#poor kid had a speech prepared and everything

[littler3d]

You’re laughing? I had a kid come trick or treating to the only Jewish house in the neighborhood and monologue about Reformation day and you’re Laughing!

[sbrinnie]

Even if you bribe a kid into accompanying you, there is no guarantee that said kid would behave, there are negative guarantees if the kid is Richard Grayson.

Of course Bruce could just leave him at the Manor, but his helicopter parenting keep too many terrible scenarios of what might happen with his kid and, most importantly, he would have no excuse to leave the galas early. Taking Dick to the galas was for his benefit more than anything else. But he also knows that if he takes that path his responsibilities double.

Dick needs to be entertained, which is no problem, even though Alfred has a no-screen policy, Bruce is delighted not to be entangled in any unfruitful small talk and just have conversations with his son ward all night.

Dick doesn’t like any of the other kids from high society, so Bruce is prepared to have a child-shaped koala with him all night. They just need to get to 9 o'clock, and then Bruce can excuse them because Dick is tired.

The real problem was the speeches, oh my god, the speeches.

They were too long for Dick’s attention span, and there was not much a napkin could do to distracted someone, they couldn’t talk, or it would be seen as disrespectful (they did it once, and this led to Alfred scolding them both). So, the solution they found was Bingo.

Dick's family used to play Bingo with him while traveling with the circus. “The showman will forget his lines,” or “The clown will have its nose stolen by a baby,” or even “It will rain” – anything was on the table. The bingo cards were made beforehand by them and could list at most 10 things they thought would happen while in the city. Whoever got the most correct wins and could ask for anything they wanted.

Alfred found the idea genius. He did something of the sort with Bruce when he was younger, trying to distract him while Martha and Thomas mingled with the society. By that day beyond, the Waynes had a bingo card for almost every gala they attended. It also served as memory game, trying to remember everyone in high society, and made both of them train their stealth. No one could know what they were doing or the game was lost. The most common to appear was “Drakes will not go” since they were always traveling, and “Kate will be late” once they knew their cousin would do everything in her power to not make an appearance.

The rules were simple: 1 - Behave, if there’s anything but a well behaved appearance the game is over; 2 - The events can not be provoked, you can’t influence the outcomes; 3 - No one can know what they are doing.

Even Barbara got to play! Alfred described it as a gladiator's fight, both having competitors' souls and hating to lose for one another; the end of the night, when the points were counted, sounded like a deputy election. Jim almost never went to galas, but he was glad they were having fun, he was content with free babysitting and a entire day to himself.

And so, the tradition carried on. By Jason's first gala, Dick was so excited that he even spent the night before at the manor helping him complete his card. Soon enough, they noticed the great sibling bonding time in that. Sadly, Bruce had lost his spot in the competition but was happy his kids were having fun together. Tim received his at a patrol before the gala from Dick and just went, “Oh, that’s what you guys were doing all along?” He admits it was his funniest night and less stealthy bingo ever. The Drakes were seated two tables away from the Waynes, and Dick couldn’t stop glaring at him every time Tim made a point. “Just how the kid predicted a whole fight between two mistresses?” The first place was never more difficult to win.

Cassandra and Stephanie almost couldn’t contain their laughter when they scored “Mayor will say ‘and’ at least 27 times,” poor guy got more nervous by each laugh and the point was almost lost because “he started to gag more because of them”. By Damian's time, it was a day’s thing preparation. The whole family was entangled in gossip about high society; they knew about pregnancies, affairs, money laundering. Damian found the game nonsense and refused to play, but they could see him perking by Dick's shoulder to see if he got the point or not.

When Jason was back from the dead and in civil terms with the family, he was given a card by mail and small instructions on the back. Somehow, Jason got the second-highest score that night. When Duke came by, it almost looked like a cambio house! They started to make chips to know how many times someone won (also a attempt to accompany Bruce to the galas with more frequency) and they were exchanged it regularly, it could also be passed down for favors with each other. Bruce and Alfred were the only final line; they cashed the chips for days without patrol, favorite foods, bigger allowances, etc.

They are pretty serious about their game, Cassandra has the most chips but only use them to scape shores, Tim is the champion six galas in a row and Dick as not won a game since he was 17.

[lsgv]

Prompt #15

“What is it? What’s wrong Sidekick?” Hero rushes to shacking sidekick.

“No-nothing… I-“ sidekick tries to explain, but the sobbing doesn’t let them.

“Come here,” Hero hugs them. “It’s ok, shhh.”

Sidekick lets out muffled cries, they can’t control it.

“It’s ok, it’s ok, don’t worry, everything is fine, you’re all right, you’re safe, shhh, it’s ok, you’re safe here.” Hero reassures, poor kid, something bad must have happened.

“I- I don’t know wha-what to do with myself anymore.” They manage to say, shackling. “I don’t-I didn’t know where to go get help, Hero! You’re my-my only hope, Hero, I feel like I’m dying inside. Please, please help me!” Sidekick cries.

Hero is shocked, they had alway thought that Sidekick was alright, how could they miss this?!

“Hey, it’s ok, I’m here, I’ll help you. Don’t worry, I’ll always be here for you, ok?”

Sidekick only nods and hugs Hero tighter.

“I’ll make some tea, just sit in the couch, feel like home.”

“Th-thanks” Sidekick answers sniffing.

“I’ll be right back.”

Hero prepares both tea cups and returns to Sidekick after it.

“Careful, it’s hot. “ Hero hands Sidekick their cup.

“Thanks”

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

“About what?” Sidekick takes a sip of their tea.

“About why you came here in the middle of the night crying?”

“Oh, that… umm, I had an argument with my mom.” Sidekick says embarrassed.

“Oh, what happened? Was it that bad really?”

“Well, umm… I-I-she hit me with a pan multiple times and then gave me a speech on why I’m a failure and why I can’t be more like my brother and all of that… but umm… I also didn’t come immediately here, I, umm, I was kinda sucidal and cut the veins from my arm, then I realized I’m sort of a hero and couldn’t just die, so I stitched me up -kinda- and now I’m here and I don’t think I plan returning home.”

“What the fuck” Hero murmured. “Are you ok?! Do you need help with your wounds? Why didn’t you start there? I-I’ll go get the first aid kid, do-don’t move.”

“Hero, I’m ok, don’t worry.”

“Too late, you’re getting all patched up.”

Sidekick sighed and took a sip or their tea.

“I’m back, where would you like me to start, in the arm or…?” Hero placed the kit on the coffee table.

“The arm, please.”

“Ok, let me see… Oh my gosh, Sidekick, what the fuck did you do?! This is baaaad.” “Sorry?”

“Don’t be, it’s ok, you’re gonna be fine. Just take a deep breath, I’m going to cut the stitches you made, ok?”

“Ok.” Sidekick took a deep breath and Hero rubbed some alcohol, and that alone hurt a lot. Sidekick grunted.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry. It’s almost over.” That was a lie.

Hero then started cutting the stitches, hurting Sidekick more.

“You know what, bite this down, we don’t want more accidents.” Hero handed a bandage roll to Sidekick.

“Ready?”

Sidekick nodded in agreement. Hero finishes cutting through and cleaned everything to restitch them. Sidekick’s screams were muffled but still awful to hear.

“Ok, done!” Sidekick sighed with relief at those words. “Now, did the pan leave any wound that I can help?”

“I don’t think so, I didn’t feel any blood or anything, maybe just bruises.”

”Do you want me to check?”

“No, it’s ok, thanks.”

“Ok. Come here, I’ll show you your room.”

“Room?! As in my room?”

“Yeah?” Hero was confused.

“Wow! I never had my own room! Awesome!” Sidekick was stunned by that.

“Wait, what?” Hero was shocked, they hoped they misunderstood that.

“Yeah, my siblings and I all slept in the same bed.”

“Oh, I see, well, this is all yours.”

“Really?! Thanks.” Sidekick hugged Hero.

“It’s this one.” Hero opened the door.

“Wow!.” Sidekick was impressed, it was enormous.

“Thanks Hero, really, thanks, thanks, thanks!” Sidekick hugged Hero.

“You’re welcome, Sidekick. There’s clothes in the counter and soap and everything you might need on the bathroom. Do you want dinner?”

“Thanks, but I ate at my house. Really, thanks for all.”

“That’s what friends are for.”

And with that, Hero left Sidekick in their new room.

[one-vivid-judgment]

Hi, can I request headcanons for Nanba proposing to his s/o? Everything's perfectly planned - place, speech, a proposal ring and then… a raccoon appeared, exactly that one that attacked Nanba some time ago (bond bingo) and snatched the ring out of his hands :D Thanks!

Nanba, my formerly homeless husband 🥰🥰 Can Ichiban fight, cause that IW turtleneck fit got me acting unwise.

God, this poor man. You just know it took him weeks of mental preparation before finally deciding to go ahead and propose—he talked big game around Ichi when he fumbled the bag with Saeko, but Nanba is a nervous wreck himself when things like preparing a proposal come up. He also had to save up a ton of money to get you a nice ring, and with how much he likes to go out and drink with friends, you know it wasn’t easy.

See, he can’t know for sure if it was the same raccoon he fought that one time, but it must be, because the damn thing took out all the aggression he had in his tiny body out on Nanba. So yeah, in his heart, it’s the same one, or at least closely related. His kid, maybe. Whatever. How is he supposed to explain things to you now that there is no damn ring? Will you even believe that there was one to begin with? Or will you just take it as an excuse and think he was too much of a pussy to go and propose?

Much to his surprise though... You just laugh it off. “Aww, Nan-chan!” You say. “raccoons just can’t stand you, can they?” And Nanba just doesn’t know if he should be surprised that you believed him or not get surprised at all because you have been spending too much time with Ichiban and company lately.

If it were up to Nanba, he would hunt down the raccoon and turn it into a meal after he gets his ring back. Alas, that’s just not very feasible—besides, you did say once that you would marry him with paper rings. It’s up to you to be true to your word now.

(The raccoon lives right down Hamakita Park, not far from where you two live together, but Nanba doesn’t have to know that.)

[chuchiotaku]

OH MY GOD! YOU'RE BACK! YOU'RE... Y-YOU'RE FINALLY BACK HERE!!!

I honestly (almost) don't care that you uploaded the new chapter, I'm way more assured that you are okay and well! After this much time, I could only hope nothing bad had happen.

But I swear that the moment I saw that you updated TBA, I jumped around like a Disney's sitcom Teen Girl, stopped everything I was doing and feasting over your great writing! Now, let me ramble a little bit over this new, great work of yours!

(... also, sorry for the delay, but for some reason I didn't notice you uploaded? Not even on Fanfic.net... maybe it was because it was right around christmas and I didn't noticed it? I don't know, I just want to excuse myself-)

Let's start with Ronald and his new pet friend: what are they called again? Windcallers? I searched everywhere for information about these creatures, but I couldn't find anything. Did you invented it? If so, I really can't wait to hear about them! Poor thing, hurt and alone in a incredibly dangerous world, I'm so glad they met Ronald "I-see-an-orphan-and-I-need-to-act-like-a-father-figure-to-them-or-I-will-die" Weasley, they will be fine as long as Ronald don't do anything stupid.

....okay, not too stupid, expecially after what he just did.

I'll say that I love what you did here, not only you showed Ronald's strategic thinking, but even his tactical acumen, something that is not always sure! The way he started to spread the rumor to put pressure on Quirrelmort, his constant meeting with the other professors just in case something happens to him, framing his enemy without moving a finger, and that final powermove (that was, arguibly, the most stupid and genious move of his) showing his most shit-eating face right in front of the biggest threat to the magical world right now (with his "I'm just a little guy!! You can't be mad at me, I'm just a little wittle boyyy!!!" act and the speech againts It, no wonder Death took a liking for the boy: they both are insanely theatrical!) and not only succeding, but also having a backup plan in case something went wrong with McGonagall!

