#Blake is already done before the season even starts

[rickybaby]

Not just a pretty face:

#ok I don’t know if I should repost that photo because he clearly doesn’t know that he’s being photographed #but the look on both his face and Blake’s is sending me 😭 #still doesn’t know how to change a tyre does he?? #Blake is already done before the season even starts #anyway I hope this is all the bad luck for the year and he’s gotten it out of the way #daniel ricciardo #blake friend

[reidsdaisies]

hihihi !! i saw that you wanted requests and i will happily oblige 😭 i was wondering if you could do a like grumpy spencer reid x sunshine/bombshell reader !! i love the whole opposites attract trope. maybe its where like hes having a bad day and just kinda wants to go home but reader turns that frown upside down and flirts w him n stuff !!

𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐲

༉‧´ˎ˗ pairing; grumpy!spencer reid x sunshine/bombshell!reader

༉‧´ˎ˗ warnings; maeve doesn’t exist bc this is like right around the beginning of season 8 I’d say, slightly handsy reader ig?, use of pet names ‘baby’, ‘sweetie’, ‘hon’, mention of the one ‘sugar pie’, also I don’t think spencer would growl but i thought it was kinda funny and random. also he’d probably not not want to do a guest lecture but just imagine he’d had a rough week or something and that’s why he’s reluctant to go.

༉‧´ˎ˗ wc; 0.6k

༉‧´ˎ˗ a/n; i also love opposites attract but im not the best at writing it, so this one is like subtle ig and so reader is more of a flirt than a bombshell. but if you or anyone else has a diff request for bombshell!reader pleasepleaseplease send it in bc I’d love to try again and make her an actual bombshell lolz

cm masterlist ; main masterlist ; request guidelines ; inbox

The day was already off to a bad start. You could tell from Spencer’s body language and whole demeanor that he just wasn’t having it.

Today, Spencer is supposed to be giving a guest lecture to Alex Blake’s class. So, here you stand outside the classroom, 10 minutes before he’s supposed to go in and prepare, pulling at his arm uselessly.

He’s planted himself to a bench in the empty hallway, head in his hands, hiding his face from you.

“C’mon, Spence, it’s just 30 minutes, a 1 and done thing.” You squat down in front of him at eye level, though it’s slightly uncomfortable even in your most casual heels. You’re currently trying to convince him that it really isn’t that bad, and that he’ll feel more relaxed once he’s gotten into the flow of things.

“It’s not like you’ve never done this before,” sighing, you give up trying to make him look at you and instead sit down besides him, your hand reaching over to rest on his left shoulder. “Didn’t you do something similar with Rossi a couple years ago? And you’re good friends with Blake, so this should be a piece of cake.”

“You say that, but you’ve never even had to think about doing something like this. It’s nerve wracking.” He mumbles into his hands, shaking his head.

When he finally pulls his head away, he’s pouting, giving you an annoyed stare. He shrugs your hand off him, hunching in on himself.

“Sweetie,” you start, taking a deep breath and choosing your next words, “remember the first time this happened? One second you were all frustrated— I mean like at one point I think you even growled at me— then the next you were fine. What did the trick that time?”

He scoffs at the mention of him growling, but he does stop to think about it. You can see him mentally searching for that last time, replaying the events of that afternoon.

He licks his lips in contemplation, opening his mouth before closing it. Taking another glance in your direction, he gives you a quick once over. “I-.. well, you..? I guess.”

“Well, what did I do, hon?”

“Uhm, I don’t know..” Of course you already know he remembers, there’s very few, if any, things he doesn’t, he’s just having a hard time saying it outright.

“C’mon baby, I know you know.”

Even after multiple months of dating you, he’s still getting used to all the nicknames you call him. You’ve called him things such as ‘baby’, and ‘sugar pie’, more times than you’ve called him by his actual name. He knows this for a fact. He counted.

Biting the inside of his cheek, he glances down with a soft smile on his face. “Stuff like that, like calling me ‘baby’ and whatnot. Flirting with me.”

“Aw, look at you smiling,” you tease, gently prodding his shoulder, “I knew deep down, as much as you try to deny, you actually enjoy my flirtatiousness.”

“Hush,” he rolls his eyes playfully, looking up at the ceiling.

“Well then, ‘baby’, what’s it gonna take this time, hm? Maybe a bit more of my flirtatious charm could ease those nerves.”

You wink at him jokingly, eliciting a chuckle from the man beside you.

After a few seconds, you push him to stand, about ready to shove him towards the door as well. “But in all seriousness, you better get your ass in there or I will tell Blake and all your other colleagues about the growling.”

#reidsdaisies #reidsdaisies spencer <3 #spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid drabble #spencer reid headcanons #spencer reid x fem!reader #spencer reid x bombshell!reader #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid criminal minds

[kitkatopinions]

The RWBY writers: *Writes five seasons of Blake being stubborn, feisty, active, and passionate, standing up for herself, calling out Weiss when she's anti-faunus, speaking her mind, doing what she wants and only changing her mind if she's been given a good argument, being willing to call out others, trying to take a more realistic approach, has broken away from a toxic and controlling person she's stood up to repeatedly since then, yells "he's mine" while attacking someone she thinks is actively hurting her people, has opened up about her feelings repeatedly, doesn't back down from a challenge, acts openly exasperated when her friends or acquaintances are being stupid, is mature enough to recognize that even when her friend is reminding her of Adam that it doesn't mean that she is Adam and calmly explains her initial hesitance and explains what reassurance she needs before deciding to believe her friend anyway, saw her horrible ex trying to kill people and jumped into a fight with him while proclaiming she wouldn't run away, and then when her friend got hurt gave him this look

And only ran away when it was Yang's life on the line after tricking him and saving Yang despite having been suffering from a stab wound, etcetera, etcetera.

The RWBY writers: *Writes Weiss to say she'd been used to Blake being 'the quiet one' at the end of V5, implying that the writers want us to think that Blake's behavior in the early seasons had been muted and that now that she'd had a growth arc in V4 and V5 (badly done or not) that she would be more feisty, more outspoken, more self-assured, more passionate, and even more action driven than ever. Which would make sense considering that we saw her take Sun's words to heart concerning the personal growth she needed to do, and seemed to start moving in the direction of shedding her self-hate and blaming herself and start learning to accept love and care instead of pushing people away. And the writers also seemed to want us to believe that she was becoming more of a leader and V5 seemed to mark her finally fully moving on from what had happened with Adam.*

Also the RWBY writers: *Proceeds to write Blake to randomly turn into a meek wallflower who doesn't usually stand up for herself, needs frequent help in fights, gets insecure when she thinks people are unjustly mad at her, plays peacekeeper with her friends while trying to manage their angry moods with soft tones like a mother attempting to corral toddlers in the middle of temper tantrums, doesn't fight or argue when people make anti-faunus cracks at her or call her cat ignorantly or otherwise, flinches and grimaces when Yang gets angry, hides behind Yang when she feels threatened, doesn't really talk things through, is no longer active and is content to wait for her friends to tell her what they should do, the closest she's gotten to active has been in V9 where she was telling her friends about a story they all already knew, hasn't called out or even casually argued with her friends on anything iirc since V6, doesn't care to attend rallies against Jacques Schnee, is characterized like a sweet, caring, shy girl who needs reassurance when her romantic interest goes on a different mission than her, has no problem at all with Yang going red-eyed at the mere suggestion that they should ever take missions apart, acts like she thinks she's going to be hit all the time and wouldn't be able to do anything if she was hit.*

Some RWBY fans: "I am just so happy that Blake is healthy now and gets to be her true self now."

Like, Blake prior to the end of V5 was not "the quiet one" who was so so so super not confident and wasn't her true self. Her relationship with Yang didn't "fix" her and make her confident. The writers haven't actually shown her to be better and healthier and stronger and more sure of herself than before. If anything, they've given us the exact opposite.

How the hell am I meant to think Blake has gotten better when the writers specifically now write her to act this way ever since the beginning of V6? How am I meant to take their 'you used to be the quiet one' seriously when it isn't true? When the opposite is true and she becomes the quiet one in V6? It really just feels like they and a lot of their fans literally forgot who Blake was and replaced her with a whole new person and I'm sitting here like

How is she now "Not the quiet one" and before she was "the quiet one" when she was five times more outspoken and acted more confident and passionate and feisty before? I do not get it, I do not understand how I'm supposed to think she's more healthy now. I do not know how I'm supposed to think that she's done all her growing and is now much better when she actively seems worse off than she did in V freaking 1.

#rwde #I don't feel like this is actually anti bees #but I will tag it just in case #anti bumbleby #This also is not anti Blake I feel like #I love Blake and I miss Blake and I want her back #Blek is fine I guess but why couldn't they just have brought in Velvet too? #They could've gotten their cute more meek and shy optimist they wanted and kept Blake who she was before at the same time! #more of me complaining about Blake and Blek lol #and you'll hear it again!

[charliethomascoxuniverse]

Charlie Cox: ‘I love being a superhero — I thought that ship had sailed’

Charlie Cox on the return of Daredevil, the joys of sea swimming in Dalkey and his rewarding character-driven work in RTÉ’s Kin

Kirsty Blake Knox   April 27, 2023 (X)

Charlie Cox is a busy man; he smiles widely from the back of a car as it ferries him from a physical therapy session to the set of Disney’s Daredevil.

“We’ve just kind of started, it’s really great. Pretty intense, hence the physical therapy,” he says.

