy's character getting this independence feels like he could be set up for his own mini-arc, and as op said, "Tommy’s entire narrative is clearly being built around fighting through his demons and getting the loyalty and love he so desperately craves as his reward."

As I mentioned already, giving Tommy's character more independence from Buck in turn tightens his individual connection to the 118 as a whole. Having a closer connection to the 118 leads up to his 7x04 wish being granted, and, being reintroduced to the 118 through Buck, the reasonable follow up would be for him to reestablish his connection with Buck.

-

distantreverbs, niraves, Chug Ugly (yt) Invisible/Red String Theory

I think this is a relatively popular theory but I can only really find a few posts and a video so I linked those.

"String theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings."

Just kidding. I can't find a definition for this one though, idk where y'all get this shit from. Anyway.

Invisible/Red String Theory basically states that soulmates are connected throughout time and space with an 'invisible string.' I'm not exactly sure how to explain this, but I think that giving some examples of how this applies helps.

1. Tommy leaving the 118 opened the space that let Buck join. (This one feels the most tangible, almost like Tommy is literally pulling Buck along behind him.)

Abby connection (including in s1 where Abby's parents thought Buck was Tommy.)

The bubbling scene (where Buck and Tommy are thinking about each other at the same time.)

As niraves mentions, previously these were all accidental. However, the 'Abby reveal' makes it seem like Minear is solidifying them and making them now seem intentional in-universe. The showrunners are actively giving this theory substance (and Minear reposted the yt video so ..!) Points for Bucktommy.

-

Parallels

I'm not giving these a lot of weight because they can happen on accident a lot of the time I think, but I figured I'd mention a few recent ones since it was already mentioned that some accidental things are being made to be seen as noteworthy now. I also only found a few so.

sahtinekryz post Madney/Bathena parallel in 8x15

In 8x15 Maddie and Athena both listened/watched as their s/o was laying down in immense pain, paralleling Tommy watching Buck collapsing on the camera at the end of the ep. In all instances, there was a barrier between the pair (glass, distance [only audio or visual]). Iirc Tommy's scene was actually decided on film day that they should show him watching Buck. Take from that what you will.

bucktommysource Try Again

[Buck in 5x18] "Is that really love? Right, shouldn't it be when you're at your worst, they're at their worst, you have every reason to give up and you still decide you want to try again"

[Buck in 8x11] "You want to try again?"

ambernotember I should go.

[Maddie talking to Chimney] "I should go."

[Tommy talking to Buck] "I should go"

firehose118 BuckTommy at Madney wedding

Buck and Tommy having a major scene Maddie and Chimney's hospital wedding implies a parallel between their love and the love that Maddie and Chimney have. Narratively, if this parallel holds, it makes no sense to not have Buck and Tommy reconcile/be endgame

That's all for now! Feels really short so I know I missed a lot, but I wanted to get this out now so I'll have to come back or make a continuation post.

I'm planning on making a part 2 with Buddie theories so if y'all had a theory you want me to add then definitely comment/put it in the tags; it would help me make a bit of a longer post than this one (and save me a lot of research time lmao) <3. Same with if you have anything you think I should add to a BuckTommy cont. post.

Setting aside long-term spec, I really don't think that we've seen the last of the Buck/Tommy relationship. All of Tommy's minor reappearances hint at him doing something, and that is really undeniable. These theories are all of course about a BuckTommy romantic relationship, but even if we don't get that, all signs point to them making up at least platonically.

Also please no shipping discourse in the notes, these are all just theories written in good fun, not meant to say one ship is better than the other <3

[forest-of-sunflowers]

Thinking many normal thoughts and opinions on Rowan’s backstory rn, so here are two/maybe three theories I think about a lot.

- Rowan being related to a royal family

now, this is a theory I think about often, since we don’t know much about her. but re-listening to certain episodes I keep getting thoughts about this theory. In episode 4 around 5 minutes in Jamie mentions how all the party is hiding their identities in one way or another, which seemed to be brushed off because we didn’t know much else (and it was only ep 4).

Another thing that had me thinking was in ep 12 at 35 minutes in, Rowan left the hayloft while Aurelius, Kieran and Neph were talking about taking a role of a leader, or not ready/wanting to rule a kingdom. That’s something I never questioned before I re-listened to it a bit. There was also a few times when I was looking through the playlist beck had made for Rowan to see a few songs such as “Our Word” and “Dollhouse” that started my thoughts on this theory. The only thing we can tell from recent episodes is that her family has a lot shady business(?), not to mention from ep 21 she has been holding onto Junipers hand the whole time and trying to distract from the current mission which is the party going Kruivia. I believe that her family could/is related to the Kruivia Royal family

- Rowan somehow related to the Forsindicated

I don’t know much about this theory myself, but I’ve seen a few post about this theory that she could have some connection to the Forsindicated. All I know on this theory is from what we know about the Forsindicated is they’re a very powerful group that seems to be known throughout the kingdoms. While what we know about Rowan’s family seems to be really shady, and powerful. There could be some connections between this theory but I’m unsure, I would love to hear more about this one though.

That’s all . I made this post really long, but I got so many thoughts and opinions on Rowan lore. I want to know more, I’m gnawing at my enclosure

[screwpinecaprice]

Oh oof I slipped and hit them with dark and serious beam. 😣

[arolesbianism]

Ive been waiting for ages in oni for my future industrial block to be vacuumed out so I decided to doodle some furry women while I waited (it’s still not done)

[sureuncertainty]

okay here are my thoughts on pj/hazel as a ship (from bottoms which i will probably be hyperfixating on for a bit sorry not sorry)

i guess I appreciate them as ship but i'm having a hard time getting quite on board with it just bc i'm really tired of the trope (idk if it's a trope but I see it frequently) of character A is a total asshole to character B consistently and then like... apologizes once (or not at all) and then B just forgives them immediately and it's fine. like idk i don't like ships where one character is mean to the other, it feels like there's an imbalance there. yeah pj apologized but i lowkey felt like hazel was too quick to forgive her and hazel deserves someone who doesn't make fun of her and is not mean to her 24/7 and who actually shows their appreciation of her and love for her and doesn't make her feel bad about herself, not just someone who enjoys kissing her yknow???

[piastriprincess]

was your soul rediscovered (was your heart rearranged?) ⸻ lando norris x reader .

featuring  lando  norris ,  soulmate  au ,  friends  to  lovers word  count 2.6k author’s  note  thank  you  thank  you  THANK  YOU  for  all  the  love  on  my  oscar  fic ,  this  is  another  one  i’ve  been  workshopping  for  a  bit - lowkey inspired by @binisainz , i love the way she writes lando sm  .  i  promise  yall i  don’t  only  write  friends  to  lovers  !!  anyway  hope  you  all  like  it ,  inbox  is  open  for  requests  or  if  you  wanna  talk  to  me  !!  title  from  maine  by  noah  kahan  .

“Mate, what are you watching?” your best friend says as he steps out of his room. 

You were sprawled on his expensive couch, but you practically bolt up when you hear his voice. “Nothing,” you respond, voice shaky and high-pitched as you try to pause the video, but you’re no match for Lando’s reflexes, honed over years of pushing his body to the limit. He snatches the phone out of your hand — the little gremlin — and starts giggling almost immediately. “Soulmate Theory: Understanding the Red String of Fate?”

“Shut up,” you hiss, cheeks burning as you try to grab your phone from him. Lando’s anticipating that move, though, and he steps just out of your reach, grinning at you with that annoying smile he’s perfected over your years-long friendship. “Lan, give it back.”

You can hear the narrator’s voice, tinny through your phone speakers as the video keeps playing: “The two souls connected by the red thread are destined to be lovers, regardless of place, time, or circumstance. This magical cord may stretch or tangle, but never break.” You can’t stand the stupid smile on Lando’s face for a second longer, so you jump on Lando’s back. His giggle drowns out the rest of the narration as you finally manage to wrestle the phone out of his hands, stabbing the pause button like you have a personal vendetta against it. 

“Not another word about it,” you warn him, smoothing your dress. He actually manages to keep his mouth shut for about five minutes.

“I can’t believe you buy into that stuff,” Lando scoffs, rolling his shoulders in that cocky way of his as you both exit his apartment building. He pulls open the passenger door, and you slide into his car as he walks around to the driver’s side. “It’s such rubbish.”

You sigh. “I can’t believe you don’t. I mean, look at all the people who found their soulmates. Look at Oscar and Lily! How can you hear all those stories and still believe there’s no such thing?”

“We can’t see it,” Lando shrugs as he hands you the aux cord without even looking. “The red string is supposed to show up if we fall in love with our soulmates, but who could prove it? I could say Tate McRae was my soulmate and no one would be able to tell I was wrong, even her. Unless she fell in love with me and didn’t see it.”

“Please,” you respond tartly, pausing before the punchline. “As if you could ever pull Tate McRae.” You know he’s about to respond, a sassy retort or a punch to the shoulder brewing in his mind, but before he can, you hit play on your ‘Make Lando Shut Up’ Spotify playlist. His eyes widen with delight as On the Floor by J.Lo starts to play, and before you know it you’re both singing along, the conversation effectively forgotten.

⸻

You’re sitting in a booth at Jimmyz, watching Charles Leclerc cross the dance floor with your chin propped in your hand. His tanned skin shines under the pulsing lights, those beautiful blue eyes crinkling at the corners as he speaks rapid-fire French to one of the other drivers. You’re not sure when you started noticing Charles the way you do now. Maybe it’s a stupid crush on one of Lando’s friends, a guy tangentially in your orbit who’s finally single. Or maybe, just maybe, he’s your —

“Just go talk to him, you muppet,” Lando says directly into your left ear, and you jump in surprise, whirling to face him. His hair is damp, a sheen of sweat on his muscular arms. 

“Jesus Christ, Lando. Stop sneaking up on me.”

“I’m just saying,” he continues, eyes bright and teasing as he leans closer to you. “Eye sex tends to work better when the other person is looking back at you.”

“Charles will realize he wants my eye sex one of these days,” you counter, sitting back in the booth. “This is eye foreplay.”

Lando grins, wiggling his eyebrows. “Maybe you should get some eye experience, to know what you’re doing when the time comes. Wanna have a staring contest?”

You snort, bumping your shoulder against his. “Ew. Freak.” You don’t look back at Charles. He’s not looking at you, anyway. “Think those girls might have a problem with that,” you note, eyes flicking to the gaggle of bleach-blondes Lando left behind at the edge of the booth.

He rolls his eyes. “Please. You know you’re the only one who’s coming home with me.” You allow him a small smile at that, and he grabs your arm, pulling you out of the booth to dance. 

⸻

“Oh my god,” you moan, teeth sinking into the first bite. “I think this pizza is my soulmate.” You’re at a tiny ristorante in Monza, executing your oldest pre-race tradition of taking Lando to Saturday night dinner (he insists that if you pay, it’s all even, despite the fact that he pays for your flights and hotel room and gives you a paddock pass). 

Lando’s scrolling through his phone absentmindedly, not looking at you. “That’d be a real win for the universe, wouldn’t it?” he replies dryly. 

