#sorry also if the formatting on this is a disaster

[clarenecessities]

He-man.org will close in 5 days.

He-man.org has been a staple of the Masters of the Universe community since the early days, originating as an email list that worked to document episodes before anything (not footage, not lists, nothing) was available online. It grew into a sprawling, multi-faceted beast of a thing, including an encyclopedia (an in-house wiki), merch lists, a marketplace, forums, anything you could think of.

Several years ago now, the main site went down for updates/maintenance. For a few weeks, we were told, maybe months. The forums remained open for fans to communicate, and barring a period of downtime earlier this year things were going smoothly.

Yesterday, the owner of the site, Val Staples, announced the site would be closed on November 14th, 2023. Six days later. We are currently attempting to contact him, to see if he’s interested in selling, and if he means closed as in “no new posts” or closed as in deleted entirely. Regardless of its eventual fate, the archiving of these forums is essential to preserving the history of the franchise, the fandom, and the brand.

TO SHE-RA (and MotU) FANS SPECIFICALLY: I have personally used these forums to answer questions that could be answered nowhere else. Had I not had access to them, I would never have been able to prove that Purrsia was fake, or found so much unpublished concept art, or discovered that Scott “Toyguru” Neitlich personally wrote Catra’s MOTUC bio (even if he’s put off answering my questions about it for over a year now). Forum members have conducted interviews with the likes of Jon Seisa, Cathy Larson, Janice Varney-Hamlin—essential figures in the very foundations of POP, and those interviews revealed and recorded priceless information for future generations (me! you! us!) to find. Did you know Cathy Larson named Adora? That she originally pushed for “Dorian”, after her own daughter? We cannot let this treasure trove disappear into the ether(ia).

TO THE UNAFFILIATED: Please help. Pretty please. If you’ve ever liked my art or my writing or my haphazard blogging, ever, at all, consider archiving just one board. Just one page. Literally anything helps. I am spiraling into madness & this is my library of Alexandria. The mythical one that was totally unique and persevered nowhere else and was destroyed in a single cataclysmic event. Pretty pretty please help.

HOW TO HELP:

Archive.org has several ways to upload shit but most of them are longer term than “a few days” so we’re focusing on two (which can be run simultaneously): Save Page Now, and browser extensions. From their help page:

1. Save Page Now

Put a URL into the form, press the button, and we save the page. You will instantly have a permanent URL for your page. Please note, this method only saves a single page, not the whole site.

We want to keep outlinks and screenshots wherever possible. The Archive does not keep your IP address, so your submission is anonymous.

2. Browser extensions and add-ons

Install the Wayback Machine Chrome extension in your browser. Go to a page you want to archive, click the icon in your toolbar, and select Save Page Now. We will save the page and give you a permanent URL.

One plus to installing the extension is that as you surf around, when you run into a missing page they will alert you if we have a saved copy.

More extensions, apps, and add-ons:

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iOS app

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I strongly encourage you to use these tools even if you aren’t helping with this project/after it ends. Documenting and preserving information is essential in this day and age & The Internet Archive is at the heart of it. Please support them however you can.

I’m serious about paying you, though I may need more communication with folks I don’t know so we can coordinate/verify shit gets done. I think this is a worthwhile pursuit in itself but I recognize your time is valuable & like, people gotta eat. DM me if you’re interested and we’ll talk. I may need to adjust pay depending how many people bite but I’ll do what I can

[sophieswundergarten]

Mental Literature

Reynie had always had a habit of "writing things down" in his mind, he found it helped him remember important details and organize his thoughts. Certain words he liked, or ideas that came to him when he didn't have pen and paper handy. Often, these little notes become lists, or, less often, letters. After all, he had no one to write to at the orphanage.

The lists he used most commonly were the ones that contained new words he'd learned. When he came across one he didn't understand, he'd go get a dictionary from the reading room (One of the few books actually available at the orphanage, and one that had sat through many years of dusty disuse until Reynie had come along), looking it up and tracing the letters with his finger until he had fully absorbed the meaning.

One day, when he was sitting outside enjoying the pleasant weather while the other children ran around on the grass and played various games amongst themselves, he found himself cataloging their names. There was Susan Pennyworth, and Thomas Deerhart, and Jane Poll, and several others that moved about, swiftly engaging in a game of tag. A boy a few years older than Reynie himself walked up to where he was sitting under the ash tree. Vic Morgeroff, Reynie noted.

"What're you doing, Muldoon?" Vic asked in a bored way. Reynie wondered for a moment why he was asking, if he seemed so disinterested.

Quickly, he went through his list of new words, excited to try one out.

"I'm just enjoying the breeze under this large, deciduous ash tree, Vic. How are you doing today?"

Reynie hoped Vic would ask him what the word "deciduous" meant, as he himself had just learned earlier that day. Maybe he would even already know what it meant, since he was older than Reynie, and they could talk about it.

Vic's eyes sharpened as he listened to Reynie's response. "What did you just say, Muldoon? If that was a swear, I'm telling the director. Don't think just 'cause you're quiet and always hiding in one of your books you won't get in trouble."

"No, no," Reynie immediately jumped to correct him, "It's not a swear word, I promise. It's a word I learned this morning, it describes the tree, since it loses its leaves in the winter, as compared to an evergreen, which doesn't."

Somehow, this didn't seem to calm Vic.

"Oh? And what makes you think you can use that word, eh? Is it 'cause you're reading all the time? Think you'll impress someone? Knowing big words doesn't make you special, Muldoon. It- It just makes you a freak, who knows too much."

Apparently satisfied, Vic stalked off, shaking his head and muttering to himself, "Little weirdo, thinks he's better than everyone else."

Reynie watched him go, slightly stunned that his word had evoked such a violent outburst. After a few moments, he sighed, shoulders sagging as he shifted to lean against the tree trunk, closing his eyes. He started a new list. "Unpopular Words".

Months passed, and Reynie was summoned to the director's office.

Mr. Rutger was sitting behind his desk, tapping a pen on it when Reynie entered.

"Come in, come in." Mr. Rutger gestured with his free hand to the chair sitting across from him. Reynie sat down obediently, wondering what this was about. He hadn't caused any trouble lately, although his "Unpopular Words" list was beginning to get long enough that he'd had to start reciting it to himself in the mornings, so as to not forget any. He'd avoided Vic and his friends as much as he could, and continued to do well in all of his classes at the orphanage academy.

"Now, Reynard," Mr. Rutger set his pen down and steepled his hands together just below his face. "Do you know why I asked you to come have this little chat with me?"

Reynie shook his head. What strange thing adults do, he considered, to summon a child purposefully without telling them what is going on and then ask them what they think about it. How is the child supposed to respond?

Mr. Rutger frowned at him, as if that was the wrong answer.

"Well, Reynard, your teachers have reported to me that you've been asking about... opportunities." He said the word as though it was an oily worm that had slipped out of his mouth. "Opportunities to attend other schools. Now, why don't we talk about this? Here you're comfortable, you know how the system works. Your friends are here, and it wouldn't make sense to send you away. Besides, it's against policy for a student to be placed in an external education facility."

Reynie hadn't thought he was asking for "opportunities", he'd spoken to his teachers about taking extra classes only because he was nearing the end of the high school work books, and that was as far as the orphanage curriculum went. He was about to explain this to the director, and add that he didn't have any friends, but Mr. Rutger seemed to have decided that the conversation was over.

"There we are, Reynard." He clapped his hands together, leaning back in his chair, seemingly satisfied with his solution. "See? You'll be much happier here. Oh, and be a good lad and try to clean up that reading room you're always in; it's so dirty."

Reynie nodded, standing up and walking out of the office. He paused on the other side of the heavy doors, taking a deep breath before heading back to the room he shared with four other boys. He added "opportunities" to his list.

Not long after that, Reynie entered his first class of the day with the dull resignation to finish the last few pages of his geography workbook. He'd been trying to take as much time as possible and stretch out for as long as he could, since he knew that once this one was full he'd have to content himself with sitting in the back of the classroom and listening to the teacher go over material he had long since learned. However, upon wishing Mr. Green a good morning, he was told that he had been excused from his classes, and was to report to the main hall.

Reynie walked slowly on his way to the main part of the orphanage. He wasn't quite sure what had changed, but some part of him was hopeful that Mr. Rutget had changed his mind and would let him start taking classes somewhere else. He knew there was a local community college not too far, and he'd be happy to walk there if he could only get permission to attend.

His daydreams were shattered by the sudden image of the orphanage director's expression whenever he had approached him about... anything really. He'd asked, more than once, if they might be able to get a few more books for him to read, if the school kids might take a field trip to the museum, if there was any way that he could help pay for further education, he'd even offered to go through the orphanage's policies and Stonetown's bylaws himself to see if there was an exception or loophole that would allow him to attend the Boatwright Academy. All of these queries had ended with Mr. Rutger looking down at him, lips pursed in a sour pout. This had been going on for so long that Reynie noticed the same expression twisting Mr. Rutger's face every time he even entered the same room as Reynie.

He prepared himself to see that expression before opening the door to the main hall, but instead he found a woman. One he had never seen before and knew didn't work at the orphanage because she was wearing a lovely pink sweater over a floral patterned shirt. No one at the orphanage wore nice sweaters or bright colors. Everything there was drab, as if the color was leeched out of it upon crossing the threshold. This woman was certainly not drab, and smiled warmly at him as she rose from the table she was seated at.

Reynie smiled back at her shyly. He felt a slight, pleasant surprise at her seeming excitement to meet him. It had been a while since someone had smiled at seeing him.

"Hello, I'm Miss Perumal. I was told to wait here for a 'Reynard Muldoon'? Is that you?" The nice lady took a few steps toward him, smile faltering a bit as he hesitated.

"Oh," He started, shaking off his thoughts. "Yes, that's me. I'm Reynie." He hurried down the steps, stopping just in front of her. He paused, awkwardly trying to decide if he should shake her hand, or if she would find that "off-putting" and "too mature for a boy of his age", as his French teacher had once said.

Luckily, Miss Perumal stuck out her hand to him, her friendly smile returning in full force.

"Ah, I'm so glad. I was worried that you might have had somewhere else to be, and I was delaying you. As I said, my name is Miss Perumal, and I have been hired to be your new tutor. I am delighted to meet you Reynie. Do you prefer 'Reynie' to 'Reynard'? When I met the director he referred to you as 'Reynard', so I wanted to see what you'd like."

Reynie's mind was whirling with all that this woman said. She was "delighted" to meet him? And she wanted to know which name he preferred to be called, even after Mr. Rutger had spoken with her? He was stunned once again, and only pulled himself out of it when he realized that she was continuing to look at him, waiting for a response.

"Um, yeah. 'Reynie' is good, thank you, ma'am. You said you're my... tutor?"

Reynie wasn't entirely sure what a tutor was supposed to do. He had a vague concept of someone who is supposed to help students with their homework if they were struggling in school, because a teacher had once suggested he tutor his classmates, since he was so for ahead. It hadn't worked out, though, because only one student had approached him, and when Reynie had looked up in the middle of an excited explanation about the French Revolution, the boy had been staring at him in disgust, before abruptly pushing his chair back and leaving. Reynie had created a small mental note for himself, deciding that once he was able to think of the word without recalling that nightmarish, uncomfortable situation, he would find out exactly what the word "tutor" meant.

Miss Perumal nodded at him, her expression growing more serious.

"Yes, I am going to be your tutor. The word is often used to mean someone who will help students as a supplement to traditional teaching, but in our sense it is going to mean that I am a sort of private teacher, just for you."

Reynie appreciated that she had defined the word for him, but he was still a bit apprehensive about this strange woman. She seemed nice, but if she was just going to be a different kind of teacher, that likely meant that she would just hand him a new workbook and try to cover her surprise when he finished it in a few weeks. He didn't want her to be like that, she smiled at him and her eyes seemed kind, and he didn't want her to be just another adult who came to look at him with that distasteful expression that all of the other grown ups at the orphanage did.

But Miss Perumal wasn't finished yet.

"Now, Reynie, I understand that some students need a little bit of different help than most teachers can give them, but you aren't one of them. Mr. Rutger has shown me your transcripts, and you have excelled in every subject and class you've been placed in. You are a very gifted child, Reynie, and something tells me you haven't been given nearly enough opportunities."

She turned then, rummaging in the bag she carried over her shoulder, which Reynie had not noticed before. Producing a small book with a soft blue cloth cover, she handed it to Reynie.

"This," She explained, her smile back again, "Is for you. It's a book on Tamil, the language I grew up speaking. I really think that you'll enjoy learning it, and we might even be able to start having some conversations in it soon, if your record with the limited French available here is any indication."

Reynie accepted the book with a wondrous expression. This woman was willing to teach him, she gave him a book right after meeting him, she wanted to give him opportunities. He searched for a word to describe her, and he found so many good ones that he had to create a "Miss Perumal" list on the spot. She was glorious, she was exorbitantly compassionate, she was a paradigm he wished all adults followed, she was an assiduous researcher, and she was the antithesis to Mr. Rutger.

He took a deep breath, holding it in his chest next to the spark of hope he could feel glowing there. Running a hand over the book, he felt a smile growing on his own face. It had been a long time since he had smiled.

"Thank you, Miss Perumal. I would love to learn Tamil from you, as well as anything you'd want to teach me."

Miss Perumal looked excited, excited at the thought of teaching him. "Well, then, Reynie, I don't see any reason we shouldn't start right now." She gestured at the chair opposite the one she had been sitting in. "Why don't you begin reading through the introduction of that book, while I go over a few more of my papers. We can work on basic pronunciation once you're done."

Reynie sat down immediately, opening the book and still smiling to himself a little. He felt a lot less lonely as he began reading, and added "Friend?" to his Miss Perumal list.

[babymetaldoll]

Are you mine? - Chapter eighteen: "Truth or dare"

Summary: Spencer and his wife go through hell and their final decision is made. It's time to move on from the BAU. But before they leave, there is a little more trauma to deal with.  Word count: 13.670 Warnings: Cursing, spoilers of Criminal Mind (shocking, I know) lots of hate, but totally justified. A/N: So we finally got here. We can't act like we didn't know it wasn't going to happen. I can save Spencer from going to jail, but this awkward moment was a must in this story, mostly because I needed Spencer to have moved on with his life. I hated how the show tried to convinced us they were these basically crossed star lovers. NOPE.  Not in my watch, thank you very much. 

Series' Masterlist - Author's masterlist

Previous chapter | Next chapter

Spencer’s point of view 

Things I never thought I would say in my life: After being held hostage by a psychopath for the fourth time in my BAU career, me and my wife got serious about getting a new job and leaving the FBI.  

Which was my trigger? That time, she was there with me and held a point gun. And that's an image I will never erase from my mind.

That particular case was strange since the very first day. It all had started six months after the whole Linda Barnes disaster, when surprisingly I got an email that led me and a SWAT team to a storage unit, where we found what we thought was the corpse of an unsub’s victim, but that ended up being agent Owen Quinn, who had quit the FBI a year earlier.

- “So, how did we find him in that storage unit?”- Simmons asked when we reviewed Quinn’s history at the Bureau.

- “I got an email.”- I started explaining to the team what had happened when JJ interrupted me.

- “Spencer, you hate email.”- I looked at her and raised an eyebrow. Her comment was absolutely out of place. Who cared if I didn’t like modern formats of communication before? I had changed and didn't have to tell everyone or anyone about it.  

- “I hated it but it’s a must use at work. Also, Raven’s grades and updates from her teacher come by email. Just because I didn’t like something doesn’t mean I will hate it forever. I can evolve.” 

- “I’m… sorry.”- she mumbled as I continued to explain. I didn’t mean to argue with her, I just felt her comment was unnecessary. 

However, she didn’t stop there. After I briefed the team on what had happened and Prentiss instructed us on how to proceed, JJ followed me and confronted me in the hall. 

- “Hey…”- I turned around in the hall and stared at her looking at me in honest concern.- “Tell me not to worry.”

- “About what?”- I asked her, not getting her point. 

- “You got an email?”- her eyes stayed on mine, questioning what I was hiding.

- “I did, I just explained it.” 

- “Ok, maybe I'll buy that. Maybe. But why didn't you just call the rest of us? And why take a SWAT team to a storage unit in the middle of the night?”- she questioned and stared at me, trying to read me in case I was lying. 

- “I don’t understand JJ, what is it?”- I asked her, trying to push her to go to the point, ‘cos I was honestly lost.  

- “You're keeping secrets, ok? And when you keep secrets, I get nervous. Because the last time...

- “I did drugs? Had problems with my mother? Ended up going to Mexico behind everybody’s back to get her alternative medicine?”- I raised an eyebrow as I listed some of the things I had done behind her back. Now, why did she feel I had to tell her I did? I still have no idea. 

- “Yeah. So… Tell me not to worry.”

- “Don't worry. I didn’t keep it a secret. I told Emily and (Y/N). They helped me.”- I rested a hand on her shoulder and she put her hand on mine immediately. I took it as a nice gesture of support, so I continued talking. - “Whoever did this wanted me to find Quinn, and I needed to know why.

- “Do you even know him that well?"

- “No. I mean, I've seen him in the building occasionally, but that just made the whole thing weirder. So, I told Prentiss I needed an exigent circumstances exemption to the sabbatical. She made it happen, and… Now you know everything."- I summarized the whole deal and stared at Jennifer. She raised an eyebrow questioning my story.

- “Everything?”

- “About this case? Yes, everything.”

- “All right.”

JJ smiled at me, and I just nodded and walked away. I thought it was weird she was acting that way, but I guessed after everything that had happened the year before, she was worried anything stressful would push me out of the team, considering I was still taking some time off every trimester to teach classes at the academy. 

The fact she was so worried about me was somehow endearing. JJ had been my best friend for quite some time, and though we weren’t as close as we used to be, I still loved her. She was like a little sister to me. The entire team was my family, and she was a main part of it. 

After a few days, we thought we had solved the whole case. Instead of a serial killer, there had been a cult behind every death. We trapped the leader, a guy called Benjamin Merva who liked being called “Messiah,” and we were sure things were done. 

How very naive of us. 

The team left for drinks at Rossi’s after the case was solved - or so we thought- but my wife and I stayed at the Bureau. We had taken the mission of helping Quinn and his teenage son rebuild their relationship, very seriously. Why? Probably because both of us were scared our work at the BAU would affect our relationship with our kids in the future, but neither of us was ready to face it.

- “Unfortunately, I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it tonight.”- I took a step closer to JJ as we stood alone in the bullpen and she invited me to Rossi's one more time. 

- “Tell me not to worry.”- she whispered and looked at me as if she needed to read me. 

- “Don't. I'm good. I'm really good. There’s just something else I have to focus on.”- I explained as my phone rang and I read (Y/N)’s text from another room. Quinn’s son had arrived.  

- “Ok. Well… It's not family without you there.”

- “I know. But there's another family that could use my help right now.”- I said and placed the phone back into my pocket as JJ stared at me questioningly, so I felt pushed to give her all the details.- “(Y/N) and I are gonna try to smooth things between Quinn and his son, Shane. And then we are gonna have an evening with our babies. They deserve some quality time with us before bedtime.” 

- “You are an amazing father, Spencer.”- I smiled at her and wrapped her in my arms out of the blue. I don't usually give it a lot of thought, but I know I’ve changed a lot in the last couple of years. I stepped from being a germaphobe who avoided touching people to a mostly regular human. Or so I like to think. 

- “What's this for?”- JJ asked, confused as I let her go. 

- “It's for all the times you worried about me. I never said thank you. Thank you.

- “You're welcome.” 

I walked away from her feeling a little closer to my friend, thinking we take for granted so many things, working with the people we love was one of those. I was glad I had her and the rest of the team in my life. 

But things went south quickly. Too quickly to suspect it was a coincidence. When I found Shane, Quinn’s son, (Y/N) wasn’t with him anymore, she had gone to pick up Quinn. We waited for them a couple of minutes, as I told Shane what had happened with his father the entire year he hadn’t seen him. When my phone rang and it was JJ, I barely had time to register what she was saying, ‘cos a gunshot made me jump from my seat, grab my gun, and run out of the room, asking Shane to stay put. 

