#literally my oc who is closest to being Just A Human Guy

[puppercupboard]

this is my gay little cryokinetic oc misha ♥ he was gearing up towards being a professional figure skater when his powers manifest and nearly a decade later is still pissy about the fact he had to stop skating competitively

[whumpsday]

i'm gonna talk about my very first ocs because i feel like they deserve it :) when i was a kid i didn't quite have the imagination yet to create whole worlds, so my ocs were often inserts into existing things i was into.

this is a very long post with a lot of useless personal information, and is more a diary entry than anything.

i had many more ocs than what's listed here, but i can't remember most of them, so here are just the ones i remember.

childhood:

at 7, the very first oc i can ever remember making was Maya, a pokemon oc. she was the fourth member of team rocket in the anime canon, and could shapeshift between being a human and a celebi. i remember her being "older" but that could mean anything from a middle schooler to an adult.

also pokemon-related but not quite an oc, i had a lot of fakemon around that time. the only one i remember was a raccoon-like one named Tyco.

at 9, soon after was Tanya, a fairly oddparents oc. she was a little girl who was friends with the main character.

at 10, i really got into oc-making, and the next bunch are all from when i was about 10.

i started getting into "somewhat whumpier" things and made my first "edgy" oc, Deepheart, for warrior cats. she was a black cat with purple eyes and a tragic backstory i can't remember, who eventually got with stormfur.

i was very into danny phantom and continued my tragic backstory experiments with Chelsea. she was a ghost and the younger sister of ember (she was basically an ember recolor) who died in the same fire. she also had fire+music powers, but a polar opposite personality to ember (she was nice).

i can't remember the specifics or names of the ocs i made for a bunch of these, but i also made oc-inserts for the following around this time:

total drama island - multiple ocs, i think i had a whole fancast, which was the closest i got around this time to making an original story.

monster buster club - character existed to be friends with chris, who was my favorite. she was a monster in disguise or something of that nature.

percy jackson - i definitely had one and i was REALLY into it, but can't even remember what god she was a daughter of.

in middle school as i entered early teenhood, i started reading YA books. sadly, my taste was not that great.

preteen:

at 12, i made Chelsea (reused the name from the danny phantom oc because i just rly liked the name), a twilight oc. she was the first vampire oc i ever made, so i guess she was the start of All This. she was the youngest cullen at 14 years old (i do not remember if this was a chronological age or just a physical age and i think i was too oblivious to realize just how significant that difference was), and had a Forbidden Romance with seth, the werewolf kid.

at 13, i realized i could have ocs that were boys! a fantastic revelation! technically i already had ones from the total drama fanseason i had in my head but they were all side characters. made my first main guy, Oliver, a scott pilgrim oc and ramona's 8th ex-boyfriend.

i made a LOT of other ocs for YA books in middle school, but i don't remember much about the others.

teenhood - homestuck:

at 15, i got into homestuck, and that was when things got out of control.

i started with a literal self-insert with my birthname, who eventually got split into 2 alt-timeline versions of herself (i was a girl at the time), one who went with dave and rose during the timeskip and one who went with john and jade during the timeskip. when they met back up, they fell in love and got together, which i think might be the truest expression of self-love i've ever had.

but it didn't end there. i got really into making fantrolls, and made TONS of them. i don't remember their names very well (esp bc they were all made up alien names) but i remember my favorites: a bronzeblood with an eyepatch whose name started with a P, and a violetblood whose name started with an I.

the violetblood was probably my first true whumpee. while violetbloods are normally amphibious, he was born with lungs that don't work, and was forced to remain underwater at all times since he could only use his gills. when sgrub caused the apocalypse, he had a little tank he would stay in on the ship. and when gamzee started killing everyone, he couldn't get away.

this was also where i branched out into creating original characters not tied to an existing IP!!! FINALLY!!! it all started with fantrolls. i made two more significant sets of fantrolls: one centering around an abnormally overpowered purpleblood who had his memory erased and used to be a cruel whumper-type (and a set of supporting characters to go with him), and one centering around a purpleblood who'd been tortured and the lowblood who acted as his caretaker. you can tell i was very much getting into whump at this point, despite not yet knowing the term.

i eventually decided that homestuck's lore was not equipped to carry the stories i wanted to tell for those two, and split them each off into original universes. i am not into homestuck anymore and it's really a relic of its time, but it impacted me quite a lot creatively.

teenhood - original stories:

the amnesia guy came to be named Nova, my first wholly-original character. he existed in a magic/fantasy type universe, and was the most powerful magic-user in his world. he'd previously been extremely evil and caused untold carnage, countless people tortured to death. the heroes, after realizing they could not stop him, decided to try to wipe his memory instead. this did, in fact, work. Nova became a character saddled by EXTREME ANGST about his past wrongs. to make it worse, his pre-memory-wipe evil self eventually started to slowly come back as a separate entity in his mind, essentially haunting him. i daydreamed about Nova for a long, long time, and occasionally still do.

the whumpee-caretaker duo became Dwar and Clobu, members of an original alien species i came up with. unlike Nova's story, which became so divorced from his fantroll beginnings that his origin was basically unrecognizable, this one remained heavily homestuck-inspired. the aliens here were grouped/inspired by the layers of the atmosphere, rather than the signs of the zodiac. Dwar (the whumpee) had skin that looked like the night sky, dark blue with stars all over, while Clobu (the caretaker) looked like a cloudy day. they were pretty :) these guys are a very very early inspiration for the Kane & Jim dynamic.

i also started making non-IP-related ocs without "converting" them around this time. in particular, i became very interested in demons.

first i made Charlie, a teenage demon raised by humans who just wanted to be A Normal Kid. he played the guitar and used tumblr and was all in all very nonthreatening and normal. he was a bit boring.

at about 16, i later made Nicky, a "redo" of the Charlie concept but with more pizzazz. his mother had brought him on a hunt (for humans to kill and eat) while he was an infant, and she was killed by a demon hunter. the hunter couldn't bring herself to kill the baby, so she took him in and raised him instead. Nicky's story is very very long, because he is the only oc from my childhood i still regularly daydream about to this day, and i have been building him up for a decade. some highlights:

accidentally burns his adoptive mom when he's a little boy who's just gotten his fire powers, and it's what makes him realize he never wants to hurt people. she forever has a scar shaped like his tiny little 5-year-old hand.

demons generally need to eat human flesh to be healthy. this is obviously not something Nicky wants to do or even feasibly can do when he's younger. he eats a lot of other meat (mainly pork), and is basically constantly hungry. he carries jerky around with him all the time to snack on.

as a young adult, he and his (human) best friend (mutual pining crush) are stuck in a cave (entrance blocked by rocks) with a bunch of demons waiting to kill them when they leave. Nicky knows he's not strong enough to defeat them, but he could be if he wasn't malnourished. in a moment of desperation, his friend ends up giving him a few fingers to eat so they can make it out alive, and he feels guilty forever that it's the best thing he's ever tasted.

his mom is killed by demons in a fight in his early 20s, and he goes on a ballistic rampage murdering everyone in sight. after this, he runs away and ends up moving to hell.

when he's in his 40s, he sees a little human girl who's been captured and brought to hell, and quickly rescues her. he can't find a way to smuggle her back to earth, so he ends up raising her in his apartment.

when he does eventually get her back to earth years later, he moves in with her dad and they co-parent. becomes a love triangle thing with the dad and his childhood friend who he eventually reconnects with- not for the usual "you have to choose one!" reasons that i hate, but because his relationships with each are honestly very tumultuous.

my other early demon oc was Crimson, a magicless demon who'd been captured by hunters and tortured until a kind hunter rescued him and became his caretaker. this character would later become Kane, but originally there was no "former whumper" backstory, he was just a pathetic little guy.

at 16, my other main obsession as a teenager was dangan ronpa, and of course i made several dangan ronpa ocs whose names i can't remember. one of them was a girl who had a fierce rivalry with togami. i started getting into g/t around this time, and liked to play around with that with my dangan ronpa oc for some reason. i don't know why, it's not like DR had any kind of g/t in it. but i would always imagine a story where togami became tiny and he and my oc came to a begrudging alliance as they tried to fix it.

i also ended up converting this into an original story, taking place in a low-fantasy universe, where a bully character Damien got shrunk by magic, kept in a jar, and was tortured by some of his former victims. his one victim who thinks this is fucked up (can't remember his name) rescued him, and they put aside their differences to fix it. i just love reluctant caretakers and whumper-turned-whumpees.

and that's all the notable ocs i can think of from my childhood! figure they deserve at least a small space on my blog :) and i still might write Nova, Nicky, or Damien's stories someday.

[glitched-dawn]

🍰,👗,🤯,💜

alright! Now I FINALLY have time to answer this ask!!

🍰 - I don’t really describe either, but definitely clothes. The clothes I write about are cunty and fabulous and absolutely gorgeous, while most of the food consists of raw meat or living creatures. Gore for the win

👗 - fuck yeah I would! Idrk what’s meant with “best” oc but I would definitely dress like my main. His style changes by the day, most often consisting of assassin gear, serving cunt or slutty punk outfits, but if I had the right body (and confidence ofc) then I would ride that train all day long. He’s the one closest to how I am irl, after all (completely ignoring the fact that he’s a clinically insane psychopath)

🤯 - okay I’m gonna try not to spoil anything, but this was fucking genius to me. so I have two big villains (cough cough I actually have exactly 98 big villains cough cough), and one of them is known basically from the middle-ish of the series, so the fourth or fifth book. but the other villain, they’re revealed just in the end of the seventh book. and god are they fucked up. but this isn’t about them being fucked up, it’s about the fucking genius they executed to dig their way out of the astral dimension (where the soul resides). you see, this villain is somewhat of a parasite, living off of exactly one other character. and they don’t want that, they want to be in control. so the big ahh genius they did was getting them to focus entirely on the other big villain as they just creeped around and infected that character so severely that they had no chance of ever surviving, and so kind of turning that character into a villain since they’re now in a parasitic relationship. i didn’t really figure out how to write this, I kinda just knew what happened as soon as I discovered the truth about that character and the big villain. but an essential part in understanding how to write it was definitely the music. I write everything to music, if you didn’t already know that :3

💜 - my fav ocs change a lot, but right now my favorite is definitely General J. That guy is just fuuuucked. theyre this military experiment guy, literally “put him in a box and run fifty little experiments on him a day until he turns into goop” but they were born in the box from the goop they’re a three meter tall abomination, a VoidMech, so they’ve got pitch-black skin and glowing white eyes and whatnot but since they’re a genetic fuckup, the result of soldiers messing around with their subjects, they’ve got some spicy-ass things going on theyve got the genetic DNA stuff of wild boars, goats, reptiles and snakes mixed in their cool spinal cord metal tube thingy, so they’ve got digitigrade legs, the horns of a ram, tusks and vipers, and cool slit pupils. and of course they’re a hexapod I love many-limbed horrors but yea they’re a fucked up little guy who’s the general of the royal army so technically they are a bad guy, but god do I love them so much

and uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh that’s about all I got. sorry I’m too detached from reality and deep in the pit of writing that I’ve forgotten how to interact with human beings :3

[fionajames]

ocs pt. 2

apologies but i love making characters

GUYS IM SO SORRY FOR BEING ABSENT TODAY, I HAD TO WORK ON AN ASSIGNMENT AND THEN DRIVE AN HOUR TO MY COUSINS' PLACE FOR A BIRTHDAY AND THEN DRIVE AN HOUR BACK PLUS IVE BEEN TAKING CARE OF MY LITTLE BRO AND SIS

@lovejoysoots u asked to be tagged so here :) also, hope its okay i included xane in taki's info!

GUYS REQUEST.

ALSO, I REALISE KNOW IVE ONLY JUST MENTIONED THIS, BUT IF Y'ALL WANT I CAN WRITE AN 'X READER' WITH MY OC IF U LIKE THEM THAT MUCH BUT YOU. HAVE. TO. TELL. ME.

ANYWAYS, ENJOY, AND SORRY AGAIN

Taki Caileth

Taki is a Nautolan Bounty Hunter with dark violet skin and magenta, lilac and pastel purple. His eyes are purely black (as Nautolan eyes usually are).

He's eighteen in 22 BBY and became a Bounty Hunter when he was merely a kid - because he grew up on Glee Anslem until he was eight and then was hurriedly taken away, growing up on Tatooine and Corellia, as well as all over the galaxy.

He fights best with a sword or a blaster rifle. Taki is decently well-known as a Bounty Hunter under the name of Maverick (not related to Top Gun, it literally means an independent person). Whilst many know Maverick, not many know Taki.

Taki works - as the word maverick means - independently. It's not because he hates people or anything but because of trust issues after his family's death.

During the Clone War, Taki sides with whoever pays - and usually the GAR, because he feels bad for the clones. Not the senate, not the republic, not the Jedi, the clones.

He's smart and calculating yet sarcastic and loyal. His loyalty can be his downfall as he tends to trust easily and so his solution is to not get too close to anyone.

On several occasions, Taki has teamed up with fellow Bounty Hunter Xane. They are a scarily and shockingly good team and share several views over things, although Taki sides with the GAR more, Xane has a disliking towards a certain Jedi named Anakin Skywalker.

Although Taki is moving alot, he has a place on the lower levels of Coruscant which he uses as a base. 

During the war, as everyone is desperate for money, Bounty Hunters become very valuable. One Bounty Hunter was doing a job for the Separatists and kidnapped a Jedi Youngling - an eight year old Rodian boy. Desperately, the GAR hired Taki, who went and retrieved the boy. In the process, he lost his left leg from the knee down. In thanks, the Jedi gave him a black-metal prosthetic and paid him about 70% of what he was originally supposed to earn, even though the prosthetic cost about the same price as the original payment. Taki begins to side even more with the GAR because the Separatists captured an innocent child - which he sees as very wrong, as something similar happened to him when he was younger.

Taki doesn’t really have a best friend but he’s closest with Xane and the Rodian Youngling he rescued.

Satsuki Noriko

Satsuki is a Human girl with light freckled skin, short, fluffy (dyed) red hair and black eyes. She’s seventeen in 22 BBY. Her grandmother was a Mandalorian who left Mandalore for reasons she refuses to explain.

Satsuki has a shop on the middle layers of Coruscant where she paints armour and helmets, as well as ships and speeders occasionally. When the clone wars came around, Satsuki decided to increase her work hours - in hopes of getting more customers and more money - so she could allow Clones to come in. Because the Clones aren’t paid, Satsuki doesn’t charge them for any money.

She’s kind and generous, but also sarcastic and stubborn. Her best friend is a Clone trooper named Trinket. Trinket once saved an old, rich woman off-planet who insisted on giving him her expensive jewellery as thanks. Trinket gave all of it to Satsuki as payment for the paints, materials and her time on behalf of all the Clones.  

Satsuki is part of a rather large family with one fourteen year old sister, one eight year old half-sister and one six year old half-brother. The family do family dinners weekly and Satsuki gets along best with her sisters and brother and grandmother. Her grandmother is your resident badass grandmother who is incredibly scary and awesome. 

Satsuki has and will beat up anyone who talks shit about the Clones and is their number 1 protector. She hangs out with Trinket, Fox, Rex, Cody and Vyper (the unnamed Commander of the 13th Battalion who I’ve named) the most.

Satsuki sees the Clones as her brothers and best friends, and has to be daily convinced not to sneak on board to join the fight. 

One time, Satsuki introduced Rex to her grandmother and her grandmother instantly called him bu’ad and he almost cried. 

The Clones and her have frequent conversations in pure Mando’a and it’s rather entertaining. 

Rin Keiko

Rin is a human girl with long black hair, dark brown eyes and tan skin. She’s 16 in 22 BBY making her one of the youngest Jedi Knights, although not the youngest ever. Rin fought during the Battle of Geonosis alongside her Mirialan Master Aoi Tsumugi. During the fight, Aoi was struck down and Rin was forced to continue fighting for her life, feeling alone even though surrounded by hundreds of other Jedi.

After the battle, Rin managed to convince the Council into Knighting her using her points that one; Aoi was going to Knight her in a few months anyway, two; they’re scarce for Knights and need all they can get, and three; she is ready. 

Rin was then Knighted and given a battalion of her own to lead as General. Alongside her Clone Commander Warden, of course.

Rin is what many describe as insane. She is protective to her troops and friends and would rather lay down her life than any of theirs. She’s reckless and smart but overconfident and cocky in a scary way. Her laugh is maniacal and intertwined with trauma, plus her troops are convinced she's either seeing ghosts or hearing voices. That doesn’t mean they don’t love her though! Their General is their sister and they are extremely horrified when they find out months after meeting her that she's still just a kid.

