#my state government doesn’t see me as a person :)
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menaceadored · 2 months ago
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hard to enjoy fandom things when you are female, a lesbian, trans, and living in the southern US
i fear i have doomscrolled too far from the sun and now my feed is filled with only the bleakest of subjects
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tryingonametaphor · 6 months ago
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Why Will Byers?
An analysis and theory on why Henry/Vecna targeted Will first in season 1 and his plans for Will in season 5
‼️Contains The First Shadow (TFS) spoilers so please proceed with caution.‼️
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This is going to be a little long but I’ve tried to give as much context as I can without actually being able to show snippets from the stage play. This is my interpretation of everything that went down as a member of the audience and not as someone who has read up any theories about TFS before. To understand why Henry took Will first in 1983, we have to start with -
Henry and Joyce
From all the times I’ve watched TFS, the one thing that has stuck with me is the final conversation Henry has with Joyce. It’s just before his last confrontation with Patty Newby and before he joins Brenner for good. Joyce is the last person (who doesn’t know about Henry’s powers) that he canonically talks to.
Throughout the entire play Joyce, Hopper, and Bob are investigating the animals dying at the hands of Henry and come to the conclusion that Victor Creel has been the one doing the killing. They get so close to solving the case. In her last conversation with Henry, Joyce tries to comfort him by saying that Victor will pay for his crimes - which makes Henry laugh because she’s so close yet so far from the truth. He gets a little frustrated and says something along the lines of “You don’t get it. But someday you will.” (edit 28/9: the exact dialogue is [Henry: you’re too nice. that is how they’ll get you. you have to learn to do anything you can to protect the ones you love] [Joyce: I don’t understand.] [Henry: You will.]) The next time we see Henry make a reappearance in Joyce’s life is during -
The Vanishing of Will Byers
Will is taken into the Upside Down (UD) by Henry. It’s not even a question anymore. All of the context clues from 1x1 lead us to believe that Will’s kidnapping was not by a demogorgon. Will - a 12 year old - miraculously survives a week in the upside down with no food or water. Will is even around the demogorgon a few times in the Upside Down. (Joyce communicating with Will through the lights and then the demogorgon coming after her immediately).
Barb dies the night she is taken but Will stays alive and also somehow manages to talk to Joyce through the wall. Joyce is led exactly to where Will was held at the end of s1 and he makes it out alive. It’s almost as if Henry knew all along that Joyce was the most capable of never giving up on finding her son. Like Henry took Will Byers because he was Joyce’s son. And like he was giving her just enough to know that Will was alive. Even when Joyce and Hopper find him at the end in a state of near death, he’s not injured by a creature. He was being prepared for the next stage of Vecna’s plan -
The Possession of Will Byers
The origins of Henry’s powers happen as such - As a kid, he is transported into the UD (originally coined Dimension X by the government) for a few hours because he touched something he wasn’t meant to touch. During his time in there, he came in contact with the Mind Flayer (MF). According to TFS this is the point in his life when he started getting “corrupted”. Brenner’s dad - who was one of the first people to enter dimension X - had mutated blood after but no powers. Henry was the first person to come in contact with the MF and it’s highly likely he got his powers because of this (This would also track considering how most of the party has been in the UD now but show no signs of having powers). The MF controls Henry for the rest of TFS and Henry grows more power hungry the more he kills.
In S2, Henry presumably sends the MF after Will - who has now had a year to heal from the events of 1983. Will is the only other person in all of ST to have had direct contact with the MF and survived it. Henry didn’t hesitate to kill Billy in S3, but he always gives everyone just enough to keep Will safe. Will himself tells Owens in S2 that the MF wants to kill everyone except him. Will once again survives the entire ordeal and is given a “break” for the next 2 seasons. Except I don’t believe he’s been just given a break. I think Will is -
Henry’s Sleeper Agent.
Ready to awaken in s5. I undoubtedly think that Will is going to have powers. And I don’t think they’re going to be the same as Henry and El. El and the other lab kids get their powers directly from Henry. Will’s powers will be directly from the MF like Henry. I believe this has been Henry’s plan all along and it’s further affirmed by what he tells Will in the recent VR game. That Will will be the key to Henry being able to infiltrate his friends’ minds. Jamie Campbell-Bower also mentioned during the S4 press that to get in character, he set up a display with all of Henry’s victims and targets’ faces on his wall(?), and Will was in the center.
Henry is going to use his connection with Will sneakily and midway through S5 he’s going to awaken Will’s powers (maybe in ep4 - which is said to be titled ‘Sorcerer’ and has young Will in it). Henry is going to try and manipulate his way into making an ally out of Will, and it’s not going to work because -
Will is the Perfect Character Foil.
Will is everything Henry could have been if he had a better support system. He is the perfect character foil. Unlike Henry, Will has a mother who loves him unconditionally and more importantly, believes him. Unlike Henry, the person who Will loves the most (the Patty to Will’s Henry: Mike) is going to love him back and stay by his side all season. No one is going to force them to be apart the way Henry was told to stay away from Patty. Will is not going to be easily swayed even though Henry has spent years crafting him into the perfect soldier. Sure, Henry has seen him heartbroken and sad, but that comes nowhere near to the amount of love and support Will is going to get from his people next season. And they’re going to quite literally defeat Vecna with the power of love and friendship. After that, Will Byers is getting the happy ending that Henry could have gotten.
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wonderjanga · 26 days ago
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Yo, Wanna Hang Out?
Billy asking people if they want to hang out at the strangest places. They hang out with him anyways regardless of the places are strange.
Marvel: *in the kitchens packing up a fishing kit looking like someone’s dad getting ready to fish*
Aquaman: *nearby, making a sandwich* “You know, I’ve never seen you wear a bucket hat let alone civilian clothes before.”
Marvel: “What do you mean? It’s a fisherman’s hat. And I’m wearing it because I’m gonna go fishing.”
Aquaman: “Still a bucket hat…”
Martian Manhunter(MM): *also nearby, rummaging through the freezer looking for ice cream* “Fishing? Where?”
Aquaman: “Are you gonna go to a big lake or something?”
Marvel: “Yeah! I’m going to the frozen over one on Mars.”
MM: *looks over, now distracted from his quest of finding ice cream* “What-”
Marvel: “The fish there are so cool looking! I was gonna catch a few and then throw them back into the water, you know?”
MM: “No… No I don’t know.” *shakes head slowly*
Aquaman: “Wait, Mars has lakes?”
Marvel: “Yeah! In the south pole. It’s under some ice. Do you wanna come?”
Aquaman: “Well, I mean sure? I’m down to fish with you, but I don’t wanna do that if I have to wear a space suit.”
Marvel: “I don’t think you have to. I remember seeing Supes wearing this thing over his mouth and nose, and it allowed him to breathe in space.”
Aquaman: “Oh cool!”
Marvel: “Yeah, but apparently it’s super cold down there.”
MM: “It is. In human degrees it’s negative 153 degrees Celsius.”
Aquaman: “What’s that in American-”
Marvel: “So yeah! You might have to bundle up or maybe I could cast the heating spell on you? Just know it’ll be really really cold. By the way, J’onn, are you coming too?”
MM: *shrugs* “If you’ll have me.”
They ended up actually getting attacked by this giant, Martian, vaguely octopus-resembling creature. It was an epic battle of which they brought some of it back to the Watchtower and ate a bunch of octopus dishes together.
or
Marvel: *packing some stuff in a little bag and whistling a little tune while dressed like a gardener*
Hawkgirl: “Captain? Are you going somewhere?”
Marvel: “Oh, I’m going to Thanagar cause I wanna pick up this species of plant that only grows there. Wanna come?”
Hawkgirl: “I sort of can’t, considering the fact the entire planet thinks I’m a war criminal for betraying them.”
Marvel: “Wear a disguise. Want me to conjure a fake mustache on you?”
Hawkgirl: *snorts* “No.”
Marvel: “You sure? It doesn’t have to be a fake mustache. We can just change some things about you, like your hair color.”
Hawkgirl: “Hmm…” *rubs her chin, thinking* “Can Carter come along?”
Marvel: “Of course!”
They got caught and ended up going on this wacky adventure of evading the authorities. They even got arrested. Multiple times. They also broke out. Multiple times. It was fun for everyone involved besides the Thanagarian Law Enforcement.
or
Marvel: *humming a tune as he stands inside of a heavily restricted building that only allows people of the highest military clearance access to*
Captain Atom: *is also here because one of his superiors told him to report here and sees Marvel* “Captain Marvel Sir? What are you-” *looks around* “What are you doing here?”
Marvel: “Hey, Atom!” *little wave* “What do you mean?”
Captain Atom: “This is a military building with restricted access. I know you have Captain in your name, but I didn’t actually think you were in any of the branches. Let alone high enough in whatever branch to have access to this place.”
Marvel: “Oh no, I’m not military. I’m just here to renew my contract. I just finished.”
Captain Atom: “Contract?”
Marvel: “See a long time ago, a.k.a. the 1950s, heroes would do contractual jobs for the United States Government. Me and the Squadron of Justice used to do a lot of them.”
Captain Atom: “So that means I’ll be seeing you around here more often?”
Marvel: “Yep! Me and the other Fawcett heroes.”
Super Duper High Level Person In the Government(SDHLPITG): *walks over while holding a clipboard* “Oh, it seems you both are already acquainted.”
Captain Atom: “Ah, yes. We’re both on the Justice League ma’am.”
SDHLPITG: “So that means you’ll be good teammates. Wonderful.” *hands a clipboard to Captain Atom* “The head honcho wants you guys to investigate a portal in Antartica.” *looks to Marvel* “Your first job back with us.” *nods to him before leaving*
Captain Atom: *starts looking through it*
Marvel: *looks over his shoulder to see it* “Isn’t that the portal that leads to the Winter Fairy realm?”
Captain Atom: “What?”
Marvel: “Oh my gosh it is! That place is super cool! Their ice cream is amazing. You should try some.” *nudges him with his elbow*
Captain Atom: “Oh- uh- Okay?” *confused if that means they’ll be interacting with the mentioned fairies*
That’s how Atom and Marvel ended up eating fairy ice cream while surrounded by a bunch of fairies who were all super happy to see the Champion of Magic. They were both made into honorary fairies.
Captain Atom: *staring at the bowl of fairy liquid the Winter Fairies gave them* “Marvel… I don’t know if it’s a good idea to drink a foreign substance that looks like an oil spill.”
Marvel: “Oh trust me, it’s not dangerous or anything. It’ll just give you wings!”
Captain Atom: “What-”
Marvel: *downs his bowl*
After that, all the Winter fairies shied away from them as their wings were too hot for them. After all, Marvel’s was comprised of lightning which is hot, and Atom’s was comprised of the same matter as his energy blasts which were also extremely hot.
Marvel: *leans over to whisper* “Don’t worry. I can magic them away when we leave this place.”
Captain Atom: *lets out a little sigh of relief as he resumes eating his remaining ice cream*
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gingiesworld · 4 months ago
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Ghost
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Wanda Maximoff x GN! Reader
Warnings: Angst, Fluff
18+ MINORS DNI
Word Count: 5.3k+
AN: Hey guys, this fic is going to be a small series.
Taglist : @mothertoall2 @natashamaximoff-69 @canvascoloredin @wizardofstories @louxbloom @wandanats-goodgirl @the-ox-fan20 @ladyqueenxoxo @aemilia19 @wandaromamoff69 @mfd-101 @dorabledewdroop @marvelogic @dopeyouth @karsonromanoff @bimad @reginassweetheart @machyishere @gemz5 @pawiie @duckiekong (If you want to be added to my taglist, please DM me or comment)
Ghost was always that one assassin that would always just elude the Avengers, everytime they would think they had Ghost within their grasp, Ghost would just disappear, leaving behind a string of bloody corpses, but no traces that would help the Avengers figure who they were up against.
“This is the fourth one in two weeks.” Nat observed as she knelt over the bloody corpse of a Senator. “And they all work for the government in some way.” Steve walked around the room, his eyes searching for anything that could aid in capturing the assassin.
“They’re good.” Clint stated as he looked at Nat. “They’re better than you ever were, Romanoff.”
“I don’t care if they’re good at covering their tracks.” Steve told them firmly. “This is the fourth government official in a fortnight, and we don’t even know why they are targeting these people.”
“Do we know if they are all connected in some way?” Nat questioned as she rose to her feet.
“Tony is doing a thorough background search on each of them, delving into every aspect of their lives that they didn’t want anyone to know.” Steve told her. “There isn’t anything different in the killings, they were all murdered in the exact same way.”
“Maybe we could see if we can find some sort of calling card, you know like most serial killers leave behind.” Clint questioned as Nat shook her head no.
“They have never left a single thing behind, no fingerprints, footprints or any form of DNA that would help us even find them.” She told him, her hands resting on her hips as she looked around the room carefully. “That is why they are known as Ghost, they kill quietly but leave nothing behind but a message.”
“But what is the message?” Steve pondered as he looked at the only entrance to the room. “There is no sign of forced entry, so either they picked the lock or the people knew who they were.”
“Cameras?” Clint questioned as Nat shook her head no.
“All of them are disabled so we have no footage of them entering or leaving the building.” She told him.
“Then how are we supposed to find this person if there are no breadcrumbs to follow?” Clint questioned.
“I don’t know, but we have to head back, Fury will be waiting for a briefing on this.” Steve told them both, leading them out of the building. The journey back to the compound was silent, all three of them racking their brains for anything they may have missed, or anyone who could be behind these assassinations. “I’ll go and brief Fury, Nat can you see where Tony is on his background checks?” Nat nodded before she headed down towards the lab, finding Tony sipping coffee as ACDC blasted through the room as he looked at the screen before him.
“Have you found any connections?” She asked him as she stood behind him.
“So far?” He questioned as she nodded. “Not much, some of them have had some DUI’s, our very own Senator Green even has a restraining order up against him.”
“Who ordered the restraining order?” Nat questioned as she combed through the information laid out on the screen.
“His ex wife.” He answered her. “But she doesn’t exactly have the funds to pay for a hit out on him, let alone she has no motive against the others.”
“So we are still at nothing.” Nat groaned as Tony grinned.
“Not exactly, with the other three, they found a piece of paper with some sort of quote.” He told her, getting the picture of the calling card up. “Snakes hide in grass, people behind their lies.”
“What does that even mean?” She questioned as Tony shrugged.
“I don’t know exactly, but it's the same quote each time.” He told her. “It’s kind of like whoever this Ghost is, they are trying to send a message, but I haven’t quite figured that out just yet.”
“Was there any prints or anything on the card?” She asked him, sighing when he shook his head no.
“There’s nothing, the card is clean, there isn’t even a way for me to track the manufacturer either.” He told her.
“Okay, just keep looking for anything else.” She told him before she headed towards the door.
“It’s not like I have anything better to do.” He spoke sarcastically as he continued to comb through the information he had. Nat soon made her way into the kitchen, finding both Wanda and Yelena arguing over food.
“Natasha, tell her that macaroni and cheese is better than paprikash.” Yelena bombarded her as soon as she saw her older sister.
“Mac and Cheese isn’t exactly the healthiest option.” Wanda told her.
“No, but it’s the tastier option.” Yelena told her.
“How would you know, you smother it in hot sauce every time. You can’t even smell the cheese or anything else.” Wanda told her as she continued to prepare dinner for the team.
“You two are children.” Nat chuckled as she grabbed herself a bottle of water.
“Is there any news on this Ghost?” Yelena asked as she reached into the cupboard for a box of mac and cheese.
“Nothing, other than some quote they keep leaving behind.” She told them both. “Snakes hide in grass, people behind their lies.”
“Snakes hide in grass, people behind their lies.” A voice sounded beside Wanda, making her jump slightly as she watched her brother get tested.
“Am I supposed to know what that means?” She questioned as they just smirked at her.
“Not everything is as it seems here.” They told her before walking away.
“Are you okay, Wanda?” Nat questioned, a look of concern in her eyes as Wanda dropped the pot, its contents spilling out onto the floor.
“Yeah.” She whispered as she moved to clean up her mess, their blue irises and voice surrounding her every thought. “It’s just I’ve heard someone say that to me before.”
“Who?” Nat questioned her, her full attention on Wanda.
“Y/N.” She told them. “They used to be an agent working for Hydra at the Sokovia facility, but this can’t be them, they died.”
“How do you know they died?” Yelena asked her, Wanda took in a shaky breath.
“They died in my arms.” Wanda told her. “I watched as they bled out, I watched as life left their eyes.”
“Who were they to you?” Nat questioned as Wanda wiped her eyes.
“They were a friend, they protected me.” She told them. “Being a female volunteer within Hydra, most of their agents being men with their own agendas and sick minds, they made sure I was never hurt by any of them.”
“Do you know their surname?” Nat questioned.
“Y/L/N.” Wanda answered her.
“Thank you Wanda.” Nat gave her a soft smile before she headed back towards Tony’s lab hastily. “Can you do a background search on Y/N Y/L/N?” She asked him.
“Of course, but why?” He questioned as he got to work, Nat had explained everything she had just learned from Wanda. “So do you think this Ghost could be this Hydra Agent?”
“I’m not sure, but something seems off about this whole thing.” Nat told him.
“Agent Y/N Y/L/N, they were Strucker’s right hand.” He read out, Nat’s eyes scanning their picture as she read over their details. “Deceased.”
“Does it say how they died?” She questioned as Tony continued his search.
“They were shot multiple times.” He told her. “They were an accessory, aiding the twins escape before we detained Strucker.”
“Wanda and Pietro volunteered thinking Hydra were helping Sokovia.” Nat mumbled as she paced the lab, muttering the phrase they had recently learned. “So, in a way they were even warning Wanda about Hydra in their own cryptic way. They knew exactly what Hydra’s agenda was, they knew the true intention of global domination.” She paused for a moment before turning to face Tony. “Do you think that this may be a warning?” She questioned.
“A warning for what?” He asked her.
“Hydra still exists, they’re trying to regain their power.” She stated as Tony shook his head no.
“We destroyed Hydra, we took down all of their remaining bases after Sokovia.” He told her. “It’s impossible.”