(Y/N)’s point of view 

I knew my luck was gonna run out eventually. I had been at the BAU for too long not to get hurt on the field again, or get under any dangerous situation. That day, I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time: at the elevator when Agent Meadow, from ViCap, decided it was time to blow her cover, show us she was an accomplice of our unsub, and basically free her "messiah".

Penelope got in that elevator with us as well, she was on her way to Rossi’s and got in the middle of a very scary situation. Meadow shot Quinn and got me and Garcia into a car in the parking area at gunpoint. By the time Spencer was there, they had taken my gun, handcuffed me, and put me and Garcia into a car.

My husband came down the stairs and checked the perimeter. There he found Quinn, bleeding on the floor, and Meadow walked to him, pointing a gun at his head. 

- “Drop your gun, Agent Reid.”

- “It’s been you the whole time.”- my husband replied, not moving as he kept the gun in his hands pointing at her.

- “Yes, it was. Quinn somehow figured it out first. Pity having to shoot him, but he can’t give me what I want. But you can.”

- “And what is that?”- Spencer asked coldly. Penelope looked at me, as we both were kept in that car with a guy pointing a gun at our heads.    

- “You and I are gonna go upstairs and free my messiah.”- Meadow was clearly delusional if she believed Spencer would just do as she demanded. 

- “You are in the heart of the FBI”- my husband replied. - “As soon as the rest of my team figures out it was you, you’ll be dead before you walk out that door.”

- “Then we might need to work quickly.” 

- “I’m not cooperating with you. You might as well shoot me.”

- “I have a better idea.”- and after that bitch shook her head, the driver moved the car so Spencer could see me and Garcia had been taken hostage, and the asshole pointing a gun at our head pulled my hair to force me to stay still.

The second we locked eyes, I could read the fear in his look. He didn’t see it coming, obviously. I felt so stupid for being taken by the unsub. I should have been wiser.  

- “Spencer, just shoot her!! Shoot her!!”- I yelled, but my husband threw his gun away and surrendered in a second. He didn’t even hesitate. I knew he would never put my safety in jeopardy, but I hated helping those wackos get their fake messiah back and get away from the FBI. Which was exactly what happened next.

It didn’t get better when they took us to a warehouse filled with people and packed things, clearly they were moving somewhere else. Meadow walked to us with a briefcase 

- “I wasn’t planning on taking you, but let me thank you for your help.”- she said, staring at me with a delish grin.- “He's given me everything I need.” 

- “Of course he has, he is protecting his family. You do anything to protect those you love.”- I replied with so much anger and hate I expected her to get mad at me. But instead, she just shook her head. 

- “Funny. You say that as if I wouldn't know.” 

- “Do you know? Really? ‘Cos as fast as I know, you are a fucking psychopath, like all the ones you pretended to help us catch for years.”

- “Yes!”- Penelope supported me, her words filled with hate.- “You’ve abducted us, you've tricked the FBI for years, and you worship that Benjamin Merva guy.”

- “I need your handiwork.”- Meadow demanded as she opened the briefcase, showing Gacia a computer.  

- “Let me see Reid.”- my friend replied and didn’t hesitate. 

- “He isn't here.”- I huffed and shook my head while she was still talking.  

- “Come on, bitch, you are dealing with a profiler here. If you are gonna lie, do it better.”

- “Like I lied to the entire FBI for years?”- I wanted to end her, right there. It was so frustrating being handcuffed.  

- “Do you need my help”- Garcia asked.- “Then bring Reid.” 

- “Does it look like you are the one calling the shots, Penelope?”- Meadow questioned and my friend replied without hesitation. 

- “I will die before I help you.”- the guy next to Meadow grabbed his gun, but the fake FBI agent stared at us and walked away. I guess she really needed Garcia’s help, because less than ten minutes later, some random guy who looked like a bodyguard, completely armed, showed up pushing my husband. 

- “Oh my god”- I gasped at the sight of him. He was bruised, he had clearly received a heavy beating. He was thrown to us, and he fell on his knees right next to my chair. 

- “I’m ok, chipmunk. I swear.”- he tried to look at me with a smile, but my eyes watered up at the sight of him and I had to make a major effort not to start crying right away.- “How are you? Have they hurt you?”

- “I’m good, they haven’t… don’t worry about me.”- I tried to reply with a calm voice, but it kept breaking due to emotion, fear, and anger. 

- “Why are they doing this? What do they want?”- Garcia asked as I just bit my lips, staring at my husband, thinking maybe this time we weren’t gonna outsmart the bad guys.

- “Me. They want me.”- Spencer replied but didn’t stop staring at me like it was the last time.  I felt he wanted to engrave every detail of that conversation in his brain as if it were our last time together.

- “What? Why?”- I asked as Spencer moved closer to me.  

- “I’ll be their last victim.˝

- “Why you?”- Garcia asked the right question, I couldn’t even speak. I just looked at Spencer, fear all over my face. 

- “I don’t know. I overheard them. There have been hundredths.”- Meadows walked over and gave Garcia a computer. I tried to move closer to my husband, I needed to touch him, feel him, protect him. But what happened next brought me to the edge.  

- “I gave you what you wanted. Now it's your turn.”- Meadow grabbed her gun and put it against my husband’s head, staring at Garcia- “Or I'll blow his big, beautiful brains out.” 

And without another word, Garcia started working. Meadow kept a close eye on what she was doing, giving detailed instructions of what she Pen had to do. Meanwhile, I just stared at Spencer, trying to burn in my brain every feature, every inch of her skin, his hair, the way his eyes looked under the light. In case anything happened to any of us, I didn’t want to forget anything. My husband, the love of my life, was right there with me, but who knew what could happen to us in only a few minutes.

When Meadow’s cell phone rang and she turned her back to us, we were able to finally speak to each other. 

- “They've got a firewall, so there's no way to warn the team, but they're coming for us. You know they are.”- Garcia started rambling as he typed as if, literally, her life depended on it. - “We're gonna be ok. We have to be ok.”- I turned to her and tried to comfort her with a small smile, but I don’t think I made it, because as soon as she saw me, she continued talking.- “No, munchkin, it’s gonna be ok, right Spencer? We're not gonna die here. This can't be how our story ends.” 

- “Garcia…”- I started, but our friend just ignored me and continued talking.

- “What can we do? They'll trade. We'll make a barter!”- and before we could stop her, she raised her voice, but was luckily ignored- “Take me!”

- “No.”- Spencer’s words sounded bitter like he was already resigned.

- “The team needs you.”- Garcia pointed out with tears in her eyes. 

- “No, they don't. They need you.”- my husband stared at our friend, trying to comfort her.- “And you, chipmunk. You have to…-” 

- “No, we are not doing this.”- I replied and bit my lips so as not to cry.- “You are not saying goodbye.”  

- “Please, you have to listen. If I can’t make it… our babies.”

- “They need us.”- I said before another word could come from my husband’s lips. 

- “You two are the most brilliant minds in the entire BAU. What can we do to get out of here?”- Garcia whispered as Meadows walked to her and pointed at the computer. 

- “You've got one minute.”

- “I hate you.”- I don’t think I had ever heard Penelope say those words before. 

- “I don't care.”

The way that psycho bitch delivered those words confirmed my husband’s thought: he was who they wanted. She actually didn’t care about Garcia, and by the way she treated me, she also didn’t care much if I lived or died. However, Spencer was important to her. He was part of her plan all along. But why? 

- “(Y/N), listen to me.”- Spencer whimpered and nearly started crying, but I could read him from miles away. He was bluffing.

- “What is it, Spencer?”- I replied sweetly, playing along.

- “Please tell our kids…”- Meadow’s cell phone rang again, and as she walked away, my husband moved closer to me and Garcia and whispered. 

- “They're taking me and Theo.”

- “Theo's here?”- Pen asked, shocked

- “We'll distract them. The car we were in is right outside the door. We're 18 minutes away from Quantico. Turn left outside the parking lot, and take a right at the light. You'll recognize the rest. They stayed off the highways.”- I nodded as he kept his eyes on me, giving me directions step by step.

- “Ok, ok, but what about you?”- I asked, not willing to leave him behind. 

- “I'll delay them.”

- “Spencer, I don’t…”

- “(Y/N), get the rest of the team back here, and do not worry about me.”

It was how he had said my name and the stern way he looked at me. He had made up his mind, and there was no way back. If I wanted to do something to keep my husband safe, I needed to bring the team and rescue him. But before I left, I had to tell him something I had been keeping to myself.  

- “I think I’m pregnant.”- Spencer wide opened his eyes and for a moment, time stopped.

- “W… wh… what?”- he mumbled, trying to collect himself. 

- “So you better stay alive, because I am not doing this alone.”  

- “Time's up!”- Meadows walked towards us again and forced Spencer to stand up from the ground. I followed his every movement and stood in front of him. 

- “It's all happening. Ten twenty-three.”- he whispered right before they took him away from me. I couldn’t even touch him one last time. 

Had that been the last time I had seen my husband? I refused to think so. 

- “Get to it. Now”- Meadows commanded Garcia and turned to cut me a nasty look. My hands were still tight, so I couldn’t handle her myself, but I managed to spit her face when she was close enough, earning one nasty slap across my cheek. 

- “Don’t make me kill you before my master wishes.” 

- “Yeah, nobody wants to spoil that party.”- my snarky reply made that crazy psycho raise an eyebrow and then, her fist hit me right on the cheekbone, nearly knocking me out of my chair. 

Spencer’s point of view 

That day my entire world was upside down. I knew I had to keep myself together, that I had to trust the team would see the footage of our abduction and find my sign language hidden message, connect it with The Believers, and find us. I knew they would. But my main concern at that minute was getting my wife out of there. The two of us couldn’t be abducted. Our kids needed their parents, at least one of them, to be safe. And that had to be my wife. I knew she would take good care of our babies if anything happened to me. I also knew I could never continue living if anything would ever happen to her. 

Under any danger, she had to live. Even if that meant I had to die to save her. Especially after her last confession. If she was in fact pregnant, I had to save her and our baby. 

So I created a distraction, with Theo’s help. And (Y/N) and Garcia managed to escape. I knew they were gonna find me, I had given (Y/N) the way to discover our location. It was her and the thought of our babies that kept me sane the entire time. For hours, I held onto every memory I had with them to keep hoping I was coming out of that alive just to hug them tight. 

It hadn't been easy, I have to be honest. Not when I was already tight to a pole, surrounded by the entire cult, who were there to witness my death. I even tried to delay them by making a speech, with the lame excuse of having something to share before my sacrifice. They were actually repeating a “Protect us from all harm. Let the sacrifice behind” mantra as Merva said a prayer. 

Then, suddenly, we all heard a gunshot and the crowd started yelling and ducking. Merva knew what was coming: my team, So, he quickly grabbed a knife and ran to me, putting the blade against my neck in less than five seconds. (Y/N)’s voice was like the rumble of thunder that froze him when she yelled his name, but instead of yielding, Merva tried to fulfill his mission. And then came the gunshot. 

My wife pulled the trigger and ran to me so fast, I don’t think Merva was actually dead yet when she started untying me. 

- “I’m ok, I’m ok.”- I started repeating when I noticed her eyes were watering up as she moved her fingers frantically on the ties. Emily ran to Merva and checked his vitals as the rest of the team along with a SWAT unit cleared the perimeter. 

- “Thank you so much.”- I held (Y/N) against me the second she managed to free my wrist and felt her body shaking as she finally relaxed and all the emotions hit her at once. 

- “Did they hurt you?”- she mumbled against my chest and I just shook my head, knowing she knew I was lying, and tried to calm her down. 

- “I am ok, chipmunk. Thank you for saving my life.”- her arms kept me locked against her, but I couldn’t complain. That was exactly where I wanted to be.  

(Y/N) sobbed and I kissed the top of her head. A few of my own tears fell down my cheeks. For a second, I thought I wouldn’t make it out of there alive, and I finally felt it was the right time. 

- “We should start looking for another job.”- I whispered in her ear as she continued crying and nodded. It was just between us, we didn’t want to talk to Emily yet. But we had to start our plan to leave the BAU. 

Emily gave us a few days off, and we decided to spend them at home with our babies. The first thing on the list was hugging them, snuggling with them, and spending an entire day doing what they loved most. We drew, watched movies, played with dolls, cars, and trains, and had so many tea parties.  

I also stared at my wife as many times as I could. I stared at her as she cooked dinner for us, as she fed Vincent his veggies- though he argued he didn’t need them to grow up healthy. I kept my eyes on her when she read Raven bedtime stories and when she braided her hair. But mostly, I stared at her as she lay asleep beside me on our bed, thanking life for letting me enjoy another day by her side. 

The following morning after our abduction, I drove to the drugstore and picked up a few different pregnancy home tests. (Y/N) stayed at home with the kids and was probably getting mentally ready to deal with the outcome of that test. We always said we wanted a big family, but we had planned our previous babies. If (Y/N) was in fact pregnant, it would be a gigantic surprise. Not that I wouldn’t be happy, it would just be unexpected. 

When I returned home, (Y/N) was sitting on the floor with Raven, playing with her dolls. Vincent was sitting on her lap, fighting the nap he clearly didn’t want to sleep, though his eyes were closing every few seconds. 

- “Daddy!”- Raven stood up and ran to me.- “Mommy is teaching a class for all my Barbies, so they can be doctors, like you!” 

- “That sounds so much fun! Can I take the class?”

- “But you are not a Barbie, daddy.”- I picked Raven in my arms and kissed her cheeks and she started giggling immediately. 

- “Are you gonna do it now?”- I asked as my wife grabbed the paper bag with all the pregnancy tests I got her in the drugstore. 

- “Do you want me to do it now?”- she asked and smirked, probably knowing how anxious I felt. Yet, I tried to play it cool.  

- “No, you don’t have to do it now. Maybe after dinner.”- I pointed at the babies, hinting it was better to do it after they were asleep. My wife just nodded and continued playing with Raven. I took Vinny in my arms and let him sleep on my chest as I laid on the couch in the living room and just enjoyed the moment of peace I had knowing my entire family was safe, there in that room with me. 

But of course, I couldn’t stop thinking about the possibility of my wife being pregnant again. It seemed like a dream. We hadn’t even planned it, so I don’t know if it was actually possible, (Y/N) was very responsible with her pills. However, if her suspicions were true, I would have been the happiest man alive. The more kids, the better for me. If Raven and Vincent made me feel overjoyed, another kid would be a blessing. 

- “It’s killing you not knowing, is it?”- (Y/N) whispered as she leaned closer to me when Raven ran to her room to pick a few toys to play with. 

- “I don’t know what you are talking about.”- I murmured from behind the book I was holding though my mind was running so fast I wasn’t really reading, and Vincent still softly snored on my chest. 

- “Oh really? Then why haven’t you flipped the page in over fifteen minutes?”- I was busted and I knew it, but I didn’t want to be pushy. 

- “I just don’t want to disturb my son’s nap.”- I replied and raised an eyebrow as I stared at my wife, who had a cocky smile on her lips. 

- “Sure, sure.”- Raven ran back into the room that minute, and (Y/N) murmured before she could listen.- “Maybe I’ll wait until the morning to be really sure.”

- “Oh come on!”- my reaction wasn’t planned or even analyzed, I just lost it for a second, Vinny woke up and (Y/N) burst out laughing. 

- “I don’t wanna torture you, Batsy.” 

- “Don’t torture daddy!”- Raven said nearly shocked.- “We don’t have to be mean to our family.”- (Y/N) bit her lips and just nodded, as I shushed our son, who was still half asleep. 

- “You are right baby, I’m sorry hon. I’m going to the bathroom now. I’ll be back in three minutes.” 

I followed her with my eyes as Vinny fell asleep quickly on me one more time, and Raven kept singing the Baby Shark song underbreath, while she made her dolls dance along. 

Those were the longest four minutes of my life, and when (Y/N) came back, she sat on the couch next to me and sighed. 

- "So?"- I asked and she simply ignored the pink elephant in the room.

- “We are gonna have to get some groceries later today.”- I frowned, not getting why she said that when I was waiting for another information.- “I’m gonna need a lot of saltine crackers, ginger, lemon tea, and some jello.” 

I stared at my wife smiling at me, as I felt my grin grow bigger and bigger and the tears threatened to fall from my eyes. 

- “I love you so much, chipmunk.”- I managed to whisper as she rested her head on my shoulder and caressed Vinny’s head, who was softly snoring one more time against my chest.

- “I love you more, honey.”

(Y/N)’s point of view

The following months were crazy because we had to move to our new house sooner than we had originally planned. I didn’t want to do it too far into my pregnancy because I knew it would be extremely stressful and tiring for all of us. 

The entire family helped, our friends included. It was hard for Spencer to leave our old apartment behind, I could read it on his face. But it was too small for all of us, and our babies deserved more space, a backyard to play in, a neighborhood to ride their bikes on, and the best childhood we could give them. 

Those were some crazy months. We had decided to quit the FBI and then discovered I was pregnant. So we decided to stay for another year and leave when things weren’t as crazy as they were at that point. We didn’t want people to know our plans, so we decided not to share the news with anyone until the date got closer. 

Somehow, after that shitty case when Spencer and I got kidnapped along with Garcia, things were a little calmer. Luke moved in with his girlfriend, Emily started dating Special Agent Andrew Mendoza (and of course, thought she could keep it a secret from us) and Rossi got engaged to Krysstal, with a K. Spencer took a month sabbatical to teach a symposium on medieval violence and criminology, which was great considering how pregnant I got after the first trimester, that third baby wasn’t hiding at all. 

One of the good things that happened that year was that Mikey became a dad. He had married Rachel a year earlier, she was a coworker and the only nice girlfriend that poor guy had ever had. She was so cool we could all just hang out together and enjoy our time.

I knew my best friend felt he was “late” in things in life. He wanted to be a dad and do all the things he always dreamt of doing with his baby girl. The day Olivia was born, Mikey was ecstatic. He ran out of the delivery room and started jumping while his parents, Lu, Frank, Spencer, and myself stood in front of him, ready to hear the news. 

- “She’s perfect!!”- Mikey basically yelled and we all cheered. 

I remember hugging my best friend and hearing him sob against my shoulder. Tears of happiness and fear. Later on, one day I was alone with him and the babies, he told me the most touching and heavy thing I had heard from him since I joined the FBI.  

- “I always hated your job ‘cause it took you away way too often. But I had never understood how important it is what you do until Olivia got here. You make this world safer for her. Thank you, nugget.” 

It made me wanna cry to think I was ready to turn my back to that life. But I couldn’t fight crime forever. I had to do what was best for my family. 

Things started going south a few weeks before Rossi’s wedding. That was when we met Everett Lynch, the unsub that got under Rossi’s skin. Papa Pasta suffered on the field, he was nearly choked when he tried to fight the unsub, and the bastard got away. Poor David got the hit right where it hurts the most: in the ego. In the following weeks, he got obsessed with catching that dude but eventually was forced to let it go. At least for a while. 

Two days before Rossi’s wedding, we were running low on cases. The first day we finished all of our paperwork, but by day two with no work, we decided to kill time with some Poker.

I remember that day we were all in a great mood. We sat around the table in the conference room with some snacks. Garcia showed up with some jelly beans to use as chips for a poker game. Luke kept asking if we got to go home if there was nothing to do, and Lewis was teasing him about anything you could imagine. I was six months pregnant and my current craving was dill pickles popcorn, a mix none of my friends understood, and they all stared at me, disgusted as I ate.

I also remember clearly Spencer had scored 200 on his shooting qualification test that morning, and I didn’t like the way JJ looked at him when Luke told us. But I decided to put it aside ‘cos I was sure it was all in my head. I laughed when Simmons commented he thought Spencer would be the hot seat of the game, and I proudly informed him my husband was banned for life from every casino in Las Vegas, Laughlin, and Pahrump because of his card counting ability. 