They are terrified for her when they accidentally somehow witness one of her PTSD-induced dreams (something a lot of Jedi get and are extremely dangerous) as she floated midair and objects swirled around her like a hurricane. She - frankly - looked possessed.

Rin starts losing it with the council a lot, laughing inappropriately and insanely and muttering loudly with huge grins. It’s terrifying for a sixteen year old to do that. If Rin wasn’t such a good fighter and General, the GAR would have probably forced her into some sort of insane asylum - or at least gotten her daily therapy.

Rin’s best friend is Warden and their like brother and sister, and all her friends are the Clones and some of the Jedi. 

Iniko Edge

Iniko is a fourteen-year-old Pantoran Youngling boy. He has violet blue skin (colour hex code; #4157A2), golden yellow eyes, soft yellow markings on his arms, legs and hands, and curly raven black hair that is actually very dark, deep purple but only really obvious in certain lights.

Iniko has a double-bladed dark purple lightsaber that can be split into two separate lightsabers (like Cal’s). He got both crystals during the Gathering, and panicked because of it. 

Iniko was apprenticed to Shaak Ti at the start of the Clone Wars and lives on Kamino. He trains there and has befriended many clones. 

Iniko is a kind and quiet boy, but not shy. He loves befriending the Clones but is a bit quiet at first. All the Clones see him like a younger brother. After a few months of training with his Master on Kamino, Iniko is sent to assist other Jedi with missions and use Kamino as his base instead of Coruscant. He is sent as a Commander alongside Captain Rook and a small battalion of Clones. They aren’t really like battalions such as the 212th and 501st because they're a lot smaller and they have never gone on missions just with themselves. They don’t even go on missions as much as others, because thats how they work.

Iniko secretly cries for every Clones’ death and is a sweet Clones’ rights supporter. He befriends lots of other battalions’ clones - such as Cody, Rex, Jesse and others. He is best friends with Captain Rook, Ahsoka - who he teams up with during missions and was actually créchemates with - and several members of his squad - in particular Tripp, Kaz and Tempest. 

Iniko also met Rin and sees her as an older sister, although Rook lectures him regularly about not taking after her reckless nature. Rook is extremely protective over him, and it shows through a lot. In fact, the entire squad - and others - are protective over him. But not in an obsessed way. They know that he can handle himself and that's what scares them. 

Iniko is a wholesome boy and very similar to Dhole in a few ways because of it, but also different. 

Iniko hides his breakdowns and illnesses and injuries and all that from everyone, because he believes he doesn’t matter as much. That’s one of the Temple’s faults. They brought up all the Younglings, Padawans, Knights and Masters to believe that peace was the most important thing, and to get it at all costs. Accidentally, they taught Iniko that he wasn’t worth as much as the battle, and so he remembers that. The Clones are slowly helping him but he’s still fragile.

DONE

HOPE U LIKED

IMMA GO HAVE A MENTAL BREAKDOWN

[clericofshadows]

17, 30 & 50 for OC questions (Regis of course!)

thanks for the ask :D

17. How easily would they be convinced to do something that goes against their morals?

Not easily, Regis would be figuratively (and likely literally as well) kicking and screaming to get out of the situation. His general attitude during ME2 was a good example of this; he finds working with Cerberus one of the worst things due to all he discovered in ME1, and every day he's on that ship feels like he is betraying himself and the life he got back. It helps that he has Zaeed and knows his motives for joining, but Regis definitely went off on Joker and Chakwas when he found out they deserted the Alliance to join Cerberus for him.

30. If they had the chance to be famous would they take it? If they are famous would they rather they weren't?

Regis is quite conflicted with his fame. On one hand, he has long since embraced the Butcher of Torfan title and what it represents. He knows what he is and what he can do, and honestly, he's okay with that. On the other hand, he never really wanted the Spectre position due to how utterly powerful it can make him in the grand scheme of things. So, I would say Regis is fine with his fame to an extent, but the events of ME3 causes him to wear quite thin, and he's not above chewing other leaders out for more of less placing most of the front lines and essential negotiations on him because he's Shepard and he must be able to do everything, right? But he's also willing to leverage his fame and his title when necessary, so... Regis likes when things benefit him, but for him the Spectre title was a little too far. He stays with the Spectres after the war despite this because of how important he is as the first human Spectre, but he's still not happy with it.

50. What is your favorite thing about them?

aw geez I love and hate this question because I can talk so much about it. I say this as someone who sculpted and edited textures and made mods for the damn guy, but damn am I proud of his in game appearance. I am so proud of myself for being able to just fireup the game, and take screenshots and make scenarios involving Regis and his lovers and his friends, and it's fucking great!

Modding aside, my other favorite thing about him is that he's become a way of presenting an alternative shepard path that may not be the popular one, but I don't care because I love it. He doesn't like Garrus, Liara is damn near his enemy number one after ME2 AND he does her mission last in ME1, he saves both Kaidan and Ash on Virmire and considers them his closest companions, he has casualties during the suicide mission and while he does eventually become civil with Miranda and Jacob, he never really lets his walls down around them, he's not afraid to talk back and he chews out the Asari for thessia and all the 'blame' that's put on him, and so on. He's an angry, judgmental, stubborn, and passionate boy that's full of love for the few people he trusts and lets in and I just adore him. And recently, I've added Zaeed to his endgame relationship and I'm enjoying the hell out of that ;)

[bumblewarden]

YES YES HI HELLO my marvellous bumbly friend I'm here and my pockets are full of questions for Novhen my holiday-deserving beloved!! I'll ask these 4 but just answer whatever you feel like ok?? Have a lush day! :D :D :D 4, 15, 16, 18

<3 !

Hello hello yourself, my wild and er... domesticated friend? That doesn't quite work in the other direction, does it? Hrm

But i've got these four nice and tidy for you! Hope they're a good read

4. If your OC likes art, talk about which piece they would love best.

Realistically, if you asked him, he would go on about someone's family history quilt and go into way too much detail about exactly the history it told and the meaning behind each piece of fabric in each panel, but i can't well show you a picture of a made up work of fibercraft

Now with that failed, let's find a piece from the real world. Not to be lazy, but something tells me this shadow would love chiaroscuro. Among painters known for chiaroscuro, you literally cannot go wrong with Gentileschi. Her most famous painting is Judith Slaying Holofernes for very good reason, but i think he would actually prefer the immediate aftermath of it as found in Judith and Her Maidservant (Detroit). It's invigorating to sneak through the defenses of the leader of an invading army and assassinate him, but it's even better to get away with it. Also, the lighting!!!!

15. What is a common misconception about your OC? (Alternatively, what do people assume about them which is either incorrect or misconstrued?)

Especially post-Origins, people commonly misconceive that he's some no-nonsense hardass who thinks of nothing but work, but he's not :(

He's a little distant at first, but he's still getting used to the position and balancing his expectations with what he's actually willing to put forth. Especially being an elven noble and commander, it's a difficult tightrope act. He gets better about it eventually. Even if he doesn't allow himself to get into much mischief anymore, he'll probably let it slide as long as no one else catches you

He just has a bad case of resting bitch face and a generally flat affect. He can put on a mask if he needs to, but it's not a 24/7 act. He's not that serious, he's just autistic

Also, he thinks about a lot of things besides work! Like his family and history and uh... other stuff probably. Oh! Embroidery! That's a third thing!

16. What trait do they find most attractive/appealing about others?

Ok this one gave me a bit of trouble, so it's maybe not the most attractive/appealing thing, but it's up there! Disclaimer out of the way...

A healthy sense of rebellion. He disapproves of people who are content with injustice, but a rebel without a cause isn't the healthy he means. Please rebel, but know why. Keep your purpose and goals close to heart, and have a plan. A precise blade will deal more damage than wild flailing and is far less likely to strike at your own friends

18. What is one thing that they only let those closest to them see?

His faith. Like his mother, he's a Fen'Harel cultist, but he was conscripted before he could've become an Agent of Fen'Harel. Since then, he was never offered agenthood because the big guy doesn't like the Wardens (cooties)

It's secret primarily for practical reasons. Thedas is a majority Andrastian society, and elves were first "allowed" to live in alienages in human territory on the condition that they convert. Ferelden is one of the safer countries to exist as a non-Andrastian, but that's relative. It's no Rivain. Come Trespasser, it would be actively endangering himself to be openly affiliated with Fen'Harel. You think the average schmuck will care that he's not actually an agent or pro-destroying-Thedas-as-we-know-it? Not likely

After being raised since childhood to tell nobody outside of a very small group about his faith, it just becomes reflex. Alistair, Zevran, and Morrigan eventually get enough hints about it. I don't think he'd ever say it outright (no need to put yourself in such a vulnerable position), but he's pretty good at implying. That Coercion IV didn't train itself. He'd probably also hint to it at Radka, but i doubt she'd have the proper information base to put it together all the way

[stinkerarchetype]

ELVIN !!

+ this cool fallout oc questionaire template i found and probably should have went to bed instead of filling out!

game said to tag some pals so. the only pals i know with fallout ocs are @publiclypining, @feigeleh, and @corvidayyy. have fun, beloveds.

[IDENTITY]

full name: if I told you I haven't decided on that yet would you believe me.

gender: unfortunately most likely cisgender but him being a little queer gender wise is definitely not out of the question!

pronouns: he/him, but probably doesn't mind neutral terms or cool neopronouns at all :-]

ethnicity: he's very white it's kind of disgusting. I may change this over time!

pre-war job: model! modeled for Nuka Cola :-) catered to the Gays..

date of birth: well..

place of birth: somewhere in someplace

current age: 224? 225? me when i get cryogenically frozen! girl help vault tech and nuka-cola stuck me in an ice cube for two centuries!

biology: human! may have some cyborg-y parts, haven't decided.

current living place: well. it's somewhere alright.

[ALIGNMENT]

chosen factions: I haven't played him in-game yet!

role: companion, mostly? not sure what this means but. if he was ever a canon character he'd most likely be a companion in fallout 4. :-9

allied factions: anyone who doesn't shoot him and tries to take his cool gun! :-]

enemy factions: anyone who does shoot him and tries to take his cool gun! :-[

[PERSONALITY]

alignment: definitely chaotic good.

main qualities: lovely to be around, extremely loyal. golden retriever kind of guy. zap, zap!

main flaws: doesn't focus very well, easily distractable. will probably get killed very quickly if he didn't have quick, impulsive reflexes. also he has no idea what he's doing, he's learning as he goes. he was literally a model.

fears: most likely hurting people or letting others down!

[RELATIONSHIPS]

status: singlest pringle in the wasteland.

sexual orientation: undecided! most likely gay? one of them boylikers..

people closest to them: well. about that.

people they hate: he never hates people. usually.

family: tugs my collar nervously while sweating

[PHYSICAL]

height: like 6'2" or something, i don't remember. something really tall. maybe 6'5" actually, holy shit

weight: uh..

build: buff <3

hair color: blonde and platinum blonde in my head sometimes but never executed in my artwork of him. may change this! who knows!

hair style: short, superman-esque. kinda? i'm not sure how to describe hair styles.

eyes color: hmm.. blue. for now.

tattoos/scars/markings: we will see! he probably has something somewhere.

body/facial hair: barely any. not only that but hes also Blonde (as of now) so..

[ABILITIES]

spoken language: english, but he probably knows a few more, like spanish and french, etc.

strengths: socializing, upping general morale, being entertaining, making mouth-made, unnecessary sound effects doing literally anything...

weakness: feral ghouls, nick valentine being annoyed by him at any point in time, cool old food he finds in buildings that he has to be reminded not to eat..

favored weapons: a cute little sci-fiesque pistol that was never meant to shoot real ammo, if any at all! and yet he fashioned it to do so and it still, somehow, works.

[RANDOM]

favorite piece of clothes: his suit! y'know the one! the iconic one!

lucky charm: not quite sure he has one yet. at least one i could come up with on the fly. maybe a special little bottle cap?

favorite food: literally anything that is now inedible considering there was literally a nuclear fallout and it's all 200+ years old and could kill a man but hey! a man's gotta eat!

favorite beverage: guess?

favorite season: he seems like a summer fella. boobs out, arms in the air like he just doesn't care. sunburn, radiation burn,

[mohluskiepedard]

Rating ATLA Characters literally only from what I’ve seen in fandom

or: posts that probably shouldn’t be on my writeblr except I don’t have a sideblog

the context here is it’s half midnight and I have never seen ATLA except I have opinions now apparently so here we go whoop de do- 

I’m also not actually rating them like numerically that’s too much work i’m just stating opinions I know I’m a fraud

AANG

- A child?  - A son?  - he is Baby. but also. he has had It Rough  - would make the updog joke - has unspeakable power or smth and everyone says he’s better than the Korra girl who comes after him but honestly tastes like sexism to me - doesn’t kill people because he’s like twelve, right? he’s like twelve so he refuses to kill people - I stan honestly - less twelve year olds should kill people - Some people say his name WRONG and they are BAD but i don’t actually know what the right way or the wrong way is so. have fun w that yall - lived in peace unTIL THE FIRE NATION ATTACKED 

KATARA

- She is also like twelve???  - Is everyone here twelve - Cortana?? Katana?? Catbug??  - She has good hair, - Her mother is dead??? her mother is dead n she has a brother but she cares about her mother being dead WAY more than him (or apparently the entire fandom??) - Badass - She seems soft. good. sweet - she’s a water breather or whatever??? her brother is NOT but he is a meme - I love her 

SOKKA

- NGL looks like a fuckboy  - The meme brother! does not do the water things, but he has an aXe???  - dates BAMF lady - ngl until I talked to my ATLA watching friend I thought he canonically dated Zuko  - kinda mad he doesn’t - I haven’t actually seen anything about him except like. in zuko ship posts and also Suki appreciation posts - joined the white lotus not-a-cult by accident???  - dark ATLA tumblr show me more Sokka posts - is his name prounounced the same way as Soccer or isn’t it I need to know - HIS FIRST GIRLFRIEND TURNED INTO THE MOON - (AND THAT’S ROUGH, BUDDY) - He and Suki are a good ship, but also, Sokka Has Two Hands

SUKI

- the BAMF herself - she says STOP in that photo but also to sexism - Rlly all I see of her in fanon is abt her teaching Sokka to drink his respect women juice and I appreciate her doing that but also it’s sad she never gets talked about outside of what she did for a man - I hope she has other badass moments w/o him it would suck if she didn’t - she is NOT the girlfriend who turned into the moon, she is the one who didn’t - I don’t know much else about her ATLA Fandom y’all should appreciate her more

ZUKO

- Look at him... my son... - He has a good redemption arc - he and his sister are evil lesbian and redeemed gay guy??? - has a straight canon ship but should’ve been with Sokka this boy is gay - I Want To Protect Him - That’s literally it - he has a cool uncle and his dad sucks  - people ship him with Katara and I Do Not Get It that’s his sister in law except not really - “We don’t trust Zuko’s change of heart” [the next day] “so Zuko is my closest friend now,”  - His dad was like “fuck up the avatar to prove your worth to me” and Aang was like “counter argument you already have worth and we should fuck up your dad” and I think that’s beautiful - he becomes the fire man and he’s very good at it - Zuko for President 2020 - in the words of myself, half an hour ago: “ I was like "that kid with the burn on his face seems like a sad but then happy mlm who needs found family" and I was RIGHT” - took too long to find a happy picture of him :( Zuko rights NOW please - His mother’s story got compared to an OC of mine and all I can say is oh no and they deserve better based on that alone - I have had Zuko for five minutes but if anything else happens to him I will kill everyone in this throne room and then myself

TOPH

- She is badass but like also will murder you while laughing maniacally? - for some reason reminds me of Nott from Critical Role, another show I Have Not Seen - Is blind but gets more out of making jokes abt being blind than she would from being able to see - “Sight is just a cheap tactic to make weak benders stronger!!!” - Literally the opposite of Aang and has killed many people?? - She Can Tell When You’re Lying. But I do not know how and Am simply mildly threatened by this - Therapist: Toph’s ability to know if you’re lying isn’t real and can’t hurt you. Toph’s ability to know if I’m lying:  - She and Zuko.... buddies???  - if not they should be - tiny sad boy needs friends like toph

AZULA

- Evil Lesbian Culture - [BDG Voice] You committed a war crime! Oopsie! - took be gay do crime too literally - her and Zuko have accurate sibling writin except instead of “you ever want to murder your sibling for breathing in the same space as you,” being a Joke Azula took it seriously - okay but with a name like azula she should be the blue bender this ANNOYS me she should NOT be red bender - AZULa  - AZUL - IT MEANS BLUE - She was half of y’alls gay awakenings and it SHOWS - Should have maybe been redeemed too??? Jury is out no one knows - Was she gay for Ty Lee or wasn’t she I can’t tell how much of that Audio is a joke - IS SHE ALSO TWELVE??? IS EVERYONE HERE TWELVE?? IS THIS TWELVE YEAR OLD COMITTING ATROCITIES? 