(...because... because it was planned for her to catch Quirrelmort attaching Ron........ right? You didn't make him confront him right on without thinking.... right????)

(Counter order i just re-readed it and what the hell Ron it's good that you planned for an help but in those minutes everything could have happen! I understand he is still new to this but if he keeps doing this I'll have to call his mother)

This leads me to compliment to you about the new addictiom to the Ron squad! Welcome aboard Gingersnap and Noddy! I hope this will lead to a more in depth discussion about house elves and how Ronald will become more... radical, let's say, about their general situation...

But alas, even after all this preparation, after the danger and risk, thabks to my beloved FIXED POINT IN TIME trope things are going to get really ugly, and really soon. I guess destroying your enemy's plan with a move that is similar to throwing a sledge hammer in a glass house it's not the wisest action if you don't expect them to counter attack.

On an unrelated note I'm so, so,so glad you show the teachers to be actually competent and caring towards the kids! While reading the original books, I always felt like a... disconnection between the students and the teaching staff. By adding the elective and club's teachers too it gives more deapth and a more motivated group of adults that shows how much they want to protect their students, even if they are the first to run towards the danger in the first place. (Also-also, I really, really hope you will give to history of magic the credit it deserve. We History nerds need confirmation that our htperfixations are justified!"

That said, is now Ron and Harry going to speedrun the obstacle race? Will Hermione and Neville join him too? I mean Ron would need an hand, but it will be more people to protect during the chess game, and will the checkpoints be the same too? So many question and too much hype!!!

That said, i can't wait to see the rest of your story, of which I just got obsessed over once again. I will wait as much time as needed, it will always deliver. Cheers!!

So I was doing a speedrun on my asks inbox so far when I saw this, and I was all "WTF? I haven't answered this yet?!"

For shame! I love answering your asks!

Anyway, so sorry for the long overdue response but here it is.

OH MY GOD! YOU'RE BACK! YOU'RE... Y-YOU'RE FINALLY BACK HERE!!!

I honestly (almost) don't care that you uploaded the new chapter, I'm way more assured that you are okay and well! After this much time, I could only hope nothing bad had happen.

Thank you so much. I'm also grateful that I still have the strength and good health to keep writing. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this up until I finish book 7. 😁

Let's start with Ronald and his new pet friend: what are they called again? Windcallers? I searched everywhere for information about these creatures, but I couldn't find anything. Did you invented it? If so, I really can't wait to hear about them! Poor thing, hurt and alone in a incredibly dangerous world, I'm so glad they met Ronald "I-see-an-orphan-and-I-need-to-act-like-a-father-figure-to-them-or-I-will-die" Weasley, they will be fine as long as Ronald don't do anything stupid.

Wow you actually searched about windcallers! I'm so touched by your dedication to this story!

Yeah you won't find any birds called windcallers in the HP world. But remember what Noddy said, that windcallers is what they (the House Elves) call the bird. Wizards have another name for them, and they do exist in HP canon. I dropped a number of references and hints starting Year0 Chapter3-ish about that. Hope that helps.

And yeah, it's a good thing Ron found him when he did. Poor fluffball might have ended up dead, or worse.

I'll say that I love what you did here, not only you showed Ronald's strategic thinking, but even his tactical acumen, something that is not always sure!

That's something I wished the books touched on more often, Ron with his tactical and strategic skillset. He is the pragmatic, practical balance to Hermione's ideal, theoretical mind.

Of course, part of being a good strategist is having backup plans in case shit hits the fan, and having confidence that one can handle it when it does happen. Two skills Ron still needs to develop.

The way he started to spread the rumor to put pressure on Quirrelmort, his constant meeting with the other professors just in case something happens to him, framing his enemy without moving a finger, and that final powermove (that was, arguibly, the most stupid and genious move of his) showing his most shit-eating face right in front of the biggest threat to the magical world right now (with his "I'm just a little guy!! You can't be mad at me, I'm just a little wittle boyyy!!!" act and the speech againts It, no wonder Death took a liking for the boy: they both are insanely theatrical!)

It was a pretty dangerous plan, but at least here we start seeing Ron leverage his resources, and actively playing the game so to speak, instead of subtly manipulating things on his own and hoping for the best.

But one can go to the opposite end of being too active a player if they are not careful.

Also, I think it's just in character for TBA Ron to shove a big F you to Quirrellmort when he can.

(...because... because it was planned for her to catch Quirrelmort attaching Ron........ right? You didn't make him confront him right on without thinking.... right????)

...and not only succeding, but also having a backup plan in case something went wrong with McGonagall!

Of course I did. Ron is learning to take advantage of what he has, including people he can rely on to act certain ways in certain situations.

Does this remind you of a certain someone? Good, because that fact will slap Ron in the face later. He needs that for character development.

(Counter order i just re-readed it and what the hell Ron it's good that you planned for an help but in those minutes everything could have happen! I understand he is still new to this but if he keeps doing this I'll have to call his mother)

This leads me to compliment to you about the new addictiom to the Ron squad! Welcome aboard Gingersnap and Noddy! I hope this will lead to a more in depth discussion about house elves and how Ronald will become more... radical, let's say, about their general situation...

Well it was a plan, not necessarily the safest one. But yeah, high risk for high returns, Ron figured.

Yeah, you might want to keep in mind needing to call his mum in the future.

Actually, call Charlie. TBA Ron is especially scared of pissing him off. 😂

But alas, even after all this preparation, after the danger and risk, thabks to my beloved FIXED POINT IN TIME trope things are going to get really ugly, and really soon. I guess destroying your enemy's plan with a move that is similar to throwing a sledge hammer in a glass house it's not the wisest action if you don't expect them to counter attack.

Yay, Noddy and Gingersnap! The Ron squad will definitely be getting more members in the future, but for now, happy to have them on board!

And Ron has always had a soft spot for House Elves since befriending Dobby. How's that going to play in the future, we'll just have to see.

Butterfly effect in full display here, not to mention some events that are meant to happen no matter what because Ron' will to change is only one against several other factors in play.

But yeah, sledgehammer to glasshouse? Hmm, that is exactly what happened here.

Again, Ron's plans aren't exactly the safest ones. Especially when it comes to himself.

On an unrelated note I'm so, so,so glad you show the teachers to be actually competent and caring towards the kids!

...By adding the elective and club's teachers too it gives more deapth and a more motivated group of adults that shows how much they want to protect their students, even if they are the first to run towards the danger in the first place.

Maybe it was written for kids, but during the first several years, I can relate to the impression thay the Hogwarts staff don't seem to care much for the students, witj two major exemptions (Dumbledore and McGonagall). It is only starting year 5 that you start to see the teachers and the other adults in a more sympathetic, humanizing light.

The lecturers, I think, seem more approachable because they appear more relaxed and at Ron's level from his perspective. Not to mention I aim to give them as much personality as I can.

Speaking of lecturers, I subtly introduced another one who will feature more in book 2. Hope he'll be well received. He's pretty fun to write. 😉

(Also-also, I really, really hope you will give to history of magic the credit it deserve. We History nerds need confirmation that our htperfixations are justified!"

History is a very important subject, and as a history and mythology wannabe nerd, I will die on this hill!

I mean Percy and Hui are right there to make it happen. *nudge nudge*

That said, Ron isn't exactly built to be a historian character. That doesn't mean he won't gain a new appreciation for it.

...That said, i can't wait to see the rest of your story, of which I just got obsessed over once again. I will wait as much time as needed, it will always deliver.

Thanks again so much as always for your aks and your time! I hope you've already read chapter 20 since it answers your questions about what happened beyond the trapdoor.

And hoping to see you in the next chapter!

Cheers!!

Right back at you, mate! 🍻

[mzannthropy]

🎄🎄🎄Merry Maudmas 🎄🎄🎄

The Christmas Surprise at Enderly Road

The story opens with two young men, at home from college for the Christmas holidays. The narrator is one of the young men, Phil, so this is another example of LMM writing from a man's POV in 1st person. They're taking a walk one fine December day in the area behind their village, Blackburn Hill. Phil describes the area as "barrens grown over with scrub maple and spruce". I looked up a Wikipedia article on barren vegetation and it says this type of landscape can be found along the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, so it's possible this is where the story takes place. (I always take it for granted that everything LMM writes in set in PEI but we know that this is not always true.)

Phil and his friend Frank get lost as they're not 100% familiar with the "back lands" as these barrens are called. They know, however, they should be near Enderly Road. Which is not much of a consolation, as it's a poor, deprived place and there is no love lost between the inhabitants of Blackburn Hill and the inhabitants of Enderly Road. The Hillites look down their noses on Roaders and the Roaders think the Hillites put on airs. Soon the two friends indeed find themselves in Enderly Road. They just need to ask the first passer-by for direction to Blackburn Hill so they can safely get home. As it happens, the first person they encounter is a girl, walking home from school--and they can clearly see she's been crying.

Frank, who is good with kids (presumably bc he has younger siblings, not anything, you know, dodgy), asks her what the matter is. The girl, whose name is Maggie, tells them that they can't have the classroom decorated for examinations on Monday, bc the Dickeys are no longer willing to help, despite their earlier promise. The Dickeys are apparently three brothers, the only tall boys in school, who would be able to put the decorations up. But bc the teacher punished the biggest one of them (the gang leader, you could say) for misbehaving in class, they now no longer want anything to with any decorating.

Frank tells the girl not to cry anymore, bc it won't solve the problem and the two friends make their way home, after taking directions from Maggie. They decide they need to do something for the school, so after consulting with Frank's sisters, they hatch up a plan. On Saturday night, they set out for Enderly school, armed with tools. They get in through the window and decorate the room with wreaths and sprays of fir. Frank's sisters have supplied them with some nice paper roses. But they're not quite done with the Enderly school yet. On Monday, they turn up for the examinations; Miss Davis, the teacher, also had her pupils prepare little performances. They stay to watch and during the minister's speech, Frank slips out and when the minister finishes, the door opens and in comes Santa Claus himself, bearing gifts!

Maggie, of course, is able to figure out that it was these two who decorated the classroom and she tells them so. She's a smart one. And the Dickeys are mad, which is the icing on the (Christmas) cake.

This good Christmas deed buries the hatchet between the two villages and they're no longer enemies.

Another cute little story, which, truthfully, could have taken place at any other time of the year--the decorations could have been anything--but that doesn't matter. I love how it's based on such a trifle, a little girl crying over not having a decorated classroom. But that's exactly the point (as Sherlock Holmes says, there's nothing so important as trifles). From what we hear about Enderly Road, the kids there don't really have much, so decorating a classroom would be no doubt an excitement for them. And what are LMM stories if not celebrations of the joy of small things?

The teacher, Miss Davis, is described as pale and tired looking, and I like to think she married one of our two friends.

I'm not sure I entirely buy that the conflict between the two villages ended just like that, but eh, it's a story and ~Tis The Season~ so I'll take it.

[bookofbolden]

TIMING: Current LOCATION: Eleanor's Apartment PARTIES: Farah Bolden-Landry & Eleanor SUMMARY: Eleanor gets a surprise visit from her younger sister who's hellbent on getting her out of Wicked's Rest. WARNINGS: Mention of substance abuse, depression

Farah Bolden-Landry was a fierce woman who had never backed down from any fight and stood firmly upon what she believed in. She wasn’t easily influenced and she spoke her mind no matter how uncomfortable it might make everyone else. She was Eleanor’s biggest role model and best friend, having taken the older girl under her wing almost immediately after she’d been dumped on the Bolden’s doorstep. She’d gladly invited Eleanor to share her bedroom, had made sure that everyone in the intimidating private school all of the Bolden children attended didn’t hurt a hair on her newest sister’s head, and was the first person Eleanor had ever opened up to about her sexuality.