- “I love how you always sound so proud when you bring that up.”- Emily teased me and I just grinned, caressing my belly. 

- “I am very proud of all of my husband’s skills.”- I replied and noticed how JJ looked down as the rest of the team laughed.

- “Keep it G rated for Christ's sake! I don’t wanna have that kind of image in my head right now.”- Penelope argued and my husband just sipped what was left of his cup, looking away with a silly smile, blushed. 

- “Can we circle back to the casino banning?”- Simmons pointed out and looked at Spencer.- “Is it true?”

- “With a deck of 52 cards, the number of combinations is a factorial of 52. You simply need to calculate your outs and then your implied odds. Math is the basis of all card games.”- Spencer explained proudly and everyone just nodded, not following his mathematical explanation. 

- “All right, ladies and gentlemen. Today's game's five cards. Roll them out. The big blind is 50. The baby is 25.”- Lewis chuffed the deck and Prentiss leaned closer to me looking confused.

- “We are still playing poker, right?”

- “Yes ma’am, but I don’t know if I’ll follow it for much longer considering how sleepy I am.” 

- “You can nap on the couch in my office.”- she offered and I sighed with a smile. 

- “Thank you, Em. I will consider it if my eyes start shouting” 

Forty minutes later, I ran out of popcorn, which led me to start eating the jelly beans I had to bet, and ended up folding. I was too sleepy to think and it was fun watching my husband kicking everybody’s ass. That until the last hand. I remember staring at the scene from my chair thinking it was weird the way JJ pushed all of her jelly beans to the center of the table making eye contact with my husband the entire time. She was being seductive and it made me feel uncomfortable. Or was she just bluffing? Playing along with the poker charade. I couldn’t tell, I didn’t know and I didn’t want to be a paranoid wife. So I didn’t say a word and just stared at her and Spencer interacting. 

- “Do you think the lady's bluffing?”- Luke asked as we all stared at them in silence. 

- “I know the lady's bluffing because she has a tell.”- Spencer explained and looked at JJ with a cocky smile. A cocky and very hot smile, if you ask me. 

- “No, I don't.”- JJ whispered and raised an eyebrow. Spencer simply grabbed all of his remaining jelly beans and pushed them to the middle of the table saying he was going all in and then winked at me. I cut him a short smile, still uncomfortable, but knowing he didn’t even realize it was weird. Probably no one else did, actually. It was me who had always had a weird sensation when it came to JJ. Lu said it was because Spencer had had a crush on her before we met and I was crazy insecure, which was true. But no one could shake from me that there was something weird there. 

- “Oh, I like it. Live by the sword, die by the sword.”- Luke was really enjoying that game- “I call.”

- “All right, let's see 'em.”- Tara commanded and Alvez showed his hand. He had three of a kind, king high.- “Perfectly respectable, but not getting it done.”- Lewis added and we all looked at Spencer. 

- “Pair of kings, pair of sevens.”- he placed the cards in front of him and smiled evilly- “Oh, I'm sorry, three sevens.”

I chuckled at his excited and villainous smile. He looked so sweet. The rest of the team made “ohh” in a chorus and Spencer kept his eyes on JJ, waiting for her response.  

- “A full boat from the sassy Dr. Reid.”- Lewis announced and JJ simply left her cards on the table. She didn’t stop staring at my husband the entire time. I didn’t really like it one bit, but I thought it was the hormones. I didn't want to be a crazy pregnant woman, paranoid and scared to lose her husband. 

- “Oh, a straight flush! That has to hurt!”- Lewis was really enjoying the game.  

- “Gentlemen.”- JJ smiled as she collected all of her jellybeans. Spencer looked defeated for a second, but then a shy smile appeared on his face. I held his hand and he caressed it with his in a second. 

- “I think that Reid is speechless.”- Simmon teased him and he just shook his head. 

- “Guess I'm a better liar than you thought.”- JJ said and stared at Spencer for a few seconds, until he laughed and turned to me. 

- “Do you need a refill of popcorn, chipmunk?” 

- “No, thank you, hon. I’m actually considering a nap on Prentiss’s couch. She offered it earlier and I think I could use a little extra sleep. 

- “Sounds like a nice plan. I could come with you and read a little.”

Sadly, those plans were soon discharged because Emily turned to us after getting a text and said the words I learned to hate the most: 

- “We've got a case.” 

We took the jet to Los Angeles. Rossi included. He was with Krystall going through the last details of their upcoming wedding when we were briefed but made it to the jet on time. 

- “I don’t think you should be going to out-of-town cases anymore, (Y/N).”- Prentiss said as we got ready to take off.- “You are way into your pregnancy to fly.” 

- “I don’t think Rossi should be going on this field trip.”- I replied just to annoy my unit chief.- “Captain Cannelloni is gonna marry in two days. That’s sooner than my delivery date.” 

- “Just for your information, I promised Krystall I would be back on time for the ceremony, so let’s try to catch this guy as fast as possible.”- Rossi sat in front of me and added with a wink- “And it’s Papa Pasta for you.” 

- “Maybe we should consider this your last case out of town”- Spencer sat by my side and offered me a bottle of water. - “Garcia would be glad to have you as a sidekick again.” 

- “She will overfeed me and the kid would be thrilled.”- I replied with a little smile.- “But I’ll miss you too much.” 

- “Oh please stop it.”- Rossi argued right away.- “You’ve been married forever. There is no way you are still this adorable. I can not take it anymore.”

I rested my head on my husband’s shoulder and he caressed my six-month belly carefully. 

- “Don’t encourage them.”- Emily warned him.- “You know they can be worse.”

- “So much worse.”- I added and Rossi just smiled at me. 

Eighteen hours after we had landed, and already had identified the unsub and his M.O. Casey Pinkner was a piece of work, as Garcia categorized. He had spent most of his youth in and out of the system, had problems with alcohol, and had been in jail for eight years. In fact, he had been free for only four weeks and he was already deep in shit.

But that wasn’t the worst part. No. It was the fact Spencer was currently held hostage in a jewelry store by the unsub along with JJ, the judge who sentenced him to jail, and her daughter. 

It was the same shit all over again, and I couldn't deal with it anymore. Was my husband coming home with me that night? Was he going to make it safe? My heart and my stomach were a knot. My hands were shaking, I wasn’t taking it well. You can blame the hormones, I know I did, but honestly, I knew it was exhaustion. I didn’t want to be through that hell one more time. I didn’t want my husband in danger. We couldn't do that job for another day. 

I knew we had set our quitting date after the baby was born, but at that moment, I didn’t know if I could go on like that. My mental health was in danger every time my husband’s safety was in jeopardy.  

- “Rear entrance has been barricaded as well.”- Simmons announced as we stood out of the store. Emily didn’t want me there and begged me to stay at the station, but nothing would stop me from trying to save my husband that night. And I don't think anyone dared try to keep me away.  

- “Eyewitnesses put four or five people inside.”- the police chief added. 

- “What about security cameras?”- I asked, feeling Rossi put a hand on my shoulder, trying to help me stay grounded and calm. 

- “Employee says they're cheap, routed off of some server in China. We're trying to access them now.” 

- “Get Garcia on it.”- David asked Simmons, and he just nodded and walked away. 

- “Rapid response team is gearing up in the back."- the chief of police announced. -"As soon as they find a point of vulnerability, I want to go in strong.” 

- “No. No, that's a bad idea.”- Tara stopped the chief and shook her head. I nearly jumped on him to tell him that was the stupidest thing to do all things considered, but Rossi stopped me with his arm around me, as he said. 

- “Let's build a line of communication, start there.”- David's words sounded like a command, though he would have called his idea a “suggestion” instead.- “We've got two of our best agents in there. We need to trust that they'll keep things under control until we can find a way in.” 

The chief of police agreed and walked away. As soon as it was just me, Rossi, and Tara, I spoke my mind. 

- “The problem with that plan is that Casey is not likely to ask for anything. I mean, what he wants is the people who put him in jail and he has them. We can't negotiate with a guy who doesn't want anything.” 

- “We’ll find a way to get to him, (Y/N).”- Rossi assured me.- “They are gonna be fine.” 

But a few minutes later we realized building a fucking line of communication was impossible. No one picked up the phone inside, proving my point, which made me so angry I nearly started shouting curses at anyone who dared cross my way. Simmons’ announcement was the one thing that kept me sane that second. 

- “I got Garcia. She's seconds away from accessing the security feed. Go ahead, Garcia. We got the laptop.”- it took her a few seconds more, but finally, I had eyes on my husband.

- “This is live.”- Garcia announced.

- “I’m gonna kill that mother fucker.”- I whispered as soon as I saw my husband tied on the floor, JJ was standing, talking with the unsub, probably trying to find a way to get out of there.   

- “Ok. Alright, it looks like Reid and JJ are tied up, and it's the shop manager who was shot. Right? Look. She's still moving.”- Tara pointed out, but sadly, all I could see was Spencer. 

- “Do we have audio?”- Simmons asked. 

- “Yes, it should be on right… now.”- and as she spoke, we heard what was happening inside the store. 

- “Is that a door?”- Simmons noticed.

- “Where?”- I asked, trying to find it on the outside of the store. 

- “Right here. Far left wall.” 

- “Ok agent…”- the unsub asked JJ and she replied coldly. That was the first sound we got from inside the shop.

- “Jareau.” 

- “Agent Jareau. Truth or dare?”

- “Truth.”- Jennifer answered without hesitation. 

- “If I think you're lying or stretching the truth in the slightest, I'll kill him.”- Casey, the unsub, screamed and pointed at my husband with the gun. - “You ever shoot anybody before?”

- “Yes, I have.”- JJ answered right away. 

- “You enjoy it?” 

- “No.”- there was a deep silence after Jennifer answered. Casey walked away from her, and then suddenly, he turned around and shot around, screaming. 

- “Liar!!”- I gasped and held my belly. The shot had hit the chair right next to Spencer. A few inches and he would have been hurt. Maybe even…

- “No, no, no. I'm not lying!”- JJ argued frenetically- “I'm not lying! The people I shot I had no choice, but I did not enjoy it. I didn't!” 

Tara held my hand as we stared at the scene. I couldn’t deal with the image of Spencer just sitting there, defenseless at the will of a killer, while I just stood outside, unable to do anything to help him. 

- “Ok, you asked, and I told the truth, ok. I told you the truth.”- JJ continued talking.- “So now it's my turn. Right? That's how this game's played. We take turns.”- she was buying some time, but I didn’t know if Casey was gonna let her.- “Truth or dare?” 

- “Truth.”- of course he picked that. Psycho.

- “What's it gonna take for all of us to walk out of here alive, for this to end peacefully?” 

- “I ain't going back to prison.”- he simply replied and no one could argue with it.- “My turn. Truth or dare?” 

- “Truth.”- JJ said and kept making eye contact with the unsub, trying to find a way to get to him.  

- “I want you to say something you're afraid to say, that you'd never tell anybody.”- his face was red in anger as he kept pointing his gun at her.- “And you better make it good, 'cause if it's not, it's gonna be the last thing you ever say.”

Casey made a pause and I held my breath. All I could think of at that moment was how stupid I felt for being jealous of JJ. It had been stupid, she was my friend. I shouldn’t think of her that way, she would never do anything to hurt me or my family. Stupid hormones got me all crazy.

- “What's it gonna be?!”- Casey pushed her. 

- “There are only a few people I trust in this world.”- JJ’s answer wasn’t good enough. 

- “Boring!”- the unsub whined and shot the judge in the leg. I nearly jumped on the spot as I stared at the scene. For a second, I thought he was going to hurt my husband. 

- “Next!”- Casey yelled and pointed the gun back at Jennifer. 

- “Um… My…”- JJ started stuttering.- “My baby I lost, I, um… I wanted to name her Maggie.” 

- “Wrong! Come on, you can do better than that!”- the unsub yelled and my husband innocently tried to interfere. 

- “Casey…”

- “Shut up!”- but of course, he wasn’t gonna have it. He walked to JJ and forced her to kneel. 

- “Ok, ok, ok.”- she replete and nodded at him, surrendering. 

- “Last chance. Something you would never say aloud, not even to your partner here. Your deepest, darkest secret. Impress me or I kill him.” 

I gasped and held my belly. I felt my whole body shaking at the thought of losing Spencer. 

Not a sound was made for a few seconds. JJ was crying, desperate to find something that would save everybody. But she was running out of time. 

- “Come on!”- Case wasn’t having any of it, his patience was nonexistent. 

- “Spence, um…”- JJ hesitated before she continued talking. My husband turned to her in silence, just listening to what she had to say.- “Um…”

JJ was crying, whatever it was that she was going to say, she wasn’t lying, and it was hurting her to confess it. Whatever it was, I was sure it wasn’t as bad as… 

- “I've always loved you, Spence.”

It felt like a bad joke at first. Of course, she was lying. She had to say whatever she could to get out of there alive. She was forced to say something like that.    

- “And I was just too scared to say it before.”- JJ was crying her eyes out as she clearly confessed the darkest secret she had ever had. 

I didn't even have to analyze the whole situation or use my profiler abilities to know it was real. She was confessing being in love with my husband and Rossi, Tara, Penelope, Simmons and I were listening. I wasn’t making it up. It was real. JJ was in love with my husband. 

My biggest fear was real.

- “And things are just really too complicated to say it now.”- JJ was sobbing and Spencer wasn’t moving. I bet he wasn’t even blinking at that point. His friend was dropping a bomb and he was there, silent, not knowing what to say, or how to react. - “I’m sorry. But you should know.”- JJ whimpered.  

- “Hot damn!”- Casey chuckled.- “That's what I'm talking about! Now those are some last words right there. But not good enough to save your life.” 

My heart stopped the second I heard a gunshot. But that time, it wasn’t Casey’s. It was Spencer. He had freed himself somehow and shot the unsub with his second gun. 

- “We are going in.”- Rossi announced a second later. I wiped off the tears from my face, grabbed my gun, and rushed in along with the team.

- “(Y/N), wait, I don’t think you should…”- Tara put a hand on my shoulder and looked at me, worried.

- “I’m not gonna shoot her, if that’s what you are afraid of.”- I replied and kept moving. I wish I could tell you I was certain of my words, but honestly, I didn’t know what I was going to do. 

I followed the SWAT Unit and Rossi’s lead, holding my gun tight. I heard JJ’s voice announcing we had three people hurt and that we needed an ambulance. I tried to ignore her voice and the reaction it caused in me as I rushed inside and looked at Spencer. His eyes were blurry, and his mind was clearly uneasy. My husband wasn’t well at all. I was sure that confession was messing with his head in more ways than he would ever admit. 

But as soon as he saw me, his eyes watered up and I rushed into his arms. 

- “What are you doing here?”- he asked as I sobbed against his chest.- “Chipmunk, you shouldn’t be on the field. What if…” 

- “I can’t… I couldn’t stay away. I…”- Spencer kissed the top of my head and held me closer.

- “I’m ok. I’m ok. Nothing happened.”- he whispered and caressed my hair. I tried to calm myself down, but things were definitely at a new level of wrong. 

- “We all heard her.”- I whispered and looked into Spencer’s eyes. He seemed shocked by the news, he probably thought I was never going to know what had happened. Maybe his plan was never telling me about it. It sounded like the type of plan Spencer came up with to deal with things he didn't want to burden me with. It could have been the right decision… or not. I don’t know. I don’t think I’ll ever know.  

- “How… why… How are you?”- he asked and looked as worried as if I was the one who hurt the most by that confession. Around us, Rossi checked Casey on the floor, and the rest of the team took care of the hostages and the wounded. I wasn’t being professional at all. All I cared about at that second was my husband's well-being. 

- “I don’t know how to deal with this now."- I confessed and kept him close to me- "You?” 

- “I don’t think it’s relevant.”- he replied bluntly.- “I don’t even know if it’s actually true.” 

- “It is.”- there was no doubt in my words and Spencer knew it. He knew JJ wasn’t lying as well, but he kept trying to protect me. Or to deny the inevitable. 

- “We don’t have to talk about it now, ma cherie. Let’s get out of here, ok?”- that was when I realized Spencer’s hand had been cut.

- “You need a medic.”- I held his hand and stared at the injury. 

- “It’s not serious, just a small cut.”

- “Stop that. You have to get help. Come on.”

I held Spencer’s good hand as we walked out of the room. I refused to look at JJ because I knew myself. I was going to make a scene and that wasn’t the place or the time to face her. 

I could feel her gaze on us, though. I didn’t know if she was aware we had all heard her love confession, but she kept an eye on us, or at least on Spencer as the medics took care of his hand outside the jewelry store. We stopped by the police station afterward to pick up all of our things and finally rushed to the jet. We were all late, Rossi still had to get married the following day at noon. 

No one mentioned JJ’s confession, not when I was around, at least. I knew Rossi wanted to bring it up but didn’t know how or when. He had probably talked to Emily about it already. I don’t know. Maybe I was just being paranoid. All I could think of was that I had been right all along. All those times I felt JJ was staring at Spencer or acting flirty with him, or whatever detail that showed her true feelings hadn’t been paranoid. I had been right. 

Honestly, at that point in my life, I wished I had been wronged because I was forced to face the fact my so-called friend was in love with my husband. She had used the word “love.” Not crushed, not interested, not even hot for him. She was in love. 

And I wanted to kill her.  

- “Chipmunk, I….”- Spencer stood in front of me outside the jet, as the rest of the team boarded.- “I don’t care what she said. I honestly don’t. Even if it was true, I don’t love Jennifer. I am not in love with her. Never was, never will.”- he placed his wounded hand carefully on my belly and the other one cupped my cheek. 

- “I know that…”- I whispered and looked down at my feet because it was a lie. I had always feared my husband’s feelings for JJ. Ever since we were just friends. Why? I don’t know! It was irrational. Just plain fear and insecurities. 

- “The only thing that matters is that I love you.”- Spencer added under his breath, and caressed my belly.  

- “I…”

I wanted to tell him I knew it, but to be honest, I just wasn’t sure. The fear of JJ trying to steal Spencer from me had been real for too long inside my head. Now I just had the confirmation. And though I knew my husband loved me, did he just love me ‘cos JJ wasn’t available? He had a crush on her for so long before we met… and there has always been a fear inside me, an irrational, silly, mind-consuming fear that made me believe JJ’s confession could change everything. 

- “I know it doesn’t mean anything to you, but I don’t feel comfortable around her anymore.”- I whispered and bit my lips ‘cos I really couldn’t handle the emotions I felt at the moment. 

- “Chipmunk…”

- “I feel betrayed and lied to, and now I don’t know how I’m gonna look at her in the face. I don’t wanna be around her anymore. I don’t wanna work at the BAU anymore. And I swear I don’t wanna make it sound like I’m throwing a tantrum.” 

- “You are not, (Y/N). You are not.”- Spencer wrapped his arms around me.- “Let’s go home, please. We don’t have to talk about this anymore. Not now, not today. I just wanna be with our kids at our home.” 

And I wanted to keep myself calm, for Spencer, for our baby, even for the sake of the team. But as soon as I saw JJ heading to the jet, the anger surpassed my logic. 

Jennifer stared at me like a deer in front of a hunter with a firearm pointed straight at her heart. She knew it. I didn’t have to tell her, I could feel all of her guilt and embarrassment. But that wasn’t enough. No. She needed to know how badly she had fucked up.

- “(Y/N), listen…”- she started apologizing as I walked to her, Spencer following close every and each of my movements. 

- “What the fuck is your problem?”- I yelled at her face and pushed her once, forcing her to take a few steps back.- “You just tell my husband you are in love with him and you think I am not going to do anything?!”- I pushed her one more time and kept walking forward as she took a few more steps back. 

- “It’s not like that… I… I was trying to protect us.”- JJ argued, stuttering and looking embarrassed about her feelings, but never denying them. 

- “Oh! Thank you so much!”- I answered with the most sarcastic tone of voice possible.- “I didn’t get the memo when one of your friends confesses their undying love for your husband, you should thank them! Thank you for protecting us!!” 