UNCLE IROH

- A Good Man - Finally, Some Good Fucking [Adult Figures]  - he has the tea. literally and figuratively - Ozai is like “and I will permanently disfigure my son and throw him out” and Iroh is like “What The Fuck, Ozai,” thus voicing the entire audience’s thoughts - Literally the only adult in this that I trust - I? I love him. this is all I have to say. my love for him is unending. Some1 protect this man from all harm   - he’s Zuko’s uncle (and also Azula ig) but he does not seem related to Ozai. is it just a theme in this family that one sibling is chill and one sibling commits horrendous atrocities against your fellow human beings or  - something happened to his son???? :((((( I Don’t Want Him To Have Suffered Like This

OZAI

- A BAD MAN - Uh Oh (stinky)  - THE WORST OF THE MEN  - I do not like him - Bastard man. nasty. committed war crimes and then went “but what if - get this - i also abused my son,”  - I would like him to Not Be Like This - by Like This I mean present and alive  - :/ 

TY LEE

- She’s NOT the There Is No War In Ba Sing Se lady and I don’t know why i thought she WAS but until I looked up her photo I thought that was her  - She looks like a sweetheart tho - I hope nothing bad happens to her????  - talks about auras??? or smth??? let her vibe - She would talk animatedly to me about warrior cats if she was in my year seven class and I was sat alone and I would understand none of it but appreciate her anyway - if azula bullies her I’ll be :( at Azula and Azula will not care because she has Mommy Issues and therefore is slightly unhinged - She seems like that one kid with no trauma vibing at the edge of [every other kid having trauma] and not really getting it but trying her best - Is she also twelve?????? She maybe looks twelve

CABBAGE MAN 

- HIS CABBAGES - fulfills my favourite trope: ordinary person repeatedly has life disrupted by the inconveniences of relying on actual children to save the world - probably has a campaign post canon for letting trained adults fix the worlds’ problems in the future - or sets up the Very First Cabbage Insurance Company - look at him. he loves his cabbages so much. you go you funky lil cabbage man

ALSO THE MOST IMPORTANT ONES MOMO

- LOOK AT HIM HE’S SO GOOD - small. fluffy. big ears - Lord Momo of the Momo Dynasty: his Momoness - a Good Boy...

APPA

- he looks so soft... - he can fly but he just does it by??? vibing through the air?? motionless??? iconic - I saw that one post about mishearing it as Abba and thinking he was Aang’s dad and he looks like he would be a good stand in dad ngl - he’s so LORGE - a chonky boy - love him

that is everyone I have heard of it and if I left someone out it’s a sign that y’all should talk about em more bc I have no clue they exist put more ATLA On my Dash ig I’ll do Legend of Korra ig maybe apparently that one has canon wlw and i love me some canon wlw

[jwillowwolf]

Magic and Miracles - Chapter 11

Sanders Sides Big Bang fic, Chapter 11!

< Previous Chapter | Next Chapter >| Masterlist

Summary: He sighed in relief only to tense up when he noticed the expression on Logan’s face.

“What happened?”

“We need a miracle.”

Warning/s: food mention, minor violence.

Characters: Logan, Virgil, OCs, Roman, Remy, Remus, Patton, Janus.

Tag List: @theimprobabledreamersworld @remy-please-come-back

Read on AO3

11 | Danger Unknown

Once Virgil and Logan returned to the room, Virgil made a request not to be disturbed and they put up a magical barrier to keep anyone from using enchanted items or spells to spy on them. The group was sitting in the living area, with the tv turned off, and trying to come up with a plan of action, or at least a logical theory as to what is happening. So basically, they were stuck with no idea as to what was going on or what their next move should be.

Logan frowned. “Could these events be connected? Virgil’s parents and grandmother both being essentially missing.”

Remy shrugged. “Possibly. Right now though we’re just guessing.”

“I think that our next move is more obvious than we think,” Remus declared. “We need to find Virgil’s grandmother.”

Roman nodded. “But where to start?”

Remus shrugged. “Her room?”

“Whether she’s there or not though, they’ll have guards stationed there to keep up the ‘she’s sick and quarantined’ charade.” Janus pointed out.

“Oh! What if we use the teleportation spell?” Patton proposed.

“Would that even work in this realm?” Willow wondered. “And what if they have some kind of magic barrier like we have here?”

“Virgil, is there anyone who you would trust to tell you the truth about what’s happening? The best thing we can do is find a reliable source to inform us what’s going on.” Remy said.

Virgil sighed. “The Earl was my grandmother’s closest advisor, and I don’t think we can trust him at all.”

“What about the reporters? You said they give news to the people of this realm, so surely they would have some information,” Logan reasoned.

Virgil perked up. “I don’t know how reliable they’d be, but I guess that’s a start. We’d need to comb through the news channels on TV.”

“Ooh, I can do that. I figured out how to use the remote properly,” Patton proudly stated.

“I could do some reconnaissance. Like covertly listening in on what people say to each other,” Willow suggested.

“I can help keep you hidden while you’re doing that,” Janus added.

“Roman and I could also do some covert reconnaissance. Our hearing isn’t as good as Willow’s but it’s still pretty sharp,” Remus stated.

Virgil nodded. “Alright, Pat can look into what’s on the news while Remus, Roman, Janus and Willow act as our spy teams. Logan and I have left the room before, so we can go out again and try to see my grandmother or at least fake that we’re doing that to see how well her room is being guarded.”

Remy frowned. “Hang on kids. If there is something going on, I would like to get us out of here as soon as possible. You shouldn’t be getting too deep into stuff like this.”

“It’s dangerous, but we knew this was going to be risky when we agreed to it. And, really, this might be our safest option considering how the Earl was trying to convince Virgil to go back home.” Logan noted.

Remy sighed. “If you really need to check in on the queen, then I may know a spell that can help. But it’s difficult for normal mages to cast.”

The group exchanged curious glances. “What is it?”

“Mind linking,” Remy stated. “It’s a high-level spell that can allow a person to link their consciousness to someone else. You can’t do a full connection unless two people are doing the spell with each other, but there’s a way to use the spell to specifically disconnect one’s consciousness for a time in order to find other minds in the space around you. Aka this building. The spell goes through all kinds of loopholes and can work even inside or through magical barriers, but the caster needs a proficiency in mind magic…”

“So, theoretically, I could cast the spell?” Virgil asked.

“Yes, but another rule is you can’t cast the spell onto yourself.”

“You could cast it onto me though,” Logan said.

“I was actually thinking I could take the spell,” Remy declared.

“I think Logan should do this. If Pat’s watching the news, the twins, Janus, and Willow are out spying, and I’m maintaining this spell, then it would probably be a good idea to have someone checking news sites online, and we don’t have time to teach Logan about the internet,” Virgil pointed out.

“Inter-net? Is it some kind of magical net you catch information with?” Roman asked.

“Like I said, we don’t have time to introduce you guys to it. Maybe later though.”

Remy sighed. “Alright. But we’re going to need to go into full detail with this plan…”

The team did plan things out as best they could. Virgil explained to the spy team how to navigate the building. After that, Roman, Remus, Janus and Willow went to the elevator, casting invisibility spells on themselves that would make it so only they could see/detect each other, then went their separate ways.

Meanwhile, Remy showed Patton which channels were for the news and gave Logan the instructions for the Mind spell. Pat made notes on everything that was being said on TV in a small black notebook and once Remy finished instructing Logan he found a tablet to use the internet on.

“Remember, I’m only able to keep this up for five minutes, then you’ll be pulled back into your body,” Virgil said. “You know where to go?”

Logan nodded. “I’ll be fine, Virge. We can both pull this off.”

Virgil nodded. “Okay. You might want to lie down then.”

Logan laid down and closed his eyes as the spell was cast. He could feel as the magic flowed through his body like a gentle wave washing over the shore. For a moment he thought that the spell had failed since nothing else changed, but then he sat up and opened his eyes only to realise that he was outside of his own body. More specifically, he was floating just above his body like a ghost.

He felt suddenly excited at this discovery. It was like he was now a ghost completely disconnected from his physical form. A glance over to Virgil however reminded him of the current urgency of his mission. He was watching Logan’s body with a particular concern. Right now he had no idea what was happening to Logan and it was worrying him a great deal.

Logan wanted to reassure him in some way, but this form wouldn’t really be able to do that, so instead, he focused on finishing his task so that when Virgil pulled him back he would have some useful information. He floated up to the ceiling and then phased through it like it was nothing more than a cloud of fog. He navigated his way literally through the building quickly until he came to the hall outside of the queen’s bedroom.

There were indeed a pair of guards outside the door, but no one else seemed to be on this floor. Logan phased through the door and looked around if anyone was there. The room was lavishly decorated in silver and lavender tones, with a pair of ornate wardrobes on either side of a large vanity table, a wall to wall bookshelf, and a large king-sized bed. In the bed, someone was laying down.

On closer inspection, Logan found that the someone was a fae woman with long tresses of silver hair that was spread out all over her pillows. She looked weak and sickly, with cold sweat on her forehead. Logan reached out to touch her so he could hopefully see into her mind when a voice from behind him said.

“Hello.”

Logan whipped around to find the spirit of the woman in the bed standing behind him. “Gah!”

“Oh, sorry darling, I didn’t mean to scare you there. You came looking for me, right?”

“Queen Valeria?”

“The one and only!” The woman said with a smile before her face turned serious. “You’re my grandson’s friend. Correct?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Then I need you to get him out of here. Immediately. Tell my son what’s going on here so that he can save the rest of this world before it’s too late for the others. I won’t last long enough to see him again...”

“I- no, your majesty I don’t really know what is happening but I’m sure that Virgil will not leave if you’re going to-- to die.”

“Child, there is no way to save me. All of you need to go to Nico and explain to him that Earl Ynclementia has overthrown me. Then he’ll know what to do next once my powers transfer to him.”

“Ma’am… Prince Nico and King Thomas have both disappeared. They were attacked by an unknown spellcaster during a meeting and no one knows what’s happened to them or where they vanished to.”

Valeria paled. “No… then Ynclementia’s plan was successful. That’s just all the more reason for you to get Virgil out of here. If he receives my powers then… it all will fall to him…”

Logan felt a lump in his stomach at the realisation of what she meant. With his parents gone and his grandmother dying, Virgil would be forced to take rulership over both humans and fae. Except the fae realm has been stolen by the earl, and if Virgil reveals his heritage without his parents support, then lord knows what might happen.

The people could rise against him in fear. Dethrone or even kill him. Even if he were completely accepted as half-fae, they could still try to take away his throne on the excuse he was underaged and possibly didn’t have the necessary training to rule in his fathers’ steads.

“Your majesty, there must be something we can do. If you’re here outside of your body then surely there’s still time to heal you.”

“Dear, I don’t have much time left. The spell I’m using to keep myself alive will be gone soon enough. Nothing but a miracle could save me now. Please, my only wish is that Virgil is safe. Take him home and… tell him to destroy the porthole. Right now, I’m using a spell to keep Ynclementia here, but once I’m gone he will try to take over your realm as well. That cannot happen.”

“No, there has to be something. There has to be a way to save you.”

“As I said, nothing but a miracle could do that.”

Logan looked down at his feet sorrowfully, then an idea struck him. “A-a miracle. Like the mythical creature, Miracle?”

Valeria gave a short laugh. “I doubt there are any of those just walking around in your realm, much less this one.”

“But if we found one, it could save you?”

“Well, they’re supposed to have boundless knowledge of the universe, so possibly. But it’s impossible to find one. Please just… just get Virgil away. Right now he’s going to need good friends more than ever.”

Valeria stared sorrowfully at the painting above her door. Only now Logan noticed it. A large portrait of Valeria, Thomas, Nico, Tanya, Dune and Virgil, all together smiling happily. If the queen died now then Virgil really would need friends. His fathers were completely missing and neither Tanya nor Dune could leave the forest. In the castle, facing the duties of ruling a kingdom, Virgil would be completely alone.

Logan couldn’t let that happen.

He tried to say more to Valeria but he felt that his soul was being pulled back. As his vision faded he heard Valeria say one more time, “Take him home.”

Barely a blink and a breath later, his consciousness returned and Logan found himself back in his body, with Virgil staring at him in concern. He sighed in relief only to tense up when he noticed the expression on Logan’s face.

“What happened?”

“We need a miracle.”

Virgil tugged on his hood. “Is it that bad?”

“No, well, what I mean- ugh, do you remember Remus’s dream?”

“That one about the giant bagel?”

“No, the recurring one. That one that started on our vacation.”

“Oh, the nightmare.”

“Yes, that. To save the person, we needed to find the miracle that time left behind, right?”

“I’m with you so far.”

“I think that that dream was very literal…”

An hour later, the group was reunited and once again stuck thinking of what to do next. Logan explained everything that happened with Valeria, leaving Virgil terribly distressed, and then the spy team returned with the news that Ynclementia planned to use them as hostages since the plans to get rid of Virgil’s parents and assassinate Virgil ‘failed’.

“Assassinate me?”

Willow nodded. “That’s what a rockslide was. The agent Ynclementia sent must have believed they killed you then went off to get your parents.”

“And now Ynclementia thinks both plans failed so he needs you as a hostage to use against your fathers.” Janus sighed.

“The news isn’t giving me any hope either,” Remy stated. “It seems that they’ve… erased the queen. Like she or any of your family never existed. They’ve made it look like Earl Imbecile has always been in power and no one is speaking up about it.”

Patton nodded. “From what I’ve seen on TV they’re scared to even talk about him. Whenever they refer to anything he’s done or is doing, they have this terrible fear in their eyes.”

“Then it isn’t like they’ve been brainwashed or anything. They’ve been traumatized.” Roman theorised.

Remus chewed on her fingernails. “We need to get out of here.”

“Well, it’s not like we can just walk out of the place.” Janus declared. “They would lock us up for real if they caught us.”

“A porthole,” Willow said. “We can use a porthole to get ourselves back to the realm porthole and go home.”

“You pointed out earlier that kind of magic might not work in this realm.” Roman reminded them.

“Well, yeah, but how many successful spells have we used now?”

“Okay true.”

The group used a porthole to get themselves back to the realm porthole, then went through the second porthole and found Tanya, Dune, and a few other pixies waiting for them. Tanya looked at Virgil with a worried expression. She could already tell that something had gone wrong.

“Virgil?”

“...We need to close the porthole.”

---

A/N: thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this. I'll be posting two chapters a day until the full fic is up, so if you want to be tagged, you can just ask.

I'd love to hear what you thought about the chapter if you wouldn't mind commenting. Thanks again for reading! Here's hoping you have a magical day 💜

[thisismisogynoir]

I just post a drawing of three of my OCs and someone already made a horny comment... and it is worse since one of that OCs is a little black girl :/ I hate people. I just can't understand what motivates men to make s*xual comments on a picture with kids, even if it is a drawing...

Oh my Gosh...I'm so sorry. I wanna say men are disgusting, and, well, they are...but I feel like that would be invalidation/enabling in this case.

The other thing is that I also drew my own OC for the Disney film Encanto, who is a Black teenage girl. And, well...it's only a matter of time before some m*n has something shitty and gross to say about it.

Men see all women, of any and all demographics, as nothing more than porn categories. To them, we aren't humans, we're nothing more than buy-and-sell commodities for them to fuck. They rate us according to our fuckability and desirability. They only value us as potential romantic partners, objects to look at, holes to penetrate, and are incapable of seeing us as anything else. So being a girl and existing? To guys, you're just another option that they could date, fuck, ogle, sexualize, rape, etc.

And then they throw their hands in the air and say that women are just more beautiful than men...according to your male gaze, that is? You don't think women attracted to men see men as beautiful? You don't think women see men as potential sexual partners? You don't think women consider your fuckability and desirability to them? But the thing is, due to how the genders are socialized and how patriarchy works, women still manage to see men as HUMAN despite that. Women could literally rate every single man they walk past or see on the earth on a scale of 1-10 according to how attractive or sexy they are~and we'd still see y'all as human. Men don't know how to do that in turn. Because to them, we're simply pretty objects to be consumed, looked at, and to do with as they wish.

And of course, the further you stray from privilege and a perceived right to childhood, innocence, white femininity, and respect, the less men(especially wh*te m*n) see you as a human. Because if white women are sexual objects to be used, Black women are even LESS worthy of being treated with humanity and respect, so where a white woman would be at least treated faux-sympathetically, Black women get to be a platform for all of white men's most violent and animalistic rape fantasies. This stems all the way back to slavery, which I'm sure you already know how this horror story is gonna go, but of course, it's where the Jezebel stereotype comes from: that Black women are sex-crazed, violent, rough, animalistic succubi. Do whatever you want to their as violently as you want! Rape them! Mistreat them! They don't have souls and they don't need the care or intimacy that a white woman would be afforded, if anything, they like it! And if they don't see Black women as humans, then of course they won't see Black girls as humans either, or as children.