It wasn’t easy for Eleanor to hide how poorly she was doing whenever it came to Farah. It was simple to put on a cheerful voice whenever her parents called or to send a few smiling emojis whenever the rest of her siblings texted, but Farah was different and at times Eleanor wondered if her sister was also an empath because of her uncanny ability to always know when something wasn’t right. She wasn’t used to others being able to pinpoint her emotional state and it made her skin crawl, ironic since she’d been accused of the very same thing her entire life.

It was because of Farah’s immense emotional intelligence that her surprise visit shook Eleanor to the core - she hadn’t even had time to prepare an elaborate speech about how much she loved her new life in her new town.

“Farah?” Eleanor blinked away the last remnants of sleep and stared blankly at her sister. She’d been ripped from her dreamless slumber at the sound of someone banging on her front door, her cotton pajama set crooked and her hair a rat’s nest. She hadn’t even bothered with her glasses which was why the familiar face was somewhat distorted. “Do you know what time it is?”

“Noon, Elle. It’s noon.” Farah responded in her husky voice and took in the dark circles under her older sister’s eyes (which she’d been successful at hiding from everyone else thus far under a layer or two of concealer) and the poor state of the apartment behind her. It wasn't like Eleanor to let her living space become unmanageable, even as a kid she’d been a neat freak and had insisted that everything had a place. “Mom and Dad gave me a big story about how you’re loving it in this shitty town and you're moving on quickly. They said that your therapy appointments are going well, too. I knew it was all a crock of shit. You’re really pulling off the hot grandma look, by the way.” She motioned to Eleanor’s pajamas with a smirk.

Eleanor frowned up at her sister. “Why’re you here?”

“It’s good to see you too.” Farah pushed her way past Eleanor and took a look around the small apartment. “Are you sleeping on the couch?”

Eleanor sighed, closed the door, and turned to face her fate. She’d thought she would have a lot more time before any of her family thought it necessary to make a house call - she’d obviously been letting her mask slip.

Her eyes landed on the couch with its mountain of pillows and blankets. She couldn’t tell the truth that she was terrified of sleeping in her bed because sometimes it still smelled like Lily and other times she would roll over in the dead of night and swear her girlfriend was lying there next to her, softly snoring like she always did.

“It was just one night.” She busied herself with cleaning up the mess on the couch as a way to avoid looking Farah in the eye as she lied through her teeth. “What brings you to Wicked’s Rest? Shouldn’t you be in Canada with your husband?” Farah had married a Canadian businessman and they traveled back and forth often in order to keep in touch with both of their families. 

“He's busy and I wanted to come see my big sister.” The younger woman shared a smile.

“And to check up on me.”

Farah rolled her eyes and flopped down onto the newly tidied couch. “Can you blame me? You’ve been off the grid for a month now and the only things I’m hearing about you are coming from our parents. They’re easy to fool because they want to believe all the things you’re telling them. You know how gullible they are: they gave Dylan another loan two months ago because they still think he’s trying to start up a business even though every time they give him a big chunk of change the local plug gets a new Mercedes.”

Eleanor nodded slowly, her arms crossed over her chest. “So our brother is still struggling with addiction and you've chosen to come here and criticize me because I slept on the couch last night?”

“Not the point and you know it.” Farah responded in a condescending sing-song voice. “Where are all of these friends our parents say you’re making? Are they real or in your head?”

Eleanor scowled and turned to stomp into the kitchen. She needed to keep her hands busy so that she could think through her responses quickly - one wrong word and Farah would have her packed up and on a plane to Canada and there was absolutely nothing she’d be able to do about it.

But her friends were real, she just couldn’t give too much information about them unless she wanted to chance being placed in a padded room while at the same time being specific enough to ensure that her sister knew she wasn’t making anything up. What could she possibly say to Farah? Yeah, my friends are real! And guess what? One of them’s a vampire and the other another undead type. And there was even a water nymph, whatever the hell that is, and she threatened me with a knife before I unknowingly insulted her and she ran off. That wouldn’t go over too well. Her sister knew of her abilities, but she wouldn’t be so open to accepting more than that, even less so if the information was coming from her clinically depressed, recently traumatized sister.

“We’re all adults, they can’t just hang out at my place all day like we don’t have jobs.” Eleanor was surprised to find that her sister was correct about the time but still decided to start making herself breakfast. It was the first time in a week that she’d turned on the stove and let out a deep breath when it went over without a hitch despite being neglected in favor of takeout. “Um… there’s Metzli, we met when they offered to give me some inspiration for my book with their art. They’re an amazing artist, you should see some of their stuff. There’s Ariadne and she’s into ballet like me and she's really sweet.” She was also recently kidnapped, but apparently that’s just something that happens around here from time to time. “Teagan, uh,” although she tried to cover it with a cough the hesitation was noticeable, “Teagan’s here, too.”

“Those names sound made up. Except for Teagan, I kinda like that one. I’m gonna add it to the list.”

At the mention of Farah’s famed list Eleanor spun around and pounced on the opportunity to change the subject. “You two are still trying for a baby? How’re you ever gonna be able to pick a name if you keep adding to that damn list?”

As stern as she was, Farah was unable to stop herself from smiling in response to her sister’s enthusiasm. “Our efforts and the list are still going strong. Mom also offered to get me in touch with all the people they worked with just in case -”

“You’re gonna be able to have your own, sometimes it just takes a little bit of time.” Eleanor interjected when she felt the shift in her sister’s mood turn darker. “Don’t even think about that yet because it’ll just add stress.”

“But we also have to be realistic. And adoption isn’t bad at all, look at how we ended up because of it.” Farah looked over her sister again and Eleanor shifted uncomfortably at the pangs of guilt and pity that were directed towards her. She didn’t want either.

She turned back to the stove and a comfortable silence fell over the apartment, though she could feel that her sister was trying to find something to say that would convince Eleanor to leave with her. It would all be in vain, of course, but she would try as she had multiple times before.

“Elle…” Farah started and Eleanor looked over her shoulder, her jaw set and ready to protest, but she immediately melted when she saw the tired, concerned look on her sister’s face. “We’re worried about you.”

“Don’t be.” She transferred the finished eggs onto a serving plate before she moved to the small desk she’d tucked into the corner of the living room and picked up two large notebooks to show Farah. “I’m working and it’s taking everything out of me, but that’s good! I’m researching and getting out of my apartment and meeting people -”

“For work.” Farah held up her hand to stop Eleanor before she could continue on her rant. “You’re researching and leaving your apartment and talking to people for work. You need to have people over just for fun, or go out and do something that doesn’t involve getting information for your next project. Hell, just go and get some coffee.”

“I’m always getting coffee!” Eleanor felt the frustration bubble up and out of her before she could stop it and she threw the notebooks back onto the table. “I’m always trying but there’s no results so no one sees that, Farah! I leave my apartment and it feels like the entire world is gonna come crashing down on me. I meet someone new and I have to decide whether those feelings that I’m having are actually mine or if I’m just experiencing whatever they’re feeling. I go to get coffee and I have to fight the urge to just drop to the ground because it’s so… loud.” Tears that she hadn’t realized had built up in her eyes spilled over and she swiped angrily at them. “She’s not here to help me anymore. I don’t get to have her around and have her calm me whenever things get bad and I don’t think people understand how awful that is because she’s not just gone, I feel her every single day and she’s terrified and in pain constantly. She’s here, in my mind, but I can’t see her or talk to her, but she’s there just out of reach. Every day, from the moment I wake up to the moment I fall asleep. I feel everything! And the only advice I can get is ‘get out of the house’ or ‘make some friends’. I can leave the house, but she won’t be out there, and I can make some friends, but they won’t be her.”

Farah seemed frozen for a moment until she was finally able to get to her feet and cross the room to her sister. She gently wiped the tears from Eleanor’s cheeks and tapped the tip of her nose like she would do when they were younger. 

“Not once have you said her name out loud - you can’t, can you?”

And there was no reason to argue because it was true. She could type Lily’s name while speaking with people online, but she couldn't bring the name to her lips. She thought life itself would end should she call out and receive no response.

“Come back with me, you’ll have your own side of the house with an actual office and everything, you won’t even have to see me and Daniel if you don’t want to. And when we have a kid… I’ll make sure to keep them away from you until they’re able to self-regulate their emotions. A baby would probably be a nightmare for you now that I’m thinking about it.” Farah straightened Eleanor's pajamas and quickly ran her fingers through the mess of hair atop her head, always the caretaker despite being the younger of the pair. “Everyone would be able to breathe a little bit better if they knew you were with us - or at the very least go home, Mom and Dad would probably die of happiness to have you back.”

Could she leave? She wouldn't want to move back in with her parents because she would be smothered. Her parents had always been concerned about her, but Lily’s disappearance had really amped it up. Eleanor knew that she would never know peace should she return to the Bolden household. But she could live with her sister, without a doubt, and happily at that. Farah was good at giving people space because she required a lot of it herself and she wouldn’t feel the need to check in every hour on the hour, maybe once or twice a day if she’d noticed Eleanor hadn’t left her room for food. It had been extremely easy for the two to share a room when they were teenagers and even though Farah was a little messier than Eleanor liked, they compromised nicely and were able to coexist without driving each other insane.

“You won’t be alone anymore.” Farah added, mistaking the faraway look on Elenaor’s face as her trying to come up with some excuse as to why she should stay.

Eleanor shook her head. “I’m not alone.” She was lonely but not alone, and even that could be fixed with a simple message to either Metzli or Ariadne. She knew either one would be at her front door the moment she confessed she needed them. But that was the problem, she didn’t want to bother them.

“Right, your friends with the weird names.” Farah sighed and took a step back. “Just think about it for me? We could have you packed up and out of here before the end of the week, promise. Only the best for you and absolutely nothing less. I really think that you need to get away from everything that reminds you of what used to be - I mean, what're you even doing here?"

Although Eleanor would have loved to say that she hadn’t been swayed by Farah’s promises she had to admit that the woman had offered an appealing deal. What was she doing in Wicked’s Rest? She couldn’t find a missing person all on her own, especially not now that the police would be no help since they’d determined that Lily wasn’t missing at all but had instead just ran off.

She pulled Farah into a hug. "I'm going to stay, even if it's just a little while longer. I promise I'll be in touch more and be more honest about what I'm going through - with you, not our parents. They don't need to be anymore worried."

Farah let out a short sigh and hugged her back. "You have six months, if you haven't gotten better by then you're coming back with me. I'll have it court ordered and everything, don't make me cause a scene."

And if there was one thing Farah didn't joke about it was causing a scene. Eleanor immediately felt the pressure of the deadline: six months to turn her life around, at least enough to trick her incredibly intuitive sister... would she be able to do it?

She had no choice but to try.

[moonlarked]

Preparing for an exam on hamlet tomorrow and I’m scrolling through tumblr to procrastinate and found your magnificent blog!

What are your thoughts on the play within a play ? Because even before that all the characters are playing a role. Eg Claudius the politician , Ophelia the maiden and hamlet the madman. The play within a play always seemed like an excuse for hamlet (and Shakespeare) to just be a theatre kid

magnificent??? *blushes*

I love the play-within-a-play scene! It’s very much a turning point for hamlet - we’ve gotten an inciting incident, a motivation for the protagonist, and quite a bit of buildup and foundation for his “madness.” However, all of that foundation was less public and therefore more of a personal lashing out. This is where we see hamlet go from a weird little guy in the eyes of the court to well on the path of Public Enemy Number One. After all, he does kill polonius in the scene right after.