- “It was the only thing I could come up with….”- she started explaining the unexplainable. 

- “You didn’t come up with anything, Jeniffer!”- I yelled as tears of anger threatened to fall from my eyes.- "If you had made up something you could have said you didn't love your husband anymore! Or is that one true?"

I made a pause and stared at JJ. Her eyes were watered up as she looked down at her shoes.

- "You could have said anything! But you confessed your love for Spencer, and you can't convince me you were lying!"

Spencer stood next to me and placed an arm around me, trying to keep me from jumping and breaking JJ’s face. Which was, in fact, my plan at that minute. It had been years of trying to convince myself I was being paranoid every time JJ stared at Spencer in a way I knew wasn't friendly. The longing, the calls, the text, the weird possessive attitude she had sometimes.

- “(Y/N), please… this is not good for the baby.”- my husband whispered, trying to calm me down. 

- “This is not good for anyone, Spencer!”- I regretted yelling at him, but I was too upset to control myself.- “She could have said anything! Anything else! Any other morbid secret! Bring up her sister’s death, her time in the CIA, shit! Maybe even how bad she felt about helping Hotch pretend Emily’s dead! But she decided to drop this bomb! What do you want me to say? How do you want me to act?”

I was in tears at that point, and the anger wasn’t subsiding. If anything, it was worse because having JJ there in front of me, crying as well, made me realize I was never going to forgive her. Our friendship was ruined after that day, and there was nothing anyone could do to fix it. 

- “I swear, (Y/N), I didn’t mean to hurt you. I… I didn’t know you were listening.”- she sobbed and covered her face with both hands. 

- “We all heard you, JJ! And you know what makes it worse? That I knew it! Deep inside, I knew this shit was real! You showed your true feelings for my husband so many times during the last couple of years, I had to constantly tell myself this shit was just in my head! But it wasn’t! You just confirmed it!”

My yells alerted the team, and soon Rossi and Emily were there to calm the situation.

- “(Y/N), you have to understand, I would never do…”- I cut JJ’s speech as she continued sobbing. I made an effort to put myself together as I stood in front of her and looked her in the eyes in anger.  

- “You would never do what? Try to steal my husband? Because that’s exactly what you just did!”

- “I would never do anything like that!”- JJ yelled in tears, looking incredibly offended by my words. Good. It’s what I was going for.

- “I don’t believe you, Jennifer. You lost my trust and won it back once. But not this time. Our friendship is over. If it depended on me, I would never have to see you again. Not me, not my family. And before you start whining that I’m trying to hurt you, no. I am not trying to hurt you, ‘cos if I wanted to do something like that, I would be on the phone with your poor husband right now, telling him the kind of wife he has. ”

JJ widened her eyes at my words, shocked and frozen in fear.

- “You wouldn't dare”- she whispered, scared.

- “Didn’t you just lose enough in a truth or dare game, Jennifer? Don’t push me.”- my voice was filled with more than anger and deception. There was hate in it. I loathed the woman in front of me, pretending she cared for the mess she had created. 

- “(Y/N), JJ, please. Stop.”- Emily commanded.- “We are all grown-ups here, we need to put this aside. We have to go back home, we have a wedding tomorrow. We are a team.” 

- “Are we still, Em? Really?”- I turned to my unit chief and whipped off my tears. Spencer held me and led me to the jet. Rossi followed us closely, in silence. I had to bite my lower lip to stop crying. I didn’t want to shed another tear for JJ ever again.  

- “Come on, chipmunk. Let’s go home.”- Spencer whispered and held me closer.  

It was the longest five-hour trip of my life. I couldn’t sleep. Neither could Spencer. He wrapped his arm around me the entire time and just held me close. JJ sat on the other side of the plane, on her own. I tried not to look at her ‘cos I didn’t trust myself after what had happened earlier. Only one thing could happen if I did: I was gonna break her face. 

And I was scared. Terrified to even think of what that confession was doing to Spencer. He said it didn’t mean anything to him, but I knew it was obviously killing him, the same way it was killing me. 

Spencer’s point of view 

JJ’s confession couldn’t have come at a worse time. Right after (Y/N)’s second trimester. Every time she has been pregnant, all of her self-doubt comes up after the fifth month. The bigger her belly gets, the more afraid she is. I can understand it, but I will never fully make sense of it. Many studies confirmed that pregnancy hormones can make women feel a mix of highs and lows, which can make them feel more vulnerable or anxious. It was clear that was my wife’s case. I couldn’t tell her that, though. I had commented on the subject back when she was pregnant with Raven, and it made her cry for so long that I regretted it immediately.

But now, things were serious. This was a whole new level of insecurity, and I didn’t want her to think I was even considering leaving her to be with JJ. I would never. 

That night on the plane, while we both pretended to sleep for the sake of the team, I held her close to me and kept her wrapped in my arms and away from JJ, just in case. I remembered a few years before in that very same jet, (Y/N) had faced Seaver after her first case. Each time she stood for what she thought was right, she did it regardless of the consequences of her actions. And consequences were all I could think of. 

For starters, how were we going to deal with Rossi’s wedding? We were invited, we couldn’t miss it. How were we going to stand there next to the rest of the team and celebrate?  

And most importantly, how were we going to deal with the following months? We had agreed to quit after (Y/N)’s maternity leave ended. But I knew JJ was going to get on her nerves, she wasn’t going to live at peace knowing how she felt, and most of all, knowing I had to work with her for twelve more weeks after the baby was born. 

My wife wasn’t going to agree to that. Not in a thousand years. 

We drove in silence all the way from Quantico to our house. I didn't know what to say that might give her peace of mind. Her mom, Sofia, was babysitting the kids that night at our place, so when we got there around three in the morning, everybody was asleep. 

We went straight to bed, I got under the covers and waited for her to get there. As soon as she reached my side, I wrapped my arms around her and held her close to me. 

- “Hey… can you share what’s happening inside your head?”- I whispered and kissed her temple. (Y/N) sighed and met my eyes with concern. 

- “I’m scared.”- her confession was nearly imperceptible, but I heard her underneath the covers.  

- “I told you, what JJ said doesn’t mean anything to me. I love you.”- I explained, trying to be as sweet and understanding as possible.  

- “But… now that you know how she feels…”- she mumbled, fighting the tears.

- “It doesn't change anything, chipmunk. She is my friend, you are the love of my life.” 

- “I don’t want you to regret being with me.”- I had to make a pause before answering those words because it hurt me to think what was happening in her head. 

- “Why would you say something like that?”- it was painful to even consider her thinking I could regret my life with her. My wife moved close to me on our bed and I caressed her cheeks with my thumbs and kept kissing her forehead every once in a while. 

- “I just think… maybe you would have picked her instead of me if you knew how she felt about you.” 

- “Never.”  I didn't hesitate to answer ‘cos I needed her to understand how sure I felt about her. - “I don’t think you understand how much I love you. I’ve loved you since day one. Since the first time I saw you, interviewing for the position with Hotch.” 

- “You were still crushed on JJ when we met.”- she argued and I shook my head. 

- “You don’t understand, chipmunk. I fell for you the first time I talked to you, and since then, you have become the only one for me. You have been the one woman I want to be with ever since we first met. You asked me how old I was and I was so shocked by your presence, Elle had to answer for me.” 

My wife scoffed at my answer, and I reached her lips with mine, trying to soothe her fears with sweet kisses. 

- “Ask anyone…”- I murmured.- “Everybody knows I was a goner after day one.” 

- “Your… mom showed me all the letters you sent her since November 7th, 2005.”- she confessed, embarrassed to tell me their secret.- “Don’t get mad at her. She just… before we got married, she wanted me to know and understand how long you’ve loved me. So she let me read them.” 

- “I’m not mad. I’m glad you did. Can you see how long I’ve loved you?”- I asked her and kissed her lips one more time. 

- “But did you love me ‘cos she wasn’t available? Or…”

- “Chipmunk, I love you ‘cos you are the only one for me. Whatever I thought I felt for JJ back then, was never more than a simple infatuation. The second I met you and started knowing you, you became the only woman for me. You have no competition, nowhere in time or space.” 

My wife hugged and sobbed softly as I held her and ran my fingers through her hair. We stayed like that for a few minutes, until her breathing was calmer and she had stopped crying.  

- “I’m sorry, Spencer.”- she murmured - “I don’t wanna be crazy jealous or anything…” 

- “It’s ok. This is the kind of thing we have to talk about tonight. I know what Jennifer said was out of place, but I don’t want to make it our entire life from now on. I need to close that chapter.” 

- “I need to get out of the BAU.”- my wife replied and sighed.- “Should we set a date for our departure?”

- “If that makes you feel better, I’m in. Let’s set a date.”

- “I don’t think anything will give me any peace of mind right now.” 

- “Twelve weeks after our baby is born, we leave.”- I told her and she sighed one more time. 

- “Twelve weeks. Ok. I can do that.”- she paused and after a few seconds, she simply asked.- “When do we tell Prentiss?” 

- “Let’s give her a month's notice.”- I settled and kissed the top of her head one more time.- “And now, get some sleep, ok? It was a shitty day and you need to rest. The baby needs to rest.” 

- “Thank you, honey. For always taking care of me.”- her words were muffled ‘cos she was hiding on my chest and I just caressed her hair and back slowly, trying to give her all the comfort she needed.  

- “I love you, (Y/N). I am yours, my heart, my soul. Everything I am, it’s yours.”- I murmured and kissed the top of her head one more time.- “Never doubt that.” 

(Y/N)’s point of view 

Rossi’s wedding wasn’t a day at the beach, that I can assure you. Frank took care of the kids that day, so me and Spencer could have some time alone. With Mikey dealing with parenthood and Lu pregnant for the first time, we couldn’t really bother them much. Frank was the best godfather. He was always available to play and take care of our babies. He and Tarah didn’t have kids but still loved Raven and Vinny very much. And they love spending time together. 

I distinctly remember being in our room staring at my reflection in the mirror after I was done getting ready for David’s wedding, thinking I looked like a whale. Spencer walked over with Vincent and stared at me with pure love in his eyes. 

- “Doesn't mommy look gorgeous?”- he asked our baby son and he nodded. I couldn’t blame my husband for trying to make me feel pretty. He knew exactly what was going through my mind that second. 

- “Mommy is pretty”- Vinny replied as I turned to him and kissed his chubby cheeks.

- “You are more pretty! Are you ready to spend time with Uncle Frank and Auntie Tarah?” 

- “Yes! Uncle Funny said he was taking us to the aquarium today!”- Vinny replied, absolutely static with the plan, and Raven showed up holding her backpack. 

- “I’m ready! Let’s go!”- she commanded and grabbed my hand.- “Uncle Frank said if we got there early, we could have a picnic afterward! Come on!”- and just like that, Raven started crawling us downstairs. 

Being with the kids that morning cheered me up and took me back to reality. What really matters and who we were doing everything for: our family. 

- “Ok Nugget”- Frank stood next to our car as Spencer helped Tara with Vinny and Raven kept telling her about her week at school.- “Enjoy the party, don’t drink too much.-”- he joked touching my prominent belly and I just chuckled.

- “Sure thing, Paco. I’ll be the designated driver, so don’t worry.”- I replied and I know the smile didn’t reach my eyes ‘cos he noticed. Frank always noticed those things. 

- “Oh oh, what happened?” 

- “Don’t wanna talk about it now. I gotta look happy for Rossi”

- “Problems with Spencer? Do I have to hurt him?”- I stared at Frank, not moving a facial muscle until he chuckled.- “Fine, so Mr. FBI SSA can break my arm now, but he couldn’t do that when I first met him.”   

- “He is not the problem. He has been amazing” 

- “Then what?”- Frank crossed his arms on his chest as he stared at me, waiting for an answer. And I knew he wasn't going to stop asking until he got one.

- “Mom! Uncle Frank has to go!”- Raven appeared and held his hand, pushing him away from me.- “You can talk with your friend later!”

- “I’ll bring some wine when I drop the kids tonight.-” he decided and started walking with my daughter.

- “I can’t drink, Paco!”- I replied and he smiled evilly. 

- “It’s not for you, Nugget! I'll drink and you'll tell me the whole story.” 

- “So, how are we doing this?”- I asked Spencer as we walked into the venue. Rossi’s wedding was at a beautiful and cozy hotel, and it was only with close friends and family. Not a lot of places to hide. 

- “We have fun with the team, you try not to kill JJ. We go home early and never tell Frank, so we can have some time alone.” 

- “Loving the last part of that plan.”- I felt Spencer’s hand in mine as we took a look around. Matt and his wife were with JJ and Will, so we both moved the opposite way. Garcia and Tara were at the bar, so that's where we headed right away. 

- “Ok, I have just made this up. I call it the Rossi.”- Penelope announced and put a glass on the bar. I turned around as Pen continued talking about her drink, feeling someone’s eyes on me, and JJ quickly turned and looked away as I caught her staring at my husband. Spencer rested his hand on the small of my back and guided my focus back to Garcia. 

- “Will it get me drunk?”- Tara’s question made me chuckle right away.  

- “Totally.”- Garcia replied without hesitations. 

- “Then I will take a double.”- Lewis demanded and turned to her, surprised. 

- “Trying to get drunk before lunch? Bold move.”

- “Someone very wise once said: make every second count. And when there’s an open bar, trust me (Y/N), I always make every second last.”- her answer made me smile wider. 

- “Do you have any mocktails here, Pen?”- I asked and looked at my friend mixing nonalcoholic drinks behind the counter.

- “I have the perfect mix just for you, filled with vitamins for that baby Reid you are growing. Which reminds me, Reid”- she looked at my husband and raised an eyebrow. “ I came to this wedding by myself, but I will not be dancing by myself. Do you understand me, Dr. Reid?” 

- “Yes.”- Spencer replied solemnly and I sipped my glass. I looked at JJ and she was looking over from a distance, again. That was gonna be a long day to deal sober. 

The ceremony was perfect, just what Rossi and Krystal had imagined. But I was awkward the whole time, and I knew Spencer felt the same. He kept his arm or hand on me the entire time. It didn’t get better when it was time for speeches and Emily started talking. 

- “When Dave got engaged, he pulled out all the stops. Some of you might not know this, but he proposed to Krystall in our elevator at the FBI, which was perfect. If she said no, he could just go back to work and she had a built-in escape. But she said yes, and here we are.”

The entire room was listening closely to every word my friend said. Spencer, sitting next to me, held my hand upon the table. 

- “Penelope says that this was fate, that their marriage was in the stars. Dave and Krystall are twin flames, two souls that are always meant to be together. Sometimes it takes time, sometimes it takes a parallel universe or something, but the thing about twin flames is that nothing can keep them apart.”

Spencer moved my hand closer to him and kissed it sweetly. 

- “I would love you in every universe.”- he whispered and I knew I blushed because I felt my cheeks burning. My heart skipped a beat at those words ‘cos I knew he meant them and for once I didn’t care if JJ saw us. Spencer loved me as much as I loved him. 

- “They are a magic unto themselves. And together, they light the way for all of us. To David and Krystall.”- Emily finished her speech and we all raised our glasses. 

The plan was to stay a little longer after lunch and then go home, but Penelope, Matt, and Luke were doing such a great job keeping everybody dancing, we were having a great time. And we deserved that. To enjoy our time with our friends. It felt special considering we now had a date to leave. No more thinking about it. It was a fact. 

Spencer was getting me water and I was resting for a while when I saw JJ approaching him. My stomach dropped when I saw her skinny figure in a tight red dress standing next to my husband. He was gorgeous in that tux. She said a few words, Spencer shook his head, grabbed two bottles of water, smiled and walked away. I stared at the entire scene from my seat, and JJ looked at Spencer walking across the room back to me. 

- “What was that?”

- “She was thanking me for saving her life.”- he replied and sat by my side.

- “And?”

- “And then she started rambling about when I got the ankle holster and how she just said what she said to get that guy’s attention.”- my husband held my hand as he spoke, and stared at my eyes, trying to reassure me he was telling the truth.  

- “Sure…”

- “I told her I didn’t care. That whatever happened, it was in the past. That nothing was gonna change ‘cos things were the way they were supposed to be. And then I left.”

I didn’t reply, I just nodded and stared at him as she finished his explanation. I didn’t want to be the kind of wife who keeps demanding her husband to tell her everything he talked about with other women, but JJ was, and probably will ever be, a sensitive subject between us.  

- “Are you ok?”- I whispered and he nodded, kissing my hand.

- “Are you ok?”- he asked me and I smiled at him, nodding as well.- “Good, ‘cos now we are going home to enjoy the house alone for a while.”

- "That actually sounds like a date."- I replied as he kept holding my hand.

- "Then how about a nice bath for the two of us and some hot chocolate?"

- "Let's get the car."   

Series' Masterlist - Author's masterlist

Previous chapter | Next chapter

[gluion]

the perfect pair ➵ masterlist

esports player!kim sunwoo x esports player!reader

being a woman in the esports league is hard, but dealing with cocky kim sunwoo is unmatched. with the valorant champions tour about to commence, you two are forced to team up to retrieve the trophy. what will be tested—team morale or your patience around sunwoo?

general genre/warnings ➵ enemies to lovers, afab reader (they/them pronouns), slow burn, slight angst, crack, fake relationships (you two pretend to be friends) sexual tension, smut aka porn with plot (just know sunwoo whines), esports team au specifically during valorant champions tour, misogynistic & sexist remarks and behaviors, drinking, pet names, bets are made, a lot of gamer lingo, one bed trope™, also probably wrong format and flow of vct but who gaf!

word count ➵ currently 10.5k words, expected to be 20-40k (sorry i cant help it + vct is pretty long)

playlist ➵ yuck by charli xcx // stop talking by day6 // constant repeat by charli xcx // happier than ever by billie eilish // take a hint by victoria justice & elizabeth gillies // jealous by nick jonas // useless by omar apollo // somebody else by the 1975 // and july by dean fy. heize // talk by beabadoobee // teeth by 5sos // motive by ariana grande ft. doja cat // i wanna be your slave by måneskin // cologne by beabadoobee // a little death by the neighbourhood // the perfect pair by beabadoobee // babydoll by dominic fike // bet u wanna by sabrina carpenter// not in the same way by 5sos // just friends by keshi // sugar by men i trust // disaster by conan grey // shouldn’t couldn’t wouldn’t by niki // it’s you by zayn // die for you by the weeknd ft. ariana grande // flash forward by le sserafim // plot twist by niki

taglist ➵ @deoboyznet @kflixnet @blankjournal @winterchimez @miusgirl @jenoscafe @sweet-unicorn-world @vernyangel @mosviqu @tbzhub @stealanity @wooluv09 @deobi0412 @untilsunset @hiefisch @blue-rainydays @maessseongs @wonuroyal @sunkitti

a/n ➵ i made this masterlist post because i dont think tumblr will be able to handle all the parts i need to pump out :’) my headcanon of sunwoo being a shit gamer will forever live, but i’ll make an exception for this story <3 major shoutout to @shegotthewoobies for guiding me throughout the process <3 lots of love always to my val duo for life! do reblog and leave feedback!

want to be part of my taglist? send me an ask! masterlist

guides

➵ the guide: “welcome to valorant.”

your official guide to “the perfect pair” universe, from gaming lingo all the way to vct timeline

➵ the players: “wáchale güey, my crew is coming through.”

your official guide to the main characters of “the perfect pair” universe

official parts

➵ one: “ew, is that sunwoo over there? 저리 꺼져.”

being a woman in the esports league is hard, but dealing with cocky kim sunwoo is unmatched. with the valorant champions tour about to commence, you two are forced to team up to retrieve the trophy. what will be tested—team morale or your patience around sunwoo?

➵ two: “okay kids, we’ve got company. pretend you all get along.”

➵ three: “sunwoo, we are the perfect pair.”

extras/drabbles

number and names of chapters are subject to change!