That's where the adultification bias steps in. Black girls get all of the same violent and rapey stereotypes placed on to them as their adult counterparts do. They get this, of course, because white slave masters raped underage Black slave girls too. They didn't just stop at adult women. Even if you weren't fertile, even if you didn't yet start puberty or menstruate--if he had some sick urges that he couldn't inflict upon his delicate white lady partner, he'd just go down on the closest Black slave girl there was. And yet somehow she was the horny brute. Which is exactly why these men feel comfortable sexualizing even fictional little Black girls, such as your OC. Don't hate people. Hate men. They are truly gutter-minded and fantastically dehumanizing and apathetic to the humanity of anyone who is not male like them. Remember that.

To end this post on a positive note, though, I would be really interested in seeing your OCs, if you don't mind! And even if you do, I'm sure your OCs are gorgeous and have great characters, and the right people will appreciate them! Never stop drawing and writing! I believe in you!

[grapecaseschoices]

Meet My OCs: Pierre Lin from @seraphinitegames (The Wayhaven Chronicles)

(Thank you to @lizzybeth1986 for the questionnaire form! <3)

Name: Pierre Lin

Age: 31 (as of the end of book 1)

Pronouns: He/Him.

Height: 6 feet and 2 inches.

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Dark Brown

Family Background: Rebecca Dy was brought to America as a baby from the Philippines -- her family is of Philippine-Chinese heritage. Her parents died when she was, well, a baby and she was taken in by her aunt and uncle. They didn’t want kids. So, one can imagine that led to a nurturing and close dynamic. She was raised in New York. 

Benoît “Rook” Lin was also adopted and also Filipino-Chinese. An older French-Vietnamese family took him in when he was a toddler. They ended up passing when Rook was just shy of sixteen. First his mother and then his father, who tried to hold on, of heartache. He was raised in Wayhaven but ended up finding himself in NYC. He and Rebecca actually met early on through a self-defense class. But it was very casually. They didn’t click later on, through a mutual friend. 

Pierre was born in Staten Island to a struggling Private Investigator and an Intern at the Agency. They lived in a small apartment but things were good. The family ended up moving to Wayhaven when Pierre was ten because of affordability as well as Rook being offered a job with Wayhaven PD. 

Education: He joined the ROTC program and it helped pay for his double BA in Library Science and Sociology. 

Best Childhood Memory: Making pancakes with his mom.

Favorite Color: Hunter Green and Blue (usually the darker sort, like a Royal Blue) Why did I choose to do his aesthetic in cool blues and pinks? Bc it fits him too.

Favorite Season: Pierre isn’t one to announce favorite seasons (unless Felix pressed) -- but he has a preference for autumn, and probably winter.

Cat or Dog: Cats! He doesn’t own one, but he loves the cats in his building. And they really love him.

Chocolate or Vanilla: This is another if pressed into a choice decisions: Chocolate. (But he likes the taste of vanilla bean / vanilla extract syrup a touch more.) Plus he also likes how chocolate can be bitter. He’s too much of a black coffee drinker not to.

Sweet or Spicy: Spicy. 

Coffee or Tea: Coffee. Pierre is professional to a T but if he were to be one c*p/detect*ve stereotype (from the shows at least), it would be having a coffee cup in hand where he probably shouldn’t. 

Best Friend: Can Felix count? Felix is probably the person he would feel most comfortable being vulnerable with (and he’s still slow acting in sharing certain points). He doesn’t consider himself as having one (and doesn’t think anyone would consider him one). However, the closest bet would be Nat and Verda. He and Verda had a slow start; but Pierre’s actually come to really trust him as well as emotionally rely on him. Especially in the past year. 

Love Interest: Felix.

What Initially Attracted Them to Their Partner?: Felix’s boldness and effervescence and curiosity and heart and energy and humor and -- 

Felix literally kissed his hand. His hand. He was intrigued from the word go (lol, he was stammering from the word go) and hasn’t stopped feeling that tentative smile or that warmth in his chest since. Being around Felix is like fireworks on a warm night and after Bobby (and barely dating since then), it was a salve to the soul. 

How Do They Express Affection (are they a hugger? More private?): It depends on who it is. Over all, his love language is acts of service. However, he is supportive verbally. He’s also a good listener. He has a very warm yet firm energy, that can often crawl into teasing if he’s comfortable enough (or with kids). He’s the guy that would take the time to rearrange your furniture --- or, gasp, learn how to fix minor stuff so he can help you out to keep you from spending too much on like, say, plumbing. 

Do they Have/Want Children? How Many?: He doesn’t think he does. He likes kids (he volunteers at the local hospital!) but he has to work through some problems first. He’s also currently too focused on work at the moment. (However, if Felix brought it up, down the road, he’d consider it.)

Any Pets?: No. But Mr. Sylvester has another human beyond the one he shares an apartment with. That human is one Pierre Lin.

Do They Have a Temper?: Generally, no. But when he does ...... 

Hobbies?: He enjoys reading. He also likes repairing older books. Nothing big or fancy. But it’s something he does for friends. Mostly textbooks but also paperbacks and hardcovers for novels. It’s mostly rebinding but he’s learning about embossing and recovering and etc. Because he’s a nerd. 

He also enjoys the museum. Learning languages could count as well, though he tends to do it for work (he wants people to feel comfortable --- and he’s a bit of the Boy ScoutTM)

Do They Hold Grudges?: He didn’t think he did too much until he found out his mother lied to him for years. 

They’re on the mend though! Just slowly. Also, Bobby’s entire existence is a sore point that he definitely holds against Bobby.

Do They Exercise?: Somewhat. It is routine that he is used to but not as much as he used to. However, he keeps up enough to stay fit and in shape. 

One Random Headcanon: Pierre is still really good at handstands. As a kid it used to be a silly thing he used to do to get Rebecca’s attention/feeling “rebellious” (it was headstands at first, and she’d click at him about breaking his neck), and it evolved into a sort of inside joke of theirs.

He doesn’t really do them these days. But he will pull them out as heavy artillery to cheer Felix up, if need be. And. Well. If his shirt slides up (down??) while doing it. These things happen ;-D (Pierre may be the shyer one in their romance but he isn’t without his moves~~)

[viviane-lefay]

Yeah, no fucks to give here!

Really not into this ship - at least not in a romantic & sexual context.

—

At this point, I think it is best, if I put a little clarification here, before I continue:

This is just about my personal opinion, theories & headcanon - and by no means lays a claim to general validity (nor does your POV, btw).

I have more of a pick & choose approach to fandom subjects, anyway, so I can customize the experience exactly according to my needs and wishes. This is fiction, after all - the realm of endless possibilities - where anything goes, and where there is a place for the preferences of all of us.

That said, I really want to point out that I have nothing against people shipping the Dr. with Agent Stone - but since I, personally, prefer m/f ships, I’d rather choose the female OC approach, as it’s also my beloved villain x heroine constellation (not the subject of this post, though).

My take on the dynamic between the Dr. and his assistant is, therefore, quite a bit different from the fandom popular one. Well, to each his own.

What this post definitely is not, is an invitation for a debate regarding character interpretation, shipping choices, etc. - and all the potential drama that this might entail. If that is what you’re after, then I’d politely ask you to leave now, because all you are doing is wasting both of our time.

Let’s just agree to disagree and move on, k!?

I do my thing and you do you, guys!

I suppose, I made myself abundantly clear now.

—

Anyway, to return to the topic …

Where have all the male friendships & professional partnerships in fandom gone!?

Because, personally, I think agent Stone rather relates to his boss on that level…

Robotnik being a role model of some sort, that is - not unlike a kohai & senpai, or a younger & older brother constellation, actually - where the former looks up to the latter due to certain traits that he admires (and Stone certainly does). Regarding the age difference of the two, this could also make sense.

I’d estimate that Stone can’t be much older than his mid-twenties at most, since he’s in the position of a junior agent and assistant - still at the very beginning of his career path. And he’s very capable, disciplined and professional, at that, which is probably why he made it as Robotnik’s assistant at all (unsurprisingly, given the man isn’t the most patient).

Speaking of whom - I think, regardless of Jim Carrey being in his late fifties at that point - he, himself, can’t be that old, actually. My personal take (& preference) here would be late thirties, which would still make a lot of sense regarding his academic and occupational career. Being this overachieving genius, I guess that he finished school in time-lapse mode, skipping one, or even more grades - same goes for uni. Therefore, it wouldn’t surprise me if he was done by the age of 25 - his five PhDs included (bet he did two at once), which would still give him plenty of time to make his way as an agent and scientific government official up to the time of the events of the movie.

Aside from that, I can’t help but see parallels to the dynamic of Piett and Vader here, as well - a mixture of professional esteem and a bit of intimidation. But certainly no outright fear, as Stone is hardly under the threat of being strangled to death by his superior, like poor Piett is.

That is not to say that Robotnik’s still frequent misconduct towards him is ok (it definitely is not), but it certainly is more mild than he behaves towards, say, pretty much anyone else. Btw, that includes the “pin yourself to the wall”, grabbing him by the bottom lip and dragging him towards himself, while glaring at and chiding him (For what exactly!? Not being perfect, or as smart as him!? Chill, man, the boy is doing his best, and he’s doing a good job!).

Fandom, of course, does what it always loves to do - construe this as “evidence” for the alleged attraction between the two, which is pretty far-fetched, imho (…although you’re surely free to interpret it this way, if you so please. As I said, this is just my pov & to each his own. *shrugs*).

Anyway, you can clearly see Robotnik displaying this type of behaviour, along with the invasion of personal space, towards other male characters as well - be it “Major Nobody Cares”, “Officer Brainfart”, the big bar dude he threw out of the window, or Tom Wachowski. So, following this line of argument, does that mean he’s into these guys, as well!? Honestly, that’s pretty ridiculous!

If anything, it is a blatant display of asserting dominance, bringing the message home that he is the alpha male, while putting his opponent / subordinate in his place - and that’s it! What this behaviour definitely is not, however, is something remotely shipping related.

Besides, there are many examples of other male characters doing this for similar reasons, too - amongst others Darth Vader (remember that scene between him and Orson Krennic!?), and Severus Snape (after Harry invaded his memories during the occlumency lessons). And Robotnik does that quite aggressively in the cases above. In fact, it seems to be a fairly consistent behavioural pattern with him (not that he actually needed that though, but that’s an entirely different matter).

As for Robotnik’s personal attitude towards his assistant, I think Stone’s one of the very few people he actually respects, and even likes, because the young man’s esteem for him is so genuine, while everyone else regards him pretty much like nothing more than an asset, or a threat.

It’s not like he doesn’t somewhat encourage being kept in that position himself, behaving like he does - aside from actively reducing himself to his intellect & academic prowess. This isn’t all that surprising, as it is something he apparently gets his entire sense of self-worth from, and likely the only thing he got any appreciation for from others, which is, perhaps, also why he constantly needs to spotlight said trait (no behaviour someone truly at one with himself & his abilities would display, btw). Then, there is his little tolerance for failure - especially when it comes to himself. He truly expects to perform flawlessly, like a machine, and when he doesn’t, that really seems to unsettle him (that face when Tom points his unsuccessful attempts to catch Sonic out to him … he was so offended, he almost looked like he wanted to cry ^^;;).

So, of course it is likely that he becomes quite attached to the sort of attitude and behaviour that Stone displays towards him, even though he wouldn’t think of it this way - because, you know, emotional bonds with other human beings obviously are beneath him (Yeah, sure, we did see the veracity of that claim afterwards, didn’t we!?).

But, then again, growing up as an emotionally starved child and adolescent, used to being brushed aside, and, later, deliberately distancing himself from other people, he actually might have no clue whatsoever how to appropriately deal with things like these, and thus brushes them aside as “weakness”, which really does make sense, especially in the context that he was bullied as well.

Same goes for him eventually adopting the habit of pushing other people away via plain disagreeable behaviour. I think this phenomenon is called “hedgehog’s dilemma”, and it is quite ironic that he is more afflicted by it than his blue nemesis.

It is so painfully obvious that this guy has some massive issues, stemming from past emotional neglect and negative experiences - so much, that he even rejects all things human altogether, along with his own humanity.

His excessive idealization of and identification with technology, therefore, comes quite in handy as a defense mechanism in order to cope with said experiences.

Machines don’t ask much of you, they do what they are told, they are predictable, and they - above all - can’t suddenly abandon, betray, humiliate, and hurt you (which, I think, is the crux of the matter here).

Even though he might claim that his robots are everything to him, and that he doesn’t need anything and anyone else - his actions, however, prove otherwise … let alone his constant spiteful remarks on the matter, which just sound so damn bitter.

We can recognize that quite clearly when he is forced into involuntary seclusion on that mushroom planet at the end. This is where we see that what he truly is missing are not his machines (I bet he could have easily built a robot to accompany him out of the wreckage of his vessel), but one of the few people (maybe even the only one at that point), that he had apparently grown to value as worthwile company - namely agent Stone.

And, yes, it is very evident that he misses him (platonically, for me - but this isn’t even the point here) - he even tries to make a rock resemble Stone’s likeness in order to have someone to “talk to”, and mimic the social interactions he had with him.

Essentially, all those objects and machines are but a substitutive gratification that he tries to use, but that never come remotely close to the real deal, let alone are ever able to replace it.

In the end, he’s still a human being, along with all the human needs that go along with it - human contact and care included.

If the psycho-social and emotional makeup of his closest known relatives is any indicator to how his own might be structured - and it usually is (I’m speaking about the nature aspect, not nurture) - then he can’t be such a bad guy, after all - at least not inherently.

Taking his grandfather Gerald Robotnik, for example, who loved his granddaughter Maria (a total sweetheart) so much, that he was willing to do anything for her, in order to heal her from the fatal illness that was afflicting her - and who literally went insane with grief after losing her - then it shows someone with a strong emotional life, who feels what he feels very keenly and deeply. Furthermore, he is also someone that happens to bond very selectively, but if that is the case, it has this virtually absolute quality about it, with a love just as intense and profund to match (which is quite beautiful, actually).

On the other hand, though, that can also mean someone that has a high degree of emotional vulnerability, and who, therefore, is susceptible to sustain lasting damage from interpersonal traumatic experiences (which happens to be the case here, imho).

More often than not, it is this type of person that is likely to cork up their feelings and harden their hearts as a result - and who use every opportunity to deride the very traits, needs, and wishes they worked so hard to push away, if they see them in others. That is, amongst others, what gives them away. It’s pure projection - which is why I think that his caustic remarks should definitely not be taken at face value.

There are many, many examples of villains (or anti-heroes) that fit this type. Robotnik would hardly be an exception.

Besides, it is nice to see that Jim Carrey seems to have a fairly similar take on that matter (not that I actually care, but still):

“… and all it really comes down to is, he wants to be special to somebody, only it’s gone megalomania for him.”  [x]

Ouch! Poor guy, actually.

He seems a lot like Ozai in that regard. No wonder I dig this dude (aside from him being hot, that is, haha) - he’s totally the type of villain I fancy.

And also, like it’s the case with Ozai, I can’t help but wonder about his past, given there is known so little about it (aside from a few hints), so the following will be about some of my personal theories and headcanons about him, his family, and his past.

These are such important characters (main antagonists, no less), yet the creators can’t bring themselves to be more specific about the most basic facts concerning their families. Ugh, huge pet peeve here! Nobody expects a huge ancestral chart down to the tiniest details, but they could at least offer more info about their closest relatives - especially the parents, who happen to have the most formative influence on a person.

How old was he, when his parents died, anyway!? That they died seems pretty much a given, as that is what being an orphan is about, per definitionem (and he referred to himself as such). But how did they die? Did he witness their death, or was he absent?

Personally, I have this theory that their demise might very well be linked with what happened to his grandfather Gerald Robotnik, and his cousin Maria. Perhaps they were on that space research colony during the military assault, and were also amongst the “collateral damage” there.

From what I read, the recruited scientists lived there, so I reckon that they did bring their families with them, which is likely, since it is said that Maria was born there, so at least her parents must have lived there for an extended amount of time, as well. Since Ivo isn’t Maria’s brother, but her cousin, Gerald must have had at least two children, who lived alongside him (… and his wife!? No info about her, either.) on that station.

While I think both of Ivo’s parents were from prominent scientist families (after all, that is what the population of this space station was comprised of), it is still unclear whether or not they remained on that station. I am inclined to believe they might have split their time between there and Earth, as Maria and Ivo don’t appear to have been particularly close, such as, for instance, her and Shadow (who was pretty much her only friend there), but I think that might also have been the case due to a difference in age.

