#call me the fisher main

[this-is-ris]

Oh yeah, I am crankin' it- and by IT I mean my rod (fishing)

[fallingfavourites]

the fisher king - cm fanfic

summary: Everyone on the team had gotten 2 weeks off. Elle and Derek decided to not waste a second of it and flew away to Jamaica. Hotchner went to spend time with his family. Gideon would most likely be birdwatching in his cabin if you had to guess, he doesn’t like sharing much about his personal life. Neither does Reid who is heading back home to Las Vegas. You stayed at home to relax. no one had expected the terrifying turn this vacation would take.

pairing: bau team x reader (platonic), hints/alludes at spencer reid x reader and elle greenaway x reader

cw/tw: typical cm violence, shooting, blood

word count: 8,568

a/n: basically just follows the fisher king episodes plot, english isn't my first language and im dyslexic so sorry in advance, tried to edit as best as i could! i hope this fic makes sense i dont even know anymore, enjoy!! feedback is always appreciated just dont be mean about it pls

main masterlist - cm masterlist

Everyone on the team had gotten 2 weeks off. Elle and Derek decided to not waste a second of it and flew away to Jamaica. Hotchner went to spend time with his family. Gideon would most likely be birdwatching in his cabin if you had to guess, he doesn’t like sharing much about his personal life. Neither does Reid who is heading back home to Las Vegas. You had just ended up on your couch with a cozy blanket and a movie you had been meaning to watch. A sudden loud ringing made you jump up. Rubbing your eyes so they can refocus.

You had fallen asleep. You would’ve laughed at yourself if it wasn’t for the constant loud ringing. Finally, finding your phone between the blanket you picked up without looking at the caller ID.  “Y/n? Y/n?” It took a second for you to register JJ’s voice as she repeated your name.

“Yeah, Yeah, I’m here is everything okay?” you asked, running a hand through your hair. “You need to get to the office. Now.” She sounded serious.

“What happened?” You asked as you vaguely heard someone talk to JJ. It kind of sounded like Gideon. If he came to the office, it must be serious.

“Tell me when I get there, I’m on my way.” You said, not even waiting for her to respond to your question and you hung up. A million thoughts race through your head as you put on a work-appropriate outfit. As soon as you were ready you got in your car and drove to the bau as quickly as you could.

When you arrive JJ immediately walks up to you and starts filling you in. Elle got arrested, Gideon received a head in the mail, Hotch had a strange phone call, and she had just gotten a framed butterfly. “So, someone is targeting the team?” Crossing your arms over your body. You’ve worked for the bau a few years now and have never experienced anything like this.

“You didn’t get anything?” JJ questioned. It was strange. “No, I haven’t.” You replied.

“Huh, that’s strange.” She said what you were just thinking. JJ frowned, clearly trying to think of a reason why you didn’t. “I’ll keep my eye out for anything strange.” You nodded as you told her.

After about 30 minutes of looking over all the evidence the team had gathered so far, Elle, Morgan, and Hotch stepped out of the elevator. JJ walked up to them, so you got up and made your way over.

“Virginia? You mean that son of a bitch is from here?” This is the first thing you hear Elle say as you open the glass doors. Talking about Frank Giles.

“I don’t know if he’s from here, but this is where he flew to. Arlington.” JJ started explaining as you stepped up next to her and Morgan. He gave you a nod as he acknowledged you.

“He’s got a long criminal record. Manslaughter, robbery, rape.” She continued as she read from the file.

“What about the victim?” You asked crossing your arms, “Marty Harris.” Derek filled in.

“Uh, he’s a two-time convicted fetish burglar, registered child sex offender…” JJ read from the other file. “And we have his head.” Gideon interrupted her. “CSU just positively identified the one delivered to my cabin.”

“Don’t waste time on the first victims. They were unrepentant, bad men. They only got what they deserved.” Hotch spoke up. “What is that?” Morgan asked him.

“I got a phone call last night before you called from Jamaica.” He said looking over at Derek.

“Any mention of a ‘her’?” Elle asks Hotch. “You must help him save her.”  he replies.

“Oh, so there’s a ‘him’ now, too?” Elle responds, clearly annoyed. Which is totally reasonable after getting arrested for murder and barely having any sleep.

“I think he means Reid.” You look over at Gideon. “Reid?” You and JJ both say at the same time. “We need to regroup.” Hotch says as last, and you all walk into the office.

You, JJ, Morgan, and Gideon are sitting at the round table. Hotch stood behind you and Elle stood near the tv screen. “So, clearly we have a psychopath intent on drawing us into his game.” Hotch said with his arms crossed. “Playing with us.” Gideon looked at his hands on the table. “Then let’s return the favor.” Elle says.

“He kept telling us repeatedly to save her. What ‘her’?” Derek questions.

“Items he’s sent must be some kind of clues.” You nod at what Gideon says. “Let’s get them up on the board.” Hotch nods towards the board as he says that.

“I got a Nellie Fox baseball card from 1963, and I got a head in a box.” Gideon starts as JJ gets up walking up to the board. “I got a rare butterfly in a shadow box.” She says as she starts writing it down on the whiteboard. “And repeated messages to ‘save her.’” Hotch adds.

“I got the decapitated body.” Elle says smiling sarcastically. “And a nice visit to the Jamaican Police Headquarters.”

Hotch looks over to you to say what you got. “I didn’t get anything.” You shrug.

“Not even a phone call?” He questions, raising an eyebrow. You shake your head. It looked as if Hotch was going to say something, but Gideon changed the subject. “Reid called from Nevada. He's on the way back here with a skeleton key and a note he got, too.”.

“And the guys who called me said, ‘the youngest holds the key’” Hotch adds on. “That’s Reid.” Elle says as she keeps pacing.

“Okay but wait a minute.” You look over at Derek. “Unsubs, they don’t contact us this way. I mean they might taunt us, dare us to catch them, but they don’t drag us into their fantasy.”

“Why not?” JJ asks Morgan when he finishes.

“Because their fantasies are sexual fantasies.” You answer before he can. “Right, taunting us is a show of power, but making us the object is…” He tries to search for the right words, “I don’t know what the hell that is.”

“There’s something else about the baseball card.” You look back to Gideon as he starts a new theory. “Nellie Fox was one of the stars of the 1959 White Sox. I went to almost every game with my father that year. Fox was my hero.” He says as he leans back in the chair. “So, is it a coincidence that he sends this to me, or does he know how I feel about him?” He questions looking over at Hotch. This makes JJ turn around.

“I collected butterflies when I was a little girl.” You all look over at her. “That’s how I knew what butterfly was in the box.”

“So, he knows us?” You question. “I got an anonymous message.” Hotch slightly shrugs. “I got a police raid.” Elle adds on. “But he knew exactly where we were.” Morgan says, supporting your theory. “Hotel in Jamaica Gideon at the cabin, Reid in Vegas, you at your home.” He lists off.

“He got that from the Bureau computers.” Penelope's voice makes you turn around in your chair; she looks nervous and has a file in her hand. “Your locations are always in there so they can find you if they need you. And I checked the log. The hacker was definitely in the personnel folders” She explains. Your brows furrow, how could this happen. “There were room numbers to the hotel in Jamaica, the address of Gideon’s cabin… There’s a lot of information in those databases.” She finished. Something about the way she’s talking is putting you off. There is something she isn’t telling you.

“Have you figured out how he was able to get into the Bureau’s computers?” Hotch asks her. She is silent. Just for a second. “I’m still working on that.” Lying to a room full of profilers probably isn’t the smartest thing to do. “Garcia, if you know something…” Hotch asks, clearly also picking up some things off.

“No, it’s, um…” Penelope's voice breaks slightly. “It’s just… I…” She’s clearly trying to find the right words, scared of upsetting the team. You give her a supportive smile. You’ve known her for years and know she would never do a bad thing on purpose. “I was playing a game yesterday.” She is silent for a second.

You look back to the team and catch JJ’s reaction. She clearly knows what Penelope is talking about. “An online game.” You look back over at the blonde with glasses. Tears shined in her eyes under the LED lights.

“A game?” Gideon asks. “Not on the Bureau computers, sir.” She quickly clarifies. “On my own personal laptop.”

“No, Garcia. No, no, no.” Derek says shaking his head. You close your eyes and lean your head on your hand. “I don’t understand.” Hotch looks for clarification.

“Wireless Internet.” You simply say. “By wirelessly hooking into the Net here to get online, the hacker could have gotten into my computer first, and… I have far less protection on my own laptop.” Penelope stoically explains it to him.

“And he could have gotten into the entire Bureau computer system this way?” You can’t see Hotch’s face as he says it but by the tone of his voice, you have some idea. “Yeah, it’s possible.” Penelope nods.

“Playing a game?” Gideon says as he gets up. “How could you be that stupid?” Seeing the look on Penelope's face, you have to resist the urge to defend her. Yes, she did do something stupid, but Gideon didn’t have to talk to her like that. “Information, files. You have a responsibility.”

“I know, sir. I’m so sorry.” Penelope replies to him. Gideon doesn’t reply. He just turns around. There is an awkward silence that hangs in the air. “But I found him.” Penelope eventually says. Almost full-on crying by now.

“You did?” You ask hopefully. “I know who he is, the hacker. His name is Giles. Frank Giles.” You all look at each other hearing this information. “He lives in Arlington, Virginia, four miles from here. I have his address” She continues as she hands the file she was holding to Hotch.

“Garcia, you said Giles?” Morgan asks her, wanting to confirm he heard it right. She nods quickly. “Let’s go.” Hotch only has to say those two words, and everyone is up and walking out of the office.

The team and you put on your bulletproof vests and got into the black SUVs. Sirens blared as you raced through the streets to get to Frank Giles as quickly as you could. The adrenaline is already pumping through your veins. Finally getting answers about why this is happening. You entered the building with the swat team. Derek kicked the door in, as usual. Everybody walks in with their guns raised. You hear some yell out that it’s clear. You, Derek, and Elle stand for a closed door.

“Frank Giles. FBI.” Derek yells out.

“Come out Giles.” Elle yells. They look at each other and both give a small nod. Then open the doors. As you enter you lower your gun immediately. You see Frank Giles’s lifeless body, only wearing underwear, laying on a dirty old mattress. A sword stuck in him.

“You got to be kidding me.” Elle’s the first one to speak.

“Hotch! Gideon! I think you’re gonna want to see this.” Derek calls out to them. You tear your eyes away from the gruesome scene to look at Elle. But she’s looking at the wall in front of you. So you look up to see ‘here thy quest doth truly begin’ written on the wall in blood.

All of you start taking in the crime scene. Vests already taken off. “He’s definitely playing with us.” Hotch speaks up. “His identification checks out.” Elle says handing his wallet to Hotch. “That’s Frank Giles.”

“There’s a big ol’bag of money sitting right here on the dresser.” Morgan says as he walks over to the bright blue bag. “So, Giles took Harris to Jamaica to kill him.”

“And then the unsub killed Giles.” You finished Hotch’s sentence.

“Yeah, but he paid him first.” Morgan says, confused about it.

“And left the cash?” Elle questions. “He must be well off.” You say, putting your hands on your hips.

“He said these were ‘unrepentant, bad men.’ Are we looking for some kind of vigilante?” Hotch asks, looking over at Gideon.

“No. The bodies are nothing but a way to get us interested. They’re game pieces. The killings are secondary.” Gideon explains nonchalantly.

“Well, this guy likes to write things in blood on the walls.” Elle says as she inspects the bloody walls.

Suddenly your phone starts ringing. All eyes are on you, but you look to Hotch. Silently asking for permission to step out for a bit. He gives you a nod and you step out to the hallway of the apartment building.

When you're alone you answer your phone.

“L/n.” You say but it stays silent on the other end. Pulling the phone away from your ear to check if you hadn’t accidentally declined the call. “Hello?” You ask as you put the phone back to your ear but it’s silent again.

About to hang up suddenly a voice comes through your phone.

“Agent Y/n L/n.” The voice sounds hoarse, you don’t recognize it. “Who is this?” You ask confused. Putting your right hand on your hip.

“It is your task to make sure they hear, and they listen.” The person ignores your question. You release this is the Unsub. “Do not let them stray.” He’s talking about the team.

He has to be. You’re about to respond as he hangs up.

“Damn it.” You let out a frustrated sigh. What could he have possibly meant by that? You keep staring at your phone.

“Hey,” a comforting voice takes you out of your thoughts, “You okay?” You look up to see Spencer walking up to you.

“What?” You look at him confused. Putting your phone back into your pocket. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m alright.” You smile, somewhat awkwardly.

Reid nods and sends a just as awkward smile back. It’s good to see him again. He looks around the empty hallway, hands in his pockets, hair slicked back behind his ears.

“Why are you out here?” He asks you.

“Oh, uh, no reason.” You shrug and let out a laugh. Why did you just lie to him? You honestly don’t know. It just slipped out. He also clearly doesn’t believe you, but before he can question you, you speak up.

“Let’s go, we can use you in there, genius.” You say as you nod towards the room the team is in. This time the smile you give each other isn’t awkward. They both are genuine smiles. Reid always gets a slight blush when someone calls him genius.

You never say it to embarrass him though. You say it full of affection. When you joined the bau, in your first case you got paired up with Spencer. He had been working at the bau for about a year. The two of you hit it off very well.

Walking back into the room you hear Hotch and Derek, “Midnight wouldn’t cast a shadow.” “‘Hour be none.’”

“3 P.M.,” Reid says as you walk in side by side. “Hey, guys. Garcia told me where to find you.” Hotch crouched near the body glances past Reid to look at you with a questioning gaze, silently asking about the phone call. You shake your head telling him it wasn’t important. And again, you don’t know why you are lying to your team about this. You tell yourself it’s because there are more important things right now and that phone call didn’t even make sense.