Let’s talk about the buildup to this scene! The first scene that we see hamlet in after he sees his father’s ghost is the one where he puts on his antic disposition for polonius and acts out his gripes for polonius’s treatment of him and ophelia’s relationship in the best way he knows how - acting.

This prompts polonius and claudius to figure out if his madness really is related to ophelia, sending the poor girl to act as bait. However, hamlet doesn’t notice ophelia right away, too busy soliloquizing his famous “to be or not to be” speech - which I’ll talk about later. Then, of course, we get the infamous nunnery scene, which can be translated a few different ways - does hamlet genuinely hate her? Is this all part of the act that he’s putting on for the court? Is she in on it as well? All we know is that his emotions are running dangerously high and it’s gonna turn out bad.

But then, directly after he goes after ophelia, we get the iconic passion’s slave scene. Right after he told someone he loved that he despised her, he tells his friend that he loves him. Emotions! We can bring this back to the “to be or not to be” speech - ophelia and polonius left a bad taste in his mouth right after he contemplated suicide, he had his trust broken, he’s paranoid as fuck and he needs to assure horatio that he loves him, he had a connection with him, because he needs someone to be connected with.

What does this all have to do with the play-within-a-play scene, you might ask? It gives us context for his wild emotions!

Listen. I’m of the firm belief that the play-within-a-play was not a bad idea! He needed a way to prove his uncle was really a murderer without incriminating himself, and he would just act crazy in the meantime so no one would suspect a thing. (I’m not going to get into whether his mask of madness was real or how much he was pretending or how much he internalized here, that’s for another post.)

The thing about hamlet is that he sees himself in a narrative, and himself as the tragic hero, and he’s so self-aware of his own actions and faults to the point of despising his own mind. However, as much as he’s aware of himself, he can’t accept that others aren’t in the same story as he is, that they’re working with different goals and narratives and wants and needs, and he needs everything to be controlled and he needs everything to work out as it “should” and as it “has to” that he neglects the possible paths that others may take.

In a nutshell, he’s self-absorbed and self-hating at the same time. Which isn’t an uncommon combination, especially with someone struggling with mental stress as hamlet is.

Hamlet fucks up his own performance during this scene. He goes all in and he sees the perfect game, the perfect ending and he lets his emotions run wild, all his feelings toward ophelia and claudius and gertrude rush to the surface and he can’t let this simply be a “gotcha!” moment because there are simply too many variables here that he can’t control.

(Hamlet instrumenting his own downfall is a running theme, and it’s what eventually leads to is death at the end. But I digress.)

It even continues after the actual “play” is over! He skips the dancing around with ros and guil that he’s been doing this whole play and goes straight into hurting them. He would have killed claudius straight away, had it not been for his need for everything to be as it “should” and for his own christian values to be correct. And this bites him in the ass again, as after a very emotionally charged meeting with gertrude - again, going straight into hurting the people he believes hurt him - he stabs who he believes to be the king. But no. It was polonius. And the ironic thing is, had it not been for his need for everything to be “right”, he would have had his justice right away, because claudius wasn’t even resolving himself of his sins.

And because he made that misjudgment, because he killed polonius, he led himself on the path to his eventual demise.

All because he wanted there to be a narrative, a good narrative, a correct narrative that he could make sense of.

So, yeah, the play-within-a-play is a turning point for hamlet. It shows how desperate he’s getting and how his flaws will get him killed in the end.

[haila-wetyios]

#5 Barbarous

In a future not too far away, a door opens quietly. It’s a force of habit, an instinct of a predator hunting it’s prey. Slowly, methodically, smoothly, like a cat getting ready to sink it’s teeth on it’s target of this game of chase-

“Daddy.” Helia stated instead of greeting her father like a normal person should, causing the poor man to nearly drop the cabbage he’d been washing on his sink. 

This was the norm with her, but really, even her parents probably weren’t used to a young teenager that would seemingly appear out of nowhere with her face covered in red… Was that blood?

“H-helia! Oh no are you alright?-” her father asked, alarmed at seeing his daughter possibly hurt as he wiped his hands to immediately try to asses the damage. But Helia stopped him right away with a casual shake of her head. 

“I stepped on the tomato sauce bottle for lunch.” she stated this time with a casual shrug. As if showing up like she’d gone through bloody murder wasn’t something to really be concerned about. 

Her father wearily lowered his guard, being mindful to remind her to clean up whenever that happens. But it’s all a cautionary reminder that almost always was scattered to the wind. No one new what was going in the Viera/Miqo halfling’s head at all times, including Helia herself. Out of five siblings, she’d certainly taken the cake in oddity. 

“Daddy.” she stated once more. Certainly not doing herself any favors in speech. 

“Yes dear, what can I do for you then?” Luma asked, warily crossing his arms as he eyed his daughter down. 

“Can you teach me how to cook?” she asked with what looked like genuine curiosity, and shocking her father to his very core. 

Helia, the weirdest one, the only one that had taken to Luma’s talent with the bow out of all the kids, which in an of it’s own had been a win to the poor man’s book. But still!... None had taken to cooking, or at least not for reasons that weren’t ‘empty dad’s pantry and pass it off as cooking’. Her twin Howl had certainly tried.... Before the sound of the oven scared him for life away from it. To see a child of his finally take after the stable side of the family was an arrow to the heart of a proud father to say the least. 

But then, as Helia kept the same immutable pokerface, and as her father went through all the stages of bliss and pride over having the opportunity to teach the girl the proper ways of cooking meals and pastries and dreaming of seeing her take over the family bakery someday, a terrible, terrible realization arrived at Luma’s mental doorstep. One that caused a drop in his gut just as quickly as he’d been moved by his daughter’s request. Despite Helia’s weird mannerisms, she was getting older after all. 

“I will more than willingly teach you everything I know about cooking, Helia. But… tell me, is this for a boy?” he asked her, dreading the fact that he’d not been mentally prepared for such a thing in his life yet. Rhua was an adult after all, and he was not her dad, and never played that role, lest he wanted to end his life earlier than expected. 

But nothing would have prepared the poor father as Helia just casually placed a rabbit with an arrow through it right on the counter, staining the cutting board as he’d now realized that yes, the blood red stuff on Helia’s face was in fact the sauce she’d mentioned, but the red trail she’d left all over the house the moment she got inside was NOT sauce. 

But perhaps the worst fact was that Helia just stayed quietly while still covered in red, looking expectantly at her father to teach her how to cook the rabbit she’d hunted down. Not elaborating whether she just wanted to learn how to cook the game she could catch, or cook said catch in order to bring it to someone she liked. She was certainly like a cat that would drop a dead mouse at your feet. And in this case, Luma had been the latest victim or target. 

“It has your same hair color.” she pointed out in a deadpan tone. 

[attapullman]

Mo-Mo, once again, I have returned with our favorite frat boys (lol).

-One of the poor nerdy pledges was getting harassed by the Alpha Beta pricks on the way back to the house one day. He was the textbook definition of a nerd, really, really smart, had a work study job in the I.T department and could fix a car motor like nobody's business. Poor kid had gotten something nasty thrown at him from an upstairs and Rhett and the other brothers were PISSED when they found out. So what do seventy fully grown manimals decide to do? Take matters into their own hands of course. They basically made a bunch of paint grenades and decided they were gonna lob them all at the Alpha Betas to teach them a lesson. The last one was the big one and Rhett and Kayce gathered all the brothers before them and read "The Holy Hand Grenade Of Antioch" speech before letting it fly onto the enemy house (lol).

-Bo Andreola, one of the brothers, grew up in the backwood ocean-marshy areas of Mississippi and was the first in his family to be able to complete college (alot of people in his family had dropped out for either health related issues or for military service). Growing up in Mississippi, Bo was definitely a chunky brother with a thick ass drawl and tended to steer away from people, but knew where and how to find critters. So when all that shit was going down with the Alpha Betas, it was Bo's idea to go to the agriculture students and barter with them for a couple of pigs which he gladly unleashed into the Alpha Beta house.

-Speaking of which, the guys all mooned the Alpha Betas once and they had "Alpha Betas suck dick" each with a letter on their buttcheeks.......it made the yearbook (lol).

-Rhett felt really bad for that poor idiot who couldn't memorize the sex manual so he, Kayce and a few others decided they were gonna do a hands on portion to see if the kid did better. Of course they had to borrow some things from the medical classrooms but once that kid got going he was more than prepared for Florida Fuckfest.

-One time the shenanigans were so worth catching on video. You and a few of the girls in the Phi Gamma house decided to capture the footage of the boys being complete dumbasses during mating season and had the voiceover narrate it like a David Attenborough nature documentary (lol).

-One time during winter midterms, the guys were so stressed out that one of the pledges ran outside naked and started singing "Do you wanna build a snowman" to one of the statues in the park nearby........this is in Montana.......IN THE WINTER!!!!! (lol).

-One time Smitty pissed the boys off really good at a rager. He had snuck in and nobody had realized it. Well, sure enough, dickhead snuck up to you at the bar where Foster's boyfriend was tending and that word went up the chain faster than you could blink. Rhett called everybody into the living room for an emergency meeting to decide what they were gonna do when Foster and Cairo just kinda look at each other like "Bro relax we've got this". Now mind you, Cairo not only tends bar during the ragers but he also does it part time and does the occasional comedy drag show and decided to put his work skills to good use. The Delta Tau brothers snuck into the other house, kidnapped Smitty and dragged him to the basement which Kayce, Foster, Kyle and the rest of the brothers rigged up to look like a sex dungeon. Smitty is literally tied, spread eagle to a bed and handcuffed while Cairo comes out in full drag with a riding crop and everything, ready to give Smitty his "punishment". Rhett and the gang are laughing their asses off and so aren't you. Needless to say, nobody messes with the First Lady on their watch (lol).

Mo-Mo, this had me chuckling on the way home this afternoon and I just couldn't resist (lol).

Mary!!! The detail in this was astounding!!

These boys truly take "don't fuck with us" VERY seriously!! You mess with one of us or our partners? Consider yourself dead meat!

I'm absolutely exhausted, but squealed like a happy little school girl reading through all of these!

Love how these boys endlessly have each other's backs! It's a no questions, no deliberation, we-already-got-you-bro situation always. And Foster and Cairo truly always save the day!

And all of them cooped up in the house, studying hard, knowing that they'll be given an earful from you and your Phi Gamma sisters if they goof off. Thankfully you and the sisterhood have a little something fun planned to blow off steam after finals! (hint: it involves a slip n slide, too much lube, and good use of all those condoms in the front closet 😉)

Thank you for blessing up with our favourite cowboy DTD boys!

[violetrainbow412-blog]

The title won me over, I like to strongly believe that wildest dreams is about Matthew

He’s about to go back into the room when a pair of arms wrap tightly around his middle, and he lets out a breathless laugh. “Hey, angel.”

OH, WE SLEEP TOGETHER??

Spencer, as you have learned, is essentially a human furnace. He exudes so much warmth both figuratively and literally that you have saved probably hundreds of dollars in electricity bills. He is so unbelievably warm and he always gives the best hugs, wrapping his arms around your frame and tracing circles into your skin.

I NEED A HUG FROM THIS MAN. IT'S WINTER NOW, I'M COLD

It is within moments like these where it becomes glaringly obvious that Spencer is no longer the naive ‘kid’ he was when he began working at the BAU. He’s grown into himself now, filling out his dress shirts better and wearing an easy smile on his face. Spencer has always been attractive, all of the girls who loved him before are a testament to that (no matter how bitter you are when coming to this realisation), but he’s now a lot more comfortable with it. He likes to say that you are a big part of that journey. You would simply tell him that the growth was his to make.

Honestly, one of the things I like about Reid's character development is the confidence he gains. That makes him like... sexier, you know?

