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dayseternal-blog · 4 months

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Hello DAYS8!

If you didn't know this will be the 4th question/rec I will have for you!

I only noticed this on NightOwl's story but I do wonder if you ever made a Naruhina recs centering around stories where it's narrated on Naruto's Perspective?

Now, now don't look at me like that okay? I do love when the story is in Hinata's perspective most of the time but reading fics where Naruto's the one feeling it and seeing the story unfold is a one of a kind thing and I know there's only a few stories or fics you will think of about this one. But I do hope you can find some fics though, I'm kind of craving for such fics these days.

I'm rooting for you to find a LOT hehe! Thank you DAYS8 and....

Please pray for me to finish my naruhina one shot! TT~~~TT Lol!

I hope you finished your one shot! Especially since it's been over a year since you sent this 😅

I don't know what face you're expecting from me? I love writing Naruto's perspective. A lot of other people do, too...

I think you're referring to

"Weird Hinata" by @nightowl27-writer - Rated E, Canon-Divergent AU, One-shot. Naruto thought Team 8 was out on a mission, so why is Hinata here in the middle of the night? And what is up with her new mission gear? How did she get a key to his place? Is she getting naked!?!? Who is this weird Hinata!?

I love that one! If you haven't read these yet, I think you'll love them, too, because they have that "Naruto feeling it" aspect you mentioned:

"Casual Touches" by @lunawrayth - Rated M, Canon-Divergent AU, Multi-chapter, Complete. It's the casual touches that do it.

“Misfired Attempts of an Uzumaki” by Transient Joy - Rated T, Canon-Divergent AU, One-shot. Happy Birthday Hinata! In an attempt to celebrate Hinata’s birthday, Naruto causes havoc along the way. At age 5 he pushes her down a hill, at age 9 he almost poisons Hinata and gifts her weeds, and age 13 was a failure. Can Naruto make it right this time? Or will everything crash and burn in it’s wake?

Chapter 32 from “Between the Trees” by @utsus - Rated T, Canon-Divergent AU, One-shot. NaruHina Prompt: (because it was hot as heck here today) how about NaruHina and bathing suits.<3

“Call Her Mine” by @peppercornpress - Rated G, Canon-Divergent, One-shot. Post-war NaruHina one-shot. Naruto is NOT oblivious in this.

“The Red Scarf” by peppercornpress - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Complete. Just two people who realize how they feel for each other. That’s it.

and not to be conceited, but I think you'd like the ones I wrote if you haven't read them yet:

“Nightdreams” - Rated E, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Complete. Naruto and Hinata find comfort in each other after the war.

“Tell Me of Forevers” - Rated T, High School AU, Two-shot. Delinquent Naruto is trying to change himself for the better.

Mostly/Only Naruto's POV

“Heart-Shaped Sticky Notes” by the point - Rated T, Canon-Divergent AU, One-shot. Naruto’s life had always been spontaneous, always going and doing something. It’s good, then, that Hinata’s able to give him some stability in the little notes she leaves for him. But one day, there is no note. Suddenly, Naruto’s life doesn’t make sense.

Untitled for NHMonth 2015 Day 5 by @flowerslut - Rated G, Canon-Compliant (?), Short one-shot. Prompt: Laughter.

Untitled for one-wayward-girl by flowerslut - Rated G, Canon-Compliant, Short one-shot. Prompt: Naruto seeks out Hinata after the fight with Pein.

“Flipped” by @cajuncherrybee - Rated G, Canon-Divergent AU, One-shot. In which Naruto is the blushing mess and Hinata is the oblivious one.

“Common Side Effects” by katarinahime - Rated E for a lot of things, Crime/Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. Naruto and Hinata, in a struggling relationship, must confront the pain inside before they can love each other.

“Music” from “Naruhina Week 2017” by @hinatamyqueen - Rated T for language, Modern AU, One-shot. It’s Sakura’s birthday, so as per tradition, she gets to force Naruto and Sasuke to do whatever she wants to do.

Untitled by @jadeandonyx - Rated T, Modern AU, One-shot. Prompt: 4. teacher/single parent au + 5. one night stand and falling pregnant au

“The Forever Girl: Naruto’s Story” by @cherryjutsu - Rated G, Soulmate AU, Two-shot. The feeling of watching everyone around you grow old and die, while you stay young, is something that can never be forgotten, that is, until love finds you.

“The Ramen Booth” by @chloelapomme - Rated E, College AU, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. Years have passed since her unanswered confession in intermediate school, since his humiliating hazing incident in high school, since blossoming popularity drew their attentions away from each other. Yet time has only sharpened friendship into painful longing, even as their time runs out with the approach of the university fundraiser. Can 7 Minutes in Heaven at a crazy flat party be enough time to clear the air between old best friends?

"In-laws" from "Some Type of Love" by chloelapomme - Rated E, Modern AU, One-shot. "Boy, I'm tryna meet your mama on a Sunday Then make a lotta love on a Monday"

"Thunderstorm" from "With You in the Future" by chloelapomme - Rated E, Canon-Compliant, One-shot. Naruto fought against the odds for most of his life. However, today, he goes where the wind decided to lead him; Hinata’s arms. and "Dirty Little Secret" and "Promises" from WYITF

"August - Cultures/Around the World" from "Still Falling For You" by chloelapomme - Rated T, Modern AU, One-shot. "Diversity is not about how we differ. It is about embracing one another's uniqueness" - Ola Joseph

“Powerless” by bunny-hoodlum - Rated E for a lot of things, like depictions of violence and character death. Multi-chapter, Incomplete. His family’s past can’t be taken at face-value, and it comes clawing back to hurt him in ways that are out of his control. DELETED FIC.

A good deal of "Postscripts" by WaterRolls is in Naruto's POV - Rated T, Canon-Divergent / Various AU, Series of unrelated one-shots. Mostly humor but will have occasional drama. Slice of life, romantic fluff, family bonding, what-ifs, AUs, angst.

"Permission to Engage" by WaterRolls - Rated T, Canon-Compliant, One-shot. Our romantic leading man tries to propose, but things just don't go the way he plans.

"Resolution" by WaterRolls - Rated T, Canon-Compliant, One-shot. On a mission with Sai and Rock Lee, Naruto reflects upon his relationship with Hinata, then a brush with death and an encounter with a stranger leads him to make a decision.

WaterRolls writes a lot in limited 3rd Naruto's POV, so go through her profile.

"Lessons" by utsus - Rated T, College AU, One-shot. Prompt: Class president Hinata and delinquent Naruto.

“Chapter 5″ from “Between the Trees” by utsus - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, One-shot. Prompt: Can u do an angst prompt where hinata gets rlly hurt and naruto gets rlly mad and ends up crying in front of the kids? maybe an old enemy please?

“Chapter 6″ from “Between the Trees” by utsus - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, One-shot. Prompt: Can you do one where they are in battle can be sometime before they have kids or after but hinata is close to dying (still survives) and naruto freaks out and tries to help her u know what I mean??

Several one-shots of Between the Trees by Utsu is in Naruto's perspective.

“Day 22: Technology” from “A Love Story Like Never Before” by @journalsofagoddess - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, One-shot. It was the same feeling he always got when she left on missions. He felt useless that he wouldn’t be able to be by her side to protect her from everything and anything. But he was here now and he wouldn’t let anything hurt her. He promised.

"Drunk in Love" by @wickermayne - Rated E, Canon-Compliant, One-shot. Naruto and Hinata's wedding night.

"Fill" by wickermayne - Rated E, Canon-Compliant, One-shot. “I was thinking, Naruto-kun, now that I’m fully settled in, living with you…I was thinking that we should try.”

VulgarAssassin/Wickermayne writes a lot with mostly Naruto's pov, so if you don't already read his stuff, you should! Mostly smut.

“Tainted and Possessed” by cafrye017 - Rated E, Demons/Angels AU, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. Naruto, enslaved by the Sanctified for his Forsaken blood all his life, learns that he holds a power great enough to one day change the system, but he’s not on this journey alone.

“101 Ways to Make Hinata Hyuuga Faint” by Keidra369 - Rated T, Canon-Divergent AU, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. Naruto finds out early on in the academy that he has an amazing talent. He can make Hinata faint! Now he is determined to find all the ways to make her faint. Starts in academy years and ends sometime in their married life.

“Picture Frames” by Forever_in_Your_Heart - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, One-shot. They say it’s healthier to give up, but he is Uzumaki Naruto and he never gives up. (Can’t. He can’t, not this time)

Untitled by @jadeandonyx - Rated T, Modern AU, One-shot. Prompt: 4. teacher/single parent au + 5. one night stand and falling pregnant au

“If You Said You Loved Me” by destiny’s sweet melody - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, One-shot. Naruto begins to realize he took her feelings for granted and now he’s too late.

“Ravenous” from “NaruHina Month December 2022” by @sessakag - Rated E, Modern AU, One-shot. “Hinataaaa,” Naruto pouted, leaning inside the open bathroom door, “you ready yet? I’m starving!” and "Can You Read My Pain?" and "Turning Point" and "A Drunk Mind Speaks a Sober Heart" and a bunch of others in NHM2022.

Sessakag also writes a lot in Naruto's pov. If I go through linking every one-shot, I'd be here all night.

“Down the Rabbit Hole” by @vegebulsoup - Rated E, Modern AU, One-shot. Despite his protests, Jiraiya takes Naruto out to a hostess club for his birthday and it’s not quite what he expected.

That's a lot and there's way more, but I'm kind of tired now 😅 in any case, if you've read the people who are active here on Tumblr, including my own stuff, you'd find a lot of NaruHina fanfics with limited 3rd Naruto's perspective.

Happy reading!