[bartxnhood]

you don’t go to parties | a.f.i

ashton irwin x fem!reader

summary: ashton wonders why he keeps searching for you at parties. because after all, you don’t go to parties anymore.

warnings: drinking, swearing, just the party scene

w/c: 2.4k

requests open

not proofread

Copyright © 2023 bartxnhood. All rights reserved. This original work is not allowed to be reposted on any platform in any format.

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“hey, it’s y/n. sorry, i missed your call. leave a message after the beep. bye!”

“hey, uh, it’s me, just been thinking about everything tonight and i don’t know… i just miss you so much. call me when you can. bye.”

ashton removes the phone from his ear and ends the call, followed by a long, drawn-out sigh as he stares at your contact photo.

you were standing on the harbour bridge with him, kissing his cheek. it was taken on his first tour, when the band was opening for one direction, and he had just asked you to be his girlfriend, to which you of course said yes. he was your best friend and the person you had fallen in love with years before.

you've been by his side since the beginning of the band till today. you helped him throughout his most difficult times, and he did the same for you. at one point you considered him your soulmate and imagined spending the rest of your life by his side.

that was, until the parties.

it wasn't horrible at first. you'd join him at a few parties here and there. it was fun at first but then things got out of hand. ashton would party practically every night, and the parties eventually moved to his house, where you also lived. and it was well into the morning before the nights ended. so, you'd just hide out in your bedroom or at a friend's house.

it was exhausting. you could never get anything done because your house was always filled with strangers. and you couldn’t talk to ashton about it because he was always hungover and told you he’d talk to you later.

eventually, it got to the point where you just couldn’t take it anymore. so, you left him.

ashton was a disaster. every night, he'd be out partying or at a bar, hoping to drown out the haunting thoughts of you.

his partying addiction had gotten worse since you left. he couldn't even remember what he done the previous week since he had been partying so hard that it was killing him.

sometimes he’d call you when he was blackout drunk, professing undying love for you and how he regrets everything. other nights, when he isn’t so drunk, he’d still call you and apologize for the drunk calls.

he was spiraling down a deep dark alley, and if he didn’t fix himself now, he’d never see the light again.

ashton didn’t know why he continued to party and drink so much. but, he continued without thinking about the consequences. even if he knew how bad he was while under the influence.

some nights were worse than others.

one night it got very out of hand.

it was nearing five in the morning and ashton had one too many like he usually does but tonight was different. he was angry. angry at himself for letting you slip from his hands, angry he treated you like gum on the bottom of his shoe when instead of the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

ashton sat on his sofa staring at the wall with a red solo cup in hand, occasionally looking towards the door hoping you’d walk through and come back to him. but of course, you never did, and you wouldn’t because you don’t go to parties anymore.

luke sat with his head hung, rubbing his temples. “ashton, you’ve had too much. cmon man. just go to bed and we will clean up. it’s almost five a.m”

but ashton doesn’t say anything, he just sits there and down the rest of the liquid in his cup before tossing it to the floor

“yeah, no wonder y/n left you.” ashton hears michael say under his breath which was just enough to send ashton over the edge.

now it was getting out of hand, ashton was screaming his lungs out at michael while he just stood there with his hands up, signaling he didn’t want to fight ashton.

finally luke called the one person he knew who would help. you.

“hey, y/n, i’m sorry it’s so late…well early but ash is drunk, very drunk. can you come get him? he’s causing a scene.”

"what? oh, christ. yeah, I'll be there in ten," you said as you jumped out of bed, grabbed the nearest sweater and sweatpants, and ran out of your apartment.

your heart felt like it was beating out of your chest. the drive was a blur, trying to get there as quickly as possible in order to avoid another fight.

you knew most people would never do this for their ex, but you still loved him. you were still madly in love with him at the time. you listen to every message he's ever left on your phone.

your inbox was overflowing with them.

you heard every sincere confession, every drunken apology, and every sober apology.

of course, you still had feelings for him.

you never stopped.

“thank you for coming.” luke swung the door open letting you slip inside, then walked through the trashed house. “he’s in the living room” you looked through the kitchen archway to see where luke was pointing, and then you saw him.

you pushed the door open and walked across smashed cans and cups to his side. "ashton?" your voice was soft, as if you were unsure how he would react to your sudden appearance. maybe he'll lash out at you, or he'll remain mute and go away.

he raised his head, his gaze meeting yours. ashton comes to a halt from whatever nonsense he was doing, which was probably another drunken rage. was this really happening? he asks, as he stares at you in bewilderment. are you standing directly in front of him? was he dreaming?

"y/n?" he calls your name, and you question, "ash, what's going on?" and his eyes glaze over merely hearing your concern.he only blinks in response, trying to figure out the situation.

he can't believe you're at his party after swearing them off, and it's for HIM. not anywhere else but his house. he says "y/n" a few times before wrapping his arms around your stomach and tightening his grip. he couldn't let you go away again.

you just let it happen and hug him back as he sits on the sofa, saying, "hey, I'm here, it'll be okay" and attempting to calm him down. despite your best attempts, he pulls away, taking everything in.

you noticed luke about to say something, so you put your hand out to stop him, silently shaking your head.

you knew ashton was in pain, so you took him upstairs. "hey why don't we get you upstairs and into bed?" you gently held his arm, which calmed him down. he allowed you to take him upstairs and away from the party. you pull over to chat to one of the boys on the way, saying that you're going to take him to bed.

"I appreciate you calling. I'll get him settled and then return to assist you with the cleanup." you say to luke before leaving.

you help him upstairs, doing your best to keep him upright. as you led ashton to the bed, he was babbling incomprehensible words. and after completing your normal cleaning and care for him, you took a step back. anxiety and confusion consume your body. thank goodness, his luke called you.

You've read the articles about his constant parties and the drunken scenes he created. he was a mess. but it was how he was dealing with the break up. you, on the other hand, have stayed home every night, watching sad movies, weeping yourself to sleep most nights, losing your appetite, and creating excuses not to see sierra or crystal. Isolation was your only option for coping.

you begin to rub the bridge of your nose as you stand by the side of the bed, looking down at ashton, who was in and out of consciousness. your heart was beating, and you were at a loss for what to do. when ashton opens his eyes and sees this, he becomes upset once more. he’s sorry you had to go to another party for him, and he rubs his eyes before saying, "you shouldn't have come." "y’hate parties." "i had to," you say, dropping your hands. "i was worried." he could see it in your eyes that you were sincere. "you're scaring me, ash" you took a pause to attempt to calm yourself as tears began to pool in your eyes.

you try to get him to bed without confessing anything or saying anything you don't genuinely mean, knowing he's incredibly inebriated and emotional. "scaring you?" he took a deep breath as he watched you toss his shoes to the floor. "yes. you’re killing yourself. i’m not going to sit by and let you do that." maybe you were getting a little emotional right now, so you looked away to gather your thoughts and finish getting him ready for bed. if he chooses to sleep.

you left the room once he was settled for a bottle of water. he probably won't know you're gone. only luke and calum remained, clearing up the garbage from the party. they all glanced up at you, waiting for news, but you just shook your head and said nothing.

you returned, half-opening the bottle and placing it next to the bed. ashton is staring at you in awe. "you're always the one taking care of me and i never deserved it," he says. “you deserved so much better than me." you didn't let the fact that he was incredibly intoxicated and emotional get to you.

you lower your head, nibbling on the inside of your cheek. don’t let him hurt you like this, y/n. you kept thinking to yourself, he was intoxicated and didn't mean anything. you get up to leave, eager to go home and cry into your pillow about how much he misses you. he reached for your hand, carefully gripping it, and said, "stay with me." you freeze, tilt your head, and appear torn, so he adds "please? just tonight." while staring into your eyes, desperate.

so, you stayed. laying on the opposite side of ashton, you heard his breath steady assuming he was finally going to sleep. until you heard “i love you.” you had only hoped that if you were still he’d leave it alone and would just go to sleep. but he continued. “when i left that morning, i didn’t stop. i never did. you’re my whole world, and i hate the person i’ve become. i wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, but i screwed it up.” your heart was racing, picking at your nails you felt him shuffle next to you. “you were the best thing i’ve ever had and i let you go. ‘m sorry. you can hate me. i understand.” you waited a bit, but that was the last thing he said for the night.

you ended up leaving before he woke up because it was now daylight and you didn't want to be there when he did. you stood above him before leaving, and he looked so calm. naturally, you bowed down and kissed his brow softly before exiting the room. so, you were gone by eight a.m. you had a minor breakdown on the drive home, knowing that the love is still there, and seeing him so vulnerable makes your heart ache. but you kept reminding yourself that he was drunk. he most likely didn't mean half of what he stated.

right?

you had just finished your meeting the next day and were standing in your kitchen preparing a cup of coffee when you were stopped by a rhythmic knock. you walked over leaving the cup on your counter. as you answered the door, you saw ashton.

“hey.” he said, stuffing his hands into his jacket. you stepped back, then saying “why are you here?” ashton looked around, spitting a few framed pictures of the two of you which he thought was odd. he thought you hated him. he shrugged, “i just wanted to thank you for last night, and everything.” you sighed, “come in” you stepped to the side and let him enter, then closed the door behind him. “do you want some coffee?” he sat down on the sofa.

“sure.” he answered, looking around the room. you came back with a black mug and handed it to him, and took your seat across from him.

there was a moment of silence, the two of you would steal glances at each other but didn’t want to say anything, wondering how to approach the conversation waiting to be held.

his comment was abrupt. “i meant what i said, you know.” you looked up from your coffee, to meet with his eyes already looking at you. “what?” you blinked, placing the mug on the table. “last night. everything, i meant it. from me still loving you, to wanting to spend the rest of my life with you. i meant every word.” he was being sincere, he held eye contact as he spoke and didn’t break it once.

truthfully, you didn’t know what to say. the situation wasn’t ideal, and to be honest with yourself, you knew you still loved him. “ashton..” you finally spoke, followed by a long sigh and dropping your head into your hands.

“then why do you continue to do this? you’re drinking yourself to death, ash. how can i trust that you won’t do it all over again, even if i want to work this out?” ashton stands up from his spot and moves in front of you, on his knees as he holds your hands. "i get drunk to forget the color of your eyes and the way your hair falls and how soft your skin is and the way your smile makes me feel; but it seems like the alcohol can't change my memory of you." he had been waiting to tell you this for the longest, “i do it because it’s the only way i know how to cope and i know it isn’t the best way, but it’s all i know.”

ashton runs his thumb over your knuckles. you look down at his calloused hands feeling your lip quiver “and if that isn’t enough just tell me, and i’ll leave for good.”

you shake your head letting the tears fall, “ash..i just want you to stop..all this drinking isn’t good for you, i can’t just let that happen.” you say, and he nods. “i know, i know.” he hushes your tears, raising up to hug you. “i’ll do better, i promise.” he says into your hair while wiping your tears.

“how can i trust you?” you ask

“because, i love you. and i’ll be damned if i lose you again.”

[brujitaadinbo]

I'm posting again after a while; I was watching The Mandalorian, all seasons, again (sorry, I can't help it)

And I think I can answer some of the questions that "haters" of season 3 or the series have tried to bring up about "why if Bo Katan regrets her behavior before, she doesn't cry or they don't talk about Satine ??

For a start; I feel that in this season 3 the time of the series format passed very quickly, too quickly, to the other past seasons. This absolutely did not help the plot much, which was somewhat lost. BUT….

First, Bo has definitely been shown in very sensitive ways this season 3, it is not necessary for her to cry too much to realize that she appears sad, disappointed in herself and tired.

IT IS OBVIOUS that the pain of her past, her sister and her entire career are shown through symbolism, the Kryze castle, the throne, when they destroy said castle, all that, everything bad that she did or that she step, he leaves with the fire, with the destruction of those icons and symbols of his past.

The destruction of the saber that separates the Mandalorians and causes Bo Katan to lose herself in her power, Guideon himself talks about those talismans, all those symbols of power and empowerment that they show us must be destroyed because Bo Katan is a brave, confident woman. , formidable, just as Din Djarin tells her, she doesn't need any of that to stand out and she's going to prove it.

Although we are strong women, we also have our weaknesses, but true power, the empowerment that enriches us, is what makes us strong through our loved ones, our people, acting correctly and that makes us feel satisfied.

When he decides to walk with Din and Grogu it is because although they have not done things correctly, they are also looking for a way to fix the disasters and do it as best as possible. Din started this job and knows that Bo Katan is the one for Mandalore. she resurfaces, she is the daughter born of this place, she has sacrificed everything, she is the one who most deserves this opportunity. It bothers me a lot when they only pigeonhole their relationship as “somewhat forced”, “meaningless” or not “romantic” at all, sorry but… it doesn't have to be romantic, on the contrary, it is appreciated that it is. because their connection is emotional, their connection goes beyond something physical or superficial and they have worked on it to create a pure bond, a bond that takes them to something beyond if they want to give themselves the opportunity, they are partners. , they go hand in hand together, not at the wrong time, not as a competition, but as a journey for both of them, so in Plazir 15 that is the message they want to give us from these two Mandalorians.

Love in SW doesn't have to be shown with flowers or silly romantic quotes or stuffed animals. Love is demonstrated in subtle acts such as caring, saving, protecting, guiding, advising, consoling, something very human but that can also happen in any other galaxy and is real.

And I'm sure that the path of these Mandalorians will unite again, without the need for bombastic scenes, weddings or silly things. Love blossoms in them and we will know how to see it.

The fact that this green child has crossed their paths as a new hope, it is obvious that love seeks to stay in this new nucleus.

It also bothers me when they talk about Bo being pigeonholed as a mother or wife and that is misogynistic. Let's see the panorama clearly, at no time is there talk of "maternal instinct" because that would be pigeonholing us women and here in The Mandalorian 3 it never happened. That since season 2, both Din and Bo can be seen and notice that parental sense, the impulse or parental instinct to protect the child, is logical and normal because we all have developed that instinct, adult humans, taking care of the little ones, for love, affection, affection, responsibility, etc. Between brothers, cousins, family, father, mother or children, even with our pets, because we are sensitive, empathetic and sociable beings and it is scientifically proven.

That Bo becomes attached or has affection for the child is because Grogu is nice, he has earned his place in Bo's heart and because the two have a connection, it does not affect anything in the story or characters, on the contrary it contributes. And that's not why she is pigeonholed as a mother, there is nothing wrong with motherhood because it exists because it is okay if you want to live it or not and Bo Katan can do it if she wants to or not, it is her decision. But she can be a mother figure, she can be a figure of respect for Grogu, affection and appreciation, a guide and an important part of his life. She can serve something else and not just war and combat. He can do so many things and his knowledge of war should not limit him.

I really appreciate that they gave this interaction to the main characters. No matter what happens, I take away the best messages from the series and this season.

I hope the rumors about "it's the last of The Mandalorian" "Bo Katan will no longer appear in the movie or he will die" "There will be no more Din and Grogu material"

be that, just false rumors I await you with much love to Din, Bo and Grogu.

this is the way.

[thejujvtsupost]

Heyo! Got a little sfw/fluff request about Geto and Gojo x reader (no established relationship) and maybe could end with the both of them confessing if it's alright 👉👈

Something in like Satoru and Suguru's school days and Gojo is always the popular one and Geto is kind of overlooked/compared with Gojo's beauty but the thing is Gojo doesn't like that people always shrug off his best friend then one day reader is in class with a few girls chitchatting and the boys pass by the class and overhear the conversation you were having and get curious (cause they know you through Shoko) and the girl group was talking about their favorite things in guys and most of them would say things they like about Gojo and when it was your turn to answer, you just said you really liked Geto's eyes when he smiles and kinda go on a rent about things your really like about Geto (actions, physical, personality, etc) and the rest is up to you :>

Thank you so much!!!

No Time Like the Present

Lmao not me releasing this before I fixed my formatting hahahaha 💀 Jfc. Anyway, sorry for the delay anon!

Notes: F!reader, College setting, reader and characters are 18-19, sort of unintentional confessions, eavesdropping, not unrequited love, reader is shy, Shoko & Gojo making bets, you’re both oblivious disasters.

“C’mon man, she’s been staring at you for weeks. No way she doesn’t like you.” The halls were empty while they roamed and wasted time. This conversation has been coming up more and more frequently. He never believed Gojo.

Geto knew his best friend was highly desired at their college - he didn’t blame anyone. But there were time (just this time, actually) when he wished he wasn’t in Gojo’s shadow.

Gojo didn’t get the vibe that you wanted him. Sure, you were friendly; even on the way to actual friends, but that was a totally different feeling. No, he didn’t need his technique to know your gaze was always on his best friend. Both of you were painfully obvious and absolutely oblivious to each other. As luck would have it though, Gojo knew where your class was and decided he’d create a little mischief - Wouldn’t it be a coincidence if you randomly bumped into each other?

Things were about to change for Geto.

Hearing your voice from your nearby classroom made him shoot Gojo an accusatory glare and felt his heart lurch. Gojo didn’t even bother with the look and dragged him to the wall to eavesdrop wait for you.

“This is weird, we’ll catch up with her later at Shoko’s-” he was cut of by Gojo obnoxiously shushing him.

“Shut up and listen!” He said with a whisper shout, his eyes were wide and he was gaining a bigger self satisfied grin by the second.

Fine. Whatever it’d take to make Gojo leave before you saw them.

You were sitting with two other girls, a blonde and a brunette.

“I think he’s dreamy! Those eyes, I wish he’d take his sunglasses off more often!" The blonde didn’t bother to hide her open admiration. Geto really didn’t want to hear you gushing over his best friend…

The brunette let out a sigh, “yeah he’s dreamy, but have you seen how hot he is? Those abs!”

Then they were looking at you expectantly for your contribution. “I think he’s nice… but I really like his friend more.”

“You mean Suguru Geto? He’s pretty hot too.”

“Yeah.” You felt your face flush. “It’s not that he’s hot, well he is. He’s so strong and tall and his smile is so- ugh that’s not the point!” Your friends started giggling at your expression.

“I think he’s also really kind and considerate… he’s been helping me with my homework, we’ve been studying together lately and he’s so smart! Funny too, the other day he said some lame joke about Gojo and I couldn’t stop laughing, I even snorted. It was so embarrassing! He knew it was lame and kept going though, my sides were hurting.”

That didn’t make sense to Geto, he thought your laugh was cute. “But he’s such a good listener too, he remembers the small stuff that I wouldn’t expect him to know. He knows how I like my coffee and we’ve only studied at a cafe twice.”

“Uh oh, someone’s got a crush!” They were teasing you, Geto couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. He wished they hadn’t stopped your rant, though.

Geto had his body smushed as close to the door as possible, your blush was adorable and a huge boost to his confidence. Gojo was snickering and texting Shoko, there was an ongoing bet between them about how long it’d take for you guys to get together.

“It’s not like that! I mean, he wouldn’t go for someone like me anyway. Every time I think about asking him out I remember he’s way out of my league and I’m just me…”

Geto felt his heart squeeze. Just you? He loves likes just you. If anything you’re the one out of his league!

Your class ended not ten seconds later before Geto could formulate a better plan, you smiled brightly when you noticed him next to Gojo. Thirty seconds just wasn’t enough time to prepare everything he wanted to say; all he knew was that if you were feeling shy, he was going to ask you out as soon as he could. Anything to make you happy.

Starting right now, since there was no time like the present…

Thinking about making a request? Check my bio to see if they’re open! <3

[lowkeyrobin]

hey! (just wanna say I really love your writing and especially the ones on mental health)

could I ask for more of the reactions to an Australian accent, but with the cricket crew instead? (those who are okay with x reader ofc)

tysm!!! have a wonderful day!

ah omg thank you 🫶🫶🫶 I've been working really hard esp on those ones + the fact I've always kinda struggled w mental health stuff so I rlly pour my heart out into those ; and he's of course!! sorry if I misunderstood you on that last one by the way LMAO ; gonna keep this as a oneshot tho because it was way easier than a preference format for some reason ; also I wish we got more freddie, tommy, tubbo & ranboo pics while we could 😔🙏

HANDSOME BROS ; australian accent

summary ; youre the only aussie in a group of british kids (and an american)

warnings ; language, lots of ball jokes (sorry tommy)

word count ; 1.4k

masterlist

Showing up for Tubbathon 2024 was a wild one.