“I swear she’s only doing this because it’s compulsory at her high school,” you lament, turning around to face him. “And she is so rude. You should have heard what she said to Veronica, Walter, it was insane. Like, she swore in front of a client. In front of a child.”

It's so nice that there are these domestic talks

“You and Spencer have been together for, what, two and a half years?” He asks as he looks over to where Spencer is showing magic tricks to Henry.

SORRY WHAT??? a moment ago we were just courting the poor boy!!

He holds the penny up to your face before snapping his fingers and, lo and behold, the penny was out of sight. He shows both his hands, front and back, a boyish smile on his face. Henry claps at the display, squealing and brushing his long hair away from his face.

Spencer with children>>>>>

“Auntie Penelope is basically a fairy godmother,” you tell Henry in explanation, chuckling. “Like in Cinderella.”

I LOVE YOU PENELOPE GARCIA

You smile innocently as he puts the car into drive, heading off to who knows where. “Have I ever told you that I love you?” “Tell me again,” he prompts, resting his hand on the inside of your thigh as he keeps his eyes on the road.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH PLEASE MERCYYYY

He hums in affirmation. “I heard it’s pretty this time of day. I wanted to take you out somewhere nice, but I don’t know when we’ll have a case next so I figured that this would be the perfect time.”

Is he going to propose something? my god, I hope so

The words die at your tongue upon the sight before you. Spencer, in his once neat suit and tie and all his germaphobic tendencies kneeling on the cold concrete, holding a velvet ring box in his hand. The box looks comically small in his palms as he looks up at you, his eyes glossed over and a tearful smile on his face.

I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT. MY SIXTH SENSE TOLD ME

He chokes out a quiet laugh as you take a step closer to him, wiping the tears away from his eyes. “I had a speech prepared and everything,” he says, embracing the feel of your warm hands on his cheeks. “I can’t even remember what I was going to say.”

HE IS SO FUCKING CUTE

In that moment, as he kisses you on the sidewalk in the pouring rain, you could have sworn that you felt sparks fly.

LIKE THE NAME OF THE FIC???? TELL ME THIS IS NOT THE END

Well, I didn't know how long this would be and when I didn't look at a prompt for "next chapter" a little tear escaped my eyes.

I really enjoyed this, it's short, concise and feels truly magical. You had me hooked the whole time and I swear that closing was awesome, it was like... I don't know, just perfect.

Thank you for this! Keep writing as you do until now, it is worth letting the world see what you have to tell us

And congratulations for the followers! You deserve many more and I know they will come for your art

Kisses and hugs <3

07 — wildest dreams

summary: “he’s so tall, and handsome as hell”/”his hands are in my hair, his clothes are in my room.” pairing: spencer reid x fem!reader genre: best friends to lovers, mutual pining, fluff, slow burn warnings: rated 16+ for lots of kissing hehehe, reader wears a dress + makeup, a final ‘eff u!!’ to jeid LOL wc: 3.3k a/n: we have finally reached the end! thank you all so much for your support during this little project 😚💕 massive thank you to @astrophileous for beta-reading this entire project! congratulations again for finishing your thesis!! SERIES MASTERLIST // MAIN MASTERLIST

Spencer yawns softly as he steps out of bed, running his fingers through his unruly hair. He finally got it cut a few days ago and, even though it’s a lot shorter than what he is used to, he really likes it. After putting on his shirt that has fallen haphazardly to the floor the previous night, he walks into the kitchen to fix himself a cup of tea. 

He stirs the sugar with a spoon tiredly, his vision blurry from both the lack of sleep and the lack of glasses. The muscles of his thighs quiver with each step and he grimaces. Maybe he should start working out with Morgan. He dismisses the thought immediately. He still wants to live. 

He’s about to go back into the room when a pair of arms wrap tightly around his middle, and he lets out a breathless laugh. “Hey, angel.”

You grunt out a noncommittal greeting, your forehead resting between his shoulderblades as you continue to hug him. “Why’d you go?”

“I was thirsty,” he responds, turning around to hug you back. You’re wearing one of his t-shirts that you stole and he glows with pride, pressing a chaste kiss to your forehead. “What’re you doing up, darling?”

“You left,” you respond groggily, leaning into his touch. “Got cold.”

Spencer, as you have learned, is essentially a human furnace. He exudes so much warmth both figuratively and literally that you have saved probably hundreds of dollars in electricity bills. He is so unbelievably warm and he always gives the best hugs, wrapping his arms around your frame and tracing circles into your skin. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, kissing the side of your face. “Go back to bed, angel. I’ll be there in a second, okay?”

You merely nod in response, reaching up and planting a firm kiss to his chin before padding back into your room, burying yourself under the covers. He arrives soon after, shuffling closer to you and pulling you in so that your nose is against his sternum. His fingers find the knots in your hair, skillfully and carefully untangling them. He feels you yawn as he continues his ministrations, and he presses yet another kiss to your head.

“You should move in,” you mumble against his chest, creeping a hand up under his shirt and brushing your nails against his spine.

He shudders at the contact, a quiet groan leaving his lips. “Yeah? You think I should move in?”

It is within moments like these where it becomes glaringly obvious that Spencer is no longer the naive ‘kid’ he was when he began working at the BAU. He’s grown into himself now, filling out his dress shirts better and wearing an easy smile on his face. Spencer has always been attractive, all of the girls who loved him before are a testament to that (no matter how bitter you are when coming to this realisation), but he’s now a lot more comfortable with it. He likes to say that you are a big part of that journey. You would simply tell him that the growth was his to make.

“You basically already live here,” you tell him. “It’s close to the train station and there’s that good Thai place across the road.”

“I’d love to move in with you,” he says softly, stroking your cheeks. He’s had an affinity for your cheeks since he first met you, poking at them teasingly and you would do the same in retaliation. Now, he can let his touches linger. “Really. I can get the rest of my things here by the end of the week.”

“It’s Wednesday.”

He smiles. “Exactly.”

You yawn again, your eyes squeezing closed so tightly that an unnecessary tear slips past the corner of your eye. Spencer wipes it away with his thumb before kissing your nose, relishing in the way you let out a breathless laugh. 

“I love you,” he whispers, his lips brushing against yours.

You beam at him, kissing him softly. “I love you.”

*** 

“And it’s like, if you don’t want to get yelled at, don’t come late to every single shift that you have, y’know?” You complain from your bedroom, pushing your lashes upwards with the side of your finger. You’re leaning over your new white vanity, forgoing the chair, as you try to keep your lashes up. “I mean, I get that this is her first time doing work experience, but come on she isn’t nine. And get this, babe, she doesn’t even have a phone. She’s seventeen years old doing work experience and she doesn’t have a phone. I have to remind her of her shifts through her mother. Do you know how awkward that is?”

Spencer hums as he does up his tie, coming up from behind you and and glancing at you for a moment. “She doesn’t sound like someone who wants to be doing work experience, angel.”

“I swear she’s only doing this because it’s compulsory at her high school,” you lament, turning around to face him. “And she is so rude. You should have heard what she said to Veronica, Walter, it was insane. Like, she swore in front of a client. In front of a child.”

His nose scrunches up at your words, resting his hands on your waist and stroking up and down with his thumbs, feeling your curves through the pretty dress you picked out. “You should fire her.”

“Legally I cannot,” you say with a huff. “But I’m pretty sure she’s going to quit or something. ‘Ronica will let me know, and honestly, good riddance.”

He laughs as he kisses your forehead. “I don’t doubt it, angel.”

You smile at him, no longer disgruntled from your frustrating coworker. “You look really good,” you murmur, pressing a kiss to the underside of his jaw. 

“You look exquisite,” is his quick response, continuing to stroke up and down along your sides. He kisses you slowly, one hand moving to cup your neck and holding you there. “Is this a new dress?”

“Got it for forty bucks,” you say with a grin. “This boutique was having a sale downtown. Guess how much this used to be.”

He laughs at your enthusiasm, kissing you again. “How much?”

“One hundred and twenty,” you say giddily as you straighten his tie. “That’s a steal, right? So I bought two more dresses the same price. That’s like, two free dresses, y’know? Girl maths.”

Spencer can’t help but smile as you tell him all about your shopping spree, his pointer finger dragging up and down your jaw. He doesn’t have the heart to correct you about the inaccuracies of whatever ‘girl maths’ is, instead choosing to nod along. “Yeah?”

You nod with a silly smile. “Yeah! And I figured that I might as well get JJ and Will’s wedding gift while I was out and I got these super cute wine glasses and–”

He cuts you off with a kiss, his fingers delving into your once neat updo, and his mouth pressing firmly against yours. In seconds he has you sat on the seat of your vanity and he leans down to kiss you harder. 

“You’re gorgeous,” he murmurs against your lips, “so pretty.”

“You messed up my hair,” you scold half-heartedly, your fingers grazing against the collar of his shirt. “We’re gonna be late to the wedding.”

“It’s not our wedding,” he breathes, kissing you again and murmuring between them, “they’ll understand.”

You pull away, cheeks hot and lips swollen. “They’ll know.”

“Good.”

“Spencer!”

You arrive at Rossi’s mansion with five minutes to spare, guests already filing through the doors. From the corner of your eye, you spot Aaron and Emily speaking in one of the living rooms while JJ follows an older lady up the stairs holding a white dress in her arms. After placing the wedding gift on the table, you venture out into the garden where the tables are decorated with white lace tablecloths and the chairs have big satin ribbons on the backs of them. Cream and white roses are arranged elegantly on top of the tables and the fairy lights provide an even bigger sense of magic to the scene. 

“The place looks amazing, David,” you praise, beaming at the older man. “Truly, it’s like something out of a fairytale.”

He chuckles as he holds a flute of champagne, gesturing to where Derek stands with Penelope. “I had some help. You’re taking care of yourself?”

“Of course,” you respond, waving to Derek who looks all too pleased to see you again. “It has been a really good couple of years.”

“You and Spencer have been together for, what, two and a half years?” He asks as he looks over to where Spencer is showing magic tricks to Henry. 

“Sounds like a long time, huh?” You ask through a breathless laugh. “It’s been good.”

David smiles proudly at you, patting you on the shoulder. “I’m happy for the two of you. You’re like a daughter to me, you know that.”

“I know,” you respond, grinning. “Thank you.”

“Let me know when the big day happens,” he says with a wink. “It’ll save you from renting a venue.”

You only laugh and shake your head as you move to where Spencer is, ruffling his hair as Henry giggles loudly. Spencer lets out a shout in protest, swatting your hands away lightly before holding them in his own, bringing his lips to the back of it.

“Having fun?” You ask them, grinning at Henry who nods excitedly. 

“Uncle Spencer showed me a magic trick!” He exclaims, clapping his hands together.

“Oh is that right?”

Spencer offers you a sheepish smile, twirling a penny around his fingers. “Do you want to see?”

He doesn’t give you much room to accept or deny the offer, holding the penny in his hands and showing it to both you and Henry. 

“Behold,” he announces, “a normal penny. But this penny can travel through the astrological planes and dimensions. Watch closely.”

He holds the penny up to your face before snapping his fingers and, lo and behold, the penny was out of sight. He shows both his hands, front and back, a boyish smile on his face. Henry claps at the display, squealing and brushing his long hair away from his face. 

“Where’d it go?” Henry asks, pouting. 

Spencer beams at the enthusiasm and holds his hands out again. “Ah, now that is the tricky part. For that, I need an assistant… angel, do you mind?”

He holds you by the waist with left hand, kissing your cheeks before holding his right hand in front of your face. Henry shrieks at the display of affection, covering his eyes exaggeratedly. You laugh out of embarrassment, swatting at Spencer’s arms and rolling your eyes. 

“Stop torturing the poor child,” you scold lightly, wiping away his sloppy kisses. 