Cox has returned to play Matt Murdock, the blind lawyer-slash-superhero.

The show started life on Netflix and ran for three seasons before it was cancelled in 2018.This resulted in an online #SaveDaredevil campaign which resulted in 400,000 signatures begging Marvel to bring him back.

It took a little time; a contractual clause prevented any characters from the Marvel-Netflix shows from appearing in any non-Netflix projects for two years after cancellation.

And now Cox is suiting up again in his Spandex costume, running around punching people in the face and fighting for justice. It’s a demanding shoot — the series is 18 episodes long. And he is a fan of doing as many of his stunts as possible.

“I kind of get involved as much as I’m allowed to and is appropriate. Obviously, the stunt team are professionals and there are things they can do that I can’t even get close to,” he says. “I feel like the name of the game is to get as involved as you can… it makes the scenes more realistic.”

Cox took on the role, which had once been played by Ben Affleck in 2015. At the time, landing the role came as a shock.

“I never thought of myself as being appropriate casting for an American superhero. That never really occurred to me,” he says. “And in my 20s, a lot of my friends, and a lot of British actors, had gone and done that already. So when I got to 30 I was pretty confident that ship had sailed. I was very fortunate to get a character that I’ve now been playing for almost 10 years. It’s unbelievable.”

Cox is a father to two young children (seven and three) but they are a little young to fully grasp the role their dad plays in the Marvel Universe.

“I’m not sure they quite understand… One of the books we read him (his three-year-old) is called Superbat. A bat who is a superhero. But that’s his only real understanding. And so he thinks that I’m Superbat,” he laughs.

Cox realised he wanted to be an actor while in school and studied at Bristol Old Vic drama school. His first big break came in 2007 when he starred in Stardust alongside Robert De Niro and Michele Pfeiffer.

He has performed on the West End and Donmar Warehouse, in dramas like Treason and took on the role of Owen Sleater in Martin Scorsese’s Boardwalk Empire. For Irish viewers, we can see Cox on our screens every Sunday night, as Michael Kinsella in gangland drama Kin.

It’s pretty unusual for Marvel Universe actors to appear in a homegrown Irish drama. But Cox’s wife is executive producing the series. When another project he was attached to fell through, he read the scripts and felt compelled to be part of it.

“I’ve been working probably 20-plus years, and there’s a handful of times where I’ve read a script and felt like I’m reading something written by a truly brilliant writer,” he says. “And that quality of scripts never ceased. Sometimes you can get a really good pilot episode. But then as you get deeper into the season, some of the writing starts to disintegrate a little bit, but with Peter (McKenna) that was never the case.”

Obviously, the scale of production is a lot smaller on Kin than other productions, but he says these productions can be just as, if not more, rewarding to work on.

“If you have a limited budget, the way you handle that is you write long character-driven scenes… So weirdly, the lower budget stuff often is more appealing. Because you get to really get deep into the character and the relationships and the dynamics… it’s sort of like theatre. So, from my point of view, sometimes that stuff is more appealing.”

He continues; “I’ve learned I’m not precious about my character’s involvement. I don’t care much if my character does cool stuff … what I care about is, ‘are they moving?’”

He says this is some of the appeal of playing Michael.

“This life that he’d come from…and now he’s trying to rekindle a relationship with his daughter. [The] vulnerability, and the desire, and the need to fundamentally change his nature. That was really exciting to me.”

Cox perfected his Irish accent by listening to the voice of former Dublin goalkeeper, Shane Supple. He got up to speed with Ireland’s gangland scene by listening to podcasts featuring award winning crime journalist Nicola Tallant.

“I was kind of blissfully ignorant of the whole thing,” he says. “When I actually read the first two scripts, I just thought it was all fiction and then I agreed to do the part and I started doing my research. I was like, ‘oh, shit, this stuff is happening. It’s current and it’s happening right now.’”

Despite the violent nature of the series, he found filming and living in Ireland to be idyllic.

He and his family were based in the seaside village of Dalkey — where Matt Damon was holed up during lockdown. Cox became a sea swimming fanatic while residing there.

“I absolutely loved being there… I had conversations with my wife about moving to Dublin because I loved it so much. It’s not really viable with my job… Season one, we’re in lockdown. We lived in Hanover Quay, which was delightful…

“Season two, we moved to Dalkey. I felt like it was one of the best kept secrets in Europe… I was swimming in Vico every day… I found it to be like a haven. And I would love an opportunity to go back at any stage.”

Cox is extremely polite and amenable. And modest — despite his success, Cox says he still suffers professional insecurities.

“I never think I’m going to be hired,” he laughs. “I read years ago that Christopher Walken always thinks his job he’s doing is going to be the last time he is hired. I don’t quite have that, but I certainly identify with it. I’ve never felt like ‘Oh, I’m always going to be hired.’”

He says this comes with some advantages, as it makes him more present.

“I’m filming in New York and I’m lucky enough that I’m still able to play a kind of a lead in a TV show,” he says. “You know, the time is ticking on that in a big way. And so I certainly don’t want to wish that away.

“It would be easy to kind of bemoan the amount of hours you have to work, and missing the family, but there’ll come a time where I would kill to be able to be the lead in the TV show. I think the trick is to really enjoy it while it lasts.”

As he makes his way out of his car and towards his makeup chair, I ask if he has any projects outside of Daredevil coming down the tracks.

“I’m going to be doing this until the end of the year. And then I’ll be back on the panic station wondering if I am ever going to work again,” he laughs.

~*~

#finally a new interview at last!!! 😁💗✨ #I just spent the last hour running this through at least half a dozen applications to get around the damn paywall #I was starting to worry nothing was going to work 😬 but it finally came through \^.^/ #charlie cox #michael kinsella #matt murdock #kin amc #daredevil #daredevil born again #interview #article

[celaenaeiln]

idk much about the rwby x dc crossover except jealous bumbleby but i did sort of keep up with the latest rwby season and your comment about dick and ruby getting along makes so much sense to me.

like ruby is the leader and it’s really been weighing on her for a couple of season until it kinda comes to a head in the latest and she snaps. like this season has rwby + jaune go through basically a wonderland dimension and while the others went through instances where they faced their inner selves/troubles there’s a being that actively made sure ruby couldn’t and that lead to the others becoming more sure of themselves and even for blake and yang to finally get together and it’s great and sweet!

only issue was ruby had been closing herself off slowly the entire season and putting on a brave face until she couldn’t. because as much as the others were getting better they never stopped looking at her to lead and she basically goes why am i always the one with the plan and the one who’s happy etc until she runs off after she realized she snapped. which all leads to her having a no good bad time where the others are too late to uh. let’s say stop her from “remaking” herself into a new person who fundamentally isn’t ruby anymore.

she does get a therapy session in and realizing it’s ok for her to love herself and be herself burdens or not and coming back to kick ass with everyone.

sorry for the ramble especially if you’re already kept up on rwby but idk ruby and dick to me have so many parallels with both being the youngest and leader in their respective og teams (rwby and teen titans) as well as the burden of being the one who always has to move forward through everything. also both of them being literal beacons of hope with how ruby in the season before last sent out a worldwide transmission asking for help and giving hope in the same speech and dick being dick. ok now i’m done thanks for reading the word vomit <3

Not at all I loved reading all of it!

I'm actually not caught up with the RWBY but I really got into Ruby when I stumbled across the RWBY: Ice Queendom opening scene.

And I was instantly hooked!

I kept watching the show and I just fell in love with Ruby. My favorite type of characters are those that are cheerful and sweet but unstoppable badasses. AKA RUBY AND DICK. Not only that, both Ruby an Dick are the leaders of their teams. Ruby with the RWBY team and Dick with everyone. Literally, he'll walk into the room and everyone else automatically treats him like the leader.

Saw this by @hadesisqueer-

and went Dick Grayson.

They're so alike!!

I never knew that about Ruby closing herself off but that's another way they're so identical.

Dick loves his family and friends but on his worst days he's really closed off.

Outsiders (2003) Issue #12

As Huntress calls him emotionally repressed.

But that's what his friends are for and Wally points this out. The Titan's are there for Dick so he doesn't turn into Batman.

"she basically goes why am i always the one with the plan"

OH MY GOD THAT'S A CANON DICK MOMENT

The New Teen Titans (1988) Issue #77

Word for word! I'm starting think that dick and ruby might be the same person in a different universe.

Lindsay Jones who plays Ruby described her mentality as, "selfless, but that means she's not dealing with her own issues. Compartmentalizing and internalizing her grief is what might eventually destroy her."

ALDHFBAKHADKFHALKH I LITERALLY WROTE AN ENTIRE POST ABOUT DICK'S COMPARTMENTALIZATION AND HOW HE INTERNALIZED HIS GRIEF SO HE DOESN'T BURDEN OTHERS WITH IT AND ALSO ACT LOVING AND HAPPY

Ruby also has a strong sense of moral justice and her understanding of the battle field makes her battle tactics one of the best in the entire RWBY universe. Much like Dick, the two of them are able to understand the situation quicker than everyone else and are able to formulate a plan that leaves them winning practically every time.

Not to mention, they both have sweet tooths. Ruby with her sugary coffee and Dick with his sugary cereal.

There's so much I could go on about the similarities between these two. The crazy intelligent cinnamon rolls with the tactical sense of Sun Tzu and the heart of Mansa Musa.

I was so happy to see all their interactions.