#anon #naruhina fanfic recs

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lizzibennet · 1 year

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i’ve always lived among people who had much more money than my family because my mom worked for rich people and my brother and i always got scholarships because of good grades. and so one of the things that always kind of bothered me was that my friends always had much cooler, cleaner, tidier houses than i did. we’d go to their places after school for homework or just to hang and there wouldn’t be a hair out of place. one of my friends had a mezzanine with comics and a nintendo wii especially for her to hang out with friends. the other lived in a corner house with a tennis court which i always admired when passing in front of and i literally freaked out when i realized he lived there. one of them had a barbie house taller than us, one had a pool, one had a rooftop pool and cherry trees that were blossoming when i was over, etc. and i would tell them wow your house is so cool. mine is so messy and always dirty, and if i want it clean i usually am the one who ends up cleaning it, and i do my own laundry whereas you even have maids everyday! and they’d shrug and be like it’s cool i guess. but it’s not my house, it’s my parents’.

and that would always give me pause.

i’d think about the completely out of place shell dish that lives on top of the living room rack for the sole reason that my mom puts the earrings she steals from me there so i can retrieve them if i leave before she’s woken up. i think about my dad’s “mess closet” which is precisely what it sounds like but it’s where he goes when i ask him for the shoemaker’s glue to fix my jelly shoes and for the mini electric saw he used to saw through one of my dolls’ neck (long story) and where he goes when my brother asks him for specific sized screwdrivers to open up his childhood remote controlled toys. i’d think about the laundry closet divided in two because my mom owns a lot of delicate work shirts and swears i wash them better than her (it’s the same washing machine at the same cycle). i’d think about the four little giraffes besides the tv - according to my mom, tallest to shortest representing my brother, me, my dad and my mom, which my dad has never loved because Obviously He Is Taller Than Me but encourages the cat to curl up next to them to sleep so he can take a picture and send our family whatsapp group named “grimy family”. i’d think about my brother’s car’s engine laying open in the garage because he couldn’t finish it in time before returning to uni and my dad carefully picking it all up and tidying before he returns except my dad really is kind of shit at tidying so it’s all just kinda. laying there. i’d think about my mom washing my clothes on the weekend and laying them at the foot of the stairs because i don’t like when she just shoves my stuff into my room even though clothing in the stairs obviously makes the living room look even worse. i’d think about the medicine books lining the living room table because my mom saw them at an auction and picked them up for me even though i’m not in med school yet and i’d think about the socks my dad leaves besides the cat besides the giraffes besides the tv because my mom often falls asleep watching the novela and gets cold feet and i’d think about the hideous rio de janeiro postal my brother brought me one day when he was on break that hangs in the kitchen and i’d think about the air fryer and the juicer my dad never fucking puts away and permanently now live atop the cooktop which has been broken since 2015 and i’d think about my jelly shoes under the chair where the cat likes to sleep with my smell near and my hair clip that broke the first time i went out with my girlfriend which my mom kept, you guessed it, on top of my representative giraffe because she thinks she wears it better than i do, even if it’s broken, that’s fine, doesn’t it still look so pretty? and i’d look around at the pristine white pillars and granite and impeccably kept real wood and the techy dishwashers and color changing lamps and king sized beds of my friends’ and i’d finally cave in and text grimy family and be like can any of u guys come get me. and 5 mins later my mom would say “your dad and i are on our way”. and i’d breathe a sigh of relief. and come back to the messy house in front of the square. it was either this one or the one between the family that owns the range rover and the police chief that owns the old reformed cadillac and i wanted this one and my dad immediately agreed even though he loves both cadillacs and jeeps and campaigned for the other house before. and i’d lay down in my silly little square front house in my bed with my cat and my parents next door and my brother’s empty room full of his correspondence next to my bathroom full of hair masks atop the cabinet. and i wouldn’t have it any other fucking way

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rom-e-o · 28 days

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I've always wondered how Connie and Scrooge (modern or otherwise) would react to my Percival and Thorne, considering how different they are as characters and the whole 'Marley is NOT dead to begin with and is also Scrooge's husband' thing.

Here's Percival's notes from my Google docs:

Born to Zachariah Winthrop Scrooge and Kathleen Quill Scrooge, conceived in a drunken tryst gone wrong, Ebenezer is the co-CEO of his and Jacob’s multinational, multi-billion pound tech conglomerate, Asplex Industries. Known as the Shark of London in the world of business, Ebenezer is renowned for his cunning and ruthlessness, tied only with his terrifyingly true ability in the art of inventing high-quality technological innovations, closer to the realm of madness.

And here's Thorne's:

Born to Gene Thorne and Lilith Knight under the name Alexander Thorne, and adopted by Abel and Lenore Marley at ten-years-old, Jacob is the co-CEO of his and Ebenezer’s multinational, multi-billion pound tech conglomerate, Asplex Industries. Known as the Snake of London, Jacob is known for his charismatic nature and silver tongue, able to predict market trends with incredible ease and convincing subsidiaries to sign with them by speaking only the truth.

I don't really touch upon it too much on the fic, though I will get back to rewriting it I SWEAR, but Percival ends up getting back on good terms with Belle and her husband Richard (Dick Wilkins) who were childhood friends of both him and Thorne.

And we also know how Percival ALMOST fucked up his relationship with Thorne (*cough* Percival didn't think they were married because it wasn't legal in England before 2015 but Thorne did and Thorne thought Percival didn't love him and that this was all transactional *cough)

They get therapy don't worry

Honestly I feel like Connie and Scrooge would see Percival and Thorne very differently, and Connie herself would feel some level of kinship with Thorne thanks to her experiences with Orin.

But honestly those are just some of my thoughts ngl- ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ooooh, this is such a fun question! There would be some interest, for certain.

My Scrooge and Connie’s personalities from their modern to classic renditions don’t vary too much in disposition (aside from their speech patterns, the presence of different amenities, etc.) so I feel both sets would react similarly in both timelines, but differently from each other, haha.

My version of Scrooge tends to lean a bit introverted, is a slight (intense) perfectionist, and can be a little shy and skittish. Some might even call him nervous, but only in his personal life, because romance is so new to him again, and it’s been a long time since he’s wanted anyone in his life. He doesn’t want to mess anything up. Professionally, he’s always charming, well-spoken, and a true gentleman. Handsome, too. An Adonis, which is his nickname, haha.

I think he’d see Percival and Thorne, firstly, with intrigue. His business partner is still alive, and they’re … together? When I started “Begin Again” I decided to make it vague if Scrooge and Marley were business partners or more, and to what degree. Their relationship is left extremely vague. After Isabel, he really had ONLY Marley as companionship. So, a version of him and Marley being a couple is not a concept that completely blindsides him. I hc him and Connie as both bi/pan (especially because Scroogey has so many lovers and OCs that love him across universes - it just feels right.)

I think he’d ask how he was still alive, and if there really was something he could have done to save his partner (in the classic verse or modern verse.)

Finding out about the car accident and aftermath would remind him of his own redemption, and I think he’d find comfort in knowing that he was given a second chance across many timelines. And seeing him reconnect with Belle and Dick, something he has yet to do in the modern verse but has in the classical one (I am in the same boat of needing to get back to writing fics, including this one, so I feel you lmao) would give him reassure.

“I must say, our backgrounds of ruthlessness are…similar. Your resilience is inspiring."

As for Thorne, I think he'd want to learn more about him and kind of compare him to the Marley he knows. How similar are they? He's got the same charisma, that's for certain.

The funny thing? My Scrooge LOVES sparkling water, and Thorne finds it refreshing, as we’ve learned from their dinner date. For some reason, I see him feeling victorious.

A: Haha, finally, someone else who understands that is a perfectly lovely beverage. Please continue to give your husband grief.

C: Darling! You shouldn’t inspire a married couple to fight. Especially you and Marley.

A: Normally, I wouldn’t, but like you said, it’s a version of me from another universe. Fair game, my dear. Trust me, we’ve all earned our fair share of teasing. 😌

Speaking of Connie, she’s never met Marley, but she’s heard stories upon stories. To meet him from another would would be like meeting a celebrity!

I think she would find kinship with Thorne, exactly like you said, because of what she faced with Orin. Also, he provides Percival with love and companionship, and they become a couple and family.

She adores Ebenezer, so to know that he found love in that universe with another, let along one he has such a storied past with, brings her happiness.

"I'm glad he's loved in your universe too." <3

Also, Connie finds out about the boxing, and begs to be taught, haha. She only know pilates, and promises to be a good student. "I have an ex-husband I may need to punch one day. Can you give me some pointers?"

I feel like I just barely scratched the surface, but I think there is a lot of fun stuff these four could get up to, haha.

I totally feel you about fic writing, haha. It's always worth the wait when you publish (the characterization, the banter, the imagery ... top-tier across the board), so please don't worry about taking those beats to make sure you love it! I will be SO READY to keep reading those updates!

#ask #thedivinelights #scrooge 2022 #scrooge x oc #oc constance dogoode

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squipedmew · 1 year

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well, since the Dream SMP has officially come to a close, I thought I’d share what I’ve been up to for the past 2 years - making character designs for every single one of the characters!

I really wanted every character to look distinct, with really distinct color pallets, unique weapons for each and every character - basically like each one of them could be the protagonist of a wildly different story from one another. Feel free to steal them (with credit) if you want!

I kinda dropped off working on it in late 2022, so I think I missed a few characters, as well as going back and re-doing some of the oldest ones (that’s why some of them are more detailed - those are the 2023 versions)

As strange as it is for me to say this, DSMP had such a big impact on me, especially over COVID. I haven’t had a piece of media fill me with such a passion to create art and improve probably since Undertale all the way back in 2015, if you can believe it. I owe a lot of my art improvement to this silly little Minecraft series, and though I may have lost touch with it near the end, it will always hold a special place in my heart.

o7 you crazy, wacky, depressing, stupid, unsatisfying, joyful, hilarious, and amazing series. I wish everyone involved in it the best!

(A few extra designs under the cut!)

This is a 2020 Pogtopia Wilbur I made, and if I were to draw it now, I probably wouldn’t change a thing. This design fucking slaps imo, I’m still super proud of it.

Exile Era Tommy. Wilbur’s old Pogtopia coat has been passed around so many times between so many different interpretations of characters, so I thought it made more sense for Tommy to take the L’Manberg era coat from Wilbur, since that was the version of him he idolized (This is an old version of Wilbur’s coat btw)

Post Dream-Getting-Sent-To-Prison Tommy! I wanted to emphasize how Tommy was trying to move past his trauma, so he shaved off the grey streak he got from the Withers in the L’Manberg explosions (I gave him the grey streaks before Revival canonized it - don’t ask me why)

Las Nevadas Quackity. It’s basically a 1 to 1 for his skin, save for the really ugly blue patches and hoodie I gave him. If I were to do it again, I would def change that.

Snowchester Tubbo. Also still holds up, though I’m not 100% on the pants. This was kinda before goat Tubbo got super canonized, so I just decided to have the eyes. The scars are from the execution.

Revivbur. He looks pretty good for a dead bitch - though I messed up the L’Manberg flag colors on the bandanna on his ankle. Guess he’s french now.

Team Rocket era Niki! She took custody of Wilbur’s Pogtopia coat, albiet cutting off the parts that were covered in blood and soot (which was most of it) I also made her a fire-born like Sapnap, though you can’t see from his design - her hair is on fire when she feels strong emotions, and she’s basically going through it 24/7 during this part.

Syndicate Niki! She’s calmed down and is no longer on fire, but her hair is still pink from all those weeks of constant rage and sadness. Also dressed more appropriately for the snow.

Dream Post Prison. Mask no longer has invisibility enchantments, so he doesn’t bother hiding his face. Gotta wonder how it’s staying on though. Get this man some moisturizer.

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blazehedgehog · 9 months

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I Love To Shoot At Trouble

During the Steam Christmas Sale I ended up buying Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2012 because it was like $6 or $7 and I'm in the mood for a new racing game to chew up. EA already gave the game away for free in like 2015, but that meant installing "The EA App". I figured having it on Steam would be more convenient.

You'd think so.