“3 P.M?” Gideon asks disrupting your thoughts.

“It’s medieval. The days used to be broken into hourly intervals, the canonical hours of the breviary.” Spencer begins to explain, “Prime, 6 A.M”., terce, 9 A.M., sext, 12 noon, none, 3 P.M., and vespers 6 P.M.”

Elle smiles at him fondly and points her finger at him, “Reid, do not ever go away again.” He smiles at her as Gideon starts talking. “Medieval. That’s why the language changed. ‘doth’”

“Everything this guy does is a clue.” Hotch says looking at the team.

 “Okay, but, guys, it’s 4:35. What do we do? Leave to the blade in till 3 P.M. tomorrow?” Derek asked.

“What if we block that window out?” You asked, pointing towards the window. Reid nodded at what you said and turned to one of the crime scene investigators. “Do you have any spotlights in your car?” He asked Gina.

“Sure.” She says as she's getting up, Elle thanks her.

When she came back with a flashlight she gave it to Reid. He crouched down next to where you were standing and pointed the light to the sword.

“See, this sun is right here at 5 P.M., Morgan, follow the shadow as I move the light higher.” Derek starts to move a small table out of the way to get closer to the wall. “Okay, and do what?” He asks when he’s finished.

“Tap.” Hotch instructs him. Derek starts tapping on the wall. He stops when he finds a hollow spot. “It’s hollow.” He says as he looks back at Hotch.

“Definitely an Indiana Jones movie.” Elle says looking over at you when you laugh at her joke.

“Feels like the wallpaper’s been replaced.” Morgan says to Hotch. “Tear it open.” He replies. Derek takes a knife out of his pocket and starts cutting open the wallpaper. Pulling back the wall.

“It’s a box.” He states looking back at the team. “Pull it out.” Hotch instructs him again. “Wait, are we sure that’s safe?” Spencer asks as he stands up. You look over at him. “You think it’s a bomb?” You ask him questionably.

“It isn’t. You think he’d be playing this game just to blow us up?” Hotch retorts. “He’d have already done that as long as we’ve been standing here.” Derek agrees with him and pulls out the box from the hole. He placed it on the table from earlier.

Hotch crouches next to Gideon to get a better look at it. You make your way over to see what it is, while Spencer doesn’t move. Morgan tries to open it, but it seems like it won’t budge.

“It’s locked.” He confirms, “You want me to break it?”

“No, we should process it first.” Hotch answers his question.

“The youngest holds the key.” Gideon suddenly speaks up. And you, Hotch, and Morgan all look at Reid. Spencer searches his pants pockets for the key. Only to realize he put it in the pocket of his button-up.

He does a little jog up to the box and goes to open it. Putting the key in and backing up slightly as he turns it. Music starts to come from the box.

It takes a second for you to recognize it. Turns out all those failed piano lessons are good for something. “Schubert.” Gideon says but before he can say which piece you beat him to it.

“The Trout Quintet.” He looks over at you confused, clearly, he didn’t expect you to know it. You just shrug in reply as you focus on the note that Spencer pulled out of the box. “Five people fishing.” Hotch says, giving context to the song.

“Never would it be night, but always clear day to any man’s sight.” Reid starts reading off the paper. “Well, that was worth it.” Elle says as she turns away.

“The lid.” Gideon points at the box, “Little tab right under the lock.” Morgan leans over Reid to open the lid.

As he opens it there’s a dvd in it, but also a blonde lock of hair tied with a pink bow.

“Jesus.” Slips out of you. “Oh, god.” Elle says at the same time.

Morgan pulls both out as Gideon lets out a tired sigh. Derek gives Elle the lock of hair. “Do you have that evidence bag?” She asks one of the CSI’s. “Here you go.” He replies as he holds out a bag for her to put the hair in.

“Thy quest.” Morgan says standing up and holding out the dvd so you all can see it. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Gideon putting his head in his hand. After everything is mostly wrapped up at the crime scene you all make your way back to the office.

Everyone is clearly tired and wants to catch this guy.

On the car ride back all you can think about is that phone call. It keeps repeating in your head. “Agent Y/n L/n.”  “Who is this?”  “It is your task to make sure they hear, and they listen. Do not let them stray.” You just can’t seem to make sense of it. What is it that you need to make sure they listen to? Maybe this dvd?

Without even releasing you’re back, sitting at the round table. The dvd is playing.

You see a barely lit office. A man stumbles into the frame and sits down at the chair, you can’t make out a face though.

“He moves funny.” Hotch noted. Derek looks back at Hotch to reply, “It’s like he’s injured or something.”

The man in the video starts talking. “I assure you, you will all understand in the end why it must be this way.” It’s the same voice of the man who called you at Frank Giles’s place. You shift in your seat as he continues. “You might even thank me.”

“Don’t hold your breath, scumbag.” You see Hotch glance over at Elle as she says this.

“You know now you’re on a quest. A young girl’s life depends on the successful completion of it.” The video shows a blonde girl being held captive. She’s throwing things at the camera and hitting the bars of the cage. “As you can see, she is quite beautiful and in distress.” The way he talks about her along with the footage makes your skin crawl.

“Now please listen closely for there is one rule and this rule must be followed.” You sit up straighter in your chair. The things he said on the phone call must be about this.

“The one rule is, only the members of your team may participate in the quest: Jason Gideon, Aaron Hotchner, Derek Morgan, Elle Greenaway, Y/n L/n, Spencer Reid, Jennifer Jareau, Penelope Garcia.” As he said, all your names and pictures of everyone on the team showed on the screen.

“A quest must be completed in the proper way, or it isn’t a quest, is it? That’s it. One rule. Simple. Now, you will be receiving an item soon that will hold the final clue you will need to finish the quest. You will find you will also need a book which has inspired many adventures like mine. Believe me, when I tell you I truly hope to see you all soon. It will mean a successful end to this adventure for all of us.” The video stopped playing. You look at everyone on the team.

“This guy’s got pictures of us?” Elle is the first one to speak up.

“What do we do now?” Reid asks Hotch.

“Well, the lock of hair’s being analyzed for DNA. There might be something on file.” He answers Reid.

“I’ll get Video to enhance the shots of the girl.” JJ says as she gets up to leave.

“Let's get the clues up on the board. Maybe we can make some sense of something.” Hotch instructs.

“Wait, we’re going to play this guy’s game?” Elle asks him, frustrated.

“Do we have a choice?” Spencer replies. But you’re not focusing on their conversation anymore, you’re focused on Gideon. You can’t figure out what he’s up to as he’s about to leave the room.

Everyone else turns around when they hear the click of the door opening.

“Be right back. You guys keep working.” Hotch says as he gets up to talk to Gideon. However, you don’t listen. The rest of the team looks at you as you follow him.

You’re following him out of the room for two reasons. Wanting to know what’s going on, everyone has always told you you’re too curious for your own good. And thinking now might be a good time to also mention to Hotch that you got a call from the Unsub.

“Jason?” Hotch calls out as he follows Gideon, “Jason!” He calls out again when the older man doesn’t stop. Gideon walks into his office and lets the door slam closed behind him. Before Hotch follows Gideon into his office, he gives you a disapproving look for following him. “We’ll talk about this later.” He says dismissively and walks into Gideon's office.

You let out a sigh. Why did you think this would work. You turn back around to have your walk of shame back to the rest of the group.

Morgan lets out a small laugh as he sees you walking back into the room. Reid gives you a questioning look, but you just shrug it off.

Not long after Hotch handed a paper over to Reid and said Haley received it. You, Morgan, Elle, and Reid had been staring at these numbers for a while now.

“My eyes are so heavy I can barely see it.” Elle says with a sigh.

“It has to be some kind of code, right?” You question, leaning against the table next to Reid. “The Unsub said we needed a book, didn’t he?” Reid brings up. You look over at him, curious about where he’s going with this.

“Yeah. ‘a book that inspired many an adventure.’” Morgan quotes from the video.

“It’s a book code. Each one of these sets of numbers represents a particular word.” Spencer explains and points at one of the codes on the paper, “For instance, page 118, line 30, word three. We need to figure out what the words are and fill in the blanks.”

“Right, but we don’t know what book.” You respond, another dead end.

“And the trouble is, it has to be the exact same edition of the exact same book that he used.” Reid adds on.

“Just got a DNA hit on the lock of hair.” JJ says as she walks into the room, “Rebecca Bryant.” She hands Elle a picture after showing it to you, “She’s been missing out of Boston for two years.”

You look over at her shocked, “Two years?” She nods as she looks at you.

“Guys, how are we supposed to figure out which book this code was copied out of?” Derek brings the conversation back after being handed the picture from Elle. “I have no idea.” Spencer replies. JJ walks up to the whiteboard and sticks the picture of Rebecca on it.

Reid was standing in front of the whiteboard, “He said we have everything needed to complete the quest.” he said as he turned around to look at you, Elle, and Derek. Derek was sitting on the chair backward, Elle practically laying in the leather chair, you were leaning against the table and JJ was sitting normally at the table looking over the evidence.

“The answer’s got to be up there somewhere.” Elle mumbles, very clearly tired.

“JJ, get some reporters here as soon as you can.” You quickly turn around as you hear Gideon say this. Alarm bells going off in your head.

Once again, the things the Unsub said on your phone call repeating themselves. It is your task to make sure they hear and they listen. Do not let them stray. Gideon’s not listening. “For what?” JJ asks him. “Just say we need help on a new case.” Is all he gives in response before he walks away.

You get up to follow him, again. You have to stop him from doing this. Gideon is always surprisingly fast for his age. You just barely catch up to him when he reaches Hotch again. “Sirs, you can’t do this.” You say, well it more sounds like you're begging.

Gideon and Hotch, both give you confused looks.

You take a deep breath. “He called me.” You say looking at them.

Their reactions are exactly what you expected. Gideon stays silent, he’s profiling you. “What? What do you mean he called you L/n?  When did this happen?” Hotch asks you with a stern look on his face as he crosses his arms. You feel ashamed. You should’ve told them. You know that. You just hoped you had figured out what he meant earlier so you could’ve given the team helpful evidence and not more questions. “Back at the apartment.” You say, placing your hands behind your back so they don’t notice how nervous you are.

Gideon just shakes his head and walks away. Obviously thinking he has better things to do than deal with you.

“Why didn’t you say something before?” Hotch asks you.

“I… I don’t know,” The unsatisfied look Hotch gives you makes rethink your answer, “I wanted to figure out what he meant.”

“So, you could show off?” Hotch fills it in for himself. You quickly shake your head. That’s not why you did it. “No, no I didn’t want to add more unanswered questions for the team.” It sounds stupid and you realize that.

Hotch sighs and rubs his forehead, “What did he say to you?”

“He told me to make sure they hear, and they listen and to not let them stray. I think he was talking about the video.” You reply to him, “I think the press conference is a mistake, Hotch.”

“Gideon knows what he’s doing L/n, I trust him. You should’ve told us sooner.” He says before walking away. You couldn’t shake the nervous feeling. You went to get some coffee. Not ready to face your team yet.

On your third cup, you see Hotch walking back into the office. The press conference is over, there’s nothing you can do about it now. You see Elle walking out with Hotch.

“Anderson, take Greenaway home.” He says, looking over at him. “Yes, sir.” Anderson immediately replies.

“No, I’m fine.” Elle protests. “I’ll have your car brought over later.” Hotch tells her. “Alright, come on, Anderson.”

Do not let them stray. It repeats in your head.

“Sir, is it okay if I go with them? I can come back whenever you need me.” You ask Hotch. He hesitates for a moment, thinking it over. Elle smiles over at you, she appreciates it.

“Alright but keep your phone on and close L/n.” Hotch tells you.

Elle was struggling to stay awake the whole drive back to her house. Anderson dropped you both off and went back to the office. Elle let you into the house. You’ve been here before, many times, you and her occasionally have a drink after a case when neither of you wants to be alone.

Elle tosses her keys on the coffee table and drops her bag next to the couch and flops down on it. You can’t help but let out a laugh. She doesn’t even have the energy to glare at you, shifting on the couch to get into a more comfortable position.

You put down your own bag next to hers and take off your gun and gun holster placing them next to her keys on the table. You walked into her kitchen, you hadn’t eaten yet and doubted she had.

Opening the fridge just to find it practically empty. There are some leftovers, but they don’t look edible anymore. You grab them to throw them away, the smell hits you and you pull a face.

“Gross.” You mutter under your breath and throw it in the trash can. “Hey, I'm going to get some food, you want any?” You ask her as you walk back into her living room.

She lets out a noise that’s something between a hum and a groan.

“Alright, I’ll take that as a yes.” You say with a smile on your face, “I’m taking your keys, I’ll be right back.” Reaching for her keys on the table.

She gives you a thumbs-up while trying to stifle a yawn.

So, you lock the door behind you as you leave for the small supermarket near her house. It’s about a 10 minute walk away.

You grab some iced coffees and some simple heat-up meals. You’re done in about 5 minutes, pay for everything and walk back. The plastic bag is heavier than you expected it to be, it leaves imprints on your fingers.

You reach Elle’s front door and reach for the keys in your jacket. You try to open the lock as quietly as you can, not wanting to wake her up.

As you open the door you freeze. The plastic bag somehow becomes ten times heavier, and it drops to the floor. The ice coffee starts to leak but it’s the least of your concern.

Elle is laying on the floor covered in her own blood.

“Oh my god…” You whisper. You rush forward to her somehow without falling over your own feet. You fall to your knees. Hands reach up to her face. She isn’t conscious. You give her a few taps on her cheek and her eyes flutter slightly.