DC/RWBY Issue #2

Issue #3

#dick grayson #nightwing #ruby rose #rwby #helena bertinelli #huntress #cl anon asks #thanks for the ask!

[mcl4r3n]

dando + 2? 👀

“Why are you mad?” “I’m not mad, I just think you can choose better people to kiss.”

This got way longer than I intended so I'm putting this under the cut!

List of prompts here :3

---

Daniel doesn't get Lando sometimes. Given, it's tough to adjust to new teammates. But it's been six months of being partnered up with Lando and Daniel still keeps feeling like all he does is take missteps around him.

He thought that they were getting somewhere, honestly. He's done his best. Is it jarring to not be instant friends with Lando? Yeah, fuck, he can admit that to himself.

But he thought that doing things like trying to invite him out for dinner, just—fucking, finding common ground considering that Daniel doesn't give a flying rat's ass about golf or gaming, would maybe help some.

It's bad enough that he can't get to grips with the car, and that his race engineer can barely remember his fucking name most days. he needs someone in his corner, and for some reason, his brain has decided to latch on to the one person who seems most adamant about not wanting to be his friend.

The thing is that this dinner, where he's taken Lando to one of his favorite little spots in Monaco to celebrate Lando's podium, was going along pretty nicely up until just a minute ago.

He decided early on that maybe coming out to Lando would help put him in his good graces—to show that he trusts him, to show something there was more to Daniel than just joking around and racing, maybe.

So he tells Lando a few little anecdotes about his attempts at dating since Lando asked, and he's in the middle of talking about this one guy who, well, hasn't been that great, really, but he's nice enough, even if he sometimes gives Daniel shit for his very busy schedule.

(The NDA Blake had to draw up for him had to be airtight. It was a whole thing.)

But now Lando's got this pinched expression on his face, and Daniel kind of breaks.

"Okay, Norris Lando, what gives?" Daniel finally asks.

It feels like he's about to fall apart, like every little hurt he's squirreled away inside the box in his head marked "do not open" is about to explode.

"Are you—like, is all of this making you uncomfortable? Why are you mad?” Daniel asks. He feels a little helpless, which is never a feeling he enjoys.

Lando's expression shifts, his eyebrows shooting up.

"What?"

Daniel puts his beer down, sighs, rests his forehead on his hand. he's so tired, all of a sudden. It's been a shit season, a shit year, and all he wanted to do was be Lando's fucking friend.

"You're—you're looking at me like—mate, I don't even know. You asked me about my dating life and so I decided to share it with you and now you're looking at me like I pissed in your drink, so what fucking gives? Why are you mad at me?"

Lando's face colours, and then he looks away. Daniel watches him, watches the way his breathing changes, the way the blush creeps high onto his cheeks.

“I’m not mad," Lando says quietly. He fiddles with the straw in his iced tea, already so diluted all the ice has gone. "I just think you can choose better people to kiss.”

"Oh yeah, why, are you offering?" Daniels asks before he can stop himself. He's kind of had it with Lando. Had it with the attitude and the cold shoulders and the fucking—whatever this is.

Lando looks at him sharply, then, before he frowns, and then looks away again.

"I—" he starts. He swallows. He takes a shuddering breath.

Daniel's heart hammers an entire drumbeat against his ribcage. He's not quite sure what's happening here, but his body's decided that it's high time to panic.

"Just forget about it," Lando says. "Please, can we just forget about it—"

"No, what—mate, I don't know what the fuck is going on right now, and I don't understand what you have against me, just fucking talk to me, it's all I've wanted you to do all year," Daniel finally says.

He exhales. He can't believe that this is all boiling over now.

They were supposed to be celebrating Lando's P3. Daniel swallowed his pride to take him out, instead of staying at home to mope around over his P12 finish.

And finally, Lando looks at him again and his eyes are pleading.

"I'm—I'm sorry, DR," he says quietly. "I'm sorry I've been a cunt."

Daniel lets out a little tch between his teeth. He's not exactly sure what else there is to say, after that.

"It's—you don't know how hard it is to be in your shadow, and to like you so much," Lando says. Which. What?

What the fuck?

"Like me? Coulda fooled me there, mate."

Lando's picked up the paper that his straw was sheathed in earlier and now he's twisting it over and over in his fingers like a nervous tick.

"I like you more than you can even imagine, Danny," Lando replies, his eyes downcast. "I've been trying to—fix it. Stop it. So I've just. . . sort of swung in the opposite direction to try to—" he shrugs, and Daniel's entire body feels like it's about to dissolve into ash. "To get over you. But hearing you just fucking—settling like that when—when there are so many other people who could treat you well. It just."

Lando swallows audibly, and finally looks up.

"I'd never give you shit for your busy schedule," he continues. "But then again, we'd have the same one so, it wouldn't be an issue. Y'know. In a hypothetical situation where you did actually see me as more than just—" Lando waves his hand around aimlessly in the air. "Whatever. A kid. Your teammate."

Daniel feels completely unmoored, but also like fucking laughing at the ridiculousness of this entire conversation.

"You—you're telling me you like me? Like, like that? You've spent most of this year being prickly and mean and now you're telling me you like me, and you also want me to stop seeing you like a kid?"

Lando looks so caught out at that, so shocked by it, that Daniel knows he needs to fix this before he screws up even worse.

He reaches out and takes Lando's wrist in his hands, feels the hummingbird pulse there, ten kilometers a minute. Warm, of course, just like how Daniel feels right now.

"Hey, hey," Daniel says. "Can we maybe start with friends first, and see where that takes us?"

His heart feels like a hummingbird too, now.

Lando gives him a small, hesitant smile. "You don't hate me?"

Daniel feels every tense muscle leave him.

"Of course not," Daniel replies, relief and hope blooming inside his chest now. "Couldn't even if I tried, and boy, did I try. Actually I think you were better at that than I was, by the looks of it."

Lando kicks him under the table, but Daniel barely feels it. He just grins instead, and true enough, Lando smiles back.

#man what is this #what did i do here #IM SORRY KAY #kay tag #dando #dr3 #ln4 #moss fic #f1 drabbles #my fic

[professorspork]

ok someone may have already asked this but I’m curious, how did the idea for newsbees even come about?

luckily I have the discord receipts so I can relay WORD FOR WORD how I first started telling people about it and when

it was early November 2021, and I was reading many bees fics-- devouring longfics when possible, many of which were some genuinely very impressive AUs

I'd never really written anything like that before, and I found myself going "hmm, that might be fun... but I'm so picky about AUs having conceptual synergy, I can't imagine what I'd even do if I wanted to tackle something like that. I guess if I were ever to get the One Perfect Idea that would be one thing but that's Future Me's problem"

and I was just sitting there sort of vibing on that when my brain, nearly instantly, went NEWSIES!!! OBVIOUSLY, YOU'D DO NEWSIES!!, and Future Me became Present Me just like that

I couldn't possibly tell you what stimuli I saw that made me think of it, other than that I love Newsies and I love the bees and the parallels were sort of immediately and intuitively apparent to me. so then I started saying to basically everyone I know "it turns out blake wears high socks and a newsboy cap and inspires people to unionize is exactly the kind of stupid idea I will NEVER let go" (<- direct quote). the concept just... haunted me, all the time. I knew no one would ever write it BUT me and I also knew it would be The Perfect Thing To Write, so. what was I to do??

by late November I was flying home for Thanksgiving and read, on the plane, the Houdini book that included the "shake me, I'm magic" anecdote and it's like a key turned in my brain

I spent most of that holiday season daydreaming about the various potential fire escape scenes and the panic attack/bed sharing/waking up together that now ends chapter 12 and starts chapter 13

@theseerasures bought me Scrivener for Hanukkah that year and I started working on an actual draft (rather than scribbling in a scratch document for notes and ideas) in January of 2022. then I spent the entire next year writing it, mostly in 3k-6k bursts on the weekends because I was too burned out from my job during the week to get anything done. my goal was to have it completed and posted before v9 happened, but I'm rather glad it worked out this way instead.

and THAT IS THE GENESIS OF NEWSBEES.

#newsbees au #fic what i wrote

[lycanlovingvampyre]

MAG 121 Relisten

Activity on my first listen: baking something with apples

This is the last episode with my favorite ambiance track :´) We haven't heard it at all in S3. All in all, the ambiance music in S3 got a lot less melodic than the one in S1 and S2. Although, S2 already used the less melodic tracks as well.

Oh right, the Patreon thanks are starting now! I haven't given all of them a listen, I think I'll do it here. 

To add something about Jon's coma: I read in a post yesterday that someone wondered how they even found out Jon was still alive. I'm kind of guessing there is something like Section 31 in medical as well. People who are somewhat trained for "weird" cases, even though they don't understand them. To fix that plot hole I'd say Elias called in, telling them this particular person is still alive even though he's neither breathing nor has a heartbeat. And considering, that Jon is dreaming, I'd headcanon his closed eyes rapidly moving.

OLIVER: "Um. Hello, Jon. Do you… mind if I call you Jon? I, I mean, you don’t actually know me. It’s just, well. 'Archivist.' It’s so formal, isn’t it?" Reasons why I love Oliver Banks, exhibition #658 xD No seriously, I think Oliver Banks is one of the most interesting Avatars out there and I'd say he's my favorite of all those Avatars we only meet tangentially. Death is such a complicated subject in itself and Oliver makes it look so... neutral. I mean, the End in itself appears relatively inactive, not having a Ritual and all. Anyway, Oliver calls Jon by his (human) name, is even unsure if he's allowed to do that, since they don’t "actually" know each other. But he respects that this is, who Jon is. Who he wishes to remain, regardless of which choice he’ll make. Oliver thinks of this although he has kind of lost touch with his name(s), since he'll just take any identity which works best for him at the moment.