It's not! As part of the first time launch, it installs "The EA App" anyway, which also means it found and uninstalled whatever version of Origin I still had (I wasn't aware I'd ever reinstalled Origin since my HDD crash). As part of this process, it also asked me for my EA password, I misread Firefox's stored password incorrectly, and went through the trouble of resetting my EA account with a new password before linking it to Steam. To my surprise, EA's been sitting on my seven year old cloud save from the few minutes I played of this on Origin in 2017, and asks if I want to import it. Sure, I guess.

So that's ten minutes down the drain before I can even boot up the game. Okay, fine, the game finally launches. Gotta wait while it boots up The EA App each time before it boots into the game, gotta wait for the title screen logo animation, gotta wait for a 10-15 second load screen because even though this game came out in 2012 it's gotta ping some always-online "Autolog" leaderboard whatever. Once it connects, it has to do a slow cinematic pan across your car, telling you what your online rivals have done since the last time you connected, and what kind of equipment you have on your car.

All told, every time you boot up Most Wanted 2012, you're looking at a 30-45 second wait before the game actually hands over control and lets you start driving.

Pull the accelerator and instantly Most Wanted SCREAMS at me:

Fair enough. I'm using a Dualshock 4, and the Playstation 4 did not release until over a full year after this game. Click to the menu it's asking of me and see that the control binding menu is awful -- it's one of those super oldschool ones, like binding keys one by one in Doom 2. I have no idea what these buttons are supposed to be in terms of Xbox equivalents, and I realize that Steam has this thing called "Steam Input" that's supposed to be handling all of this anyway. Steam Input generally makes my Dualshock 4 look like an Xbox controller to most games.

I exit out of Most Wanted, force Steam Input to "on" (I was messing with its settings recently, so I thought maybe it was disabled), and relaunch the game again. Wait for the EA App to boot up, gotta wait through the title screen logos, gotta wait 10-15 seconds on a loading screen, gotta wait another 5-10 on the cinematic pan across my car. I have now spent a minute and a half total waiting for this game to boot while I troubleshoot this.

Pull the accelerator. Instead of it complaining about my controller, straight up nothing happens. That's weird. The Start button works, the analog stick seems to work in the pause menu, but the triggers do not. The face buttons also do nothing. Upon checking the settings, that's because Most Wanted has settled on keyboard mode, even though it's clearly accepting some controller input. After poking at it, it does not seem like there's any way to get it to see my controller.

This makes Most Wanted a special game, because a lot of games I play will happily accept that Steam Input is telling it I have an Xbox controller connected even when I absolutely do not. But this is the rare 1% that seems to be incompatible. It's time to bring in the big guns.

Mayflash makes a terrific little passthrough device called the Magic NS, and the general purpose of this device is that it lets you use any controller on any other platform. An Xbox controller on a Playstation? No sweat. A Playstation controller on the Switch? It'll handle it. If you upgrade to the Magic NS2, you even get full gyro support. Every NS device also doubles as a Bluetooth dongle, so you can stay wireless if that's your thing. I love it so much I bought two, because generally they're only about $20.

A Magic NS2 for my Switch... and Magic NS1 for my PC. Strictly for scenarios like this, where a game expects an Xbox controller and Steam Input fails its camouflage.

Plug the NS1 in, connect my Dualshock 4, and once again boot up Most Wanted and wait the 45 seconds to get through the EA app, logos, loading, and the cinematic pan across my car. More than two full minutes now looking at this junk, and that's not counting the time spent outside of the game troubleshooting this in menus or digging out dongles or whatever.

Pull the accelerator... and my car starts to drive! I can steer! It works! Of course it works. The Magic NS never lets me down. I pull up to the first race event...

Press J and K to start the event.

Those are, uh. Those are keyboard keys. I'm using a controller. The controller is fully functional. You don't need to tell me this in keyboard controls. This isn't going to be one of those games, is it? The kind that still tells you everything in the keyboard shortcuts no matter what?

I drop into the menus again and see Most Wanted is still stuck on Keyboard mode and won't let me switch to anything else, even though I'm clearly using a fully functional controller now. This can't be right. But then I remember: Steam Input is still turned on, and when I forced Steam Input to be on, Most Wanted got stuck in this keyboard mode.

Exit out of the game, tell Steam to turn off Steam Input for this specific game only, and relaunch. Wait through all that crap again. We're up to three minutes just waiting for the game to start, and probably closing in on 20 minutes since I first decided I wanted to try Most Wanted.

Pull the accelerator, it works, drive up to the first event, and...

Pull LT and RT to start the event.

FINALLY. HOLY SHIT.

On the plus side: this game controls a lot better than I remember. It's a decent middleground between Criterion's heavier-feeling Hot Pursuit (2011) and the snappier Burnout Paradise. Though I could do with a lot less full screen flashing or the fact that Autolog alerts hide the minimap for some reason.

youtube

Not pictured, but the "always online" nature can also be frustrating if you pause, unpause, and find you have to quickly re-pause again a second time. That second pause will actually incur a loading spinner because it hasn't finished syncing with the server from the first pause, apparently. This game is going on 12 years old.

Anyway. This was a nightmare.

HOT BONUS

"The EA App" now starts up with Windows and is nagging me to enter the login credentials I already entered last night. I have to go through extra steps to get it to leave me alone and not do this

THE RIDE NEVER ENDS

#need for speed #most wanted #criterion games #ea #electronic arts #origin #the ea app #steam #valve #xbox #steam input #troubleshooting #mayflash #Youtube

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hotchnerwife · 3 months

Text

EITHER WAY

Warnings! MDI!

Smut, (female receiving), oral (male receiving), angst, violence, anxiety. (Okay I’m new to doing this on tumblr tbh. I usually just write on wattpad but I have more stories so lmk if you enjoyed this)

Summary- After the loss of your uncle Jason Gideon, one man you least expect is there to protect you and be a shoulder to lean on. What happens after you grow more dependent on each other?

January 28, 2015. Gideons death. Donnie Mallick shot and killed your uncle in his cabin. We all attended his funeral. Your cousin, his son Stephen helped you prepare it. You had been having a hard time since then. You watched them lay a tarp over his body. The same body you had hugged many times before. The same body that sat before you while playing chess. You hardly could stand looking at him. Neither could Spencer. You were having a tough time and so was Spencer. You had confided in him for so many nights. Both of you staying up late eating take out, telling stories about Gideon. Spencer wasn’t his biological son, but Gideon showed him kindness and it was enough for Spencer to gravitate towards him. Gideon always thought of Spencer like his son. Spencer was his do-over in his head. Gideon failed with Stephen the first time. Not always being around. Work consuming his daily life. Gideon saw Spencer as a way to fill the hole he had for a child, but you? You were always his little girl.

Your father died when you were only 2. Your mother abandoned us as soon as you were born. Gideon took you raised and raised you until you were 5. That’s when aunt Jill told Gideon she was pregnant with Stephen. Life from then on was different. You lived with your grandparents. You hardly saw Gideon, and when you did see him, he brought you to the office. Where you sat and watched him and Rossi play chess or argue about cases. You always knew he loved you though.

It had been a week since the case and funeral. You tried to come back with a clear mind. You had been having nightmares, the same one particularly. Gideon standing in the middle of his cabin. Looking at You not being able to talk. There was a man standing behind him. Shot him right in the back of the head. Gideons body slamming onto you, not being able to move. Screaming for help as the man steps over us. The man looking down at you and right before he lets off the gun trigger, you scream. That’s when you wake up.

“ (y/n) can I see you in my office please?”

You look up and see Hotch standing outside his office with a serious but concerned look.

“yes Hotch?” You say while walking into the office.

“ how are you doing? “

“Im fine,Hotch.”

“Are you sure? We could extend your time. You could go home and get proper rest.”

“Hotch I’m not a child. I passed my evaluation. I’m okay to come back”

“I never said you were a child. I’m just making sure you are ready to come back.”

“ I’m fine.”

“If you say so, but I’m not sure you are. Gideon was a friend to all of us but I know you were family.”

“Hotch I’m okay-“

JJ walked in thankfully.

“Hey guys I’m sorry to interrupt but we have a case.”

Never have I been so thankful to hear those words. Maybe now I can have a distraction.

“This is Colin Parker, he was the 5th man who was found slaughtered inside his home.”

“Slaughtered?” I ask.

“ yes. There is stab wounds up and down his body. His throat was slashed, and wrists cut.” Hotch said.

“Over kill?” Morgan speaks up.

“No. Who ever did this it was clean. It was a precise killing. With over kill no one would kill like this and not leave a complete mess.” Spencer replied

“ well we are going to California then. Wheels up in 30.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We just came back from a super long case. Two more men were kidnapped but we thankfully saved them in time.

We walked into the bull pen. Everyone extremely tired and ready for the weekend.

“ oooo hey sweetheart looks like someone’s got a secret admirer” Morgan teased and you came up to your desk to see a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a note.

“Open the note I want to know who it’s from!!!” Emily screamed with excitement and pushed on your shoulder to make you more eager.

“ fine fine.” With everyone now standing around your desk you opened the envelope. A small letter. It read:

(Y/n),

This letter is in condolences to Your uncle, Jason Gideon, he was a great man. We have found his will reading and will hope you and your Team will have time to come on out to his cabin and collect any personal affects he has left you.

Sincerely (Gideons Lawyer)

“Gideon has a lawyer?” Morgan asked

“Gideon has a will?” Rossi scoffed.

Tears started to form in your eyes. You hadn’t been to his cabin since you found him. Your weren’t allowed back until it was cleaned up. Reid and you never felt like going back to collect our stuff there either.

“ I guess so.”

Hotch looked at you knowing you were hiding your tears. “ (y/n) we can plan to visit his will reading Sunday?, would that be alright?”

“ yes”. You hated this. You thought this was all over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday approached. You wore your jacket Gideon gifted to you for your 18th birthday.

“Hi I’m Matthew Murdock ( yes ik 🫣) I’m here to read you off Jason Gideons will”

“Hi Mr Murdock, I believe we have met before?, SSA David Rossi”

“ oh yes we have, when I was in grad school.”

“It’s nice to see you again- well you know”

Matthew laughs. ( if you don’t know Matthew Murdock is blind)

“ and this is his niece” Rossi says guiding you over to him.

“(y/n) correct?”

“ yes I am.”

“ well it’s very nice to meet you finally, I know it’s under bad conditions but Gideon spoke very highly of you and Stephen”

“Thank you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“ it’s nice to finally meet everyone, I’m sorry it wasn’t under better circumstances. I was given a letter earlier this week stating Gideons will was found during the clean up. I was told to contact you as soon as you returned from your case.”

We all looked around. This was it. Maybe after hearing this I would finally have some peace.

“This is the will reading of Jason Gideon, husband of Jill Gideon ( deceased) and father of Stephen Gideon who unfortunately couldn’t attend. The other living family is (y/n)( y/l/n), and other beneficiaries. To start I leave my team members all notes in envelopes to read. These are to be read by yourselfs. Unless wanting to be shared.”

Matthew spreads envelopes around the table in front of us. Each labeling our name. Mine being the biggest envelope there. We approach and take ours and sit back down.