“Just think about it.” She urged him. “Hydra had their claws within SHIELD, Pierce, Rumlow and other double agents. We don’t exactly know if they have their claws deep within the American government.”
“So you think these victims are all Hydra?” He questioned with a light chuckle, soon stopping when he noticed Natasha’s serious expression. “They’re all Hydra.” He whispered, soon turning to his screen, typing away. “Those bastards.” He pulled up some old press photos of each of the victims, sighted with Pierce himself. “Every single one of the victims are there.”
“Do you think you can maybe identify any other possible targets?” She questioned. “Maybe if we can find a pattern, we may be able to narrow down the next target and intercept Ghost.”
“I’ll try.” He told her, starting a facial recognition search on the other people in the picture.
“Maybe put out a search for anyone who fits Y/N’s description.” She told him.
“But they’re dead.” He told her, rubbing his eyebrow.
“I am finding that hard to believe right now.” She told him honestly. “How many times have all of us here been on death's door, just look at the tech we also have in the medical field, it’s all high tech, making it a possibility that maybe someone who found Y/N’s body had saved them.” She soon left to find Steve, notifying him of the new information they have recently found. “Tony’s going to call us as soon as he finds out who the next target could be.”
“Then we will need to have the whole team ready for this.” Steve stated as the two walked towards the briefing room. “If we have a chance at catching this Ghost, we are going to need all of our strengths to even try and take them down.”
“Why do you always stay near me?” Wanda questioned as she sat in her cell.
“Believe it or not, I want to keep you safe.” They told her honestly. “I know what most of these agents are capable of, what they think of and I don’t want any of them to do something untoward under my watch.” They told her honestly.
“If you’re not like the others, why do you work here?” She questioned, her eyes searching theirs.
“Unfortunately, I was taken when I was younger.” They told her. “I used to have a family, back home in England, but I watched as they were all murdered before I was taken. I was trained by one of the most notorious Agencies in Europe. It’s known for training mostly young women into becoming assassins, but Hydra made a deal with the Red Room. They wanted the ultimate agent, able to do anything that was asked of them.”
“I’m sorry.” Wanda whispered sadly as Y/N shook their head with a small smile.
“It’s okay, I made my peace that my life wasn’t my own a long time ago.” They told her softly. “But, we can try and get you and your brother your lives back.”
“How?” She questioned as they pressed their finger to their lips, silencing her.
“In time, I will help you both.” They whispered. “I just need to devise a perfect plan to get you both out of here.” With that they left the cells, leaving Wanda alone and in darkness.
“So, do we have anything more?” Steve questioned as he entered Tony’s lab with Natasha.
“We do.” He told them both. “They seem to be going in alphabetic order.”
“So who is the next victim?” Nat asked as Tony pulled up a picture on the screen.
“Mr Howard Jameson.” Tony answered the two of them.
“Okay, we’re going to need to have a 24 hour detail around him.” Steve told them both.
“But what if this whole thing about Hydra is true?” Tony questioned. “We would be going against everything we stand for.”
“I know, but we need to catch this Ghost, get them to tell us everything they know.” Steve told them.
“What makes you think they would tell us everything?” Nat questioned as Steve smiled. “Wanda, you want her to reach into their mind.”
“It’s what we need, then maybe we can finish this whole thing with Hydra ourselves.” Steve told them both. “We need to get everyone briefed and out ready, we are going to catch this bastard.”
“Language!” Tony gasped, making Nat chuckle as Steve shook his head, a small smile on his face.
“Do you think we have a chance at catching them before they kill their next victim?” Yelena questioned as everyone made their way to their assigned locations.
“I’m not sure, with everything we have learned about them so far, they seem to be just as easy as catching mist.” Natasha told her, the two watching Jameson from their seats across from him in the hotel bar he was staying at. “But all we can do is try, but we have Wanda and with her powers it is a possibility that we can actually pull this off.”
“But are we sure we want to?” Yelena asked her, receiving a firm look from her sister. “If all of these guys are Hydra, why do we want to help protect them from someone who clearly knows everything about them.”
“Either way, how they are going about it is wrong.” Nat told her. “The way they are making them suffer before killing them is inhumane.”
“And we haven’t done much worse.” Yelena spoke sarcastically.
“You know exactly what I mean Lena.” Nat told her sternly. “There are proper channels to go through, you don’t just go around killing people, innocent or not.”
“That’s all we ever do.” Lena scoffed before observing her surroundings, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Steve asked Wanda quietly, who only nodded her head. “I know of the connection you had with this Y/N.”
“Y/N died.” Wanda told him firmly. “Whoever this person is, isn’t Y/N.” Steve only nodded and dropped the subject, turning his attention to their surroundings. “What exactly are we looking for?” Wanda questioned as she swirled the liquid in her glass.
“Anything out of the ordinary.” Steve answered.
“So, that could also be classed as ourselves.” She smirked as she sipped her drink. “But I don’t think they will be stupid enough to do anything out in the open where there are a lot of eyes on them.”
“We need to figure out what room Jameson is staying in.” Steve muttered as Nat nodded, rising from her seat and heading towards the hotel lobby. A flirtatious smile adorned her face as she approached the concierge.
“Can I help you?” They asked her, returning her smile.
“I need some information.” She told them. “Do you know what room Howard Jameson is staying in? My boss, he’s the head of Jameson’s security detail, has asked for me to check his room, as you know there have already been a string of Government assassinations and we fear that Jameson may be a target and he told me what room he was staying in, but I have already forgotten. So can you help me?”
“Of course.” They smiled as they typed away on their computer, looking at the hotel listings. “But I can assure you that we have a top of the range security system ourselves.”
“I know, it’s just precautions that we like to keep in-house.” She told them.
“Room 38.” They told her.
“Thank you.” She gave them a smile before she headed towards the elevator. “I’m heading up to check the room now.” She spoke through the comms.
“We’re on our way.” Steve told her. “Clint, Yelena, you two stay here and don’t let Jameson leave your sight.” Wanda followed Steve towards the stairs, heading up towards the room as fast as they could. “Natasha, do not enter that room until we are there.”
“Of course.” Nat answered as she stood down the hall from the room, waiting for the others to arrive. As soon as the stairwell door opened, she smirked as she saw Steve enter the hall. “You sure took your time, old man.” She teased before they all made their way down the hall.
“Wanda, if we see them, you’re going to need to use your powers to restrain them.” Steve told her in a hushed tone. “Just long enough for us to slap these power dampening restraints on them.”
“How do you know if they have powers?” Nat questioned as Steve looked at her.
“I don’t, I’m just taking extra precautions.” He told them, gesturing for Wanda to open the door, once the door opened, the room was covered in darkness, the only light was the faint light cast from the moon. Wanda shuddered as she felt a presence she hadn’t felt in so many years, using her powers, surrounding the Ghost and preventing them from moving. Leaving them frozen in their spot, Steve was fast to slap the cuffs on them. “Let’s take them to the compound.” He told them, leading them all outside and heading towards the fire exit.
Wanda watched as Y/N stood at the other end of the hall, their focus remained on Strucker as he gave them their orders. Wanda was always curious as to how Y/N had managed to get their role as Strucker’s right hand, knowing that they must be his most trusted confidant. She smiled slightly as they turned to face her, soon faltering as their face remained emotionless whilst in the presence of Strucker.
“What was that about?” Wanda questioned once Y/N had approached her, they looked over their shoulder before they answered.
“We are going to get you and Pietro out of here tonight.” They told her. “We have word that the Avengers are planning an attack.”
“Stark.” Wanda seethed as Y/N tried to keep her calm.
“We need to get you both out of here, before the attack happens.” They told her quietly. “I have a plan but I am going to need both of you to follow my every instruction.” Wanda nodded as they explained everything to her, using her powers to inform Pietro of their plan.
Ghost remained in cuffs as they paced the cell, aware of the cameras that were watching them. They remained in their mask as Fury entered the cells, accompanied by the others. They stopped their pacing when they noticed they had company, their eyes met Wanda’s, holding her gaze as Fury spoke.
“What the hell are they doing in lock up?!” He questioned them, looking between the team before his gaze went back to Ghost.
“They are a national threat.” Steve answered him. “They have already killed multiple government reps and who knows how many more.”
“I don’t care! They are on strict orders to take down anyone with any power of restoring Hydra to its former glory.” He told them angrily.
“You knew about this?” Nat questioned.
“Of course I do! They are working under my orders.” He told them.
“I don’t understand.” Steve spoke unsurely as Fury asked Tony to unlock the cell, allowing him inside.
“Uncuff them.” He ordered Steve, once they were uncuffed, they removed their mask, causing Wanda’s world to fall apart in one moment.
“Come on.” Y/N urged the twins, leading them through the base, taking out any agents who had crossed their path. “The old sewer access is right here.” They opened the door for the two of them, the sound of the alarm and gunfire filling their ears. They urged the two of them to go through the tunnel first before following behind them.
“This way!” An agent’s voice could be heard, their footsteps following the three of them closely. “They’re escaping!”
“Hurry up.” Y/N urged the two of them. “There should be a manhole not too far ahead.” They told them both. Once they had seen the ladders leading up, Pietro was the first to climb followed by Wanda, just as the agents were coming up behind them. Y/N had raised their gun, firing at the agents before following the twins.
“Y/N!” Wanda yelled as she looked behind her, seeing as Y/N struggled to keep running.
“Keep moving!” They yelled, gesturing for her to keep moving, Wanda ignored them and ran back towards them, putting her arm around them to help them run with her.
“You’re hurt.” She told them as they stumbled to the ground.
“I’ll be fine.” They told her, Wanda’s eyes found multiple bullet wounds as she tried to stop the bleeding. “You both need to keep moving.” They coughed as Wanda shook her head.
“I’m staying.” She told them as Pietro approached the two of them, she looked up at her twin, sadness in her eyes. “We need to get them help.”
“Wanda.” Y/N tried as they winced, trying to get her attention. “You both need to leave.”
“No.” Wanda shook her head.
“I’m sorry.” They coughed as Wanda gave them a sad smile as she shook her head.
“It’s okay, we’re going to get you help.” Wanda tried as Pietro knelt beside her, resting his hand on her shoulder.
“Wanda.” He tried as Wanda shook her head. “They're losing too much blood.”
“THEN HELP ME!” She yelled at him. “Please.” She cried as she looked at her brother. “I can’t lose anyone else, please.”
“It’s okay.” Y/N whispered, their breathing labored. “It will be okay.”
“I can’t.” Wanda shook her head as Y/N turned to Pietro.
“Keep her safe.” They told him.
“Always.” He answered before Y/N turned to Wanda.
“Thank you.” They whispered before they closed their eyes, their breathing soon coming to a halt as Wanda shook her head.
“No.” She whispered, tears streaming as she held them. “No, you can’t leave me.”
“Come on, we have to go Wanda.” Pietro told her, pulling her up to her feet and taking her in his arms.
“They’re supposed to be dead.” Steve spoke up, recognising Y/N from the picture Tony had pulled up.
“They were almost.” He told them. “How do you think you had the information and location of that Hydra base in Sokovia? Y/N here was my agent on the inside.”
“So all of that about your parents was a lie?” Wanda questioned, trying to hide the shakiness in her voice.
“No, that was all true.” They answered her. “I uh I deflected once I met you and your brother, I hated how they treated the both of you. I knew I needed help to protect you both.”
“Pietro died.” Wanda told them, watching as they looked at their hands as her tears started to fall. “I had lost the only two people I had ever loved, who had ever looked out for me and.” She took a deep breath before she stepped closer to them. “You died in my arms! You fucking died!” She yelled as she started to hit at their chest, her tears falling. “I WATCHED YOU BLEED OUT IN MY ARMS!! I CRIED FOR YOU!! MOURNED YOU AND YOU ARE STILL ALIVE!!”
“I never meant for this to hurt you.” They told her, regret evident in their voice.
“I can’t do this.” She whispered as she left, heading straight for her room, leaving everyone in the cells. Y/N attempted to follow her but was stopped by Steve.
“We need to know everything you know about these government officials.” He told them firmly, Y/N sighed before following the team to the briefing room. Y/N had gave them all of the names of the Hydra adversaries that remained hidden within the government.
“How do you know all of this?” Nat questioned as she leaned against the wall, her arms folded across her chest. “I just don’t understand how we are supposed to trust you.”
“I used to be Strucker’s right hand.” They answered her honestly. “I was always present at any important meetings with those who he answered to.”
“How did you get to be Strucker’s right hand?” She questioned, her eyes burning into them, watching their every move.
“When I was taken from my family, he was the one who took me under his wing, he also made a deal with Dreykov, to train me to be the best agent for Hydra, without any other DNA enhancements.” They answered. “He wanted someone who he could overpower if they got too out of hand, unlike the Winter Soldier who was considered a flight risk after Captain America resurfaced. I made the best Agent because I had no means of humanity left, they saw to that when they murdered my parents and little brother in front of me.”
“Why did it take you so long to turn against them? You could have easily helped SHIELD sooner.” She pressed on as Y/N shook their head.
“I was scared, it wasn’t just pure loyalty to him or Hydra.” Y/N told her, not showing any emotion. “They wanted to take away what would have been known as a weakness, to them, my family was a weakness and I had no one. I was soon declared dead once the police who investigated my family’s death had no leads as to where I could be. That was until I met the twins, I understood why they volunteered, although it was blindly and Hydra manipulated the two of them into thinking they would help them protect their home. I then remembered just how messed up Strucker and the rest of Hydra was, they would stop at nothing for world domination, making the world within Hitler’s image, not sparing any innocent lives who dared to stand against them. The love and respect the twins had for each other, that they would do anything to protect each other and the innocence of their home, that made me realise just what I needed to do, so I made a deal with Fury. I was to help the twins escape, hand over the coordinates of every known Hydra base, and I was to help SHIELD with the downfall of Hydra.” They kept their eyes on her, shielding any emotion that threatened to show through their eyes as they spoke. “It was Fury who found me, along with Agent Hill and they brought me to the best SHIELD medical specialist they had. They had saved me and I was given my orders to eliminate any possible threat of Hydra rising again.”
“You killed all of those people.” Steve spoke in disdain. “You practically tortured them and we are supposed to just work with you? You were Hydra once yourself, you must have believed in what they stood for once.”
“Your friend over there, he was also Hydra, he was with them longer than I, he has more innocent blood on his hands than I. Romanoff and Belova were Widows, working for the Red Room and executing Dreykov’s orders, given Belova was more an experiment of a cognitive serum, so she also had all of her free will stripped away but Romanoff.” They turned to look at her. “You executed Dreykov’s orders without question, you were in the same shoes as I. You had no family, the only family you knew of was all a ruse for Dreykov to get his hands on some information that Alexei retrieved before Dreykov took both you and your sister. You are no better than I.”
“I am nothing like you.” Natasha spoke, clenching her jaw.
“No? Who was it that had died in that explosion for your deflection to SHIELD?” Y/N questioned. “Dreykov’s daughter, she was no older than 11 years old.”
“She didn’t die.” Natasha defended.
“But you didn’t know that until you took down the Red Room yourself, so for years you lived with that guilt, you have lived with the guilt of all of those lives that were also lost in the crossfire.” They told her. “All of you have just as much innocent blood on your hands as I.”
“Y/L/N.” Fury spoke sternly, Y/N apologised before they retreated. “Y/N here will be joining you, they will help you with any missions we send your way as they also continue to take down Hydra before it is reborn.” He looked between Steve and Natasha. “I want no objections. Mr Stark, Y/N here will need a room set up.” Tony nodded before Fury left the briefing room.
Settling in wasn’t easy for Y/N, the atmosphere was cold and bitter, making them feel unwelcome. They spent most of their time in their room, other than being in the training room during the night. As they returned to their room, they had seen Wanda for the first time in a couple of weeks. She was sitting on their bed, her chin resting on her hand, Y/N knocked on their door to gain her attention.
“You know, it feels odd to knock on my own door.” They teased with a gentle smile, they watched as Wanda fought back a smile as they entered the room, closing the door behind them. “I’m sorry, Wanda.” She shook her head before she spoke.
“I just, I want an explanation.” She told them. “I just, I don’t understand. You died in my arms and now you are standing right here, in front of me, very much alive.”
“I’ll be honest, I thought I was dead too.” They spoke honestly as they sat beside her. “I had lost a substantial amount of blood, that I even had no chance of surviving even if I went to the nearest hospital.”
“You stopped breathing.” She whispered.
“I know.” They looked at their hands as Wanda observed them. “But the human body is a magnificent thing, when it has gone through a lot of pain and trauma, the heart rate slows down, right down, almost as though it would have stopped.” They took a deep breath. “Not too long after you and Pietro had left, Fury had sent in a team to my location, taking me to one of SHIELD’s top facilities. He had the best doctors and surgeons save me, they saved my life and once I had regained consciousness, there wasn’t a moment where you weren’t on my mind. I wanted to find you and your brother, I wanted to make sure that you were safe but I had made a deal with Fury, so I had to follow orders, I was unable to come and find you.” They turned to look in her eyes. “Then I heard the news of Pietro’s death, I defied my orders and came to find you, I saw you, you were healthy and safe but I hated seeing the pain in your eyes, the grief you were drowning in and I knew that if I had come back, you would only hate me for leaving you.”
“I could never hate you.” Wanda whispered as Y/N shook their head. “I lo.. I need to go, I have a mission tomorrow with Natasha.” She told them as she stood up, heading towards their door.
“I really am sorry, Wanda.” They told her quietly. “I never wanted you to feel all of that pain, I only wanted to protect you, I still do feel this need to protect you.”
“I guess some things never change.” She whispered before she left the room, closing the door behind her. Y/N knew in that moment they would do everything they could to keep her safe, to protect her, they knew that in that moment, they were exactly where they needed to be.