OLIVER: "And I do kind of know you…? Haven’t had much choice, really. Dreams are like that, you know." I really, really wonder what that means. Did he see Jon's life hanging by a thread. Did he see nothing at all because he’s in a place where the End can’t touch him? Or does he already see a root piercing his heart? Does Jon actually have any agency in this? (He has been denied to die once before, MAG 101...)

OLIVER: "No matter how lucid you think they are, there’s always that part that just drags you along." Meta-comment about said agency?

OLIVER: "That’s how it works, right? Give you a terror; give you a dream?" Oliver in his dreams being like "Alright, I'm done checking out how person A, B and C will die, time for my Point Nemo date with Jon..."

Hmm, is there a soft crackling sound in the background?

"So. My name is Oliver Banks. In my other statements, I used the name Antonio Blake" When I was first listening I still could recall the general premise of MAG 11 quite well, including the name of the statement giver. So I already had my suspicions after all this talk about dreams, especially when talking about Gertrude. And then he says this sentence! I love those "I knew it!" moments^^

"I knew exactly what I had to do. He didn’t look anything like me, not really" Not really! Iirc, this season will have tons of not reallys. So I'll start counting! S4 Not Really #1

"There were a couple of marine biologists on board, a meteorologist, an engineer, someone who called herself a “macro-ecologist” – though at times, she looked almost as out of her depth as I did." Fake it till you make it!

“This too shall pass.” If I had a nickel for every podcast with a troubled, with eye imagery associated Eldritch character named Jo(h)n who owns a mysterious lighter and had a life altering experience while in a coma I'd have 2 nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice...

"The rest of the crew didn’t seem to notice, walking through the immense, grasping tendrils like they weren’t there at all" Wasn't there something about "TMA will not have tentacles!"? xD

"But I barely got the first word out before the falling satellite debris hit the ship at 200 miles an hour, killing us instantly." So, did Oliver just walk on the ocean floor back to London?

OLIVER: "Honestly, I’m still not exactly sure why I’m here. But you know better than anyone how the spiders can get into your head. Easier to just do what she asks." More of the Web shenanigans to make sure Jon stays on the right path...

OLIVER: "Oh, I, I’m a friend. Of Jon’s." GEORGIE: "Are you, now." OLIVER: "Uh, y-yes." I mean, Oliver seemed to be a kind of hesitant type there at the beginning of the episode. But this seems like he's a bit intimidated? Considering this is no-fear-because-touched-by-the-End Georgie, it would fit.

OLIVER: “…have I upset you, miss –” GEORGIE: “No, you just remind me of someone.” OLIVER: “Ahhh, I’m sorry! Were they –” GEORGIE: “Evil. Yes.” Hm, another throwback to MAG 101,“Is a thing evil when it simply obeys its own nature?” What makes someone evil? It sounds like Georgie is implying that she considers Oliver evil as well? But if we going by that definition, Jon would be evil as well.. I think Oliver and Jon are quite similar. Neither of them asked for this but here they are.

GEORGIE: [sigh] "Sorry about that, but you really don’t need friends like tha…" Arg, this makes me so angry again! This constant patronizing... Georgie knew this was an End avatar, I mean she said he reminded her of someone evil - the corpse who took her fear. What was she thinking Oliver was doing here? That he had come and finally claim Jon? And she shooed him away because she didn't want that? Because she's not too happy about him waking up either, so was that the reason she wanted Oliver nowhere near Jon? Status quo can’t remain forever. So what's it gonna be? A dead human friend? Or an alive something-else friend?

@a-mag-a-day

#a-mag-a-day #mag 121 #tma #tma spoilers

[yourtypicalhopelessgay]

I really do hate how when one sapphic ship gets a wonderful moment other people will take that moment to try to tear down another sapphic ship and say it’s disappointing in comparison. I understand sometimes we can look at one ship in another show and wonder why they haven’t done the same for another, but you’re looking at completely different stories with different writers and trying to compare them to each other when really you shouldn’t. Instead of putting down other sapphic ships we should celebrate each of them because there isn’t a lot out there that have been developed well and we already have some people out there that hate sapphic ships and hate queer representation.

For the record, a kiss isn’t the only thing that makes a ship great. Lumity had a wonderful kiss onscreen, but that kiss wasn’t what made lumity a great ship. Lumity is great because of the development of Luz and Amity’s relationship where we see them go from enemies, friends, to lovers. They learned to trust each other, rely on each other, protect each other and above all had wonderful communication between each other. It was nice to see them going through all the phases of becoming girlfriends and the many blushes they had. A kiss was really the icing on the cake to everything they already had developed and it’s no different for bumbleby. They haven’t kissed yet sure and you could say that there were opportunities that presented itself when they could that’s fair, but that doesn’t make their relationship bad because of it.

From the start we can see how Blake and Yang’s relationship grew from partners, friends, to lovers in the show. They learned to open up to each other, trust each other, would do anything for the other and the many intimate moments that we’ve seen them share throughout. I loved the conversation they had in burning the candle because it showed vulnerability and trust. It was also cute to see the blushes they had, the loving stares they shared, the touching intimate headbutts they had (especially at the reunion❤️), having fun together going out and Yang making Blake laugh and I love how they said they’re protecting each other. Also seeing how wonderful they communicate with each other where in fights they are totally in sync, that at times they don’t even have to say anything to understand what the other is saying which is also nice to see. Not to also mention, even the characters in the show know about how special they are to each other, like how Adam said he would destroy everything Blake loved starting with Yang in volume 3, Ruby giving Yang a knowing smile in the airship in volume 6 and Nora saying there’s definitely more going on between them.

So while I understand many people want sapphic relationships to kiss as soon as possible and compare it to other ships that have, for me personally I don’t see any problem with waiting for it instead of having them rush to kiss just because this sapphic couple did. I loved how we saw Luz and Amity developed their relationship first before they kissed that made the moment more special just like how it will be for bumbleby when they do. Because like I said, a kiss isn’t the only thing that makes the relationship great it’s the development between the characters throughout the show that does and in some shows it takes two seasons out of the three to make that happen, while for others it might be longer. Even still the intention that they will is there for both of them and we shouldn’t say one is more disappointing than the other just because it’s taking a little longer.

#rwby #bumbleby #lgbtq #lgbtq+ #just my thoughts

[grahamobrien13]

If I Can't Have You (Hotchreid fanfic, Chapter 1)

Description: Spencer Reid left the BAU after Gideon. He just didn't want to be there without his mentor, and everyone was very understanding. Even the BAU's Unit Chief, who Spencer had been having sex with, was understanding of his situation. Years later, the BAU is called to help on a case in Las Vegas, one that... involves their former colleague. Stakes are high, but will Aaron and Spencer let their feelings get in the way, or will they ignore them all together. That's the million dollar question. ~~ This is heavily canon divergent. Spencer left the BAU in season 3, right after Gideon, so a lot of things that should've happened didn't. Also Hayley and Jack don't exist... Also, technically Alex Blake should be there, but I really wanted to include Emily and Tara, so as much as I love her, I swapped her.

Notes: Did I take my title from a Shawn Mendes Song? Yes Does it really have much to do with the story? No But I figured there's gonna be a lot of pining and trying to decide whether or not to be in a relationship and i just love the line "Everything Means Nothing If I can't Have You" so...

Warnings: A main aspect of this story is the case that they are working, so there will be talk of murder, kidnapping, sexual assault, and things of that nature, so please be warned. There might be smut in later chapters, but I haven't decided yet.

Full Chapter is below the cut

or

Read on AO3

Spencer folded the letter that he had received from his mentor and pushed it into his messenger bag. He was sitting at his desk, reading and re-reading the letter over and over. He decided to put it away, finally, after the 7th time through. He’d already memorized it and he had just made his decision. He pulled out a pad of paper from his desk and began to write his own letter of resignation. He tried not to think about the others… The group of profilers who would be devastated that he was leaving, especially since Gideon had just left.

He especially tried not to think about the BAU Unit Chief, Aaron Hotchner. He and Aaron had been having a physical relationship the past two years. It was completely unexpected, but oh so passionate. Spencer supposed another reason that he was leaving was because he had started to grow feelings for his boss and he knew that the older man would never feel the same way. He ripped the page out and headed to Aaron’s office.

---

Aaron was sitting at his desk, filling out some paperwork from their last case. Everything had gone pretty smoothly, they had saved the child who had been snatched and luckily they had done so before any harm could come to the child. He was happy that they’d had one with a good ending after so many losses. He had just signed the bottom of the last page when there was a knock on his office door.

“Sir, we have another one.” The BAU’s technical analyst said, peeking her head into the office, “And it's a bad one…” She sighed. Aaron nodded.

“Call everyone back. We’ll gather at the round table in 20.” He said. Garcia nodded and scurried away. Aaron leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath. He picked up his phone to check the case that Garcia had seen before him and looked over the files in the tiny screen of his phone. 

---

“So, we have three male victims. COD on all was exsanguination following a series of stab wounds in the abdomen.” Garcia explained, her disgust visible on her face.