“ I was told this next portion was to be read by his niece (y/n), will you read it”

You step up. Looking over this long piece of paper. Assuming the top portion with the bumps was for Matthew to read in braille.

You start to sweat as you know these next couple minutes will be the end of you.

“ Hello everyone, Hopefully my entire Team is here. I wanted you all here so I could leave you with things I wish I gave you before I left. Things that remind me of you. Things we cherished together. First off, is Spencer. Spencer you are a great kid. Keep using that mind for amazing things. I leave you my chess board, my map collection, and books. To Emily, I haven’t known long but I leave my wife’s china plates, you always wanted some. To JJ I leave my boy Stephen’s young clothes. You will make a wonderful mother unless when you read this you already are. To Penelope, I leave my whole computer system to. It’s outdated but I’m sure your mind can handle it. To Derek I leave my sports collection to you. I have 2 Nellie Fox baseball cards. Still in great condition. Keep them safe. To Hotch, stop Being such a hard ass. Loosen up. I saw on the news about what happened. I’m sorry. Haley was a wonderful person. Jack needs you. I leave Stephen’s clothes to you as well, and my Star Wars collection, keep any of the clothes in the closet for yourself. To my friend, David Rossi. We grew distant but you are my best friend. I named my child after you. We started all of this together. I leave the desk we built together as well as our funds we hoped to save up for our trip to Florida where we wanted to retire.” Rossi laughed and shook his head.

“To Stephen-“

“He isn’t here you don’t have to read it.” Matt spoke up.

“ Oh alright. To my passera ( sparrow in Italian, Rossi called you is so finally Gideon started to call you it) I leave you my cabin. The cabin we built together at 5 years old. I leave you everything that doesn’t go to anyone. I leave you my records. I leave you aunt Jill’s things. I love you my passera. Let people take care of you.”

You start to cry. The man you confided in when you were upset about anything was gone. You never would see him again.

“You can now stand up and we have put ur Belongs gifted to you in an area labeled with your name. “

“(Y/n)” Matthew said

“ yes?” You wiped the tears off your face as Rossi put his hands on your shoulders.

“I need to give you the keys to the cabin. These belong to you.” Matthew’s hands you the keys. The keys have a wooden initial attached on the key chain. Your Initals.

“ Cara Mia, he’s in a better place.” Rossi spoke to you so softly

You turned and cried into his chest. Rossi usually would’ve sat you down and complained about his suit being ruined but at the moment he didn’t care. Everyone was grabbing their things. Spencer on the verge of tears trying to leave as fast as he could so he could cry at home.

You were still crying by the time most of them left. Derek saying goodbye to me. JJ and Emily hugging you. Penelope asking if you would be okay. Rossi asked if you needed a ride home and you shook your head no. You didn’t want to leave. Hotch stayed. You didn’t know he did. You just sat there and balled your eyes out.

“ I think I should take you home (y/n) “

His low voice startled me.

“I don’t want to leave Hotch.”

“ I think it’s best if for tonight you do.”

“ fine.” You were too worn out to argue with him. If this was any other time we would be at each others throats. Hotch would tell you, you were over reacting and needed to grow up. You liked he was being kind. But you hated it at the same time. Knowing this would all be over by the end of the week and he would be a hard ass again.

Hotch helps you into the car. The same car youve rode in hundreds of times. The same car youve driven with your uncle in the passenger seat. driving to the Bau singing the Beatles on the way there.

“ are you okay?” Hotch’s voice snaps me out of my trance.

“ yes.” I lied. Why lie to a profiler.

“ it’s okay to not be okay, I don’t know why I asked that I know you aren’t.”

“ I’m okay hotch. I’ll just have to get over this.”

“ not over. Through. This takes time”

“ I’m not a child I know that.”

You don’t know why you were starting an argument with him. You were mad at him. Why? You don’t completely know why.

“(Y/n) I’m just trying to help you okay, and if you decide you want to be childish then fine. By all means.”

You sat there. Not completely knowing what happened. You disliked you and him fighting. It always bothered you it seemed like he hated you and cared about the others. Hotch being nice to you is all that you’ve ever wanted. But tonight you just needed everything to be normal. This was your guys normal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The week began. You still hadn’t opened your letter from Gideon. You wanted to, but what if you read something you wished you didn’t. Change was something you should’ve been used to. You were doing this long enough, but having someone you thought would live forever dying? That was hard.

It had been tense in the office. More than usual. Everyone could tell you and Hotch weren’t talking. Rossi tried playing middle man but that just caused more chaos.

You handed in a report two days ago. Well Spencer did. You paid Reid $20 to hand it in for you so you didnt have to see Hotch.

“(Y/n) my office now. He was mad. More mad than usual. Was it hot? Maybe. But you were way more worried about what he was about to yell at you for.

“ yes sir?”

“ did you re read your report before handing it in? I’m sorry I mean giving it to Reid to hand in because you can’t even turn in your own reports now.”

“ I did. It all seemed fine”

“Seemed? These reports are also reflections of how I am as boss. Am I teaching you how to fill the out correctly? Did I teach you how to spell? No because I’m not your kindergarten teacher.”

“ what is up your ass today?”

“ you. You misspelled completely wrong twice. Fix your mistake now.”

“ yes sir.”

God. He was so annoying. I walked out of his office to see everyone’s eyes on me. Was he that loud?

“ Cara Mia you okay?” Rossi peaks his head out of his office. You didnt know but your hands were vigorously shaking.

“ yes I’m fine.” Rossi looks at your hands and you look down as well. Trying to hide them you put them behind you. Walking away.

You sat at your desk. Wishing the day to be over. At 8 o’clock you could go home. You stayed later then everyone else did. Yes you were a profiler but you were assigned to help hotch as well. When he went home you went home. Which means some nights you stayed very late. The days he didn’t go home he dismissed you to leave. Knowing he wasn’t leaving but you honestly didn’t care. Hotch pissed you off so many times. You never understood why he hated you as much as he did. With Gideon around he was kinder. I mean he did ignore you most of the time until it was case work, but he didn’t yell at you. Once Gideon was gone he started to grow more aggressive. You hated this. You had a crush on him everyone knew. It didn’t take long for Rossi to realize either. It didn’t take him long to say “ so when is the wedding?” Ever since that day he’s encouraged the team to make jokes about your crush on the angry unit chief.

“It’s 11:00pm. Time for you to go home

(Y/n).” Hotch spoke and it shook you out of your thoughts.

“Are you leaving?” You told yourself you didn’t care but for some odd reason you still asked.

“I’m staying a little longer. I have to finish this report.”

“Then I’m staying”

“ I don’t think that’s necessary. You should go home.”

“Hotch part of my job is to stay here and help you. If you aren’t leaving then neither am I.”

“ fine.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There you were. Sitting across from the man you hated yet wanted to love you so dearly. You hardly looked up from his couch, but when you did you could catch him staring. It was 11:45 by this point and you were hardly done with your reports.

“ do you want to go get some food?”

Hotch asked.

“I guess. We will be here a while.”

You both got up and walked down the street. You walked into the 24/7 Chinese place. You both got orange chicken. You always ate orange chicken with Gideon. It just happened to be the last meal you had with him. Tears formed again. Scared to show your emotions to hotch. You tried to hard to prove him your okay you would hate him to see you were wrong. You wiped your tears before he could see.

Hotch hands you your food.

“ thank you”

“ you’re welcome”

For a man you wanted to hate with every bone in your body you looked at him like he was your everything. Hotch’s eyes lit up in the street light, his hands handing your food you couldn’t look away. You tried ripping your mind away from these thoughts. Thoughts you shouldn’t be having about him, your boss especially.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You return back. Sitting and eating. Hardly ever spoke to him but that’s okay. You got through the paper work you needed to. You were getting very tired. You could tell hotch was too.

“Let’s go home.”

Hotch looked at you like you just told him you loved him. The surprised look confused you.

“Not together dumbass.”

“ right. I knew that.”” You aren’t in the right condition to drive though”

“ yes I am”

“ you are falling asleep as we are talking right now”

He wasn’t wrong. You were drifting in and out.

“ fine.” Hotch has driven you before. You weren’t incline to argue with you him as you were practically half asleep on his couch right now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You woke up to seeing an apartment complex. This wasn’t yours. It was Hotch’s

A shiver ran down your spine. You looked over and Hotch was getting out of the car. Rounding to your side and opening the car door. “ you’re up.”

“ yes, I thought I was going home? You aren’t kidnapping me are you? I mean you are unit chief so you could get away with it-“

“(Y/n) stop talking. I brought you here because you were asleep and I forgot which level you lived on so taking you home with me was easier.”

“ I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have fallen asleep”

“ it’s okay.”

Hotch helps you inside. “ where is Jack?”

“ Jack is at Jess’s tonight.”

“ oh. So tonight would’ve been a you night I’m sorry”

“ don’t me. I probably would’ve just came home and slept.”

“ well don’t let me stop you. I’ll just lay down on the couch now”

“ no. I’m a gentleman and you will be sleeping in my bed. I’ll take the couch”

“ hotch I’m not kicking you out of your own bed.”

“I don’t care. You’re my guest.”

You were tired. Arguing again was too

tiring and he was right it was his place.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You see him. Gideon facing you. He just moved his chess piece. “ your turn”.

You looked at him. You move your piece and he looks at you like you’re stupid. You don’t care where you moved it. You only care you get to see him again. Gideon stands. No no. Sit back down. “Im going to get some water you want anything” yes for you to sit down. “ no, thank you”

You turn around. Fully facing him now. There he is. Center of the living room. Boom. Gideons laying on top of you. You start yelling. You can’t move. In the mirror you see a dead bleeding out Gideon. Lifeless laying on you. You look up and stare at the barrel of a gun. This time you wish for it to go off. You pray. No screaming. “(Y/N)”

You wake up in a hot sweat. Gripping into an arm. Not your arm, but hotch’s

“(Y/N)”

It shook you to your core. You were hyperventilating. Not being able to catch your breath. Hotch is holding you. “ it’s okay. Deep breaths”

You finally are able to calm down.

“ do you want to talk about it?”

“ not really”

“ was it another nightmare about Gideon?”

“What?”

You looked at him now. You knew everyone knew you were having nightmares, but Gideon?

“We bunked up remember?”

You do. Ever since the whole team found out about your crush they’ve done everything to keep you both together. Hoping it’ll spark something. But since Gideon your mind has been other places then your boss sharing the same room

As you.

“ you know?”

“ yes.” “ would you like to talk about it?”

“Yes.” You looked at him. You never thought you would talk about the nightmares. Not to Hotch especially.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You tell him everything. You watch his expressions change. He is listening. Not zoning out but listening. It feels good to see him finally listening to you.

“ I see. Are you having these every night?”

“ yes.”

“ have you talked to anyone about them? “

“ no only you.”

“ not even Reid?”

“ no. I’m to embarrassed.”

“ why?”

“ because I feel like I should’ve been over this by now. I see death in every day life. “

“This is different. This is Gideon.”

“ I know.”