You give him a pass. He’s still waiting for his food, and he gets fussy when he’s hungry. “I’m serious,” you continue lightly, waving a slice in his general direction. “Try some.” He doesn’t look up. “I should invite Charles here. Maybe we’ll be poly soulmates with this margherita. Do you think if we both ate some at the same time, we’d be able to see the red string going down our throats?”

Lando giggles, finally putting his phone away, and you feel a little swell of happiness in your stomach. “Oh my god, shut up, you muppet.” He reaches for the pizza, about to take the slice from your hand when he goes pale, letting it slip through his fingers. It falls face-down on his plate, untouched. 

“What the hell, Lan?” you grin, but all of a sudden he looks like he’s on another planet, eyes wide and fixed on your face. “You okay?” you ask, concerned, and place your hand on his wrist. The skin burns beneath your fingers.

His eyes meet yours for another second, and then he shakes his head like he’s clearing cobwebs from his brain. “Totally. Just… zoned out for a second, I think,” he says softly.

“Okay,” you say, unconvinced and ready to press him on it, but then the waiter comes back to your table with his pizza, and that strange, charged moment passes.

⸻

You’re sprawled on Lando’s couch under a big blanket, a little wine-drunk as Notting Hill plays on the TV screen in front of you. You’ve seen it a hundred times, since Lando picks it practically every single movie night, but you can’t stop your eyes from getting a little misty when Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts look at each other in the crowded press room, the red string wrapping around the mic stands and chairs from one pinky to the other. 

“See?” Lando tosses a piece of popcorn into the air, catching it in his mouth. “Hugh Grant was like, totally in love with his wife. She finds her soulmate and leaves him. And the whole time, Julia Roberts was there. His real soulmate, out in the universe, and he marries someone else.”

“That doesn’t lessen the value of the love,” you shrug, throwing a handful from your bowl at his head. He yelps, pieces hitting him in the face. “It just means the person who was made for him was somebody else. You can still be happy with someone who isn’t your soulmate.”

“God. Love’s complicated enough without soulmates messing it up,” he mutters under his breath, just loud enough for you to catch. “I hate soulmates.”

“How do you hate something you don’t believe in?” you ask automatically, expecting his usual anti-soulmate rant. But it doesn’t come, and when you look over at him, he’s avoiding your eyes. 

“Oh my god,” you say, somewhat delightedly. “You do believe in them. You believe in soulmates.”

“Shut up,” he mumbles, suddenly very interested in his popcorn bowl.

“I thought you thought they were ‘rubbish,’” you mimic his words from weeks ago, not even bothering to hide your smile anymore. “What happened?”

“They still are rubbish,” he protests. “How terrible is it that we know someone out there is made for us, but we don’t know if we found that person until we’re already in love? Look at Hugh Grant and the ex-wife. They had to know they were dooming their soulmates if they stayed together.”

You frown. “It’s just a movie, Lan. An admittedly great movie, but a movie. Plus, they found the right person in the end.” You motion to the TV, where Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts sit in the park. 

He sits up, eyes flickering over your face restlessly. “What if they hadn’t? If you love somebody who isn’t your soulmate, would you leave them to wait for the real thing? Or would you stay with the person you love anyway?”

“Me?” you ask, and he nods, his fingertips drumming against the arm of the couch. “I dunno. Who knows if I’ll ever find my soulmate, you know? I want to believe I will, but it’s a big world. I guess I’d stay with the person I love.”

He slouches back on the couch as the credits roll. “Yeah. Love’s hard enough without soulmates.”

⸻

“You’ll never believe what just happened,” you laugh. “Are you sitting down?”

“Hold on,” Lando’s voice spills through your phone speakers. He’s in Woking for testing this week, so you’re all alone in Monaco, and you hate to admit that just hearing his voice is making you smile. “One second.” You hear him close a door behind him, then the soft oof of him flopping facedown onto the couch. “Alright. I’m sat. Lay it on me.”

“Okay. So. I was on one of those park benches by the beach reading, right? And all of a sudden this little dog runs up to me.” You pause for dramatic effect. “It’s Charles’s dog. And he comes running up after him, all cute and sweaty, and thanked me for catching Leo. And we got to talking, and he asked me if I wanted to grab dinner with him tonight.” You can hear the smile in your voice, sure he’s about to tease you endlessly for it.  “What?” Lando says, sharply, and you have to hold the phone away from your ear a little.

“Jesus, Lan. Volume.” You’re only teasing, but for a moment there’s nothing but silence on the other end of the phone. 

“Well… that’s cool,” he says flatly. You frown. You don’t know what reaction you were expecting, but it’s not this.  

“Are you serious?” you say, picking at your cuticle. “I thought you’d be happier for me. You’ve been telling me to talk to him for, like, ever. And this was a pretty cute first encounter. Straight out of a rom-com. Maybe I’ll see the red string tonight. Maybe he’s my —”

“Charles Leclerc is not your soulmate,” Lando scoffs dismissively. 

You roll your eyes before you realize he can’t see you. “How would you even know?”

A pause. Suddenly the amorphous space between you feels charged like a live wire. 

“He just isn’t. No way.” Lando says firmly, and you let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding. 

“Whatever,” you say, but your enthusiasm is somewhat dimmed. “I guess we’ll see on the date. How’s testing going?”

He launches into some story about how Oscar accidentally nearly broke the rear wing by leaning too heavily on it, but you’re not listening, not really. His words, his certainty rubbed you the wrong way. How would Lando possibly know whether or not Charles was the right one for you?

He couldn’t, of course. No one could. You wish you could just ignore it, let it go, but Lando knows you better than almost anyone, and you trust him instinctually. 

Charles Leclerc is not your soulmate.

You hadn’t thought that he was, not seriously at least, but hearing Lando say it so straight-out made the butterflies in your stomach stop fluttering. An hour before you’re supposed to meet Charles at the restaurant, you text him to cancel. 

⸻

“I think it’s going to rain,” you muse, taking a sip of your iced coffee. You’d dragged Lando on an adventure to some cafe overlooking the ocean; your friend had told you it had a beautiful view and the best kouign amanns in the principality. She wasn’t wrong, and although the walk was longer than you’d expected, you’d been congratulating yourself on a Saturday well spent until the sky started growing darker. 

“It’s not going to rain,” Lando says from beside you, voice muffled as his mouth is half-full of one of the pastries. “It never rains in Monaco.”

It’s like the storm was waiting for dramatic effect; just then, the sky opens up, and before you know it the rain is soaking through your shirt.

“Shit,” you laugh, watching the shock evident on his face. “Never rains, huh?”

As you speak, there’s a crack of thunder behind you. You’re not a child, not scared of storms like you used to be, but Lando still grabs your hand as you take off running, searching for the nearest shelter from the driving rain. He pulls you down a side alley, your sneakers skidding on the wet stone as you stop beneath an awning. 

You lean against the wall, panting as you look up at him. His white tee is soaked through and his hair is plastered to his forehead, but he’s grinning at you, eyes bright, so breathtaking that you feel like the wind just got knocked out of your body. “Always an adventure,” he says cheerfully, and you realize he’s still holding your hand. You’re about to wriggle away, to wipe the water off your face, when something catches your eye. You look down at your hands and nearly stop breathing. There’s a glowing red thread, winding from your pinky to his. 

The red string of fate, you think to yourself. The two souls connected by the red thread are destined to be lovers, regardless of place, time, or circumstance. This magical cord may stretch or tangle, but never break.

Oh. Oh, oh, oh. 

Lando was your soulmate. 

You were in love with your best friend.

“You okay?” Lando asks, and you realize you’ve been silent for far too long. You want to look at him, but you can’t seem to drag your eyes away from the thread. 

“Our hands look good together,” you say dreamily. You can’t keep the smile off your face. “I never realized until just now.”

“Yeah?” Lando says, his voice pitching up slightly. “What changed?”

You look up, finally, and meet his eyes, see the way his tongue darts out to lick the plush pink of his bottom lip. He’s nervous. Does he know? You’re not going to force it, if he doesn’t.

“A new accessory,” you say vaguely, shrugging your shoulders, but your cheeks are starting to hurt from beaming at him. 

“Red, by any chance?” he asks, and you know. 

“And joint custody,” you agree. 

His smile lights up his entire face. “Took you long enough.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!” you smack his arm, hard, and he just shrugs. You’re understanding his change of heart on soulmates, now. He figured out that he had one. “When did you find out?”

“When you were shoveling that pizza, in Monza.”

You grin, eyes shining with tears. How could you not have guessed it? “Played it off well, there.”

“I’m super smooth,” he agrees, pulling you closer. Your hands land on his chest, like they’ve always been meant to be there. “I’m gonna kiss you now, yeah?” he murmurs, tilting your chin up with one finger.

You’re already leaning in, and when your lips brush against each other for the first time it feels like coming home. “Took you long enough.”

[flimsy-roost]

I realized the other day that the reason I didn't watch much TV as a teenager (and why I'm only now catching up on late aughts/early teens media that I missed), is because I literally didn't understand how to use our TV. My parents got a new system, and it had three remotes with a Venn diagram of functions. If someone left the TV on an unfamiliar mode, I didn't know how to get back to where I wanted to be, so I just stopped watching TV on my own altogether.

I explained all this to my therapist, because I didn't know if this was more related to my then-unnoticed autism, or to my relationship with my parents at the time (we had issues less/unrelated to neurodivergency). She told me something interesting.

In children's autism assessments, a common test is to give them a straightforward task that they cannot reasonably perform, like opening an overtight jar. The "real" test is to see, when they realize that they cannot do it on their own, if they approach a caregiver for help. Children that do not seek help are more likely to be autistic than those that do.

This aligns with the compulsory independence I've noticed to be common in autistic adults, particularly articulated by those with lower support needs and/or who were evaluated later in life. It just genuinely does not occur to us to ask for help, to the point that we abandon many tasks that we could easily perform with minor assistance. I had assumed it was due to a shared common social trauma (ie bad experiences with asking for help in the past), but the fact that this trait is a childhood test metric hints at something deeper.

My therapist told me that the extremely pathologizing main theory is that this has something to do with theory of mind, that is doesn't occur to us that other people may have skills that we do not. I can't speak for my early childhood self, or for all autistic people, but I don't buy this. Even if I'm aware that someone else has knowledge that I do not (as with my parents understanding of our TV), asking for help still doesn't present itself as an option. Why?

My best guess, using only myself as a model, is due to the static wall of a communication barrier. I struggle a lot to make myself understood, to articulate the thing in my brain well enough that it will appear identically (or at least close enough) in somebody else's brain. I need to be actively aware of myself and my audience. I need to know the correct words, the correct sentence structure, and a close-enough tone, cadence, and body language. I need draft scripts to react to possible responses, because if I get caught too off guard, I may need several minutes to construct an appropriate response. In simple day-to-day interactions, I can get by okay. In a few very specific situations, I can excel. When given the opportunity, I can write more clearly than I am ever capable of speaking.

When I'm in a situation where I need help, I don't have many of my components of communication. I don't always know what my audience knows. I don't have sufficient vocabulary to explain what I need. I don't know what information is relevant to convey, and the order in which I should convey it. I don't often understand the degree of help I need, so I can come across inappropriately urgent or overly relaxed. I have no ability to preplan scripts because I don't even know the basic plot of the situation.