“Couldn’t help myself,” he dismisses, before waggling his fingers. “Now, to find that penny…”

He reaches up behind your ear, pinching at something, before revealing the penny in his pinched fingers. He watches as your eyes widen with surprise, his cheeks pinkening in delight. 

“How did you do that?” You ask, grabbing the penny from his hand and turning it over in your fingers. 

“He’s magic,” Henry provides helpfully, clapping his hands. “Just like Auntie Penelope! When I tell her about something, it magically shows up at my house in a big brown box!”

You laugh, not having the heart to inform him that Penelope is not magic; simply very good at spoiling the people she cares about. She has taken you on more than a few shopping sprees in hopes of spoiling her little godson, ooh-ing and aah-ing at the cute clothes and toys in the department stores. Recently, she’s been scouting out jewellery stores, going on and on about how difficult it is to find gifts for people. You had offered a few recommendations of your own, gesturing to the pretty rings and necklaces out on display, but she only dismissed your suggestions. 

“Auntie Penelope is basically a fairy godmother,” you tell Henry in explanation, chuckling. “Like in Cinderella.”

“I love Cinderella,” Henry says, his eyes lighting up. “Uncle Spencer read it to me! He said that the original story is about Ash-poo-tell.”

“Ashputtel,” Spencer explains to you, “the original story.”

“Ah,” you nod in remembrance, recalling the grim details of the story. You ruffle Henry’s hair. “You can hear that story when you’re older.”

The rest of the wedding goes without a hitch. Drinks are handed out by the ushers Rossi hired, along with cute little hors d'oeuvres. The ceremony in itself is perfection; JJ and Will sharing a kiss after saying their vows, and Henry being the ring bearer. Spencer holds your hand the entirety of the celebrations, brushing his thumb up and down the back of your left palm, carefully tracing each knuckle. 

As JJ and Will take to the dance floor, more and more couples join in. Derek and a very drunk Penelope join in with loud giggles, and Beth drags Hotch into the circle by the wrists. Spencer rests his hands on your waist as the two of you stand at the sidelines, watching with amused grins as Penelope trips over her own feet. 

“Hey,” Spencer murmurs into your ear, pulling you closer. “What do you say we get away from the crowd?”

You jump on the opportunity, already picking up your purse. “Who are you and what have you done to Spencer Walter Reid?”

He rolls his eyes at you, shooting a quick message to the team’s group chat to let them know that you were making an early leave. “Very funny.”

“No, no, I’m serious! Do you need to see a doctor? Like, a medical one?” You ask with jest as he opens up the car door for you. 

“Do you want me to change my mind?” He asks, laughing, before getting into the driver’s seat of the car. “I just thought that we could go somewhere. It’s not too late and if we hurry, I think we could catch the sunset.”

You smile innocently as he puts the car into drive, heading off to who knows where. “Have I ever told you that I love you?”

“Tell me again,” he prompts, resting his hand on the inside of your thigh as he keeps his eyes on the road. 

“I love you.”

“I love you,” comes his immediate response, squeezing at the flesh of your thighs through your dress. A street sign passes overhead as he drives, reading the word ‘Anacostia’. 

“We’re going to the Bridge Park?” You ask curiously, peering out the window. 

He hums in affirmation. “I heard it’s pretty this time of day. I wanted to take you out somewhere nice, but I don’t know when we’ll have a case next so I figured that this would be the perfect time.”

After parking the car and locking it, Spencer takes your hand as you walk through the park. It’s a very popular area in Anacostia, the entire neighbourhood holding old historic buildings that have been refurbished. 

You relish the feeling of the breeze in your hair, your cheeks turning rosy as the temperature begins to drop. You made it just in time for the sunset as it paints the park in oranges and a soft lavender haze, your skin flushing gold from the lighting. You commit the image to memory as you stare at the view, your dress fluttering around your legs from the wind. 

In your distraction, you miss the way Spencer’s hand drops from yours, and you search through your purse for your phone. You click open the photo app, putting it onto the selfie setting as you turn to him.

“Walter, let’s take a–” 

The words die at your tongue upon the sight before you. Spencer, in his once neat suit and tie and all his germaphobic tendencies kneeling on the cold concrete, holding a velvet ring box in his hand. The box looks comically small in his palms as he looks up at you, his eyes glossed over and a tearful smile on his face. 

“Hi, angel,” he says softly, his voice cracking at the last syllable. 

“What’re you doing?” You ask, even though you know exactly what is going on. Blood rushes to your ears and you sniffle. “Spencer, your pants–”

“I love you,” he says firmly, the box in his hands quivering as his hands shake. His palms are sweaty and he swallows the nerves down his throat. “I love you. I’m not– I’m not good with words or with expressing how I feel but I know one thing for certain: I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

He chokes out a quiet laugh as you take a step closer to him, wiping the tears away from his eyes. “I had a speech prepared and everything,” he says, embracing the feel of your warm hands on his cheeks. “I can’t even remember what I was going to say.”

“It’s okay,” you murmur, crouching down so that you are eye level with him. “It’s okay, Walter.”

“No, I–” he swallows the lump in his throat and wets his bottom lip. “Love in the English dictionary covers a multitude of feelings. You can love doing something, or love a specific food, or love an object. In other languages, there are different words for different types of love and I think… I think that they got it right. There are a million untranslatable words that all mean love but I think the one that expresses how I feel about you would be the Chinese phrase ‘yuan fen’. It means that two people were… predestined to be together and I think– I know that we were meant to be.”

He sucks in a breath after his rant, smiling up at you. “Will you marry me?”

Tears slip from your eyes as you nod, pulling him up from the cold musty ground. “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”

Spencer exhales, his arms looping around your waist. His nose burrows into the side of your neck and you can feel the hot tears against your skin.

“Thank God,” he breathes, moving his head to kiss your cheeks. “I love you.”

“I love you,” you respond, hugging him tight. “Was there ever any doubt?”

He laughs a little, shaking his head as he fumbles with the velvet box, slipping the ring onto your left ring finger. “No. Never.”

Spencer brushes a strand of your hair away from your face before kissing you slowly, the light from the sun finally going down. As you pull away, the speakers overhead come to life with the announcer clearing his throat.

“Unfortunately, due to the predicted rain that will be coming shortly, the fireworks show will be rescheduled. We apologise for this inconvenience.”

You peer up at Spencer curiously who looked more than disappointed. “Fireworks show?”

“That was the plan,” he says with a small frown. “I’m sorry, angel.”

There’s a crash of thunder and before you know it, small droplets of water begin to fall from the sky. Spencer immediately covers your head with his jacket, pulling you over to the car. 

“Wait, wait–” you laugh, resisting his efforts. “Walter, wait!”

“I’m not letting you get sick,” he scolds lightly, his curls sticking to his forehead from the rain. 

You laugh again, stepping closer to him and wrapping your arms around his neck. “Well, we don’t have a pool but… rain works too, right?”

“You’re insane,” he says, his forehead pressed against yours. “You’re crazy.”

A teasing grin makes its way onto your face as you waggle your fingers in front of him. “Yeah, well, you’re marrying crazy.”

“No regrets,” he responds, before pressing his lips to yours. 

In that moment, as he kisses you on the sidewalk in the pouring rain, you could have sworn that you felt sparks fly.

← previous part || series masterlist →

Thank you everyone once again for your support through this project! I have had so much fun writing it and I am so grateful for all the traction and love that it has received! With the help of this project, we have reached 2.1k followers! To celebrate, I have opened requests and you can find the event page here <3 thank you all once again and until next time !!

reblogs are always appreciated!

[anothanobody]

Dilfren was preparing his "I am married and has a wonderful wife" speech when the saleslady brought out the shampoo and the hair oil. His feelings got hurt ngl. Already considering the hairline surgery.

😭😭😭😭 he wanted to show off his loyalty and his commitment and his kids and he got that. it got him calling jean for a visit for his hairline implant. he can’t believe this. he was horrified completely. mikasa had to pay him on the back, she’s the one telling the sales lady that it’s okay because dilf is in shock. he needs constant reassurance after that. 🤣😭😭😭poor baby, mikasa gonna comfort you that’s gotta heal everything tbh

[goodoldfashionedthoughtcrimes]

When I was about 12 years old I noticed this white stuff in my underwear. It was goopy and creamy but when it dried it became crusty. I had no idea what it was. I hoped that if I ignored it it would go away- it didn’t. Eventually I became worried. I thought that I might be slowly pissing myself, but the texture wasn’t right for that. I considered that I might be intersex, have testes, and that they might somehow be leaking. I wanted to ask someone about it, but because of the inherent shame and tabooness around women’s bodies I was too embarrassed to do so. I figured that even if I did ask someone, they wouldn’t be able to help me. I thought that this white stuff in my underwear was a result of me being a dirty freak.

I felt so much shame around my body. I was terrified of sleepovers or locker rooms or anywhere else where someone might see what’s in my underwear. I carried this shame for almost two years.

Then one day a friend’s mother drove me home from school. This woman kept some kind of puberty pamphlet in the back of the car for us to read. I happened to pick it up and read part of it. The section I read taught me that this “white stuff” in my underwear is called vaginal discharge, it happens to all women, it begins anywhere from a year to a week before your first period, and it’s part of my vagina’s healthy natural functions.

I was so reliveved to know that what I was experiencing was normal, but I was also furious. Less than 50 words could have saved me from years of pain and humiliation. But no one thought to mention it. My school had given us some basic sex ed, but they never covered it. But they did cover wet dreams because obviously that’s more important.

I’ve shared my story with other women and it turns out I’m not the only one that had this issue. Dozens of women got back to me telling me that they had the same experience. One poor girl, she messaged me saying something like, “I know this sounds weird, but thank you for teaching me what discharge is.” She went on to tell me that she was 19 years old and that she had been experiencing it for ~8 years and had no idea what it was until she read my post. As soon as she noticed this white stuff in her underwear for the first time she went straight to her step mother who promptly made fun of her for being a freak. The stop mom took her to the gynecologist but they couldn’t figure out what was “wrong” with her. She had been going to the gynecologist and getting all these unnecessary and invasive exams and tests done. She thanked me for telling her what vaginal discharge was and thanked me for letting her know she’s not alone. I sent her a DM telling and infodumped everything I knew about vaginal discharge.

I couldn’t believe her story. She had been going to licences medical professionals for almost a decade and not one of them could figure out that it was just vaginal discharge.

————

When I was ~13 I put my fingers in my vagina and felt something. It felt like a tampon that had been left in there too long. I tried to pull it out but it was stuck. I then tried to scoop it out, feeling around the edges. That’s when I realized that it was attatched to me. It was not a tampon. I was terrified that it might be a tumor. But I was too scared to say anything because of the inherent shame and tabooness surrounding women’s bodies (again) and also because telling someone would mean having to admit that I put my fingers inside of myself.

About a year later I went to the gynecologist for an unrelated reason. I figured that now was the best time to bring it up. The nurse practitioner told me that I would need a pelvic exam to figure out what’s going on. I had been dreading getting a pelvic exam. I had been avoiding them for years because of a bad experience I had as a child. But I was so worried that I had literal cancer that I decided to tough it out. The nurse practitioner poked around for a while and asked if this object I mentioned was shaped like so. I said yes. She informed me that this object inside of my vagina was my cervix.

My fucking cervix! I never would’ve guessed. In the few diagrams of women’s anatomy that I had seen prior, the vagina and cervix look like two distinct organs. It always looked like the vagina ended then the cervix began. I never knew that the cervix poked out into my vagina like that.

————

I had such horrible experiences I vowed to prevent as many women as possible from experiencing the same thing. I made a point to tell my sisters everything I knew before it would be too late. I volunteered to teach sex ed at my high school. I share my stories constantly in the hopes that it’ll prevent someone, anyone, from experiencing the same thing. If I can prevent just one woman from feeling the same that I felt, all of my work will have been worth it.