“ it’ll take time and that’s okay.”

“ thank you hotch.”

“ you’re welcome.”

Hotch got up. You didn’t want him to leave. What if you had another nightmare.

“ can you stay?”

“What?” He stopped dead in his tracks.

“ can you stay with me? I know it inappropriate for a supervisor to sleep with a- “

Hotch gets into bed. No arguments. No restraint. Not even a complaint. You feel better now.

“ goodnight (y/n)”

“ goodnight hotch”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You wake up to a hand on your lower back. You open your eyes and Hotch is right up on your chest. His head buried almost under you arm. You were enjoying this to say the least. But you knew it was wrong. Hotch started to shift. You acted asleep. You felt the stir and the weight of where he was release. He was up now. Hotch’s phone rang.

“Hotchner.” God his morning voice was hot. “ okay sounds good. We will be on our way- I mean I will. Please don’t call (y/n) they had a rough time last night so I’m sure they will want to sleep in.”

You heard Hotch chuckle. It was cute.

“Case?” You say to him.

“ uh that was no one by Morgan”

“ oops I’m sorry”

“ no you’re okay, I’m sure we will just hear some things walking in.”

Which I didn’t mind. I wish those things were true.

“ did you sleep good?”

“ yes, your bed is really nice.”

“ thank you”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walking into the bullpen was hard. All eyes on you and Hotch.

“ okay spill Morgan said he heard you when he was calling Hotch, is it true?”

“ no. Well yes I was there but it wasn’t like that.”

“ so what was it like then huh sweetheart?”

“ Morgan I promise me and him did nothing.”

“ so you didn’t sleep in the same bed?”

“ well yes but it was under different circumstances”

“ and that was???”

You didn’t want to say it. Thought the day more prying questions were thrown your day. You were getting anxious. Everyone saw it and you picked at your fingers while they were questioning you.

“Conference room before everyone leaves”

Hotch said as he walked passed the bullpen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“ (y/n) and I didn’t engage in any inappropriate behavior. I want everyone to know this”

They all looked around. You were so embarrassed. You wanted to shoot yourself at this point.

“ do we all understand.”

“Yes.” They all say in unison.

Morgan even seemed too scared to make a remark about it.

“ everyone is dismissed”

Everyone leaves except you and rossi. Rossi retreats to his office and you sit there.

“ are you okay?” Hotch is still standing there.

“Yes I’m okay.”

“Do you need anything?”

“ no im okay thank you.”

You stand up and walk to your desk. Thoughts overwhelming you. You need to move on from these nightmares. Face them. You pull open your drawer to see the envelope you stashed away.

(Y/n) (y/l/n)

It says on the front.

You slowly open it. Hoping whatever was inside would heal you from this insanity. There was a note and a couple over bigger letters. Some certificates dating back to your younger days like soccers and softball.

(Y/n) my little Passera,

My life started when I found out I was going to be an uncle. Kids never excited me but I knew you were different. Holding you for the first time felt like time stopped. I never wanted to see you hurt ever. So seeing you without parents at only 2 years hurt me. I brought you with me every where. I wanted to adopt you.

Those words. Adopt you. It hurt. You kept reading though.

The day I asked Rossi if I should ask Jill I got a call. Your aunt was pregnant. I wish I just went through with the adoption. Maybe things would’ve been different. I told Rossi and he agreed sending you with your grandparents would be for the best.

Rossi knew? You started to cry.

If I knew they were putting you through hell I wouldn’t have sent you there.

It was true. Your grandparents treated you like a house servant.

I’m so glad you followed in my footsteps though. Seeing you grow up. Watching you make your way to the top. Without my help either. (Y/n) I know it’s too late now. I made the biggest mistake not adopting you. I think about it every day. Can I adopt you? I love you so much my little girl.

Those words broke you. You hadn’t heard them before. Only once. The day he left. He hugged you goodnight and said those words. “ I love you my little girl”

Those words echoed through your head that night.

You shot up. Angry knowing Rossi knew. You walked to his door. Hotch saw you reading it and watching you walk to Rossi knew it would be bad.

“ David Rossi open your door” you yelled.

Rossi opend the door to be greeted by you. Angry. Crying. Red in the face. Hardly making full sentences.

“ Cara Mia slow down”

“ you knew?” You cried through your words. You shoved the envelope in his face. Rossi didn’t even have to be a profiler to know what you were talking about.

“ I’m sorry.”

“ oh you’re sorry? Rossi he was going to adopt me!”

Hotch felt your hurt in your voice. He knew how much you’ve wanted him to adopt you. Gideon talked about it all the time. His biggest mistake.

“I know, I shouldve encouraged him to do it. I wasn’t thinking at the time I’m sorry”

You broke down. Rossi hugged you.

“ he loved you though. There wasn’t a day that went by that he told me he wish he had adopted you.”

“ you’re just saying that”

“ no (y/n) he’s right.”

It was hotch.

“ what?”

“You know when you walked into Gideons office there was the desk full of picture frames?”

“ yeah?”

“ well when I started here there was two pictures. Stephen and Jill. Then a picture of you. You seem to be in a uniform. Softball I imagine and you have a big trophy. Gideon never shut up about you.”

You smiled at Hotch. You felt better.

“ I wish he would’ve told me.”

“ did he sign the papers?”

You look down at them.

“ yes he did”

“ okay then sign them.”

“ what? But he’s dead it doesn’t count”

“ legally he signed it. If you sign it your his legal daughter”

You burst out into tears. You hugged hotch tight. He hugged you back. It felt nice.

“ would you like a ride home?”

“ yes please.”

You turn to meet Rossi. Rossi was smiling at you. “ you gonna give him a big thank you aren’t you?”

“ shut up old man”

You both walk down and hear Rossi shout “ don’t keep each other up all night.”

Hotch seems a tad uncomfortable now. Great Rossi you ruined the thing we had going.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Do you want to listen to anything?”

“ sure.”

You press play on the radio. The Beatles start playing. Hotch is humming along

" you a fan?”

“ yeah I used to listen to them a lot when I was younger, do you?”

“ yeah same.”

Hotch knew you listened to them with Gideon. He feels like such an idiot asking the question back.

After what seems like an eternity you pull into your drive way. You thank hotch but he gets out and walks you to your door.

It’s starts to pour heavily.

“ you shouldn’t drive in this. Come on in?”

“I really need to get to jack.”

“Just until the storm passes?”

“Okay”

Hotch knew Jess was with him. He would be okay.

Hail is starting to pour outside. You switch on your lights. Just enough to light your way but dim because it’s night time.

“Do you want anything to drink?”

“Do you have any beer?”

“Of course I do”

You hand hotch a beer. You turn on your stereo. Something that’s been a habit. You usually walk in and it’s still on from when you left. You sit across from Hotch. Looking at him. You feel like a creep but he looks good. His arms reaching to his beer bottle. The shirt hugging his muscles.

“ youre staring.”

“ sorry”

You made small talk as best as you could. Actually now hoping the storms would pass you turn on the tv.

*STAY OFF THE ROADS! STAY OFF THE ROADS! HIGHWAY IS CLOSED OFF*

Comes across your screen. Great.

“Well you aren’t going anywhere tonight. I’m not letting you on the road.”

“(Y/n) I’ll be fine let me go get a hotel”

“ no you saw the news. No highway”

HOTCHS POV-

She wants me to stay. I want to stay. Sleeping in the same bed last time felt so right. Our body’s close together. The heat radiating off of hers. I felt her skin. It was soft and tender. I haven’t been like this with someone in a while. Not since before the divorce. I missed it. It felt good. But I couldn’t think about her like that. (Y/n) was going through so much. I would be taking advantage of her.

“ what are you thinking about?” Her soft voice brings me back to reality.

“ nothing.”

“ no I see those wheels turning what’s up?”

“ is this to much? I mean this will be the 2nd time sleeping in the same facility just us? Would it be deemed inappropriate?”

“ I don’t know. I mean we sleep together during cases?”

I froze. Sleep together.

“ well not sleep together but you know?

“ yeah. Uh I just don’t want to be pushing any boundaries.”

“ i understand and hotch you are a great friend for that”

Friend. Right.

Y/N POV-

Friend. Why would I say friend. He’s not my friend. He is the man I’m desperately in love with. The man I would kill for this situation to happen 100 more times.

“ do you want to watch a movie to pass the time?”

“ sure?”

we put on the notebook. Hotch said it was cheesy but I love it for rainy days.

I fell asleep toward the end. I woke up and Hotch was watching tv. My head in his lap.

“ oh I’m sorry”

“ hey it’s okay.”

You are embarrassed. You are constantly falling asleep around him.

“ hey can I take a shower?”

“ yeah of course” “let me grab you some clothes.

“these should fit you, they were Gideons and that’s my shirt.

Hotch sighed. Almost like a relief?

You sat down on the couch. Hearing the shower go you decided to turn on music. You loved listening to music during a rainy day. You were so in depth to just listening that you opened ur eyes to see hotch standing over you. You sit up and look at him. Hotch has never looked this good. You make you room next to you.

“ you have a great shower it has great water pressure”

Oh trust me you know.

“ yeah” you weakly smile. You couldn’t stop staring. He didn’t dry his body. You knew because the shirt was now drenched and sticking to his body. No complaints of course.

“(Y/n) you’re staring”

“ sorry.”

“ no need to apologize”

Good. Because you weren’t sorry. That man had an ungodly hold over you. You noticed Hotch scooted closer to you.

“ you okay?”

“ Mhm.”

You were okay. But far from normal okay.

Your mind had hundreds of different thoughts. You found out your uncle wanted to adopt you and now your boss you’ve had a crush on his on your couch in your clothes soaked from a shower he took in YOUR house!

“ you don’t see okay? You seem distracted” at this point you two were close. Hotch brought you closer to him. You look up at him. He stares back. You hear the song “Either way” by Chris Stapleton start playing.

“ can I kiss you?”

Your stomach drops.

“What?”

“ can I kiss you”

Another dream. You hoped not but you were scared.

“ yes.”

Hotch’s lips crashed into yours. It wasn’t a dream. His hands under you and you push your body up to meet his. You both go back down. Your body feeling the soft embrace of the couch. There you were. Kissing your boss. Not kissing. Making out. His hands moving around your body. He pulls away

“ I’m sorry i shouldn’t have done that”

He stands up

“ did you want to?”

“Yes but-“ you kiss him again. He embraces your kiss by holding the back of your head. Making out while walking down to the bedroom. You try not to hit anything off the walls. You open your door from behind you as you are still kissing your boss. He starts taking off his tie and shirt. Unbuttoning his shirt he takes it off and you see his scars. The one from foyet. He sees your eyes wander and begins to be self conscious. You see his eyes fill with worry. You take off your shirt without thinking and turn around. The whips from your grandparents engraved into your skin. Purple/ pink scars up and down ur back still. He touches them. It doesn’t hurt anymore. You turn to him.

“ I didn’t know”

“ no one did but Gideon.”