I can stumble though with one or two deficiencies, but if I'm missing too much, me and the potential helper become mutually unintelligible. I have learned the limits of what I can expect from myself, and it is conceptualized as a real and physical barrier. I am not a runner, so running a 5k tomorrow does not present itself as an option to me. In the same way, if I have subconscious knowledge that an interaction is beyond my capability, it does not present itself as an option to me. It's the minimum communication requirements that prevent me from asking for help, not anything to do with the concept of help itself.

Maybe. This is the theory of one person. I'm curious if anyone else vibes with this at all.

[kisses4reid]

protect | ·˚ ༘ spencer reid ,,

summary - you get badly injured on a case, and the hospital visit ruins your surprise.

genre - fem!bau!reader x spencer, hurt/comfort, little bit of angst and arguing, fluff, happy ending!! reader can bear children (has female anatomy)

warnings - pregnancy, major injuries, mentions of gross hospital things, r uses she/her pronouns, usual criminal minds violences

w/c - 2.2k

a/n - thank u for the request! loved the idea immediately and this is the first time i’m writing abt pregnancy and stuff so pls do not quote me on anything!!! also this writing isn’t my best, sorry abt that. okay bye have fun reading

request - (@ursuu-la) hihihi idk if you're taking requests, but what if u write something where Spencer and a fem reader are dating and she's pregnant, but she's kinda scared(? or nervous to tell Spencer. And maybe she could tell it to one of the girls of the team to find a way of approaching Reid, but then she gets hurt or something happens to her in a case.

“Oh. My. God.”

You turned your attention from the open manila folder to Garcia’s multiple screens, searching each one for something important, “What?”

“Y/n M/n Reid. You’re pregnant?” Garcia spun in her chair with an angry expression while pointing a ringed finger at the main computer screen. It was your medical history - which you allowed her to search so she could experiment with a new hacking technique - but you had forgotten about your recent discovery.

Your hand was clamped over your mouth as you stared in shock and started rambling through your fingers, “Garcia. I swear, nobody knows - I wasn’t keeping this from just you,” you placed your hands on her shoulders when she stood up in disappointment, sending her office chair to collide with the desk, “Spencer doesn’t even know, please Garcia. Don’t tell anyone.”

Your eyes searched hers for a promise or compromise, but instead you got welling tears.

“Garcia?”

“Y/n, your pregnant with a little Reid! This is amazing- How come you haven’t told him? I’ll have a new little nephew or niece! Y/n!” She squealed and took your hands to spin you in a circle in her small office. You immediately felt nauseous and slowed the excited girl, her hair accessories threatening to fall off in her happiness. You held your stomach and whispered,

“No spinning, I’ll throw up.”

She glanced to her computer screens and shut them down immediately, sitting back down and taking a deep breath. “This is great! Right? Please tell me this is great, you’re already 6 weeks pregnant.”

You bit your lip and nodded, “I mean, I think it’s great but..” You lost yourself in thought.

Last year when you and Spencer got married, you had talked about starting a family many times. But every time you both agreed to wait a few more years in order to save up more money and maybe move into a bigger apartment or even a house. This was not what you planned.

Spencer liked having a plan, it was one thing you grew to love. He was organised and, due to his amazing memory, remembered everything, especially everything about you. And though you two had grown so close you were basically one person, this was the only time you had no idea how Spencer would react if he found out your secret.

“I don’t know how to tell Spencer.”

Garcia grinned, but it was quickly wiped away when she noticed a certain figure in the doorway. You spun on your heel, heart attacking your ribs. Luckily, it was not your husband, but your boss. He stood sternly and started, “We’ve got a case, wheels up in 30.”

You nodded and turned back to Garcia, all she did was wave and whisper, “I’ll text you.”

In the plane, you sat next to Spencer in the aisle seat, stomach feeling queasy and phone vibrating non-stop in your back pocket. You pinched the bone between your eyebrows and squinted at the case files that Hotch had quickly gone over. Morgan was spilling some theories, Prentiss backing him up, when Spencer lowered his head and whispered in your ear, “Are you okay? You seem tired.”

You put on a small smile and nodded, the fact that Spencer had noticed something wrong meant that the rest of the team would notice soon too. You raised yourself and squeezed Spencer’s hand that had been in your lap. You murmured a small excuse me to Hotch and excused yourself to the plane’s toilet.

Spencer began to get worried for your health. The past week and a half, you’d been eating less and then more, and then you’d say you felt sick, and then you were full of energy. You cancelled plans, you slept more, and you had started avoiding Spencer. You were getting sick, and distant, and he hated how you wouldn’t let him help you whenever he asked. He furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head slightly, attempting to focus on the profile.

Sat on the toilet, ready to double over into the bathroom sink, you pulled out your phone and scrolled through Garcias texts.

What about a baby onesie with Daddy’s favourite child on it?

What about a candle lit dinner?

What about donuts that spell out ‘I’m Pregnant!’

I’ve seen people purposefully burn bread and wait until their husbands understand, maybe that?

Maybe. But right now, that was not what you wanted to think about. On top of the case and the whole pregnancy situation, your symptoms were becoming harder to conceal.

A whole day of analysis, interrogating, leads and dead ends led you to a one story run down house with broken windows and an overgrown yard. You threw the FBI bullet vest over your shoulders as Spencer approached you with a tight smile. His hair was shorter these days, after he finally let you start cutting it, but nothing could change his attractiveness. His cologne wafted into your senses as he went behind you, tightening your vest and patting your back and waist down to make sure you were at optimal safety.

You could almost imagine he knew you were pregnant.

“Remember, if he’s in there, keep your distance. He’s a big guy but silent, and not all there.” He furrowed his eyebrows as he did a last check over of your vest, belt, and the position of your gun. You smiled and nodded,

“I know, Spence. I’ve been here too.”

He sighed and nodded, placing a small kiss on your cheek as a good luck.

You were married, but there was no guarantee you’d both make it out of any case. Every movement could be your last, and every interaction could be your last together.

Morgan slipped through the door after a man picked the front doors lock, Prentiss behind him and you behind her. After you, followed Hotch and Spencer.

“Clear!” Morgan called from the kitchen. You turned right down a hallway, Prentiss disappearing into a small room on the right and yelling,

“Clear!”

You entered the small bedroom, gun high and steps careful. It was an adults bedroom, maybe a teenager. There was posters of horror movies, a thin mattress on the floor and shelves of books and wooden cupboard holding what you believed to be clothes.

“Clea-“

The wind got knocked out of you, your shoulder colliding with the wall to your left and a sharp handle being jabbed into your side, as you plummeted against the floor and hearing a loud thump and shattering glass beside you. Miniscule, rainbow, dots clouded your vision, the adrenaline and the concussion you were sure you had numbing the pain coursing through your veins. You screamed in pain, Hotch entering almost immediately.

You lifted your right arm to point out the window, the glass shattered from where the unsub had escaped.

Spencer entered the room in a rush, eyes running over the fallen cupboard that would've been taller than the both of you, and then your small body in the corner. You held out your arm for him, and he placed his hands under your armpits, jolting back when you screeched in pain. "Y/n, your..." His eyes widened in shock and fear at the sight of your dislocated shoulder. Your right hand clutched to your left side - no doubt trying to comfort a massive bruise or worse.

He gulped, helping you up and throwing your good arm around his shoulders. The sudden movements blanked your vision for a few moments, a small lump forming on the front left side of your temple, and your legs trembled in the sudden need to hold yourself up. "Y/n, we just need to get you to the ambulance, alright?" Spencer told you reassuringly. He didn't know how much you could understand, your eyes were cloudy and your movements spaghetti-like, but he continued to reassure you anyways.

The paramedics set into action as soon as they saw your near limp body strung across Spencer's taller build. You were placed in the ambulance on a bed and before you knew it, there was a heavy clamp on your finger and two paramedics touching you and saying unexplainable things to each other. A short one with a beard came close to your vision, obvious aware it was still slightly blurred, "Agent Y/n. We need to take your shirt off in order to fix your shoulder okay? We need to pop it back in as quick as we can."

All you could do is nod, Spencer making most of the choices for you as your husband - he wouldn't put you through something he knew you would disagree with. They asked him questions, and while the voices came in and out of focus, the adrenaline was wearing off and suddenly your senses heightened. "Is she pregnant?"

The question rolled off the paramedics tongue like a rehearsed poem, and Spencer shook his head like there was no possible way you were. But as you saw needles being prepared, your heart started pounding so fast it got the attention of the professionals. "Y/n, are you still with us?"

To Spencer, you looked like you had just woken up to a bad dream, but there was something deeper - you were not unconcious, if anything you looked alert.

"I'm pregnant." The paramedics glanced at each other and Spencer's eyes widened. The one with the needle placed it down carefully on a table, and before you knew it, you were being pushed through hallways and into a awfully bright room.

You passed out, fear and exaustion catching up to you. But Spencer couldn't sleep. On top of the fact that his wife had just gotten her shoulder dislocated and then fixed, and a slight rib fracture, she was also pregnant.

Spencer doubted for the first half hour of waiting for you to wake up that you actually were. You were saying nonsense, you were injured and the adrenaline... usually causes people to tell the truth. He paced and went over everything that had been happening. The change in your behaviour, the tiredness, the sickness. It was all coming together like a puzzle, and he wondered why he didn't realise sooner.

"Spence?" A small voice called out, and he approached the hospital bed almost immediately.

"Y/n." Spencer smiled in relief, overjoyed that you were alright and breathing. He knew you'd be fine, but anything can be unpredictable. Anyone can be unpredictable. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"What happened?" You tried to sit up but Spencers soft hands encouraged you to stay laying down.

"The unsub pushed a cabinet at you. You collided with the wall and dislocated your shoulder." He explained softly, the doctors told him that the specific pain killers they gave you may cause some loopiness. "Oh." You whispered, eyes searching his face like you had never seen it before, and you smiled. You were here, and he was here, and you needed nothing more. Other than more pain killers.

Spencer bit his lip, and sighed, not sure if it was the right time to bring the blindside up at that moment.

"Y/n, darling, are you... pregnant?"

The small grin wiped off your face and you took some deep breaths, nodding and avoiding his gaze in fear of rejection. Spencer sighed, and pushed his hair away from his face, a smile rising onto his cheeks. Tears welled in his eyes from happiness. "This is great, this is... wow Y/n, I can't believe.." He gulped, "I can't believe you didn't tell me sooner."

Confusing his disbelief for anger, tears started dropping down your cheeks as you sat in silence. Spencer started to worry, "Do you... not want to have a baby with me? Or at all? Do you think I won't be a good father? I know that I've had my problems in the past but I promise I can be a good father-"

"Spencer." You called his name in shock, heart aching over his insecure questions. "I do want a baby, especially one with you. And I don't think you'll be a good father, I know you'll be a great one. I just," you wiped your cheeks and he sat down in a chair beside your bed, taking your hand in his. "I'm scared. I thought that you wouldn't want to have one right now because of our... plan. This is really early and we didn't get to save- and- I thought you'd be mad-" You had started blubbering now, the heart monitor becoming a ticking time bomb for a full on breakdown, before Spencer took your face in his hands and smashed your lips onto his.

He pulled back, smile wide, eyes full of adoration and sorrowfullness.