“All of them were laid out with their hands folded over their abdomens, face up.” JJ pointed out.

“And they were cleaned and changed into the same white button up with khakis… They almost look ready for their funeral.” Emily said, flipping to look at all the crime scene photos.

“Yes. Each man was taken on a Monday afternoon and all were found the next Monday in the same place they were taken from” Aaron explained, “He then waits another week before taking another. We have only a few hours until he takes another victim. Wheels up in 30.” He said, standing and leaving the room. The others were quick to follow.

“Looks like we’re going to Las Vegas.” JJ teased Emily, bumping the other agent's shoulder. Emily raised her eyebrows at JJ.

“Maybe after the case we’ll get some time to play.” Emily teased right back. JJ smirked and grabbed her go bag. Emily picked up hers and they made their way to the elevators.

“So, will you be meeting up with the former agent that you told me about? Didn’t you say that he moved to Las Vegas?” Dave said, standing in the doorway of Aaron’s office. Aaron raised his eyebrows.

“Yes, he did move to Las Vegas but… I’m not going to see him, I mean… That was a long time ago.” Aaron said, looking at his tablet. He was looking at the photos of the victims and the medical examiner’s reports for the first two.

“Come on, you told me that you had a lot of unresolved feelings and this could be your chance to resolve them.” Dave stated, suggestively. Aaron kept his face hard.

“Maybe, maybe, I will call him.” Aaron spoke, putting a lot of emphasis on the second maybe, “I’m not making any promises.”

---

Aaron was preparing to go home, grabbing all of his personal items and shoving them into his briefcase. He was exhausted and ready to be home. As soon as he got his stuff together, there were three quiet knocks on the door of his office.

“Come in.” He said. The door opened and Spencer was there. He looked as if he was ready to get home as well. His jacket was on and he had his bag over his shoulder. His hair was in the familiar slicked back style, but a few strands had fallen in front of his face. Aaron felt his knees weaken just looking at the attractive man in front of him, “You’re still here? I thought you’d gone home.” 

“Yeah, uh, can we talk?” Spencer said, that’s when Aaron realized how nervous he looked. His fingers were drumming quickly on the strap of the bag and his eyes were darting, never looking directly at Aaron.

“Of course, is something wrong?” Aaron asked, his face turning more serious. He knew that the man was still hurt by Gideon’s departure, but he never expected to hear what Spencer said next.

“This is my letter of resignation. It’s effective immediately.” Spencer said, sitting the paper on his desk, “Here’s my gun and my badge.” He set them down next to the letter. Aaron looked at Spencer in disbelief.

---

Once on the jet, the team began talking about victimology. All the men had a similar appearance, so they figured that they were surrogates for the person the unsub truly wanted to kill. 

“Well, stabbing is typically a replacement for sexual penetration. Was there any sign of sexual assault on any of the victims?” Lewis asked. From the screen, Garcia responded.

“No signs of… that on the first two victims… The ME is still examining the latest victim.” Garcia explained.

“Well, that could mean that he’s impotent.” Rossi said.

“Okay, when we land I want Prentiss and Morgan at the latest crime scene. JJ and Rossi go to the medical examiner’s office and Lewis, you and I will set up at the local PD.” Aaron said, sitting back in his seat. The rest of the team nodded. JJ got up and moved to the back of the plane, clicking on the contact labeled ‘Spencer Reid’. The line rang twice and then a voice…

“Hello.” The man on the other end spoke softly. 

“Hey, Spence, I was just calling to let you know that we’re heading to Las Vegas for a case… Maybe after that we can get breakfast or something.” JJ said.She heard some shuffling.

“Yeah, I’d like that, JJ. Actually, I’m the one that suggested they call you guys. I’ve been consulting on the case.” Spencer told her.

“Oh, it’ll be great to work with you again.” JJ said while grabbing a water bottle out of the mini fridge.

“Yeah, I’m excited to see you guys.” Spencer said, “Listen, my class is starting so I have to get off the phone, but I’ll see you when you land.” the phone call cut off before JJ could respond. She made her way back to her seat.

“Well, I just talked to Spence and he said that he’s consulting on this case.” JJ said, “He said that he was the one to suggest that they call us.” 

“So we get to work with the boy wonder again?” Emily said, “I’m glad, I’ve missed him.”

“I think we all have.” Derek pointed out, “I was sad that he left, but I get it. Gideon was his mentor and it really hurt him when he left.”

“I can’t wait to meet Dr. Spencer Reid. I’ve heard so much about him and I think I’m the only one who hasn’t met him.” Tara said,

“He left before I joined as well.” Rossi said, “So I haven’t met the kid yet, either.” Rossi looked over at Aaron, but the man didn’t even glance.

“It will be nice to catch up, but remember we’re also working a case.” Hotch said. The others nodded and continued going over the case files. Rossi finally looked away form Hotch and back to his case files.

---

Aaron entered the local police station accompanied by Dr. Tara Lewis. The Captain met them at the door.

“You must be… Agent Hotchner.” He said, “I’m Captain Smith.” He said, offering his hand. Aaron shook the man’s hand.

“Yes, I’m Agent Aaron Hotchner and this is Dr. Tara Lewis.” He said. The Captain shook Tara’s hand.

“We’ve got you guys set up in the conference room back here. Dr. Reid set it up.” He said.

“Is he here?” Aaron asked.

“Yes, he’s setting up the evidence board you guys requested. Honestly, we’ve been stuck with this case and when he suggested calling up his old team I was definitely willing.” He said.

“It's a good thing you called us.” Tara said, “We believe that he will take another victim sometimes today if he hasn’t already. Has anyone been reported missing in the comfort zone?” The three approached the door to the conference room. The Captain opened the door and there was Spencer Reid, hanging another picture on the board.

“The lieutenant just informed me that there’s been another abduction. His name is Arthur Skinner.” Spencer started, “He was last seen in the lobby of the hotel he was staying at. Someone said they saw another man come up to him but they couldn’t give a description. We should try a cognitive.” Aaron watched the Doctor talk, he suddenly found himself distracted by the way Reid’s hair fell into his eyes, followed by Reid’s hands moving the hair away from his face.

“Ready to get going?” Tara said, looking at Aaron now.

“Oh, yes. Let's go… Reid, are you coming?” Aaron asked. He set his briefcase on the table and waited for the Doctor’s response.

“No, I’m going to stay and work on a geographical profile.” Reid said. He glanced up from the map he had just spread across the table and caught Aaron’s eye right before the man left the room. Reid gripped the pen in his hand and looked back down at his map.

---

“Are you sure?” Aaron asked, “I know that Gideon leaving has been hard on you, but you’re an asset to this team.” 

“I’ve been offered a position as a professor at a University close to Las Vegas… My mother has been getting worse and I just need to be close to her.” Reid told his boss matter of factly.

“I understand, Reid. I’m sorry to see you go.” Aaron glanced at the stack of files that had been piling up recently. Reid followed his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Hotch… I know it's going to be difficult for a bit, but I know you guys will find someone to take my place.” Spencer reached across the desk, resting his hand on Hotch’s own folded hands. Spencer wasn’t usually one for touching, but it was different with Aaron. Spencer tried not to think about the fact that he wanted nothing more than to kiss the older Agent, but he couldn’t allow himself to do that.

“You’re going to be a great Professor, Spencer.” Aaron told him. Spencer smiled, his beautiful, shining smile. Aaron wanted to pull him in and kiss him, but he knew he couldn’t.

“Thank you, Aaron.” He said, standing up and exiting Aaron’s office. Aaron sighed and leaned back in his chair. He hadn’t thought about it much, but he knew his feelings for the younger man had gotten to be… Almost too much. Maybe now he could get them to subside.

Next Chapter

#Criminal Minds #Criminal Minds fanfic #Criminal Minds Fandom #Hotchreid #heid #Aaron Hotchner x Spencer Reid #Hotchreid fanfic #Professor!Spencer Reid #BAU #Aaron Hotchner #Spencer Reid #Criminal Minds AU #Fanfic AU #Canon Divergence

[semifinel]

February - 2023

Games

Disco Elysium- I’ve actually been slowly going through it for over a year (I would play for a few days and then take a break for a few months and then forget where I am and restart). However I finally finished it and I can very easily say it’s one of my favorite games ever. The writing, the style, the music- what’s not to fucking love.

I could talk about this game for hours and I have actually done that enough to convince friends to play it as well. But I probably can’t say anything that hasn’t been said before me.

Great game- I might be in love with Kim kitsuragi.

Rain world(?)- to be honest I haven’t played it (yet?) but I spend way too much time watching gameplay of it and videos about it, went into a deep dive in the wiki. This world absolutely fascinates me, the ecosystem is just wow- even though it seems like a very difficult game I might actually get it one day.

Decide to include it cause it’s my list and I make the rules, also it ate a chunk of my month.

Monster hunter rise- this is my second time trying to get this game and last time I (apparently) quit before even going on a mission. To be fair it was a combination of my own stupidity and the game’s absolute horrible tutorial that made me drop it so fast.

However given a second shot I’m already having more fun, flipping and riding and monster hunting.

I have no idea if anyone ever cared about a character in this game but the monsters are cool and I love them lots.

Why is there a tower defense section is beyond me- I never liked any kind of tower defense, but this is very much the wrong game for it.

Can’t wait to try a hunt with friends- I heard it’s awesome.