Why is this the norm? Why are so many women unfamiliar with their own bodies? Why is it that what litte sex ed we get focused on men and their bodies? Why did my sex ed covered wet dreams and how to wash your dick, but never once mentioned vaginal discharge?

I used to agree that 7th grade was way too early for sex ed. I now couldn’t disagree more. Many girls at my school began menstruating before those two hours of sex ed we got in 7th grade. Children need to know what’s going to happen to their bodies during puberty before it happens, not after.

My area loves to pride itself on having some of the best sex ed in the country, but we really do have so far to go.

This is why I’m going into sex therapy/research/education/writing. I want to give free speeches at middle and high schools so the students will be prepared. I want to write books. I want to write a book directed at parents on how to talk to their kids about their bodies and sex. I want to write a book directed at children and teens about their bodies. I’m dedicating my life to prevent as many people as possible from experiencing what I did.

[leggerefiore]

(Chatting)

Galvantula! Emmet is the only Emmet to have something stronger than the perma horny.

I laughed so hard when you said a full Galvantula! Ingo would just accept his fate as food. The immediate mental image of Ingo dousing himself with some kind of topping be it whipped cream or barbeque sauce on his tiddies sent me. He tells you he wants to taste good.

The sheer confusion because you think he's somehow managed to get immediately horny again and wants you to, metaphorically, eat him. Not that you're complaining, it's just OOC.

And he doesn't particularly want to be literally eaten. But he'll do anything for his mate and it'll be good nutrients for the eggs he planted inside you. Hopefully one will take.

Then he just lays beside you completely still as you're trying to gather the strength for Round 2. He asks to say his final words. It's only then you realized he was expecting to be eaten.

"Ingo, honey, you do realize 99% of humans don't eat their mates right?"

He is shooketh.

High Five Anon

Ingo had prepared his entire life to be dinner for his mate after sex, so the idea of living astounds him. Unbridled joy over getting to see his children and brother again. He likely called Emmet to tell him what he planned to do, to which his brother pleaded for him to not to.

Also, brain says him googling "best sauce for children" and like rubbing ketchup all over himself. Erin seems like the kid to be ketchup all over everything, too. This situation is to blame.

His final words were more akin to a final dissertation, my friend said. He's just about to give a speech asking if they could give him just one boy, and treat all there children with as much love as his mother gave to him and his brother. Poor guy has so much to say and such little time.

[raincitygirl76]

Poor Wille. He misses his brother. And he never really got a chance to grieve. First there was Erik’s funeral to prepare for, then the funeral etc to get through. All televised, so if he broke down during the service or the interment, the entire country would know.

Then he had to cope with people suddenly, constantly calling him by Erik’s title, reminding him every moment of every day that Erik is dead and he’s stuck with that poisoned chalice now.

Then there’s the closer surveillance by police protection officers, who are also calling him by Erik’s title. (Digression: it was totally unbelievable that Wilhelm had NO protection officers prior to Erik’s death. I could see the surveillance of the crown prince being tighter than on his backup. But there’s no way the queen of Sweden’s son wouldn’t have been a high value target for kidnapping or assassination, even if it’s the younger son).

His parents send him back to school, where he has to give a speech about his brother’s death. Ugh! And he breaks up with Simon, because he knows what little freedom he still had when Erik was alive has vanished now. He already knew the second in line for the throne can’t be queer. But it’s even less acceptable for the first in line, knowing full well he has to marry a woman someday and have kids with her. Because his mom reminded him of that after the funeral.

Then there’s the Society night, where he gets high as a kite, wanders off, and drunk dials Simon. And then in the aftermath of that night, he manages to grab some happiness with Simon. Erik’s recent death must still be on his mind, but at least he’s not alone now. He has Simon, he’s in love and they’re in the honeymoon phase.

That lasts all of half an episode before the drug thing comes up, because of that fucker August. He has a huge fight with Simon, who walks out on him, and has to scramble like mad to save Simon from expulsion. But luckily the info Simon gave him about August’s finances early on in their “so my boyfriend is a drug dealer” fight proved to be something Wilhelm could leverage. He fought for Simon, imposed his will on August and the Society.

But Simon still isn’t happy with him. At this point, Wille’s life would be a dumpster fire even if his beloved brother WASN’T recently deceased! The only good thing about the whole Alexander/Society mess is that the screaming panic over his boyfriend getting expelled unless he fixes things probably takes his mind off missing Erik quite so much.

Finally Simon forgives him. Simon’s not entirely over the situation, but he’s relented enough to comfort him when Wille is at the end of his rope. And for all of ten fucking minutes things are still fragile, but looking like they’re on the way back to okay. Simon’s speaking to him again, and that’s huge. Because that fight proved to Wille that he NEEDS Simon like he needs oxygen.

This relationship isn’t just the exhilaration of falling for someone wonderful, basking in their presence, and feeling the giddy glee of sexual intimacy with them. This relationship is also the terrible desperation of Wilhelm not realizing until it’s too late to back out that he’s in love. That trying to function without this person is like trying to function when he’s still bleeding from an amputated limb.

And then that very same evening, Wille’s cousin decides to become a sex offender and release a tape that outs Wilhelm, exposes the true nature of his “friendship” with Simon, and exposes their naked bodies at an intimate moment. To the entire world, or at least the portion of the world with a functioning internet connection. Which is a pretty big portion these days.

And then with everything that happens in 1.06, when does Wilhelm have time to grieve Erik? By the end of S1, he’s heartbroken 3 times over. His big brother is still recently deceased, his boyfriend just broke up with him, and his own mother betrayed and manipulated him. Also, she chose to protect his sex offender cousin over him, because it’s so important for her to conceal her child’s true nature from the world.

At the end of 1.06, Wilhelm has never needed Erik’s support more. But Erik is still dead and never coming back. Wilhelm has no brother, he has no boyfriend, his only remaining immediate family (his parents) can’t be trusted, the cousin Erik told him to trust can’t be trusted, and he knows he will have to hide and lie for the rest of his life, because a queer future king is completely unacceptable. Wilhelm has finally correctly labelled his feelings for Simon as love, but he broke Simon’s heart, and Simon won’t say it back. As far as Wilhelm knows, he’s lost Simon forever. He’s completely alone.

Hardly surprising Wille’s having a minor nervous breakdown in Erik’s room in 2.01. The memories of his brother and the thirst for revenge are the only things he has left.

Scenes I love in season 2 - part 7

[rebelrayne]

Summary Seb isn't overly emotional. He's not a sticky sweet guy who loves a big romantic gesture, or someone who would pick up a bouquet of roses on the way home. But lately... There's something about Valerie. Rated Teen

Under the cut or on AO3

@litgwritersroom Not Gary or Tim, but I gave everyone's favorite non-LI, Seb some love.

also thank you to @mergrl, @csmicletters and @longbobmckenzie for beta reading this 🤍

Seb’s stomach churned just thinking about the cutesy sandcastles everyone built the day before. They made a swing for their kids, they counted the number of bedrooms they’d need. Hell, they even dug little holes and stated that’s where their pool would go. What was next? Naming their children? He’d never been overly sentimental, he wasn’t sappy and sweet. He watched as Bill and Valerie celebrated their win. He liked Viv well enough, he thought she was cute and she was kind-hearted but lately…

“Have you ever wondered why they call it shipping if it comes by truck?” Valerie held a cereal box in front of her and studied the back. It had cartoon characters sprawled all over it with a maze for kids to use. She had her elbows resting on the table as she used an index finger to move through the printed maze. “Seb? What do you think?”

She was quirky as hell, that’s what he thought. “How do you even think of these things, Val?” She never told him that he could call her ‘Val’, but he started to anyway. He noticed that she didn’t let anyone else shorten her beautiful name, it was as if it was a special privilege only for him. “You say the most random things.”

Her chocolate brown hair bounced along with her shoulders while she giggled. “I’m just individualistic,” she explained, “you understand that more than anyone else here, don’t you?” She nudged him playfully with her shoulder. He hated that he felt the way he did. Every time she touched him, even an accidental graze, it gave him a shock. It was too late now, he thought. He knew she was happy with Bill.

“Hey guys!” Speak of the devil. “Valerie, are you eating that stuff? Come on, that’s no good. There’s tons more cereal to pick from in there,” Bill said. Every time that bloke opened his mouth, Seb could feel his eye twitching. He could feel his fists balling, he would start to grind his teeth together tightly. He knew Val was happy with Bill… But dammit, how was she happy with him?

He watched Valerie force a laugh. Didn’t she ever get tired of that? “You and your opinions, babe.” She said it as if it was no big deal, like he was a baby that learned how to clap its hands for the first time. Like it was… cute? Either that, or she was a damn good actress. “How are you feeling about everything, Seb?”

Seb didn’t expect for her to turn the attention back to him. He’d never had the heart to tell her that he couldn’t stand Bill. Everyone in the Villa was a bit too… Positive? Happy? Energetic? Ah, wait… Vanilla, that was the word. “I’m feeling good! I’m well excited to get back home and see Doom and the kittens though.”

“I can adopt one of the kittens, right?” she asked with those big, innocent looking doe eyes. He could never say no to that face. No, never. “Please?” She forced her voice to sound whiny, probably for effect and she knew it would drink him crazy.

Seb laughed and covered his ears as a joke. “Okay, okay,” he said. “Just have mercy on my poor ears.”

“Oh! Hey! I got a text!” Val let her syllables linger as she yelled. She chuckled to herself as she watched Seb shake his head like a wet dog.

“What happened to mercy on my poor ears?” 

Val rolled her eyes as she stood up and flipped her hair back. “There’s no time for mercy, Sebastian!” She rolled her hand into a fist and placed it to her mouth as she cleared her throat dramatically. He felt a smile creep onto his face as he watched her prepare herself as if she was about to give a speech at the Oscars. Islanders, today you’ll be participating in the Lie Detector challenge! Each Islander will choose three questions they want to ask their partner while hooked to a lie detector. Boys, please head to the fire pit. Girls, please move to the roof terrace. #TruthsRevealed #HonestyIsTheBestPolicy

Seb looked over at Viv, who seemed calm yet excited at the same time. He liked her, he did. What was there not to like? But lately…

“You’re getting ready to think of some grilling questions, huh, Seb?” Val elbowed his side playfully. Her coffee-colored eyes sparkled as she giggled at her own joke. She clutched her sides then carefully pretended to wipe under her eye as if she’d laughed so hard, she cried. She waved him off. “Go easy on us, boys!”

Seb decided to go easy on Viv. He knew she wouldn’t dream of asking him anything too difficult, she just wasn’t that way. Viv was so selfless, so sweet. Seb swallowed hard and sunk deeper into the cushions of the sofa, which reeked of coconut sunscreen. He placed his hands in his lap and started to pick at his fingers. What if Viv didn’t go easy on him? He would almost deserve it with his back and forth…

“Are you alright?” Viv asked as she slid up next to him. She was so nice, he thought. Why wasn’t he still excited about her? He met her eyes, which were full of concern. It looked as if she was trying not to pout out her bottom lip, but was failing miserably at the task. “You seem distracted today.”

He shook his head and placed a faux smile on his face. “Sure, I’m great, Viv.” He draped an arm around her and sighed. “I’m nervous about the challenge, you know? This might cause some drama in the Villa and I’m not about that.” Why was he lying to her? He didn’t even know what was going on in his mind exactly… He just knew that his mind wasn’t always on her…

“Drama?!” Val exclaimed as she stood up from her seat. She placed the back of her hand to her forehead and leaned back. “I love the drama!” He couldn’t help but smile, she could turn any day around. She placed her hands on her hips as she giggled. The red fringe on her bathing suit top swayed as she flopped back down onto the couch. Bill went to put an arm around her, but she wiggled away as she continued to giggle. She looked directly at Seb. It couldn’t be, could it? No.