"Y/n, I don't care about that plan anymore. And I'm not mad." He searched your eyes with his, "I just wished you told me earlier. Maybe you wouldn't have been injured, because god knows I wouldn't have let you go out into the field."

"Spencer, I'm so sorry." You sniffled, placing your other hand on top of his.

"Oh, darling. You don't have to be sorry. I've made my injured and pregnant wife cry, I should be sorry."

You giggled, and leant forward to kiss him on the nose. "So it's really okay?"

"Of course. You just have to heal quickly, and I'll do all the rest."

taglist (open!!) - @jeffswh0re @reap3erslov3 @candyd1es @0108s22m

[teambyler]

How the Duffers likely will make the general audience AWARE of Byler and CHEER for Byler

First the TL;DR. They'll probably do it with:

Revealing the Painting Lie

Will comes out to Mike

Will gets bullied for being gay, and Mike must make a choice

Mike and Will face danger together, alone, for the 1st time

And I'll spell out exactly how and why!

(CAVEAT: I can't claim to know 100% what will happen of course! This in the spirit of fun analysis and speculation.)

We in the Byler fandom have our theories: Flickergate, Lettergate, Churchgate, etc. While totally fun and while it would be amazing if they became reality, they don't answer the question of how the Duffers would manage audience expectations to make them accept and cheer for Byler.

Because we all know the reality: on a surface level, season 4 ended with a grand "love confession" from Mike to El. It appeared to have culminated a four-year arc that started from the show's beginning. For the vast majority of viewers, a Byler relationship will be a HUGE SURPRISE.

This isn't just heteronormativity; it's also the fact that in every slow-burn romantic relationship in fiction, the story needs to openly tease "Will they or won't they?" for a while first. The audience needs to start thinking that these 2 characters (1) MIGHT be together, and (2) eventually that they SHOULD be together and cheer for them!

For Jonathan and Nancy, there were a lot of moments suggesting they MIGHT be together in Season 1. Then in Season 2, we had THIS episode (where Steve left Nancy wasted at the party) that made the audience think Nancy absolutely SHOULD be with Jonathan instead of Steve:

The show then dragged things out MORE before their first kiss.

Anti-Bylers raise a fair point that there "isn't enough time" to replace a relationship that seemed to have been "fulfilled" at the end of s4, with an entirely different one. Of course, the ground has been laid for four seasons, but HOW EXACTLY can the Duffers make the audience accept and cheer for Byler, after seeming to have "built up Mike and El for 4 seasons"?

Showing Byler is POSSIBLE:

First, the most obvious (and elegant) way for the Duffers to accomplish this is by revealing the Painting Lie.

The main things that make the General Audience/GA dismiss the idea that Mike likes Will back are that he (1) confessed "I love you" to El and (2) said things like "it's not my fault you don't like girls" and "we're FRIENDS" that suggest he can't be gay or bi.

The show has to address these two things, and there are ways that are pretty obvious.

The fact that El had no role in the painting COMPLETELY undercuts the "I love you" confession in the GA's mind. Milevens completely underestimate how this will affect Mike and El's relationship and how the audience will view it. El didn't commission the painting. When Will gave the painting, he wasn't describing El, but himself. Mike confessed his love to this false picture of El, one that was actually WILL.

When El finds out, she'll realize that Mike said he loved her based on a LIE. She'll realize that she accurately clocked Mike for not loving her when they argued in s4. It's likely that she'll want to break up or take a break in their relationship. (El taking the initiative will assuage concern that Will would "betray" his own sister by being with Mike.) Mike might desperately try to repair things. Even if he does, this will show the GA that Mike's struggle for an entire season to say he loved El -- already very concerning for a romantic couple -- was a complete fiasco, and after two whole seasons of them breaking up and trying to fix their relationship, this third breakup in the LAST season means they'll PROBABLY NOT end up together.

Mike (and the GA) will be confronted with the fact that Mike felt romantic love for the first time because Will described HIMSELF. It will be apparent that Will would be a more suitable romantic interest... if he were a girl. =) It's just too bad that "Mike is probably straight"!

Now how to deal with that misconception?

We come to our OTHER Chekhov's gun that needs to fire: Will comes out to Mike. Will is still closeted at the end of s4, and his right to be out and find happiness is clearly central to his future arc. This HAS to be resolved. And he HAS to come out to his mom and his BEST FRIEND SINCE KINDERGARTEN.

When he comes out to Mike, he of course won't spurn Will. Will probably explains he didn't come out earlier because he was afraid Mike would be homophobic because of what he'd said that summer, "It's not my fault you don't like girls":

If Will does, then Mike will have to explain why he said it. Mike probably apologizes and makes clear he accepts Will. The show (maybe Mike himself) might remind us that he defended Will from homophobia in s1. But this makes the GA wonder "Then why did he say it then?" And Mike might be exceedingly defensive when explaining himself. Will coming out to Mike is a golden opportunity to show the GA that NOT EVERYTHING IS AS IT SEEMS, and Mike might be dealing with internalized homophobia.

That's one way to signal that Mike might be gay or bi. And there's another!

We've been told that Season 5 returns to Season 1 themes. The Core Four are probably bullied for the Hellfire Club, and Will might be bullied for being gay. Ross Duffer says that s5 will center on Will's "emotional arc" and his "coming into his own as a young man," so his confronting homophobia in an 80s small town is quite likely. Since Mike and Will are joined at the hip in s5, the same accusation could easily extend to Mike. All this means that Mike will be confronted with the CHOICE of whether he'll stand up to anti-gay bullying. (Perhaps this is why there's a BTS pic of Mike with a bruise on his face?) It might be strongly implied to the GA that Mike is standing up, not only for Will, but for himself. Shrewd viewers would see the parallel to Mike defending Will from homophobia in s1, making them rethink that scene as well. (Defending Will INTENSELY would simultaneously suggest he's closeted AND clearly parallel Jonathan fighting Steve in s1, which showed Nancy that "only love makes you that crazy sweetheart, and that damn stupid.")

How Season 5 can make the GA CHEER for Byler:

Showing Byler is possible is the main obstacle; next is the much easier, and FUN (and agonizing) part!

First, the show has put Will through so much trauma and made clear how selfless he is, that the audience already wants him to have a happy ending. He almost certainly will suffer again in s5. We probably are reminded that as a gay person in the 80s he believes he's "not gonna fall in love." Meanwhile, the show has made clear that his love for Mike is PAINFULLY deep and won't simply go away: "[I] need you Mike, and [I] always will."

Once the GA sees the POSSIBILITY of a Mike/Will romance as per above, their mental floodgates will open. As Jancy shows, It doesn't take much to get the audience to root for a relationship, after the seeds are planted. And Byler has FOUR SEASONS of seeds for the GA to look back on with fresh eyes!

How to recall those 4 seasons of material? We already know that Will is in danger and we'll see a return of "leader Mike" in s5. This likely will include callbacks (and maybe even flashbacks) to Mike and Will's relationship in s1 and s2. There's the newly-filmed flashback from when they were young kids. This all will bring their long-time closeness to the fore in viewers' minds. But with the artifice of Mike's relationship with El knocked away, they will see it as potentially romantic and realize that this show seems to have been secretly building them up as a romantic couple all along.

Add to all that: we likely will have Will and Mike facing danger together, alone, for the first time:

It was Jonathan and Nancy facing danger together in s1 that made the vast majority of viewers ship Jancy. Mike and Will facing danger will put their LOVE (remember: the audience already accepts them as best friends who love each other!) and their willingness to RISK THEIR LIVES for each other to the fore. Callbacks, flashbacks, and dialogue will remind the GA of their sacrifices for each other: Mike putting Will before everything in s1 and s2, and Will sacrificing his feelings to help Mike be with El. They might hug each other after a near-death experience and have a mutual Gay Panic, which will be a callback (and contrast) to their non-hug at the airport. Millions will say "They should just kiss already."

There are SO MANY WAYS to get the audience cheering for Byler.

Will probably lives in Mike's house because the Byers don't have their own house in Hawkins anymore. Mike, if he doesn't know already at the season's start, will KNOW the painting came from Will and wonder if it was romantic. The tension between them in s5 will make s4 look like nothing in comparison.

When Will comes out to him, Mike might ask, "Is... there anyone you like?"

He'll ask NERVOUSLY, like he once did before:

Will probably won't answer honestly; he might make up another boy! ("I met him in California. We like a lot of the same things. He even likes D&D...") To which Mike says, "COOL." (BTW, this could echo the airport scene and make viewers reassess and understand that as another miscommunication!) This leads to a new cycle of these two boys thinking their love is unrequited LOL.

Only this time the General Audience will be fully aware of it. The miscommunication trope widely used in fictional TV romances will not only tell the GA that Byler should happen, but WILL happen. Will and Mike become THE "Will they or won't they?" couple that everyone is talking about. Mike's sexuality and his feelings for Will probably aren't officially revealed until mid or late season in order to let the excitement build. If Season 5 is released in more than one volume, there will be a flurry of videos and articles revisiting past seasons, finding evidence of Mike's feelings for Will that we Bylers have curated for years. Barring a few vocal homophobes, the show will make the GA (even people who don't watch analysis videos online) fully onboard with a Byler conclusion before it happens; the SHOW ITSELF will set-up and tease it and make the GA desperately want these boys to "just kiss already."

Season 5 will be messy. And glorious. And the most Byler season of all.

-teambyler

[often-daydreaming]

A Quick Chat

'Absolutely not!'

'I'm just gonna talk with him!'

Following the quickly escalating shouts down to the Batcave Bruce found Dick and a heavily armed Tim at each other's throats while their siblings oh so helpfully egged them on.

They were arguing about Wally and their last universal saving mission for some reason and Tim had nearly every contingency he could think of to handle a speedster on him.

-nna talk, that's it!'

'Then you can leave the gear here!'

'What's going on?'

All of his children froze, finally realizing he was here before they started shouting over each other.

'You remem-'

'-ick's trying to-'

'Father Dr-'

'-ng crazy, just because the universe re-'

'Enough!'

'Now, can someone tell me what's going on or do I have to get Alfred?'

And Jason was happy enough to tell him. 'Replacement's pissed because we finally discovered a pretty big difference with the universe after the League hit the reset button.'

Multiple screens on the Batcomputer held information on new heroes, a Junior JLD and everything Tim could dig up on two individuals. The first one was Phantom, a new addition to the Titans and had a number of detailed conspiracy theories tracking his appearances through time while the other held the detailed background information of a recently graduated Daniel James Fenton. Tim had dug up everything from his kindergarten grades to... Oh... Oh no... That explains why they were arguing about Wally.

Most of Daniel's latest online post covered his move to Gotham, his new job offer working in their engineering department and his new boyfriend Bernard. Looking at it all made it painfully easy to piece together that... 'They stole my life!'

And Dick and Tim were arguing again but Bruce knew it wouldn't get too heated and focused his attention on the gathered information. It was easy to see that a number of encounters his kids (mainly his oldest three) should have had with the Titans were adjusted just enough to fit Phantom now and Tim's involvement with the Children of Dionysus had been shifted around to involve Daniel in this new universe.

'-e universe reset doesn't mean you can ruin their lives. Phantom seems like a good kid.'