“Shit, Elle. You gotta stay awake, okay?” You look around helplessly. Her phone is on the floor next to her. Did she call 911?  You place one hand on the wound to try and stop the bleeding, knowing it isn’t doing much as you feel the red hot liquid slip right past your fingers.

You reach over her to check her phone. Luckily you know her password.

You check her out going call and see 911. A sigh of relief escapes you.

Help is on the way. You just have to do everything you can to keep her alive until then.

Blood is staining your hands as you try to stop the bleeding. Her eyes closed.

“No, no, no, no, Elle, stay with me. Come on, you gotta keep your eyes open. Keep them open for me. Fuck. Elle. Come on. Please… I… I can’t lose you. Please.” A million things ran through your head. If you had been here, you could’ve stopped him.

If you hadn’t left, Elle would be okay. God, why did they have that press conference. Why hadn’t you been more demanding with Hotch that it was a bad idea.

Vague sirens interrupted your train of thought. Taking one hand to check Elle’s pulse. Time stopped. You couldn’t feel a heartbeat.

“Fuck.” Panicking. What would cpr do if she was bleeding out? Not like you had any other choice. You started compressions.

No thoughts run through your head anymore. Just pure focus on the task. Not even noticing the sirens getting louder and louder.

A paramedic pulls you away from Elle. Only now realizing they had arrived. Their mouths were moving but you couldn’t make out any of the words.

You stepped back. Letting them do their job.

Everything is hazy, you blink rapidly. Tears fall on your cheeks.

Have you been crying this whole time? You didn’t even realize it. They place Elle on a stretcher and make their way back to the ambulance. You follow them without saying a word. You don’t think about the fact that your phone is still in your bag.

Getting ready to step into the ambulance you noticed a car arriving. Anderson. He stumbled out of the SUV.

“L/n, what happened?” He tried not to show his fear but the tremble in his voice gave him away. “Call Hotch. Meet me at the hospital. I- I’ll explain there.” You spoke hurriedly while getting into the ambulance.

The paramedics are rushing the stretcher into the ER. You’re having a hard time keeping up with them. The doctors take Elle over.

“I’m sorry, we are taking her into surgery. You aren’t allowed any further.” One of the nurses is holding you back. You have no fight left in you, so you just nod and make your way to the waiting room.

Anderson is already there. His eyes are red. Had he been crying? He looked like a mess. You didn’t even want to think about what you looked like right now. The way Anderson’s eyes widened when he saw you back at the house told you enough. You definitely looked worse than him.

“I called Hotchner. Him and Agent Gideon are on their way now.” Wringing his hands as he spoke. He’s nervous. “Do you... um, do you know anything yet?” He barely could get the question out without tears threatening to spill.

“She’s in surgery.” Was all you could manage to get out as you spoke. Wanting to run your hand over your face but as you reached you noticed the deep maroon stains and how much it was shaking so you put your hand back down.

“If you want to, I can wait here, so you can get cleaned up.” He offered. You gave him a thankful but tired smile.

Making your way over to the bathroom. The door handle stuck to your hand slightly, leaving a slight red imprint on it.

You let out a heavy sigh, resting your head against the door as you closed it behind you. Walking up to the sink you didn’t dare to look into the mirror.

You turned on the faucet and put your shaky hands under the ice cold water. The water colored red instantly. You tried not to think about the fact it was Elle’s blood you were washing off.

Keeping your hands under the water until it turned clear again made them start to tingle from the freezing water. Turning the faucet off, you placed your hands on the sides of the sink. Not daring to look at your own reflection.

Involuntarily you let out a shaky breath. Trying to recollect yourself.

Hotch and Gideon would arrive any moment. They would have questions for you. Questions that would force you to think back to what happened not even an hour ago, while all you’ve been trying this whole time is to forget about it. You couldn’t bear to try and remember.

You dried your hands and walked out of the bathroom, scanning the waiting room for Anderson. He was talking to two men in suits. Two men you could recognize anywhere. How did they get here so soon? How long had you been in the bathroom? You looked at your wrist. The face of your watch is stained with blood. You quickly pulled the sleeve of your jacket back over it.

“It appears she dialed 911 herself before she passed out.” You hear Anderson say as you get closer to them. Hotch and Gideon turned around when they noticed Anderson's gaze shifting to you.

The pity and maybe even guilt that Anderson feels when he makes eye contact with you is clear on his face. Or maybe it’s clear to you since profiling is your job, but then how come you couldn’t prevent Elle from dying. No. She isn’t dead. Not anymore. The paramedics shocked her back to life. She’s alive. She’ll be okay. She has to be. You would never be able to live with yourself if she wouldn’t be. Hotch keeps his eyes on you for a minute while Gideon turns back around.

“Why weren’t we notified?” He asks Anderson.

“The offender apparently took her ID and gun. The uniform I talked to didn’t even know she was in the Bureau until I arrived on scene.” He replies to Gideon quickly.

“Get back over there.” Hotch says turning back to look at Anderson. “This is a federal crime scene. Nobody touches anything. We process it.” He instructs the younger agent. “Go.”

“Yes, sir.” Anderson replies as he leaves to go and do exactly what Hotch told him to.

The two agents turn back around to observe you. You are staring into space; your mind is clouded. Nothing feels clear anymore. Hotch and Gideon glance at each other. Both concerned with the state you’re in currently. Gideon takes out his phone and walks a few steps away, going to call the office.

“L/n? Hey L/n?” An authoritative, yet comforting voice made you reorientate. Hotch squinted his eyes and ever so slightly tilted his head. He was profiling you. And you would’ve noticed if you weren’t so tired.

“Sorry, what were you saying sir?” Crossing your arms over each other.

“You’re lucky you weren’t there as well.” He said touching your shoulder. But you didn’t feel lucky. All you felt was guilt, but you simply nodded. “Is there anything you remember?” He crosses his arms just like you did.

“I-” You choke on your words. You close your eyes and shake your head trying to get your thoughts in order. “I wasn’t even gone for 30 minutes. If I had just… If I hadn’t left, she would be okay.”

“If you had been there, he most likely would’ve shot you as well L/n.” Hotch tells you. Before you can say anything, else Gideon walks back over to the two of you.

“Trap and trace got nothing.” He says leaning against the wall and putting his phone away. “Unsub used a disposable cell.” You look confused at that. Hotch notices.

“The unsub, he called us. Taunting us about Elle.” He explains to you. You let out an exhausted sigh. It’s as if this case never ends.

“We got our best CSU team. If he left anything, a print, a hair, sweat, anything…” “They’ll find it.” Gideon cuts Hotch off. You look down at your hands, they are still shaking.

“I’m going to grab a coffee.” You mutter out and leave the two agents.

After grabbing your coffee, you go and sit in the waiting room. It is completely empty. Would you rather have it be busy? You’re not sure which would be worse. Because now you must sit here in this hurt. This constant tight feeling in your chest, as if you’re not getting enough air.

A few minutes later Gideon walks in. He nods at you as you look at him. He sits down a few chairs away from where you’re sitting, giving you some space. You sit in silence, it’s not uncomfortable but it also isn’t exactly comfortable. “Hotch is calling JJ and Morgan.” He says, explaining where the other agent is. You just nod, not having the energy to reply. You look down at the coffee in your hands, you haven’t taken a single sip. It’s pretty much cold now. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Gideon scrabbling things down on the magazines that lay down on the table. You don’t ask him about it.

After a while, Hotch walks in and you look up from your drink. He’s gotten rid of his suit jacket. “Any word?” He asks Gideon.

“Nope.” Gideon replies simply.

“I called JJ. I told her we’d call them if anything changed.” Hotch tells the two of you as he leans on the two chairs in front of him. Gideon and you simply nod at what he says.

“What’s all that?” Hotch asks as he notices the writing on the magazines.

“This unsub’s extremely organized.” Gideon explains instead of answering his question, “He sounded truly shocked that we didn’t follow the rules. He honestly believed we would simply listen to his directions.”

“He’s delusional. He thinks he’s a mythological king.” Hotch says, his eyebrows furrow slightly.

“But delusion and this level of organization are almost mutually exclusive.” Gideon corrects Hotch, “You don’t meticulously plan contacts in the real world if you’re suffering psychotic breaks from reality.” Before Hotch can reply to Anderson walks back in. “How is she?” he quietly asks. You stare back down at your coffee again.

“No word yet.” Hotch replies to him, “Is the scene processed?”

“They’re finished. We still have it locked up tight, though.” Anderson explains.

“They find anything?” Hotch asks, he sounds exhausted.

“CSU found a partial print.” You look up as Anderson says this. “The shooter wrote a message on the wall in blood and,” He did? How did you not notice that? Hotch and Gideon glance at you just for a second, probably thinking the same. “In one of the smudges, they found a whorl pattern.” Anderson hands over the file to Hotch. “They made a lift. They aren’t sure whether it’s enough to get a hit, but they are processing it now.” Anderson continues as Hotch hands the file over to Gideon. You get up from your seat, still holding your coffee, you walk closer to Gideon to look at the file.

He grabs the top picture of a bloody fingerprint to reveal what the unsub wrote on the wall. RULES. Dripping down the wall. You try to think back as hard as you can but don’t remember seeing it. You should’ve seen it. Gideon reads what’s on the picture and looks up at Hotch. He places the file back down on the table in front of him.

Hotch leaves to get coffee. Leaving you and Gideon alone again. You go to sit back down in the chair but stop.

You can’t help the words that slip out of your mouth. “You shouldn’t have done the press conference.” You turn around to face him. “I tried to warn you.”

Gideon doesn’t say anything. He just stares down at the file. You want to yell at him. Scream that it’s his fault. But you bite the inside of your cheek.

“I was just doing my job.” He says quietly, so quiet it’s barely a whisper. You can’t help but let out a scoff and stare at him. If looks could kill Gideon would be six feet under by now. You respect him, you truly do, but he made a bad call and can’t own up to it.

The reasonable part of your brain tells you, you are projecting your own feelings of guilt and anger on him, but you don’t have it in you to be reasonable right now. So, you storm out of the waiting room. You throw your coffee in a trash can as you walk past it. Hotchner passes by you with two coffees in his hand, he’s put his jacket back on, he raises an eyebrow when you don’t acknowledge him. He looks back at you but keeps walking back to the waiting room.

You let out a frustrated sigh. You notice one of Elle’s doctors and go to ask if they have any new information.

She just tells you the same thing, “No, I’m sorry.” And she walks away.

You just wish someone could tell you something, anything. You’re tired, exhausted, angry, sad, terrified, guilty. Your eyes start to sting as you try and hold back your tears. You look around and walk into the nearest bathroom.

When the door closes the damn breaks and tears fall down your face. A sob escapes you and you place your hand over your mouth. You try to focus on your breathing to try and calm down. It works a little bit.

You decide washing your face might help you get grounded again, so you walk over to the sink. Turning it on and putting your hands under the water. Somehow the water of this sink is even colder than the one from before. You cup your hands under it and splash the water on your face.

You reach to grab a towel to dry your hands and face but catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. You look even worse than you imagined. Your mascara is all over the place and so is your hair. There even is some dried blood on your face, you quickly scrub it off with a damp paper towel.

So many thoughts and feelings have been racing through your head over the past few hours, you can barely keep up with them. Did you overstep with Gideon just now? Possibly. You just couldn’t handle bearing all the guilt you were feeling anymore.

Before you leave you check yourself in the mirror again. You look… less chaotic to put it nicely. You smooth over your hair and clothes and walk out of the bathroom.

You start looking for Hotch and Gideon but only find the latter. He’s staring into space, the thing you’ve seen him do all day. You look around before approaching him, hoping to find Hotch instead.

“Hey…” You clear your throat as you stand next to the chair he’s sitting in. He takes a second to look up to his left and gives you a nod of acknowledgment. A certain awkwardness flows between you two. Neither saying a word.

His fingers are interlaced, resting on his lap. He’s trying to appear calm and collected, but his shaking knee is giving him away.

There’s a free chair next to him. You debate with yourself whether you should sit down or not. Gideon nods over to the chair as if he was reading your mind. “Just sit down, kid.”

A quick nod is all you give him in response as you go and sit down.

After sitting in this silence for a few minutes, you speak up. “She’s going to be okay right?” You rub your palms over your thighs, trying to shake the nervous feeling.

“Greenaway is strong, she’s a fighter.” He doesn’t know if she’ll be okay. He is probably as terrified as you are right now. Once again, you just nod. You wring your fingers. Letting out a sigh, you look over at Gideon.

“Sir, I’m sorry if I overstepped…” He looks over at you with a raised eyebrow, “Earlier, in the waiting room.” You remind him.

Gideon nods, he hadn’t expected you to bring it up again. He wasn’t mad at you; he was mad at himself. He should’ve listened. And he would regret the choice he made, along with all the other choices over his career. Gideon waved his hand at you, telling you that what happened didn’t matter.

You and Gideon sat in the hallway for another half hour before a doctor finally approached both of you. Hearing the news a sigh left you. Relief flooded your body.

Elle is okay. Elle is alive.

Gideon went to call the team as you followed the doctor. Elle was laying in the hospital bed. She looked peaceful. You can’t remember the last time you saw her this relaxed. You approach her bed and sit down in the chair next to it. All the memories of today wash over you again, the thought that you could’ve lost your friend. You wipe away a single tear that falls.  

Gideon walks up next to you after a few minutes. Laying his hand on your shoulder.

“They caught him, he’s dead.” You turn around to look at him, “They saved Rebecca.” You look back to Elle as you nod at what he says. Part of you wished you could’ve been there with the team. Gotten some justice for Elle. But you were where you needed to be. Right here. In the hospital, sitting next to Elle as she wakes up.