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tacitusk1llwhore · 20 days ago
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Don’t cancel me for this, y’all, but I’ve seen a lot of politically charged posts about RDR (as I should; games about outlaws and the corruption of big and small government are and always will be inherently political), but one thing has really bothered and stuck out to me the most, especially in male-dominated spaces in the fandom. The idea that the Arthur Morgan in this day and age would be a raging MAGA conservative—I’ve gotten so, so many posts about it on my TikTok today, and this is finally me snapping. Here are a few arguments I’ve heard for this. “When he hears that the Democrats want to take his guns, he’d say hell no to that.” “He’s from 1899; you really think he would vote for a Black woman?” And my personal favorite: “Arthur says in-game he doesn’t engage in politics.” I’m not going to go through each of these and explain, in detail with evidence from the games themselves, why I think these are the dumbest takes I’ve ever heard in my life. In a space I hope is more open to this discussion, I hope you’ll join me.
1.) The gun control issue. I know, I know, this one seems pretty obvious; I mean, he’s a red-blooded American man and cowboy. How could anyone possibly think for a second he’d be for the party of gun control?? While this is true, you know what’s also true? The fact that he lost a child to gun violence. Now, of course we don't know exactly how Isaac and Eliza were killed, but judging from the time and efficiency, we can assume they were shot. Now let’s get away from assumptions. Arthur mourned the loss of his son, felt the agonizing, intense pain of losing a child, and said that it changed him forever, hardened his heart. Do we really for a second think that Arthur would listen to the story of Sandy Hook, Parkland, Uvalde, and countless others and say, “No, guns are more important.”? Absolutely fucking not. Not only has Arthur felt that loss, that pain, but he is deeply empathetic; hearing the testimonials of children in these buildings, families that lost their babies, would be more than enough for him to understand and push for common sense gun laws. The erasure of Arthur Morgan's trauma of losing his son and the erasure of his empathy for children and families is rampant in political spaces of the fandom; to simply assume that because Arthur is an outlaw, in modern times he would be this “don’t tread on me.” “Cares more about guns than kids” kind of guy is asinine to me. Even if he hadn’t felt that loss and that pain, there are multiple times in the game where he is given a deeper understanding of things he has never experienced; he becomes angry at that pain inflicted, takes the mission with Charles and the Bison, and hears about the vaccines being diverted from the reservations, and the Black doctor (I think he’s a doctor) you meet in Rhodes. Once he heard these stories, these testimonials, or saw the pain, the hardship, he was quick to step in and do something to make a change. He would not value weapons over the lives of people, as we can see from the game.
2.) This one is always fun to see because it assumes that Arthur is inherently racist. Now, I’m going to state one of my least favorite but still valid arguments: he has minority friends. This is very true; look at Charles, Lenny, Javier, and Tilly. Here is why it’s one of my least favorite arguments: you can have minority friends and still be racist, sexist, homophobic… Having friends doesn’t make you antiracist, so what makes Arthur antiracist? One camp interaction stands out to me the most in regards to this, the one with Tilly when they first move south. Tilly comes to Arthur in specific to talk about how nervous she is being so far south; she understands that the south is a dangerous place for dark-skinned people, especially the location they’re in. Arthur, while he tries to soothe her, pointlessly at first, claiming that it's a good place to run from the law, also understands this, almost immediately changing his tone and telling Tilly not once but twice that e personally will keep her safe, that she has his word that he personally will keep her safe; a man that has hate in his heart for POC would not do that, ever. Another interaction is one with Lenny, where Lenny points out that Arthur wouldn’t notice the difference in the more southern states because the worst they’ll do to him publicly is say that he is friends with POC (less soft than that, watch the clips of it on YouTube if you want the full dialogue), whereas for Lenny the worst that can happen to him publicly is a lynching (which he states all the way back in chapter one where he almost was lynched). Arthur is not ignorant of racism; he knows that it exists—I hate the whole “Arthur doesn’t know about racism.” Because he does, and saying he doesn’t is an insult to his intelligence and awareness of the world around him. He knows racism exists; he personally just cannot fathom it; he cannot picture himself perpetuating racism (again, see the scene in Rhodes with the Black man), which is where I think that confusion that people say he doesn’t understand it comes from—he isn’t confused by racism; he’s confused why that man assumes he’s racist, because in his head he simply can’t fathom being bigoted.
This one has two parts, so bear with me. This also assumes that Arthur is sexist; the argument I see for this is the one-off comment he makes to the working girl at the saloon, "I didn't know I was talkin' to a lady." Was this an ok statement? No. Does it make him a raging sexist? Also no. Let's look at his relationship with Sadie; he does not underestimate her because she's a woman; he trusts in her and her abilities with unwavering confidence, so much so that he entrusts the safety of John, Abigail, and Jack to her. Now let's look at the camp interactions, one of which Arthur states that he sees no difference between men and women (bi king) and that most are bad, but some are worth loving. A man who is a raging sexist would never say something like this; he would never equate men and women, but Arthur does see them as equals. I see a lot of people point out that Arthur is far more protective of the camp girls than most, but this isn't because he sees them as less than him; he just understands that a lot of them lack the ability to fully protect themselves (Love you, Tilly and Mary-Beth). He isn't quite as protective of the women that he knows with confdence can and will protect themselves with confidence, but even then he will stick up for them if needed. Arthur Morgan is a protector of women, which is so incredibly important today and back then.
3.) Here’s my favorite. Arthur doesn’t engage in politics. Looking at this in terms of the game, he absolutely does engage in politics; he has opinions on rights and the government; that is, in fact, political—he doesn’t vote, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t make political statements or isn’t even unintentionally political. Now let’s look at this in the frame of today. Being non-political in 1899 and being non-political in 2025 are two wildly different things; politics has changed drastically in the last almost decade where thngs have circled back around to be voting for or against human rights, and from my evidence above, Arthur would be voting for those rights. In modern times it is almost impossible to be nonpolitical; I dare say it's impossible. Everything now has politics attached to it; that argument is their gotcha moment because they don't understand that, which is why they make the argument in the first place.
So, why does this matter? Arthur is a pixel outlaw in a fictional setting of 1899 America. I guess in the grand scheme of life it really doesn’t, but in fandom culture it absolutely does. Many people, including myself, come to fandom spaces to escape, to cope with things from their past or events of the day, to chat about characters, and to share theories and art, and so on. Imagine someone who lost a child, sibling, or friend to gun violence logging on for their daily dose of distraction only to see someone making points as to why a character who is comforting to so many people wouldn’t care about the death of their lost loved one, just guns. A POC or member of the LGBTQ community doing the same and seeing arguments as to why Arthur is homophobic or racist. Seeing something like that is in fact harmful; taking things and stretching them to fit your narrative despite the actual source material pointing in the opposite direction requires erasure and explaining your own personal biases publicly. Someone stating that Arthur is a racist is just them stating that they themselves are a racist or that they themselves care more about guns than lives—as we’ve seen, the public stating of controversial things or overall morally reprehensible ideals when gone unchecked spirals and spreads, and soon we have a space of people who will openly state bigoted things and push the people in the fandom here for reasons of a shared enjoyment for whatever reason or the people who use things to cope or as a distraction out of the space, effectively ruining it and potentially the outlook on the content of the game. Fandom spaces shouldn’t tolerate bigotry, and lots of Red Dead fans have been expressing bigotry lately, and these people have started to go completely unchecked. It bothers me; it always will, even if it is just a silly cowboy game.
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Received this question just now. Posting my response sans askers' username per their request:
Hi, as you are a holocaust historian, and as you mentioned in a recent post, words mean things, I was sort of wondering what you thought about people saying that what’s happening in Palestine isn’t genocide because the holocaust was genocide/6 million Jews was genocide. I’ve seen a couple people saying stuff along the lines of ‘if what’s happening in Palestine is genocide, we need another word for the holocaust’. I’m not worried about you knowing it’s me asking (like asking on anon) because I think you talk to people pretty reasonably but if you could answer it in private or without my name on the ask I would appreciate it, people seeing it could get… unpleasant, talking about this stuff and I try to stay out of the line of fire to the best of my ability. Totally fine if you don’t want to answer, I don’t want you hounded about Palestine either, it just seemed like you might have an interesting take with your studies
Anyone is capable of genocide, of following orders to commit human rights abuses, of attacking civilians, etc. No identity groups’ past—however violent and traumatic—makes them incapable of committing war crimes. Referring to what’s happening in Gaza as genocide doesn’t invalidate Jewish communal thought regarding the Holocaust. Moreover, the fact that the State of Israel has built Holocaust memory into its nation-building doesn’t mean that that country is inherently incapable of crimes against humanity. There is a cohort of primarily 65+ Jews who hold a trauma-induced belief that Israel could never be capable of these crimes because everything Israel does is in the interest of protecting the Jewish people. It’s a pretty thought, and one I used to hold, but it’s not reality. Many as well would argue that, because the October 7 attack was inherently genocidal, Israel was moral and just doing what it needed to do to bring the hostages home and stamp out Hamas cells. Indeed, these hypothetical individuals would continue, the fact that Hamas has built itself into the civilian architecture of Gaza means that Hamas is using Palestinian civilians as human shields; not that Israel is committing genocide. I personally think that’s wishful thinking. Hamas 800% bases itself near structures like hospitals and kindergartens so Israel will look bad when it attacks those places,* thus willfully allowing the people it governs to exist as human shields. HOWEVER, I don’t believe for one minute that the Israeli military doesn’t have the technology needed to seek out evidence of heat, heartbeats, etc, in hidden subterranean areas. Their counter-attack was always going to happen, but the way it’s been fought? Naw man it’s indefensible.
You know I don't do comparisons or Holocaust inversion, but I do have feelings and emotional responses which don't care about my Serious Intellectual Historian views on comparisons and Holocaust inversion. And, there's a very disturbing moment in one of my primary sources for my book where a woman describes a Nazi attack on a hospital in the Warsaw Ghetto. She describes the screaming and the panic and the civilians begging to be euthanized. Similar readings and sources exist for hospitals in Warsaw during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising when the Germans were destroying the city. I suspect similar descriptions exist of any hospital of a densely populated civilian area under siege. And, even if I was still bullheadedly in my Zionist era, I wouldn't have been able to simultaneously do the work I do, watch Israeli soldiers attacking hospitals, and emerge completely fine with everything. All of that doesn’t erase the simultaneous facts that: 1) the Holocaust happened and was a traumatic moment in Jewish History, the memory of which will endure throughout the millennia; and 2) the October 7 attacks were carried out by Hamas with genocidal intent.
What you’re seeing is people within our community dealing with cognitive dissonance. And honestly the experience of watching people lash out is stage 1 of that process (or as I call it, the Cognitive Dissonance Temper Tantrum). It’s no fun to witness, but can be positive if the person doing the temper tantrum chooses to learn from it. 
ETA: When I discuss things I felt/believed in my "Zionist Era," I'm discussing stuff from when I was like, under 21 years old. For reference I am currently 35.
No one has my permission to use my words to silence other Jewish people. You have no obligation to stick around for people having cognitive dissonance freakouts or saying shitty things about Palestinians, but I see part of my...duty as being available to work with Jewish individuals who want to deal productively with their cognitive dissonance once the freakout period dies down, if they want help.
*Here my Unnamed I/P Reader notes that it’s quite a bit more complicated than stated here in part due to Gaza’s pre-Oct. 7 2023 population density.
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hp-hcs · 1 year ago
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violent stalker mattheo riddle.... each guy and girl readers ever spoken to? damn wdym they showed up beaten up the next day and they dont even know who did it ????
i feel like he'd also get violent with reader and ykw .... im so insane id let him beat me bloody .
"i'm doing this because you're not listening to me, sweetheart. how else am i supposed to show you that trying to leave me is what you shouldn't do?"
hey uh, future requesters: giving me a line of dialogue or smth to build around means i’ll finish your request WAY faster. tysm anon 😭
requests open
prometheus — yandere! insane! stalker! mattheo riddle x gn! reader
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wow! there’s a fuck ton of really fucking dark violence, murder, torture, manipulation, abduction, and horrific domestic abuse in this! please be careful if you choose to read this!
1.5k words!
i jokingly took a sociopathy test with a couple of friends earlier today and i scored like really high so uh dunno how to feel about that
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
“Am I…am I in trouble or something, Professor…?”
Professor McGonagall’s lips thinned and she looked at you over the rim of her glasses. She folded her hands together neatly where they rested on her desk before speaking. “Not for now, no. Relax a bit, dear. The law states that you’re innocent until proven guilty.”
“That’s not- that doesn’t really make me less nervous.”
The professor opened her mouth to speak again when a chime alerted her to an incoming floo call.
With a wave of her wand, the flames flared green and a genial-looking man stepped out of the fireplace. He brushed soot off of his robes and grinned brightly as soon as he caught sight of the professor.
“Minerva! Lovely to see you again. I’m afraid Quincy isn’t going to make it. Corbett is sick, poor thing, so he’s staying home with him today,” the man gushed, evidently quite close with the professor.
“Oh, send them both my well wishes, Hez, dear. Anyway, this is the student you asked to see, Y/n L/n,” she motioned towards you.
The man gave you a cheery grin—far too cheerful for this early in the morning—and held out his hand for you to shake. “A pleasure to meet you, Mx. L/n. I’m Auror Hezekiah Ackerly. I’d just like to ask you a few questions if that’s alright?”
You dubiously shook his outstretched hand, a bit put off by his bright grin that never seemed to dim. “Sure.”
“Wonderful!” the Auror pulled the second office guest chair closer and sat down across from you. “Let’s get the easy questions out of the way. Do you have many friends? Or maybe a small, close-knit group of people you regularly hang out with?”
Your eyebrows furrowed. The fuck kind of question was this?
“Uh, I guess a close-knit group?”
Auror Ackerly summoned a notebook and quill, writing quickly. “Who belongs to this group?”
Seriously, this felt more like being at a psychiatrist’s office than being questioned by a government official.
“Er, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger? And sometimes Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood?”
Seriously, what was going on?
“And do you have any…romantic relationships? Any troubles or issues there?”
Your eyes narrow. “What’re you playing at?”
“Cormac McLaggen was found dead in the Forbidden Forest this morning,” Professor McGonagall cut to the chase, interrupting Auror Ackerly. “You were the last known person to have spoken to him, and several of your peers attest that they heard an argument break out between the two of you last night after dinner.”
Your eyebrows shot up and your jaw dropped. “Dead? Wh- how?”
“That’s what we at the Ministry would like to know,” Auror Ackerly interjected smoothly. “You’re not in trouble, Mx. L/n, but I am here to escort you to the Ministry for questioning.”
Your jaw dropped.
They thought you did this?
~~~
You sat at a table, alone in some room deep inside the Ministry building.
You huffed, folding yet another paper crane from the stack of sticky notes Ackerly had oh-so-thoughtfully left for you after your interrogation.
You set the finished bird on the table, the small pile of origami cranes you’ve made while waiting slowly getting larger.
Peeling off another sticky note, you started folding another when a nice-looking man in well-pressed robes entered the barren room and stopped in front of your table. He looked down at you with mild bafflement.
“L/n, I presume?”
“That’d be me,” you mumbled, adding your newest crane to the pile.
The man smiled gently before waving a hand over your paper birds and enchanting them to fly.
You tried to hide your awe as you look up at the cranes that floated and soared around the room.
The man smiled at your reaction. “It’s quite nice to finally meet you, Mx. L/n. You’ve been the topic of many a discussion today.”
“I’d imagine so, yes,” you said dryly. “Not many teenagers accused of murder coming through the department, huh?”
He grinned. “Not really, no.”
The man pulled out the other chair at the table, sitting down across from you and rifling through the thick manila folder he held.
“Are you here to interrogate me some more?” You asked suspiciously. “Ask Ackerly, man. I already told him everything I know.”
He laughed. “No, I’m not here to interrogate you. I’m your lawyer, Mx. L/n.”
You blink. “I don’t have a lawyer. My family can’t afford that.”
“You always have the right to an attorney, Mx. L/n,” he said kindly as he held out his hand to you. “Octavian Foxglove, Esquire.”
“Y/n L/n, but you already knew that,” you greet, shaking his hand.
He smiled again.
He was a very smiley man.
He laid out the manila folder and turned it around on the table so that you would be able to see it.
The first paper on top was a copy of your school records, with a bright red PRIMARY SUSPECT stamped over the top of your picture.
You grimaced.
Your lawyer nodded sympathetically. “There’s a photo underneath that page, by the way. Supposedly the last photo we have of McLaggen still alive and, uh…it’s not looking great for you, in all honesty.”
You moved your school records page aside, finding a standard moving photograph paperclipped to the inside of the file.
It showed, quite clearly, you speaking with Cormac McLaggen in a hallway. Picture-Cormac angrily threw his arms up in the air and silently yelled at picture-you, while your body language in the photo loudly screamed ‘furious & upset’.
He was right. It wasn’t a great look.
“And there’s only one thing I need you to- oh, where is it?” He dug through the inside pockets of his robes, procuring a pen. “Aha! The next page has a simple contract. I just need a signature stating that you either accept me as your public defender, or would like to request someone else from the Ministry to handle your case.”
You nod, flipping the page to the contract he indicated. Mr. Foxglove smiled again and held the pen out to you.
As soon as your fingers made contact with the pen, you vanished.
~~~
You stumbled blindly, almost falling to the floor before a hand caught your elbow and steadied you.
“Easy, careful.”
You whirled around, surprised to see a different man in Mr. Foxglove’s clothes. He held his hands up in a non-threatening manner.
“Woah- slow down, kid. You’re fine.”
“Who the hell are you?”
“I’m- was your lawyer,” he shrugged and smiled. “Augustus Rookwood, at your service.”
It dawned on you. “It was a portkey,” you breathed. “The pen. It was a portkey, wasn’t it?”
“Clever kid,” he sounded impressed. “Now c’mon. The boss wants to see you.”
You followed the man without complaint; half out of curiosity, half out of the knowledge that Augustus Rookwood was an Azkaban escapee charged with at least forty counts of first degree murder.
Pretty simple choice.
It looked like you were in a wealthy aristocrat’s house. Er, mansion, more accurately. The hallway you were walking down was old and stuffy and dusty, and the overall aura of Dark magic that permeated the very air of the house sent shivers down your spine.
Rookwood led you down a flight of rickety stairs to the first floor, and then down a narrow hallway and into a study, where he left you without another word.
The study itself was old. Everything was coated in a thick layer of dust except for the pristine and polished bureau right in the center.
(Obviously, ‘the boss’ was sitting at this desk.)