“ I’m sorry”

“ it’s okay”

His lips crash against yours. Hoisting you up onto him. Your legs wrap around him. You both fall onto the bed. You start feelings fingers against your sides. His hands wandering around your body. His kisses get sloppy. His kisses start going down to your neck. You start to moan. His kisses feel right. He enjoys hearing your soft moans. Hotch starts kissing Down the rest of your body. He get to your pants. Looking up for approval. You nod and he takes them off. His eyes lingering in between your thighs.

“ may i?”

You already knew what he wanted. The look of temptation.

“ yes”

He goes straight to your pussy. Sliding your underwear off. Pushing your legs outward. His tongue going over your folds. Him hitting your clit just to go back down. He was teasing you. You were growing needy. You moan every time. This time he stayed a little longer. A louder moan escaped your mouth.

“ you sound amazing”

He starts circling your clit with his tongue.

You feel him going faster. You were there. You didn’t know how he made you there so quickly. He just was good. Your moans make you toss your head back. His tongue going faster

“ hotch I think-“

“ Aaron I’m Aaron”

“ Aaron I think I’m going to -“ you moan

“ say it sweetheart”

“ I’m going to cum”

“ alright it’s okay “

You believed he was gonna stop. No he kept going pushing your legs farther apart you wanted to strangle his head with them so bad. He hit the spot and it all came out. You came on his tongue. You saw his eyes fill with lust and happiness. He licked you clean.

“ you did really good my love.” You looked saw it. His dick hard pressed to the sweats. Grey. So thankful for them. Your hand gravitated toward it. Wanting him to feel good like he made you. You get up and push him down. Taking off his pants and underwear. You see it kind of spring up. His full erection In front of you.

“ can you do it?” He says teasingly

“ shut up”

Your tongue swirls around the tip. He moans. You lick the precum off his tip. You start taking him. Your tongue and mouth being taken by him. His moans sounded like heaven. You take your hands and wrap them around it. As your head bobs up you bring your hands up as well. Same when you go down. You watch as his body moves. Chest rising and falling. The moans and groans. You feeling hits cock twitch im your mouth. The feeling of knowing when he’s about to come. You take all him one last time. You go down to hard you feel like you’ll gag. And up you go and he moans as he cums in your mouth. It dripping from your mouth but you manage to get almost every last bit. You sucked him dry. Any cum on his dick was now gone. He looked at you with pleasure and love. He grabs you we ease. You straddle him

“ you looked so pretty with my dick in your mouth. “

“ thank you”

“ you’ll look even pretty with it in you. You think you can do it?”

“ yes sir “

That sir hit Aaron in the gut. He never had heard a better word. You knew right then it made him happy. He lays you gently on your back. Grabbing your legs and holding them high. He lines you up and slowly inserts himself in. You moan

“You are tight aren’t you baby?”

“ yes.”

He went faster. Causing ur body to shake.

You arch. You moan. You feel ur whole body about to explode. He kisses you. Your face, neck, down your body. He keeps going deeper. You feel yourself about to cum.

“ Aaron I can’t”

“ cum on my dick it’s okay.”

You do as he says. One last thrust and he watches as cum goes down his dick. He starts to pull out. “ no what are you doing” Aaron looks at you confused “ what do you mean sweetheart?”

“ you didn’t cum. Stay in a finish”

“ I’m okay”

“ please sir.”

That gave Aaron every right to want to stay. He kept going until you watched his body shake. You knew it was coming. Literally. You felt as he came inside of you. Thankfully you were on birth control. He kind of just sinks into the bed beside you. You both sit up and look at each other.

“ you are such a pretty girl.”

“ thank you Aaron.”

You get quiet. Thinking how you just did this with your boss. You enjoyed it but I mean for the last 6 years you harbored a crush on him. Thinking he hated you. Now he fucked you.

“ what are you thinking about hm?”

“ what we did, was that wrong?”

Aaron shot up. Scared he pressured you. He knew he shouldn’t have done this.

“ did you not want to?”

“ no I did”

He sighed

“ just. You’re my boss. This will change so much.”

“ I know. But we don’t have to tell anyone yet”

“ Aaron we work with profilers. Whose job it is to find out who’s lying from a mile away. I’m sure they will know”

“Let that be tomorrow’s problem. Tonight you need rest”

“ okay.” He was right. You were so tired.

You drifted asleep with the man you loved.

You loved Aaron Hotchner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You wake up. Aaron being gone. You were sad. Maybe he realized he made a mistake. That was until you heard footsteps. There he was. He brought you coffee and donuts. “Hi gorgeous did you sleep good?”

“ yes I did !”

You get up and go to kiss him when you see it. The hickey. The one you left last night. It was dark and going to be hard to cover up.

“Aaron I’m so sorry. This will get you in so much trouble”

“Hey it’s okay” “ drink your coffee you’ll be okay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the way to work you tried covering it up as best you could. It was hidden but still peaking through a bit. You hoped no one would really notice. A bug bite maybe?

Thats what Aaron was planning on telling one who asked. You walk in after Aaron. A couple mins behind. You see Rossi ask. You walk in and walk to your desk. “ good morning Rossi” “ good morning bug”. You look up to see hotch frozen as he’s turning his office door. Rossi looking at you.

Everyone looked at you.

Shit.

#aaron hotchner #thomas gibson #criminal minds #spencer reid #jj jareau #derek morgan #jason gideon #david rossi #emily prentiss #aaron hotch x reader #aaron hotch x you #aaron hotch smut #Spotify

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hansrilowz · 2 months

Note

help us understand hanschen to the extent that you do

EEEEEEEEHEH THANK U FOR THIS… i absolutely love hanschen and he’s been my favorite character in any media since i was like 13 and now i’m about to turn 21 😅

when i was about 13-15 i was on spring awakening tumblr and that was very crucial to my understanding of him at that time… despite having a lot of wrong and weird opinions while i was younger, i’ve continued on interacting with spring awakening media and continued to watch the musical and read the play as i got older. as i got older i understood him more and more. (i do want to note that every actors interpretation of hanschen is different, but this is my general opinion on his character all together.)

so, hanschen at the time of the musical was about 14. that’s a confusing time to be a kid, especially a queer one! a lot of people don’t seem to like hanschen, calling him creepy or manipulative. i feel like, again, a big part of understanding these characters is understanding that they’re children in an incredibly oppressive society. in contrast to the other spring awakening kids, hanschen has seemed to mature a lot more quickly, along with his peer melchior.

hanschen and melchior are the only characters in the show who know about sex at the beginning. melchior is more sex-positive, open to talking about it with moritz and teaching him about it. hanschen, on the other hand, is more neutral about it. in frank wedekind’s play, during his desdemona scene, there’s a line that says: “Thuman’s Psyche — another legacy of the hatchet-faced Mademoiselle Angélique, that rattlesnake in the paradise of my childhood;”. there’s another scene earlier in the play, in act one scene two, where melchior says: “-George Zirschnitz wanted to tell Hansy Rilow, but Hansy Rilow had already learned it all from his governess when he was little.”

these lines tell us that when hanschen was just a child, his governess had told him all about sex, as well as showing/teaching him about Thuman’s Psyche. hanschen uses the term “rattlesnake” to describe his governess, a term that tell us she was someone who shook up and made his mostly peaceful childhood chaotic.

in the classroom scene early on in the musical, different actors and productions usually work with how hanschen acts while moritz messes up his recitation and while melchior is having his speech interpreting Virgil’s Aeneid on moritz’s behalf before “all that’s known”. this is regarding the teacher criticizing moritz and hitting melchior with the teaching stick. for example: jonathan b. wright in the original cast is a little bit more naïve while actively trying not to let his confident façade slip, laughing at what the teacher says to please him but getting scolded and scared afterwards; though you can still see he has a childlike nervousness and tenseness to him. when melchior is hit, he jumps with the rest of the boys from being startled.

in contrast, andy mientus in deaf west spring awakening, is slightly less naïve and keeps up the fake cockiness slightly better. using clips from the june 13, 2015 performance, his hanschen seems more focused on making sure he truly pleases the teacher and doesn’t let the façade slip. he laughs along with the teacher, and while the teachers back is turned and melchior starts signing, he tries to seem unbothered. though while melchior is hit with the stick, we do see him flinch, letting the act that he seems unbothered slip. after “all that’s known” and moritz and melchior start signing to each other, hanschen chooses to blatantly ignore them as to not get in trouble. (which, if i remember correctly, was changed in some performances to have him seem bothered by them signing and making it known he doesn’t agree with them rebelling against the teacher, which still fits to his character.)

i think both of these interpretations are very true to hanschen. he’s still a kid, but he doesn’t want to test his luck with authority. he wants to please them and he doesn’t want to get in trouble. despite all that, he’s 14 and he still gets nervous and scared and both their interpretations show that. at the core of hanschens character, he was never meant to seem truly cocky or rude. his demeanor on the outside is practically just a survival instinct, as he knows he’s queer and he’s matured and knows how the world and reality can be. some additional context for this argument in the musical lies in the vineyard scene, where not only is he more softer and comfortable around ernst, he says these particular lines: “Trust me, there are only three ways a man can go. He can let the status quo defeat him - like Moritz. He can rock the boat like Melchior and be expelled. Or, he can bide his time, and let the system work for him - like me.”

the overall analysis of these lines is saying that you can either let your present situations suffocate you, stir things up and try and combat them to change things, or you can wait things out and work with what you have, like hanschen does. this tells us that yes, he is giving into pleasing authority despite not agreeing with them so things work out for him and he leads a steady life. this doesn’t make him cocky or stuck-up, he’s just more matured and knows what’s best for him at that time.

another misconception of hanschen’s character is calling him manipulative and creepy towards ernst. i’ve always thought that, in both the play and musical, their relationship has always been transparent with no hidden, creepy undertones. my personal favorite version of hanschen and ernst’s relationship is in deaf west spring awakening. andy mientus here plays hanschen very confidently, but he’s also afraid of getting his feelings hurt. he’s too afraid to get too emotionally invested to protect his feelings. in deaf west’s vineyard scene, when hanschen kisses ernst at first and then says: “When we look back, thirty years from now, tonight will seem unbelievably beautiful”, he moves to leave. he’s scared and doesn’t think ernst will reciprocate his feelings. then, when ernst grabs him and says, “In the meantime?”, hanschen takes that as a green light to kiss him again. that possibly, those feelings were reciprocated. after that second kiss ernst says: “On my way here this afternoon I’d thought perhaps we’d only talk”, and hanschen took it as a rejection. that he felt ernst was suddenly regretting what had happened. hanschen then says “So are you sorry we-?”, making this more obvious. he turned and started pulling away to leave. ernst then grabs hanschen saying that he loves him, which hanschen obviously softens up to him and realizes that his feelings are reciprocated. so, he was going to run away due to, what he thought was, a rejection.

hanschen, even if he did come off very confident, just had a wall he had put up to seem basically, nonchalant. he told us, and ernst, that he wants to lead a steady life and he will adapt to the world around him in order to do that. at the end of the day, regardless of this, he’s still a 14 year old boy with a messed up childhood that led to him maturing far faster than his peers. he was scared, nervous, and afraid of his feelings and getting hurt in any way.

those are the reason why he’s always been my favorite character, not just in spring awakening, but generally. he’s a blatant reminder that these kids are just about 14 and that, both back then and now, we all have had different ways of growing up and going about our insecurities. he’s a complex character and largely misunderstood, but at the end of the day his character is a representation of being emotionally mature at a young age due to trauma. he is another reminder of the overall story of spring awakening it’s message: what happens to kids when authoritarian figures around them are negligent.