[atopvisenyashill]

king bran

so i’ve lined up my theory on how bran will be king in harrenhal but i was a little lax on details about king bran foreshadowing. there’s the “bran in harrenhal” stuff i’ve outlined which includes-

bran’s connection to the weirwoods & the magical connection the isle of faces has

the whent connection

bran being a metaphorical heir to robb by ruling over the lands robb was born, fought, and died in

the importance of harrenhal as a symbol of both the wasteful excess and hope for the future

but why king bran specifically? well…

ATTEMPTED SLAYING BY THE KINGSLAYER

for one thing, bran is our introduction to the entire series (barring the prologue, rip to 3 icons). he introduces us to the brutality of this world, to the themes of justice, kingship, leadership, to the Others, and to magic. that very important lesson about how the person to pass judgement must swing the sword, and must be sure that the life they're taking is one that deserves to be taken? That comes to us not through Jon, or even Arya, but Bran:

Yet our way is the older way. The blood of the First Men still flows in the veins of the Starks, and we hold to the belief that the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a man’s life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die.

That last sentence in particular is a belief that really sticks in all the kids heads as they go about their journeys, and it is through Bran that we learn it.

But in his second chapter, Bran also introduces us to jaime, cersei, and the main plot twist of the first book which kick starts the war of five kings. before he's pushed from the tower, this is all we know about Jaime-

He’s blonde, he’s named Jaime, and he killed the king.

Then the first thing he does is attempt to slay Bran.

AEGON VI AND THE PISSWATER PRINCE

What’s most interesting to me regarding King Bran foreshadowing is that the story of how Bran survives the sack of Winterfell is very similar to Varys & Illyrio’s story of the pisswater prince. Here is Tyrion’s summary of it-

"And when the pisswater prince was safely dead, the eunuch smuggled you across the narrow sea to his fat friend the cheesemonger, who hid you on a poleboat and found an exile lord willing to call himself your father. It does make for a splendid story, and the singers will make much of your escape once you take the Iron Throne…

and some reminders about Bran, helpfully color coded-

It was not Bran we killed. It was not Rickon. They were only miller's sons, from the mill by the Acorn Water. "I had to have two heads, else they would have mocked me… laughed at me..."

Three times he had sworn to keep the secret; once to Bran himself, once to that strange boy Jojen Reed, and last of all to Coldhands. "The world believes the boy is dead," his rescuer had said as they parted. "Let his bones lie undisturbed. We want no seekers coming after us. Swear it, Samwell of the Night's Watch. Swear it for the life you owe me."

“Hodor must stay with Bran, to be his legs," the wildling woman said briskly. "I will take Rickon with me." “We'll go with Bran," said Jojen Reed. "Aye, I thought you might," said Osha.

Another interesting thing about Bran, the Reeds, and Aegon VI here-

“He has a song," the man replied. "He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire."

I swear it by earth and water," said the boy in green. "I swear it by bronze and iron," his sister said. "We swear it by ice and fire," they finished together.

BRAN, THE REEDS, AND THE FISHER KING

Now first of all, quick rundown with more color coding. The Fisher King is a character in Arthurian legend, involved in a story with Perceval and the Holy Grail (so you know we’re already cooking here bc Holy Grail stories are baller). The Fisher King is the last in a long line of kings tasked with guarding the Holy Grail. He is injured at some point, usually in the groin, and is rendered barren by the wound, and his land is a barren wasteland where nothing will grow because he is connected to the land. Only when a prophesied hero comes seeking him will the Fisher King be healed. Perceval, of course, comes seeking him, heals him, and gets the Holy Grail.

Now some of the beats of that story should sound familiar-

Thousands and thousands of years ago, Brandon the Builder had raised Winterfell, and some said the Wall. Bran knew the story, but it had never been his favorite. Maybe one of the other Brandons had liked that story. Sometimes Nan would talk to him as if he were her Brandon, the baby she had nursed all those years ago, and sometimes she confused him with his uncle Brandon, who was killed by the Mad King before Bran was even born. She had lived so long, Mother had told him once, that all the Brandon Starks had become one person in her head.

He was going to be a knight," Arya was saying now. "A knight of the Kingsguard. Can he still be a knight?" "No," Ned said. He saw no use in lying to her. "Yet someday he may be the lord of a great holdfast and sit on the king's council. He might raise castles like Brandon the Builder, or sail a ship across the Sunset Sea, or enter your mother's Faith and become the High Septon." But he will never run beside his wolf again, he thought with a sadness too deep for words, or lie with a woman, or hold his own son in his arms.

The stone is strong, Bran told himself, the roots of the trees go deep, and under the ground the Kings of Winter sit their thrones. So long as those remained, Winterfell remained. It was not dead, just broken. Like me, he thought. I'm not dead either.

What was he now? Only Bran the broken boy, Brandon of House Stark, prince of a lost kingdom, lord of a burned castle, heir to ruins. He had thought the three-eyed crow would be a sorcerer, a wise old wizard who could fix his legs, but that was some stupid child's dream, he realized now. 

No," said the pale lord. "That is beyond my powers." Bran's eyes filled with tears. We came such a long way. The chamber echoed to the sound of the black river. "You will never walk again, Bran," the pale lips promised, "but you will fly."

Now what’s interesting is in twoiaf we learn about some ancient rulers called the Fisher Queens-

From such we know of the Fisher Queens, who ruled the lands adjoining the Silver Sea—the great inland sea at the heart of the grasslands—from a floating palace that made its way endlessly around its shores.

The Fisher Queens were wise and benevolent and favored of the gods, we are told, and kings and lords and wise men sought the floating palace for their counsel.

And what do you know look at who Bran is traveling with-

“My father taught me. We have no knights at Greywater. No master-at-arms, and no maester.” “Who keeps your ravens?” She smiled. “Ravens can’t find Greywater Watch, no more than our enemies can.” “Why not?” “Because it moves,” she told him.

Jojen Reed was thirteen, only four years older than Bran. Jojen wasn't much bigger either, no more than two inches or maybe three, but he had a solemn way of talking that made him seem older and wiser than he really was. At Winterfell, Old Nan had dubbed him "little grandfather."

When they died, they went into the wood, into leaf and limb and root, and the trees remembered. All their songs and spells, their histories and prayers, everything they knew about this world. Maesters will tell you that the weirwoods are sacred to the old gods. The singers believe they are the old gods. When singers die they become part of that godhood.

I like to say this about Theon, when he sees Bran's face in the weirwood and thinks, "The old gods, he thought. They know me. They know my name." that this is partially true - Theon is beloved by the gods but what he doesn't realize is that the old god he is beloved by is in fact Bran Stark. When the old gods weep for Theon and Jeyne, it is Bran weeping for them! So similarly, the way the Fisher Queens in their moving castle were thought to be beloved by the gods the Reeds in their floating castle are beloved by the gods because they are beloved by Bran. This reinforces Bran's connection to the Fisher King imo - just as the old greenseers and singers/cotf are quite literally connected to the land because they have become part of the the weirwood hivemind, Bran has this same connection to the land.

AND what’s more is that the Fisher King story is likely to trace itself back to a Welsh story, of a magical King who gives his sister's hand away, only to learn that she is being mistreated, and musters a host to go save her. During a battle, the King is mortally wounded by an injury in his foot, and as he dies he tells his men to cut off his head and take it to London so he can protect their people from invasion, and for several years after he "dies" his head continues speaking. If that also sounds familair, do you want to know what that man’s name was?

Bran the Blessed.

MELISANDRE'S VISION

Now staying in the realm of magic, we also have this very interesting passage from Melisandre, emphasis mine-

Show me Stannis, Lord, she prayed. Show me your king, your instrument. Visions danced before her, gold and scarlet, flickering, forming and melting and dissolving into one another, shapes strange and terrifying and seductive. She saw the eyeless faces again, staring out at her from sockets weeping blood. Then the towers by the sea, crumbling as the dark tide came sweeping over them, rising from the depths. Shadows in the shape of skulls, skulls that turned to mist, bodies locked together in lust, writhing and rolling and clawing. Through curtains of fire great winged shadows wheeled against a hard blue sky. A face took shape within the hearth. Stannis? she thought, for just a moment … but no, these were not his features. A wooden face, corpse white. Was this the enemy? A thousand red eyes floated in the rising flames. He sees me. Beside him, a boy with a wolf's face threw back his head and howled.

THE REGENCY OF AEGON III

So warning this is part parallelism and part prediction

The Dance of the Dragons was done, and the melancholy reign of King Aegon III Targaryen had begun.

As he was still but ten years of age, the new king’s first act was to name the men who would protect and defend him, and rule for him until he came of age.

This was a council of which Septon Eustace heartily approved, “six strong men and one wise woman, seven to rule us here on earth as the Seven Above rule all men from their heaven.” Mushroom was less impressed. “Seven regents were six too many,” he said. “Pity our poor king.” Despite the fool’s misgivings, most observers seemed to feel that the reign of King Aegon III had begun on a hopeful note.

So many lords, both great and small, had perished during the Dance of the Dragons that the Citadel rightly names this time the Winter of the Widows. Never before or since in the history of the Seven Kingdoms have so many women wielded so much power, ruling in the place of their slain husbands, brothers, and fathers, for sons in swaddling clothes or still on the teat.

The smallfolk of the Seven Kingdoms speak of King Aegon III Targaryen as Aegon the Unlucky, Aegon the Unhappy, and (most often) the Dragonbane, when they remember him at all. All these names are apt. Grand Maester Munkun, who served him for a good part of his reign, calls him the Broken King, which fits him even better. Of all the men ever to sit the Iron Throne, he remains perhaps the most enigmatic: a shadowy monarch who said little and did less, and lived a life steeped in grief and melancholy.

There is also a big focus on the “tax policies” aspect of the story through these two child rulers. Much of Aegon’s regency centers around him butting heads with his guardians while Bran’s ACOK arc sees him as the ruling Stark in Winterfell and learning how to lead with mentors in Maester Luwin & Ser Rodrik Cassell. EYE also think it’s interesting how both Aegon & Bran get some focus on having a lil gaggle of companions around. Aegon has Gaemon, Jaehaera, Viserys, Daenaera, and Larra Rogare, while Bran has the Big Walder, Little Walder, Rickon, Jojen, and Meera. They both feel like very similar groups of kids that are thrown together & running amok with adult supervision that is more lax/not coming from their parents.

There's also just like, a lot of parallels between Baela, Rhaena, Jacaerys, and Aegon with Arya, Sansa, Jon Snow, and Bran. There are several good breakdowns of the Sansa/Arya parallels as well as the Jace/Jon Snow ones, so I won't dig into that here, but I think when you put all this together what you have between Bran and Aegon III is-

Two boy kings who will have a long regency

Both orphaned due to a brutal succession war

Both referred to as "broken" - aegon by munkin, and bran referring to himself

Younger - but not the youngest - brother coming into his seat after his older brother is killed

Both have names that are important in their families & frequently re-used - and in fact both share a name with their uncle

A very rare "winter of widows" where most of the houses are ruled by women due to all the men being dead and their heirs being babies is coming up in the main series

This anti parallel of Aegon being a very melancholy person & Bran being known to be “quick to laugh and easy to love.”

As for his relationships, we have-

His bastard born brother With Some Secret Paternity Going On, who is likely not going to be in the running for King at the end of the war (hopefully um, Jon Snow actually lives unlike poor Jacaerys)

His oldest brother dying at 16 during the war

One sister who is more adventurous and "tomboy"ish, who is associated with ships and travel

Another sister who is more ladylike, who has a largely political arc in the Vale

Both sisters are likely to take leading roles as political players in the aftermath of the war - I do suspect we will get some sort of “Hour of the Wolf” parallels here, just before or after Bran is crowned

SOME CHOICE QUOTES TO LEAVE OFF ON

Bran could perch for hours among the shapeless, rain-worn gargoyles that brooded over the First Keep, watching it all: the men drilling with wood and steel in the yard, the cooks tending their vegetables in the glass garden, restless dogs running back and forth in the kennels, the silence of the godswood, the girls gossiping beside the washing well. It made him feel like he was lord of the castle, in a way even Robb would never know. - Bran II, AGOT

Ahead he glimpsed a pale white trunk that could only be a weirwood, crowned with a head of dark red leaves. - Jon VII, ADWD

[shootingstarwritings]

Body a Day #10: Table

Alex Fisher yawned as he entered the water treatment plant. It was five in the morning, but he had to be in early due to being just recently assigned to the morning shift.

His boss, an older man in his 50’s by the name of Mr. Fisk, urged him to do so to raise his motivation. He had taken a few days off for whatever reason, but came back with a perky mood, which seemed to infect everyone in the morning shift. “Everyone there is so chipper and nice. If you’re feeling unsatisfied, perhaps this new schedule will help your mood.” Alex wasn’t convinced, but soon agreed thanks to small pay bump Mr. Fisk offered.

Alex went into the company break-room to dump his lunch into the fridge, but paused when he saw a plate of doughnuts on the table. He cocked an eyebrow and looked at the note left nearby.

“Thought some of you could use a little pick-me-up!” The note said it was from Mr. Fisk.

Oh, so that’s why everyone’s so happy in the morning. Little snacks, thought Alex. He grabbed a doughnut—surprised by how warm it was—and scarfed it down before heading to his office. “Mmm! Oh, that’s good,” Alex couldn’t help but moan out-loud. With doughnuts that good, how could anyone be in such a foul mood?

Now with a spring in his step, Alex made his way up the stairs, but stopped and doubled over halfway up. “Oh, the fuck…? What was in that… urgh…!”

“Ah, there you are, Alex!” From the top of the stairs, Mr. Fisk called out and smiled Alex, who was on his knees, trembling. “I see you had one of my special treats. That’s good, boy! Just relax and it’ll all be over soon,” he said as he walked down to Alex.