((Villains tend to be predictable like that.))
However, you were surprised to see that ‘the boss’ was-
“Riddle?”
He looked up at the sound of your voice, a wide grin spreading across his face as he hurriedly got up from his desk.
“Y/n, darling, hello!” He gushed, practically skipping over towards you before pulling you into a very uncomfortable hug. “Sweetheart- oh, I’m so glad you’ve made it here safely! Rookwood really is my only competent assistant; I must be sure to give him a raise.”
You froze up at the unexpected hug, your arms remaining stiffly by your sides. He let go after a moment, but remained just a bit too close for comfort.
“Hopefully the Ministry didn’t give you too hard of a time,” he rubbed the back of his neck with a guilty grin. “I promise Ackerly’s a good man. When he’s, y’know, in control of his own body.”
Your eyes widen and you take a step back. “What?”
“Just a little Imperius, darling, no worries. Did you like your gift?”
You blinked, thrown off by his rapid changes in subjects. “Uh- gift?”
He smiled proudly. “McLaggen? He won’t bother you anymore, see?”
All the color drained from your face.
“You killed Cormac?”
He nods, grinning. “Uh-huh. I heard what McLaggen said to you last night in the hall, and I don’t like when other people look at what’s mine.”
“Yours?” You repeat, your lip curling in disgust. “You’d better not be referring to me.”
Mattheo paused, looking at you in confusion. “What else would I be talking about?”
You scoff in shock, shaking your head. “Yeah, nope, I’m out.”
You turned around without further preamble, marching out of the room and towards the front door that you’d passed earlier. Mattheo laughed and followed you out of the study at a leisurely pace, seemingly unworried.
“Where are you going to go, darling? As far as the general public is concerned, you’re on the run after brutally murdering a classmate. You’re Wanted with a capital W, sweetheart.”
“I’ll figure it out,” you snarled, storming towards the front door.
“Y/n…” He warned, drawing his wand and pointing it at you. “Get back here. Now.”
“Fuck off.” You spat over your shoulder, not sparing him another glance.
That was clearly not the thing to say. As if in slow motion, you heard a dreaded word fall from his lips.
“Crucio!”
You were struck with pain that was so overwhelming, so blinding, so agonizing, that you were sure you were going to die.
You were only half aware that you’d fallen to the floor at some point as wave after wave of unbearable pain crashed over you. You could feel your bones creaking and grinding together, your skin splitting apart only to knit itself back together just to be torn apart again, like you were some fucked up wixen version of fucking Prometheus.
You were only vaguely aware that you were speaking, pleading. Pleading not for the Unforgivable to be lifted, but for him to just end it, end you, entirely.
“K-kill me! Kill m-me…please!” You begged, blood trailing down from the corner of your mouth and smeared across your chin. You must’ve bit your tongue hard for it to bleed like that, and the sting from that wound while you speak is just too overwhelming when combined with the pain from the Cruciatus Curse.
Then all at once, it stops.
You gasp for air, your entire body trembling and numb as you lay sprawled across the floor like a marionette with its strings cut.
Mattheo kneeled down by your side and cupped your face in his hands with a kind of tender gentleness that felt deeply wrong coming from him.
“See, I’m doing this because you’re not listening to me, sweetheart. How else am I supposed to show you that trying to leave me is what you shouldn’t do?” He cooed softly, gently wiping the blood from your chin with the sleeve of his shirt.
You flinched back at his touch. Your body—still wracked with uncontrollable quivers and trembles—tried in vain to crawl away from him.
“Oh no, honey- hey, honey- I promise it’s all over, okay? You were so so good for me. But you see now that you’ve got to stay with me, right?”
Your jaw quivered and your still-stinging tongue felt thick in your mouth, yet you managed to spit vicious hatred towards him.
“G-go to hell.”
A flurry of emotions crossed his face: surprise, anger, guilt, and disappointment; all of which were topped by the underlying aura of pure sadistic glee that exuded from him.
“Oh? Do you need another lesson or two before you learn?” He sighed and shook his head patronizingly. “Very well then, darling. Crucio!”
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
taglist! @gayaristocrat @slytherinboysappreciation @lemonaderiddle @h-------n @yournogoodalone @knave-hearts @schaebickel @lexacantsleep @big-brother-problems @darkcharmx @cyberbl4de @amandajonhsson @megannxn @catz-80 @ghostiesen @fruityfrog505 @coysa @fruitypebblesstuff @mildlyuninformative @glittervame @cayaevans1 @lizeylavender @cloudydaysinmydreams @ironickarkatlover @ahead-fullofdreams @tachyon-girl @jaythes1mp @lovelyfandomqueen @ashisgreedy @mothermah3m @siuspider @ineedtogetalife11 @cherry-berry-ollie @cherriosxfish @a-hopeless-romantics-blog @fallingblackveils @ldrsog @linde0s @ghost-tyr @booksouflette @h0treader @maraudersforlife2005 @ahano @miah-macaroni @whatislifes-stuff @iara-ximena17 @goth-blackcat @dutifullyfuturisticwizard @docackerman @mizu-mc @tiacordelia02 @mingyuethesimp @luvlli @dracoshusband @verychaoticgay @thathogwartsjedi @lisbethpisbeth @remusily @daliah-xxo @rainy-darling @corinneeagles @sle1epy @averys-place @shibble @i-love-sirius-black7 @azu-202029 @artemismckinnon @lostboychimera @yukimaniac @annegrey
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anamericangirl · 4 months ago
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i deserve full control of my body without government bullshit
and i deserve a president that doesn’t see women as objects to touch
and i deserve to get the healthcare i need
and i deserve to be able to live without issue in a state as a transgender person
and i deserve to vote in the next election without led suppressing that
and i deserve to decide i don’t want children no matter what decisions others make on the matter
you deserve hell for saying shit that hurts us all
Hello my politically ignorant and uneducated friend. Nothing I say is hurting anyone and if your political knowledge was advanced beyond the elementary idea of "I want it therefore I deserve it and you must provide it for me" you would understand that my ideas are actually all perfect and would benefit everyone.
And I just want to point out, before I address the nonsense you wrote, you don't deserve anything you're not willing to educate yourself on, especially when you use your ignorance to send hateful messages to people you don't know online because they don't agree with you politically and are smarter than you.
>i deserve full control of my body without government bullshit
You have full control over your body but you don't have full control over another person's body and refusing to acknowledge reality doesn't change it I'm afraid. I will never agree that you should be allowed to have an abortion just because you don't want to admit that there is another person involved in that situation and their life and rights matter. You're not the only person that matters and shame on you for being willing to kill children. Children deserve a world where people like you aren't allowed to murder them.
>and i deserve a president that doesn’t see women as objects to touch
you also deserve to have your opinions dismissed because you refuse to seek the truth and just jump on the bandwagon and repeat whatever you're told to believe. I don't care what a President thinks personally about women as long his policies benefit all of America and you wouldn't either if you had any sense about you.
>and i deserve to get the healthcare i need
You can so that's a moot point.
>and i deserve to be able to live without issue in a state as a transgender person
You can so that's another moot point from you.
>and i deserve to vote in the next election without led suppressing that
As long as you're at least 18 and not a felon you should be allowed to vote in the next election so yet another moot point.
>and i deserve to decide i don’t want children no matter what decisions others make on the matter
Sure and if you decide you don't want children don't make children. Children deserve to live once they exist and that doesn't change just because you're selfish, careless and irresponsible.
Sorry not sorry.
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whereserpentswalk · 6 months ago
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The Night Hunt
I need to eat. It’s not eating anymore. It doesn’t feel like thirst or hunger. It’s not something I would have understood as a human. I feel like I’m going to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t think anyone would mind if I did. My mouth is shaped so differently than it once was, I can’t move my jaws, I feel empty, I need it to fill me, and I feel empty.
The upper west side vampiric community center was cramped, getting everything it could from limited funds and real estate. The walls were white and the lighting sterile, their deadness only broken by overly enthusiastic posters. It was strange looking at the other vampires in the building, most of them seemed to be doing much better than me. Even most of the ones that ones you could tell weren’t human at a glance usually looked more human than me. It felt like everyone I saw was doing better than me, the petite girl in a black dress talking to her parents on the phone, the bearded man with cats eyes dressed in fancy clothes he had probably owned some version of for centuries, the snake mouthed person guzzling down a can of commercially sold blood like it was soda. I could assume a lot of the vampires I saw here had supportive families, and many others were old enough to be well adjusted to their lives. It almost hurt looking at vampires who could pass better than me, or who could better mask vampiric traits, this embarrassing envy, that I was a monster even by the standards of monsters.
I could have socialized, but I was too tired, and too thirsty. I had just been denied a good behavior slip by the New York State government, and thus denied a month’s supply of donated blood, and the building stopped being somewhere I wanted to be. Most vampires can’t get a good behavior slip, A lot don’t even try just because of how humiliating and restrictive life during the audit can be. A lot of them live off of relatives’ and friend’s blood, or buy it wholesale. I don’t have the option for either of those, at least not consistently.
I walked up Broadway, when I left, below the safety of the dark sky, and the calming yellow light of the windows, past the old brick buildings of a childhood that now seems alien to me. Best to get outside time in while I can, it’s summer, giving me few hours before the sun rises. It’s strange to remember when I walked down that street as a human. That deep loss of something I can remember but will never feel once more. Remembering how easy things were. When the restaurants smelled good to my body, instead of sickly sweet. It would’ve made me cry to see myself reflected in a window, if my eyes had tears to cry. To see I was the type of vampire other even other vampires shunning, too vampiric perhaps, to close to what they all fear being, too close to what they’re all accused of. I used to think of losing my humanity was a horrible fate, and now I am the bad ending for so many other nonhumans. I wonder how many of my kind’s advocates think I’m worthy of oppression. They say not all vampires look horrifying to humans, but I look horrifying to humans. They say not all vampires think violent thoughts about humans automatically, but I find myself doing that so often. They say not all vampires are weak to sunlight, or are hurt by symbols of their prior faith, but I am, and it hurts, and if acceptance means telling people it doesn’t hurt I’ll just get hurt more.
I tried to think of something to distract myself. Tried to think of friends who still cared about me, about that show I wanted to finish, tired to think about that Lord of the Rings fanfic that I wrote in middle school that I had though about on that street, on a bright day so alien to the humid night I walked through. No matter what I thought about there was always blood in the back on my mind. Even when a vampire isn’t thinking about blood directly, when they’re low, as almost fatally low as I was, it’s always able to be felt in the background. I could feel my body’s desire for blood, feel the pain and weakness of not having it. It was strange, to know that my body hurt because it wanted like, that my body only transformed into a vampire because it would have died from being bitten by one if it hadn’t. My body wanted to live as a vampire so much more than I did. My hands shook, my gate more unbalanced, more stumbling than it usually was, my twisted and inhuman mouth, the most inhuman part of my body, salivating. The staggered and almost animalistic walk must have made me look even more like a monster. The pigeons flew away when they saw me, they must have known, or maybe that’s just what pigeons are like.
 My once tan skin now so pale my organs are visible, my once fit body now skinny, my brown eyes forever white, and my mouth perfectly round and unmoving and filled with sharp tooth after sharp tooth like a lamprey. All so perfect to drink blood, all built to drain blood. It hurts to think I’ll probably be in this body for centuries. The same hoodie I’d been wearing for days still covers me a bit, as does my mess of uncut hair, I don’t really have to wash these things without human oils on my body anymore. It’s not good to think too long about that fact. There is no wonder my parents would rather consider their precious daughter basically dead, than know that she lived as this. I might do the same if I had a choice. I think about when I was turned sometimes, how I didn’t get to be turned out of love, or lust, or spite, how the bite was meant to kill me, how it would have killed me if I wasn’t rushed to the hospital, or if I hadn’t fought the attacker off. I never even knew the name of the vampire who attacked me. I didn’t know why he did at the time, I assumed it was from hate, I understand now, I would never defend attacking someone like that but I understand, he was hungry, I know how it feels to want blood like how he must have. People would have had me better in their memories if I had died, nobody admits it, but it’s true, my parents convinced themselves I had on religious grounds, saying my soul had left my body, I understand why, my reputation was not tarnished.
As I walked past stores and restaurants that had closed hours earlier, saw how little the world wanted me. I wondered how I would keep existing. I remembered that my transformation has made it so I wouldn’t age, couldn’t die a natural death at all, I realized how strange it would be for me to exist in a body like the one I did for hundreds more years, thousands if I got lucky. There was the feeling that maybe I’d be murdered, most of society didn’t even want the most human passing, most privileged vampires to live, it sucked even for people who had it so much better than me, maybe I’d just die, maybe one of those monster hunter gangs would finally due me in like they always threaten to online. But what if I didn’t, what if I had to still live. If I actually had put the work in to having positive relationships with the community maybe some vampiric elder would be able to tell me. As it was I felt lost, I didn’t know what I could be doing a hundred years from where I stood. Would things be better than, for me, for us? Would I be ok?
For a moment my eye caught a girl around my age. As a human I would have felt lust for her, she had that exact look that I used to like. Glistening hair dyed a candy colored red, a pale pink Cowboy Bebop t-shirt covering her chest. I would have felt lust, or perhaps a more noble sounding attraction, but now that part of me is gone, and seeing a young healthy body like that just makes me think about what it would be like to drink her instead of making me think about being in bed with her. I knew it was wrong, but it would feel so good, to feel my mouth punch into her neck, and drain her dry. I don’t want to feel this way, the logical part of my brain doesn’t like feeling this way, but it’s a feeling in my body. When I looked at her soft skin my teeth ever so slightly extended outwards, and the tiredness from the pain of thirst temporarily ceasing as my body filled with energy, my dreaming mind fantasizing about holding her as I drank her blood, as ashamed as I am of such thoughts, as little as I’d want to ever hurt someone like her, it felt so good in the moment just to fantasize. It was the closest I still had to feeling anything sexual or romantic, as many social media posts as there are telling you it’s a myth that all vampires lose their sexual or romantic feelings, it’s true for me, I don’t even have breasts or sex organs anymore, as horrifying as that is to even acknowledge about myself. Just another thing that makes me seem less human, and just another thing that makes drinking human blood seem to desirable. I didn’t want to hurt her, just looking at her walking, she seemed so happy, so pure.
I did nothing, yet she still crossed the street. I understood, it was late, and I was a ragged looking vampire walking near her, she had a right to feel safe. I ran, as thirsty as my body was I didn’t want to be near her, and didn’t want to cause a scene.
Best to flee uptown, Time Square is filled with Faeries, and Central Park with werewolves, and neither take kindly to my kind in the places they tend to hang out. There is a safety in being human, despite all the stories of young maidens scratched up in monster’s arms, with blood contrasting on top of their pretty white skin, most monsters with ill wills are way more likely to target other species of monster rather than humans. Humans are often well armed, and well defended by the law, and so many monsters are so eager to prove their kind’s validity through their hatred of another species of monster.
My running only stopped when I had to cross the street to avoid a church. One of those big ornate ones you’d see a vampiric villain hang out in in a thriller movie, with that shining stained glass they haven’t built in generations. They say it’s not anything divine that burns vampires that are weak to holy symbols, it’s just the memory of faith that hurts, the memory of the most human of all actions. Doesn’t change the fact that the pope still says we don’t have souls. The church ghosts all fled, they floated somewhere else just from seeing me, I wanted to yell to them “What? Are you too good even to haunt me.” I didn’t of course, I didn’t want to cause a scene. Maybe I would have if I wasn’t so weak from thirst.
I can’t get blood. The state won’t give it to me. My friends would say no if I asked. I can’t afford to buy it. I dropped out of school when I was turned, there wasn’t accommodation, and late classes were hard to get. Most of the friends I still have either treat me like a tragedy to fawn over, or like I could kill them at any time, they’re only human after all. I guess that’s why they recommend socializing with other monsters. I barely look for work anymore, even well-meaning humans are uncomfortable around me, though to be fair I’ve done nothing not to make them uncomfortable, and it’s impossible to ask them to close daytime windows, or keep silver and garlic away.  I spend so much time on the internet. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t ask to be this thirsty. I don’t want to look this way, and I don’t want to need blood. I never chose any of this, never chose to be bitten, never chose to be saved.
For a moment I saw another person on the street, alone with me. Some rich kid staggering drunk and barely knowing where he is, a sweatshirt from some fancy wizarding school clinging on to his body. His rosy yet pale cheeks, so vulnerable, not so privileged that he could hurt me, just privileged enough to feel like every bad though I could have towards him was punching up. He was the exact type of asshole that I’d expect to call me a slur, to be proud that wizards like him had engaged in just enough vampire hunts in the thirties and forties to be considered another type of human. But he didn’t. He didn’t notice me at all, he just sang to himself with his earbuds in and his eyes glued to his phone as he stumbled past closed stores.
I can smell blood on his lips. I remember that there is another way to quench my thirst. I’d have to drain him dry so that nobody would know. I don’t want to. I don’t want to be that type of vampire. His body is so fresh, I’d be full for like a year. I can’t stop looking at him and remembering my life. He’ll run but I can catch up to him, and he’ll taste so good. And I would be so hard to catch if I drained him to death, he’s a stranger, the case would go cold. I need blood, and he has blood, it’s like a trolly problem, you don’t need sadism to pick yourself when you’re tied to the tracks. And I can’t think of another way I could get blood before starving to death.  It feels weird to grab his wrist as he struggles, too thirsty to think too deeply. I don’t want to look at his face when he screams, but something deep within me is excited to hear a human scream. I feel sorry for him I think, he didn’t deserve this, I didn’t deserve this, if things were different… well they aren’t different. God my voice sounds demonic with this mouth. “I’m sorry, but I have to do this.”
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dalishious · 10 months ago
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Reclaiming Independence of the Dales
Before anything else, I’d just like to clarify that that vast majority of this is made of my own ideas, based on interpretation from the little canonical information provided, and a little inspired by my own people’s history and governing structure. Additionally, what I am presenting here is an ideal situation, not necessarily what I think is an immediately realistic outcome in the world-state established. So, please keep that in mind.