'Dowd would have left you eventually.'

Dick had to hold Tim back from launching himself at Damien while Jason and Steph stood by egging the two of them on, but then Tim got that look in his eye when Duke brought up the idea of reintroducing himself and everyone noticed.

'No.'

'Come on. Tim, you don't need another restraining order.'

'But it didn't happen in this universe so it doesn't count.'

'It counts if we still remember it!'

But Tim wasn't listening, too busy changing out of all of his gear as a plan quickly started forming together in his mind.

Why waste time with Wally when he can just as easily win over the new couple while ignoring everything else he's learned from his friends.

He'd figure it out one mess at a time. After he won Bernard back he'd figure out the situation between Red Robin and Phantom.

-_- -_- -_-

Reading over the sticky note Danny couldn't help but wonder what Clockwork meant when he wrote 'Have Fun'.

Again, I blame my medication for this, but this came from a couple of different prompts about Tim, Bernard and Danny and I just sort of went with it. Basically the main roster of the League has to stop (Pick a threat) and end up resitting the universe again. The problem is they still remember the old universe so they spend a week or two looking up any big changes and a sleep deprived Tim starts believing he barely knows Bernard in this universe when he's actually dating him and Danny. He just hasn't dug deep enough to figure out his own connection.

[certaimromance]

𝜗𝜚 The Boy Next Door.

Spencer Reid x Neighbor!reader

next chapter | series mastelist | main masterlist

Summary: Making friends with your neighbor is one of the best things that ever happened to you, but falling in love with him? not so much.

Words: 4,1k.

Warnings & Tags: this is part of a series, check the masterlist to make sure you are in the correct chapter. painter!reader. lack of communication. the reader has a cat. two idiots so in love. bittersweet. english isn't my first language (sorry for my mistakes, be kind please).

Note: I am very excited about this, long live friends to lovers and being Spencer's neighbor (my dream).

Being a neighbor to someone like Spencer Reid had been a blessing since the first day you packed boxes of your stuff into the apartment next to his. He was kind and handsome, very much so, if you were honest. Smart but reserved, even a little shy if you looked at him too much. But most importantly, he was the kind of neighbor who would never complain about your cat, who seemed to have a particular fondness for his balcony. Whether it was knocking over his potted plants or staring curiously at his fish tank, your feline’s antics never elicited more than a gentle laugh or a patient shrug. He would simply return your wayward pet with a soft knock at your door, holding it in his arms like it was the most precious thing in the world, while you apologized profusely, your cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

What started as brief exchanges, usually you stammering out apologies while he reassured you it was no trouble, gradually became longer conversations. The simple, polite “Hi, this is my cat, I’m so sorry” turned into casual talks about your day or his work, which he always spoke about in vague terms. And you, feeling so guilty for the inconvenience your cat had caused, decided to bake him cookies as a peace offering. They didn’t turn out quite as you’d hoped, slightly burnt around the edges, but Spencer didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he complimented their colorful sprinkles and icing, likening them to a painting by a famous artist. His sincerity disarmed you, and before you knew it, you were chatting about your love for art while he stroked your cat, his expression soft and attentive as though he’d known you forever.

So you didn't question anything and started to think of him as a friend. His nice actions with you were enough, and it was always good to have new friends, especially when they lived so close to your home.

It turned out that being Spencer's friend was a thousand times better than just being his messy neighbor, and it gave you some new things. Like a copy of the key to his apartment so you could water his plants and feed his fish when he was away at work. Plus, full access to his library, full of books with names you could barely pronounce, whenever you wanted, along with his coffee maker, which was so much better than yours, and was the perfect complement to a lecture in his comfortable sofa.

Books on philosophy, complex sciences, and psychological theories you had never heard of in your life. Each one had a colored heart-shaped post-it that Spencer had borrowed from your collection: pink for the ones you would love, yellow for the ones that might entertain you for a few minutes, red for the ones you wouldn't like at all, and purple for the ones that were in other languages, but he could translate for you if you just mentioned it. His dedication to introducing you to the world of reading was so great that he even convinced you to paint some bookmarks for him. And you took him so seriously that you made one for each of his favorite books, with paintings inspired by their contents.

Being Spencer's neighbor and friend meant having a shoulder to lean on while he helped you pay your bills and tried to fit your tight budget to cover your expenses. It always ended with two empty coffee cups on your kitchen table, your big fake smile as you tried to hold back the urge to scream because your art wasn't giving you enough to survive, his hands caressing your back and reassuring you that everything was going to be okay, that you could count on his help and his wallet if you needed it. And somehow, the next day, one of your paintings would mysteriously sell, and a bag of food would appear for your cat, as if by magic. You never had to ask, he always seemed to know when you needed a little extra help, always appearing with a gentle smile and a quiet offer.

It was one of those days when you opened the door, your hands still covered in paint, when you saw him standing there, holding a small bag of groceries. “I know what you’re doing, and I appreciate it, but it’s really not necessary,” you said, embarrassed. You couldn’t hide the blush creeping up your neck as you set the paintbrush down and gestured to the cluttered table full of half-finished canvases. You knew what he was up to—he’d done it before, slipping in to make sure you had enough to eat and that your cat had food.

Spencer’s cheeks flushed slightly, and he shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other, as though trying to figure out how to explain himself without embarrassing you. “I…I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable,” he started, looking anywhere but directly at you, “but I bought a bunch of food, and honestly, I won’t be able to eat it all. I have to work late all week, and it’ll go bad before I have a chance to use it. I thought…maybe you could use it?” He gave a half-smile, hoping it would soften the situation.

You blinked, surprised at how considerate he was being. Spencer wasn’t the type to try and make you feel bad, and you knew he was trying to help without overstepping. It wasn’t about charity, it was simply his way of offering support because he cared. You couldn’t help but smile at his sincerity, even if you felt a bit embarrassed about the situation.

“You don’t have to do that,” you said gently, trying to ward off the guilt that crept up on you. But he was already shaking his head, that familiar, apologetic look in his eyes.

“I know, I know,” he said quickly. “It’s just…I hate wasting food.” He paused for a moment, as if considering something. “And if you want, I can help organize everything in your fridge. You’re probably running low on space with all the art supplies and other things. I can make room for the stuff so it doesn’t go to waste.”

You glanced over at the chaotic state of your kitchen and couldn’t help but laugh softly, the sound both self-deprecating and amused. It was so true. Still, the thought of Spencer Reid—neat, meticulous Spencer—navigating your messy kitchen was both endearing and mildly mortifying.

“Okay,” you relented, wiping your hands on a towel. “That would actually be helpful. But don’t judge me for the mess, okay? It’s been…a lot lately.”

His face lit up with a small, genuine smile, his love for organization clear in the way his posture straightened. “I promise,” he said, his tone almost teasing, “no judgment.”

As he carefully unpacked the groceries, you found yourself talking without meaning to, your words spilling out like the colors on your canvas. “It’s just been hard,” you admitted, your voice faltering slightly. “I’ve been applying for jobs left and right, but nothing’s coming through. And art…well, it’s not exactly paying the bills right now. I’m barely getting by again.”

Spencer paused, a container of strawberries in his hands, and turned to look at you. His brown eyes were soft with concern and something else, something that felt like quiet reassurance. He placed your favorite fruit on the counter with care before speaking.

“You know,” he began, his voice soft but steady, “the last time we talked, you mentioned you used to babysit.” His words caught your attention, making you pause as you glanced over at him, unsure of where he was going with this. “Well, JJ—my friend at work—was just saying that she’s looking for a babysitter. She’s been trying to find someone reliable for a while, and I thought…well, maybe you’d be interested.”

You blinked, unsure whether you’d heard him right. Babysitting? It seemed like a lifetime ago since you’d done anything like that. You hesitated for a moment, running a hand through your hair. “I used to be a nanny when I was fifteen,” you said, feeling the weight of those words. “But, I’m not sure…I mean, I’m not exactly the same person I was back then, and I haven't interacted with kids in a while.”

Spencer’s lips curved into a reassuring smile, the kind that made you feel like you could take on the world if he believed in you. “I think you’d be great at it,” he said, his tone steady and confident. “And it wouldn’t have to be full-time. Just a few hours here and there, whenever you have the time. Besides,” he added, his smile turning a little playful, “I’m their godfather, so I’d be around if you ever need help.”

The idea of him being there, silently supporting you as he always did, made the idea seem less daunting and even a little tender, almost familiar. You nodded before you realized what you were agreeing to.

“Okay,” you said finally, your voice barely above a whisper. “I’ll think about it.”

His hand rested lightly on your shoulder then, his touch warm and grounding. When you looked up at him, his eyes were filled with a quiet intensity that made your breath hitch.

The possibility of refusing anything he asked you to do, with that perfect face that often reminded you of a tender deer, was impossible, and you had learned that over time. Just like the fact that it was completely forbidden to say out loud all the things you thought when you saw him. No extra sweet words, no overly long hugs, no thinking about the kiss you wanted to give him when he started to babble. And certainly no telling him how much you loved him, not when his gentle presence in your life was already more than you could have ever hoped for.

Being in love with someone like Spencer Reid was no blessing. Especially when his door was right next to yours and it almost seemed like you lived in the same apartment. Eating breakfast together when he wasn't out on a case for work, watching him make your favorite pancakes, and putting up pink candles to pretend it was your birthday when you were feeling too sad, and even a funny tuna cake for your cat's birthday. It was all too detailed, intimate, and personal to feel absolutely nothing for so long. Watching him slowly fall asleep on the couch while you watched a ridiculously romantic movie that you chose and he accepted because he was too tired to discuss it. He looked so relaxed, every one of his features softened, forcing you to run and get your notebook to sketch him, because he was a complete work of art. The same situation happened a thousand times; you almost had a whole notebook dedicated to him. But obviously he didn't know that, because he didn't know a lot of things.

And you were okay with that, even though it felt terrible to have to deprive a genius like him of so much information his brain wasn't even expecting.

Anything was better than watching him avoid you in the hallway, or worse, with you having to move somewhere else.

You could stand the love and desire building up inside you, and you did your best not to let it go. Maybe it wasn't the best or what you expected when you imagined what it would be like to actually fall in love with someone for the first time. But at least you had moments that gave you the energy to go on living. The hug and kiss on the cheek that he gave you every time he left for work as a promise to come back, the tender good morning messages in which he wished you good luck for the rest of the day, especially when you had a lot of things to do and he was not in a state to accompany you, or waiting for you after dinner with your friends so that you could tell him in detail what had happened, every gossip and new comment that unfortunately you now had to do over the phone. Especially this time, maybe it could not be like that.

One suggestion, coming from one of your closest friends, caught you completely off guard. “You should sleep with him,” she had said so casually, as if it were the simplest solution to an incredibly complex situation.

The words hung in the air like a joke that wasn’t really a joke. You looked at her, eyes wide, unable to comprehend what she had just said. “What?” you managed, voice a little too sharp, as you quickly wiped your mouth with the back of your hand.

She didn’t seem to notice your shock, leaning forward with a grin that could only be described as mischievous. “I said,” she repeated, “you should sleep with him.”