“The fuck…? Boss, what’d you do to those…? Am I dying?!”

Mr. Fisk, still unfazed, kneeled down so he was at eye-level with Alex. “In a way, yes,” he said, gazing intently into Alex’s eyes. Blue film flashed over his brown eyes, which caused Alex to flinch back and nearly fall. “Hang on there, champ,” said Mr. Fisk, catching Alex easily with his strong, broad arms. “Can’t let you die and take one of my spawn with you. You’re too valuable for us.”

By now, Alex’s vision was swimming. Mr. Fisk’s smiling face was growing blurrier by the second. The pain had stopped. Instead, there was a numbing sensation spreading throughout his body. He knew he should’ve been worried, but it was difficult to think. All he could do was string together a few words. “Feels… wrong…”

“No, son, it’ll feel good very soon,” cooed Mr. Fisk before pulling Alex in for a kiss. Alex’s limp body trembled and convulsed.

A few minutes passed, and soon he was back on his feet with a smile that matched Mr. Fisk’s. “Thank you so much for the snacks, boss!” said the new blue-eyes Alex as he beamed, chest puffed out with pride.

“Not a problem, Alex. Oh, but you had green eyes, remember? Take care to fix that before anyone gets suspicious. And get back to work! Remember, our main objective can only come to pass once we take over 50% of this company. Actually, hmm… Come to my office. Seems there’s a bit of an issue we need to take care of.”

Alex looked down at the erection that threatened to burst from his slacks. The blue slime that had taken over his body was still new to the human body, so just the very sensation of being able to move such a gigantic creature like this was exhilarating. He blushed and followed Mr. Fisk like a puppy.

“Ahh, argh… oh, being a human is so great…!” Alex said, moaning as Mr. Fisk sucked him off. He sat spread-eagle on Mr. Fisk’s leather chair as his boss, on his knees, went to town on his cock. “L-Let’s spread this joy all over, Mr. Fisk. I’m your—w-woah—I’m your loyal employee! Ah, ahh!” Alex covered his mouth and tried to drown out his moans as he shot his first load as a human all over Mr. Fisk’s face. “J-Just tell me what to do, Mr. Fisk. I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Patience, patience,” said Mr. Fisk as he ruffled Alex’s damp hair. “First we have to take over this water treatment plant. All employees need to know the joy of our true form before we can spread further. Now, let’s get back to work.”

“Yes, sir!”

[hyperionheights]

bones sexuality headcanons

yeah i dont have proof (except angela) i just Know. call it my lesbian spidey senses. disclaimer that those are MY headcanons, you can have your own opinions on those ofc

main characters:

brennan: bi (preference for ugly men... but i digress). she probably started exploring her sexual orientiation in college and came to the conclusion that she's attracted to every gender to varying degrees. she's probably tongue kissed angela a few times pre season 1

booth: cishet ally! ⭐️ he's a bit confused but he's got the spirit, i'll give him that.. bi wife energy start playing whenever he walks into the room

zack: gayboi with a bad case of hero worship for dr brennan. naomi from paleonthology made him realise this isnt really what he'd like to excavate, if you get the gist... ;) (ew)

angela: imo? bi, but it's up to anyone. canon queer and i'm very happy about it

hodgins: bi. putting my foot down on this one- to me, hodgela is bi4bi. one day early into the series angela goes "why is everyone so hot... being bi is so hard" and hodgins is like "yeah, tell me about it" and they have a Oh, You Too? moment

cam: distinguished (ex-disaster) pan. she's all cool and collected now but in middle school she was probably stuttering whenever she saw a pretty girl

sweets: pan. boykisser. i just KNOW. that man is not heterosexual. probably had a few boyfriends in high school too

aubrey: bi? preference for women but in an alternate universe he and sweets are a thing

goodman: token straightie along with booth except i actually like him even tho even tho he took a 2 month sabbatical and never came back

squinterns:

clark: bi. a bit repressed and only realised it after breaking up with nora but as long as he gets there it's fine

daisy: pan. absolute girlkisser. she has the wlw equivalent of whatever zack felt for dr brennan. swaisy is a disaster pan couple.

fisher: pan- and i wont have it any other way. he was 100% checking sweets out when he came over to b&b's in s8, so i like to think when hodgins asks sweets "what is it with you and interns?" in 9x23 he's including fisher

wendell: bi and in a lab au he's dating vincent thank you

vincent: english twink and i think he and wendell should kiss in the lab lost & found

arastoo: straightie but we still love him. pan wife energy since he and cam are married

finn: god, i have No Idea but i have a feeling he doesn't either

wells: aro, and maybe ace too, but fyi even if he wasn't no one would want him

jessica: ... i used to say lesbian but i kinda let the jaubrey of it all get to me... pan vibes perhaps? i'll have to think it over. in another universe she and daisy are a thing too btw

other characters:

caroline julian:... lesbian. no i will not give an explanation for this one. sham marriage and all.

karen delfs: big pansexual energy coming from this random profiler?? i like her

villains: (do not take those seriously, but also...)

pelant: unlabeled. getting strangled by hodgins awoke something in him but he didnt have the time to figure it out between 8x01 and 9x04

taffet: very VERY mean lesbian

epps: heterosexual incel

broadsky: internalised homophobia over booth, clearly

kovac: the man pretended to be married to his sister. i'm not sure i even wanna know

[noncanon-fictionkin]

YOU

yes, you! are you kin of a completely non-canon character from any source of media? part of a totally different AU? need a place to share your non-canon shenanigans? we're here to help! here you can send kinfessions, culture-is posts, kin calls or any question you may have about kin shenanigans :) copinglinks, fictionhearted folks & fictives are all welcome!

(we will not be taking requests for anything outside of that, ie icons, edits, stim/moodboards, etc. sorry!)

about the mods:

hello everyone! i'm mod star. i am 19, aroace agender & use any pronouns. not sure what else to say about myself other that i am neurodivergent & latine ^_^ my kin list is getting a bit long so i won't list it all here, but you're free to ask about it if you'd like! my main blog is @fallen--starlight

hi hi !!! im mod blue :) im 21 y/o and am serveral rabbits in a trench coat. i use it/fae/he pronouns :)) kin list is seven hundred miles long, but the important one is Sal Fisher! lovely to meet you all <3

RULES

NO BIGOTRY. if you have anything racist or ableist or generally bigoted to say please keep it in your head & out of my ask box

no politics either! there's better spaces to discuss the current state of things & i would like to keep this as much of a fun, light hearted place as possible

no endogenic systems. i won't be arguing about that

no factkin or factives

no DAs

no KFF (kin for fun) people.

no proshippers & radqueers

no discourse whatsoever. i will not be responding to any kind of discourse

please don't send in any graphic nsfw. jokes & light mentions are fine, but anything further makes me uncomfortable

BEFORE YOU SEND AN ASK...

PLEASE if you want your source to be tagged include it in your ask! i wont be tagging anything i don't know about & i can't guess :')

if you're a fictive please mention it in your ask so i can tag the post accordingly! all posts will be tagged as kin unless otherwise specified

when sending kinfessions let me know if you don't want me to reply to them !! otherwise i will most likely be giving answers

when sending canon calls make sure to include your source without abbreviations please

last updated: 09/02/24

[silverfoxstole]

Recording Shada in 2002.

From DWM 330, May 2003:

PAUL MCGANN

INTERVIEW BY GARY GILLATT

We first spoke in Vancouver in 1996…

[sings] Ah yes, I remember it well…

…And here we are in Bristol, years later, with James Fox and Andrew Sachs. Would you ever have thought it?

Well, when my agent was telling me about it, I thought we had a bad line. She said, ‘James Fox is in it, and Andrew Sachs, and so-and-so and such-and-such’ and I assumed I was mishearing. I mean, how could it be?

Were you familiar with the work of Douglas Adams?

Not really, only Hitchhiker’s Guide. I’m not a sci-fi reader at all, that’s not my thing. I didn’t really know a great deal about Adams – I certainly didn’t realise he was this amazing polymath. But Lalla speaks so eloquently and passionately about him, and I’ve come to understand why he was so well-loved and respected, and, of course, the quality of the script speaks for itself.

Are you enjoying playing the script?

Well, compared to last year’s plays, and the year before, you can definitely tell it’s from a different source. It has a different tack, and a whole different kind of wit. If you were at a blind tasting, and shown just a page or two of every script we’ve done, you’d easily spot that this one came from somewhere else, from a very fertile mind. It’s great stuff.

Everyone seems to have treated the script with great respect. Almost every line seems to be debated as you all try to get the best of out it.

Comedy is a very serious business. If it was a so-called straight drama, you probably wouldn’t find that much discussion.

So it’s exacting work?

Oh yes, very much so. If a thing is meant to be funny, you’ve got to make sure it’s funny, so you’ve got to get it right. In drama, your main directions are ‘quicker’, ‘slower’, ‘louder’, ‘quieter’. But on something like this you have to watch how you spin every word. It’s not something you can be lazy about.

I hear you’re missing India Fisher…

I sure am. Every time the studio door opens, I think she’s going to walk through. It’s the association with this place, where we do all these plays, and this is the first one we’ve done without her, so it seems very strange. She’ll be back next year, though, won’t she?

I certainly hope so. Will you?

Well, yes, that’s in the planning stages. Apparently, as was revealed to me yesterday, 2003 is the 40th anniversary of Doctor Who, and they’re planning something of a special with me and Davison and Sylv and Colin Baker. I think they’re going to have us as some sort of barbershop quartet or something.

So you’re still finding it fun, being the Doctor?

You sound very sure of yourself when you ask that… You’ve phrased the question to get the answer you want, I think!

Well, I guess as a fan, I’d like to think that Doctor Who likes being Doctor Who…

Well, I’ll put your mind at rest, then, because I am still enjoying it. I like working on audios more than on screen. Day in, day out, it’s just more of a laugh. Doing the visual work, on TV or in pictures, you never get to hang around with the rest of the cast. Here we can swap stories in the green room, or go off in a gang to the pub for lunch. When you’re working on pictures it’s not like that. You go in, do your little bit, and then you’re shunted off to a trailer out of the way. This is much more fun. It’s what being an actor is all about, and I have Doctor Who to thank for that opportunity.

Extracts from the recording of Shada:

The Doctor decides it’s time to get to the point. “What have you done with the Professor’s mind?” he asks.

“It will be put to a more useful purpose,” replies Skagra, haughtily.

“I would argue that it was serving a very useful purpose where it was.” ”Not to me.”

“You realise he died?” says the Doctor.

“Only his mind was of use to me,” says Skagra. “Not his life.”

“You take a very proprietorial attitude to people’s brains,” responds the Doctor, calmly.

“It seems to me,” says Skagra, his voice rising slightly, “that the Time Lords take a very proprietorial view of the Universe.”

There is a pause.

“Hold on,” says Lalla Ward, looking across the room to Nick, the director. “Surely the Doctor would be more accurate about his reference there. Skagra hasn’t stolen the Professor’s brain, only his mind.”

“That’s right,” agrees Andrew Sachs, dropping his thin, high Skagra voice. “The actual brains stay in their heads, don’t they?”

“It’s a good point,” replies Nick. “I imagine that Douglas was trying to avoid repetition of the word ‘mind’.”

“Well Douglas should have known better,” says Lalla, firmly. “And it’s a bit silly to worry about repetition of the word ‘mind’ now. It’s all ‘I want your mind, I want his mind’ for the next 60 pages.”

“So would you like me to change ‘brain’ to ‘mind’ on that line?” queries Paul McGann. “Because, y’know, I think the Doctor would be far more accurate about his reference there.”

—-

The Krag commander growls its greeting to Skagra. “What are your orders, my Lord?”

Andrew Sachs peers over his script. “Cod and chips twice, please. And a carton of mushy peas.”

—-

Paul McGann is recording assorted screams and moans to signify the Doctor’s mistreatment by Skagra’s mind-sucking sphere. “Argh!” he groans, “Aargh…ugh…aaargh!”

“Thanks, Paul,” says Nick. “That’s just brilliant.”

“Three years at RADA for that!” laughs Paul gleefully. “Would you like me to do some more?”

Nick smiles and turns to Andrew Sachs. “Now could we just do your lines as the sphere attacks the Doctor again?” Andrew nods and clears his throat. “This time, Doctor,” sneers the icy voice of Skagra, “This time no one will come to your rescue. I shall have your mind.” It’s chilling stuff.

“Y’know,” says Paul, “I believe you!”

“Poor Skagra,” says Andrew. “I have the feeling he’s a very lonely man. I think he needs a wife and kids. A talking spaceship’s no real substitute for the love of a good woman, is it?”

—-

Skagra has some seriously sexy transport, and the Doctor is stealing it.

“Ship!” shouts the Doctor. “Activate all re-aligned drive circuits.”

“Something very strange is happening,” says the ship, all sultry sibilance.

“Ta-daa!” cheers the Doctor.

Hannah Gordon is in a separate sound booth. “Should I be getting more roused there?” she asks over the loudspeaker.

“I don’t think so,” says Nick. “Just keep it honey-voiced and seductive.”

In the gallery, artist Lee Sullivan crosses his legs. “I don’t think I can take much more,” he says. “I may have to leave the room. I never found myself attracted to a spaceship before!”

In the studio, Sean Biggerstaff is fidgeting with his headphones. “It’s very strange working with a sexy, disembodied voice in your ear,” he says.

“I can’t see any downside to that,” muses Paul.

“Hey, that’s me you’re talking about,” replies Hannah in a sexy, disembodied way.

—-

An invisible spaceship,” smiles Lalla. “Such a brilliant idea from Douglas.”

“And now we have an invisible spaceship on audio,” adds Paul.