Maria was 12 years old when she died during the military attack on the station. Since Ivo apparently seems to have no significant memory of his parents, and seems to have spent his childhood as an orphan, he can’t have been older than 3-4 during this incident.

With Gerald arrested, and pretty much the rest of the inconvenient Robotnik family gone, aside from that small child, I think the military decided to take him along, simply because of the vast potential of this child, coming from a bloodline of geniuses, that was now theirs to mold and to exploit.

They likely left the boy in an orphanage afterwards, mostly to his own devices, and without any support, or caregiver whose bonds transcended the mere duty of keeping their fosterling alive - a lonely life, largely deprived of emotional warmth and attachment.

However, they did keep him under close monitoring, so they could intervene anytime they saw fit, to stir him in the direction they wanted - like a psychological experiment of sorts. I remember that in the movie the presiding pentagon guy referred to him as “a lab rat with teeth” - which is rather telling regarding how they perceived him, and pretty nasty, considering the implication.

The Robotnik name, though, they obviously did not refuse him - a decision they would come to regret later. While this allowed him the only tie to his ancestry, their legacy, however, didn’t do him much good.

Gerald Robotnik was a disgraced man, known to the world as the genius madman, imprisoned and sentenced to death as a criminal - which was, by far not the whole truth. And yet, he was turned into this idealised picture of a hero by his grandson, who so admired his achievents and strove to become a scientist because of it, despite knowing only the official version of the story.

The tainted reputation of his grandfather would haunt Ivo for a long time to come. It would also become the lens through which he was perceived and judged by the world at large, and this turned out to be the main reason he was rejected, and, furthermore, relentlessly bullied by his peers - irrespective of his own accomplishments, which earned him at least the praise of his authority figures.

That he eventually snapped and retaliated, did not exactly improve the situation for him. While the bullying did stop for the greater part, the peoples’ suspicion had turned into fear, as their concerns had come to pass after all, and, as a result, he was shunned even more.

In the following years, he was further on groomed to become this perfect military asset - a morally unchecked scientist and ruthless agent, that the government could deploy like the weapon they undoubtedly saw him as.

Unfortunately for them, however, their experiment didn’t quite have the outcome they had anticipated, as he not only exceeded their expectations on an intellectual and scientific level, but, at the same time, became increasingly unstable, unpredictable (”psychological tire-fire”) and, hence, potentially dangerous - to such a degree that they became very hesitant to deploy him at all (despite the “perfect operations record”), and even downright terrified of him.

Frankly, I think they’d also have ample reason to be afraid of him, other than just his obviously ambitious nature. The most prominent being a possible event, where he finds out about what truly happened to his family and himself, as well as their role in this. Needless to say, that he wouldn’t take this lightly, considering all the shit he had to endure because of it, and likely seek revenge. I’d really be curious about such a scenario.

[sasster]

HELLO MY NAME IS CHASE TODAY I REALIZED I NEVER MENTIONED ANY OF MY ALIEN OCS FOR THE SPECIES I WON’T SHUT UP ABOUT SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO.

Tbh now that I’m doing this I noticed that I don’t really have any Geruginga, Reenait, or Plulea ocs that I’m ready to share publicly.

So this will be about my Isopod and Cardali ocs.

(im working on a google docs version please don’t roast me)

Isopods: an insectoid race, they are known for their engineering capabilities.

Soaren > An architect that kind of has a hard time connecting with other people. Especially people outside of their own race. They spend much of their time either building something, or watching videos on how to build something. They don’t typically engage with people outside of their family unless forced, you know how it is.

Kale > Soarens baby brother! He's just a ball of sunshine, he's recently gone through one of many isopod rite of passages -- When you find and hone your skill, you gift your first project to someone who either means a whole lot to you or helped you hone that skill. He just got into pottery!!! :-) He's gonna be an expert sculptor one day.

Celeste > I have not a lot on her but she does origami and paper crafts like that. Which she kind of hates because it's not "real work" in her own eyes, but she is supported by her friends and family, so it's kind of a self doubt thing el oh el.

Cardali are a peaceful and knowledge seeking race, they are essentially shapeshifting space goo and the closest things to Gods as we might know them.

Diollea, Valias, Inoirae, and Axenas are all gods, they already have their own theology posts so I won’t dwell on them for too long.

Inohredíe >They're a baby! They're one of many Cardali who were born like off world and don't really know whats what about being a Cardali. By Cardali standards they're a baby, but they're like 40-50 human years old (Cardali live a LOOOOng time. longer than you're thinking) They're still learning how to be! They just learned how to shapeshift I love them a lot.

Deas'Illy/Bellator > She is the Divine Right Hand to the Goddess Inoirae. That's just fancy speak for she works for God, and she's specifically in charge of Cardaliths "Invasion Specialists". Basically her job is to train up her branch of the military and help thwart invasions. Like literally just protecting other planets from Empire Like alien species that like to invade and shit. She also finds it difficult to connect with people, but she does her best too. She's kind of envious of her brothers ability to just fucking DO IT without thinking about it ||

Liam > He's Bella brother! He works with the information gathering part of the "military" it's not even consider military ANYWAY. He travels across the universe and just learns about the locals and life there. The "crew" he's part of is basically like.. The first step of "Cardali Intervention" wherei t's like if they run across something fucked up (a planet of people enslaved to another species, planets ravaged by war, etc) they can like reported it back and be like hey uhm... Some fucking SHIT is going on here. And that starts the ball rolling and stuff. He's pretty sweet and kind of always in the mood to make a new friend. You know that type of guy? Who is just always friendly and has some kind input to give? Yeah he's that guy. 

Noelaeti > Or better known as “Bigger Star” is a Cardalith Roboticist, pretty straight forward. They build robots and other AI adjacent things. Unlike most (homeworld born) roboticists, Noelaeti has taken to traveling the the unvierse with one of their “younger brothers”. They don’t really engage with people outside of their family, either, and tend to keep mostly to their work while their brother trapezes around the universe making friends.

Ralzeame > the Divine Right Hand to the god Valias, unlike Bella, Amy’s job is right at home. They are responsible for making sure any refugee or other alien denizens of Cardalith get acclimated and accommodated for, they spend much of their time getting to know and working with people from war torn planets or who have outright gotten their homes destroyed. With a crew, of course, because no one can actually do that work alone lmao. They are considered an ambassador in many rights. They don’t do al ot of things outside of work, which is why Valias has ordered they take an extended vacation effective immediately! (Ugh, they just wanna go home)

Thiosellia > Have you ever met a baby that was also a God? Well now you have. They aren’t really like RP-able because they are literally an infant. I just want you guys to know that there is a God Baby and their name is Thiosellia. Thank you so much for coming to my TED talk

~HONORABLE MENTION~

Star > Now I know what you’re thinking. Chase, dude. Star is a human. Correct! But he, along with his two older brothers, were raised on Cardalith. He is a roboticist by hobby, but by trade he does much the same as Liam, and if you guessed that he was Noelaeti’s “younger brother”, you were right! He’s very charming and charismatic. We love star! Also he knows about six alien languages. What. The. Fuck!

[nootnewtnute]

Tom Cullen/Nick Andros x OC - Travel

Word count: 2537

You woke up the next morning ready for your first full day of travel with Tom and Nick. You had slept well, as you didn’t have to worry about protecting yourself as much now that you were with two others. So, when you got up that morning, you were feeling pretty good. Tom and Nick were just getting up, as well, so the three of you started getting ready for the day’s journey.

“Another day of biking!” Tom said as the three of you set off. “I’m so excited, we’re getting closer to Mother Abigail every day!”

“We sure are,” You replied. You were feeling pretty excited, too. So, the three of you started biking away. Throughout the day you passed through towns, seeing what was left behind in each place. Each place felt like a picture; things were frozen in the last state of when humanity was still intact. It bummed you out a bit, but you didn’t want to think about that.

When you stopped for lunch, all of you were ready for a break. You had made it almost 30 miles that morning, so all of you were hungry and ready to rest.

Can you both feel it, too? Nick asked. Feel that we’re getting closer to Mother Abigail. You translated the message to Tom.

“Yeah, I’m feeling it,” You replied.

“Me too! Laws, yes. M-O-O-N, that spells closer,” Tom added. “I sure hope we get there soon, because I’m just so excited to meet her.” He went off to see if he could find some toy cars from the store nearby, so it was just you and Nick.

So, Nick, you said you’re from… Arkansas? You asked as the two of you sat there.

Well, that’s where I was before all this. I sort of moved from place to place… Nick replied. You didn’t want to ask, but you had a feeling that was code for homeless. My mom was an immigrant from Mexico, if you’re wondering.

That makes sense. I had a feeling it was something like that but didn’t want to ask. You sighed.

I guess that made all of this easier. Captain Trips, I mean. Life didn’t change so much for me. I mean, I literally have been moving around since before I was born. My mom was pregnant when she came to the US. Anyway, I just kept doing what I’ve been doing all my life. I just come across fewer people now. So, what about you? What’s your story?

I’m from Missouri. I had just graduated college and was moving out of my brother’s apartment and into my own apartment, one that was closer to the job I was going to start. That’s when Captain Trips hit, and… well, you know everything that happened after that.

Nick hesitated for a moment, then signed Who did you lose?

Just my brother. I didn’t really know my parents and lived with my brother since I was 11. I guess I got lucky; I lost only him, compared to those who could have lost so many more. Of course, you missed your brother a lot, but you truly felt lucky that you only had to grieve over only one person. Those who had big families and so many friends… you could only imagine.

We both got lucky in that way, I suppose. Nick said, and you nodded. Tom made his way back with a bunch of toy cars, so he played with those for a while, and then the three of you went off biking again for the second half of the day. You found a nice motel to stay in that night, and lucky for all of you, one of the rooms didn’t have any bodies in it. There were two beds, so Tom took one, and you and Nick took the other. You felt a bit awkward, laying there next to someone you had just met the previous day, but Nick’s presence was comforting, and you fell asleep fairly quickly.

When you woke up the next morning, you were holding the hand of a still sleeping Nick. Tom was sitting on his bed, once again playing with the toy cars he had found.

“Good morning,” Tom said.

“Good morning,” You say as you rub the sleep out of your eyes. You started to pull your hand out of Nick’s, but he held onto it tightly in his sleep. So, you just stayed there. You didn’t want to admit it, but holding his hand felt kind of… nice.

“Did you sleep well? I know I did. I dreamed of Mother Abigail again. She says we’re almost there, which is exciting, because I’m super excited to meet her!”

“Yeah, I slept well. I dreamed of her as well. We’re definitely almost there. I can feel it.” You really could; not just because you had a rough idea of the mileage, but because there was just this… feeling, one you couldn’t quite describe. It was a sort of calmness, or a sort of completeness. You just couldn’t put your finger on it, but there was one thing you did know. It was a good feeling.

Nick woke up a few minutes later. He noticed he was holding your hand, and he let go as his cheeks turned a bit red. You had a feeling he felt the same way you did, though. It had felt nice. After packing up your stuff, the three of you got back on your bikes and went on your way. As you were passing through a farming town, the sky turned dark, and you realized a tornado was going to happen. The greenish clouds were an obvious sign.

“Um, guys?” You said as you stopped your bike. The others stopped and turned back to you. “Anyone else get the feeling that a tornado is about to happen?” Nick nodded.

“You think so?” Tom asked. “We should find some place to hide, right? We don’t want some tornado getting us, laws no.”

We’ll need to find a farmhouse with a storm cellar. Nick said, and you translated for Tom.

“Well, let’s go find one.” The closest farmhouse you could see was half a mile away, so the three of you quickly biked over there to look for a storm cellar. By now, the wind was starting to pick up. It wasn’t too much, but you had experienced before just how quickly a tornado could form, and you didn’t want to get caught up in it when it did.

“Over here! There’s an entrance over here!” Tom exclaimed. You went over to him to start to get in, but then realized Nick hadn’t heard Tom call out, or seen you run over. “Tom, get the bikes down there, I’ve gotta go get Nick.” You had seen him go to the other side of the house, so you quickly took off to find him. He was, in fact on the other side, so you grabbed his arm and started pulling him along. By now, the wind was quite strong, and you could see the tornado forming. You had heard and seen a tornado before, when you were younger, but the sight and the sound was always haunting.

You quickly ran over to the storm cellar, pulled up the door, and the two of you run in. Tom was already down there with the bikes. The only light in the cellar was the light coming through the door, and when you closed it, the small, damp room went completely dark.

“Did you find him? Are you ok?” Tom asked, his voice filled with concern.

“Yeah, we’re good.” You couldn’t see anything, but you could tell the room was small, as the three of you had to stand pretty close. You felt bad for Nick; even if you didn’t have your sight, you and Tom at least had your hearing. Nick didn’t have either, so he really had no idea what was going on.

“(Y/N), I’m scared. Tornadoes scare me,” Tom said, his voice wavering.

“I’m scared, too.” You replied. “We’ll be ok, though, because we’re down here.” You reached over and took his hand. With your other hand, you reached out for Nick’s, and he quickly grabbed onto yours. His grip was almost too tight, but you understood why. All three of you were scared.

Suddenly, as you waited there in the dark, you felt another presence enter the storm cellar. You knew no one physically walked in, as the door to the cellar obviously didn’t open. But someone entered, nonetheless. The only person you knew it could be was the Dark Man. The OTHER one you had been seeing in your dreams.

“He’s here…” Tom said softly. “(Y/N), he’s here, oh God, what do we do, he’s here…”

“Shhh, Tom. Don’t let him know you’re scared. He can’t hurt us,” You reply. Nick suddenly gripped onto your arm with his other hand. He sensed the Dark Man, too, you could tell. You felt fear beyond any you had ever felt before. Nothing had ever compared to this. The tornado was still raging on outside, and you could tell it was almost on top of the barn and the storm cellar. This was the Dark Man’s storm, and he had made it a truly powerful one. The whole ground was shaking, and the Dark Man was still down there with you. Although you had told Tom that the Dark Man couldn’t hurt you, you weren’t so sure. You had a feeling that if the tornado didn’t do the job, he would do it himself. You felt your eyes tear up, and you leaned into Nick to find some comfort.

After what felt like an eternity, the presence of the Dark Man slowly went away. The fear you were feeling slowly went away. Even the tornado was starting to go away; the rumble was slowly getting quieter. The three of you waited for a while, just to see what would happen. The, Tom was the first to talk.

“Can we go up?” Tom asked. You listened for a second to see if the tornado was really gone, and you were sure it was.

“Yeah, I think we’re good.” You slowly walked up to the door and opened it. The sunlight nearly blinded you, but it was a good sign; sunlight meant no tornado. “Come on, you two, I think we’re all set.” The two of them brought up the bikes, then all of you looked around. As you had guessed, the tornado had passed right over you. The barn was gone, with all that was left being some pieces of wood and a torn-up path of dirt. That had been a close one.

“We made it!” Tom cheered. “The Dark Man can’t hurt us! Laws, no!” You turned to Nick.

Are you ok? You asked.

I think so. His hands were shaking slightly, so you pulled him into a hug. He seemed to need it, as he leaned into you and held tight. Tom walked over and hugged you both, as well. That seemed to calm the three of you down significantly.

“We did it,” Tom said. “We made it through the tornado, laws yes, and I think the Dark Man was scared of US! He knew we weren’t gonna give up to him.”

“I think you’re right,” You replied. After a moment more, you all pulled away and slowly went to your bikes. You felt like you needed to get out of the town, as it was going to be a scary memory for all of you. Plus, you had Mother Abigail to get to.

The three of you slowed down until you were stopped in front of the house. You finally had made it to Mother Abigail, after a few long days of travel. That good feeling you had begun to feel days before was the strongest it had ever been. You felt calm, you felt happy, and you felt AT HOME.

“We made it,” Tom said in awe. “We’re finally here! Laws, yes!” Suddenly, the front door opened, and Mother Abigail walked out. It was strange, seeing her in real life for the first time. But it was wonderful.

“It’s lovely to finally have you all here,” She said. “I’ve been waiting for you to show up. God told me you would be here soon. How was your journey?”

“Tiring,” You said.

“Long,” Tom added.

“Well, you no longer have to worry about that long and tiring journey. Well, for tonight, you won’t have to. Tonight, you three rest. I expect a few people will show up tomorrow morning, and then we’ll make our way to Boulder.”

“Um… Boulder?” You ask. “Why Boulder?”

“That is where God has told me to bring you all. It will be the congregating place for all who will join us.” You heard Boulder was a nice place, although you had never been there. “Come inside, you three need to rest.” You put your bike stands up so your bikes wouldn’t fall over, and then went inside. Mother Abigail had a nice home. “I’m cooking up dinner, so you three will have something to eat soon.” She was facing away, so Nick turned to you in confusion, and you translated. “Things are going to change, folks. For good or for bad, I’m not so sure, as God has not told me. But you better be prepared, as it’s going to change in ways we could never expect.”