You nearly choked on your juice, coughing and sputtering as the words rang in your ears. “Are you serious?” you asked, feeling your face flush a deep shade of red. The words felt out of place, especially when the one person you were most careful about was the subject of this absurd suggestion. “I can’t just…sleep with him.”

“Oh, come on,” she insisted, not giving up. “You’ve been in love with him forever. You need to get it out of your system. It’ll help you move on, I promise.”

The words swirled around you, heavy and suffocating, pressing down on your chest like a tidal wave. Sleep with Spencer? Spencer? The man who had become such an intricate part of your life, the one who made every day brighter simply by being in it? You couldn’t even begin to picture it. It felt…wrong. It wasn’t just about the simmering desire or the longing that built up every time you looked at him. Spencer was more than that. He was a friend, a confidant, a constant in a world that had often felt uncertain. The thought of crossing that line, of turning everything you had into something fleeting, something physical, it made your stomach churn. It wasn’t just infatuation anymore. It was something deeper, something that had taken root and blossomed into something far more fragile. The idea of destroying that with a single reckless and hormonal decision? You couldn’t do it.

“No,” you said firmly, setting your glass down and crossing your arms as if physically rejecting the thought. “I can’t do that. It’s not like that with him.”

For a fleeting moment, your friend’s expression softened, but then the mischievous glint returned to her eyes. She leaned back, crossing her own arms in a show of exaggerated disbelief. “You’re seriously going to sit here and tell me you don’t think about him like that?” she challenged, arching a brow. “That you don’t fantasize about him? Please. You’re practically playing house at this point. Living next door, eating breakfast together, taking care of his godchildren, you’re practically married without the fun part.”

Her words were sharp, and they stung in ways you hadn’t expected. She wasn’t wrong, not entirely. You had thought about Spencer in ways that made your pulse race and your heart ache. You couldn’t deny that you fantasized about him, about what it would feel like to hold him, kiss him, love him in ways you hadn’t allowed yourself to imagine until now. But it was more than that. It was the tenderness in his eyes when he spoke of things that mattered most and the way he held you when things felt heavy.

You sighed, running a hand through your hair in frustration, your fingers threading through the strands with a kind of restless energy. “It’s complicated,” you murmured, feeling a lump form in your throat. “He is different, okay? He’s not just some random guy I’m trying to get over. He’s Spencer.”

“Then tell him how you feel,” she shot back, her tone laced with exasperation. “You’re not doing yourself any favors by keeping it all bottled up.”

You flinched, the words hitting you harder than you’d anticipated. “I can’t do that either,” you admitted, the confession falling from your lips like a stone sinking in water. “It would ruin everything.”

Your friend’s playful demeanor faltered for a moment, her teasing grin softening into something almost compassionate. But it didn’t last long. She leaned back in her chair, tossing her hands up in mock surrender. “Fine. Don’t sleep with him. Don’t tell him how you feel. Just keep sitting around, pining, and writing bad poetry in your head. But don’t come crying to me when you’re still hopelessly in love with him a year from now.”

Her words stung, even though you knew she was right in her own blunt, infuriating way. You opened your mouth to respond but stopped when your phone buzzed on the table. The screen lit up with a message from Spencer: Hope you have a good day. Something’s come up. I’ll be back late today.

You stared at the words, your heart sinking a little. He had a way of being so thoughtful in the simplest ways, even when his job pulled him away. It was one of the many things about him that made your feelings all the more complicated.

Your friend smirked, noticing the soft expression on your face as you read his text. “See? There it is,” she said, her tone equal parts teasing and affectionate. “If you’re not going to do anything about it, at least admit that you’re completely in love with him.”

Don’t come crying to me when you’re still hopelessly in love with him a year from now.

The words echoed in your mind even after you and your friend had parted ways, and even after several hours had passed, lingering in your brain like a buzzing that wouldn't go away even though everything inside you was screaming to make more noise and ignore it. It was as if he had opened a Pandora's box that you had been hiding for a long time, and it was something that made you feel small and foolish, lost in your own indecision. You tried to shake it all off, but his words kept echoing in your head, getting louder and louder. You couldn't confess. You couldn't risk ruining everything.

When you arrived at your building, your feet carrying you to his almost by inertia, you tried to distract yourself and do something nice: set the table, light some candles, and order dinner for two at a nearby restaurant you both liked. That had been your plan: a quiet evening together, the kind where you could pretend that everything was normal and there were no complexes on your mind. You knew Spencer would be home late, but at least he'd be there. You'd share a meal, talk about his crazy case, laugh, get so tired you'd fall asleep on the couch so he could carry you to his bed, sleep there barely touching, and then move on as usual. At least that's how you imagined it.

But as the hours passed, you realized something you didn't want to admit: He wasn't coming home anytime soon. At least not tonight.

The food was there, untouched. The candles flickered in the darkness, taunting you with their warm glow. The emptiness of the apartment reflected the feeling of emptiness gnawing at you. You sat on the couch and tried to distract yourself with your cell phone and grabbed a few books you didn't know from the shelf, but everything seemed strange. The clock on the wall was chiming louder than usual, each second getting longer and longer. Around two in the morning, you couldn't stay awake a second longer. Your eyes were heavy, and your mind was tired from the endless cycle of thoughts you had been wrestling with all day. Eventually, you drifted off to sleep, exhausted from the emotional toll of the day, the weight of your own feelings too much to bear when you didn't have Spencer or a canvas nearby to distract you.

You didn’t even hear him when he came through the door.

It wasn't until almost four in the morning that you awoke slightly, your body responding to the warmth and the soft sound of his footsteps approaching you. You found yourself curled up on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, your head resting on the pillows and your neck aching. The dinner you had bought was still on the table, untouched, and the candles had long since been extinguished, taking away the warm, familiar atmosphere. The air smelled faintly of reheated food and something else, something familiar, something that smelled like him.

“Spencer…” Your voice was thick with sleep, the words barely leaving your mouth.

He smiled down at you, a gentle smile that seemed to reach all the way into your chest. “Sorry I’m so late…I didn't think you would wait for me,” he murmured, his voice low and soothing. “Work ran later than I expected.”

You nodded, still half-dazed, barely able to focus on his words. But then you felt the warmth of his hand on your shoulder, gentle but grounding, and everything seemed to fall into place.

“Why don’t you go to bed?” he suggested softly, his fingers brushing a strand of hair from your face. “You’ve fallen asleep here.”

Before you could react, he picked you up and gently led you into his bedroom. The action was tender, so natural because it had happened more times than you could count. You didn't protest or move. Maybe it was tiredness, or maybe it was the way he made you feel so safe that you always wanted to fall asleep on his couch so he could hold you more, but you let him continue. You let him take care of you as he always did, even when you didn't ask him to.

As he tucked you into his bed, the soft sheets wrapped around your body like a comforting embrace, you murmured something tender and incoherent about him in your sleep, too far away to remember. The words poured out meaninglessly, fragments of meaningless thoughts: feelings, confusions, desires you had buried too deep to think you would ever say out loud. Spencer's hand brushed across your forehead, his thumb gently pushing away the strands of hair that clung to your skin and made you uncomfortable.

“Pretty boy,” you whispered, the words slipping out in your sleepy haze, a fragment of something you couldn’t quite capture.

Spencer’s soft laugh filled the space between you, the sound warm and comforting.

“I remember you said someone used to call you that; is that true?” you asked gently, a playful teasing tone in your voice. “You’re a pretty boy.”

“And you’re a sleepy girl,” he replied with a quiet smile, watching you drift in and out of consciousness.

“Pretty…” you murmured again, your voice barely audible, like a dream that was fading too quickly for you to hold onto.

“Yeah, pretty too,” he whispered, his voice low and rich with tenderness. His thumb traced your forehead one last time, lingering for just a moment before the weight of sleep claimed you entirely.

The bed shifted slightly as Spencer took off his shoes and climbed in beside you, his body warmth a comforting presence next to yours. He paused, just for a moment, to look at you with an expression so full of affection.

“Thanks for making this place a home, my pretty girl,” he whispered, his voice filled with a warmth that seemed to wrap around you like the sheets, even when you can’t listen.

Because he wouldn't have told you that if you were awake and aware, watching him with your bright eyes wide open. Not yet. Not if telling you meant facing the possibility that one day you might avoid him in the hallway or, worse, decide to move somewhere else. He couldn't bear the thought of losing you because he felt things he shouldn't have. Not you. Not his home.

Being in love with you, his neighbor and only friend outside of work, was one of the best and worst things that ever happened to him. To have someone who would wait for him with dinner even when you didn't know what time he'd be home, someone who would compliment him even in between dreams and manage to make him laugh, who would listen to him even when no one else would, and who would accidentally smear paint all over his clothes as a little reminder that you were real and not an impossible dream. He knew you were truly a miracle to someone as unlucky as he was.

Having you, even as a friend, was fantastic.

Sadly, what Spencer didn’t know, what neither of you could have known, was that this moment, this quiet tenderness and time sleeping in the same bed, would be the last time he would see you for what would feel like an eternity. At least for three more agonizing months.

[xxsinisterbunniexx]

✘ Ticci Toby ✘

General Characterization and headcanons

My general thoughts and characterization of Toby :3

I will DEFINITELY add to this because he is always on my mind and I just know I will think of more stuff, especially the general headcanons

Toby is loud, obnoxious, impulsive, and extreme. Basically, on every scale of anything ever he’s at the far end. He’s uninhibited in just about everything, so he’s not afraid to speak his mind. This also means he has no problem making vulgar comments 24/7. He has no memory of his life before, because Slenderman wiped his memory. “Toby Rogers” no longer exists, and honestly the original Toby would be horrified by the version of himself that exists now. My theory on this is that Slenderman will “amplify” traits that are useful to him when he makes someone a proxy. For example: Toby has ADHD, which would likely make him impulsive and act without thinking. This trait would be amplified once he became a proxy.

Let’s address Toby’s many disorders (also these are constantly getting changed on his wiki page). Let me just say: I have a background in psychology but I am by no means a professional. Nonetheless, here are my thoughts on how these would affect Toby.

Tourette’s and CIPA are both neurological disorders. I feel like a lot of people get the general gist of Tourette’s but I do want to clarify that Tourette’s does not cause a stutter. I know a lot of people write Toby having a stutter, and I think it’s become a headcanon itself at this point, but this would not be due to Tourette’s. I keep it pretty simple when it write his tics, just a few motor and verbal tics, like cracking his neck or cursing. CIPA stands for Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis. Basically, this disorder causes him to not be able to feel pain or temperature (which makes sense because both of these are conveyed on the same spinal tract). He also can’t sweat, because if you can’t feel temperature then your body doesn’t know when to produce sweat. Realistically, people with this disorder have a lot of issues with living daily life, mostly due to overheating since they can’t regulate their body temperature. Most people with CIPA do not live past age 25, but he’s a fictional character so we’ll let it go.

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder, and there is more than one type. Based on his behavior I’d guess Toby either has combination type or hyperactive type. He’s impulsive, easily distracted, and at times it can be hard to keep him focused. He will sometimes interrupt during conversations or speak at times when it’s not appropriate.