#i could go on and on about hanschen #i tried really hard to articulate my feelings about him properly #if anyone has anything else to add please do…#i love all hanschens tbh but andy and jamie blackley are my favs #also devon stone. underrated #spring awakening #hanschen rilow #ernst robel #hernst #vineyard scene

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respectthepetty · 7 months

Note

Hii, i have been occupied and wanted to come back to watch BLS, my last one was naughty babe. So what's are your current obsession!?

Anon, you have missed a lot in the last six months! BL Land has had several shows in that time, and, of course, I've consumed most of them. My capability to become obsessed with a show is unparalleled, and as I mentioned in my last obsession list, I can be obsessed about several things simultaneously. Since you've been out for a minute, let me recap some of the shows I sent a Valentine's Day card too.

Note: These are NOT recommendations.

Shows I liked for color reasons but wasn't obsessed:

Twins

Pit Babe

Middleman's Love

My Dear Gangsta Oppa

Bake Me Please (* I AM obsessed with the lead actor, Guide)

Shows I liked for the colors AND the plot but wasn't always obsessed with:

The Sign

Perfect Propose

I Cannot Reach You

7 Days Before Valentine

I Became a Lead in a BL Drama

Shows I should've been obsessed with if I was normal:

Cooking Crush

Love for Love's Sake

Cherry Magic (Thailand)

So now that we recapped some of the shows I was mildly normal about, it's time for me to reveal the shows I'm currently so obsessed with that I cut off some of their hair while they slept and now I'm attaching it to a cloth doll in hopes of binding us together.

For. Ev. Ah.

Dead Friend Forever (forever, forever, ever, forever, ever?)

Obsession Level - Buying us matching BFF necklaces with vials of our blood attached to them after my therapist tells me my relationship with it is unhealthy, and I need to take a step back from it.

It just ended, and it isn't a BL, but I have no words. If I tried to explain why I'm so obsessed with this show, people would be really worried about my sanity. I can't stop thinking about it. I don't want to stop thinking about it. I hate all the characters. I love all the characters. I want them all dead. I want to raise them from the dead and make them do it all again. I want to heal them. I want to make them worse. I want to be in that house with them.

Unknown

Obsession Level - Holding pictures of it close to my heart while I lay in bed even though it is laying right next to me in the same bed because I need it to fully grasp just how crazy about it I am and have been.

It's Taiwanese. It's color coded. It's about "brothers." And if you looked at my previous obsessed list, you know those three items are a clear path to Obsession City for me (Looking at you, Kiseki: Dear to Me).

Anti Reset

Obsession Level - Baking all its favorite sweet treats and sitting them on its porch early in the morning then running away even though I know the security camera is filming me each time (which is why I wear cute outfits when I do it).

It's Taiwanese. It's color coded. It's about a robot. It doesn't hit all the points on my obsession scale, but it's part of Vidol/VBL's universe, so it has my attention and a little bit of my heart.

Lady Boy Friends

OB. SESSED! Level - Knowing it's expired and toxic, but I can't stop eating it because if ending up in the hospital is the price I have to pay and possible death, then I guess that's the sacrifice I gotta make.

It's a remake of a 2015 series, it dropped with no promo, and only one episode has aired, yet this show is hellbent on being a whole ass problem, so of course my trashy ass loves it. There is transphobia, homophobia, sexual harassment, colorism, elitism, and every other -ism that it could pile in because the entire show is begging to be everyone's trigger warning. There is a love story in there somewhere, but I don't give two shits about it when the skinny femmes and the fat femmes are fighting, and the one pictured above is about to enter her villain origin story. The subtitler is doing the Lord's work, and I feel truly blessed with this hot ass mess.

But please remember, one person's trash taste is not another person's treasure, so THESE ARE NOT RECOMMENDATIONS!

#my current obsessions #dead friend forever and ever and ever ever #unknown #anti reset #lady boy friends #NOT RECOMMENDATIONS #I'm trash and I know it

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penny00dreadful · 10 months

Text

Part 1 Part 3 AO3

1st July 2015

Big brown eyes and soft plush lips were still plaguing his mind and it had been months.

He’d met Eddie once, exactly once, shoving him into an alleyway and he hadn’t seen him since.

Why the fuck was he still thinking about him?

Steve didn’t go out looking for him, he didn’t.

He may have taken some lower end work dealing with some small-time drug ‘lords’ who owned a particular apartment building or a stretch of street and maybe he was hoping he’d come across Eddie during one of these missions, sweep him away and get him out of whatever mess he was in.

Couldn’t be that hard, right?

But Eddie seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth.

Granted he’d never seen the guy around before so it wasn’t exactly unusual that he hadn’t seen him since.

Maybe it had been just a ‘two ships passing in the night’ thing.

Maybe they’d find each other again when they were ninety and just about to drop dead from old age.

And maybe it was just supremely creepy that Steve couldn’t stop thinking of one guy he’d met one time, going so far as to try and seek him out, hoping they’d see each other again just so he could pull him into the super dangerous world of spycraft and probably get him killed along the way.

What on earth was going on in his head?

“Dingus? Earth to dingus?”

Ah.

That’s what was going on in his head.

“Yes, Birdie?” Steve flipped the cold compress over, pressing it back down to his eye and sinking deeper into his couch, sighing into the empty apartment.

“Just checking you’re alive is all.”

“Well my vitals are right there in front of your screen so that should answer your question. It’s just a black eye, not a concussion. I’m not going to die from a black eye.”

“If anyone would, it would be you.”

“I’ve survived much worse than a black eye-”

“Yeah, I know-”

“I’ve been tortured, Birdie.” Steve squeaked, trying to sound as pathetically upset as possible.

“I know. I was there. In your head the whole time.”

“Well now you’re just making me sound crazy.”

“And back then, like today, your fucking mic was on and you wouldn’t stop snarking-”

Steve dropped his mouth open in outrage. “I wasn’t snarking, I was quipping-”

“They were some pretty weak fucking quips, babe.”

“Okay, well why don’t you try being smart while you’re facing down three goons with sharp objects. I doubt you’d be able to come up with something good that quick.”

“Is that really what you want Steven? You really want me out there? In the field? With a gun?”

Oh god, wouldn’t that just be a sight to behold. Robin was as smooth as a newborn giraffe, she’d be more of a danger to herself than any target she was given.

And Steve would sooner die than see her in danger like that.

“You’re right. You’d probably shoot your own nose off by accident.”

“Yeah.” He could hear Robin’s pout. “I like my nose.”

“I like your nose too.”

She laughed. “You’re such a weirdo.”

“Your weirdo.” He nodded.

“Yeah, my weirdo.” He heard her take a breath before asking, “Do you think you’ll be in tomorrow? Hopper wants a meeting.”

“Hooray.” Steve said with a sarcastic smile, even though no one could see him. “What does he want?”

“Gee, I don’t know Steven.” Robin answered back with the most peppy curiosity that made Steve roll his eyes. “It’s so strange that Hopper would call a meeting with you to discuss something in particular and not tell me what it was. Because then I could pass the information on to you and we could discuss it, therefore negating the meeting altogether-”

“Alright, alright, alright. I get it, Birdie. I’ll be in. Honestly I’ve been itching for something a little more hardcore lately. A little like the old days. I’m sick of fucking drug dealers and small time loan sharks. I want something a little more exciting.”

And Eddie was in the wind.

But he didn’t say that. He’d been keeping his… minor obsession to himself, reasoning he’d bring it up whenever he found him again and brought him into the fold.

But that hadn’t happened so, no Eddie-talk.

Robin didn’t even know his name.

“Be careful what you wish for babe. ‘A little more exciting’ could get you killed.”

2nd July 2015

Those words were playing on repeat in Steve’s head the next morning as he stepped into Hopper’s office.

“Have a seat, kid.” The head of The Agency was chewing on a cigar, like he almost always was.

When Steve had started with The Agency at eighteen years of age and fresh out of high school, Hopper’s casual (albeit gruff) warmth had unnerved him.

He’d spent the first couple of years high strung and tense, waiting for the other shoe to drop and for Hopper to finally snap after luring Steve into a false sense of security.

And Hopper had snapped, but not in the way his parents would have. He’d complain and shout and grumble but there was never a threat behind it, never any danger. And over the last nine years working with him, Steve had come to learn that not every older man in authority was his father.

Hopper always kept a dish of butterscotch candies on his desk and Steve reached for one when he sat down.

The younger agents, Dustin, Lucas, Will, Mike, Max and even Robin all made fun of him for it. They called them grandma’s candies but Steve didn’t care.

He liked them and if that made him a grandma then he’d be a grandma.

Hopper watched him through the cigar smoke, elbows on his expensive walnut desk.

“You’re my top agent, Steve.”

“Yup.”

There was no use denying it. He was. He had the highest successful completion rate, his hand to hand was unparalleled and choosing Robin as his guy in the chair had been a stroke of pure fucking genius.

No amount of training with someone else would be able to replicate what they had together.

“You remember when I sent you to infiltrate Brenner’s syndicate?”

Steve scrunched up his nose. “How could I forget?”

It had been his highest profile mission.

He’d nearly died.

Tortured and then chewed up by Brenner’s hungry dogs when escaping from the compound after he had sent the kids ahead to escape with El.

It had been the kids first mission together since Steve had recruited them all.

Dustin, Lucas, Will and Mike had all come from the same town and had initially been put under Steve’s protection when they had seen something they weren’t supposed to see, leading to a bounty on their heads from Walsh and Dante.

They had eventually pestered Steve into sponsoring them for positions at The Agency.

Max had come along later, spying on her brother's gang for them before she was safely extracted. Steve had never met her brother but he had been the one to bring Max in, sponsoring her as well.

El was their newest. Not an agent and it probably would be a long time before she was mentally ready for that, but the kids clicked with her anyway.

The kids had managed to smuggle her out after she had appeared to have been killed and she was still in hiding, presumed dead.

Steve had been ushering them out when the dogs descended, running in the opposite direction to the kids in order to lead the rabid animals away.

Once he’d had a solid pound of flesh taken from him (probably) and had escaped the attack, he’d then been forced to walk for miles through dense woodland before he could contact The Agency for extraction.

He had some pretty gnarly scars to prove it.

But the memory of personally putting a bullet through Brenner’s head a year later was just as satisfying as the rest was nauseating.

Hopper nodded. “Well, I have something similar that needs taking care of. And I need the best.”