You pulled up the covers of the bed and got in. After lots of talking with Mother Abigail about what she knew about… what was going on, you all had gotten tired. Once again, you and Nick were sharing a bed, and Tom was sleeping on the couch.

Well… today was quite the day, Nick said.

It sure was. You sighed. I’m glad we’re finally here. Nick nodded in agreement. You sat there in silence for a moment. You could feel Nick looking at you, so you turned to him, and he suddenly leaned forward and kissed you. You were a bit taken aback, but the kiss was… comforting. It felt natural, even though you had never kissed before. So, you kissed him back.

When you pulled away, you couldn’t help but laugh a bit. What’s so funny? Nick asked.

Nothing, it’s just… who would have thought that would happen so quickly? I’m glad it did, but I feel like under normal circumstances we wouldn’t have kissed so quickly.

Well, these aren’t normal circumstances, I guess. Nick squeezed your hand. Your strength and bravery have been so admirable the past few days, and that’s made me fall for you so easily. Not to mention you’re gorgeous. You felt your cheeks turn red.

You’re just a modern day, Romeo, aren’t you? You asked, and Nick laughed.

I try my best. He suddenly yawned. Time for bed, I suppose. You agreed, so you blew out the candle Mother Abigail had given you, then got under the covers. You moved over and leaned into Nick, and he put his arm around you. You could feel yourself relaxing in his arms, and you knew you would have no trouble falling asleep.

[ghostspideys-moved]

All For The Best

Chapter Nine

A/N: This is my longest chapter yet, and I didn’t mean for that to happen. Did I casually try to explain away skipping a whole chunk of the plot that would be Hawthorne’s chapter? Yeah, but it’s fine.

Word Count: 6.6k

Pairings: Steve Harrington x OC, Nancy Wheeler x Jonathan Byers x OC

Summary: The Scoops Troop get caught and things quickly go downhill, but in the middle of the chaos, some things finally go right for a moment. 

With the gate now in the equation, there was a lot for River to process. She was thankful that Steve and Dustin were on the same page.  If the Russians were trying to open the gate, this could go from bad to worse.

They rushed back down the stairs again, an air of urgency hanging over them. 

“I don’t understand. You’ve seen this before?” Robin asked. Her confusion and concern was valid, but there was hardly time to get into it. There was far too much to explain and so little time.

“Not exactly,” Steve said.

“Then what exactly?”

“All you need to know is it’s bad,” Dustin added.

Steve nodded and turned to Robin. “It’s really bad.”

“Like, end-of-the-human-race-as-we-know-it kind of bad.” 

“And you know about this how?”

There was no chance to explain, even if they wanted to, because Erica caught their attention when she realized something was wrong. “Um, Steve? Where’s your Russian friend?”

They’d left the guy in the middle of the floor after Steve knocked him out, and now he was nowhere to be seen. River sighed. She’d expected things to go south, but not this quickly. 

An alarm blared loudly, which was probably their sign to get moving. Steve rushed over to the door and peeked out. He must not have seen anything good, because he didn’t waste any time in rushing them back up the stairs. Not the best move, but it was their only escape right now.

They made the brave decision to head through the door, right into the room housing the giant laser they’d seen earlier. There was any time to doubt, only to run and hope for the best. The guards weren’t too far behind them, and Steve hung at the back of the group to make sure there were no stragglers.

They ended up right next to the laser, which was probably the last place they should be. Even over how loud it was, River could hear Dustin freaking out, which was exactly how she was feeling on the inside. Steve found a set of stairs and rushed them over, thwarting off any oncoming guards. 

River rushed the others to follow after him, making sure everyone was keeping up. Annie was the last one down before she ran after them, right into another room. Steve planted his feet and pushed his weight against the door, but it was only doing them so much good. With how many guards were on the other side, he needed some help. 

Dustin and Erica found the hatch in the floor as River helped Steve keep the door closed for as long as possible. They were already scrambling to open the hatch and jump in as Robin and Annie tried to help with the door. Even with all four of them, it wasn’t going so well. There were just way too many guards. 

Erica was already on her way through the hatch when Dustin paused to hurry the rest of them over. “Come on!”

“Go! Just get out of here!” Steve urged. “Just go get some help, okay?”

“I won’t forget you!” Dustin finally replied. 

“Go!”

Just as Dustin made it to safety, the guards finally broke through their makeshift barricade, if you could even really call it that. The four of them crashed to the floor and put their hands up as guns were being pointed right at them. Everything was suddenly much worse than River could have hoped.

Being tied up in and interrogated was not exactly how River was hoping this adventure would go. Her and Annie had been separated from Steve and Robin, and who could even tell what was happening to those two?

They’d worked together to construct a lie in the hopes they might be let go. But after being left in this bleak, featureless room for a few minutes now, it was clear none of the Russians believed them at all. Being tied in a chair with their backs together wasn’t the worst position they could be in, but River couldn’t help praying that Dustin and Erica got them some help.

“Sorry you got roped into the shittiest adventure in the world,” River sighed. She was sure this was going to traumatize Annie forever, and someone had to apologize for that. As odd of a sentiment as it was, she knew exactly what it was like to suddenly get pulled into a life-threatening mess.

“It’s fine,” Annie said. “This is a lot more exciting than anything I would be doing right now, for better or for worse.”

River laughed dryly, nodding, even though she wouldn’t be able to see it. “Don’t worry. I thought I’d be spending my summer playing with my dog and hanging out with my family. Guess I should learn better than to get my hopes up.”

There was a silence between them that hung heavy for only a brief moment, broken only when Annie finally asked, “Does this shit happen to you guys a lot?”

“Unfortunately. You should have seen last year. Almost being turned into monster food was just as much fun as any of this is.” River couldn’t help reminiscing, and thought this was an impossible situation to be stuck in, in that moment in the junkyard, she’d thought it couldn’t get worse. Clearly, she’d been wrong.

“Monsters?”

“Yeah, it’s a little hard to explain. But there were so many of these things - Dustin calls them Demodogs - and Steve…god…he really tried to take them all on himself.” The memory, while feeling like a total nightmare, almost felt like a fond one. She remembered being terrified for Steve. “You know, I spent so much time cooped up in my room, reading as many comic books as I could get my hands on, just so fascinated by the idea of superheroes. I truly think Steve is the closest I’ve seen to a real superhero.” Whether she realized it or not, she meant that wholeheartedly.

River realized just how sappy that must sound, but she couldn’t help the soft smile on her face as she remembered everything they went through together. 

“You really like him, huh?” Annie had clearly caught on, not that it was hard. 

River nodded. “Yeah, I do.” She’d noticed how close Steve and Robin had gotten, though, and she wasn’t holding out too much hope.

“I know I’m not one to talk, but why don’t you just tell him?”

“He probably likes Robin,” she said. “And that’s fine. I mean, I get it. Steve deserves to be happy, and if that means he ends up with her, I’m okay with that.” It would hurt, sure, but she’d get over it eventually. He really deserved for something to go right in his life.

River heard a buzz as the door opened, cutting off anything Annie might have been ready to say. The Russians returned, this time with an extra person. A doctor of some sort, though probably not the good kind. 

“Let’s try this again.” The man in charge signaled to the doctor, who was holding something that didn’t look too fun. Whatever he planned to inject them with couldn’t be good.

“Wait, woah, what’s that?” Annie exclaimed.

“It will help you talk. Maybe then you will tell the truth.”

After all the things she’d been put through in Hawkins Lab, River wasn’t a huge fan of needles, so her immediate reaction was to panic. “No, no, no, wait!” She didn’t get a chance to protest further before she was being injected with whatever that stuff was, and she hissed in pain. Annie was next. 

Despite the unpleasantness, it felt like nothing had happened. In fact, River felt fine. They were left alone for a while, probably to let whatever they’d been injected with take effect. 

“You know, this actually doesn’t feel so bad,” River admitted.

Annie nodded. “Yeah, I actually feel really good.” She giggled.

River laughed, nodding. “This is great.” 

They went into a laughing fit, probably having the best time ever despite being stuck in an interrogation room. It was hard to say just how much time had passed, but it couldn’t have been too long before an alarm blared. River and Annie turned to each other curiously, at least as much as they could while being tied up. For a moment, they sat there, wondering what was happening. 

Dustin came charging in, the other three close behind. He made quick work of untying both of them, and when River finally stood, she felt a little dizzy. “Come on, let’s go!” He didn’t give them much time to get their bearings before running off again. 

They had to take one of the carts, knowing they wouldn’t be very fast on foot. River wasn’t sure why they were trusting Dustin to drive them. He was in such a hurry that she’d almost hit her head a few times.

“Jesus, slow down!” Steve slurred.

“Yeah, what is this, like, the Indy 500?” Robin agreed.

“It’s the Indy 300.”

“No, dingus, it’s 500!”

“300!”

“Let’s say a million.”

They burst into laughter, causing River and Annie to join in. With how drugged and giggly they were, they almost didn’t notice Dustin crash, except for how much it hurt when they flew back.

“What the hell?” River mumbled, rubbing her head. 

Dustin turned back to check on them. “You guys okay?” he asked. They very much were not okay. He quickly got out and opened up the back door. “Come on.”

River barely registered his words until him and Erica were literally pulling them out of the cart. “Okay, ow! Hold on!” She stumbled out and tried not to fall over right away.

Dustin opened up the elevator for them and hurried them back inside. The ride up felt much more fun this time around, though that was probably from being high off their asses.

Steve and Robin thought it would be pretty cool to mess with the dolly cart sitting inside. “You look like you’re surfing!” Robin pointed out. 

Steve went tumbling to the floor as she laughed. River couldn’t help snickering at the spill he’d taken and how funny it looked from where she was sitting. Dustin bent over him, trying to check on him despite all of the fussing and struggling on Steve’s end.

“His pupils are super dilated.”

“Maybe he’s drugged.”

“Steve, are you drugged?” Dustin asked.

Steve shook his head. “I told you, dad. I don’t do drugs. It’s only marijuana.”

River snorted, a slight grin on her face. “Don’t forget the cigarettes. I’ve got some in my back pocket.”

“No way. You’ve had them this whole time?” Steve asked.

“Yep.”

Dustin groaned, clearly tired of dealing with them. “This isn’t funny, you two. I need to know what they did to you. Are you gonna die on us?”

Steve only responded by booping Dustin on the nose.

“We all die, my strange little child friend,” Robin chimed in. “It’s just a matter of how and when.”

Dustin had no clue how to respond and ignored her. “They’re gonna be looking for us up there, so I need you to tell me where you parked your car,” he insisted.

“Oh, can we make up a pit stop at the food court?” Steve asked.

“I would kill for a hot dog on a stick,” Robin agreed.

River gasped. “I have been dying for a burger this whole time.” She was sure her stomach growled a few times while they were stuck here.

“Alright, yeah, food,” Dustin agreed, attempting to get them back on track. “You can have as much food as you want, but only if you tell me where your car is parked.”

“Uh oh.”

“Uh oh?”

“The car’s off the board.”

“What?”

“They took the keys.” Steve flipped his pockets inside-out as proof. “The Russians, they took the keys. Like, forever ago.” Robin and Annie laughed, leaning against each other to keep from falling. 

Steve laughed along. “That’s a bummer, right?”

As soon as they were outside the elevator, River sighed in relief. “Oh, good. Hello, fresh air.” There wasn’t much time to enjoy it, though, before Dustin spotted more guards and pushed them into the side door. Having to run again was the worst, and all she wanted to do was have a moment to relax and enjoy how good she felt right now. Who knew when she’d get that chance again?

Dustin snuck them into the theater and made them all sit down, quietly telling them to stay put despite the protesting on how close they were to the front. He was clearly becoming aggravated and had to be shushed by the other movie-goers. 

“Whatever you do, don’t go anywhere,” he said, giving them a stern look.

“Fine, dad,” Steve retorted. 

Dustin left them to find seats for him and Erica. For many reasons, River had absolutely no clue what was happening in this movie, though she was enjoying herself. She stole some of the popcorn Steve found, not really questioning where he got it, and maybe that was for the best. 

At some point, they all agreed to sneak out and get some water, totally ignoring Dustin’s rule from earlier. Taking turns at the water fountain shouldn’t have been a difficult task, but they sure made it one. 

“So, like, I wasn’t totally focused in there or anything,” Robin said out of nowhere, “but I’m pretty sure that mom was trying to bang her son.”

“Wait, wait, the hot chick was Alex P. Keaton’s mom?” Steve asked from where he was slumped over the water fountain.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure.”

“But they’re the same age.”

“No, but he went back in time.”

“Then why is it called Back to the Future?”

Robin groaned. “Because, he has to go back to the future because he’s in the past,” she explained. “So, the future is actually the present, which is his time.”

Steve was silent for a moment, failing to process everything she’d just said. “Wh…what?”

River was sitting on the floor, her back against the wall as Annie leaned next to her. She looked up in confusion. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Having waited long enough, Robin finally pushed Steve out of the way so she could drink next. Now that he was letting her have her turn, Steve found himself staring up at the ceiling in awe. He grabbed their attention and gestured them over.

“You gotta check this out,” he said. “The ceiling, it’s beautiful.” 

River finally heaved herself back on her feet and stood next to him, curious to see what he was going on about. She looked up and gasped, immediately noticing what he was pointing out. It was like the ceiling was shimmering.

“Oh, that’s pretty,” River agreed.

It was almost too much, and soon enough, they all ran to the bathroom, finding the nearest stall. River sat hunched over a toilet, puking her guts out. Her throat burned, and her head was pounding way too much. She let herself get everything out of her system until she was sure she had nothing left. Flushing the toilet, she slouched against the wall, suddenly feeling gross.

Once she was feeling better enough to move, she slid under the stall to check on Annie, who was thankfully done vomiting. “How are you feeling?” she asked. 

Annie groaned. “Like someone ran me over,” she said. “Again, and again, and again.”

River gave her an apologetic smile and leaned back against the stall wall. “Yeah, sorry this has been the worst day ever.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, nothing’s ever gonna top this.” Annie was silent for a moment, thinking. “You really should tell Steve.”

Not wanting Steve to hear, River lowered her voice. “Okay, no. Not happening,” she whispered. “I told you, he probably - no, definitely likes Robin. It’s cool. I’m fine with it.” She sighed, resting her head in her hands.

Annie placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring look. “Hey, I get it. You don’t think you have a chance. But you’ll never know if you don’t try.”

“Sounds like you would know.” She mostly meant it as a joke, but the look on Annie’s face said she was right. “Holy shit, there is someone, huh?”

She sat up straighter and let Annie take her time before explaining. “Okay, I’m really trusting you here with this one, but…I really like Robin.” She kept her voice low. 

“Oh, shit.” River was surprised, but wasn’t trying to make it a huge deal. “I mean, yeah. I get it. I just guess I didn’t see that one coming.”

“I have for a while now,” she admitted. “We’ve hung out a lot since we have Drama class together.”

River nodded. “I guess we’re both stuck in the same shitty situation, huh?” Despite her dashed hopes, she felt maybe Annie had it worse. Having to hope someone like Robin wasn’t straight must have been torture. And she understood that. There had been a few girls River felt that way about, but she never would have been brave enough.

“I get it, you know?” she finally said. “When I first started high school, I was so lost and hopeless. But there was one girl I remember having the biggest crush on her. Carol Perkins.”

Annie scrunched her nose in disgust. “Seriously?”

River shrugged. “Yeah. Obviously that didn’t last too long, considering Carol’s kinda the worst sometimes. But I guess it was at that point I realized the whole gender thing didn’t really matter to me that much. I can’t even begin to tell you how many crushes I’ve had.”

“Steve’s different, though, isn’t he?”

He was so different than anyone else. As much as she said she’d be fine, knowing he didn’t return her feelings might hurt the most. More than it hurt when it came to anyone else. But she’d managed through so much pain her whole life, emotional and physical. She’d make it through this one.

“Yeah, he is.”

They were silent for a moment, only really catching the last bit of conversation between Steve and Robin. It was enough to give them both some hope, though. Not wanting her to waste this chance, River urged Annie to go over and talk to Robin. 

Just as she finally got her to leave the stall, River sat back, watching as Steve slid under the stall to join her. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

Neither of them really knew what to say right now. River’s brain was still muddled from her high, but she felt better at least.

“You know, I think today marks the second time now that you’ve saved me,” Steve said. “First the Demodogs, and now I’ve gone through a door.” 

She’d been so proud in the moment for managing something like that, especially when it might not have worked. “Someone had to.”