The Dales were established as a homeland for elves—a small piece of a continent that was once called their home in its entirety, before the humans colonized it—by Maferath in -165 Ancient. This was in reward for the eleven people’s participation in the fight against Ancient Tevinter. But in 2:10 Glory, Divine Renata I broke this treaty and declared an Exalted March against the Dales, ending in its annexation by Orlais.
[Related Post: All You Need to Know about the Exalted March of the Dales]
If Solas has very low approval with Inquisitor Lavellan, and Lavellan accuses him of not doing enough to help their people, he will say the following: “You could order Halamshiral returned to the Dalish, if you wished. But ultimately, you know that would fail. That even you cannot solve this.” I hate this with a burning passion. The reason I can’t do that, Solas, is because it’s not an option in the game! Why are you as a character angry at me, the player, for not doing something that is not an option for me to do? Why was this written? Just to push the point that it’s not worth it to try and fight back against oppression? Because if I refuse to accept hopelessness in real life, why would I in accept it in a video game where the story is made-up, and therefore anything is possible if the developers so wish it.
Regardless, according to Solas, the Inquisition has enough power to support the reclamation of an independent Dales. I imagine this would require a lot of political maneuvering within the Orlesian governance, and therefore I think the best opportunity to do this would be with Briala ruling through Gaspard. This would then later open the door for Briala to be the leader of the newly independent Dales, too. I would like to see Briala as ruler of the Dales not just because she is a favourite of mine, but because I genuinely believe she is the best established character fit for the job. She was trained in everything Celene was trained in, has first-hand experience in court, has extensive connections, and has demonstrated her ability and desire to utilize these skills and assets for the benefit of elven kind.
Briala’s blackmail on Gaspard may help prevent Orlais from invading again while under his rule, but to last longer, the Dales would need to establish itself as a strong, independent Nation with allies. This is why I believe it would also be important to have Leliana as Divine Victoria in such a world-state where this could happen. Leliana re-canonizes the Canticle of Shartan, and in making it available for the common person to understand, would ideally help sway the minds of the average Andrastian into supporting the Dales’s independence. The nobility would of course be much trickier, because they and the Chantry are the ones who actually benefitted from its annexation—but there is little they would be able to actually accomplish if they did not have the power of the people behind them.
As far as allies go, Ferelden could only gain from Orlais losing control of the Dales, because it would mean cutting Orlais off from a lot of Ferelden’s border, therefore reducing the threat of another invasion. Additionally, a leader with just plain good morals like say, Alistair, would easily accept the elven kingdom’s return. But even Anora is willing to grant part of the Korcari Wilds to the Dalish if Mahariel requests it, and while this sadly doesn’t last, it does show a positive sign into her potentially being open to the idea of an independent Dales as well.
I sincerely doubt that all Dalish clans would return to the Dales and re-settle down. After all, they have developed differentiating cultures over the years of wandering in separated groups, with different ideals and different ways of life that they might not want to give up. But many would return, and that would likely create conflict between the elves coming from the Dalish clans and the elves coming from the cities. We know that some prejudice exists against “flat-ears” as some Dalish call those from the city, and we know that city elves have adopted a lot of misinformation from humans into their views of the Dalish. It would take time and positive leadership to reconnect the people, without risking falling into some sort of hierarchy based on origin. This is why I do not believe one group or the other should single-handedly rule alone. Rather, I think there should be a Grand Council of High Keepers made up of those voted into the position each to represent a single district of the Dales. (I like the idea of there being seven High Keepers, not just because there are seven traditional districts of Mi’kma’ki, but because it works out that there seven of the Creators. So it makes sense that there would be seven High Keepers.) The Grand Council would meet and make decisions together, with one appointed leader at the head to act as the Council’s chair.
In terms of protection and order, the Emerald Knights should be reformed. This would include the Fade Hunters, to protect the people against demons and maleficarum, with there being no Circles or Templars.
Restoring the independence of the Dales would lead to a revival of elven culture in ways that could never happen before, because they would actually be free to pursue re-learning the language, re-discovering the history and culture, and sharing it all amongst each other. They would not have to fear arrest the crime of simply being an elf.  
But what of the other races presently living in the Dales? I see no reason why they would have to leave, so long as they would be willing to follow the Grand Council’s leadership. I imagine many nobility would flee to Orlais, simply because they would not stand for it. But for the average human or surface dwarf, their life wouldn’t really even change much; they’d still be managing their farms the same as always. Hell, it might even improve things for them, assuming the Grand Council gives fairer treatment than the nobility previously.
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sanjoongie · 1 year ago
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𝔻𝕒𝕪 𝕊𝕚𝕩𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕟: ℂ𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘
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🥀Pairing: Dragon Hybrid! Mingi x Bunny Hybrid! Reader
🥀Genre: Smut
🥀Rating: 18+, Minors Do not Interact 
🥀Au: Cotton Tails and Simmering Fires by @starlitmark and meeee, hybrid au
🥀Trope: established relationship, poly (background)
🥀Summary: when you crave some time with one of your busy boyfriends, the compromise turns out to be everything you need with an unexpected surprise
🥀Kinks: cockwarming, brief oral prep (m), cockwarming (she tried her best okay), special! dragon! cock, sudden female orgasm, soft! dom! mingi, soft! sub! reader
🥀Word Count: 1,241
🥀Betas: @flurrys-creativity
🥀Day Fifteen: Femdom/ Degradation 🥀Mini Masterlist 🥀Day Seventeen: Body Worship
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The state of part arousal and part comfort you were in was slowly driving you insane. 
You had wanted some quality time with Mingi but it was the period in his semester when he had little time to spare, between reading and grading papers, and fielding student questions. So the two of you had come to a compromise. He was heading into his on-campus office early Saturday morning to get some work done and you were going along with him.
Mingi tugged you out of your nest with Jongho and Yeosang, blurry-eyed and a little whiny at being pulled from the warmth of your two boyfriends arms. Mingi told you with a gentle smile that he could leave you here if you really wanted to stay but when you remembered how much your heart ached last week, seeing him drag himself to his bed and collapse on it, you dismissed the offer immediately. 
In his office, which already had his faint personal smell of gingerbread, you sat on a couch that served as a bed when Mingi was too exhausted to drag himself back to the loft with the thunder. But it wasn’t close enough to your boyfriend. In fact, it was torture. Watching as the early morning lit hit his charcoal gray scales along his hairline, how his shoulder spread out his plaid shirt, the way his buttons looked like he was one big breath away from losing his shirt--
Mingi sighed rather loudly and closed his laptop. “Hops--”
Your ears pushed back in disappointment. “Don’t use my government name, Mingi,” You couldn't help but pout.
“I can smell the beginnings of sugar cookies like they’re in the oven,” Mingi continued, rubbing his face tiredly. “I can’t exactly nurse a hard-on AND focus on my student’s papers.”
“But--!”
Mingi sent you a stern look with his red slitted eyes and you deflated immediately. Not without adding, “You could use it though.”
“You’ve been hanging around with Wooyoung too much,” Mingi grumbled, “I am not bending you over my desk, Hops.”
You looked at Mingi with hopeful eyes. “It doesn’t have to be like that.”
Mingi watched you with a confused expression as you quickly rushed to his side at his desk. “I just want to be close to you. If you let me cockwarm you--”
Mingi groaned loudly and then clapped his hand over his mouth. “Hops,” he growled.
You threw up your hands in defense. “I’m not trying to trick you. I did it with San recently when he was gone for a business trip but I had a stacked schedule with my orders. It helped.”
Mingi scratched the back of his ear. “Yeah but I’m much bigger than San,” he reminded you.
“Can we please try?” You plead eagerly. Your tail twitched behind you, ears moving in anticipation and Mingi found he couldn't say no to you.
“Alright but--” He bit down on his lip just in time as your hands went to his pants immediately to undo the belt and the zipper of his tweed pants. “Treasure--” A delighted gasp left his lips as you pulled his cock out and pumped it to make sure it was hard for you. “Oh fuck.”
You sent him a sweet smile before taking him in your mouth. You gathered saliva in your mouth and bobbed on his length, taking in as much of him as you could before he hit the back of your throat. Mingi held your hair out of the way, partly to make sure nothing got on your hair and the other reason was to watch your cute little bunny mouth work on him. Just when Mingi was tempted to let you suck him off, you pulled off of him. 
You pulled aside the loose shorts you wore for easy access, and with the lack of underwear underneath, it was easy to brace yourself on his thick thighs, and play with the spade head of his cock against your already wet folds. 
“Treasure, be careful!” Mingi worried. 
No matter how many times he had taken you, he was always concerned with your comfort and his cock. Not only was the length and girth something to worry about, his head was spade-tipped, curved perfectly to push past pussy lips. There were also ridges on the underside of his cock, starting at his tip, AND three beads along the top side. Mingi’s dragon cock was definitely one of the more complicated breeds out there but you never seemed to complain about taking him.
In truth, even though you struggled to fit him inside of you, it always sounded like you loved everything that came with his cock. “So big,” You sighed, only managing his head so far. 
Mingi reached around you and rubbed a dry finger slowly around your clit, aiding in making you even more wet in order to take him. “You’re doing amazing,” Mingi encouraged you.
You slowly but surely sunk down on his length. Each ridge on his cock was like a landmark that you were getting it done. The relaxed way your pussy was swallowing Mingi’s cock was doing something to you, however. Mingi was still; he had massive control over his body, despite your tight, wet heat taking him centimeter by centimeter. 
“Mi-mingi,” You moaned softly. 
If you were being honest, you were drunk on Mingi’s cock. It was always like this getting it inside of you, but in this soft setting, the early morning rays making his office warm and Mingi’s heat at your back, you were lured into a sense of complete security. So when you rocked your hips forward to get the last final ridge on the underside of Mingi’s cock, it worked. However you were so wet from Mingi’s middle finger doing slow circles around your clit, that the remainder of Mingi’s cock that could actually fit inside of you slipped in. It was so sudden, but the sudden push of Mingi’s cockhead hitting your womb sent you into your climax.
You moaned wantonly, becoming jelly in Mingi’s lap and you collapsed back on him fully. Mingi could feel your cunt convulsing around his cock so he knew exactly what had happened. Luckily for Mingi, he had the control, and the practice of competing with Yunho over who would cum first, so he was able to hold on. He simply rubbed his cheek against your soft ears as you rode the waves of pleasure and settled down.
“Was that good, Treasure?” His deep voice rumbled from behind you and you simply nodded your head tiredly. “Words, please,” He prompted you.
“That was like having the slowest sex ever and then experiencing the most explosive climax,” You mumbled to him.
“Well, I hope it was that good because you’re going to have to remain here while I finish my papers,” Mingi announced, smacking a kiss on your head.
“Mingi!” You protested quietly. Because Mingi still was perhaps only halfway seated inside of you, so you were going to have to hold yourself up until the professor was done.
Mingi chuckled, the type that only came from a man who just gave his lover a good orgasm. “You wanted to cockwarm me, Treasure.”
“Yes, Mingi,” You said desolately. 
You settled into Mingi’s warmth regardless. Perhaps you could nap. Which would have worked. If Mingi hadn't pressed his hand to your stomach to see if he could feel his cock from the outside.
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🥀Day Fifteen: Femdom/ Degradation 🥀Mini Masterlist 🥀Day Seventeen: Body Worship
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jeonscatalyst · 5 months ago
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I read this from the cult arguments so the reason why they think jikook using Buddy program for enlisting confirms them not being couples is because in south korean military service as you might already know they prohibit the gay sexual intercourse while ON BASE and if you do you face the consequences right? So according to them now that jikook are using the Buddy program by chance IF in future they come out as queer and start dating each other the government is likely to investigate them for using the Buddy program for their advantage, or say they can get investigated for falsification and breaking the law of gay relationship n all during military service and given BTS are Big deal even if jikook come out after many years they will still likely face very serious consequences for breaking the law cause you know how sk is when it comes to BTS like e.g. suga's recent incidents.
So does anyone have a better understanding of this whole act of gay se* + military service and the consequences you face like this law as whole?
Hey anon,
I made this post a while ago about this topic. You can check it out
I’m not sure if you are the same anon who sent this link of this taekooker trying to “prove” why two people in a romantic relationship cannot enlist together but this is the link…….
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My thoughts about enlistment and how it works can be found in the post I linked but just to something about what these screenshots say….
This right here is what I like to call manipulation. This person has a very good knowledge of the system and what article 92-6 actually states but they use their own words to completely twist things. I’m not a lawyer but i’ve watched enough shows to know that people have gotten away with murder or heinous crimes because of loopholes in the written law so I’m pretty sure who ever drafted out military laws must know this so they must have EXPLICITLY written down everything that they didn’t want to avoid any loopholes.
Anon, I’d like you to check out what article 92-6 states and show me anywhere that law criminalizes two people being in a relationship. Is there any place the law talks about punishing two people just because they are gay and are in a relationship? I must have missed it so maybe you can show me if you find it.
This is such a simple thing to understand so I truly don’t get why so many people choose to ignore it.
The military doesn’t criminalize people being in a relationship (atleast not officially) they only have a problem with people committing indecent sexual activity on base. So why on earth would there be consequences if Jimin and Jungkook leave the military and decide to come out at some point later? As long as they didn’t break the law by having anal sex or engaging in anything the law considers indecent sexual activity, they are good. Is there any law that states that two lovers cannot enlist together as buddies? There is literally NONE! Also, this makes no sense because not everyone who in romantic relationships have sex (surprise surprise) and seeing as the military has only mentioned having an issue with sex while on base, then why would they go after people who didn’t commit a crime?
If the South Korean military didn’t want two lovers enlisting together as buddies, they would have boldly written it down. Yes, queer people face some injustice and discrimination in the military and sometimes are deemed unfit for service because of their sexual orientation which is unfortunate and sad but the truth is, Jimin and Jungkook have never come as as queer have they? So officially they are just two normal bandmates and friends who decided to enlist together and even if they do come out later, the military would have to prove that they were a couple while enlisted if they want to have an issue with it (which I doubt they would) and we all know that they wouldn’t be able to prove that Jikook were a couple at the time of enlistment unless they got caught having sex, because guess what, it is possible that they could have only become a couple after their military service. So you see how the whole thing doesn’t even make sense right. If you want to consider that the military might try to punish people for being a couple while enlisted, then there are just too many loopholes in the law. I am not even a lawyer but I can make a very good defense case for anyone whom the military tries to prosecute for this using their own written laws.
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psicheanima · 23 days ago
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Confused by your response to the other ask. Makima's lack of an inner world and her refusal to linger on her feelings means she's not depressed? I can understand her having no inner world even if she watches so many movies because of her creative sterility making it impossible for her to create but how is her being unaware of her feelings enough to not make her depression? Depression isn't just sadness, it's a constant feeling of emptiness.
What I meant in my earlier response is that “depression”, as we define it for humans, hinges on a human understanding of an inner self. Most people who are depressed experience it not due to external circumstances (as many believe) but because of their internal emotional landscape— something Makima fundamentally lacks. While she may seem as someone settled into a years long acceptance of it, her lack of an inner world and her inability to process emotions as humans do make it hard to classify her experience as “depression” in the way we understand it.
Makima’s existence is intrinsically tied to her nature as a Devil— a manifestation of the fear of control and dominance. She doesn’t process or linger on feelings of emptiness or loneliness because she is, quite literally, built differently. For Makima, her lack of emotional depth or inner turmoil isn't a deficiency; it's simply her existence.
This isn’t to say she has no personality, obviously she does (or else I wouldn’t be here). But her capacity for introspection or emotional growth is fundamentally constrained by her nature. Humans fear control as unyielding, detached, and unfeeling—and that’s what Makima embodies. Even Nayuta, raised with care and love, struggled to fully express affection (in an aggressive, more bratty, spoiled, childish manner of what Control looks like) , reflecting the inherent limitations of what Control represents.
A human, by contrast, is a blank slate. We can grow, change, and adapt. Makima’s existence doesn’t afford her that flexibility. For her, there’s no true “emptiness” because this is simply her state of being. It’s not that she overcomes her feelings; they just don’t exist for her in the way they do for us anymore due to her upbringing, however cold, sterile or government-funded it was implied to be.
So, while I understand why one might see her as depressed, I personally can’t categorize her that way. Her existence doesn’t align with the human concept of depression, at least in my view. But it’s presumptuous of me, I know that. It’s just how I see her. For Makima, this is her life, her purpose, and her identity— complete. There is not a permeating sense of sadness. She has a goal. She controls this goal.
I think, from our outside perspective, her existence is very sad, though. That’s what I always loved about her character. It is an empty life, no matter her view.
This is just my interpretation, though, based on how I understand her as a fictional, inhuman character. As someone diagnosed with a severe form of depression since childhood, I’m not dismissing the concept, nor do I not understand it, so please don’t imply such a thing— I’m only applying it differently here. If you interpret her differently and see her as experiencing depression, I respect that perspective and even agree with it on some terms myself. Fictional characters are open to varying interpretations, and this is simply mine.
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humbledragon669 · 5 months ago
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Lockdown Episode Write Up P2 – dialogue
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Introduction
I don’t think there’s much linking the dialogue with the images (apart from the cake sequence), so I’ve broken this write-up down into tableaus and dialogue, because there are just as many Easter eggs (maybe more) to be had from the tableaus as there are from the script. This part of the write-up will address just the dialogue, with the tableaus addressed in a separate write-up. Right, housekeeping done, let’s get stuck in shall we?
Dialogue
So Crowley picks up on the second ring, sounding very irritated. Considering he’s about to tell Aziraphale how bored he is, you’d think he might actually be relieved about the prospect of somebody calling him. And poor Aziraphale; the brusque greeting clearly puts him off, presumably because he was hoping for a more enthusiastic response, particularly given that Crowley openly tells the angel he knows that it was him calling in the first place.
AZIRAPHALE: Uh… Hello. It’s me! CROWLEY: I know it’s you, Aziraphale.