“Classic Val,” Seb said. “You do have quite the flair for the dramatic.” His stomach fluttered when she winked at him. What was this feeling? Was it really that he just wanted her? No. She was happy with Bill and he was… content. “Who do you think is going to go first?”

“Got a text!” Elladine exclaimed as she stood up and waved her phone around. “Looks like Viv is up first and Bill is asking the questions.”

Bill jumped to his feet quickly while Viv followed behind him. He looked so immature, so stupid as he ran off cackling to himself. Seb sent a look over to Val. She quickly looked away. Had she been staring at him? No. That was all in his head, maybe she was just watching Viv and got caught in a daze.

The Islanders watched in silence as Viv was hooked to the machine. Wires stuck all over her body but her eyes were cast down at the floor. “Okay, Viv! Just checking to see if it’s working. Your name is Genevieve, right?”

“That’s right,” she answered. The screen showed the machine glowing with a green light, a loud ding as she sighed in relief.

“Alright, let’s try this one: Do you enjoy sharing a bed with Seb?” Bill read from the notecard like a 6-year-old who couldn’t read yet. He sounded like a robot. Why was Seb picking everything the guy did apart now?

Viv nodded with a bright smile. “Yes.” The machine gave another joyous response.

“Do you think you might want to see where things go after the Villa?”

“Yes.” Ding.

“Okay, Viv, last one: Are you happy to be partnered with Seb?”

“Yes.” Ding.

Why did he feel like such a jerk? Was it because he would have had to answer ‘no’ to all of those questions in order for the machine to give the same response? Oh God, he would have to answer ‘no’ to get that damn machine to light up green like Christmas morning.

His knee started to bounce, a ball formed in his throat. He could only hope he would go last so other Islanders were too involved in their own drama from their own questions… That was wishful thinking, wasn’t it? None of these people would have drama in their couples. He was going to be the only one to lie all day, wasn’t he?

Couple after couple, Islander after Islander… His theory proved to be true: no one was lying and there was no drama. How could a group so honestly boring even exist? How had they found these Jiminy Cricket type people? He groaned to himself, muttering very quietly under his breath as Nicky’s final question prompted a collective ‘Aw’ from the others. It made him sick, all this love talk, all this cutesy shit.

He picked up his phone and felt the color drain from his face. Of course he would have to ask Val her questions. Would she notice him wince when she gave a satisfied response for Bill? Would she catch onto him if he frowned and looked away when she said she liked Bill?

They headed towards the room and for the first time all summer, there was absolute silence between them. “You alright, Val?” He asked as he slipped into his lab coat. He scrunched up his nose upon noticing the pair of glasses laid on the bed for him. Did he really have to put those fake readers on? He rolled his eyes as he snatched them from the bed.

“Yeah, I’m just a tad nervous about the questions,” she said, avoiding his eyes. “Bill is pretty, uh, opinionated.”

“That’s one word for it.” Seb sat down at the computer and ran his hand across the keyboard, feeling the bumps of the letters as he moved his fingers back and forth. “You’ll be great, Val. You always are.”

Val cleared her throat. “Thanks, Seb.” Her voice sounded shaky, unsure of the way to respond. She had every right to be upset, he thought. It wasn’t like Bill was known to be calm and level-headed. “Let’s get this over with, I guess.” That didn’t sound like her at all.

He was almost too angry to read off the questions. This challenge was making her so nervous, her gorgeous smile was no longer an accessory to her outfit. “Alright, don’t be nervous. Let’s start off easy. Is Seb your best friend in the Villa?” He looked over at her and grinned.

Her smile melted him, the laugh she gave made his heart flip and flop inside his chest. “Yes, he is.” Ding.

“Alright. It looks like everything is in order.” He grabbed the small set of notecards and tapped them on the table. “Let’s see, first question: Do you think you and Bill have compatible personalities?” Wow, Bill wasn’t messing around, Seb thought.

“Hm,” she paused, shifting her attention to Seb, “yes.” The machine sent out an ear-deafening scream as it alerted the others of the lie. And here he was thinking there would be no drama. 

“Wow,” he said. “Okay.” He took the first notecard and placed it face down on the keyboard. “Let’s, uh, try another. Don’t worry, Val.” He looked down at the card and rolled his eyes. For fuck’s sake. “Next question: If Bill asked you to be his girlfriend, would you say yes?” Well, the first question probably answered that.

Val chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. She shifted in her seat, squirming uncomfortably. “Uh, well…” She looked towards the headboard of the bed, the opposite direction of the camera. She had her hands in her lap as she tapped her fingers together. “No.” Ding.

“It’s alright, Val.” He put the notecard on top of the other on the keyboard. “We only have one more. Are you ready?” She nodded, but still has her gaze fixated on the bed of the hideaway. “Okay, I’m right here, just remember that.” He hadn’t even looked at the last question, but when he did? “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he mumbled. He wanted to just rip it up. Could he do that? Would it be permitted? His heart pounded in anger, but only because the first two questions had revealed so much. “The last question is: Is there someone else in the Villa you’d rather be with?”

Val’s eyes widened, her lips parted as she looked at Seb. Her eyes flickered down as she started at his lips then she cleared her throat. “Yes.” The two of them sat in an eerie quiet until the machine replied happily. Ding.

“What the heck, Valerie?” Bill’s face was a mixture of so many emotions. He looked pissed, but then he looked upset, but then he looked like he wanted to murder someone? Had it not been caused by something that Val had said, he would have been happy to see someone show some damn emotion in this Villa. “Who is it that you’d rather be coupled with?”

Val walked right past him. She always had her shoulders back, her step always had a bounce to it… But not now. No, now, her head was hung in defeat, she shuffled her feet to the couch and sat down at the very end. She shifted her body away from the other Islanders, leaning herself on the arm of the chair.

Seb went to go after her but Elladine grabbed his arm. “Didn’t you hear me? You’re up.” Damn it.

He followed her back, he hadn’t even gotten a moment to himself. At least he got his wish, he was last… But at what cost? He so badly wanted to tell Elladine he refused to take the test, he should have just said to hell with it and sat down with Val anyway. He knew he couldn’t though… It wasn’t his place, was it? To comfort her that way. But lately…

“Are you ready?” Elladine said as clapped her hands together. “Is your full name Sebastian?”

Seb nodded his head slowly. “It is.” Ding.

“Great!” Elladine snatched the cards from the table and crossed her legs. “First question: Are you happy to be coupled with Viv?”

Technically, he was. Was it lying if he said yes on a technicality? Why was he so nervous to give his answer? “Yes, I am.” He shut his eyes tightly but the machine agreed. Ding. He sighed a breath of relief and let his body relax. Maybe all of the questions would be this simple, maybe she really had gone easy on him.

“Aw!” Elladine’s voice was whiny as she giggled. “Okay, next question is: Is Viv a good kisser?”

Okay, maybe these would be easy. He smiled, confidence oozing. “Yes, she is.” Ding. Too easy.

Elladine nodded and tossed the card to the back of the pile as she shuffled to the final card. Her smile faded. Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no. That did not look good. “Uh,” she said, “well, I guess this is the final question…” She looked at Seb with an apologetic look, the glass of her readers had a glare that made it impossible to see her eyes. “Would you rather be coupled with… with Valerie?”

He wasn’t even in the room but he could practically hear the whispers, the muttering and the shifting of bodies on the couch as they moved to the edge of their seat. “Uh, um.” What was he supposed to say? “I don’t know how to answer that without hurting Viv.” He looked down at his lap again, which was something he had become very accustomed to ever since he started to realize his feelings for Val. How could he not want to be with her?

“I don’t think you can–” Ding. Elladine sighed. “Oh.”

“Yeah…” Seb took a long deep breath. “Oh.”

Viv intercepted him before he got back to the living room, which he was almost thankful for. At least he didn’t need to face everyone after that spectacle. He could only imagine the pained expression that Bill wore… “I had my suspicions,” Viv said as she leaned her shoulder onto the wall in the hallway. “I’m sorry it had to come out this way, I guess.”

“You shouldn’t be apologizing, Viv. It was all me. I should have said something sooner, maybe you wouldn’t have felt like you needed to say it that way.” Maybe the other Islanders and their peaceful ways were rubbing off on him. “Don’t be sorry.”

“I still am,” she answered with the curves of her mouth downturned slightly. “Partially because had I just not asked that question…” She stopped mid-sentence and blinked rapidly, tearing her eyes away from him. “Why didn’t you just say something?”

He was the worst human being on earth. Why wasn’t he happy with what he had? “I don’t know. I like you, Viv, I do, but lately…”

“Stop.” She stood up straight, her hair flopped along with her head as she moved it from side to side. “I need some space from you.” She turned around and trudged away. Even though she said it was okay, even though she told him it wasn’t a surprise… He felt like he should pack his bags and leave for hurting her the way he did.

He took a deep breath and walked towards the roof terrace. There was no way that he was going out there. He wasn’t ready for the bloodbath. Well, more like he just wasn’t ready to face Val. She didn’t think of him the same way, he was sure of it. He’d always just be her best friend in the Villa, nothing more. He pushed the door to the terrace open, a little too violently. He just had to take his frustrations out on something, he couldn’t help it.

He fell onto the bench and grabbed a pillow, putting his face to it and screaming into it. He fell back onto the bench, putting one leg up and allowing the other to stay firmly on the ground. “That’s quite a show you’re putting on there.” He lifted his head to find Val standing at the door. “Can we talk?” She shuffled her feet, kicking at an imaginary pebble on the ground.

He sat up and nodded. “Of course we can, Val.” He held the pillow in his lap and watched her sit down next to him, at least an arms length away. His heart sank at the sight. Your heart can’t really sink, he thought, but that’s how it felt. Not only had he ruined the couple he was in, he ruined his friendship with Val. He couldn’t help it though, not really. It wasn’t like he could get out of asking the question… “I’m sorry about what happened.”

“But what you said,” she paused, “would you rather be coupled with me, Seb?”

He gulped. He couldn’t get out of answering this question either. “At first, I was happy to be friends. You became the person that I wanted to talk to about everything. You were the person I ran to first when something happened, you were the person I wanted to learn everything about. But lately…” He sighed and placed the pillow on the other side of himself. He maneuvered his body to face her. “But lately, I see you and I get excited. I’m not a grand gestures kind of guy. I don’t do flowers, I’ve never kissed anyone in the pouring rain. I’ll never tell you that my heart skips a beat while I serenade you outside your window… But I can tell you that over the past month, there’s no one I’m more excited to talk to. There’s no one else I’d rather spend my lazy days with. I’d swim the ocean to just get one look at you…”

She blinked a few times, seemingly at a loss for words. “You don’t have to feel the same. Heck, you don’t even need to say anything to this. I’m sorry it had to come out this way, Val.” He placed his hands on his thighs to stand up. “I’ll give you some space, okay? I don’t want things to be awkward.”

“Wait!” She placed her hand on one of his. He met her eyes with a look of bewilderment. “At first, I was happy to be friends. I was more than thrilled to just know everything there was to know about you, but lately…” she smiled, “but lately, it’s you I want to see when I wake up in bed in the morning. It’s you I want to kiss goodnight. Seb, it’s you I want to be coupled with. It’s you that I want.”

He didn’t even waste a moment. He cupped her face and pulled her in. He didn’t want to stop and ask himself if this was a dream. He felt her catch her breath as he moved his hand to the back of her head, running his fingers through her hair. Sure, they had complicated things, they had made some waves in the Villa. Seb wasn’t overly sentimental, he wasn’t sappy and sweet. But lately…