“More human trafficking?”

“Not exactly.” Hopper leaned back in his chair, the leather fabric creaking as he moved and laced his hands over his belly. “You’ve heard of Henry Creels’s… operation?”

Steve swallowed.

Fuck.

Be careful what you wish for babe. ‘A little more exciting’ could get you killed.

Robin was never going to let him live this down.

Steve ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah. Global crime organisation. Practically owns the black market trade of fine and historical art and artefacts in Europe. He has a chokehold over the police forces in multiple countries, unknown how many or how far. Has an extensive underground trade in black market alcohol, drugs, firearms, blood diamonds and trades information to various governments globally. Not to mention some of the most dangerous people in the world work for him.”

That fucking made up boogeyman assassin, whatever his stupid codename was.

“That’s the one. We’re sending you in. Solo. Just observation to start.” Hopper held his hand up as Steve started to speak.

Steve hated observation.

He hated being camped out in dark corners or on rooftops or wherever else he could hide away. He much preferred to be in the action.

“We can’t afford to do anything by halves here, this could be the biggest job in the history of The Agency. Observation then infiltration. Do you understand me?”

Steve scowled, not even bothering to try and hide his irritation from his boss.

He would be able to see it anyway and besides, they knew each other too well for that.

Hopper knew he could do this. If there was another agent out there that could do what Steve did, they’d probably be sent on observation and Steve could just deal with the infiltration, but as it was, this was the biggest job anyone had ever been assigned to go on solo so he understood.

“Yes sir.”

Hopper nodded. "Good."

Steve got up to leave and just as he was nearly out the door, Hopper called after him, "And don't make me remind you and Buckley again to stop using the communicators when you don't need to. I will send another office wide memo if I have to."

5th July 2015

Steve regretted agreeing to this fucking mission almost as soon as he got to the warehouse.

Observation meant he was starting from the bottom rungs of the organisation and working his way up, which meant that today he was stuck overseeing fucking weed production like some god damned newbie cop.

What was even worse was that there were very few places to observe the activities inside, so he was stuck on the fucking roof, thirty feet up, freezing his fucking balls off, hoping something fucking interesting happened soon.

And again, the memory of Robin’s words pinged in his head.

Be careful what you wish for, babe.

Because unfortunately, something fucking interesting was exactly what happened.

The door of the warehouse below creaked open and a figure stepped through.

A figure, even from a distance, Steve recognised through the windows he was huddled next to on the roof.

Steve had hoped to see him again, but not here.

Not like this.

Eddie stumbled into the warehouse, bouncing down the aisles of growing cannabis plants, weaving in between other workers, nodding his head along to whatever was playing on his headphones and apparently oblivious to the energy in the room as he took his place picking and drying.

The second he had appeared, Steve could feel the atmosphere shift from all the way up on the roof.

Everyone had become almost unbearably tense, locking up at the sight of him, hunching their shoulders as he approached and doing everything in their power not to look at him.

Like these big hulking, bald and tattooed men were worried that if they were caught looking at him, they’d be killed.

What the fuck was going on?

What could make them so worried to be even caught associating with him?

Had he done something?

What the fuck could he possibly have done?

The guy was a fucking teddy bear.

Apparently Steve was getting answers tonight because the second he had the thought, a stern voice boomed from a prefab office at the top of a flight of stairs, positioned to look over the workers like some kind of overseer's office.

“Edward!”

Everyone there flinched at the sound, except for Eddie who still had his fucking headphones on.

He continued to work, nodding his head and probably humming too and Jesus Christ, pay attention!

Steve was about two seconds away from throwing something at the back of his head to get the idiot to look up.

Luckily Eddie seemed to have caught on, glancing up and then around at everyone else when he noticed how tense it was.

He pulled his headphones down then slowly turned towards the office, tension and apprehension visible through his shoulders.

The voice had come from a large, imposing man in a clean cut navy suit with a shock of stark white buzzed hair and a frown on his face.

Steve could tell just from the way the guy held himself that the man had past military experience, he was in good shape and he knew how to handle himself in a fight.

Probably kept a gun on him too.

“Shit.” Steve muttered to himself as Eddie nervously wiped his hands off on his top and began to slowly weave his way through the aisles and towards the office, as though a leisurely pace could delay whatever was about to come. “Shitshitshitshit.”

Eddie could run.

Why hadn’t he run?

The overseer had already retreated back into his office and Steve couldn’t see any guards standing around, keeping an eye on the exits.

Would one of the other workers tackle him to the ground if he did run?

Probably not considering they were still desperately avoiding his eyes. All these guys who probably enjoyed toxic masculinity as a side hobby were purposefully not looking at a long haired and skinny metalhead like if they did, some kind of monster would slink out of the walls and attack them.

So no, no one there would try to stop him if he did run.

Maybe Eddie was scared of what might happen to him after, if he did run?

What did they have on him to make him so scared? So compliant?

For the tiny amount of time that Steve had spoken to Eddie, he got the distinct impression that Eddie wouldn’t bend for anyone.

So what could they possibly be holding over his head?

God damn it.

It was against protocol. It was inadvisable. It was plain fucking stupid to get involved but Steve couldn’t just hang back and watch, could he?

Like yeah, even if Steve didn’t think Eddie was stupid hot, he’d never been good at sitting back and letting things happen when he could do something about it.

So he wasn’t going to just hang around while Eddie got shot, or got his fingers broken or a tooth ripped out or something else as equally fucked up.

What the hell had he even done to warrant that kind of tension?

Not moving enough product? Stealing some product? Sleeping with the overseer’s daughter or his son or something else equally as stupid?

Christ.

If this went downhill there would be so much paperwork involved.

He mirrored Eddie’s position from the roof, walking with him across the warehouse space, stepping over weak bits of corroded metal roof slabs and around various bits of debris until he was directly above the office, crouched down by an open skylight window with a birds eye view into the sparsely decorated room.

The carpet below was some mottled mix of worn down pink or stained black depending on where Steve looked, it had to have been red at some point before.

There was a large desk facing the door, faux oak veneer with a cheap computer setup, casting a glow onto the standard office chair.

No trinkets, no personalisation.

Eddie closed the door behind him with wide worried eyes, twisting his rings around his fingers.

The boss, for as stern and imposing as he was, he looked unusually hesitant.

His shoulders were as tense as a bow string and Steve could see a light sheen of sweat along his brow and the usual stress points.

The skylight Steve was crouched over was in the middle of the room, so Eddie and the boss were facing each other on either side of it.

Steve wouldn’t be able to make an entrance without dropping down in between their staring match.

Why didn’t he bring any of his kit with him?

Because it was only supposed to be fucking observation.

Then Eddie had to wander back into his life and now he’d probably have to choke this giant fucker out before anything went too far.

If only he had like… a fucking sleep dart on him or something. Maybe then he’d be able to drag Eddie up and away like Spider-Man, but with really good hair.

“You’re a real fuckin’ piece of work, you know that?” The boss snapped, clenching his fist.

Eddie didn’t really react beyond an eyebrow twitch, his hands dropping from his rings to cross his arms over his chest and a slight back and forth rocking motion on his heels.

The boss reached for something under his jacket, pausing for just a second before heaving in a shaky breath and pulling a gun out.

Eddie seemed to finally understand the gravity of the situation, taking a few steps back as the boss advanced, pointing the gun at him with a shaking hand.

This man had military experience, Steve was sure of it. So why was he so nervous holding a weapon he should know like the back of his own hand?

Eddie uncrossed his arms, bumping his back against the door he had come through just a moment before. “Woah, man-”

“Shut it.”

Fuck, okay.

Whatever about the weirdness, he had to move and he had to move now before Eddie got his pretty head blown wide open.

The boss had stepped forward directly underneath the open window which gave Steve the perfect opportunity.

Without thinking twice about it, he swung down from the window ledge, landing smoothly right behind the boss before latching his arm around his neck and pulling tight.

The boss dropped the gun in shock and Eddie surprisingly darted forward to catch it before it could hit the ground.

Steve was hanging on for dear life, the boss easily outweighing him but he’d taken down bigger targets than this. Literally and metaphorically. After all, this guy was only some small-time drug overseer, just one small cherry in one small slice that was the giant pie of Creel’s criminal enterprises.

Eddie had scrambled backwards, out of the way of all of the flailing limbs, crowding himself into a corner and slowly sliding down, staring wide eyed and disbelieving at Steve as he hit a particular nerve in the boss’s neck, causing his body to seize up before going limp. He dropped from Steve’s grip with a loud thud, crumpling to the floor.

Steve brushed himself off, straightening out his clothes before turning his eyes back to Eddie.

Eddie who was staring at him in complete disbelief. “What the fuck is happening right now?”

“Come on.” Steve stepped forward, holding a hand out for him to take but at second glance, looking at the way he was holding the gun he had grabbed, flat in his hand like it was going to fucking explode the second he looked at it wrong, Steve decided to reach for that instead.

Eddie watched him with all seeing, staring eyes as he picked the gun up.

Steve frowned.

It was very light.

Too light.

It wasn’t even loaded.

Why would the boss be threatening Eddie with an unloaded gun?

Did he not trust himself to not pull the trigger too soon?

Was it just a scare tactic?

“You’re-” Eddie stuttered with a slightly hysterical laugh. “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you sweetheart?”

“Didn’t I tell you to get out of the game, baby?” Steve gripped Eddie’s hand in his, pulling him to his feet, maybe a little closer than they needed to be.

Eddie squeezed once, giving a little sad shake of the head. “And didn’t I tell you it’s not that easy?”

“Not if I have any say in it.” Steve grumbled. “We don’t have much time. Someone will have definitely heard that, so we need to go. Now.”

Eddie glanced up towards the skylight and then back to Steve.

“You don’t expect me to climb through that,” he asked, pointing, “do you?”

“Would you rather stay here and face whatever’s coming?”

Eddie’s eyes flicked between the skylight, Steve, and the door just behind him before going back up to the skylight again.

“Fuck my life.” He sighed.

Steve was ready to pull, ready to drag and lift and carry Eddie away from this place if given half a chance.

But he wasn’t given half a chance.

The door behind him was kicked open with such force it bounced off the wall.

He didn’t even have a second to turn, barely had time to blink between the door being kicked open and something hard and heavy cracking him over the back of the head.

He could feel Eddie’s hand fall from his as he slumped to the floor, he could feel the communicator on his ear begin to fizzle before it popped, singing his flesh and his hair, but safely destroyed.

Self-destructing like it was designed to do, so no one could get their hands on the technology.

The unloaded gun that was in his hand thumped to the ground next to him.

The carpet below him was sticky.

It was probably getting in his hair.

All the colours around him were swirling.

Above, there was some kind of scuffle happening. Shouts of anger and indignation, frantic apologies and attempts to placate someone.

“What the fuck did you just do?!”

That sounded like Eddie’s voice.

But he didn’t sound scared.

He didn’t sound hysterical.

He sounded outraged.

Steve could still make out some figures through the shadows filling in the edges of his vision.