With all of the chaos, River hadn’t truly had a moment to look at him. Steve looked awful. His face was bloody and bruised, and his uniform was stained with what she could only assume was his own blood.

“How are you feeling?” she asked. “And I mean really.”

Steve sighed, knowing better than to lie through the pain to her. It was obvious he wasn’t in a good state right now. 

“Being tortured by a bunch of evil Russians isn’t the highlight of my life, but it could be worse.”

“Worse? Steve, they really put you through a beating.” She took his hand, trying not to get too worked up. “Look, I get that you think you have to push aside everything you’re feeling, but you don’t. Not around me.”

He looked taken aback, but he at least seemed to appreciate her kind words. “You know, if we didn’t both just puke, I’d kiss you.”

Those were certainly not the words she imagined coming out of his mouth. It threw her off, and she was sure she looked as shocked as she felt.

Steve gave her hand a small squeeze, mustering up the courage to go on. “Look, I know everything is kind of a mess right now, but I really do like you, River. Maybe it took me a while to realize it, but you’ve stuck with me through everything,” he said.

“Steve-”

“No, no, just listen, okay? I thought I was so expendable, but you were always there worried about me. And I don’t know anyone else who would deal with a loud, obnoxious Christmas party just to keep me company, or come to my basketball games.” Steve smiled softly, and he looked so genuine, even with his face beaten up as much as it was. “If things don’t get a thousand times worse, I really wanna make all that up to you.”

River was trying so hard to process that this was all very real. It seemed like such a dream, and she was almost tempted to pinch herself to find out. “How do you plan on doing that?” she asked.

“I figure a date would be a great place to start. And, if you’ll give me a chance, maybe more than just the one.”

Admittedly, that sounded like a great plan. She could never turn that down after all her hoping and dreaming the last few days. 

“I think I’d really like that.” She smiled and pulled him into a hug. It would have to do, because as ecstatic as she was right now, they really had just puked everything up a few minutes ago.

Dustin finally burst in with Erica close behind him. “Okay, what the hell? I told you guys not to go anywhere.” As soon as he got over his initial irritation, and maybe a small lecture, he hurried them out again.By the time they were sneaking out, everyone was just coming out of the theaters. It was the perfect chance to blend in. 

River stuck close as they joined the crowd, trying not to look suspicious, as hard as that felt. Dustin planned to get them all to his house where they could make a plan from there.

“Uh, Dustin? We might not wanna go to your house.”

“Why”

“Well, I might have told them your full name,” he admitted.

Dustin turned, his eyes wide. “What is wrong with you?”

“Dude, I was drugged.”

“So? You resist. You tough it out. You tough it out like a man.” Steve and Dustin argued back and forth until they spotted the Russian checking everyone a few yards away. 

“Abort.”

They ran back the way they came, dodging people as they headed towards the escalators. Just their luck, they were powered down. They went with the next best thing and slid down between the escalators. 

Now that they’d been spotted, they had to hide, and the first good place they could find was behind the counter of one of the shops in the food court. It was nerve-wracking having to wait as the mall was closed down. The Russians locked up the entrances, and they had to stay as quiet as possible.

River was trying to think of anything she could do to help them, but it was hard to think when her brain was still getting used to not being drugged anymore. It was clear they’d caught onto them, and the pressure was making it harder for her to come up with a plan. Just as they thought they might be done for, a car alarm went off, making quite the commotion. It seemed to serve as enough of a distraction, and River barely peeked her head over the counter when the car went flying, taking out all the Russians.

Standing on the balcony above them was El and the rest of the party. River had never felt so relieved to see her sister. She quickly ran around the counter as they were coming down the escalator.

River pulled El into a tight hug. “Thank you. Oh my god, I’m so glad to see you.” They held each other for a moment before she let Dustin come in for a hug as well. She was equally relieved to see Hawthorne was okay, at least physically. Seeing Rex trailing along beside him was a surprise, but she didn’t question it right away.

Without saying anything, she pulled him in for a hug as well. “Are you guys okay?” he asked. “Because I’m panicking on the inside, but it seems like you’ve been up to a lot, too.”

River knew his anxiety could get the best of him, and she was quick to reassure him that she was fine, at least for the most part. “I’m fine. I promise.”

“I don’t understand what happened to that car,” Robin chimed in.

“El has superpowers,” Dustin explained. 

“I’m sorry?”

“Superpowers. Like River has. She threw it with her mind, catch up,” Steve said.

There was so much explaining to be done. Dustin’s code red has only partially gone through, so everyone was just a little confused. In the middle of catching everyone up, El collapsed, and they rushed over to see what was wrong. “El, are you okay?” River asked. “What’s wrong?”

“My leg,” she groaned, seemingly on the verge of tears. “My leg.”

Jonathan was quick to undo the wrapping around her leg, which looked awfully bloody and maimed. River nearly gagged just seeing how awful her wound looked. Even worse was the fact that it looked like something was moving around. El’s pained screams broke her heart, and she took her hand, trying to keep her calm. It looked really bad, though.

“Keep her talking. Keep her awake, okay?” Jonathan ran off to find something that would help.

River swallowed down her worries and tried to keep El as calm as possible. “You’re gonna be okay, sweetie. Just hold on a second okay?” She only received more wails of pain in response, and she prayed Jonathan would find some way to help. They tried to move her carefully in the meantime.

Jonathan came back with a wooden spoon and a knife. “Alright, El. This is gonna hurt like hell, okay? I need you to stay real still.” Handed her the spoon. “You’re gonna wanna bite down on this.”

River looked away, knowing she was only going to be sick if she watched. Jonathan hesitated for a moment before cutting an incision in El’s leg, earning more screams as she bit down on the wooden spoon. River felt terrible just hearing how much pain she was in, to the point of tears starting to form in her eyes.

At some point, the pain just became too much, and El cried out for Jonathan to stop. She was a sobbing mess and could only weakly hold herself up, but she wanted to do it herself. Though she was worried, River sat back and gave her some space to give it a shot.

El focused her powers on pulling that thing out of her leg. While she wasn’t in any less pain, it seemed, she was having much more success on her own. She was exerting so much power that the glass from the display case behind them shattered. River took cover and watched as El pulled it out, throwing it as far as she could. 

Whatever that thing was, it tried to squirm away but was quickly stopped when Hopper stepped on it. When he’d arrived, River had no clue, but she felt so relieved to see him.

River ran to Hopper and gave him a big hug. “Dad!” She just barely caught the surprised look on his face. She’d never actually called him anything but Hopper, and she’d only done it by accident, but the smile on his face was unmistakable.

Hopper patted her back, equally relieved to see she was mostly fine. “Hey, sweetheart.” She finally let go of him as everyone was grouping up again. It would give El some time to rest while everyone else talked.

Now that everyone was together again, they had some time to catch up and make sure everyone was on the same page. Hopper was holding El as River leaned against him. Despite not having used her powers nearly as much as El, she felt mentally exhausted. She wondered if it was too late to return to how she felt when she was drugged up.

Mike was explaining the situation with the Mind Flayer when Lucas mentioned that the cabin got destroyed in the process. River turned to Hawthorne, a concerned look on her face. 

“Don’t worry,” he said. He let them continue their story as he quietly reassured her. “Not much happened on my end. I wasn’t very useful because I freaked out too much.” She could tell he wasn’t very proud of it, but she wrapped her arm around him, silently letting him know that it was okay.

She tried to tune back in as they explained their plan, or at least what they hoped would work. Closing the gate had been hard for El to do the last time, so she hoped they all knew what they were doing. By that time, Murray came back with some papers. Hopper left El to River and Hawthorne while they worked out their plan, and Max joined them to keep El company.

“You okay?” River asked, holding El close. “I can’t imagine how much that must have hurt.”

El nodded. “A lot,” she said.

“When this is all over, you deserve some rest. And maybe I’ll make your favorite triple decker Eggo extravaganza.” That at least earned a hopeful smile. “Sounds nice, huh?”

El grinned weakly and nodded, though she looked excited despite her exhaustion. River gave her a light pat on the back. As soon as Dustin explained their new plan to get to Cerebro, she handed her over to Hawthorne, wishing them both luck. 

Apparently, they were borrowing the car Hopper had been using, which she really wasn’t going to question. 

“Now this - this is what I’m talking about,” Steve exclaimed upon finding the car outside the mall.

Robin raised an eyebrow. “Toddfather?”

“Oh, screw Todd. Steve’s her daddy now.”

River almost wished she hadn’t heard that, but it was too late now. “Did you really just call yourself daddy?” She sighed and shook her head, hopping into the car.

“Alright, where are we going?”

“Weathertop,” Dustin said. 

“Weather-what?”

“Just drive!”

“Okay! Jesus.”

Steve drove away from the mall, following whatever directions Dustin was giving him. They’d made it pretty far from Starcourt when River started to wonder just how far out they needed to be. Hopefully Hopper and the others gave them enough time, because they were taking longer than she’d hoped.

“How far is this place, man?” Steve asked, equally worried.

“Relax, we’re almost there,” Dustin promised. 

Robin waited for them to calm down before she asked, “Suzie must be pretty special, huh? I mean, if you built this thing and lugged it all the way to the middle of nowhere just to talk to her?”

“I mean, no one’s scientifically perfect, but Suzie’s as close to being perfect as any human could possibly be.”

“She sounds made up to me,” Erica said. “She sound made up to you?”

Steve paused, unsure what to even say.

“Why are you hesitating, Steve?”

“I’m - I’m not! I’m not!” he exclaimed. “I think she sounds real. You know, totally, absolutely real.”

River wasn’t buying it, so she could imagine Dustin wasn’t either. He didn’t argue, though, and instead told Steve to turn. River braced herself as they crashed through the fence, driving through the field and up a hill. 

“We’re not gonna make it,” Robin said.

Steve persisted anyways, though the car got stuck part way up the hill. The more he stepped on the gas, the worse he was making it. They had to get out and walk the rest of the way up, or they’d never make it in time.

Thankfully, Cerebro was waiting at the top, already turned on and ready for them to use. Dustin called in to help Hopper and his group - or Bald Eagle, as Dustin decided to refer to them - navigate through the base. He’d done a fairly good job of remembering the layout with Erica’s help.

As he was helping Murray through the vents, River noticed Steve wander off, and she got up to see what was wrong. “Hey, guys?” he interrupted. It was hard to miss the flashing coming from Starcourt, which couldn’t have been good at all. They probably needed help.

Dustin immediately tried to get a hold of everyone at Starcourt, but there was no response other than the harrowing roar that was unmistakably the Mind Flayer. Clearly, no one was going to answer. 

Steve rushed down the hill, presumably to help, and River chased after him. There was no way she’d let him go without her. Dustin tossed Robin a walkie-talkie as Steve told him, Annie, and Erica to stay put and man the radio.

As soon as they hopped back in the car, Steve started it up, though it was still pretty stuck. He cursed under his breath and tried to get it out, but the car wasn’t budging. 

“Hold on, let me try,” River insisted. She tried to focus on the car, using her powers to move them back just enough. It took a little longer than she’d hoped, but it worked. She cheered and scrambled back into her seat as Steve took off, hurrying towards the mall. Her attempt had been just a bit straining, but thankfully not much, and River wiped at the blood trickling from her nose. 

Despite how far away they were, they must have made record time. Billy’s car was heading right towards everyone when Steve gunned it, crashing right into the car and sending it veering in the other direction.

River held on tightly until they came to a stop. “Holy shit.”

“Are you guys okay?” Steve asked.

Robin turned to him. “Ask me tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I think I’m ready for the world’s longest nap,” River said. She paused when the Mind Flayer roared, crawling along the mall roof. Jonathan’s car pulled up beside them, and they jumped in the back, not wanting to waste any time with a monster coming after them. Once everyone was mostly seated, Jonathan drove off as quickly as possible.

While they were being chased by the Mind Flayer, Dustin’s voice came in through the walkie-talkie in Robin’s hands, followed by another voice. “Suzie,” they realized immediately.

River listened as Dustin tried to ask Suzie for Planck’s constant, though she didn’t give in so quickly. There was some back and forth before the craziest thing happened. Dustin started singing. It was confusing, but certainly not the weirdest thing she’d experienced today. She shared a confused look with Steve and Robin. 

At least Dustin finally got the answer from Suzie as soon as their little musical number was done with. Not that River was complaining.

Something must have happened, because the Mind Flayer suddenly stopped chasing after them and turned around. Jonathan made a sharp turn and headed back to the mall. River tired to hold on as they raced back.

Billy wasn’t where they’d left him, which must have been why the Mind Flayer turned back. They all worked together as soon as they made it back to Starcourt, taking all of Lucas’s fireworks and tying them together. The new plan was for everyone to use the fireworks in the hopes it would at least distract the Mind Flayer long enough. Meanwhile, River was supposed to help their efforts with her powers. It had been Lucas’s call; no one argued seeing as it was the best plan they had right now.

Just as they were finishing, Steve pulled River away from the others. “Hey, be careful in there, okay? Don’t wear yourself out.” They’d seen what a toll it had taken on El, and even though she hadn’t strained herself as much, it could easily happen to her.

“I will,” River promised. “You too.”

This might be the end of it, really. They were headed right into danger again, and it could go bad so easily. River didn’t have time to react much before Steve pulled her close, pressing his lips against hers. She was caught by surprise but gave in all too willingly, her fingers tangled in his hair. If she thought about it too long, she knew she’d be grossed out.

“What happened to waiting?” she teased, pulling away long enough to look up at him. 

Steve chuckled and shrugged. “Just in case something happens, you know?” Neither of them even tried to lie. Something bad could happen at any moment, and they knew that. They broke away and finally rejoined the other as they finished with the fireworks.

River had almost forgotten Rex was with them. The last thing she wanted was for him to get in the middle of everything and get hurt. Jonathan let her keep him in his car for a bit. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to leave him for long, but she made sure he was calm and as comfortable as a dog could be in a car by himself. “I’ll be back, okay, buddy? I won’t be long.” Rex licked her hand and sat in the backseat obediently. She left him, as hesitant as she was, and went to help put their plan into action.

By the time they made it back inside, the Mind Flayer was already there. They grouped up on the second floor, throwing the fireworks right at it. They seemed to be working, at least long enough to keep it occupied. They were quickly running out of ammo, though, and there was only so much they could do. River tried to use her powers to help out, as they planned, but it wasn’t so easy with how worn out she felt.  It had been the longest, maybe even craziest, day of her life, and she was having a hard time being of any use. She’d been positioned much closer to the Mind Flayer than everyone else, using her powers to throw anything and everything she could, but it was barely slowing it down at all. 

For just a moment, she’d been distracted when she caught Billy with El. Her initial reaction was to help, but in that split second of letting her guard down, she’d been knocked over by the Mind Flayer, sending her skidding across the floor. She tried to sit up but found that the movement caused her way too much pain. Particularly in her arm. God, she’d broken it. Great.

Hawthorne rushed over as soon as he saw her go flying. “Shit, are you, okay?” She nodded, though he could tell that wasn’t true at all. When she tried to sit up, a sharp pain ran up her arm again, confirming her suspicions There was no way she could do anything more in this state.

She suddenly had an idea. Clearly, she wasn’t going to be much help with how tired she was, but maybe he could help.

“Thorny, I need you to do me a favor,” she said. 

“Yeah, what is it?”

River held her hand out to him. “I'm in way too much pain to focus and help anyone anymore, but maybe you can use my powers,” she explained.

“What? No, I can’t-”

“Yes, you can,” she insisted. “I’m obviously not going to force you, but I trust you, okay? If something happens, if it doesn’t wear off, I’m not gonna blame you. But that won’t happen, got it?“

He hesitated, but seemed to get that it could be helpful. “Alright.” He took her hand, focusing as he drained whatever powers she had. River felt dizzy for a moment before passing out right in his arms, the ruckus of the fight quickly fading to silence.

//

Taglist: @charmedtenderness​ @nxncywheeler​ @koibecomedragons​

[pinballwitxh]

my best friend - spencer reid x oc

summary: a member of the BAU team has become pregnant, and thank god for them. the group comes together to help her prepare for the pregnancy as she decides to remain single. as if spencer’s feelings towards her weren’t already growing, he can’t stop them now. a romance unfolds.

warnings: mild cursing, major SPENCER fluff towards the end :’)

a/n: something absurdly fluffy I need to get out of my system

The team let out a small collective gasp, but they wore smiles. Spencer’s smile was small, but genuine nonetheless. Garcia enveloped her in a large hug and squeezed her tightly, followed up by gentler hugs from Prentiss and JJ.

Rossi smiled, “An exciting stage in life, not that I would know.”

“Congratulations,” Hotch said as he stepped forward to wrap his arm around her and squeeze her shoulders.