“Douglas would have laughed at that. It’s just so marvellously perverse.”

“Shall we go and explore it?”

“Oh, yes, let’s explore…”

[jazy3]

ST5 Casting News

So in addition to Linda Hamilton joining the cast for Season 5 it looks like we've got some other new faces! In the Behind the Scenes teaser trailer and the Season 5 Tudum article that was recently published we got some new information about who will be joining the cast this season!

First up, we've got Nell Fisher who has been cast to play an older Holly Wheeler! And based on the trailer it looks like Vecna might be targeting her this season. In it we've got footage of Holly in her bedroom with the lights flickering on and off. You can see that the wallpaper matches the previous BTS pic we got in March of an Alf poster and a copy of Peter Pan and Nancy Drew: The Secret of the Old Clock and some other books in a holder. We now know that this is from Holly’s desk in her bedroom.

This feels so validating because I called it back in March that the photo was of Holly's bedroom! A lot of people thought it was Erica's but to me the vibe didn't match. I love Holly's taste in books too! I'm a big Nancy Drew fan and Secret of the Old Clock is one of my favourites! Seeing it is a nice callback to Season 3 when the newspaper guys kept mocking Nancy by calling her Nancy Drew and suggests that the sisters might be more alike than we thought.

In this new clip, we can see Holly’s Lite-Brite, a music stand, and shelves full of board games and stuffed animals. Which means Holly likely plays an instrument of some kind and I'm curious to find out what that is! Next we have a scene of her standing in the kitchen panicking and looking at something off camera while the lights flicker. This could be Vecna or a demogorgon coming through the wall or something could be happening to Karen. Either way this is going to be a rough season for Holly!

I had theorized after Season 4 came out that Holly might play a bigger role this season and I'm glad to see they're doing more with her character. I think this plot could be really interesting because she seems to notice things her parents and siblings don't. We know Holly saw the lights flicker in Season 1 and moved towards them when Will tried to communicate with her. And in Season 3 she noticed the trees moving in a weird way when she was on the farris wheel with her parents. Then in Season 4 we saw Holly was playing with her Lite-Brite in the living room while the Erica, Dustin, and Lucas discussed the mindflayer and watergate in the kitchen.

So we know she's observant and may have knowledge about what's really going on that she's not sharing. I feel like Mike, Nancy, and Karen are going to be so surprised to find out that she's known the whole time that weird stuff has been going, but I feel like Will and the others won't be surprised at all! Next up we've got Jake Connelly whose been cast as an unnamed friend of Erica’s. In the trailer we get footage of Priah Ferguson and Jake Connelly in costume at a barn.

Which makes me wonder if the G.I. Joe lunchbox and Transformers blanket we got photos of back in May belong to him? And if the 80’s Bedroom we got photos of with the computer, board games, stuffed animals, and ET game are from his room? That would make more sense than some of the other theories I've seen so far as the items seem too young to belong to any of the Party members, but too old to belong to Holly.

To be honest, I'm not sure why a new friend of Erica’s that we’ve never heard of is getting screen time when they could be giving Will a love interest or focusing on the characters they already have. I'm not sure why they expect us to care about a character we've never heard of when there are so many other characters who deserve screen time and love interests and to make new friends.

Speaking of love interestes where is Vickie in this trailer? We know she was filming at the hospital with Robin in either episode 1 or 2 and we know she's a part of the main cast so I feel like she should be here. The only thing I can think of is that whatever she's filmed so far is really spoilery so they can't show it to us yet.

Lastly we've got Alex Breaux whose been cast as an unnamed military character. In the trailer he’s seen in a black jacket holding a rifle with a scope on it and he's bathed in red light that's coming from somewhere else in the room. We previously got a BTS pic in February of a crew member in a room with similar lighting next to a lab coat so it's possible he’s at the lab here. To be honest, I'm not sure why they expect us to care about this character when all the military personnel we’ve seen in seasons 3 and 4 have been utterly stupid and ridiculous.

Like getting me to care about Erica's new friend and this guy is going to be a tough sell! Introducing Argyle as a character took a lot of screen time and dialogue away from Jonathan, Mike, and Will in Season 4 in what should have been their storyline and their time to shine. So I'm a bit concerned that these two new characters are going to do the same thing and take away more screen time from the existing cast of characters we already have.

Since we know there's going to be a large military presence in Hawkins this season I'm wondering if maybe this guy is going to be our heroes' inside man the way that Owens was in past seasons? I'm also not sure how old this actor is so it's also possible he could be a love interest for Karen or another character on the show. I'm still holding out hope that they're going to introduce a new love interest for Will this season and that he's going to get his happy ending! Cause the boy has been through it!

Tudum Article: https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/the-title-of-stranger-things-season-5-episode-1-revealed

BTS Teaser Trailer: https://youtu.be/vEhYTJpC2No?si=la95B7BwxWgav4Dq

ST5 BTS Teaser Trailer Thoughts Parts 1 - 4: https://www.tumblr.com/jazy3/758215736865013760/st5-bts-teaser-trailer-thoughts-part-4?source=share

[marshmellowtea]

For fun: any agereg headcanons for Will Clarke :0

oh my gosh so many you have no idea alkgjdaslkf. i know i've made posts about him before but i don't think i've made a headcanon compilation post for him yet (and if i have uhhh i forgor 💀) so i'm gonna use this ask as an excuse to do that hope you're ready—

i already know this is gonna get long so i'm gonna put it under a readmore. tws for mentions of canon abuse and cults, and discussion of diapers. let me know if i should warn for anything else <3

will generally regresses anywhere between 0-5, but usually he hovers near the 1-3 end of that spectrum. he baby

his main caregivers are mike, tanya, and yu (who i like to picture adopting him in a happier au 🥲), but martha, ellie, and fisher and hutchins (for my tedfishyu fans out there lol) also step in from time to time. i think jimmy also sometimes looks after him but that's usually when he and regina have playdates (i also headcanon her as a regressor but that's a thought for another time lol)

i think mrs. hutchins steps in to look after him from time to time too, especially before he's taken in by his adopted family (which she's also a part of i'm not leaving her out, she's just there first and before it's official lol). i don't think she knew he was regressing per se, she just knew he was a vulnerable teenager who acted kinda childlike sometimes so she did her best to look after him when he needed it <3

lila also pops in from time to time in nice aus where she exists still, either as a headmate or as a separate person—she's my beautiful, evil babygirl so i usually tend to write her in somehow lol. i see her as a regressor leaning flip but she only ever really looks out for will, and she's more of a big sister figure to him than anything.

will is not picky about using caregiver titles, lol. if you're looking after him there is a strong chance you will get called mama/papa/dada at some point, even if you're just a babysitter and especially if he's regressed super duper young. i think they're like verbal stims for him when he's little, so unless you're tanya, mike, yu, ted, mrs. hutchins or fisher he doesn't necessarily think of you as a parental caregiver, he just really likes saying those terms :') and yes this is a bit of a projection on my part lol

will is not a permaregressor per se, but i do think once he finds his family he spends a lot of time regressed due to being forced to grow up too fast and the abuse he suffered from his mom and the fraternity (and lila, depending on the au. i love her but she's also canonically a villain and sometimes i do explore that in agere aus)

he's also definitely a padded regressor, i think he has a lot of incontinence issues due to disability and the aforementioned trauma that get exacerbated when he's little so it's just better to keep him in diapers or pull ups. i think they also just generally make him feel safe and comfortable, so he doesn't mind wearing them—he did have shame about it at first for needing them, but his found family has been nothing but supportive and kind about it so he's able to embrace needing them and find comfort in them :')

he has so many soft and comfy clothes!! onesies, big t-shirts (many of them stolen from his cgs hehe), overalls, super soft sweaters, and a few nightgowns/dresses/spinny skirts cuz gnc will reigns supreme in my head lmao. i think he has a wide variety of styles too because basically all of his caregivers have bought or lent him him clothes at some point and they all have drastically different styles so what he's wearing highly depends on who's looking after him and what cute outfit they wanna see him in XD

he enjoys it though! it's kinda fun being their dress up doll sometimes, especially cuz they like to coo at him and take pictures of him when they dress him up. it makes him feel very pretty and loved <3

honestly will doesn't really care much about gender in general, and that's doubled when he's little. he has a wide variety of toys ranging from traditionally "masculine" like trains and legos to traditionally "feminine" like play dress up costumes and a gorgeous dollhouse he got for christmas one year. i'm also shamelessly stealing this headcanon from @whenthedeeppurplefalls but he also lovessss puppets and has a handful of those as well, along with a puppet theater lovingly handmade by mike and tanya for a different christmas (or his birthday, i haven't decided lol)

honestly a lot of these headcanons have probably been at least partially stolen from tanya so shout out to her give her some appreciation <3

his taste in tv shows is similarly varied i think. going back to the puppet thing his faves are definitely the muppet show and sesame street but i like to think he's also a strawberry shortcake, scooby doo, my little pony and blue's clues kid also projection don't worry about it, pfft. he'll watch most things without complaint but those are his faves :)

he's a very touch starved kid so he can get pretty physically clingy sometimes and it's very adorable 🥹 sometimes he goes through periods of touch aversion (usually due to trauma flashbacks or overstimulation) but most of the time he wants to be close to his cgs so he's frequently being held in their arms or lap or just holding their hand waugh

generally will's a really easy kid. he's very sweet and doesn't like to act out, and if he does act out it's usually cuz he's overstimulated or having a bad brain day, and occasionally he will have meltdowns. his cgs have developed gentle protocols for dealing with those days and ways to prevent them because it is NOT fun to see their baby hurting and upset :(

loooooves playing pretend, especially if he gets to play an animal :3

he loves animals in general, whether it's watching shows about them or being read books about them. he canonically feels a kinship with them after all!

related but every time he's taken to the zoo or aquarium it's the best day of his life aglkjdsklfjd. he also likes going to the library and the park, and sometimes for a special occasion his family takes him to an amusement park or festival where he gets to go on the rides (it's very stimulating for him in a good way, you know how little kids like to be thrown around sometimes? it's like that <3)

he's pretty clumsy even out of headspace so his balance is naturally even worse when he's in headspace alkgjadsklf. his caregivers often have to catch him when he wobbles, and if he's younger than two, they often need to carry him (at that point he's usually crawling anyway, but if there's places he needs to go that's when they just ask if they can scoop him up......assuming he hasn't already asked to be carried, that is 🥺)

okay this has gotten out of hand so i'll end it here lol, but god i have. so many thoughts about this kid i forgot how much i loved little will waaauuugh 🥹🥰

[chemzee]

How HPMA characters would do a 20 minutes PowerPoint presentation

aka silly idea 6734 please bear with me and remember it's just my own silly headcanons haha

Daniel: Probably most dull looking out of all of them, just a casual Times New Roman black on white with occasional pictures, no slide transitions. Has just enough info for a single slide, not too short, not too long, just a perfect amount, about maybe 10-12 slides, each idea properly separated. Probably memorized most of it but not all, does occasionally read from screen. So while not too visually interesting, it gets the point across well and to him it's probably more important than wasting time on making it pretty.

Ivy: she strikes me as someone who balances out the information and visual presentation, so I'd say Daniel's presentation but prettier and probably a little shorter, like 8 slides and probably has less info, but enough to explain the topic in question. Probably uses Arial or Calibri (wanted to use Dreaming Outloud but knows its not the best for such presentation) font and has the same transition on all slides. Probably picked a pretty design with pastel colors. Despite the fact she doesn't have a lot of text, she definitely does not remember it at all so she mostly reads it. I think she probably was planning on adding more pictures or transitions but forgot and only realized it the moment she has to make a presentation.

Lottie: definitely the most visually interesting one, she probably would spend A LOT of time on trying to make it look pretty. Uses different transitions but they all go well with the theme of the topic in question and they don't look obnoxious. The ideas are separated well, it has around 10 slides and each looks breathtaking, as she had customized almost everything herself,eather than leaving the design as it is. Uses different fonts for different categories of text, but main text is probably in Century Schoolbook. In terms of information, however, she'd either add too much or too little and she would often read the text on screen, but the prettiness of her presentation makes up for it.

Kevin: he strikes me as a kind of guy who would add TOO much info. He'd probably have to shrink it to font size 6-8 just so he could fit everything and has over 20 slides. Probably the kind of guy to have text on one slide and pictures on the other because he can't fit both on one. Unknown to God, memorized the entire text somehow but gets extremely nervous when presentating it, especially after seeing everyone's reactions to the unreadable wall of text.

Cassandra: she strikes me as a white on black person, probably uses fancy font styles as titles and Times New Roman or Baskerville as normal text. I'd say she's similar to Ivy in a way she balances out the information and the prettiness (I'd say hers is the second prettiest after Lottie's) but has more info than Ivy (around 10-12 slides) and she actually remembers her text almost by memory, so better and fancier Ivy.

Robyn: either did it in 5 minutes and has 7 slides max with minimum amount of info or she just staight up copy pasted a Wikipedia article, with links still attached. At least bothered with the way it looks and by that I mean she chose the random alternative style and random font that looked good enough and called it a day.

Frey Twins: Fisher most likely insisted on making it together with Colby, despite the latter wanting to do his own presentation. Surprisingly, they put in a lot of effort into it, they had put their heart and soul into every single slide. And by that I mean is that they created the worst monstrosity known to mankind, literally the worst looking presentation one would ever imagine. It's too bright, it has small comic sans orange text on red background, the images are squashed, oh and don't get me started on the effects. The transitions and animations take up about 90% of whole presentation, they used literally every known transition available and it's just one after the other. And worst part is? It's completely unoronic, they actually think it looks great.