Having your hand duct taped to Tommy's was also a whole thing in itself. At least you weren't working with Ranboo, who had no idea how to cook, unlike their poor partner Freddie. Recipe For Disaster was probably a horrible idea to join.

You and Tommy, Green Team, versus Ranboo and Freddie, Orange Team.

You'd never really talked on stream before. You either communicated through Minecraft signs or in-game chats. If you did speak, however, you'd often use a voice changer to make you seem a little more understandable, as you knew your accent was a bit difficult to understand sometimes.

You'd also met with your friends in real life before, of course, but you made sure the entire trip you strained your voice to sound a little more understandable.

But, now cooking with one of your long-time friends, the big guy TommyInnit himself, you didn't seem as worried or insecure when you spoke. I mean, you'd barely spoken, but you were in a comfortable environment - Tubbo's house - and were accompanied by friends you'd known for a long time now.

The stream had started and Tubbo had explained your rules, leaving the two groups to get to cooking.

"Hey, mate, can you hold the bowl while I stir the eggs?" You kindly ask Tommy, wriggling a whisk out of the jar between the stations.

The blonde blinks in silence, staring at you, "Your accent went 0 to 100 very quickly, Y/n/n" He giggles.

"Wait, what?" You glance about, feeling a little nervous as you plop the whisk into the measuring cup, needing to stir the eggs.

"Not in a bad way! Like, I never noticed your fuckin' accent was so, like, heavy before? You didn't sound like that last time we met up, or talked" He shrugs as he explains himself.

"Oh" You shrug, watching as he secures his free hand around the handle of the glass measuring cup. You begin to whisk the eggs, poking at the yolks to make it go a little bit faster. "I mean, I usually use a little voice changer to make me a little more understandable"

"Ohhhhh, wait, that makes sense" He nods, "Ow! Calm down, I'm not trying to get surgery on my wrist now!" He quickly pulls his hand away, feeling something pop.

"Shit, I'm sorry! Are you alright?"

He bites his tongue, nodding as you reach for his hand. "I'm good"

You gently grab his wrist, quickly and lightly kneading the area for him.

Ranboo looks up, seeing you two distracted in your green aprons. "They're taking a massage therapy break already" they comment, tapping Freddie on the shoulder.

"C'mon, man up, Tommy! You'll be okay" Freddie lightly smiles, cracking a few eggs over the measuring cup, which they'd just struggled to find.

"Dude, I just had surgery on my crowned jewels, I don't think I will!"

"Good God, help me now" You chuckle

Ranboo and Freddie go silent for a moment before the boy with the red hair speaks up.

"You weren't kidding about the voice changer, were you?"

You shake your head no, "Why would I lie about that, mate?"

The two shrug, hearing Tubbo fake yell at them for cheating since they were conversing with you. The four of you jokingly plan a rebellion that you'd put into place for later, deciding to focus on the food right now.

"Tommy, Tommy, the plate, not the floor! If you drop that I'll actually kill you"

"It's on the damn plate!"

Tommy quickly sets the pan down to help you fold the guacamole together, using his one hand to hold the bowl while you rushingly mix it all up. From the avocados to the lemon juice, you got it to a nice consistency, and, with a struggle, get a dab of it on the paper plate you were given next to the burrito.

"I think he's gonna like it either way, considering most of what he eats, he orders." You shrug, setting the bowl of guacamole down.

Tommy lightly laughs, "Yeah, that's true"

You were finished before the timer, luckily, however, Freddie and Ranboo were still working, using each hand to do their own tasks to work a little faster.

"Tubbo, can you understand me with my accent this thick?" You shout into the other room, purposely making your voice and accent sound a bit thicker to try and mess wirh him.

It's silence until he answers, like he needed to translate your words. "Barely!"

You and Tommy laugh, chatting away while the other group works.

"What's Australia even like? Just like... giant spiders and kangaroos?"

"Holy shit"

"I'm serious! It's not like I'm going anytime soon"

"Well, it's not that. It's like the UK but much warmer, and yeah, kinda scarier. It's like a real-life Better Minecraft mod"

"You guys have armored skeletons attacking you??" Tommy laughs as he teases you.

"I hate you!" You laugh

"I love how you say 'you', it sounds so dumb"

"It sounds like how you Brits say it!" You smile, using your free hand to try and fight him in a playful manner.

"Dumb in a nice way! Dumb in a nice way!" He shouts, trying to use his free hand to protect himself from the cat fight. "They weren't lying when they said you Aussies fight like wild animals, what's next, you gonna kick the shit out of me?" He asks, egging you on.

"I'm gonna kick you in the crown jewels if you don't shut up!" You joke, making him scream in terror, probably killing the viewers' ears as well.

He yelps, falling back as he drags you down with him, having slipped on himself.

"Tommy!"

"Ow!"

"Jesus Christ, they've broken each other's backs off that floor, I heard it" Freddie lightly laughs, holding the paper plate up for Ranboo so they could put the food on it. "I think Y/n's dead"

"Tubbo! We need the ambulance!" Ranboo laughs, "Get Eryn back here, they actually can't get up! The tied hands have impaired them tremendously"

"Tommy, just stand up!"

"My balls hurt!"

"Then let me stand up, I can't when you're holding your dick together!"

Eryn quickly rushes over, helping the both of you stand up slash getting Tommy to release his tied hand from his crotch. You help him up and pat him on the shoulder with your free hand as Tubbo wraps up the time.

In the end, your groups nearly tied, you and Tommy one point behind Freddie and Ranboo. Honestly, they did deserve the win.

"I still can't believe you fooled us with the voice changer, even changing your voice in real life. I swear, you sound totally different," Freddie lightly chuckles, freeing himself from the apron.

"In a good way, though" Ranboo adds, "Your accent is really fucking cool, trust me"

You lightly smile, freeing yourself from Tommy's sweaty hands. "Thanks- ow, holy shit!"

"You think that hurt?" The blonde teases, having ripped the rest of the duct tape of your hands.

"Piss off"

After the stream ended, Tubbo turned on some music while you guys cleaned up. He and Eryn were sorting out the lights, cameras, and microphone while the four of you cleaned up the kitchen. You decided to clean each other's messes, trying to make it a little more enjoyable, which none of you minded.

The music, picked my Tubbo himself, was an early 2000s hip hop mix, titled something like 'Greatest 2000s Hip Hop Hits' or something. And of course, Ranboo and Tommy were getting down to it, mostly leaving you and Freddie to do the cleaning while you laughed at them singing and dancing along.

Tommy was bouncing around, not focused on cleaning whatsoever as he tugs on your hand, wanting you to join in.

"Y/n, Freddie, cmon!"

"This isn't High School Musical, dude" You reply

"You deserve a break!" Ranboo shouts, pulling Freddie into whatever fucked up dance trapezoid you guys had going on.

You sigh and set down the cups you were washing and turn the water off. You spray the water from your hands on Freddie, starting a war as you join their little dance party.

Freddie gasps and smiles, throwing the little bit of water in the measuring cup at you in retaliation.

"Australian versus Brit! Who will win!?" Tommy shouts with a little laugh.

"Hopefully not the American"

You fake shudder and nod. "Yeah, I agree with that, Ranboo"

[hiddentrails7]

I gave the BG3 origin characters Pokémon teams and put way too much thought into it, so I thought I'd share my nerdish thoughts. Maybe I'll do non-origin characters at some point, but eh, we'll see.

Oh, and there's some spoilers for the character stories, so read at your own risk.

(Teams under the cut!)

Lae'zel

(I couldn't not use this gif, sorry girlie)

Kommo-o

"When it spots enemies, it threatens them by jingling the scales on its tail. Weak opponents will crack and flee in panic." (Pokémon Sun)

An intimidating, armored warrior, just like Lae! Its shiny also reminds me of her, haha.

Zangoose

"It has feuded with SEVIPER for many generations. Its sharp claws are its biggest weapons." (Pokémon Diamond & Pokémon Pearl)

Just like the Githyanki's fued with Mindflayers, it has a big issue with Seviper's mere existence. They also give the same attitude vibes.

Scizor

"SCIZOR has a body with the hardness of steel. It is not easily fazed by ordinary sorts of attacks. This POKéMON flaps its wings to regulate its body temperature." (Pokémon Ruby & Pokémon Sapphire)

They're both well-armored! It is,, also just her vibe.

Bisharp

This pitiless Pokémon commands a group of Pawniard to hound prey into immobility. It then moves in to finish the prey off." (Pokémon Black 2 & Pokémon White 2)

A hardened warrior, like the rest of the team. It not only plays into the fact that she likes to take charge, but I don't think she'd ever evolve it into Kingambit due to her whole awakening with Vlaakith and learning about the prince in the prism, lmao. She's content with Bisharp.

Falinks

"The six of them work together as one Pokémon. Teamwork is also their battle strategy, and they constantly change their formation as they fight." (Pokémon Shield)

The ultimate unit. She doesn't care if they're little guys, they're forces of nature! Not to be trifled with!

Charizard

"CHARIZARD flies around the sky in search of powerful opponents. It breathes fire of such great heat that it melts anything. However, it never turns its fiery breath on any opponent weaker than itself." (Pokémon Ruby & Pokémon Sapphire)

Even if she doesn't agree to become Vlaakith's chosen, she seems like the type to get a dragon herself just to spite Vlaakith.

☆

Shadowheart

(Oh my beloved Shart)

Umbreon

"When exposed to the moon's aura, the rings on its body glow faintly and it gains a mysterious power." (Pokémon Platinum)

It is so she coded. She worships the moon/darkness, no matter what path you go down with her, so Umbreon is perfect!

Absol

"Although it’s said to bring disaster, in actuality, this Pokémon possesses a calm disposition and warns people of any crises that loom." (Pokémon Moon)

Another dark, kind-of moon-esk vibe Pokémon. They also have similar haircuts!

Trevenant

"Trevenant is very kind to Pokémon living in the forest. It doesn't even care if these Pokémon take up residence in the greenery on its head." (Pokémon Violet)

A Pokémon I just think she'd like. I like to think it'd try to protect her from wolves in the forest, but when she came into contact with Sharr for the first time it was only a Phantump.

Hatterene

"This Pokémon can read the emotions of creatures over 30 miles away. The minute it senses hostility, it goes on the attack." (Pokémon Sword, G-Max form)

I think it's a really funny image. Shadowheart wouldn't mind watching with a wine glass in-hand as her Hatterene beats the shit out of someone that won't leave her alone. Its interaction potiental with Astarion is peak.

Mawile

"It chomps with its gaping mouth. Its huge jaws are actually steel horns that have been transformed." (Pokémon HeartGold & Pokémon SoulSilver)

Has her vibes. Good for both versions of her. Has her ponytail (kind of). Makes sense to me!

Zoroark

"Each has the ability to fool a large group of people simultaneously. They protect their lair with illusory scenery." (Pokémon White)

While kind of leaning toward Sharr, it works for Selune as well! Shadowheart is also naturally a Trickster Domain Cleric, so a Pokémon known for tricks is great!

☆

Astarion

(My personal favorite character. I love him. He's soggy.)

Hisuian Zoroark

"With its disheveled white fur, it looks like an embodiment of death. Heedless of its own safety, Zoroark attacks its nemeses with a bitter energy so intense, it lacerates Zoroark’s own body." (Pokémon Legends Arceus)

Its a very Astarion Pokémon. It not only has wonderful hair, just like him, the entry above sounds a bit too similar to the start of the Cazador fight... heh.

Gliscor

"It dances silently through the sky. When it approaches prey, it can land a critical hit in an instant." (Pokémon Black 2 & Pokémon White 2)

Of course, it's vampire coded, and it also just has Astarion's smug, rogueish vibes.

Thievul

"It secretly marks potential targets with a scent. By following the scent, it stalks its targets and steals from them when they least expect it." (Pokémon Sword)

Astarion is a fancy man! Former magistrate! Thievul fits the high-class vibe and, of course, the thief aesthetic.

Froslass

"A Pokémon inhabited by the soul of a woman who died bearing a grudge in the snowy mountains. Legends of Froslass placing deathly curses on misbehaving men send shivers down my spine." (Pokémon Legends Arceus)

I think it'd be funny, if this Pokémon saw Astarion and related. Like. It feels empathy for this poor mf and just kinda sticks around. It REALLY wants to kill Cazador, but doesn't for Astarion's sake. It's cute.

Crobat

"The transformation of its legs into wings made it better at flying, but more clumsy at walking." (Pokémon Platinum)

Ugh the thought of Astarion befriending a Zubat in Cazador's palace and getting it to evolve via friendship is so nice. Also another vampire-esk mon.

Liepard

"Their beautiful form comes from the muscles they have developed. They run silently in the night." (Pokémon Black 2 & Pokèmon White 2)

It's him. As a purple and yellow cat. What do you want me to say.

☆

Gale

(My favorite boot-eater)

Alakazam

"While it has strong psychic abilities and high intelligence, an ALAKAZAM's muscles are very weak. It uses psychic power to move its body." (Pokémon Emerald)

Okay, Mr. 45 Defense 135 Special Attack. The og wizard Pokémon. Of course Gale has one.

Meowscarada

"This Pokémon uses the reflective fur lining its cape to camouflage the stem of its flower, creating the illusion that the flower is floating." (Pokémon Scarlet)

While, yes, it's a Magician, not a Wizard, I still think it works. Gale has a sassier side, which I thoroughly enjoy, and it reminds me of Tara in a weird way.

Delphox

"Using psychic power, it generates a fiery vortex of 5,400 degrees Fahrenheit, incinerating foes swept into this whirl of flame." (Pokémon Y)

Literally a wizard. Gale would love a little Fennakin.

...also, uh, Fireball.

Ditto

"With its astonishing capacity for metamorphosis, it can get along with anything. It does not get along well with its fellow Ditto." (Pokémon Moon)

Gale loves his duplicates: no need for spell slots if you have a Ditto!

...unless he needs Ditto to speak, of course, but Ditto can probably write instead!

Meowstic (Male)

"When in danger, it raises its ears and releases enough psychic power to grind a 10-ton truck into dust."

Another lovely Psychic type! It's also cat-shaped so that's a bonus for Gale. Simply a little guy.

Chandelure

"This Pokémon haunts dilapidated mansions. It sways its arms to hypnotize opponents with the ominous dancing of its flames." (Pokémon Sword)

I wanted a magic item reference, and I think he'd think it's cool! There's quite a few myths surrounding it.

☆

Wyll

(My first romance. He has a special lil place in my heart.)

Gallade

"A master of courtesy and swordsmanship, it fights using extending swords on its elbows." (Pokémon Diamond & Pokémon Pearl)

THE BLADE OF FRONTIERS—

Aegislash

"Apparently, it can detect innate qualities of leadership. According to legend, whoever it recognizes is destined to become king." (Pokémon Y)

THE BLADE OF FRONTIERS PART 2—

Oh, and I also think he got his from his father.

Corviknight

"This Pokémon reigns supreme in the skies of the Galar region. The black luster of its steel body could drive terror into the heart of any foe." (Pokémon Sword)

Haha. Ravengard. Get it.

It's also another knight aesthetic. Yippee.

Sirfetch'd

"Only Farfetch'd that have survived many battles can attain this evolution. When this Pokémon's leek withers, it will retire from combat." (Pokémon Sword)

Oh, another knight! What do you know.

...Blade of Frontiers part 3.

Lucario

"Not only does it perceive auras, but it has also gained the power to control them. It employs them in battle." (Pokémon Sun)

It's very him coded. I also really like the jokes where people compare him to a puppy. Lucario is a bipedal puppy.

The thought of a younger Wyll with a Riolu also brings me joy.

Ceruledge

"The fiery blades on its arms burn fiercely with the lingering resentment of a sword wielder who fell before accomplishing their goal." (Pokémon Scarlet)

Ah, finally. The Warlock pact Pokémon. It really fits him after getting his pact, imo. I like to think Mizora didn't give him a chance to evolve it into Armarouge instead, which upset Wyll at first, but he gets attached to Ceruledge. It's still his, after all.

☆

Karlach

(My favorite female character! She brings me such joy)

Emboar

"It can throw a fire punch by setting its fists on fire with its fiery chin. It cares deeply about its friends." (Pokémon Black)

She'd love this fucker, especially as a Tepig! They're both bulky as shit and deserve the world.

Haxorus

"While usually kindhearted, it can be terrifying if angered. Tusks that can slice through steel beams are how Haxorus deals with its adversaries." (Pokémon Shield)

Haha big axe. Haxorus is just very Barbarian coded.

...Also Karlach with an Axew <3.

Tinkaton

"The hammer tops 220 pounds, yet it gets swung around easily by Tinkaton as it steals whatever it pleases and carries its plunder back home." (Pokémon Violet)

Another big-weapon Pokémon, but I think she'd also just think it's silly.

Imagine Wyll meeting her with this little menace, since he has a Corviknight.

(Yes, I might've done that on purpose)

Arcanine

"Arcanine is known for its high speed. It is said to be capable of running over 6,200 miles in a single day and night. The fire that blazes wildly within this Pokémon's body is its source of power." (Pokémon Omega Ruby & Pokémon Alpha Sapphire)

Loyal fire puppy. Essentially Karlach.

Bewear

"This Pokémon has the habit of hugging its companions. Many Trainers have left this world after their spines were squashed by its hug." (Pokémon Moon)

THEY CAN TAKE EACHOTHER'S BACKBREAKING HUGS. THEY DESERVE EACHOTHER.

I also just really had a fun time running Bear-Rage Barbarian Karlach.

Darmanitan

"Its internal fire burns at 2,500° F, making enough power that it can destroy a dump truck with one punch." (Pokémon Black)

A very Karlach mon, in my opinion. She appreciates how angry it can be. She is also quite angry.

[hunted-moth]

Just Like Him Chapter One: I Met Two Old Guys In The Woods

Word-count // 6k

Summary // When Y/n encounters two men in the woods who offer her a place to stay she’s skeptical but goes anyway. And there she meets new people who help her in all kinds of ways

Warning // Language, talks of death and hunting, 

Special Thanks to @eugeneroehoe and my friend for editing/proofreading this for me, it would be a disaster if they didn't lol

OTHER STUFF// Sorry for the weird formatting, i write in google docs and transfer over to Tumblr, and it's so fucky lol. I know there are other campers but for my sake, im just gonna focus on the main group. 

Also, fun fact my GF's name was Sophia but we don't call her that so it was weird typing ‘Sophia’ lol

A/N // the first official chapter woo hoo. Unpopular opinion? I really like Lori and I feel bad for her sometimes. Yes she's wrong sometimes yeah but that doesn't matter to me, we support women's rights and wrongs here. 

***: Major time Skip/scene change

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

              “Well well well, what do we have here baby brother,” The old guy said with the meanest grin on his face. Your grip tightened on the bow as he spoke, but you didn't take your eyes off the other man with the crossbow and the squirrels on his rope. They had dirt and grime all over their faces and slightly tattered clothes.

“Just a kid.” The younger guy lowered his crossbow and straightened his posture. The older man noticed your bag on the ground and yanked it off the forest floor. 

“What do we have here?” The old man began to riffle through your stuff. 

“HEY! That's mine!” you barked at him lowering your bow. He just ignored you and continued looking through your bag. 

"Hmp, all that's in here are picture books, clothes, 'n a can of bug spray." He dumped the bag out on the ground and picked up the bug spray. "'Least this is useful." He went to turn and walk away, but you rushed him and pulled on his shirt.

“Hey, it’s mine! Give it back, asshole!” You grunted as the old guy pushed you away and you fell on your ass. 

You rushed forward to continue to fight back, but the younger man held you back by the collar of your shirt. 

“What's your guys' problem?!” You thrashed and fought against his grip, instead, he only tightened his grip

“Will ya jus’ quit it, kid!” The old guy turned around and crouched down to your height, in a way that was patronizing. 