My thoughts about this exchange? I strongly suspect Aziraphale is the only one that ever calls Crowley. Not only that, I think he’s probably calling the demon multiple times a day at this point. I mean, think about it – neither of them work for their respective agencies anymore. For the first time in 6000 years they can be open about their friendship, no more hiding. And for the first time in those 6000 years something other than Heaven or Hell is making it impossible for them to see each other. I know, they really could have formed a “bubble”, or just ignored the rules completely, given their otherworldly status, but they didn’t because don’t forget – this is a PSA film at heart. Everybody had to STAY AT HOME. Besides, it makes it so much more angsty if they can’t be within physical proximity to one another during this time.
AZIRAPHALE: Just calling to see how you were doing in Lockdown.
Aziraphale actually says makes it sound like this is either the first time the angel has spoken to Crowley during Lockdown (which had been going on for almost two months by the time this minisode was released), or that they don’t speak very often. Personally, I don’t buy this, not least because the demon openly says he’s incredibly bored. And what does Crowley like to do best when he’s bored? Hang out with Aziraphale. Be his personal nuisance.
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CROWLEY: I’ve decided that if I can’t think of anything to do within the next two days, I’m going to have a nap and I’ll set the alarm clock for June.
I *think* this is the first time we have confirmation that he does sleep, at least as far as the show is concerned (I’m not counting cut/missing bits from the Script Book, or from the original book). There’s also proof here that he’s actually an optimist, despite his efforts to convince the world at large otherwise – he’s convinced that everything will be back to normal by June. Interestingly, the UK’s really strict national regulations had actually been eased by the time the minisode was released, allowing those who could not work from home to return to work (yeah, we didn’t really know what that meant either, considering those of us who were classed as key workers never stopped going to the workplace), but June was still a very optimistic estimate – whilst restrictions were eased as we went into July, local governments were given the authority to impose local lockdowns where necessary. And boy, did they.
AZIRAPHALE: Oughtn’t you to be out and about doing things?
It's interesting to hear Aziraphale actually encouraging Crowley to be more demon-like. And he doesn’t just encourage, he gives him very appropriate suggestions for things he could be doing to fulfil his demonly duties. To my mind, it suggests his preference for Crowley in a demonic state. Or it could be an opportunity to emphasise the STAY AT HOME message, seeing as (for once) Crowley seems keen to stick to the rules. Take your pick. I know which one I prefer. Either way, there are two pieces of information here that I find noteworthy – firstly, confirmation that Crowley can’t get sick because he’s a demon. I think it’s interesting what human weaknesses the angel and demon are susceptible to, and which not. Alcohol, for instance, albeit in larger quantities than a human could imbibe, has the same effect on their human bodies as it does to humans. Illness and disease on the other hand, it would seem not. Laudanum, as we see in series 2, has an entirely different effect on Crowley than it would do to an ordinary human, but Hastur informs us that ordinary fire would easily discorporate a demon. Makes me wonder if the effect that a Heavenly or Hellish being has on its hosting body is one to do with constitution – where the body has an increased resistance to toxic substances but is unaffected in its ability to deal with trauma.
The second piece of information in this little plea from Aziraphale is that he says Crowley still has a job to do. Which, given the outcome of season 1, he doesn’t. I don’t think it was made blatantly obvious that neither of them report to their respective agencies anymore, so perhaps this is just a slip of the pen, so to speak. It might have been a bit more difficult to slip in this blatant reminder to people that leaving home was a BAD thing to do and that staying at home was the GOOD thing to do otherwise, and this little speech is very clear about listing certain things that were being actively discouraged at the time.
CROWLEY: I could do that. I mean I could… but if I did then… well…people might follow my bad example and get ill. Or even die.
Crowley’s response is… less than enthusiastic. It’s funny to hear him say that people might follow his bad example – surely that’s exactly what he’s been contracted to do for thousands of years? But again, I am forgetting – the whole point of this piece of media is to remind them why we should all just STAY AT HOME. So, with that reminder, let’s look a little more about Crowley’s actual feelings on the subject, shall we?
CROWLEY: I know I ought to be making people’s lives even worse but everyone’s so miserable cooped up right now anyway I just… don’t have the heart for it.
And therein lies the problem for Crowley and his existence as a demon – he actually doesn’t like to make people miserable. He loves to cause mischief and make trouble, but not with the sole intention to bring misery into people’s lives. Ultimately, he’s just too soft at heart to be a very good demon, which David himself has described beautifully.
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AZIRAPHALE: I’m not miserable. CROWLEY: Really?
I really love this little exchange. Crowley sounds genuinely shocked that Aziraphale is so certain in his proclamation that he’s not miserable. And it’s hardly surprising really – I strongly suspect the reason that Crowley is feeling so down in the dumps is because he’s not getting a regular fix of his angel, so it stands to reason that he would expect Aziraphale to feel the same way. He’s probably had a little bit of his heart broken to hear that his angel is seemingly coping without him so well. It’s a good thing we go on to hear that basically the reason why Aziraphale is so happy at this time is because he’s not getting any customers in with the threat of trying to buy one of his books, although the angel’s speech does present the writer with another opportunity to remind us of our obligations at the time – social distancing and STAYING AT HOME.
You have to be paying attention, but Crowley doesn’t seem too pleased with the idea that Aziraphale might have needed rescuing from some errant youths that he wasn’t able to help with; there’s a quiet groan from him when he hears the retelling of the story. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think there was some sort of double entendre going on here with Aziraphale’s tease of there being “a few young lads” who “broke in through the back”, so that groan could actually be one of relief rather than frustration. What is interesting is that Crowley openly mocks the only potential rescue scenarios that Aziraphale would have had available to him – he’s obviously smarting that he didn’t get to be the white knight for once.
CROWLEY: Did you smite them with your wrath?
I’d be very interested to know if the script had been finished and handed to David and Michael at this time, because that particular line feels like a very obvious reference to the smited/smote/smitten exchange. And if the reference is a genuine one, my double entendre idea doesn’t seem so outrageous, given Crowley’s tone – could he be a little bit jealous?
What now follows is the only time that the images in the minisode link directly with the dialogue going on at the time, and they’re all to do with cake. Trigger warning, what follows is a lot of pictures of cake. If, like me, you are inclined to go out and buy cake as soon as you see a picture of one, I would suggest you look away now.
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What I love about Crowley’s reception of the knowledge that Aziraphale sent the little vandals away with cake is that he uses the same expression that Anathema uses when she asks about the name of Newt’s car.
CROWLEY: I’m going to regret asking…
His tone shows just what he thinks of the angel’s method for rescuing himself. And if you consider Aziraphale’s tale to be a truthful account of what took place, it does seem odd - that somebody could just have a little chat with some wannabe robbers to change their minds, and then send them away with some excess cake. There is however a missing scene in the Script Book where several thugs enter the bookshop and start to make a mess in an attempt to get Aziraphale to sell the land the shop sits on. In a somewhat “miraculous” turn of events (see what I did there?), they change their mind, clear up the mess they made, and leave without a fuss. I suspect the same sort of turn of events occurred to the lads that turned up to steal the cash box.
AZIRAPHALE: It turns out I have a whole cookbook section here in the bookshop.
I love this idea, that the bookshop is so sprawling and diverse that even Aziraphale doesn’t know what it contains, despite the fact that he must have stocked it in the first place. And I love it because that’s the how every second-hand bookshop feels to me. I’ve spent my fair share of time in Hay-on-Wye and its multitude of bookshops, and I genuinely feel like I could get lost in some of them. There are another couple of lines from Aziraphale that suggests that he does not think it possible to eat anything unless it comes from an eatery.
AZIRAPHALE: Well all the restaurants and cafes are closed […] and I got peckish.
Because he couldn’t just go to the supermarket and buy some cake, could he? Like the rest of us were doing (and were allowed to do). He even goes on to say that he had to miracle the cherries in for one of his creations – quite why it was only the cherries he miracled in I don’t know, I mean he must have gotten the rest of the ingredients from somewhere. Which leads me on to another question – where is the kitchen in the bookshop? There must be some facilities somewhere, otherwise he couldn’t make all of those delightful looking goodies. He’s got to have a kettle or a stove for boiling water/milk at the very least for making his cocoa, so where is all that stuff?
Aziraphale then goes on to reel off a list of cakes that he’s made (another nod to the domestic activities that were going on up and down the country – for those not based in the UK, you might not know that during Lockdown it was virtually impossible to get hold of flour or eggs, largely owing to the huge increase in home baking people did), which includes angel’s food cake (you could argue that all of the cakes he makes is angel’s food cake, hahah. Hah. I’ll get my coat). I don’t know whether it’s interesting, whether it’s an oversight, or whether it’s deliberate, but there’s no devil’s food cake on the list that he gives. I’ve made and eaten devil’s food cake before. It’s awesome. I don’t think that he wouldn’t have made this particular recipe because of its lack of deliciousness. I actually wonder whether its absence is an indicator of Crowley’s eating preferences (and as a reminder, I’m someone who is of the mind that he doesn’t enjoy eating – more on this shortly).
 AZIRAPHALE: And then, once I’ve baked them, I have to eat them all myself.
This line makes me properly snort with laughter, because he simultaneously manages to make it sounds like eating all the cake is something he definitely doesn’t want to do whilst also expressing sorrow that he has no-one around to eat them in front of with. The idea that this angel would ever not want to eat food is laughable. Crowley takes the bait on the sub-text though, employing some his tried and tested temptation techniques to try to get what he wants.
CROWLEY: I could hunker down at your place. Slither over and watch you eat cake. I could bring a bottle of- a case of something… drinkable?
This is my favourite line of the whole thing. The throwaway reference to his serpent form is delightful, and who’s to say he wouldn’t transform for his trip over to Soho to avoid being stopped by humans? There’s  the idea that he would very much like to get drunk with Aziraphale again, and this time without an impending Armageddon to spoil the mood, and with the knowledge that he wouldn’t be going home at the end of their binge. But most of all there’s that line about the cake. He doesn’t say he can help Aziraphale eat the cake – he says he can come and watch the angel eat it. Which would not only go some way to confirming my suspicions that he doesn’t like to eat but would also help to cement the popular theory that watching Aziraphale eat is a pleasurable experience for him. The whole line is said with such longing too, it’s impossible not to hear it.
AZIRAPHALE: I’m afraid that would be breaking all the rules.
If you listen carefully to Aziraphale’s rejection of Crowley’s (quite frankly, adorable) suggestion, you can hear another little bit of the demon’s heart breaking with disappointment. I suppose he probably shouldn’t be surprised that his request of Aziraphale to go against protocol wouldn’t have gone down well and besides we were all supposed to STAY AT HOME, remember? What sort of a PSA film would this be if people just went around to other people’s houses for some flirting nookie company when there was a Lockdown in place?
AZIRAPHALE: I’ll see you when this is over.
So of course, Aziraphale says no thank you very much (quite a lot of Tory party members could have learned a lot from the angel’s morals, and none of them are half as likeable as he is), but how incredibly sad does he sound at the prospect of not knowing when he and Crowley will see each other again? Crowley might have quietly voiced his disappointment multiple times during the conversation, but Aziraphale’s own disappointment here is stated loud and clear.
Crowley’s upset can be heard again after this very final sounding line from his angel (and this time it breaks my own heart a little bit) but he rallies well, changing his planned nap end time to July, rather than June as declared earlier. It’s a pretty perfect way to get out of missing someone, isn’t it? Just go to sleep until you can see them again; I’m sure there are a lot of people that would definitely be on board with that approach. He doesn’t leave any further room for discussion either:
CROWLEY: Good night, angel.
It’s very definite – conversation over, nothing more to say. My thoughts are that he’s just too depressed to carry on talking on the phone to the one person he would much rather be spending time with in person, and now that he’s found a quick and painless solution to the problem (a nap), he just wants to get on with it. Charmingly though, this parting line sounds nothing like the dismissal it seems like it is when you see it written down. The delivery of this line conveys the familiarity and comfort that exists between the two of them, and actually makes it sound like this is a regular conversation that they have, despite the dialogue suggesting otherwise. As it turned out, July wasn’t really long enough to get completely clear of the restrictions that would see our heroes united freely, but who can blame him for being optimistic? And at least if he’s asleep, he’s definitely STAYING AT HOME.
Well I think that’s the lot for this write up. So much for this being such a short episode that it wouldn’t need a lot of time devoted to it. It was a fun little thing; in truth I think it serves more as a PSA that as an additional source of storyline/character development but that hasn’t dampened my enjoyment of it. Time to move on to season 2 now (which I am both excited and a little bit nervous about – there is so much to say!), so for the meantime, questions, comments, discussion: always welcome 😊
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littlespacereader · 7 months ago
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Okay, so! @shadowlord23 and I were rant and raving about criminal minds, you know, as one would. We were talking about (spoilers) the season where Spencer gets arrested and is stuck in prison. @shadowlord23 made a great point to say “Well what if that happened and he was a caregiver?” CUE MY BRAIN EXPLODING WITH POSSIBILITIES!
I will warn those about to read this. It’s not the usual happy and fluffy fics I usually write. While I did give this a happy ending, the rest of the fic is sad and definitely hurt/comfort up until that point. Please be warned it’s a sad story for the most part.
While in my eyes I see it as Safe for work because I never write anything NSFW or anything +18, I didn’t put the SFW tag on here because of it’s darker tone. But please know that is doesn’t have any graphic violence or anything +18.
This story is one I enjoyed greatly writing! I loved the different type of story, one a bit angsty. Please let me know if you enjoy it! Thank you again for the idea @shadowlord23 ! 🥹🙌
Through the Glass📞
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Caregiver! Spencer Reid & GN Little! Reader (plus BAU Family)
Tags - tantrums, lots of crying, hurt and comfort, BAU family unite!, hugs, forehead kisses, happy ending, angst…a lot of it, but a strong CG and Little connection,
TW- mentions of violence, mentions of weapons, talk of police, being ripped away from a cg, going to a prison
They explained the plan me not once but three times. Its supposed to be a simple, Spencer goes into the drug deal alone, he pretends to be the seller in order to get the buyer to show up and somehow manages to get this buyer to confess to the murder of our cases victim.
But there was plenty of things that could go wrong. What if the buyer got spooked and shot at him? What if the government didn’t agree with what we were doing? What if-
“Y/N? Are you okay?” Spencer asked looking concerned.
Spencer and I sat together on the bed in our hotel room. Apparently this plan had already been approved by the team…all but me.
“You told the team first because you knew I wouldn’t be okay with it.” I stated the facts plain and simply. I don’t lift my head up, instead I play this plan over and over in my head.
Spencer sighed before nodding his head, “I know it’s risky-.”
“Risky?! Risky isn’t even the word for it! Spencer you could get shot, arrested or kidnapped?!” I look into his eyes, frantic and scared.
“I know. But you also know that all of that could happen outside of this case too.”
“It doesn’t make it okay…”I cross my arms and look away.
“It doesn’t.” Spencer sat closer, wrapping an arm around me, pulling me into a hug.
Spencer wasn’t a hugging type of person but with me he’s the most cuddly person alive. He knew I needed the comfort in this moment, needed the closeness.
“I just-…I just don’t want anything to happen to you.” I turned and cried into his shoulder, wrapping my arms around his neck.
“And nothing will happen. The team will be monitoring everything. You will be monitoring everything with the team. But…”
“But what?”
“But if something was to happen-“
“Don’t say that! You said-.”
“Nothing is going to go wrong but I also don’t want to leave you without knowing what to do if something did happen.” Spencer quickly explained. “If something did go wrong, I would want you to listen to either your Uncles or your Aunts, okay? They would know what to do.”
I shook my head. I didn’t want to think about this. The BAU is my family. Rossi, Hotch, and Morgan are my uncles while Emily, JJ and Garcia are my aunts. But I didn’t want to go to Uncle Hotch or Aunt Emily. I just want him to be okay.
“B-But you’re going to be okay?”
“I’m going to try my hardest to be okay.” He hugged back tightly. “In and out. Then after we’re done and back home, I promise a certain someone that we would go to the aquarium right?” He said, bouncing the Little in his arms.
“To see the sharks?” They lifted their head up.
“Yes sweet love to see the shark. Just like you wanted. It’s a date, just you, me and the sharks. A Caregiver and Little date. And if it’s a really nice day I may be persuaded to get someone some ice cream after.”
He knew bargaining wasn’t the best tactic when it came to discussing something so important but he knew it would put Y/N mind as ease for the time being. Soon enough they started to relax a bit more in his arms. The once worried adult turned calm Little in his arms.
“And see the fishy?” They lifted their head off his shoulder.
“Yeah all the fish you can imagine!”
“Nemo?”
“Yup. I’m sure they’ve got Nemo there. Maybe even Dory.”
“Wow!”
“I think they also have jellyfish and a starfish.”
“Like Patrick?”
Spencer laughed, “Yes sweetheart just like Patrick.”
“But for now my starfish has to go to bed. We have a big day tomorrow.” Spencer brought them into his arms and laid them down on the bed with him, their head resting on his chest. He leaned over and turned off the lamp.
The two sat like that, just holding onto each other before the stressful day tomorrow planned on bringing.
Out of the darkness, a simple question.
“You’ll be okay, right?”
“I’ll be okay Y/N,” he leaned down and kissed their forehead, “I’ll be okay.”
~~~
There’s a lot of problems with this mission. For one, the BAU was working in a country with a government that wasn’t the fondest of America. Their government is mostly corrupt, and while they knew of our presence and what our case was about, there’s a whole lot of trust issues between the two of us.
The next problem was the setup itself. The team and I would be set up far away from Spencer. Close enough to see the setup with binoculars but far away that yelling would have no real reach. This made it so we could spy on everything but have cover so it wouldn’t create suspicion. The biggest issue with this is it made it so if something went wrong we would be too far away to do much about it.
That plus the million other probabilities played in my head on loop. With the binoculars in hand I looked again to the setup, knowing Spencer would be arriving soon.
“Y/N?”
Morgan placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. Everyone on the team must’ve known I was beyond stressed about this plan. And if they didn’t, they could just profile me and tell immediately. Can’t get away with anything when your Cargiver and Aunts and Uncles are profilers.
“Doing alright there kid?”
And if all else failed and the profiling didn’t help, then the fact they’re all Caregivers would’ve given them all they need to know about me.
It wasn’t a secret to the team that I’m a Little. They’ve all known for years, some even babysitting me. They still respect me as a member of the BAU regardless of my need for regression.