[thefatiger]

(okay, lets try to translate)

My thoughts about Captain Laserhawk (maybe part 1)

In general, I thought for a long time about how the Laserhawk activated its bomb on Sarah's left hand, if she always activates the bomb on her right...

Okay, I was thinking about who sent Rayman the message "If you want to know the truth, talk to the frog." The most stupid and at the same time the most ingenious option - The Board of Directors the most Rayfrog shippers!

But seriously, there is a version that it was Sarah, or rather, that cyborg spider in the finale, speaking in Sarah's voice. He has exactly the same mathematical symbol on his head as on an empty chair in the boardroom.

And then, how did he manage to send a message without revealing himself, for example, by voice? I couldn't watch the whole scene in the original, so I don't know if the Board of Directors speaks in the voice of one of the Director during the conversation, or if another voice is used so that none of the Board of Directors members will give themselves away just because of the voice. In any case, spider didn't use his real voice. hacked the system???

Perhaps he is a traitor among them (run "Among Us flashback.exe "), who wants to destroy Eden from the inside. It can be said that he was waiting for the moment when Rayman would be replaced on television in order to show the truth to the real Ray and destroy the Board of Directors with his help.

Based on the theory that the whole universe of "Captain Laserhawk" is a game, I'm already starting to talk some nonsense I assume that this cyborg spider (I'll call him that because I'm not sure if it's Sarah, I'll explain later) knows the whole plot (or at least knows the main plot twists that need to happen). That is, perhaps he knows that in this story the hero is not Eden, but the rebels, that the story does not come from the top of power, but from those who must destroy and defeat it.

Well, why does it seem to me that that spider (and therefore the character we followed all 6 episodes) is not the real Sarah Fisher? I'm not talking about the appearance that is different in flashbacks and the present tense (although this could be my argument in any way). Here I again rely on that theory (perhaps I confuse two different publications and mix them into one, who knows). It also said (or rather, summarized) that it was possible that the Laserhawk would be revived in the second season. I have a suggestion that one day Sarah died, and her consciousness was transferred to a certain database of deceased users of people (I'm sure it could well be in the cyberpunk world) and was used by the same traitor to cover up. I'm just not sure that Sarah could change her mind after seeing on TV almost the same underside that she sees when working in a maximum security prison

(I watched last episode, and Sarah's flesh was visible at the moment of the explosion, so this is a real person, albeit with cybernetic legs, so my theory is interesting, but unreal. Although her consciousness could indeed move into the cyborg's body after the destruction of her body. Or is there just an artificial intelligence in the cyborg spider's body based on the consciousness of the real Sarah)

[icarusbetide]

some of my group chat's obscure and inaccurate amrev (hamilton centric) fancasts part 1

the result of five students procrastinating and commenting "hey this guy could play hamilton". not very accurate and based on vibes. we are not scouting agents for good reason.

Alexander Hamilton

We know from people's descriptions and portraits that he most likely: had very red hair, was 5 ft 7-ish, and was slender with a "fine figure". Fun fact, some historians say that people calling him 'small' was more in regards to his slimness than his height, which was more or less average at that time period. Need to find a source for that.

From paintings we do see that he had a prominent nose...and perhaps more of a pointed chin with a slim face, as a young man? It seemed to have broadened out with age. Portraits of him seem wildly inconsistent, and the one Betsey said was very like him was later in life. Damn you Charles Wilson Peale, you never got his face right! tbh I didn't see much of Hamilton's face (especially young Hamilton) in amc Turn's Sean Haggerty who had too much of a round face, and I think he was casted based off of the peale painting lmao.

And of course, who can forget his beautiful beautiful anime blue-violet eyes. Abigail Adams saw the devil in them, Fisher Ames seems to have spent way too much time staring into them. Both accounts can be seen as complimentary.

I've yet to find an actor that really captures an older Hamilton well, so I'm not even going to go there. Honestly, i've yet to find a really spot-on young Hamilton either, so I have no fan-cast. But my friend has one she advocates for a lot:

Tom Blyth based on these specific paintings (and a de-aged one with dark hair). Her words: "he has really piercing blue eyes and we know he can pull off lighter hair from the hunger games movie! he's also very slender which would work well, even though he's pretty tall. we can do perspective work with height it's okay."

And apparently Hamilton's son (William? it's not Philip right) looked quite a bit like him. And in the sketch below I think we can see Blyth's face there!

Not too bad, I think. Especially since his face seems to have filled out more. Main concern is if the hypothetical project would characterize Hamilton well, and if he'd deliver that complicated energy lol. He is charismatic so a point in his favor?

Valentijn Dijkman is another one of my friend's fancasts so I don't know much about him besides the screenshots they shared. Apparently he is a model and tiktoker, and he certainly checks the ginger + blue eyes requirements! A bit of a yassified Hamilton, I think, but some contemporaries called him almost feminine and some descriptions of him are wild so that might be okay.

Elizabeth Hamilton

Now, we know that Betsey was very petite and had lovely dark curls and eyes that Hamilton and even Tilghman, I believe, commented on. It seems like she had a slim face and a strong T-zone. Even in the portraits we see her dark eyes. Portraits of her when she was younger:

My personal fav fan cast is actually Meg Tilly, specifically Meg Tilly in Valmont 1983. She has the dark hair and dark eyes and her facial structure itself is also similar enough to me.

There's also something in her performance here that would serve well for Elizabeth - a sweetness and patient quality plus a hidden playful streak.

John Laurens

We are all stumped for him lmao. We don't have a lot of paintings of him and the main one is a Charles Peale and I don't trust him 100%. We do know he was most likely blonde, taller than Hamilton, and was very handsome.

Coward's way out. Seth Numrich is a popular one and I wouldn't be angry about it!

George Washington

It ain't accurate but I loved Ian Kahn's Washington so much that I don't care. He's way too hot to be Washington but let's just pretend it's that hero-worship coming through.

And to round it all out, Turn Lafayette was also suprisingly accurate in face shape I think. You can see we ran out of steam at the end.

[lexithequeenofgay]

Ninjago Zane One-Shot: Guilt Complex

Zane stared at the Never-Realm in the distance. He wasn't sure why, but something about that place made him feel guilty. Everytime he looked at the Never-Realm, he felt the overwhelming urge to turn off his emotion-meter.

Lloyd sat beside him.

Lloyd: “Whatcha thinking about, buddy?”

Zane looked at his fellow Ninja and smiled. But the smile quickly faded.

Zane: “I know you told me what happened, but what really happened when I was sent to the Never-Realm?”

Lloyd thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to put it into words.

Lloyd: “Well, an evil Formling named “Vex the Formless” tricked you into thinking you were someone called the Ice Emperor. You overtook the throne and sent the Never-Realm into an eternal frozen wasteland until you smashed the scepter with the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu.”

Zane looked back at the Never-Realm, processing what Lloyd had said. He was confused. Why didn't his friends hate him? Why didn't the people of the Never-Realm lock him away for his crimes?

The more he thought, the more his mechanical heart ached with pain. So, he decided to ask.

Zane: “Do you hate me for what I did? For my crimes against the Never-Realm?”

Zane paused and looked back at the snowy wasteland in the distance.

Zane: “Do the people of the Never-Realm hate me? Why didn't they lock me away?”

Lloyd looked at his brother with shock. Zane hadn't brought this up before.

Lloyd: “Of course not! It wasn't your fault you were brainwashed. We explained that to the people of the Never-Realm. That's why they didn't lock you away.”

Zane looked at him with a frown.

Zane: “Being brainwashed doesn't exactly excuse me for my crimes against the people of the Never-Realm.”

Lloyd thought for a moment. He was technically right, but they did explain to the people about who Zane was and that he wasn't at fault.

Zane stared at the snowy wasteland of the Never-Realm, and noticed the King's palace. He felt a twinge of guilt and sadness mixed with anger and confusion. He dethroned the king, who was a kind and just man. He killed Formlings, who were just living their lives. He cut off the ice-fishers from their main source of food. He created Boreal and used it to cause destruction and pain.

It didn't matter to him if Vex brainwashed him. He did those things. He did.

[quark-nova]

Sometimes I see you on my dash doing a science and it makes me happy and do you have any shark facts pls? Sharks are so cool. Especially the weird deep sea sharks that always get ignored when ppl talk about great whites and such (no shame to great whites they are very lovable,)

Of course I have quite a lot!

Okay so we can start with the first shark ancestors, the spiny sharks! They lived in the Silurian, more than 400 million years ago. They looked pretty unique as each fin was actually a spine supporting the whole fin, and had already reacquired the cartilaginous skeleton that modern sharks have!

Nobu Tamura / CC BY-SA 4.0

They often had a bunch of little pairs of "finlets" (not real fins, but spines serving a similar purpose) between their actual fins! So spiky!

Then we come to the true sharks (and rays). Or, nearly. Turns out, there are two main groups of shark-like cartilaginous fish alive today. On the one hand the sharks and rays, and on the other hand the chimeras, majestic creatures often found in the deep sea!

Havforskingsinstituttet / CC BY-SA 4.0

Turns out however, the ancestors of chimeras were historically way more shark-like! And ranged between adorable and pretty weird, and more often than not both! Here's one of them: the sawblade shark, Helicoprion!

Entelognathus / CC BY-SA 4.0

And here's the anvil shark!

DiBgd / CC BY-SA 4.0

And the wtfshark, Squaloraja!

Nix Illustrations / I don't know the license but he's on Tumblr

And now we can move on to the actual sharks. And rays. And sawsharks. And sawfish. And sawskates. The design so good they had to invent it thrice.

Here's a sawfish (these ones are closer to rays!), heavily judging whoever took the photograph. Surprisingly, they're the largest of the bunch, reaching up to 7 meters - while sawsharks are barely a meter in length at best, and sawskates aren't alive anymore but could reach a respectable 4 meters! (although they were wider relative to their size, which has to count for something?)

Simon Fraser University - University Communications / CC BY 2.0

Now that we saw the saws, we can move on to actual sharks... wait what's that? An interruption by the coolest species of six-finned ray?

Robert Fisher, Virginia Sea Grant / CC BY-ND 2.0

Seems like it. Of course I had to mention my favourite cartilaginous fish in the bunch. Cownose rays (and their manta ray cousins) are the only vertebrates to have developed an entire new pair of fins - on their face, to help them grab stuff! Since fish paired fins are homologous to our limbs, it would be like having an extra pair of arms coming from our face!

Robert Fisher, Virginia Sea Grant / CC BY-ND 2.0

Back to sharks now (finally)! And speaking of stuff it's rare to have six of, what about sixgill sharks?

No author information / Public domain

The most divergent group of true sharks alive today, the deep-sea creatures that we call frilled sharks are actually very derived, despite their prehistoric appearance! Ironically, their more ordinary-looking sixgill cousins, the cow sharks, are more representative of how sharks started off back in the days!

NOAA / Public domain

Still six gills because why not. Or even seven, because really, why not.

Next step on our shark list (and back to the regular five-gill pattern), the angelsharks! Or sand devils, because they really couldn't decide on these ones. Angels or devils, they're absolutely adorable pancakes.

Nick Long / CC BY-SA 2.0

Now, we would still have five more orders of sharks to go, but these are the pretty well-known ones (great white shark, hammerhead shark, etc.) and this post is getting pretty big, so I'm happy to have presented cool unique ones already! Have a nice day, and don't forget - there are always more shark species to learn about!

[valarie-lovely]

Hi! Welcome to my blog! :3

Hi! I'm Valarie, but I perfer to go by Val :3

I have several accounts!

- @valarie-is-lovely (2nd main acc)

- @fangs4teeth (saw rp acc)

- @w0tg-tibbz (saw rp acc)

I usually write on here/shitpost. Masterlist will be added here!!!

More under the cut :P

MASTERLIST:

Only Lasting Good Thing —

Chapter 1

Headcannons!

Spink x Gavin (tortureshipping)

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Fandoms I'm in: Saw, Fight Club, Insidious, Guardians of the Galaxy, IT, Weezer, Korn, Limp Bizkit, MSI, FNaF, Community, Shameless, The Hunger Games, Cube Escape/Rusty Lake, The Maze Runner, Get Out, Sims 4, Mortal Kombat, Heathers, Six (The Musical), Fear Street, But I'm A Cheerleader, Call Me By Your Name, etc.

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Favorite Characters: Adam Stanheight (Saw), Jack the Narrator (Fight Club), Specs Fisher (Insidious), Simon Kalivoda (Fear Street), Rocket the Raccoon (Gotg), Johanna Mason (THG), Elio Perlman (cmbyn), and Mileena (Mortal Kombat.)

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I really love Leigh Whannell and Ed Norton. They are my favorite actors ever. I will probably post a ton about them TwT

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I am bisexual and I go by she/her! :D I am an ENFP !!!

♡ ~ Vals voice (just random shit I talk about on here!!)

☆ ~ Val relates (my reblogs!!)

♧ ~ Val responds (me answering asks!!)

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I am an artist and a writer. I will do little oneshots / fanfics on here if recommended. I would also love to post my art! I use paper and pencil because I perfer those over digital lol ヘ(^_^)

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You can always interact with my blog / other blogs! Please keep in mind that I am a minor, so if you are going to be mentioning NSFW with my posts, please don't make it uncomfortable for me.