“Well, aren't ya a feisty one, kid?” He attempted to poke your forehead but you slapped his hand away. 

“don't touch me!” You yelled as the younger one yanked on your collar to shut you up. 

“Quit yelling! Yer gonna attract the Geeks!” The younger one yelled.

You stopped a moment to think about what he said and gave him a weird look.

“You call ‘em geeks? That's kinda dumb.” The young guy rolled his eyes while the older one started to ask a question but was cut off by the sound of a snarl nearby. 

The younger guy let go of you to quickly shoot a bolt through the rotter's head with precision.

“That's why yer quiet,” he spat at the ground, lowering the crossbow.

“I was, but it's kinda hard when two old men in the woods take my crap.” You side-eye the old guy. He raised an eyebrow and looked at his brother, silently telling him to give your stuff back. 

“Naw, the kid tried to attack us when she first laid eyes on us,” The Old guy dismissed. “Sides’, she should thank us fer that Geek.” You wanted to kick him in the shin.

The younger guy huffed and rolled his eyes. “She's just a kid, give ‘er the can of bug spray, and let’s go.” The old guy stared at the other, then dropped the can at your feet with a smug look.

You snatched it up and stuffed it in your bag, giving him the stink eye like your life depended on it. It was silent momentarily before you moved to pick up your bow. You were about to head on your way before the young guy grabbed your shoulder.

“Hey, where are yer parents? Why’re ya alone out here?” Your shoulder went stiff, you knew where they were and why you were alone.

“They’re dead, and my brother is lost and probably long gone, so it jus’ me, I guess.” You looked at the ground. The two men were looking at you. The younger one had a semi-sympathetic look on his face, while the older one just looked irritated.

The younger guy turns you around so you face him. “You know how to hunt? Or are you just swingin’ that bow around?” you nod your head "Follow us." You give him a strange look.

"Where?" You asked.

He rolled his eyes at the question."We got a camp down by a quarry, you can come or not, don' matter ta me," the younger guy said. You guessed he was trying to be nice, but his face didn't show it. It looked like you pestered the answer out of him.

They began to walk away not waiting for an answer from you. You weighed the thought of following them to their camp. You thought of Jason, thinking about what he’d say if he were you.

“They just tried to take your shit and now they want you to follow ‘em? Hell no, they probably want to kill you and take it” imaginary Jason shouted in your ear, his argument was reasonable in your mind. But your ‘mother’ had her own argument.

“He did stick up for you, maybe he’s being kind. You are alone out out here bear, anyone with a heart would invite you to their shelter. They could have food and even more people to look after you and keep you safe” Her words were hopeful whereas Jason was cynical. 

Your mom's words tried to help you use your heart but Jason fought that you should use your head.

You looked at the two men as they walked away, their bodies getting smaller and smaller by the second.

‘Could just go and check the place out, if it's legit I could stay but if it gets dodgy I’ll leave’ You thought it was a perfect middle ground for both arguments. 

You picked up all of your stuff and began to jog towards them. You huffed and puffed when you caught up to them making the older one scoff when he noticed you and walked faster to get away from you. 

                                    ~~~The Quarry Day One~~~

          Your trek to the supposed quarry was tense. You almost feel the irritation radiate from the Old guy. You and the young guy just kept quiet, the only words he'd say to you was ‘keep up’ if you fell behind a bit. 

But the old guy just had to open his mouth.

“Why are we even bringing another mouth ta feed anyway!” you rolled your eyes, but the comment made it seem like there were other people. Which was a good sign.

“Can it even do anything useful” You were pretty sure you were the ‘it’ in this scenario.

“I can hunt, and other stuff,” you said in a small but annoyed tone which pissed him off as he turned around and yelled at you.

“WAS I TALKIN’ TO YOU KID” he yelled, you stepped back a bit when he got in your face. 

“Man shut up and keep walking, ‘fore Shane blows up on us” He pushed the old guy forward. But he never shut his mouth, he just went on and on about how much of a burden you'd be if you stayed. He kinda reminded you of your brother when he was pissed at you.

As you walked you noticed that you started distancing yourself from the old guy. You were at first in the middle of them but towards the end of your trek back, you found yourself on the other side of the younger guy.

After about an hour of walking, you heard voices other than the old guy. You could hear soft murmurs of people talking as you all got closer. The two men got in front of you and moved the brush aside. The three of you walk through the camp towards a man.

“Yo Shane” the young guy called out, and the man with puffy hair turned his head, his eyebrows crinkled in confusion when his eyes landed on you. 

“What’s with tha kid?” He asked the old guy with a look of confusion.

“Some brat we picked up” The Old guy just spat at the ground, and the puffy-haired guy just rolled his eyes. He directed his attention to you, kneeling a bit lower.

“Hi, Im Deputy Shane Walsh, what's your name?” he had a smile on his face, one that looked fake but still comforting.

“Umm, Y/n, Y/n Myers” you looked down out of embarrassment.

“Ok Y/n,” he started “now mind tellin’ me why you're alone in the woods?” he tilted his head towards the woods.

“I- I got separated from my brother and momma” you lied, you knew where your mom was, dead somewhere probably eating some poor dude's face. But you guess the part about your brother was true.

“Well, that's not good, when did you lose them?” he tilted his head to the side now, by now the other guys were long gone so it was just you and the puffy-haired guy.

“A couple of weeks ago, I just kept movin’ to avoid the eaters” You fidgeted with your bow like a child who was caught stealing something.

He had a sad look on his face “Well that's not good, how about you stay here till we find your family huh? Where do you think they might've gone?” he got up and put his hands on his hips as he looked around for someone. 

“Im not sure, maybe Atlanta? Momma talked about goin’ there” You fiddled with your bow some more, rubbing your hands over the handles, you weren't looking at his face too shy to even think about it. 

You heard a ‘hmm’ coming from his mouth, you looked up to see he was looking around the camp till his eyes finally found what he was searching for.

“AYE LORI!” He shouted “Come ‘ere for a minute” A woman in her mid to late 30s came strolling over, she had long brown hair and a confused look on her face. When you look behind her you see a little boy, around your age, trudging along with the woman.

“Yeah, Shane?” Shane–you guess– put a hand on your shoulder “This is Y/n, her family’s missing, ya think you can keep an eye on ‘er?” The woman looked at you and smiled.

“Hi Y/n, Im Lori” she introduced herself with a kind smile. The boy behind her gave a small wave. 

“And this here is my son Carl” She pushed the boy from out behind her and continued her conversation with Shane 

“Sure Shane, you gonna help look for her family?” you looked him in the eyes before he directed his attention to Lori, he put an arm around her and led her away from you and the boy.

“I don't think her family’s alive” he whispered, but you heard him, “said she got separated from her mom and brother a few weeks back” he scratched his head, “said her momma wanted to go to Atlanta”.

Lori got a sad look on her face from that information, she turned to look back at you and you looked away.

Lori nodded her head and turned towards you again “Are you hungry Hun?” she asked in her sweetest voice, you just nodded your head, and she put her arm around you and the boys' back and started to walk away. 

You walked over to a campfire that someone was trying to start. He was young had no hair and wore a cap backwards. 

“Any luck there T-dog?” Lori asked him, he just shook his head with a dejected sigh.

“I should probably know this by now huh?” he retorted. You walked up to the fire pit, “you could probably do this” you suggested. 

You grabbed a skinny piece of wood and a fatter one. Then you grabbed some dry grass and placed it on the wood. Then taking the stick you began to rub the stick on the grass rapidly till you saw smoke. You blew on the fire to keep it alive then placed it on the fire pit. 

“That should do it, it’ll take a few minutes though” You shrugged as you got up. The T-Dog guy just looks at you in shock.

“Danm kid, been tryin’ to get a fire goin’ for a minute and here you come doin’ it like it nothin’” He smiled at you.

“How’d you know to do that?” A small voice spoke up, it was the boy from earlier, you shrugged, 

“My brother thought me” You shrugged as Lori smiled.

“Well, he's a good teacher then” She walked to a trailer and walked out with two cans of food. 

“Okay, we have canned carrots and canned corn, who wants what?” The boy shot his hand up.

“Can I have the corn?” He asked, and she nodded her head so you got the carrots. She waited till the fire got big before she started to heat them up. 

“So Y/n,” she got up and took yours off the grill, “I was thinking, after you finish eating, how would you like to get washed up? Get all that dirt off ya” You nodded your head as you took the can and fork from her cans and began to eat.

You kinda missed the taste of mushy carrots, it reminded you of when Jaosn cooked dinner and he would use the canned stuff.

While you ate, you people-watched. By the old RV, you saw two men messing with the RV engines, one was older with a bucket hat and the other was a little younger with a baseball cap and overalls.

A little farther you saw two other women, they both had short hair but one had black hair and looked like a pixie cut, and the other had shaved with salt and pepper hair. They were doing what looked like laundry, and a little girl wasn't far away from them, she was blonde with a bob.

You took another bite of the carrots when you noticed a younger guy– could have been no older than 23– he was running around camp talking to people with a piece of paper.

You finished your can of carrots and handed it to Lori, “you done hun?” you nodded your head, and she smiled “You want to take a bath?” you nodded again and followed her to a tent.

She unzipped it and went inside and got a bottle of shampoo and conditioner, and some body wash. 

“Oh you actually have soap” She looked back as she grabbed a bowl and a towel.

“Oh yeah, there isn’t much left, unfortunately, but it’s something Glenn will find more hopefully” She led you down a rocky path towards the quarry lake. 

* 

             When you got done with your bath you and Lori walked back towards the camp, you dried your hair while Lori held your stuff for you. It was already dark by the time you were done. Lori led you to a tent unzipped it and ushered you inside, you saw Carl in his bed reading a comic book.

“Hmm” Lori looked around, “I think I have an extra sleeping bag around here” Eventually she pulled a tattered old sleeping bag out from somewhere “Here hun, im sorry it's not nicer,” She said apologetically.

You just smiled and took it “It’s ok, I've been sleeping in trees for weeks” You rolled it out “This will be like a king-sized bed” you joked.

She smiled down at you, “Okay guys, time for bed” She turned off the lamp in the tent and retreated to her bed.

*

             Sleep took a while, you were so used to keeping an ear out just in case. But now you were surrounded by people who could keep an eye out for them.

You turned onto your side to see a small fire outside the tent. You looked around to see both Carl and Lori fast asleep. So very carefully you got up and unzipped the tent. Looking at the fire, you saw the young guy from earlier. He was sitting by himself, sharpening his knife.

You walked over and sat down, he side-eyed you but continued what he was doing. 

It was quiet and stiff as you listened to the sound of the crackling fire and the shaving of metal. You gripped at your shorts and looked at him.

“Thank you,” You said in a quiet voice, “for bringing me here” 

“Yea, don’ mention it,” He said gruffly, you curled up into yourself from the cold.

 “Don't think I got your name” You glanced at him “My name’s Y/n” You introduced yourself to him, but he didn't look at you.

“Daryl” Was all he said, you looked over and saw him inspecting a hunting knife.

“Why are ya up so late?” You looked at the fire. You heard him stop sharpening his knife, glaring at you.

“Why are you asking so many damn questions?” He barked at you, you shrunk a bit at him raising his voice. He went back to messing with his knife.

“Sorry,” your voice was quiet and small. And out of embarrassment, you retreated back to Lori's tent. Once inside you laid down in your sleeping bag and just stared up at the tent ceiling, wishing you could see some kind of stars again.

                                     ~~~The Quarry Day Two~~~

             You were shaken awake by Lori in the early morning. You looked around and saw that Carl was already up and tying his shoes. 

“Hey, it's time to get up” You nodded your head, sat up and grabbed your shoes, and stood up, following Carl and Lori. 

You walked out of the tent to see some people in a small circle. You saw two blonde women hugging, a family hugging a man. A few of them you recognized, such as the fire pit guy and the woman you saw at the clothesline, you also saw Merle standing around with his hunting rifle on his shoulder. 

You saw Shane talking to another guy too, a super younge guy actually. He wore a cap and kinda looked like a kid you'd see in an old baseball movie. You remember seeing him running around yesterday. 

“Hey Lori, why are they all in a circle?” You asked but she was busy getting you some food.

“They’re going on a supply run, into the city” You looked at them with a weird look. “With Merle?” You said with a grimace, you didn't know him very well but you could tell he didn't like people and people didn't like him.

Lori laughed a bit “Yeah I know, I don't know why he chose to go with them” She handed you some squirrel soup and you ate it with no protest meanwhile Carl looked a little grossed out while eating it.

“Hurry up and eat, we got school in twenty minutes” Scrunching your face in confusion you looked at Lori “Oh I guess I forgot to mention, me and Carol give school lessons, and you’re doing them too” You dropped your shoulders, the only good thing about the world ending was the no school part.

                                                            *

You all sat at a picnic table, the supply people had been gone for about an hour now. You were doing stuff you had learned about. The only good thing was that you got to know Carol and Sophia a little better, carol was the woman with the greying and shaved hair, and Sophia was her daughter. 

They were nice, if not a bit quiet. You guess Lori could see your boredom “Have you learned this Y/n?” 

“Umm, yeah, last year” You were a year older than Carl and Sophiea so already knew what they were learning.

“Hmm, well I guess you can go for now” You nodded and got up from the table and wandered around camp, till you stopped in front of the old RV. you debated on going inside it or not, but your thoughts were interrupted by a voice call down to you.

“Are you the Y/n I've been hearin’ so much about?” you looked up to see the old man with the bucket hat, he also had a rifle. And for some reason, he was on the roof of the RV.

You nodded your head “Why are ya up there?” he cracked an amused smile, he had an infectious smile. 

“The View” He shouted back “Why don't you come and see for yourself” He looked friendly enough, so you decided to climb onto the RV and stand by the man. 

“See, isn't it beautiful” He gestured out towards the quarry lake “My favorite view here” He looked down at you to see your reaction.

“It's pretty, the lake is really blue” You didn't really know what to say, you just figured he was being an old man, appreciating random things –kinda like your own grandpa.

“You know, I don’t think I ever introduced myself.” He turned towards you, sticking his hand out to you “I’m Dale, pleased to meet you.” You shook his hand, his eyes were kind.

“Nice to meet you too Dale” You sat down on the RV looking out to the quarry “Why are you up here Dale?” you asked, he had his hunting rifle and there was a deck chair up here, along with an umbrella.

“Oh im on lookout duty, we all take shifts to watch out for those, things.” He took a seat in the deck chair “Don't see much luckily, they all stay near the city” Hearing that just made you thankful you chose to come here. 

“Does it ever get boring?” You asked, you figured you would be if you were up here all day. He only chuckled and picked up a ratty old book giving it to you,

“Sometimes, that's why I read this” The book was called ‘The Case of the Missing Man’. “It's a good book, you should read it sometime.” You flipped through the yellow-worn pages.

“What no pictures?” You joked “But it looks interesting I guess.” He just beamed down at you, laughing a bit at your dumb joke.

“Well why don't you take it, read it, and tell me what you think of it” You put it in your lap. 

“So where you from anyway?” You were curious as to why an old man had an RV and not just a car.

“Ahh, well, im from eastern Georgia. And before all of this, I was going on a cross-country road trip” He explained with a sad look on his face. 

“How did you end up here?”

“Well, I was in Atlanta when it got overrun by the dead and I tried to get out as fast as possible,” You couldn't imagine being in a big city where the dead had risen, “On my way out of the city I encounter two others, Amy and Andrea, actually Andrea is one of the people that is out on that run to Atlanta right now.”

“That was nice of you to help them out” You don't think your family would help others out, well your mom would try, but Jason was kinda the leader and he isn't the type to risk his chance of survival outside family.

“It was the right thing to do” Is all he said “What about you, why are you here?” You looked away at the question.

“I got lost from my Momma and brother,” You picked at your skin a bit “Don't have huge hope in finding them” Dale gave you a sad face. 

“How do know they aren't trying their hardest to find you” You just shrugged your shoulders. 

“Im getting kinda hungry, I think im gonna go eat something” You got up, taking the book Dale gave you “It was nice talking with you Dale, maybe I'll come back later” You began to climb down the ladder “and ill return your book later too” He just cracked a kind smile.

                                                             *

             You were camped out in a tree reading the book Dale gave you, it was an okay book in your opinion, but you'd rather read your comic books. You got bored with a certain part of the book and closed it. You looked out to the camp, once again observing the people. 

They were all doing something important, Lori, Carol, and who suspect was Amy preparing dinner, while men like Shane and Dale were on “guard” of Rotters. Some other men you didn't know were chopping wood up for the fire.

Watching them actually do stuff made you feel useless like you should be doing something. If you were out in the woods right now, you'd be hunting. And if you were at home you probably be cleaning up your mom's mess. But whenever you asked to help out you'd be turned away, told to go play or something and be a kid. You hated it.

After a while you climbed down and asked Lori when she thought dinner would be ready, you were thinking of going to bed early since it was already late.

“It should be done soon, we just need to finish cookin’ the meat, it’ll be done quick” She smiled and continued with what she was doing. With that news you went to sit on a log next to Carl, he always seemed to not be far away from his mom. 

“How did lessons go?” You asked, he and Sophia must have been in seventh grade by now, you'd be in eighth grade.

“It was okay, all we did was math” He replied boredly “What did you do after you left?” He looked at you.

“Nothing much, just kinda wandered around camp, met Dale, he was nice. Gave me this book, it’s kinda borin’ though” You joked 

“I like Dale, he’s nice” he agreed with you, he was pretty nice to talk to.

“He reminds me of my Grandpa Theo, he always had a smile on his face” You missed Grandpa Theo, he died when you were nine, it was one of the few days your momma was sober.

“Alright guys, dinners done, here ya go” Lori gave you guys your bowls and a spoon, squirrel soup again, Carl's favorite.

                                                            *

After you ate you retreated to Lori’s tent to sleep, but you never actually slept instead you just read the book again. The book itself was okay, it was about a detective retelling a case he was on. The case was about a man who suddenly went missing but whenever he investigated any leads people would say he never existed, and that the detective was going crazy. You got bored again and stopped reading halfway through.

You lay down and stared at the tent ceiling again, you just stared at it hoping it would make you sleepy. You heard the tent zip open and in came Lori and Carl, both of them going to their beds, they said their ‘I love yous’ to each other. It made you miss your family more and more.

You fell asleep about thirty minutes later, but you woke up when you heard something rustling in the tent. You cautiously turned your head to the noise and thankfully didn't see any eaters. Instead, you saw in the darkness what looked like another person in Loris's bed. Seeing that you promptly turn over and away from the noise.

                                     ~~~The Quarry Day Three~~~

You wanted to ask Lori about the noise last night but she was already out of bed, and so was Carl. Exiting the tent you find Lori sitting by the campfire. 

You walked up and sat down by her “morin’ Lori”

“Moring hun, how did you sleep?” She was folding some clothes 

“I slept okay I guess” You were tempted to ask about the noise but decided against it. “Is there anything I could do today?” you were getting bored as the days went on, hell it felt like a week since you’d been here, but it's only been three days.

“Now why would want to do anything kid?” Shane asked he was picking up an axe like he was about to do something “You're a kid enjoy it. Hell this is probably like a summer vacation”

You just shrugged your shoulders “I don’t know, just board is all” Lori rubbed your shoulders 

“Why don't you play with Carl and Sophia? They say they want to be friends with you” She gave a soft smile at you “They’re just too shy to say anything”

“I guess I could” You looked around and saw Daryl with his crossbow heading out, you had the idea of going hunting instead, “actually I have another idea” You got up and jogged to Daryl 

“Hey Daryl, are you going hunting?” You caught up to him “If so can I come with you? I really-” You were cut off by Daryl 

“No, go away” With that he walked off leaving you behind. You hung your head and walked off somewhere. You found yourself at the tree you were in yesterday, you climbed it and sat there watching everyone be useful again.

Looking around you saw Lori and Coral talking to each other, coral nodded her head and called over Sophia with Lori doing the same with Carl. They seemed to also be nodding and started to look around for something.