“Yeah, just nervous.” I reply back.
“Really? Because I couldn’t tell. I thought everyone grips binoculars that tightly.”
I looked down at my white knuckles around the binoculars and quickly let them go.
“Y/N, Spencer is going to be-.”
“If you say ‘Spencer is going to be fine’ I’ll lose it.” I quickly say, nerves getting to me.
“Sorry Morgan you don’t deserve that. I just-…” I look out to the scene once more before looking back to him, “They couldn’t have chosen someone else to do this? Like someone not on our team? Someone who’s not my Caregiver?”
“I know, I agree with you. But the higher ups fought Rossi and Hotch tooth and nail to get this setup underway. The government seems to really want this guy in for questioning.”
Before I had a chance to argue, Hotch walked over and interrupted, “Everyone get into positions, Reid is on his way.”
And so it begins. Spencer’s car pulls up to the building. He gets out and immediately goes into the building. JJ and Hotch sit together listening to the microphones hidden in the building while I watch the building with Morgan, while Emily and Rossi monitor all the other areas surrounding it.
20 minutes goes by with nothing, no sight of the unsub or anyone else. My nerves start to get to me. My binoculars shake as I hold them up again, looking at the building once more.
“The unsub is here, 3 o’clock.” Emily calls out.
I turn my binoculars to look and sure enough there he is, white suv pulling up to the building. They enter the building and from there I feel as though I can’t breathe.
JJ relays to us in bits and pieces what’s being said and what’s happening. I keep my eyes on the building hoping to just see Spencer give us the signal to move in.
“Guys we’ve got activity at 9 o’clock.” Morgan calls out.
“What?” I turn my head to look. There shouldn’t be any activity outside of the building, not before we move in.
“What the hell is that?!” Rossi calls out angrily.
I turn my binoculars to look. Not one but six black SUV’s speed towards the building. I look in horror towards the team.
“Who is that?!”
“I don’t know.” Morgan replies looking through his own binoculars.
“They’re going to mess with the setup! What if the unsub shoots Reid? What if these people shoot him?” I start to yell out, but no one seems to hear. Everyone’s eyes are on the building as the SUVs pull up.
Once the SUVs reach the building squad patrols exit the car and start rushing into the building. Men and women in swat gear and assault rifles storm the building from the outside. The SUV outside turn their lights on.
Hotch grabs an extra pair and look to the building as well, “This isn’t drug related. They’re government swat teams.” Hotch almost sighs saying. He knew the implications, this was about to get a lot more complicated.
I kept looking towards the building with my binoculars. The world around me almost frozen in fear.
“Doesn’t the government know we’re working out here?” JJ asked.
“They do but they have jurisdiction over us when it comes to crime related issues.” Rossi replied.
“What the hell does that mean?” Morgan asked, getting angry himself.
“It means whatever happens is out of our hands till we reach an agreement with their government.” Hotch sighed again before looking to me.
I wasn’t listening to a word they were saying. I couldn’t. Reid hadn’t come out of that building yet and I wasn’t going to move till he did.
Then suddenly…
The swat patrol pushes the Unsub from the building, handcuffed and bleeding from his head. “They’ve got the Unsub in custody! Maybe Spencer talked to them.”
But just as I finished my sentence, another swat officer came out of the building with Spencer, hands behind his back cuffed, a black eye and a bleeding lip. The sight made my heart stop.
“They’ve…They’ve got Reid.” I say looking in horror.
“What?!” JJ grabbed a pair of binoculars and looked as well.
“They’re arresting him too. They must think he’s in on it.” Morgan tried to reason.
“W-We can go over there and tell them he’s not!” I put the binoculars down. “Come on, we can get in the SUV and tell them!” I practically begged to Hotch, pulling on his arm. But by the looks on his face, the answer was one I wasn’t going to like.
“Y/N,” Hotch said sincerely, trying to take my hand but started shaking my head, back up as tears began to fall down from my face.
“No! No! We can all get in the SUV and we can go get him! He can’t just be arrest for something he didn’t even do?!” My regression wrapped around me like a vice as my panic blossomed. What’s as going to happen to my Caregiver?!
“Y/N we don’t have jurisdiction here. We are not allowed to get involved with their government.” Rossi tried to say.
“I don’t care what we’re allowed to do! It’s Spencer!! We can’t leave him there!” At this point was was practically yelling, begging the team to do something, but they all just looked at me with worried and concerned eyes. Not the same eyes of my team, but eyes of Caregiver’s worried about a Little.
“Kid, I’m sorry.” Morgan started to say realizing that they were right. There is no other way.
“No! NOOOOO! No! I won’t let him be taken away! I WON’T!” I stomp my foot twice, screaming at the team. I couldn’t help but let my frustration and anxiety get the better of me. I couldn’t stop worrying about him.
“Y/N, honey we have to go. If we don’t and they come here, we’ll all be arrest on conspiracy.” Emily tried to explain.
“I’m not leaving him!” I cried out as tears fell from my eyes, “I’m not! If you won’t go get him, then I will! You can all leave without me!” I take my binoculars and throw them towards the team before storming off and walking towards Spencer direction.
In reality there was no way I could walk there on my own. But I wasn’t thinking logically. I just wanted him so badly and I wasn’t going to stop till I got him.
Hotch and Morgan shared a look before Hotch nods his head, almost giving Morgan permission. Morgan nodded back before he runs over, catching up with me.
“I’m sorry about this kid but you’re going to have to trust us on this.” With one swift motion Morgan picks me up and throws me over his shoulder. “Right now, we know what’s best.”
I absolutely lose it. I start kicking and screaming as Morgan carries be back towards the team. “Noooooo!!! Dadeee!!” I called out, my arms stretched towards the building in the far distance. “NOOOOO!!!”
“Pack the essentials back into the car. We need to leave immediately.” Hotch orders.
Everyone starts rushing around and throwing things into the trunk. By the time Morgan comes back to the SUV I’m just crying, begging to be put down, crying out for Spencer.
Morgan helps me into the backseat and quickly buckled me before I had a chance to bolt again. JJ sits to my right and Emily to my left.
“It’s going to be alright sweetheart. It’s going to be okay.” The two of them say back and forth. But I can’t be consoled. I just cry and cry and cry, clinging onto JJ for comfort, wishing it was Spencer instead.
~~~
Everyone glances back to check on Y/N as the car drives back to the hotel. All worried about Y/N and about Spencer. Their priority is to go somewhere secure to talk, one without anyone listening.
Eventually Y/N’s cries die down to little sniffs and silent tears. Every so often someone tried to talk to them but they stayed silent, in shock from the events of the evening. That worries the team more.
Arriving back at the hotel, the team split into two. Hotch, Rossi and Emily split off to make phone calls and see what they could do about Spencer while Morgan, and JJ stayed with Y/N.
JJ lead the way and Morgan followed behind with Y/N in his arms. The Little just played with the collar of his shirt but doesn’t say anything. Silent tears fall from their eyes as they rest their head on his shoulder.
“Is it okay that they’re so quiet?” Morgan whispered to JJ.
“They’re in shock right now. I think it’s going to take them a moment.” JJ answered back.
With Y/N keycard, they opened the door to there and Spencer’s hotel room. The moment there were back in the room though, the shock start to dissipate.
They lifted their head off Morgan’s shoulder and looked to the bed, almost as if they were expecting Spencer to be in the room. When he wasn’t, they wriggled and pushed to be put down.
“Okay, kiddo just give me a second,” Morgan said as he gentle put them down.
Immediately the moment they were set on the ground they took off, searching the bathroom, the closets and the rest of the room, as if Spencer was hiding somewhere.
Morgan went to go to Y/N but JJ stopped him. “They need to figure this out themselves.” She said softly. Her eyes looked so sad as she watched Y/N look for Spencer in the room.
But everywhere they looked, he was still gone.
Even though it wasn’t a new realization, it hit Y/N as if it is was. They stopped and looked at Spencer’s jacket thrown over the desk chair.
How simply the morning was, the two of them getting ready for the mission tonight. The storybook he read the night before sat absent on the nightstand.
The whole room had the makings of Spencer. All without him being there.
Tears started to fall from Y/N eyes again. They grabbed his jacket and wrapped it around their shoulders.
Everything became so overwhelming at once. The reality of the day was setting in. When would they ever see him again? Would they ever see him again? Would they ever be able to get him out of prison?
Too many unanswered question rattled around in their mind. And with it? Anger. Anger about the fact this happened, about the fact they warned Spencer about doing this, and about the fact they couldn’t do anything about it.
So, like any toddler would. They began to throw a tantrum. First it was cry, and screaming. Then it was throwing every pillow off the bed and onto the ground. Then it was every blanket.
This time JJ wanted to step in and try to comfort Y/N but Morgan stopped her for a moment. “Like you said, they need a moment. This time I think to let it out.”
~~~
An hour later Hotch, Rossi and Emily walked into the room, only to find it looking like a tornado had passed through. Every pillow was on the ground along with the blankets and sheets. Clothes from their suitcases were also everywhere.
JJ was sat on the bed next to a crying and screaming Y/N. She gently tried to rub circles on their back to calm them down but it didn’t seem to be helping. Morgan was standing by the door, unsure how to help.
When the rest of the BAU came into the room, both Morgan and JJ looked exhausted. Hotch quickly stepped in, Emily following closely behind to help JJ out and give her a well needed break.
Once JJ got up Hotch replaced her spot, sitting close to Y/N. Emily took a seat on their other side. All the commotion got the attention of Y/N who stopped crying and screaming for a moment and lifted their head off the bed.
They quickly looked to Emily, tears stained face, “Dadee? Come home?” They simply asked.
Emily looked to Hotch then back to Y/N before replying, “Y/N, getting Spencer back is going to be a bit more complicated than we expected.” She starts to explain.
Rossi join the two, standing near the end of the bed, “We talked with our higher ups and updated them on the situation but…we need to give our reports and we need to start a lot of paper work before we can start the work to get him out.”
Y/N looked between Rossi and Emily confused, what did this mean for Dadee? What did this mean for them?
Hotch right away noticed the confusion. He places a hand on their shoulder, “Y/N, in order to begin working on getting Spencer out of prison, we need to go back to the U.S.” He let those words sink in.
And boy did they sink in like an anchor. Though it seemed impossible at this point, fresh tears started to fall from Y/N’s eyes. “W-We can’t leave him here.” They said in a broken voice.
“We’re not going to sweetheart. I promise we’re not. But for right now we have to head back home so we can begin the process of getting him out. And to do that we need to leave this country just for a little while.” Emily explained taking their hand.
“But we can’t, he’s stuck here! We can’t leave!! I-I don’t have…anyone…” Y/N tried to say before going hysterical again. It was all too much. Too much information at once. They were just about to start hyperventilating.
Hotch, making an executive decision, pulled the Little into his arms and cradled their head on his shoulder. Y/N held onto him tightly, crying into his shoulder. He started gently rocking and bouncing them in his arms.
“Y/N, breath. Take deep breaths with me.” Hotch guides them, helping them out of their hyperventilating.
“You’re not alone Y/N. I can promise you that.” Hotch lifted his head from Y/N and looked at his team of Caregivers. Though he didn’t ask, he knew that they would all be willing to step in and help take care of Y/N while they tried to free Spencer.
“We’ve got you.”
~~~
Four months had passed by. Four long months. It feel like just yesterday I saw Spencer arrested and pulled away. Every day I hope he’s okay and wonder what’s happening across the ocean in that prison he’s stuck in. It leaves me with crazy anxiety.
As for me? I’ve been the traveling Little. Every week I go to a different BAU members house. One week I’m with Hotch, the next I’m with Emily, then Morgan and so on. They’ve all treated me so nice and each house feels like a home with them.
They’ve all comforted me through the process of dealing with the temporary loss of my caregiver. Late nights waking up to the same nightmare. Hotch running into the room and comforting me through a crying fits. Or Garcia making me a cup of coco as a special treat.
They all really live up to their nickname BAU Family.
It’s been months and we aren’t even scratching the surface of getting Spencer out. It’s been killing me having to do this the paper work route and not just break him out myself…if I could.
But while they’re working on it back in the States, Morgan, Garcia, Emily and I made a trip back to the country to visit Spencer in prison.
I just…I need to see him. I need to see him again, talk to him again, and make sure with my own eyes he’s okay.
Once we arrived I stick close to Morgan, holding his hand tightly in mine as we stepped foot in the scary looking prison. I leaned close to his side as we walked down the scary hallways with prisoners yelling and shouting at us.
Finally we made it to the visiting room. Each section was like a small cubicle. A phone hung on each side of the wall with a piece of thick glass separating the visitors from the prisoners.
I promised myself I would try hard not to regress. I wanted to talk to him, see how he was doing and try to help him through the glass as much as I can. But as we entered the room, I could feel my regression screaming to take over.
The guard stopped us before we walked over. “It’s one at a time. And each of you only gets ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes?!” Garcia said just as shocked as the rest of us.
“Yes only ten minutes each.”
“Could I give my time to them?” Emily asked, seeing that I was the most anxious to see Spencer.
“No. It’s ten minutes each. Your time starts now. Reid is at cubicle six.” And with that the cold hearted guard walked back to his post.
I looked up at Morgan who gave me a comforting smile, “It’s okay Y/N. Just go spend every minute you can with him.” I nod my head and begin moving to cubicle six. As I walk down the rows I see the other prisoners talking with their friends and family.
But nothing in this world will ever replace the feeling of reach that cubicle and seeing Spencer again.
He smiled warmly at me. His hair is much longer now and his face scruffy, two things I’ve never seen on Spencer before. I start to tear up seeing him. It’s been so long and I’ve been so worried about him. And now? Now he’s here right in front of me.
I immediately take my seat and grab the phone, Spencer does the same. There’s a moment I don’t even know what to say. All these emotions hitting me at once. Tears start to fall from my eyes as I look into his. Thankfully Spencer must’ve realized it and starts the conversation.
“Y/N! It’s so good to see you! I’ve missed you so much!” He smiles again, pure happiness ok his faces.
“I’ve missed you so much. I’ve been worried about you every day wonder that’s happening, what going on there, what’s-.”
“Y/N, Y/N,” he stops me, “I’m okay. I’ve been doing okay here. I promise.” He shared a sad smile with me. Though I know he was trying to reassure me, I didn’t believe him 100%.
“Your hair is so long!” I chuckle.
“It’s is. They don’t give haircuts here.” He joked.
“I like it. It looks nice on you having long hair.”
“Really? Huh. Maybe I’ll keep it then.” He adds pushing his hair back dramatically, I can’t help but chuckle.
“I think about you every day too. I haven’t forgotten our date you know.” He smiles, “The sharks are waiting for us.”
“Yeah…the sharks…” Memories flash back to how we ended up here. I look back up into his eyes, but they’re not the eyes of normal me. They’re the eyes of a Little.
“I miss you.” My voice cracks as more tears start to fall, “I miss your bedtime stories and your cuddles and your hugs.” I begin rambling.
I stop, looking back into his worried eyes, “I just want you back.” I place my hand on the glass, wishing and hoping it would somehow disappear.
He placed his hand on mine, the glass blocking us from actually touching. “I wish I was back with you too. I wish I could be giving you all the cuddle and snuggles you could ever want.”
“I’m working Dadee, I’m working every day to bring you home.” I don’t move my hand from the glass, tears still fall from my eyes as I look into Spencer eyes.
“I know you are darling, I know you are.” He smiles warmly.
“Tell me how you’ve been doing.” Spencer says, trying to change the subject to one more uplifting.
I begin explain everything that’s been happening while he’s been gone. Going between everyone’s houses, the adventures they’ve taken me on.
“Aunt Garcia taught me how to play animal crossing and Uncle Hotch almost set his kitchen on fire when he tried to cook.” I giggle.
“He almost killed my Little?” He joked back.
“No! I saved him with the fire extinguisher!” I say proudly.
“Wow!! I didn’t know you were a firefighter too?” Spencer smiles, making me smile as well.
“Uncle Morgan is trying to get me into jogging with him.” I can’t help but chuckle.
Spencer laughs and smiles, “He’s trying to get you into jogging?“
“Yeah but can’t keep up with him. He’s too fast.”
“I don’t think we’ve jogged a day in our lives.” Spencer laughs some more.
“We haven’t!” I laugh as well, “We just walk in the park. Not running or jogging. Just walking.” I smile, thinking about all the times we’ve walked through the park to our favorite spot. We sit on a blanket together as he reads and I lay down and watch the cloud roll by.
I start rambling, “Me and Mr. Bear have been making a list of all the things we want to do when you’re back. We’ll have tea party, and go to the park, and-.”
“TIME’S UP!” I heard the prison guard yell down to me.
I look over worried then back to Spencer. “No!” I cry out. Looking back at him, trying to memorize his face before they come to get me. “I don’t want to go! I can’t go! Please don’t go!!”
My hand doesn’t leave the window, I hold my hand there not quite ready to take it away. Not ready to leave him. “Please don’t leave! Please!” My eyes meets his, mine looking worried while his look sad. I start to cry.
“It’s okay, Y/N. I promise you I’m going to be okay. I want you to know how much I love you and that I’m thinking of you every day. And how I can’t wait for the day you’ll be back my arms again.” Spencer quickly starts to say, trying to get every last word in.
“Dadee,” I try to catch my breath, “I don’t want to leave you again.” I choke out, trying to catch my breath between sobs.
“We’re not saying goodbye forever bug, we’re just saying goodbye for now.” The world seems to pause for a second as he looks at me and says, “I’ll see you again. I’ll see you soon.”
I nod my head, tears still falling from my face. “I love you.”
Spencer smiled back at me, “I love you too Y/N. I love you so-.”
~~~
Y/N turns to look away from the glass and off to the side. They put their phone down and start shaking their head to someone. Spencer can’t see what they’re looking at or who they’re talking to.
Spencer’s heart shatters as Morgan comes over, placing a hand on their shoulder before he scopes Y/N into his arms. Morgan and Spencer don’t get to talk, but the small nod and look in Morgan’s eye tells him everything he needs to know. Y/N’s in his safe hands.