Start again: a prologue- a delightful lil rpg that made me feel a lot. I love time loops as a concept already and this was executed so well- I will cry about it.

Can’t wait for in stars and time!! I need more of this cast and world.

Lookouts- another game I’ve been making my way through oh so slowly, no reason here since it’s not really long. It’s a visual novel and I have trouble focusing on reading, that’s my main issue.

However I’m happy I played it- trans cowboys on opposing sides falling in love and find a way for them to have a life- I am the target audience. I love them.

Hue- sure was a puzzle game. And it was a nice one, pretty sure I got it for free and I mostly used it as something to play while I listen to podcasts. It’s cute and not very long and the puzzles were nice.

Shows

Mob psycho s2- still doing my rewatch, still love my sons.

Darry girls s3- finally got around to it, honestly liked it less then the other seasons however it was a nice end to the show as a whole and I’m glad they wrapped it up nicely.

Animation vs Minecraft- what if I told you the animation you used to watch on YouTube as a child kept going on while you looked away. That there is now a storyline spanning several hours which is very neat and dear to my heart.

How simple are your blorbos? Mine are literally just different colored stick man (they are my sons and I love them very much).

I want everyone to watch it, you can’t understand how hard it goes in the final episodes you don’t understand ahhhhha.

Podcasts

Something rotten- did I start this podcast just cause I wanted more Jacob Geller? Yes.

Am I happy I did that? Also yes.

I do not care even a little about the games they talk about but it’s still fascinating to hear them talk about them (along other kind of related topic)

Personally never heard of Blake Hester before but glad I know him now.

Can’t wait for next season where I might play along since I have one of the games in my library for some reason.

Etc?

The prince by Abigail throne (philosophy tube)- so like one of my favorite trans creators writes a play and uploads it in full- I had no doubt it was gonna be good.

Love the characters, love the themes, and the setting (of being stuck inside a play) is very fun.

But man do I not understand Shakespearean speak but that’s more of a me thing.

Felt a lil cliche/sappy at times but it was cute so I had no problem with it.

#disco elysium #rain world #monster hunter: rise #start again: a prologue #lookouts #hue #mob psycho 100 #darry girls #animation vs minecraft #something rotten #the prince

[ladylobotomyy]

Jealousy, Jealousy - Part 1

Hi so a lot of people liked the To Hell and Back series, thank you for the support, it really makes me smile. This was an original idea thought up by @shelikesloki. So thank you so much for the recommendation. If you have any suggestions/requests or want me to write a specific idea then feel free to ask, my dms and asks are open, but for now here’s part 1! Part 2 is probably already up. PLEASE give me some suggestions of what you want to see! This series spans across the beginning of season 8.

Concept from @shelikesloki: After overhearing Morgan and Reid speaking about Maeve, Y/n has trouble with the idea that she's missed her chance with Spencer. But after the team helps save Maeve, will Reid and Maeve even work out?

☾

Breathless. That’s how I’d describe it. Like the air’s been sucked from my lungs, leaving me empty, dry, gasping. The rest of their conversation fades, I’m not even able to process that Morgan’s sitting back next to me until he offers me a peanut. I don't notice my head shaking until he’s already turned back to the window, my eyes trained on the page beneath me. Legs made of jelly support me as I stand and make my way to the bathroom, my lips hard pressed into a line. Logically, I know my eyes shouldn’t sting. I know my breathing shouldn’t come unevenly. How can I grieve losing someone who was never mine? My eyes meet the reflection in the mirror, willing her lips to stop quivering.

Running a hand through my hair, Morgan's words too loud in my head, “If you’ve got somebody new in your life to talk to, I’d just like to know who she is.” I shouldn’t have been listening to their conversation to begin with, but Spencer had been so off the past few weeks. Secretive, constantly leaving the group, as my best friend, I wanted to know what was wrong. We’d come to a block in the case, confused on where to go next to find the unsub, and he’d come back from a drive with a major break. I’d assumed Blake and him had been brainstorming. Morgan had continued as my breathing hitched, “Cause she’s got to be one hell of a woman to keep up with you.” I’d come undone by three little words, “Who told you?” Spencer had confirmed. Hands that didn’t feel like they belonged to me shook as they fumbled for the phone in my back pocket, dialing the only number I could think of.

☾

“Still not gonna tell me what this is about?” I suppressed a sigh, tilting my head to meet Penelope’s waiting gaze. “No idea what you’re talking about,” a forced smile made its way to my lips. Penelope’s hands folded over her themselves, “Listen,” she started. “I will always be up for slushies from a sketchy gas station, and I don’t mind taking your mind off of whatever it is,” she gestured wildly with her hands. “But you cannot just call me crying and expect me not to worry,”

“I know, I know-”

“No, I am not finished speaking,” She held a finger up. “Y/n, I love you so much, I would do anything for you and you know that,” Penelope took a deep breath. “And if it's really too much to talk about, I will understand, believe me. But I need to at least know that no one did this to you.”

I let out a sigh, “Are you done?” She nodded, curls bouncing as she did so. “No one hurt me,” I hesitated, thinking it over. “I hurt myself,” that might be a better way to put it, it’s not Spencer’s fault that I never initiated anything the past six years. I allowed myself to get attached, that’s my problem to deal with, not his. It wouldn’t be right to cast the blame onto him. “I let myself get hurt, I let it happen. It’s no one’s fault but my own,” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Now if you don't mind, I’d like to drink my slushie before it melts,” I added, slipping the straw into my mouth.

A hand found its way to mine and squeezed lightly, Penelope’s eyes wide over her glasses as she spoke, “You know I’ve always got you, right Y/n?” My response got caught in my throat, so I offered a small nod instead, placing a hand over hers. For a brief moment we sat there, both looking down at the table, before Penelope sat back and fumbled for her car keys. “So, what are we watching, Legally Blonde or Clueless?”

☾

Emotions complicated things. Emotions weren’t trustworthy. They were irrational and got in the way most of the time. It was irrational to act as if Spencer was the only man I’d ever care for. It was irrational to dwell over him when he was happy with someone else. It was irrational to be upset over someone I’d never even dated. I reminded myself of this when I walked into work Monday morning. So Spencer would never know how I felt, was that really the worst thing in the world? That meant there was no room for rejection, no room for the complications of working together might bring, no room for the inevitable downfall of our friendship if things went awry. I reminded myself that this was a blessing, not a curse. But as I caught a glimpse of the back of his head upon walking to my desk, a sharp burst of pain straight to my heart reminded me I’d never actually be able to see it that way.

As soon as my bottom hit the seat he was turning around in his hair, “Y/n,” a smile graced his face. Keeping my expression in check, I nodded in his direction, turning to my screen. The sound of wheels rolling against the vinyl flooring was shortly accompanied by Spencer rolling into view to my left, tapping lightly on the desk when I kept my eyes on my computer. Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I examined the bags under his eyes, he must have had a long night. I shook my head lightly to get the picture of who he might have spent it with out of my mind.

“I’ve got two tickets to Comic Con this Sunday, I thought maybe Star Trek characters might be a nice team up costume?” He held the tickets up as he spoke. I reminded myself how much easier it would be to work through my feelings at a distance.

“I’m sure that will be fun,” my voice coming out more monotone than I’d intended. He continued on, “It just depends on who we choose to be. Spock might be a little too obvious so I was thinking maybe Kor-”

“I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun,” I cut in. His head jerked back, his eyes narrowing, “You're not going?” He asked, his eyes incredulous. When I responded only with silence he leaned in closer, “We go every year, it’s tradition.”

“I have something this Sunday,” I said, working hard not to itch my shoulder. Lying always made me itch, Spencer said it was my tell, I moved around too much when I was dishonest to him. With anyone else I could lie easily, but Spencer made things difficult in every aspect. I gripped my leg tight as I ignored the urge to push my hair behind my ear and guilt trickled in when his eyes dropped from mine.

“What could you possibly have scheduled for on Sunday, it’s the one day we reserve,” He asked, taking his bottom lip in between his teeth. Heat rushed into my cheeks, so he could keep secrets from me but I wasn’t allowed any privacy? Anger dripped through me like white hot liquid, irrational or not, he was hurting me and I was trying to save us both the grief of my little crush getting worse. I regretted my excuse as soon as it passed my lips, “A date.” My voice had been harsher than necessary, the effect was visceral. His jaw clenched, gulping as he pushed away from the desk. I’d snapped at Spencer before, while tired from a case, while hungry, but I’d always had a reason for it, now I had none to give him.

“Something bothering you?” He asked, brows furrowed. Yes, you. You’re making this so much harder than it has to be. I smoothed my face, “No, I’ve just got a lot on my mind right now,” I let my eyes fall back over my computer, watching in my peripheral vision as he didn’t move. Eventually a minute or two later I heard the sound of wheels rolling again and his presence faded out of view. He didn’t deserve that, he deserves to be happy, snapping at him wasn’t fair. But was staying close to him worth losing myself?

☾

I shouldn’t have been surprised by a new case with Halloween so close, four men from rural Oregon had gone missing, bodies yet to be found, and with the latest victim, Terry Rodgers, police were calling us in. With no forensic evidence, no witnesses and no ransom demands, we had almost nothing to work with. But with 4 sudden disappearances in a community so small and no sense of a stop in deaths and the time between each abduction getting consistently shorter, they needed all the help they could get.