They wandered around camp, stopping people and when the person shook their head they would walk away. It was like that for several minutes till Sophia shook Carl's shoulder and pointed in your direction, confused you looked around to see no one, you looked back to see Them running towards you. 

Oh, I guess it was me you thought, you started to climb down the tree. When you were at the bottom Sophia and Carl were already there.

“Hi,” You said shyly.

“Hi,” They said back just as shy.

“Were you guys looking for me?” You asked, they nodded their heads, and Carl spoke up “Yeah, we were wondering where you were” You nodded your head in understanding 

“Why were you in a tree?’ Sophia asked quietly, you just shrugged your shoulders

“I don't know, just bored I guess, there isn't much to do around here” You shoved your hands in your pocket “Wanted to go huntin’ with Daryl but he said no” When you said that Carl had the bright idea.

“Why don't you show us how to track and stuff, ya know how to survive in the woods and stuff” Sophia nodded her head “We just gotta ask our moms about it”

“Yeah, why not” So you all walked over to Lori and Carol, Lori was there but not Carol, so Sophia went to go find her.

You and Carl walked up to Lori when the radio in the camp went off

“HELLO, HELLO. CAN ANYBODY HEAR MY VOICE?”

The voice on the radio was distorted and hard to understand. A girl with long blond hair rushed to the radio and tried to radio back the unknown 

“Hey, Hello?” – “CAN YOU HEAR MY VOICE” – “YES, your coming through, over” her voice sounded hopeful as Dale came over to try and help –“IF ANYBODY HEARS PLEASE RESPOND”– “Your crap radio must not be going through”

“BROADCASTING ON EMERGENCY CHANNEL WILL BE APPROACHING ATLANTA ON HIGHWAY 85 IF ANYBODY READS, PLEASE RESPOND”

The girl was desperately trying to get back to him “We're just outside the city” The radio started to crackle “damn it” She cursed the rain.

“He couldn't hear me, I couldn't warm him” The girl was frustrated but Dale tried to calm her down “Try to raise him again, maybe he’s still around” She tried again but Shane came walking over.

“Come on son you know best how to work this thing” Shane put his axe down and took the talkie from the girl.

“Hello, Hello, is the person who called still on the air?” The radio just crackled “This is Officer Shane Walsh, broadcasting to a person unknown, please respond” The radio continued to crack and the air was tense with everybody trying to listen for the unknown guy.

“He’s gone” Shane gave up on trying. Lori tried to lighten the mood “They’re other, not just us” Shane just retorted with an attitude.

“We knew there would be, right? Why we leave the C.B. on” Lori responded with her own.

“Lot of good it’s been doing” Lori continued “And I've been sayin’ for a week ought to put signs up on 85, warming people about the city” She seemed to glance at you for a second. 

“Folks got no idea what they're getting into,” The blonde girl said, Shane just grunted and got up “Well we haven't had time” was Shane's excuse.

Lori wasn’t taking it though “Well I think we need to make time” Shane just rubbed the sweat off his face.

“Well that's a luxury we can't afford” You could tell he was getting impatient “We are surviving here, we are day to day” Dale looked conflicted “And who hell would you propose we send” That just seemed to piss Lori off a bit.

“I'll go, give me a car” she gritted her teeth, but Shane shot that down quickly “No, nobody goes anywhere alone, you know that” Lori walked away pissed, you and Carl attempt to follow her but Shane stopped you guys. 

“Hey Hey Hey, Go on guys, take a seat. You’re alright, go on, you’re alright” He walked away following Lori. You and Carl just stood around, you noticed Sophia walking up with a bummed look on her face

“What did your mom say?” You asked “She said no, but she said it was ok if I “explored” the camp,” She said in air quotes “What about you guys?”

“Some guy came over on the radio so we didn't get a chance,” you said kicking a rock “Yeah, and she and Shane got into an argument so she’s kinda mad right now” Carl kicked the rock back to you “why don't we go ask her now?” you said, Carl nodded his head and both walked towards the tent

While walking up to the tent you noticed the door was open and what looked like Shane and Lori were inside. Their legs were closer than you thought normal

“Mom” Carl yelled and the two bodies broke apart, Shane came out of the tent.

“What's up, guys? She’s in there, go on” he rubbed Carl’s head and walked away, Lori walked out of the tent meeting you guys, she got down on one knee and met you guys.

“Hey, I don't you guys to worry,” she grabbed your guy's shoulder “im not going anywhere, Okay?” you guys nodded your head “Yeah, yeah” she smiled “Okay, was there anything you guys wanted?”

“Yeah, we were wondering if we could go out and explore the woods. I could show Carl how to survive in the woods and stuff” She thought about it for a second, “Right, but don't go too far, stay within shouting distance, Okay?” you nodded your heads. You rushed past Lori and got your bow and quiver.

                                                             *

             You guys had been in the woods for about an hour, Sophia was with you for a little bit till her dad called her over. Right now you were teaching Carl how to track small animals.

“You see this one right here?” you pointed out a print to Carl “It's a rabbit’s footprint, can you see how the front is bigger and the hind are smaller?” he nodded “And how you can see both front and hind legs? Thats because a rabbit walks, kinda like a worm?” you didn't know to explain it

“So like, it moves its front legs first then it’ll move its back legs” Carl nodded his head “Now we probably won't see any rabbits during this time of day, they’re more active at dawn, and dusk” 

You and Carl started to follow the trail of this random rabbit, it looked somewhat fresh, made maybe around morning. “They like to hide in shrubbery and bushes and stuff.” Carl nodded his head and kept his eyes on the bushes.

While you were tracking Carl shook your shoulder “Look” he whispered, and you looked to where he was pointing, your eyes made contact with a rabbit, and you and the rabbit held eye contact not blinking.

Well, you blinked when a bolt impaled it. Carl gasped in surprise and fell on his ass. And out came Daryl with his crossbow and other small game on his shoulders.

“The hell you two doin’ out here?” he asked you guy gruffly as he took the bolt from the rabbit and secured it on his animal rope.

“None of your business” you shot back “Come on Carl, let's get back to camp” You pulled Carl up from the ground and headed back to camp.

“Sorry you had to see that Carl” You put a hand on his shoulder “but I guess you also had to see it? I don't know, that's what huntin’ and surviving is” Carl shrugged his shoulders 

“It's okay, I get it, too bad we couldn't take the rabbit though” he looked at you “Would’ve been nice to try rabbit” You chuckled a little bit.

                                                          ***

             When you guys got back you had dinner and told Shane about your adventures in the woods. Both Lori and Shane called Daryl an asshole for shooting the rabbit in front of you guys. When you guys were done you all went to bed. You and Carl stayed awake and talked to each other. 

That’s how you learned that his dad was also gone, and how Shane rescued him and Lori. He said they were on their way to Atlanta but the roads stopped and not long after that he saw them bombing Atlanta. You guessed thats why Lori and Shane acted weird around you whenever Atlanta was brought up.

Not long after both you and Carl fell asleep, and you dreamed of the stars and your momma

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

Next // Swimmin' With The Frogs

Previous // The Before Times

Taglist // @your-shifting-gurl, @underrated-jellygirl

// Masterlist //

[thewertsearch]

Things are getting a little crazy, on multiple fronts at once. Is the Dark Seer finally going to show her hand?

I guess not. Research takes priority.

Beard Turtle is my new favorite NPC.

EB: jade is minutes away from entering, and i need to decide what to do with this kernel sprite. [...] EB: i thought i'd ask since you seem to know all the mysteries. [...] TT: First of all, I should preface this conversation by saying I know exactly what you and Jade are going to do.

It's getting difficult for these kids to communicate at all. Everyone's time travelling, scrying and prophesizing, and their personal timelines have become so desynchronized that they have to isolate themselves, lest they corrupt the formation of each other's original ideas. It's such a mess!

TT: Sorry, John. TT: I'm just nervous about it. TT: About whether telling you what you definitely will or won't do will alter a predetermined outcome. TT: The result would be a splintered timeline, and we would all be sentenced to eventual oblivion.

Not to be a downer, Rose, but the majority of doomed timelines will result from other people's decisions, not yours. The majority of your future selves are doomed - most of them through no fault of your own.

TT: It isn't much fun, John. EB: what's not? TT: Living for months in an offshoot reality, waiting for the curtain to drop.

I understand your anxiety, though, You faced oblivion once, and you're desperate to avoid repeating that disaster.

Come to think of it, this is probably why Rose has been so cagey since Davesprite showed up. It's not solely because she's on suspicious missions from the gods - she's also just a terrified teenager, who knows that if she says the wrong thing, everyone will die.

[livelaughghoul]

Brazil 2024 sprint race predictions.

Not gonna like yall, I didn’t watch shit about the sprint lol. I have no idea what the grid is, or what the vibes are other than there was Senna helmet that looked like my Tupperware cabinet, so this is blind again :) also sorry for the formatting I’m too lazy to get off the couch and grab my computer.

I promise I’ll actually watch the sprint and qualifying tomorrow and not be a complete disaster class of a person. Honestly, this week has been a fun little reminder that like, I need to be gentle with myself and remember that I’m a chronically ill bitch and pushing myself too hard is like, a really bad idea. Anyways, I’ll stop complaining now.

P1 - Four of Pentacles, reversed

I have a feeling that whoever qualified here is gonna be winning tomorrow. It’s a possessive card, and if we’re looking at the reversal so there is going to be some selfish behavior tomorrow. Either that, or the blocking aspect of the card is gonna come into play because they lose position and it’ll be a wild defense.

P2 - Five of Wands

This one is interesting, because it’s a card of disagreement. Something is going to happen tomorrow, either with strategy or team communication. I don’t see any contact tomorrow, but I feel like there is a mental block and it’s coming to a head tomorrow.

P3 - The Tower, reversed

RIP to whoever qualified here, because wow do we need a crisis counselor? Given the reversal, I’m imagining that this is more focused on the sudden change aspect of the card. There is going to be a 180 that takes place tomorrow, unknown to them. Going in with one train of thought only to have a completely different thing happen.

P4 - The Hermit

Congrats on racing by yourself, and giving yourself time to just sit in your thoughts and be forced to acknowledge your own emotions and feelings. It’ll be a quiet sprint, but it’ll give whoever this is plenty of time to consider the actual race and figure out the strategy they want to go with.

P5 - Six of Cups

It’s a card of goodwill and innocence, so I’m sure they’ll have a pretty good run tomorrow, one without too many issues. Not knowing who qualified where makes it difficult to say, but I imagine they’ll make some choices with the team in mind tomorrow.

P6 - Ace of Cups

Whoever qualified here is going to be a force to be reckoned with. They have something to prove to someone and they’ll be making a statement tomorrow during the sprint. I wouldn’t be shocked if they make up plenty of positions.

P7 - Knight of Pentacles, reversed

This is my least favorite knight, and it being reversed just makes it so much worse. It’s such an indecisive card to pull, that honestly it’s either going to be an incredible drive tomorrow or an absolute joke and they’ll take someone out. Either way, I support their

P8 - Ace of Swords

This one is interesting, because it’s about the mental strength that someone has. I get the feeling that this is all about figuring out the plan for Sunday. The points are a bonus at this point, they just want to mentally prepare for Sunday.

P9 - Ace of Wands, reversed

Anyways, this card is big dick energy, in the worst way possible. It’s going to be a wild strategy from them tomorrow, it’s creative, something that will provide them a bigger picture and path forward. I think the aggression we will see is going to be more mentality focused than actual driving.

P10 - 10 of Wands, reversed

Is whoever qualified here okay? Cause I don’t think they are. It’s an overworking of oneself, spreading themselves too thin, and not looking after their own needs. It’s likely going to be a rough weekend, mentally and physically.

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

Plant, you're just my best blogger. You're so intelligent and I always look forward to reading your nuanced and incisive takes.

I don't know if this question has been asked before. But why do you think Ari hasn't gotten any deals for Meg and what sort of deals do you think he has in mind for her? I'm wondering cos it's been over two months since she joined WME. Also, I keep wondering why they made such a big splash of announcing that she has signed with him. Is that how celebrities announce when they sign with a talent agency?

Lastly, do you think she and Serena have cooled off?

Thanks for the kind words!

First, as an anon pointed out, he may not be personally helping her out. It may be other agents, or she may not be a priority given the stile and all the other client dramas.

Second, she’s a tough client to place. She’s a “royal,” but she doesn’t live as one or have the pedigree, so you can’t use her to sell that lifestyle the way you can use Beatrice Borromeo or Zara Tindall, or Charlotte Casiraghi. She was a California actress but not a very successful one, so you can’t sell her the way you can sell Aniston, Paltrow or Cameron Diaz. The royal and California brands don’t mix very well, which doesn’t help.

They seem to be trying to go the Diana route but let’s get real, she’s not Diana. Also the Diana brands have archival pics of Di wearing their pieces, so they don’t need a pseudo-Diana. They have the real thing!

She also killed a lot of her opportunities. I used to say she could do something like The View, but Archetypes proved she’s terrible at that. The elephant doc proves she’s terrible at voiceovers. The Netflix documentary about famous persons (sorry, I forgot the name) proved she can’t sell that format either. She didn’t my do any fashion events that give you credibility in that space, and her Vogue issue was a disaster. Plus, she’s hard to work with and kind of lazy. Plus, she has already burned several partners and employers (UN, Reitman’s, Suits, the royals, Spotify) in the past. That’s not a great track record.

That’s a tough client, and it’s a client who doesn’t my recognize her challenges. She thinks she should get Dior and Cartier which is completely unrealistic. WME can get her something, but it’s going to look a lot like a slightly upgraded version of her Suits life and that is not what she wants.

[mxtxfanatic]

sorry if you're done talking about it and don't want to discuss it anymore, but for me the 'trolley problem' post was just a sad note about how xie lian's attempts to stop "the trolley" (who always has a name and we very well know about it) end up in a disaster. not because xie lian did it, but because the trolley is actually an unstoppable force with malicious intent and no one else gives a fuck or doesn't have resources to help

but xie lian also shows us that even if things end up like that, it's worth trying. it's worth it, because you might not save everyone, but might save a child. a village. a little boy. a little girl. but if you don't do anything, you'll never know

I’m gonna go ahead and link this addition to my original commentary plus this response that I had in the notes to someone else with a similar reading of that post:

All I can say is that some of y’all are nicer readers than I, because I took that post to mean exactly what op said. If op came back and clarified something, I didn’t see it; I’m only talking about the original post and how inappropriate it is to 1) victim-blame a victim of the events in question for apparently having the audacity to not passively accept events he could influence for the better and 2) say this as a “joke” (because the blasé tone, minimalization of the actual events, overexaggeration of the victim’s responsibility for how said events turned out, and the flat-out avoidance to name what was the actual cause of everything that happens to make it into a meme format was fully meant to be taken as a “joke”).

The issue both with the trolley problem and the likening of it to the events of tgcf is that neither the trolley nor anything Xie Lian experienced are “unstoppable forces.” The trolley is not a natural disaster or the act of an omnipotent god: it is just a trolley. And not only is it just a trolley, it is a trolley that was made, owned, driven, and maintained by people. Everything that goes into a scenario where a trolley is on track to run over a crowd of people (tied to the tracks, another thing that is decidedly not a natural occurrence), is one that is 100% manufactured by multiple different people.

Likewise, while the Yong’an drought was a natural disaster, everything that led to the fall of Xianle was 100% the machinations of multiple different parties, from the rich nobility of both Xianle and Yong’an hoarding their wealth, the corrupt officials who stole aid, the corrupt religious officials who blocked Xie Lian’s followers from praying to him, Guoshi and the king for keeping all of this from Xie Lian, and to the other heavenly officials who withheld help with the intent to prey on the victims of the disaster. Jun Wu’s contribution could honestly be considered the least in this conversation, merely serving as the wind fanning the flames of a fire that had already started. None of that was a coincidence nor the fault of anything Xie Lian did or attempted to do.

Yes a big part of tgcf is recognizing that Xie Lian’s steadfastness to helping should be a personal goal, but another big message that mxtx pushes in all her works is that 99% of all societal problems can be tracked down to a few select individuals choosing to do evil because they don’t think that their greed, selfishness, insecurities, fears, or entitlements are a bad thing while most everyone else either looks the other way because “it’s not my problem,” tries to benefit because “why let opportunity go to waste?” or actively participate because mob mentality. Mocking good people for doing good under these circumstances will never be funny, sympathetic, or relatable to me.

[lammydraws]

more Former God of Death AU stuff, ref sheets of sorts. (notes and infos below)

and doodles

it takes place before Narinder got the crown and became the Bishop of Death

so this is basically pre pre canon back when there were still a few more gods in the land of the old faith Mercy is the god of death and has Isabella as her apprentice Isabella is a mortal, but eager to learn, by this time ascended gods have proven themselves to be accepted as equal to born gods, but the likes of Shamura and Kallamar bring some interesting concepts to the table. before most gods just existed in harmony with nature and people, there were some who were more power hungry and inclined to harness the power of devotion and a following as well as by fighting and absorbing powers of other god like creatures. When Shamura informs Mercy of a born god (Narinder) they see more fitting to be Mercy's apprentice it should have been the order to prefer a god over a mortal, but Mercy instead opts to take both as apprentices. the reason why she took an apprentice is because she kinda plans to "retire" aka pass on her crown not sure if she's just tired of dealing with the many tragedies that tend to come with death (although she's very compassionate and empathetic) or some of the recent developments with more and more conflicts and fighting mainly between gods but it obvs also affects mortals - they kinda die and stuff :v especially if conflicts cause natural disasters and whatnot she has a good relationship with Shamura but also sees their desire for war and power which she cannot really support bella is mercy's first apprentice and they have a good relationship. mercy likes her, loves her as if she were her own child. Mercy refuses to dismiss Isabella as her apprentice when Narinder comes along even tho she knows that only one can have the crown and the favor is definitely stacked towards Narinder. Bella knows that too, but she's really determined and hard working, but also never unhelpful or unkind to narinder.

sorry its messy, i have no energy to format this rn. maybe i come back to it and edit it ,_,

[fattocatto-wizard]

Ok, imagine the Disaster Lineage all end up being sent to the same place, pulled from their respective time periods.

Three groups:

1. early point DL: we’re talking young Padawan Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, and Ashoka, (As in Tales of Jedi, Ep 1, and CW movie) Dooku as from Tales of Jedi pre-murder, beginning of ANH Luke and Leia, Jakku scrapper Rey, and idk pre-ep 1 Yoda.

2. Mid-point DL: this is Ep. 5 Yoda, Ep 3 Dooku, Ep 1 Qui-Gon, Season 6 (pre-temple bombing) CW Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ashoka, soon after Ep 6. Luke and Leia, and idk. Ep. 9-ish Rey?

3. End-point DL: this is force ghost Yoda, Dooku from when he was about to die, force ghost Qui-Gon, Old Ben Kenobi, Ep 6. redeemed Darth Vader, old Ahsoka the white, Old Sassy Uncle Luke, Ep 8. Leia, and idk 52 yr old grandmaster Rey cause f*** it.

This assumes that they are all in a decent state and not going to die, won’t immediately attack each other and will probably talk (somewhat) reasonably, and the force ghosts are temporarily given a physical form again.

Let’s assume that after they interact, they each are sent back to their time period, and can act on this information. Each group is a separate scenario btw.

Also, sorry for the poor formatting, I’m a little dumb and new to tumblr.

And yes, I know it would be a complete and mess and the interactions would get insane

“You’re meaning to tell me that you’re my son, and I turn evil, and I fight my best friend/father figure and apprentice, and then I get redeemed at the last second and get blown up in a giant fiery explosion in a planet destroying space station? Wow, well that’s one hell of a life. Im gonna go be angsty in the corner now.”

“Who is this sassy, lost child?” (Points to Ahsoka)

“I feel like I’m missing something here. Am I even supposed to be here?” (Rey)

“Confusing, this is…”

Edit: sorry, I forgot Leia and scuffed up some time travel shenanigans.