He watches as Y/N turns and cries into Morgan’s shoulder as he carries them away. With one final glance, the Caregiver and Little lock eyes before Y/N is carried off.
The moment Y/N is out of sight, Spencer breaks down. Trying to put a tough face on for Y/N in showing that he’s alright. But he isn’t. He’s always running the risk of getting beaten up. He’s gotten into one or two of fight which didn’t end well for him. It’s hard being a cop in prison, let alone an FBI agent.
Spencer looks down, crying into his hand. The tough front of ‘everything’s okay’ drops and he’s finally able to let it out. His heart breaks for Y/N. He’s supposed to be there taken care of them, and instead he’s lock up, countries away. All the moments he’s missing out on, all the time.
The phone picks up and someone sits across from him. He doesn’t lift his head till they start talking.
“Reid, I’m so sorry.” Emily tries to say. “These guards aren’t happy with us being here to begin with, and you and I know Y/N would happily fight all of them to have more time with you.”
Spencer wiped his tears and nods. “How-,” he clears his throat, trying not to sound so upset, “How have they been doing?”
“I won’t lie to you, it was definitely a grieving process in the beginning. Then it was getting used to traveling around to everyone’s house every week. But,” She looks off to where Morgan is, holding Y/N in his arms, lightly bouncing them and rubbing their back, “But I think they’re finally starting to settled with us, comfortable regressing.”
She looks into his eyes and shares a comforting smile with him, “They’re doing okay.”
Spencer nods his head taking it all in, “That’s great to hear. I’ve been so worried they haven’t adjusted well, or they’ve been upset about everything.” He rambles.
“They have their moment but they need to have their moments of crying and being upset. Sometimes they need to let it out. I’m just thankful they have people to care for them and allow them a safe space to let it out.” Emily shared a small smile with Spencer.
“So, let’s get down to business before they cut me off.” Emily places her brief case on the table and begins going over their plan for getting him out.
They talk a while longer before Emily’s time is up. Then just when he thought his visit was over, Garcia took a place infront of him.
“Spencer! I love your hair this length! You should keep it this way!” Garcia smiled.
“It’s good to see you too Penelope.”
“So! I’m sure Emily went over all the business stuff with you.” She starts to say, “I’m not here to talk business, I’m here to cheer you up and tell you Y/N’s okay.”
Spencer right away smiles sadly, nodding his head.
“How are they taking it?”
“Very rough, which is to be expected.” She says honestly, “But…they’re not fighting us or trying to go against our help. I think they realizes they need people they can regress freely around so they can process the situation.”
Spencer nods along, listening intently.
Garcia chuckles, “You should only see Hotch and Morgan with them. Talk about softies! You think they’re the toughest men of the BAU? You should only see them when they’re trying to cheer Y/N up. There’s not much they would do.”
Spencer join her in laughing, picture the two of them with Y/N. “That’s something I’d love to see.”
“And I know you will soon. Between our team’s efforts and Y/N determination to find a loophole in the system, you’ll be out of here soon enough.” She smiled warmly.
“I just wanted to take the time to tell you that we’re taking good care of Y/N. Emily paints their nails, JJ and Morgan takes them to the park, Hotch and Rossi have been teaching them how to cook, and I’ve been showing them every movie and playing every video games imaginable.”
Spencer smile again, “Thank you Garcia. Thank you for taking care of my Little one.”
“It’s been our pleasure.” She smiles back. “Hang in there, okay? We’ll see you soon.” She kissed her hand and pressed it to the glass.
Spencer did the same, sharing a small smile with her.
As she stood up and walk away, the guard behind him call his name, visiting hours were up. He sigh, standing up and walking back to his cell. Before he felt empty and now? Now he felt a small glimmer of hope.
~~~
Two more months later there we stood, outside the gates of the prisons waiting endlessly for Spencer. The whole BAU was here to ensure Spencer was brought out safe and sound.
I stood next to Hotch nervously picking at my nails as we waited. He grabbed my hand gently, stopping me from the nervous habit. “It’s okay Y/N. You have nothing to worry about.” He took my hand in his, gently rubbing his thumb over my knuckles.
“But what if-.”
“There’s nothing they can do to keep him in there.” Rossi cuts me off. “They have to release him today.” He reassured.
I nod my head, still not so sure. So there we wait, and wait, and wait.
“Did they give us a time?” JJ asks.
“They said 12 o’clock.” Emily replies.
“And it’s…” Morgan asks.
“It’s 1:37.”
We all sigh.
“If they don’t release him by 2 we’ll raise hell. But for now we’ll wait.” Hotch replies to the group. Looking to me and sharing a small smile.
So we wait some more.
I lean against Hotch’s arms watching the gate endlessly.
Suddenly there’s a loud alarm sound and the gate starts to open. I squeeze Hotch’s hand. “Is it Spencer? Is it him?” I look to him eagerly.
“Let’s wait a moment and see before we go over.” The group watch as the gate opens and a prisoner walks out.
There’s no denying who that is. His hair much longer, almost to his shoulders. His face unkept. But his smile towards the group is the most recognizable sign that it’s him.
I look to Hotch who gives me a smile and a nod.
With that I take off! I start running like my life depends on it. Spencer smile only grows as he sees me running towards him. He kneels down, opening his arms wide.
After months of being without him, it lead us to this moment. I tears fall from my eyes as I finally embrace him, running right into his arms. He wraps his arms around me and picks me up, spinning us around while hugging me tight against him.
We stop, just holding onto each other, tears running down both our faces. “Spencer!! Dadee! I miss you!! I missed you so much!” I cry into his shoulder, holding onto him to tightly.
“I miss you so much. I’ve thought about you every day, thought about this moment every day. I couldn’t wait to hug my little bug again.”
We’ve both been waiting for this moment forever. Long nights sleeping in my bed wishing I could just be cuddled up with Spencer, nightmares that I wish he could protect me from, adventures I wish he would take me on.
It was all over. I held onto with a tight grip. As if I didn’t he would disappear. Finally no more glass to separate us any longer. We are finally back together again. And we’re never leaving each others side.
We break apart but only for a moment as we look into each other’s eyes, “I did it. I got the paper work and I demanded they release you. I never stopped fighting for you.” I cry.
Spencer reaches up and wiped the tears away, “I couldn’t be more grateful for you. Thank you Y/N.” He pulls me back into a tight hug, kissing the side of my head.
The recovery was going to be a long one. Spencer was definitely going to need some time away from the BAU and so was Y/N. They needed to catch up on loss time and deal with what happened together. But for now…
“Now we can go to the aquarium!” I mumble, squish in our hug.
Spencer chuckles. We break apart and he takes my hand in mine. “It would be my honor to finally take you to the aquarium.” He smiles back.
Together we walk towards the rest of the team, hand in hand. Reunited at last.
“What fish are you most excited to see?” I asks as we walk.
“Maybe a star fish.” Spencer replies.
“A star fish?!”
“Yeah. What’s wrong with that?”
“But that’s not even a fish?”
“It’s close to a fish but not technically a fish.”
“Then why is it called star fish?”
“I…don’t actually know. We’ll just have to ask one when we see it.” Spencer smiles, squeezing my hand. I giggle at the silliness and squeeze his hand right back.
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tip-top-cloud-surfer · 2 years ago
Text
A Day with Duckie (Sequel to Three Generations)
Pairing: Rooster / Fem!Reader (Wife!Reader)
Word Count: 2.2k
Warnings: Rooster is a Dad; Female Reader with No Name or Physical Description, No Y/N, Third Person POV; OC Bradshaw Kid without Physical Description (minus a reference to his smile being similar to Rooster's)
This work, all of my other works, and my entire blog are 18+ Only.
Summary: Maverick takes Kai to the zoo for the day and finds out why Rooster was so insistent upon needing a babysitter.
Part of Three Generations Universe
Master List
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About three months after the mission, the Bradshaw family permanently moved from Virginia Beach to San Diego. And they even moved into a house that was only a seven-minute drive from Maverick’s small residence. So, Maverick was over just about every other day. He tried to not encroach on their family time, but Rooster and his wife assured Maverick that they loved having him around.
And the free babysitting offers.
Rooster’s wife always sounded worried that she was completely inconveniencing him when she asked Maverick to pick Kai up from daycare or watch him for a few hours, but Maverick hadn’t turned them down once. He already missed so much time out of Kai’s life and Rooster’s, so any opportunity that he had to spend with either of them, he was going to take it.
And today, Maverick was going to take Kai out to the zoo for the day. Rooster texted him a few days ago, practically begging for Maverick to watch Kai for a few hours, and even offered to pay him. As if Maverick would take any money for watching Grandbaby Goose.
Gliding through the relatively quaint streets of Miramar, Maverick hummed a tune to himself as he made his way to the Bradshaw family home. He pulled into the driveway and parked his Kawasaki beside the Bronco. Turning off the engine, Maverick reached up to undo the strap of his new helmet that Penny bought him only a month ago.
It followed an afternoon where Kai was learning how to ride his bike and gave his mom a bit of sass about not needing to wear a helmet since ‘Mav doesn’t wear one.’ And, so, every time that there was even a chance that Maverick would see Kai, he wore his helmet. Penny even somehow got one customized to replicate the markings on his pilot helmet.
Walking up to the Bradshaw house, Maverick knocked on the door and waited patiently to be let inside. A few seconds later, Rooster opened the door. But before Maverick could even greet him, he was attacked by a very excited four-year-old with seemingly limitless energy.
“Mav!” Kai screeched happily, wrapping his little body around Maverick’s leg.
“Hey, Kai,” Maverick chuckled, stumbling back a little bit. “You excited to go to the zoo?”
“Yeah!”
“And what do you say to Mav for taking you to the zoo?” Rooster asked his son, in that classic ‘parent giving a lesson’ tone.
“Thank you, Mav!”
“Anytime, Kai,” Maverick chuckled, ruffling Kai’s hair.
“Thanks for taking him again,” Rooster replied, letting Maverick hobble inside with Kai on his leg. “We really appreciate it.”
“Stop thanking me for it,” Maverick told Rooster with the classic grandparent tone.
“Can we go?” Kai pleaded, grabbing Maverick’s hand and tugging it a bit.
“Kai, wait a second. Your mom’s still packing your bag,” Rooster stated somewhat firmly. “And you need to put some sunscreen on.”
Kai let out a sigh, but stopped tugging on Maverick’s hand. When Rooster walked off to grab some sunscreen, Maverick squatted down to Kai’s height and motioned for him to come closer, like he had government secrets. Kai quickly perked up and cupped his little hands around his ear for Maverick to whisper his ‘secret.’
“Don’t worry. The zoo’s not even open yet. We’re not missing out on anything,” Maverick assured Kai, poking him in the side.
Kai let out a little giggle and curled away from Maverick, rubbing his side. But the smile on Kai’s face quickly dropped when he saw Rooster returning with sunscreen in hand. Kai didn’t fight his dad, but he certainly pouted through the whole thing. He even shot Maverick a look that screamed ‘see what I have to deal with?’ that made Maverick have to hide a chuckle behind his hand.
As Rooster was finishing up with Kai’s sunscreen, Rooster’s wife walked into the room with a small bag for the day. She greeted Maverick with a wide, kind smile and a quick squeeze of a hug.
“Thank you again for taking him to the zoo,” Rooster’s wife stated as she handed the bag over to Maverick. “He’s been dying to go since we moved out here.”
“Any time,” Maverick assured her, putting the bag on his shoulder.
“Can we go now?” Kai called loudly, sliding out of his dad’s grip easily due to the sunscreen.
“Yeah, you can go,” Rooster replied, handing the bottle of sunscreen over to Maverick. “Behave for Maverick, okay, Kai?”
After a quick set of goodbyes and Kai all but dragging Maverick through the front door, they headed out for the day. Rooster handed Maverick the keys to his wife’s car, which was the car with Kai’s car seat already in it. Maverick set up Kai in his seat and put his little backpack down on the ground before walking around to the driver’s seat.
“Alright, talk to me, Duckie. Am I clear to maneuver?” Maverick asked Kai as he started the car.
Kai made a dramatic show of whipping around to check the driveway and the road for any sign of cars or other hazards. And Maverick, although he already knew that he was clear and was going to triple check for any dangers anyways with precious cargo in the backseat, waited patiently for Kai to finish up with his thorough check.
“You’re clear, Mav!”
“Copy that, Duckie.”
~~~~~
The zoo was rather full on a nice Saturday, but Maverick and Kai intended to have a good time anyways. Kai was still bursting with energy and pointing at everything that he could see and identify. And even though his identification skills were not always accurate, he certainly sold his story.
Kai waved to his ‘Uncle Coyote,’ even though the animal in question was certainly not Javy Machado and was actually a wolf, not a coyote. He also practically screamed in greeting to ‘Grandpa Goose,’ even though the animal was actually a spoonbill.
Maverick was having a wonderful time and happily snapped plenty of photos of Kai for Rooster and his wife in front of just about every exhibit. They made their way through the penguins, the big cats, and now they were on their way over to the reptiles. And, of course, they had to stop by the grander bird exhibits before they left.
Walking around the outside exhibits, Maverick led Kai by the hand as they entered the tortoise area. However, Maverick quickly noticed a frazzled looking zookeeper diverting people further down the path. And when Maverick saw what the tortoises were doing, he quickly understood the situation.
“Let’s keep walking, Kai,” Maverick tried to urge Kai, but Kai inherited his father’s stubbornness.
“But I want to see the turtles,” Kai stated, tugging a bit on Maverick’s hand. “They’re right there.”
“Oh, yeah, they are,” Maverick chuckled nervously, sharing a look with the flustered zookeeper. “Alright, we saw them, so—”
“—What are they doing?” Kai asked curiously, turning to the zookeeper.
“Um,” the zookeeper grunted out, forcing a smile, “they’re, uh . . . they’re just playing with each other.”
“Oh,” Kai held out, nodding along. He turned to Maverick with an innocent smile. “I saw Mommy and Daddy playing like that!”
The zookeeper let out a noise between a squeak and a gasp and slapped a hand over their mouth. A set of heads swiveled over to Kai and Maverick as Maverick tried to not let his eyes pop out of his skill. Maverick didn’t get embarrassed often or severely. But holy hell, he wanted to get away from those stupid turtles or tortoises or whatever the hell they were in that exact moment.
And, well, maybe he figured out why Rooster was so desperate to have someone babysit Kai.
“That’s . . .” Maverick trailed off, unable to find the right word to use. After a few more moments, Maverick quickly whipped around and pointed over at the next exhibit. “Oh, look, Kai, there’s some ducks over there!”
“Where?” Kai asked, whipping around too.
“Oh, you just missed them, but they went this way, come on,” Maverick replied, dragging Kai with him.
“Okay!”
~~~~~
After a dinner of burgers, fries, and milkshakes and a quick stop at a hardware store, Maverick and Kai returned to the Bradshaw family home.
The sun had already started to set, but there was still a glow of light left in the day. Kai was a bit sleepy, so Maverick scooped him up and carried him inside. Kai insisted that he was old enough to not take a nap, but his energy still seemed to have a limit. At least after 5 PM.
The door was already open for him by the time that Maverick walked around. Rooster stepped outside, dressed in a pair of gym shorts and a casual tank top. He smiled softly when he spotted Kai half-asleep against Maverick’s shoulder.
“You tuckered out, Kai?” Rooster called out to his son.
“No,” Kai protested sleepily.
“Alright,” Rooster replied with a light chuckle, taking Kai into his arms.
“I got a you, Daddy,” Kai stated, picking his head up as he transferred hands.
“A me?” Rooster asked, sounding confused.
Maverick opened the bag that he was carrying and held up a brand-new stuffed rooster from the zoo gift shop. Rooster let out a light laugh before pressing a kiss to the top of Kai’s head.
“Yeah, you did, bud,” Rooster agreed as he headed inside. As Maverick stepped inside behind Rooster, Rooster’s wife walked over.
“Hi, Kai. Hi, Mav, how was the zoo?” she asked kindly.
“Well, I can’t speak for Duckie, but I had a great time,” Maverick replied, smiling proudly.
“Was it fun, Kai, honey?” Rooster’s wife called again, rubbing his back soothingly.
“Good,” Kai mumbled out quietly.
“Ok, let’s get you to bed,” Rooster’s wife stated, pulling Kai into her arms and heading for the stairs. She shot Mav a smile and a small wave. “Thanks for taking him, Mav.”
“Any time,” Maverick replied, returning the nod. Once Kai and his mom were out of earshot, Maverick turned to Rooster. “But I have one last gift for you.”
“What? What gift?” Rooster asked, sounding confused. 
Maverick led Rooster out to the car and pulled out a bag from the trunk. Handing it over to Rooster, Maverick motioned for Rooster to open it. Rooster shot Maverick a look, but begrudgingly opened the bag. Pulling out the door lock that Maverick bought him, Rooster took about three half-seconds to register what the gift was, before turning pink with embarrassment.
“He told you?” Rooster groaned, holding a hand to his face.
“Well, apparently there were two tortoises who were ‘playing’ like ‘Mommy and Daddy’ at the zoo,” Maverick replied, folding his arms over his chest. “He forgot about it in about three seconds, but I thought that I should get you a lock. Just in case.”
“You cannot tell anyone,” Rooster begged Maverick, grabbing his shoulder gently. “Mav, I’m dead serious. My wife wouldn’t even look at me for a day after that.”
“I won’t,” Maverick assured Rooster. “Just wanted to spread the embarrassment.”
“You know that I can’t bring this inside, right?” Rooster replied, holding up the lock.
“I’ll leave it in your car,” Maverick stated, plucking it out of Rooster’s hand and putting it into the Bronco. Chuckling to himself, Maverick shook his head, far too proud of himself and this little joke. “You know, if you and the missus needed some alone time, you could have just said that. I babysat you all the time so that your parents could—”
“—Mav, as much as I would love to talk about that,” Rooster interjected, causing Maverick to laugh. “But thank you for watching Kai. We really appreciate it. And he really looks up to you and likes spending time with you.”
“I’m always here if you guys need me,” Maverick promised, nodding curtly. “And tell Duckie that I’ll have the side car attached to my old bike in about a week.”
“I will,” Rooster returned, before he paused. “Wait, what!?”
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