With no apparent overlap in the victims, it seemed the unsub was choosing victims at random. After the flight to Oregon I remained all too aware of Reid’s eyes on me during the investigation. Keeping my distance from him remained harder than I’d expected. After Hotch had insisted that I join him and JJ on checking out the latest victim’s cabin, I’d offered my help to Hotch and Rossi with the abduction site, and surprisingly they’d taken it.

The abduction sight didn’t show much, two sets of car tracks, vomit from the victim signs of a veer off the road. He’d either been forced off the road or had gotten sick. With elevated levels of Melatonin in his lab results it was no wonder why he’d become so ill.

Shortly after our visit the second victim, Barry Deaver’s car had been found impounded, found abandoned in a rural spot three weeks prior. By the time Rodger’s body was found in a bank the entire team had been back together. With only ligature marks, it was clear no obvious violent methods of torture had been taken against the victim. He’s been sedated and drowned, and I’d kept my head down as Spencer and Morgan discussed this. Retreating next to JJ when Reid had wandered next to my side. Due to the nature of the killing, we’d reassessed the unsub, we were now looking for a woman.

Delivering the profile was harder than expected, up to this point of the investigation I’d simply stayed away from Spencer in the physical sense, leaving the room when he entered, working solely with the rest of the team members when on the case. But being forced to stay in the same room with him posed a new set of challenges. Before I’d figure out what was going on, I’d managed to slip back into old habits, standing too close, offering small smiles when he’d finished speaking to make sure he knew someone was listening to him. It was so easy to forget when I was around him, so easy to act like nothing was wrong.

All the men had been fathers in some capacity, the only link maybe, but it still told us what we needed to know about the unsub. While discussing the autopsy Spencer had come to the conclusion that it’d be a good idea to steal me away after his call with Rossi.

“Did I say something wrong?” He asked in the hallway. After pretending I didn’t hear him didn’t work, I turned my head to avoid his eyes as we walked, “What do you mean?” He was silent for a moment, only the clicking of our shoes echoing off the walls.

“Y/n, I think you know what I mean,” he said, exasperation filling his voice. “How do you figure?” I asked, picking up speed.

”Y/n, please.” His fingertips find my shoulders and my feet fall short, stopping in place. His brown eyes are wide, alert as he fumbles for his words, “You’re- You’re ignoring me when I talk to you, or- or completely walking away. You’re snappy. The thing with comic con. You were fine during the profile and then back in the morgue?”

“What did I do wrong during the autopsy?” My voice comes out more whiny than I’d like.

“You’re cold and distant, like the flip of a coin, is it something I’m saying, or doing, or-“ Guilt gnaws at me before I can let him finish. “Spencer, I’m just tired,” but he glanced down at my fidgeting hands and returned to my eyes with a disbelieving look. I force my hands to my sides, I need an excuse, a reason for my hostility.

“My date cancelled.” He pressed his lips into a hard line, his eyebrows raising. “Oh,” he breathes. “Yeah,” the silence makes my hands twitch upwards, I’m going to have to make it believable, he’s a profiler for Christ sake. Lord forgive me for what I’m about to do. I widen my eyes and lower them to the floor, fake solemnness playing on the corners of my lips, “I found out before I came into the office. I lied, it’s not still on, I just didn’t want to explain.” I make my stature feel small, it’s easy to do so, to look weak like a little girl. It makes me uncomfortable, unnatural. I’ve spent my entire life trying to prove that I’m not that. My stomach stirs, lying to Spencer isn’t easy, let alone consciously trying to manipulate him, but my tactic works. The way he shifts back and mirrors my uncomfortable posture proves he doesn’t know how to respond.

“I didn’t mean to-“ “Oh, I know,” I cut him off, “I’d just rather not talk about it if that’s okay.” He nods once, sliding a foot backwards and I take this as my cue to walk forward, leading down the hallway.

okay that’s part 1, and like always, i hope it didn’t disappoint. and if it did then, again, that’s chill too. and again if you have any suggestions or recommendations just ask, and if you want to be tagged in part 2, let me know! part 2 is probably already up. have a beautiful day loves :)

Thanks again @shelikesloki

Masterlist

Part 2

#spencer reid imagine #criminal minds fanfic #spencer reid fanfic #dr spencer reid #spencer reid #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid self insert #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x self insert #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds self insert #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds masterlist #reid #reid x y/n #reid x reader #reid imagine #spencer x y/n #spencer x reader #spencer x you #reid fanfic #reid fanfiction #spencer fanfiction #spencer fanfic #angst #spencer reid masterlist #masterlist #fanfic

[kitkatopinions]

Can you elaborate on how Weiss should've let her hair down and her attitude should've become more rebellious and less uptight after healing from her family?

Sure!

The show dipped its toes in themes of wealth inequality and classism, establishing that Weiss's family was the most wealthy with the most influence and with the most dark past. I think they had a responsibility to then make it clear that they were against that dark past (including Nicholas Schnee) and against billionaires and classism. And the show also established that Weiss at the beginning of the show was judgmental, high strung, bigoted, and spoiled, but they were trying to get across that she has a heart of gold anyway (though with how they mishandled the Faunus/White Fang issue, it puts a damper on Weiss's early character.) By the time the third season was done, Weiss had already grown much more casual and easygoing, having fun with Ruby and Yang, and it was also established that her home life wasn't very happy and she (with Winter's encouragement) started taking steps to shed her reliance on her father's ways. Then in volume four, we see Weiss more unhappy and subdued than we've ever seen her in very unhappy circumstances with her father treating her badly, and her 'princess' vibes have actually gotten more intense than ever with the heavy jewelry and closed up blue dress. Her moment where she yells at the party goers for being so out of touch and then her actively running away from the life of luxury but confinement she's been stifled in... Plus, songs like It's My Turn, Mirror Mirror Part II, and This Life Is Mine really gave the impression of disillusionment that Weiss was breaking away from everything she knew and finding happiness once she was free from everything holding her back.

The closed off blue-gray dress and heavy jewelry really felt like symbolism to indicate how held back Weiss was. I kind of thought that when she left or when she got to Haven with the others, she would change into something white and open and less princess based (and maybe cut her hair.) And I wanted Weiss to leave the family because of realizing how horrible her parents and grandfather were and how unhappy she actually was, but instead she left because her dad gave her inheritance to Whitley and she couldn't become CEO anymore. And then I thought leaving her family and all the luxuries behind would kickstart a growth arc for Weiss where she struggles with basically having nothing but also starts enjoying herself, and starts realizing how much she never actually wanted the things her parents and grandfather had wanted.

But what actually happened was that they kept Weiss in that muted closed off dress for seasons while kind of just acting like she wasn't concerned about anything and didn't need to go through any changes, and then she went to Atlas. And I thought "Oh here we go, now she's going to start leaning into the rebellion stuff, all of this being in Atlas business is going to make Weiss remember how horrible her family has been and she'll throw off their classist ways and snobbish vibes, and be more of a woman of the people and maybe even let go of her grudge against Whitley and try to get him out because she no longer wants to be CEO and realizes that he's in the same boat she once was in." And then her V7-9 look was even more princess-y and rich and muted and heavy than ever before like being in Atlas had just made her miss her old lifestyle or want to prove she belonged to it or something. And the writers leaned into the 'it's not that billionaires are bad, it's that Jacques is a non-blood related usurper bad apple' thing with Willow being good actually and with having Weiss's grandfather being fine actually, and they had Blake joke about Weiss's family owning everything, and Weiss was still acting like Whitley had ruined her life, and Jacques just got brushed off, and Weiss got all this angel imagery and didn't care about attending the rally for the person going against Jacques.

Then the Schnees lost their whole fortune and mansion anyway, but like, that just makes it feel even more like Weiss didn't want that and would've actually gone back to being a billionaire CEO while dressed like a princess and living in a giant mansion the size of Blake's whole home town. And it just reeks of.... Billionaire simping. I really wish that Weiss had been more rebellious and shed a lot of her princess imagery and got away from the ideals of her family more, because not only would it imo make Weiss a stronger and better character, but it would also make RWBY more progressive because it would be anti-billionaire anti-classism commentary.

#rwde

[marvelcriminalhoe]

Stumbling West

Aaron Hotchner x Female Reader

Chapter 17

We’re Having A .....

i.e. season 9 episode 11

TW: talks of pregnancy, some criminal minds case jargon, thats it.

AN: kind of a a filler chapter, but you do find out the gender of the baby!

word count: 1,542

Series Masterlist

You’re sitting in the doctors office, waiting for the nurse to come back in and start the ultra sound. Aaron isn't with you, the team got called out on a case early yesterday morning and you were effectively benched by your boyfriend, since you had an appointment today. But he called you about an hour ago and said they were already wrapping up and heading back to the jet, and made you promise to call him as soon as the appointment is over.

This is the first appointment you have been to alone. Each time, Aaron has gone with you, and each time, the child in your belly refused to get into a position that would tell you their gender. Aaron knows that because he isn't here this time, You're child will finally revel themselves.

You're 24 weeks and probably could have done a blood test by now to give you the gender, but honestly, you don’t mind waiting, and you would rather not get stuck with a needle if it’s not necessary.

“Alright, are you ready to see your baby?” The nurse knocks on the door, sticking her head in with a smile.

You nod at her with a smile, watching as she gets the cold jell out, spreading it on your stomach. She does some small talk while she slides the wand around, grabbing pictures and listening to the heartbeat.

“Are you wanting to know the gender?” She asks you.

“Yes, if you can finally tell this time.” You laugh softly.