Amnesia is also listed which is Slenderman induced. Based off his original story, I would argue that the schizophrenia is also Slenderman induced. Nonetheless, I think his main symptoms would be hallucinations (so hearing voices) and disorganized speech. Basically, you’d ask him a question and he just would talk on and not really answer the question (Google patient interviews for Schizophrenia if you’re confused by what I mean by this). I also think Toby would be subject to delusions, mostly to do with illusions of grandeur or paranoia.

Toby also has bipolar disorder, though it’s not specified whether he has type one or type two. Honestly, this is where I have a qualm which is that I think instead of saying he has schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, it should just say he has schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type. But I DIGRESS!

I think Toby would be silly goofy to be around. He’s super uninhibited and speaks his mind. He’s always full of energy. He can be a lot to handle at time and he doesn’t often listen to reason. You could definitely get into some shenanigans with him.

I think it’s easy to interact with him, he’ll talk to pretty much anyone and act friendly with them, but it’s a whole other ballpark trying to get close to him. It would take extensive amount of time, and would have less to do with your behavior and more with you just pinging in his brain in just the right way to make him want to invest more into you.

My thoughts on Toby are never ending, and I’ll probably continue to update this post when I think of new things. However let me say this: this man is not medicated for ANY of these issues so they would all be present in some capacity if you interacted with Toby.

Random headcanons

✘Toby is like 6’1-6’2 (yes I know he was originally short let me live) and he’s somewhat lanky but he’s got that sleeper build

✘ TOBY SMELLS LIKE PINE AND CEDAR AND LIKE THE LOVE OF MY LIFE

✘ has snakebite piercings (meow)

✘ speaks German

✘ I like to think he’s second gen, like his parents were immigrants and thus he speaks German and English

✘ Toby, I need to know where ur grandparents were from 1939-1945

✘ lowkey would use his Tourette’s to get away with everything

✘ like would defo punch Jeff in the face and then be like “aw shit man sorry that was my Tourette’s”

✘ would also use it to get away with saying crazy bullshit

✘ covered in scars cuz CIPA

✘ Toby likes to go fishing and catch them with his BARE HANDS

✘ he can only be in the car if he’s the one driving, it really bugs him if he’s not in control of the car…. Though he doesn’t know why

✘ says crazy out of pocket bullshit 87% of the time

✘ but it would be funny as hell though

✘ like it would be the type of stuff where you know you shouldn’t laugh and you try to avoid laughing in front of him because you know it’ll make him do it more

[partyfailure]

College drop-out Vanessa Avanzini has been in desperate need of money ever since she left her Father's home at the ripe age of 16. A summer job as a beta tester shouldn't hurt, right?

WRONG!! ENDURE THE PSYCHOLOGICAL HORRORS AND THE WEIGHT OF GUILT.!!!!1!!

I finally figured out my AU'S design for her >:)c presenting *curtains open, lights brighten the stage* VANESSA AVANZINI!! Now onto some headcanons and ideas!!

FIRSTLY SHE IS NOT AN AFTON! She's an entirely new character and not related to any previous families.

Vanessa and Vanny are distinct alters. Vanessa is the host, but after the events of HW1, Vanny is formed (similarly to the game's story, but with also deep-rooted trauma inflicted by Glitchtrap/William). They are polar opposites: Vanessa is headstrong, bossy, and short-temperate, but also extremely sensitive; Vanny is keen, and quick with problem-solving, but is eager to please and can act rather childish/exaggeratedly cartoonish, if not impulsively.

Vanessa had a major in forensic sciences. She used to be into crime documentaries, especially unsolvable cases like 'The Missing Children of Freddy's' believed by many to have been a myth for marketing. She was researching the whereabouts of Michael Afton for her college thesis before dropping out

By the time Vanessa worked at Silver Parasol, she was testing the scene-emo style, but by the end of Security Breach she became goth.

Is best friends with Tape Girl! I ought to make her a proper design but her name is Tessa! Van's younger design slightly inspired by @/chloesimaginationthings

She tries to show Gregory 2010s brainrot videos (MLG, youtube poop) but Mike gets angry at her

After Security Breach her main source of income is selling fursuits and digital art commissions. She improves every time she makes one.

As I said many times, Glitchtrap is not William one-to-one. He is a mirage of Springbonnie, who was ejected once William possessed his suit, but manifested itself in the games thanks to old technology. Remnant brings Springbonnie's cheeky personality back, but also William's, and that makes their identity torn about these two personas. Bonnie (as Vanessa calls it, thinking it's an imaginary friend), is very funny, blunt, and mischievous. William is himself. There are instances where Bonnie scares Vanessa whenever he begins acting like William (and he never realizes it because they are blended). Other than forming Vanny as a trauma response to his arrival, Glitchtrap is rather silly and Vanessa is both humored and weirded out by him (think of him as the Bill Cipher from fnaf).

Vanessa is not the only one who Malwhare infected - in fact, my AU has that Glitchtrap cult theory. It affected other employees before Vanessa, and people who came in contact with FFPS' remnant-flooded melted material before the construction of the Pizzaplex. They all collectively have a little Glitchtrap floating around their minds, and all have the same goal to bring William Afton back.

Whenever 'Bonnie' takes over ('Ness'), Vanessa changes. She becomes chipper, talkative, and productive. When 'William' ('Vanny') takes over, she becomes morbidly silent, maniacal, and overly organized. Her green eyes become duller too. Vanessa (the host) is a balance between all these traits + her own, so whenever switches happen, people notice. Here's the close-up for little Glitchtrap spinning, because he is a cutie patatoie. Its form is of a rabbit stuffed animal.

Crazy to think that Vanessa is (the latest of) genZ and Gregory is GenAlpha, possibly born during/after the pandemic (2020s kid) too. Anyway that's it!!! Just a few thingies because I love Vanny Vanessa but she was not given justice. Scott Cawthon YOU PROMISED MORE OF HER PLZ. If you have any questions feel free to ask them in my inbox heheeh

[simbiotictears]

LnDs boys if they were an Idol!boy group: relationship status

this is a part 2 to this post! since they live rent free in my head.

F! reader mostly

Leader + Main Rapper: Zayne

(Married/engaged, Idol x normal person)

Zayne doesn't mention his relationship status at all, but (I believe) he wears a ring on his wedding finger. He moves it to his right hand when he's on stage or working. It actually is his wedding ring. Fans hypothesise it to be a partner or a band thing...since all the guys wear a ring of sorts (aside from Xavier because he keeps losing his).

The company made him do a birthday stream and you brought over the cake. Obviously, the fans couldn't see your face buuutttt they saw your hands and the matching ring. This made some eagle-eyed fans search up the meaning of the crystal and make theory posts online about Zayne being married. Others bought their own copies and posted pictures of them wearing it on their social media.

He, like Rafayel, is very much a 'it's none of their business' kind of person. In an interview where they had to talk about their ideal type, he was the vaguest (bro basically described a blank canvas). He really is just trying to get his bag and leave. He could have a whole child, and the world would not know (which I respect so much).

In the behind the scenes of a game show, where they all had to interact with kids, he was the best with the kids, and it had the fans suspecting that he is a father.

Zayne, outside of work, is a good partner. He brings back souvenirs from every country he goes on tour to. He can become a bit aloof and forget to text for periods of time, but you never have to worry about his loyalty. He will call you whenever he has the free time. He has known you forever and actually became an idol because you used to admire a lot of boy groups when you were growing up together.

He misses you if he is away for too long. In those moment, when he really misses you, he calls you and will fall asleep on the phone.

You bring the boys food a lot of the time, and you are close with the other members. The members often say that Zayne becomes a different person when he is with you, in a good way.

The wedding was very private: the members attended, close friends and family. It was a great time. None of those photos made it online, thank goodness.

Main Dancer + Lead Vocalist/Rapper: Caleb

(childhood friend x idol/ fake-dating into real dating)

As I said before, he is very open about the fact that he is in a relationship. In interviews, he says how you're adorably clingy and how you don't want him to be an idol (a half-truth, half-lie). He has the most fun turning his phone and showing blurred pictures of your dates to torture the delulu fans. He has got in trouble for this so many times. But the company have stopped telling him off because his ratings are still high, despite being a hit or miss with the fans. He started a movement amongst other idols, allowing them to be more open about the fact that they are humans with feelings, too.

There was one time where you called him mid-shoot and that was the first time people started to get the hint that he was taken.

side note: He has you down as my pip-squeak on his phone.... yes, I am a pip-squeak truther. bite me.

Anyway, instead of editing out the footage of the call from the 'making of' video they kept it in. He was grinning like a fool and what he was saying was barely audible over the rehearsal music. (This was before you actually started dating, mind you). Some fans, who are good at lip-reading, managed to decipher what he was talking about. So, not long after that, he announced his 'relationship.'

If his phone buzzes during lives, he will shamelessly say it's his girlfriend that is contacting him. He doesn't tell the fans that he calls you his pip-squeak. That's between you and him.

It's got to the point where his fans now ship the two of you without knowing who you are. They also helped him pick out an anniversary gift for you when he went live to ask what girls like as gifts. As much as he is open about being in a relationship, he doesn't share too many stories, only surface level things.

In terms of his history with you, you grew up together. He went to pilot school but was scouted to become an idol after he graduated. He lost contact with you for a while but reacquainted with you when you interned at the company.

He has only been dating you for a little while compared to how long everyone actually thinks you have been dating (he is a chronic liar). That man has told the world that you've been together for years.

Even you, who knew he was lying, was confused when you realised that he'd kept up the lie from childhood into his actual job.

In a YouTube interview with N Magazine where they had him unpack his bag for a "what is in my bag" vid, all of his items were gifts from you (that's how you realised he actually liked you and wasn't just joking to keep the fans off his back).

He also wears the necklace you gave him, off and on stage. Some fans have bought dupes of the necklace online, which he doesn't mind because it's a cute design.

As a partner, he is very loyal. He will call you whenever he has the chance (even in the middle of rehearsal.) He sends pictures and selfies to you all the time. Prepare to be spammed. He does get anxious if you don't respond for long periods of time.

He got his piloting license to 'be able to fly to you.' You'd thought he was joking. But one time, when he was on tour, and you hadn't responded for a while, he flew back to you...

He loves to facetime.

In the behind-the-scenes video with the kids, he was so good with them that interviewers after that started asking when he'd become a dad. To which, he said, 'I'll have to ask the lady.'

When he was asked about his ideal type, he plainly said, 'my girlfriend' and didn't elaborate.

Visual + Sub Rapper: Sylus

(enemies to lovers! idol x idol, from a different company)

Sylus, shockingly, is private about his relationship, too. As flashy as he is, he respects the fact that you both are idols. Although he isn't opposed to the mess that creates, he knows you wouldn't want to get the drama. He shamelessly feeds the delulu of his fans, but he isn't necessarily flirting, everything he says just sounds like he is. It's that voice I'm telling you...

He saw you again at an awards evening when your groups were sat next to each other. You had already heard bad things about him from other girls in your group and weren’t fond of his rumoured behaviour. He, on the other hand, remembered you from college; you were an underclassman he used to see around campus. (You don't remember him at all... how? guess you weren't interested.)

After the award evening, your managers asked you two to do a dance TikTok challenge to the boys' new song. The fans saw your chemistry and some, the ones who aren't delulu haters, began to ship you like crazy.