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But, yeah! That's really it. If I have anything else to add, I will! Thank you for reading :3

[djsherriff-responses]

okie dokie @quixtrix

Gonna also tag @dextraicarus1994 since he’s a splinter cell fan and most likely has information to add to this discussion

We've heard the phase "everyone is the hero of their own story" at least once and while it's debatable if that is really true of everyone , there are some people who genuinely and unquestionably believe themselves to be the hero

And Sarah Fisher is one of those people

Unlike my Jade post, I'll be working somewhat backwards when it comes to evidence of my theory, primarily because one of the things that convinced me that Sarah has a hero complex was something that happens closer to the end of the first season

In the last episodes of CLH, we learn about Sarah's name and backstory. Her childhood where she got her father arrested , her military education and finally the death of her father

Sarah is a confusing character and until we get season two , theres so many questions surrounding her and very few, if any, answers to those questions

Did Sarah plan everything that happens in the show? If not, how much was Sarah's plan? Was her conversation with Dolph and Marcus genuine or an act? Or some combination of both?

What does Sarah really want out of all this? Did she have any involvement with Rayman becoming Ramon? If so, she's now the last of the board of directors and thus is in complete control of Eden, so what else can she possibly want?

And despite knowing first hand Eden killed her father , why did Sarah forego her human body and become a cyborg spider , essentially another cog in the machine that murdered her own father?

Is Sarah even "Sarah" anymore?

Then it clicked into my head that, the entire sequence of Sarah inside the VR , experiencing her past mistakes and trauma?

Can be read as a test of Sarah's convictions

Or other words, from her perspective ,she was on the hero's journey

And what's a common trope heroes experience? Challenges against their beliefs

Now obviously Sarah's character doesn't actually fit into the hero's journey , at least not without some twisting here. That is not important, what's important is that Sarah believes herself as the hero regardless of her actual circumstances or position in the world

Take note of how the hero's journey is about transformation specifically, as I want to draw a parallel to the anime/manga known as Land of the Lustrous. I don't want to spoil too much of that series as this is meant as a CLH post (I also need to catch up) but there is three pages from Land of the Lustrous I want to share

People who know of this series knows exactly what I'm implying about Sarah with this comparison, but for those who don't know what this manga is about: these three pages only has one character in them

Land of the Lustrous (or Houseki no Kuni) is a story set in a world where humans went extinct, but other humanoid lifeforms evolved from that extinction with one of those being immortal and genderless beings made of gemstones

The main character is one of these gem people called phosphophyllite ,phos for short, and their story is basically:

"what if the ship of theseus was a living being with a conscious?"

Keeping spoilers as minimum as possible, Phos , physically and mentally, undergoes drastic changes throughout the narrative both from circumstances beyond their control and the choices they've made

I believe , much like Phos, Sarah herself is a conscious ship of theseus

I want to bring attention to the connections between Bullfrog and Sarah , both in design and in narrative

Sarah's hair is the same colour as Bullfrog's hood , as well as being styled in a way that resemblances said hood. Both of these characters have colour palettes that share similarities with each other , in that they both primarily wear a monochromatic uniform with silver

They both also happen to have eye colours that's some shade of gold . Dolph's mother in the manga also has gold eyes. Coincidentally, both Bullfrog and Sarah are characters Dolph began to trust after he killed Alex for his betrayal

Bullfrog however leans more into wearing white while Sarah leans towards black, which happen to be colours used to represent themes of conflicting opposites , such as yin and yang or good vs evil

The other difference between them is Sarah has green accents while Bullfrog has red, which makes Bullfrog's palette more warmer while Sarah's is colder , fitting considering their personalities

Funny enough Bullfrog is a cold blooded frog hybrid. Meanwhile Sarah was is a human with a warm skin complexion

Red and Green are also opposites on the colour wheel, much like how Bullfrog and Sarah are opposites in the conflict between Assassins and Templars

Red and Green however, are complimentary colours too

As of season one we have very little regarding Bullfrog's life before the events of the show, but I'm betting my kidneys his life has some uncanny similarities with Sarah's

Remember how I said Sarah doesn't fit the hero's journey without twisting some things?

Bullfrog is an undeniable loyal, genuine character who does what he does out of the kindness of his heart. Bullfrog's heroism comes from caring for others and wanting justice

Sarah however, I believe has a hero complex that drives from her ego and a desire to control others

You can even say Sarah is a twisted remix of a hero

We can actually take a guess what experiences Bullfrog may have had in his life by comparing Sarah's life itself to the hero's journey set up, but let’s just focus on Sarah

I just want to have it at the back of our minds that Bulfrog’s life has likely paralleled with Sarah’s when we go down these points

Call to adventure: This is obviously when Sarah leaves the wasteland with Sam, her father , into Eden

Supernatural aid: Sam meets up with Marcus, who hacks the systems to help Sam and Sarah out

Threshold, beginning of transformation: Sarah snitches on the watch dogs

I want to put some attention to this moment of Sarah’s life as it has had a significant impact on her. Not only did her father loose custody of her and she was placed into Eden’s child care system (or whatever they do with Ray kids who expose their parents doing anything illegal) and was exposed to even more brain washing propaganda without any outside influence (her father) , but more importantly this was the first time in Sarah’s life where she had power over someone else’s fate

When Sam asks why Sarah did what she did, she replies “we have to do the right thing”. Looking at her body language , Sarah is not happy to be doing what she’s doing but fully believes, with no doubts despite her pained expression , it’s what she has to do , it’s the right thing to do

It seems odd, that Sarah was this heavily brainwashed and Sam was unaware of it up till this moment. Considering the wasteland is well, a literal wasteland I doubt there was much after school activity programs to influence Sarah this much. Sam seemed like a very attentive single parent so I can’t imagine the guy would let such pro Eden propaganda influences, such as the Rayman kids’ programs, anywhere near Sarah. Considering how young Sarah is in this flashback as well , she wasn’t exactly at the age of sneaking off and hanging with the wrong crowd

Unless Sam wasn’t Sarah’s only parent

Having a quick skim of the Splinter Cell wiki, Sarah’s mother in the games is a woman called Regan burns. Regan and Sam were on opposing sides during their military careers but that didn’t stop them from having a stormy affair, which lead to Regan becoming pregnant and having a troubled marriage with Sam. In the games Regan is cryptanalyst for the NSA , but who is Regan in the remixed universe?

During his introduction Bullfrog rambled about how his ancestors memories live on in his DNA , which is a reference to how in the assassins creed games people can use technology (or other means depending on game) to travel through the memories of their relatives (both close and distant) and learn information from them, it’s even how some get their assassin training

In some stories of the franchise, the main character is the direct child of an assassin, which puts further emphasis on bloodlines and their importance in the assassins creed

Just so happens, the templars use technology to travel through memories and bloodlines play an important role in their organisation , just like the assassins they’re up against

So it’s possible that, in this universe , Regan was a Templar and how she raised her daughter is what influenced Sarah “to do the right thing” and how Sarah was exposed to propaganda such as Rayman’s shows right under Sam’s nose

If Regan was a Templar, that could explain how Sarah not only knew about the order, but managed to get into the position she currently has in show. Regan’s influerence may also have given Sarah (and to some degree Sam) some advantages other people could only dream off, such as an opportunity to have a comfortable life in Eden and her military education

Thanks to Regan, Sam was still allowed to communicate with his daughter despite being a traitor

Dolph , as a fellow soldier in comparison, was taken from his mother and not even allowed any contact with her. He suffered so much just by virtue of having “good genetics”, Dolph and his mother in comparison did not commit any crime and yet ended up with a worse life than Sarah and Sam

If Regan is alive or not in the show does not matter now, what matters is that she was present in Sarah’s life long enough to make an impact on the girl

I do want to say while this was the beginning of Sarah’s transformation, the little girl wasn’t beyond saving at this moment in time

But Sarah, as stubborn as she is, doesn’t want to be saved

Sarah wants to save others

Challenges and temptations: Sarah’s years in the education system and her military training

Revelation , death and rebirth: Sam dies and Sarah makes the choice to become a cyborg

During their last conversation, Sarah brings up that thanks to her good grades, she’s been given the opportunity in becoming a cyborg. Sam is heavily against it , the two argue

Something interesting to note here is how defensive Sarah is of Eden , telling Sam “if Eden was so bad, you wouldn’t be in probation you’d be in jail” , and that he should be grateful Sarah is being given this opportunity at all “despite being the daughter of a traitor”

Sarah does not trust Sam to know what’s best. Not only for his daughter, but also not even for himself

When talking about how Sam died and her grief over losing her father, Sarah asked herself “was he right?”. Worth noting, Sarah never tells Dolph the answer to that question

That’s important because while it shows that Sarah did have doubts about Eden , no , herself , when it comes to how the world works, her behaviour in the last episode tells us exactly what the answer to that question is:

Sarah decided the answer doesn’t matter

What mattered was protecting her father from HIMSELF, and she failed

This was the moment Sarah’s fate was sealed

This was the moment Sarah shallowed her doubts, made the conscious choice to become a cyborg that would set her on the path to become sigma and never looked back

Regardless if she was influenced by Eden propaganda or her mother, Sarah came to her own conclusion about something that day: “order and peace will come through control and rules”

Sam , and all those innocent people, would still be alive if they just did what they were told

If Sam just did want Sarah told him to do

Before I talk about the last two points of the hero’s journey, transformation and atonement , I want to go back to that moment in Sarah’s childhood. The one where she had power

At an incredibly young age , even if it was just this one moment, Sarah had power over the lives of others and influence over what happens to those lives. This likely also made Sarah feel responsible for those around her , particularly feeling strongest towards her own father and his well being. This is where Sarah’s hero complex stems from

I’ve talked a lot about the hero complex, but what exactly is the hero complex?

“Noted author Laura Berman Fortgang, described the Hero Syndrome as a phenomenon affecting people who seek heroism or recognition, usually by creating a desperate situation which they can resolve and subsequently receive the accolades from. This can include unlawful acts, such as arson and attempted murder.” (Link here for further information about this)

We can actually see Sarah display this behaviour early on in the show, particularly in her treatment of team Ghost. The planting of bombs into their skulls under her control is the most obvious example but there’s two others I want to talk about

In the ending of episode 3, Sarah swoops in to rescue Dolph from his own suicide attempt. What she tells Dolph in this scene is damning evidence of her need for control over other people

“I’m the one who decides where and when you die”

Knowing in hindsight that she’s a Templar cyborg , she likely purposely planned it so that the news would catch her “saving” Dolph and label her as a traitor

Why exactly? Can’t really say, but I bet some part of it is just to give Sarah a little ego boost , convince the world she’s the underdog hero she sees herself as

But we can go further than that , in that Sarah wants control over how people live their lives, not just when those lives end in how Jade is treated by her

It’s really easy to assume Jade’s role in the show is due to sexism , and that’s possibly very much the case still

But comparing the role Sarah assigned Jade to the other ghosts, it really makes no sense that Jade was made to play the femme fatale

Dolph and Bullfrog were given jobs that they already do on the regular (Dolph stealing an item using his cyborg tech and Bullfrog sneaking into the building) and while Cody was (presumably) meant to be the one wrestling, Pey’J has the strength and body build to fill in Cody’s absent despite his lack of skills and experience in wrestling

Jade though? She clearly has no clue how to be a seductive temptress, and Sarah must have checked over the ghosts’ profile. Meaning she seen Jade’s profile and seen what she’s actually capable off

Unless Sarah didn’t actually want Jade to do her job

You know what else is common in hero stories? Damsels in distress

I think much like what she did for Dolph in episode three, Sarah’s plan in episode two was to rescue Jade. That obviously did not happen , but my point stands Jade was made a femme fatale so that Sarah can boost her own ego

It’s been brought up on Reddit that Jade’s hair (especially when styled by Sarah in the femme fatale look) resembles Sam’s hair

The two also have green eyes, and wears a hat that casts a shadow over those eyes

We could go a shippy route with this, but this post is already extremely long and I think there’s more interesting things we take from this than Sarah’s weird sexual fantasies

Whether it’s a subconscious thing or something Sarah is fully aware of, Jade reminded Sarah of her father

or rather , how Sarah views her father

I’ve talked a lot about Jade already over here but the point I want to bring to this is that Jade is a passive character in this show. Sam in contrast is not a passive character, but it’s likely Sarah wishes he was

I don’t think Sarah was ever intentionally ableist towards Sam , but combined with her having power over him which makes her feel responsible for his well being from a young age and her believing in the Templar belief that control is the path to keeping everyone safe, I do think Sarah doesn’t respect Sam as a capable adult, especially his life choices that lead to him taking part and dying in the wasteland war

I don’t know what this really means for either Sam or Jade as characters or if these similarities will play a part in season two. What I do know is that this shows Sarah isn’t above trying to mold people to her liking

Which brings me the final two parts of the hero’s journey

Transformation: Sarah becomes a cyborg Templar

”The Ship of Theseus is a thought experiment about whether an object is the same object after having had all of its original components replaced”

Since almost Sarah’s entire body is fully robotic , is it still Sarah’s body, or Eden’s property?

On the off chance that Sarah's brain is also robotic, is the things going through her head Sarah’s thoughts , or Eden’s programming?

Is Sarah even Sarah anymore?

Throughout this whole post I’ve spoke about Sarah , her hero complex and what may have influenced her behaviour. I don’t think Sarah came out of her transition into a cyborg member of the Templar order unscathed

While the ground work for Sarah’s hero complex were present, Sarah was once an innocent little girl who deeply loved her father. Sarah was not born into this world with an ego , she wasn’t born with an intense desire to control other people

Sarah wasn’t born with blood lust in her smile

It was not just Sam who died that day in the wasteland, Sarah’s humanity and connection to other people died with him

There’s something odd about the fact Sarah is the only member of the board of directors who is a cyborg , we know this because Ramon killed the rest way too easily. We also know from Ramon , that people who make it to the top don’t stay at the top

Much like Phos in HNK, Sarah is very much a victim of drastic change due to her own choices and circumstances beyond her control

and finally

Atonement and return: ???

I don’t really have anything to add to this part , mainly because Sarah’s story isn't finished yet

We’ll have to see how things play out in season two it seems : )