Derek clapped his hands together, “That’s great, Lil’ Mama!”

JJ took the hand of her best friend and squeezed, “You’ll be great, how’s he responded to the news?”

Spencer cocked his head at her response, “Well, both of us have agreed we don’t want to pursue a romantic relationship but it was my decision to go ahead with it. He will have visitation rights whenever he wants to, but I will have complete custody no matter what.”

“That sounds like a plan that could work well, and from what you’ve told me he seems like an agreeable guy,” Prentiss said as the rest of the girls nodded in agreement.

“How long have you two known each other, if you don’t mind me asking?” Rossi asked.

“It’s a funny story, really. We grew up together, became best friends in high school and kept in touch throughout the beginning college,” she paused to think, “We lost contact for a long time, both of us went completely separate directions regarding school.”

Spencer switched the weight on his legs awkwardly, shoving his hands in his pockets. He was trying so hard to listen intently, but for whatever reason he was still processing the situation.

She was his best friend.

“About five months ago we ran into each other at the gym and turns out he’s been living in the area for two years now and we just reconnected. Kind of picked up where we left off, you know? Guess the whole dating thing was just never in the cards.”

On that note Spencer finally looked up and thought to himself how pretty she looked. It was certainly true that pregnant women seemed to have that aura, that physical glow. She was radiant, and clearly she was happy.

It made him smile.

“You’re gonna be a great mother,” Spencer said amidst the happy silence.

Everyone turned to look at him, but he could only see the small smile on her face. Tears brimmed in her eyes and she nodded, “Thanks, Spence.”

- - -

It was late into the fifth month that everyone began to notice the small bump growing. Spencer himself had created a pregnancy calendar for her and was constantly keeping her up-to-date on the milestone changes her child was reaching.

With each update she would laugh at the objects he would compare to the size of her baby. The advice and statistics he gave were endless. They weren’t the motherly words of wisdom JJ gave her once in awhile, but she knew the intentions behind them were good and honestly it was helping her to prepare. He was making the thought of motherhood more bearable.

Spencer was one of her closest and best friends and over time they had formed a tight bond. In the beginning she looked up to him as a brother and a mentor. He was only a few years older than her and it was him who helped her to settle into the BAU when she was accepted. They were the youngest and ‘freshest’ eyes the team had, naturally bringing them together in most cases.

There had been many late nights spent together pouring over evidence and profiles, bouncing ideas off of each other and coming to conclusions faster than the team ever had before.

They were an unbreakable dynamic duo at the BAU.

She grinned at the unmistakable excitement in his eyes as he greeted her with a cup of decaf coffee and began to spew new facts to her. He was telling her that the baby was probably the size of a bell pepper when he silenced himself abruptly.

“What’s wrong? Do I need to flip the tape over to the B side?” She chuckled.

“I can see it,” he said quietly.

“See what, Spencer?” She asked with a quirked brow.

He stared at her stomach intensely, “You’re finally showing!”

She peered down at her stomach and smiled, “I didn’t even notice, oh my God. . .”

She ran a hand over the bump and laughed to herself, producing a laugh in awe from her friend at his desk next to her.

“Hard to notice when it’s your own body, I guess,” she said.

Spencer leaned back in his chair, “I can’t believe there’s someone growing in there,”

This made her smile and she nodded in agreement with him. Up until this point it was always just a known thought and silent agreement that a baby was forming in her, but now it was becoming real.

Way too real.

She sat down abruptly and sighed, running a hand over her face. Spencer frowned at her sudden change in attitude, obviously stressing.

“You okay?”

“It’s kind of scary,” she said quietly, “I know I want to have this baby but, what if I can’t do it?”

Spencer leaned towards and reached for her hand over the desk, “You are going to be such a good mother, don’t doubt yourself. If anything this job has helped you prepare for motherhood, I’ve seen how good and attentive you are when working with the kids we see on cases.”

She looked at him in awe, surprised at his words.

“You’re so good with Henry and with Jack, you know they love you. Sometimes Henry asks when you’re coming back to babysit him instead of me,” he chuckled.

“I’m grateful I have you and the team to help me through this,” she said, “This would be ten times more difficult without you all.”

Spencer smiled, “We’re excited for you and want to be part of this, too.”

She squeezed his hand and his heart sped up, the heat flushed his face and the tips of his ears. There was probably a blush spread all over his face and he couldn’t hide it, he only hoped she didn’t notice.

“I appreciate you a lot Spencer, I want you to know that.”

The door to the office opened and they broke away, smiling as JJ approached them with a small package in her hands.

“I’ve brought you some supplies and self-care stuff! Figured you’d need a spa day,” she set the bag of gifts on her desk before gasping, “You’re showing!”

The girl laughed, “Guess a lot can happen when you have a rare weekend break from the team! I went home to see the family for the weekend,”

“Well that means we can go on a shopping trip soon, too,” JJ winked.

“Not too soon, just got a case in from-HOLY SHMOLY THERE IS A BUMP!”

Everyone jumped at Garcia’s outburst. The excited techy ran to the group and knelt beside the pregnant agent, studying her stomach intensely. The group laughed at Garcia’s bewilderment, “Crazy, right?”

Garcia nodded, “There is a tiny human in there. . .”

“Feels like I’m growing an alien.”

- - -

The case wrapped up and before they left the office, Spencer approached his best friend with hands in his pockets.

“W-would you like some help putting together a nursery?”

She paused from putting her papers together, “I didn’t even think of that yet. . .”

“I h-have some ideas! But of course it’s all up to you and I don’t want to impose on your wants for the baby but-“

“Spence, I’d love to hear your ideas,” she smiled, “You’re my best friend, I trust you.”

He smiled in surprise at her, “Well, I’m glad you do.”

The next few weeks went by rather fast and her bump seemed to grow each day. Every morning she stood in the mirror, examining every angle of her bump and running her hands over it.

Some mornings were harder than others. The nagging feeling of loneliness tugged at the back of her mind. Sometimes the tears would flow freely with no trigger, confusing the hell out of her.

Pregnancy hormones were dumb.

Spencer came over a few nights during the week with ideas and plans for the nursery that he put together himself. This surprised her at first, she had no clue how invested Spencer had become. There were sketches of nurseries and small notes and details he added, his attention to them was unpeckable and it amazed her.

- - -

Eight months came too slow, or so it felt. Her stomach was quite literally weighing her down and they were nearly finished with the nursery. Spencer came over almost every night to help her complete it. Sometimes he brought Garcia or Derek, since he was able to lift heavier things, and Garcia offered endless ideas and was always bringing gifts.

The child was spoiled by her extended family already.

One night after a particularly emotional night after a case, she sat down on her couch and let the tears flow. Her emotions had been haywire recently but they made her feel so inadequate.

Sometimes she couldn’t help but wonder if keeping the baby was a mistake.

She was alone with no companion.

The father of her baby and friend visited her once in awhile. He even attended Lamaze classes with her, however he had to cancel on the upcoming (and final) class due to a family emergency. Of course, she understood and insisted she was fine.

However, she was not as fine as she painted herself to be.

Spencer, being the profiler he was, knew something was amiss but couldn’t bring himself to ask why. Which was why the night they got home from the case he decided to pay a visit to her apartment.

The doorbell rang and caused her to jump. Quickly she wiped the tears from her eyes and splashed some cold water on her face. She waddled to the door (after long cases she felt so physically tired that it seemed waddling was the best option) and opened it slowly.

“Spencer, I thought you were coming over tomorrow? You should be resting, the case took a lot out of all of us.”

“Couldn’t settle down, I was worried about you.”

She went silent in shock but opened the door and invited him in anyway. They took opposite seats on the couch.

“Can’t hide anything from you,”

“We are best friends, you know?”

“We are also profilers, of course you could tell something was off.”

Spencer smiles, “I try not to profile my friends, I don’t have to be one to know that you’re feeling run down. It shows,”

She scoffed, “Run down is an understatement,”

The two remained silent for a few more moments before the quiet sound of sniffles interrupted it. Spencer sat up and observed as she cried into her hand, hiding her face from his.

“You can talk to me,” he said quietly, leaning forward to take her hand.

She nodded, “I know, but it’s really hard to admit something is wrong.”

“I know,” he said, “But I want you to tell me everything you’re feeling.”

And so she poured her heart out to him, every emotion she had gone through the last few weeks. Spencer sat quietly and listened intently, squeezing her hand every once in awhile.

“I’m so lonely sometimes and I wonder if this was a good idea,”

“Wonder if what was a good idea?”

She sighed, “Keeping the baby, not putting it up for adoption, sleeping with an old school friend. . .”

Spencer looked away briefly at the mention of the father, not that he had anything against him. He always felt a pang in his heart at the mention of him, though.

“I just don’t know if any of this was the smartest decision for me,” she paused, “I don’t know if I’ll be the best mom I can be for this baby,”

“Don’t say that, you’re going to do just fine and you have an entire team supporting you through this,” he said, “This baby is lucky to have you for a mother.”

She smiled sadly at him, “I’m not so sure about that-“

“You will be the perfect mother to this baby. Neither of you will ever be ever alone and I want to give this baby the best life-“ he paused, “I mean, I want to help give our baby-“

He stopped again with wide eyes and a blush. She squeezed his hand gently and nodded, “I know what you mean, Spencer. I want you to be apart of both our lives for a long time.”

He couldn’t look her in the eyes.

“I know you’re already Henry’s godfather and I’ve been waiting to ask you because I didn’t know when the time would be right but-“

“Yes,”

His sudden answer made her heart leap, speeding up ten times faster now. He stared at her intently, nodding his head.

“One-hundred percent, yes.”

She threw her arms around him and pulled him close, both of their hearts were pounding and it was silent as they hugged each other.

“Ouch!”

She pulled away and glanced down at her stomach, running her hands over it softly. Spencer frowned, “What’s wrong? A-are you okay? Is the baby-?”

“It’s been kicking once in awhile, normally when I listen to music on my speakers but,” she paused, “No one else has ever been here to feel it too,”

There was another kick and her stomach did flips, nearly knocking her to the side at how forceful it was. She let out another gasp as the movement continued.

Immediately she reached for her friend’s hand and placed it on her firm belly, “Do you feel that?”

Spencer’s mind and heart were both racing now from the excitement. He waited patiently for any movement.

A small kick to her stomach made both of them jump in surprise. Spencer glanced up at her and grinned wildly, “That, that was. . .”

“I know. . .”

His thumb rubbed small circles on her stomach, waiting for more movement. That feeling was something he couldn’t describe and he was so happy to be there in that moment.

The baby kicked again and elicited a chuckle from Spencer whose eyes were wide in excitement. She stared at him while he waited for more kicks, taking in how happy he looked.

An image flashed across her mind so fast she wasn’t even sure she saw it. It surprised her and scared her, somewhat.

Spencer would make a great father.

Spencer’s hands were warm on her skin and made her aching stomach feel better. She had a feeling the baby was enjoying the warmth and company of a new presence as well, and she was glad it was Spencer.

She wouldn’t have wanted it to be anyone else.

- - -

The hospital room was quiet as she lay asleep on the bed. The sweat had dried on her face and she could finally rest after a long night of labor. Her friend insisted he was there for the birth, so far co-parenting with him was going well and she was thankful for his willingness.

He slept on the couch peacefully next to her bed, both parents tired in so many different ways.

The team approached the room quietly, peering into it from the door outside. JJ made her way in first before the rest of team sidled in. She pulled up a chair next to their friend and ran a hand over her forehead, placing the loose strands of hair behind her ears.

“Hey, mama, you awake?”

A few seconds later her eyes fluttered opened and she yawned sleepily. A smile formed on her chapped lips and she nodded, “I am now,”

“Congratulations, mama!” Garcia squealed before silencing herself quickly, “Sorry, I couldn’t contain it anymore!” She whispered excitedly.

The man on the couch stirred and sat up, confused at the number of people in the room. He had met them once before, so he knew it was the team. He excused himself quietly to use the restroom and give them space with their friend.

Everyone gathered around her after he left and pelted her with questions about the labor and the baby. She was happy to answer every single one of them.

Spencer stood at the foot of her bed and noticed how blissfully happy she seemed. There was no anxiety in her voice, no fear in her demeanor. She was glowing, almost literally, and he was happy for her.

She caught his stare and smiled at him while the others engaged in conversation. He made his way to her side and took her hand, leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead, “Congratulations,”

She smiled up at him, “I’m so glad you’re here, Spence.”

“Me too,”

“Baby coming through!” A nurse in the doorway sang quietly, “He’s been asleep for awhile now but I think he’s ready to be with mama now that she’s awake,”

Everyone parted for the nurse that pushed the small hospital bed over. The agent adjusted her bed so that she was sitting up now and slowly she peered over at her son.

The team watched silently as she picked him up and cradled him close. The nurse left and they were alone again, soon cooing over the newest addition to their family.

Garcia poured slightly, “When are we going to get some girls?”

Everyone laughed, “Maybe it’s a good thing, you won’t have anyone encouraging you to shop more than you need to,” Prentiss said.

The team spread out over the room, taking seats and exchanging happy words with each other. JJ offered her seat to Spencer, then. He cautiously sat down next to the bed and watched his friend.

“Do you want to be the first one to hold him?”

Everyone watched as he nodded wordlessly. She handed her son to Spencer and laughed at his over-cautious movements. He used both arms to wrap the baby to him securely, holding him close to his chest.

“Look at that, godfather and godson,” Garcia said wistfully.

Spencer couldn’t even talk, his mouth hung agape as he stared down at the baby.

“He doesn’t bite!” His friend joked, “Hold his little hand, it’s so cute.”

Spencer smiled and reached for the absolutely tiny hand that was resting. He panicked as the baby moved in reaction to his touch, “Please don’t scream I know I’m not your mom-“

The baby opened his eyes slowly, focusing on Spencer. The agent’s eyes lit up as he stared back at him, studying the child. JJ smiled from across the room at the sweet scene before her.

“He’s s-so,” Spencer paused, “He’s beautiful,”

His friend felt tears welling in her eyes. Her baby stared up at Spencer so calmly, he was comfortable in his arms already.

“Alright, my turn!” Rossi exclaimed as he stood and made his way to Spencer.

Soon the boy was being passed around from team member to member. She reached out for Spencer’s hand and grasped it tightly, pulling him toward her.

He leaned close and smiled at her, “I’m really happy for you,”

“I’m really glad you can be here,” she said as she squeezed his hand. Spencer could feel his heart speeding up, a feeling he had grown accustomed to over the past year when he was around her. This time, the pounding in his chest was overwhelming and he wanted to be closer to her, as if that would make it stop.

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles gently and smiled at her. She was absolutely radiant right now and he was more in love with her now than he had ever been before. Her brows furrowed, “What’s wrong?”

Spencer shook his head, “Absolurely nothing, I just can’t get over how, um,”

He tripped over his words, a tell that he was nervous, so she grasped his hand in both of his now, “Take a breath and try again,” she teased him.

He smiled, “You’re so beautiful,” he said quietly, “You always have been, but seeing you be a mom is incredible, I guess,”

“Oh, Spence-“

“I can get over how perfect you are, and all of this is,” he motioned to the team that was currently gushing over her son in Hotch’s arms, “Seeing you happy makes me happy.”

Her heart leapt and she couldn’t contain the blush. She had no clue why she was blushing.

But she couldn’t deny that had started to become a normal occurrence with Spencer in the last year.

“I love you, Spencer.”

He blinked once and his hand went limp in hers. He thought over the words multiple times in his head before he could even respond. Had he heard her right?

“You’re my best friend, I love you too-“

“No, Spence,” she paused and leaned closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, “I love you,”

Slowly his arms coiled around her back and he buried his face into the crook of her neck. He relished in her warmth and the smell of hard labor on her skin, something he would never forget after this.

“Please don’t leave us,” she whispered, “I can’t do this without you,”

He pulled away, “I will never leave the two of you, I promise,” he set his hands on her shoulders, “I’m in love with both of you too much,” he said quietly.

She smiled at him with tears in her eyes, “Good,”

His hands found their way to the sides of her face. He smiled at her and wiped the tears away with his thumbs, even when she cried she was stunning. He leaned in and sealed the space between them.

His lips were strong against hers and yet gentle as ever. She kissed him back slowly, her hand gripping his wrist. Even as she laid in the hospital bed, feeling disgusting and in need of a shower, it was the most perfect moment.

A cry forced them to pull away, yet their hands stayed intertwined. Morgan held the baby away from him awkwardly, unsure of what to do now that it the crying was picking up.

“I think he needs his mom,” Derek said as he gratefully handed her son back.

The rest of the team left to give her privacy for feeding, but her hand locked onto Spencer’s and with a pleading look in her eyes, asked him to stay.

THE MASTERLIST (MORE SPENCER FICS)