This caused a lot of collaborations between your two groups, and between the two of you specifically. Such as co-hosting awards shows, TikTok's together, guest starring on YouTube video podcasts at the same time. Secretly, he was behind some of those coincidences, at least at first. But then the companies started pushing your dynamic when it was bringing in a lot of attention. All press is good.

The main culprit of the change was the time he did aegyo and the only way they managed to get him to do it was because you were on the phone. (at this point, you were in a situationship).

He slowly managed to melt the ice with you. It took months. You hated his guts. But after a few one-night stands (once is an accident, twice is questionable, five times is a habit) and a very well-planned out date, he finally managed to get you to date him.

He is a good partner. He understands that you both are trying to do your own thing, however, he supports you whenever you need the support. He's great to gossip with--a very good listener.

Your groups are often in the same country at the same time, so you don't really have to worry about missing each other. But when you aren't, he is accessible by text. He sends a lot of nice gifts. And you two have a matching brooch.

In his 'day in the life' video, the one which got over 109 million views, some fans noticed his phone screen, and they noted that his lockscreen was a hand with nails that matched yours.

However, when asked about whether he has a special someone in his life, he is the type to give a very open/ambiguous answer. Not quite at the level of Zayne and Rafayel--but nowhere near as open as Caleb and not as defensive Xavier.

Face of The Group + Centre + Main Vocalist: Rafayel

(Friendzoned! Idol x bodyguard)

Did you expect anything less? I'm sorry but this man is trying desperately to get out of the friendzone, however, he made such a bad first impression that he has been stuck there for months. It's getting to the point where the other guys feel bad for him.

He was a little shit to you when you met. He thought you would be one of those secretly obsessed members of staff, and he was surprised when you didn't give a single fuck about who he was.

He realised you attended the same gym (the company one. Literally everyone uses it). You stay in the boxing area, whereas he keeps to the treadmill.

One time in a YouTube video for their channel, they were doing a member against staff wrestling video (staff wore squid game-esque mask/suits). He chose you to go against him. The other members, who know you're not one to mess with, told him he was crazy. But he didn't listen. He ended up getting German suplexed in the video, and he had to tap out. Let's just say that that clip went viral and Rafayel claims that it was fake anytime it gets brought up in interviews.

Despite that, ever since that day, he would purposefully request for you to be his bodyguard during events and trips to airports. He trusts you with his life, and he makes sure to say it every time he gets the chance; to make you feel responsible for him.

He never mentions his relationship status in videos (once again, he tells people to mind their own business), but in an interview where he was asked what his type is he did say that they had to be strong, which got people bringing up the clip again.

The members are amused every single time you turn him down.

Maybe next time it'll work out for him. He can tell that you are getting fond of him, so it is only a matter of time till you crack.

Maknae + Lead Dancer + Sub Vocalist: Xavier

(idol x idol, same company, also fan x idol)

His partner is from the same company and is also in an idol group.

He met you when you got lost trying to find your groups training room, on your first day. He was sleeping by some lockers next to a coffee machine, and you woke him up and asked, 'if he was okay?' To which he explained that he was just resting his eyes. (poor baby had passed out, but everyone is so used to him doing this that they don't check on him anymore.)

Then without knowing who he was… (you’d never seen him without makeup before) you asked him for directions to your studio. He led you there because he's been in the company for years and knows the building like the back of his hand.

Your group trained in the studio above his.

When he got you there, your members asked why it took you so long and you turned to show them who brought you, but before you could thank him, he was gone.

He bumped into you again, not too long after, when he came to train late at night. You were there trying to get a move right. He helped you correct your posture and that got you talking. After that, he was going to leave, but you told him not to go. So, he ended up staying.

He listens to you gush over Lumiere's TikTok when you get hotpot together or eat pot noodles in the corner of the studio late at night. It turns out you are a fan of his secret TikTok, which made him very jealous of himself.

On a night when he was training with Caleb, you saw him dancing as you were leaving. You had never seen him so active before. That was when you realised who he was.

He hates how you gush over Lumiere even after you start dating. It leads to a lot of heated quickies of him mostly trying to prove that he is better than Lumiere (which makes no sense because well... you know? but Xavier logic, I guess?)

You become his designated camera person.

He asked you out when you were travelling back to dorms together. He fell asleep on your shoulder and muttered his feelings for you.

The other members think you two are really cute together. In the company, instead of finding Xavier by the coffee machine, they know that he'll be sleeping on you or by your bag as you rehearse.

As a partner, he is sweet. Because he is often distracted, he can forget to text you back, but he always tries to message you back when he remembers. He is the type to send good morning and good night messages. He also brings back souvenirs from tour. Despite being in the same company, you aren't often in the same places at the same time. But when you are back at HQ, you two are often together.

When asked about his ideal type in a video, he was more defensive but basically described you. His fans have no clue that his partner is you. He is beyond Zayne levels of private. Aside from the hickey incident, nothing else is out.

[dancinglikebutterflywings]

A Little Too Comfortable - Wonwoo

- Pairing: Jeon Wonwoo x bff!reader

- Requested by: no-one. It's just an idea I had that wouldn't leave my mind and Wonwoo once the poll.

- Synopsis: Maybe dating her best friend wouldn't be such a bad idea?

- Warnings: mentions of nudity, showering, him and reader may be a little too comfortable with each other, kissing, friends to lovers trope, mentions green is readers favourite colour after black.

- Word Count: 1,289

- Requests: CLOSED until May or June

- Tag List: Open. Tag List Form

Wonwoo Masterlist | SEVENTEEN Masterlist | Main Masterlist

Entering her best friend's home, she makes her way into the bathroom where he’s showering, lowers the toilet seat lid and takes a seat. She’d texted him before he got into the shower saying she was on her way over. This wasn’t anything new for them especially since they’ve been doing it since they were babies and only stopped when either of them was or are in a relationship. It’s not like they could see anything as the steam from the hot water enveloped the room.   

Hearing someone enter the bathroom, he pokes his head out of the shower door and squints his eyes, to make sure it’s her and not one of the guys stopping by unannounced. Even though his vision is blurred from not wearing his glasses he can still make out that it's her. “Sometimes I wonder if we’re a little too comfortable with each other,” he says returning to his shower. “I’m guessing your date didn’t go well?”   

“I spent an hour listening to him go on a scientific rant about how black is not a colour, after I said it was my favourite colour, like I’m some dumb preschooler,” she scoffs. “And then I spent another hour listening to him go on about other useless scientific facts that are common knowledge. He’s not even a freaking scientist! If I want to be educated, I’d date someone that I already know that's super smart”   

“That’s a hard no,” he says, the thought of her dating someone they already know doesn’t sit well with him. It’s because he thinks that they would be a terrible match and awful for each other but more because he’s selfish when it comes to her. A part of him doesn’t want to share her with them as more than friends.   

“Seriously, though,” she continues, leaning back against the wall with a playful sigh. “I don’t need to be lectured on colour theory while I’m trying to enjoy a nice meal. What’s next? A deep dive into plant genetics?"  

"Sounds like you had a wonderful time," he says, a sarcastic tone to his voice as her lathers his shampoo into his hair.  

She laughs softly at that. “Would have been nicer if we stuck to discussing our favourite things.”  

"Should have said green is your favourite colour," he chuckles, rinsing out his hair. He knows the actual colour is a close second to black, specifically forest green and emerald.  

"Maybe we should just date and see where it leads," she sighs. "We already know each other well enough, and I've seen you naked multiple times so that takes the awkwardness out of it."  

He pauses mid-rinse, his heart skipping a beat at her suggestion. “Wait, are you serious?” he asks, peeking out from behind the shower curtain with wide eyes, droplets of water cascading down his face.  

“Why not?” she shrugs playfully, crossing her arms over her knees as she leans forward. "I already like you and you're not a bad kisser."  

"We've only kissed once and that was when we were 15," he says, recalling the time of their one and only kiss. They were each other's first kiss, wanting to try it out before they started dating. It was awkward and sloppy, but they would be lying if they said they didn't feel something back then.  

"Twice," she reminds him of their drunken kiss on the New Years that they got to spend together in what felt like a long time. She was studying at university, and he was off becoming a big star in the kpop industry.  

He raises an eyebrow, the playful banter between them igniting a familiar warmth in his chest. “Okay, fine, two kisses.”  

"Maybe three," she sighs, bowing her head in faux embarrassment as she holds up three fingers.  

"Three?!" he asks, shocked and trying to dig through his memories of a third possible kiss.  

"No, I'm joking," she says, lifting her head with a cheek smile.  

"Aish," he cusses at her, flicking water in her direction before leaning back into the shower, away from the chill in the air. The steam swirls around him as he finishes washing his hair.   

“You’re lucky I love you,” he says, his voice light as he turns off the water, wraps a towel around his waist and steps out of the shower. The cool air brushes against his skin, but it’s nothing compared to the warmth that spreads in his chest at the thought of what she just suggested. There was a time or two or maybe six when he contemplated what it would be like if they were anything more than friends. Finding his glasses, he puts them on and turns to face her. 

"How much do you love me?" she smirks, her eyes sparkling with mischief.  

"Enough to take our relationship to the next step," he admits, causing her smirk to falter and the mischievous look in her eyes to turn to one of hope. "To be honest, I've been thinking about it a lot. Maybe it's why all our past relationship and all those dates that didn't make it past the first one, never worked out. It could be that what we are looking for is already in front of us."  

She bites her lip, a mix of excitement and uncertainty swirling in her stomach. “So, what are you saying? We should give it a shot?”  

He steps closer, towel still wrapped around his waist and pulls her up from where she sits. They're almost chest to chest as he rests his hands on her hips, causing her to become flustered. “It all makes sense,” he says, his words coming out as a whisper.  

She looks up at him, her heart racing as she processes his words. “You really mean that?” she asks softly, searching his eyes for any hint of doubt. "You're not messing with me?"  

He smiles down at her, a warm grin that reaches his eyes. “I really mean it. I'm not messing with you."   

One of his hands moves to her cheek. She can feel the warmth radiating from his touch, and it sends a rush of butterflies fluttering in her stomach. He leans in closer, their faces only millimetres apart. She can hardly believe what’s happening, her heart pounding in her chest as his lips hover just above hers. It feels like the world around them fades away as lips lightly brush against hers.   

Before he can pull away, she presses her lips against his more firmly, drawing him back into the kiss. His hand on her cheek, slides back down to her waist, pulling her even closer. She ignores the damp feeling of her shirt, as the kiss deepens. This kiss feels much different than the sloppy awkward one they shared at 15 and the drunken one they shared a few years ago. This kiss is filled with unspoken feelings that had been building up over their years of friendship.  

As they pull away, both are left breathless, their foreheads resting against each other. Smiling he presses a soft kiss to the tip of her nose. "Let me get dressed and I'll take you on a proper date."  

"Promise you won't talk about colour theory and plant genetics the entire time?" she asks, the mischievous glint in her eyes returning mixed with the pure unconditional love she has for him.  

He pretends to think about it. "I'm not a scientist so we should be okay," he says with a smile.  

"Good, because if you start going off about how black is technically the absence of colour, I might just walk out," she teases, her heart still racing from the kiss as she follows him out of the bathroom.  

©️2024 dancinglikebutterflywings - Do not copy. modify and/or repost anywhere.

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