“Oh we can tell.” She grabs a few more pictures, before moving the screen to face you better, pointing to it, “You have a very healthy and very active little __.” She tells you with a smile.

Your eyes well up with a few tears and you curse your hormones for making you so extra emotional. You wish Aaron was here, but you are also excited to tell him yourself. You know Jack will be so excited too, the baby’s gender being what he had been guessing.

The nurse leaves the room after wiping off the jell, to go grab your images. You thank here, calling Aaron on the way back to your car. “Hey sweetheart, hows our baby doing?” His voice soft as it comes through the phone.

“They are doing very well. Healthy and active. You guys on the jet home?”

“You find out the gender?” He questions you, ignoring the one you asked him, “Yes, but I'm not telling you over the phone. Now answer my question.”

You hear Aaron let out a big sigh, “Change of planes, we are headed to Kansas right now.”

“Why?”

You start your car, phone connecting to bluetooth, his voice coming through the speakers, “Blake’s dad asked for us to look at a case and see if we find anything.”

“Alright then I’ll catch a flight out there.” You tell him.

“No.” His voice chasing to unit chief mode, “We, don’t even know if there’s anything for us.”

You roll your eyes at that, even if he can’t see you, “You wouldn’t have agreed to go if you didn’t think it wad something, regardless of who asked.”

He knows your right, and he also knows that if it was anyone else on the team, he would tell them to fly out, “Fine. Send me the itinerary so I know when to pick you up.”

Aaron is waiting beside one of the SUV’s, opening the door for you when he sees you, grabbing your go back from your shoulder and giving you a kiss to the cheek, before closing the door.

The team ruled that both murder cases were in fact connected and asked to come in fully to the case. You missed most of the day, not being able to get in until around dinner time.

Aaron direct both of you to the motel the team is staying at, showing you to the room. Once inside, he pulls you into his chest, your now full bump making it hard for him to pull you as close to normal. He pulls back, moving his hands to cradling your stomach, “So everything was good today?”

You smile at him, eyes looking at him tenderly, “Our __ is very healthy.”

His eyes go wide at your statement when he realizes what you said, “__?” he asks a little breathlessly.

All you can do is nod, your smile growing as he drops down to his knees, “Hi baby, I’m your dad. I love you so much.”

This is one of your favorite things Aaron does, your heart growing tenfolds every time he talks to your growing baby. After a few more moments, he stands up, cradling your face and pulling you into a kiss, mumbling against your lips, “We’re having a little ___.”

“Yeah.” You lightly laugh back, “We’re having a ___.”

You're at the station with the rest of the team, “We should cross-check our list of recently released ex-cons again.” JJ tells everyone.

“Garcia and I have been over it twice.” Aaron crosses his arms over his chest, “Nobody matches the profile.”

Derek pulls his phone out, Garcia calling him, “Hey, Baby Girl. You got the whole crew. Go ahead.”

“Ok, here’s some skinny on Jefferson High.” Her voice comes through the speaker, “The only notable thing that has happened at that high school in the last 10 years besides the murders of our first two victims, is the death of another student, 4 years ago. Information streaming now to your tablets.”

You pull up what she sent you, reading off of the article, “He wrapped his car around a telephone pole.”

“Yeah,” Garcia acknowledges, “There was lots of speculation it was a suicide. Tox report was clean, he was completely sober.”

“He was a straight A senior with nothing in his disciplinary file.” Rossi reads off.

“He was at Jefferson during the same time as the first two victims.”

Aaron speaks up, giving orders to Garcia, “We need a list of every student and employee at Jefferson while Riley Wilson was a student.”

“It’s a lot of names. I will hit you back ASAP.” You hear her say, already typing.

Garcia gives you all a list of names about 20 minutes later. The list is long, like she had already told you, so the team decides to split it with the local cops, to find anything significant about the death of Riley and how it could lead to the murders.

“I want you to stay here.” Aaron tells you as the team heads out.

You roll your eyes, “We’re just conducting interviews.”

“And while we do that, you’ll be staying here.” He grabs your arms, rubbing them up and down.

“Fine.” You huff out. Aaron laughs softly, kissing your forehead and following the team out.

He gets more and more protective over you with each passing day, and as much as you want to fight him on some of the smaller things like this, you know it helps keep him at least a little bit at ease during a case, so you let it slide. Well that, and since you can’t drink coffee anymore you are extremely more tired.

You're going over the list of ex prisoners with Garcia when you get the call that the unsub hit again, this time also getting Blake’s brother who is headed to the hospital. The team briefly comes back to the station, before heading back out to apprehend the unsub. Aaron comes back to finish wrapping up the case with the local pd, both of you leaving to the motel once he’s done. He informs you that you won't be leaving in the morning, instead, you will be staying tomorrow as well, Blake’s dad having invited everyone for dinner.

Aaron had a few more things to do at the police station the next day, picking you up once he was done and driving you to Blake’s fathers house.

“Damon Miller.” Her father greets you both at the door, shaking your hand as you introduce yourself as well. “Congratulations, is this your first child?” He asks.

“First pregnancy.” You answer him, “The 8 year old waiting for us back home is the first.” Aaron smiles at you, hand sliding from your lower back to around your waist, resting on top of your bump.

Damon raises his eyebrows, “Ah, Congratulations to you both then.”

“Thank you.” Aaron says, moving you both to the back yard.

The rest of the team shows up shortly after, having picked up Garcia from the airport. Blake and Scott show up, gathering in the yard with the rest, where everyone is drinking and the boys are grilling. You spend a few hours laughing, swapping stories, and eating Damon’s delicious ribs.

“Alright little mama, the case is over.” Derek turns to you.

You roll your eyes, sending a look to Aaron. He hadn't told the team the results of the ultrasound, saying he didn’t want to “distract them.”

“Any last guess’s?” Aaron asks everyone.

“I still think it’s a boy.”

“Boy.”

“I’m going to go against the crowd and say girl.” “51.2% of the first births are male.”

You share a grateful look with Aaron, squeezing his thigh, before you both look at the team with big smiles on your faces, “We’re having a girl!”

*********

@bakugouswh0r3 @averyhotchner @rousethemouse @malindacath @buckyswintersoldiermask @floweringashore

#aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner x reader #bau reader #aaron hotchner fanfiction #aaron hotch x reader #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #aaron hotchner fanfic

[theseerasures]

RWBY V08C14 reaction post

haven’t done something like this for this fandom yet, but the finale was so much all at once that i could not muster any level of critical thinking the first go-around. my thoughts have...settled somewhat with a second rewatch. still nothing conclusive (obviously), but at least coherent enough to be written down.

in rough chronological order:

i am very into it, of course, but i’m still not quite sure what to make of the fact that this finale very explicitly pivots around Winter Schnee, to the extent that the episode (sans prologue and coda) are bookended by her. she begins the episode charging into a fight, and ends it the same way. even putting aside that her in-universe presence has increased by magnitudes, that we end a season where she has mostly been a sparse supporting player with THIS has implications i can’t suss out for her narrative role going forward.

going into the finale i thought that Ironwood vs. Winter would turn out to be another RWBY Flagship Fight (ie long and flashy and indulgent in the best ways), but i pretty much knew that wouldn’t be the case once the fight began in earnest and they immediately started talking to each other.

for what we did get i’m happy to say that the Core Dynamic of the fight was exactly what i predicted: Winter rushing in to melee and not giving Ironwood enough time to fire, Ironwood trying to make room by shoving her away and using his cannon as a makeshift club--even down to breaking the cannon formation BACK to dual wielding to give himself an edge.

i will say that for Winter to have blocked him head-on--this is James Ironwood, who once stopped an Alpha Beowolf cold with one bionic hand, and now he’s got TWO--with her broken noodle arms is...incredibly cool. stupid! but cool.

Ironwood doing the double pistol whip while screaming about how no one is grateful has i wouldn’t have to be doing this if you just behaved all over it.

in retrospect i’m not sure why i expected a RWBY Flagship Fight when just about every fight this season has been extremely different. the camera work is always fucking frantic, we’re often cross-cutting between different simultaneous fights, and there are far fewer shots where both combatants are clearly shown and evenly matched. about the only fight we’ve had resembling that is AceOps vs Penny waaaaaaay back in Strings--even the low-stakes triumphant JNPER + Winter vs. Ironwood fight in Creation was extremely short and crosscut with BRA vs. AceOps.

case in point: the showdown in Grand Central takes up pretty much the entire episode, but combatants are continuously entering and exiting, the setting’s physical dimensions feel wonky and surreal, and the fact that half of the people fighting have flight capabilities means we’re relying on wide shots and oners to figure out what the fuck is going on. it’s a war now, and even though we follow only a handful of characters in it the fights carry that grander and more desperate tone.

Cinder relies twice this episode on just fucking nova-ing herself to overwhelm her Maiden opponents. it’s different from how she usually fights, which is still fireballs and conjured swords/projectiles--she’s learning to use her Maiden powers to wreak havoc on a larger scale, which a) reinforces what we already know of Cinder, but b) complements her recent relearning of subtlety and manipulation. still a tenuous balance of extremes that can and will shatter, though.

Weiss got to save everyone during the fight, and none of it mattered in the end.

the thing about priority one is that they all planned for this. they all went in planning for the contingency where they don’t make it out, where they have to watch others not make it out.

Weiss plucking Penny out of the air and Penny pleading to make the sacrifice play is an EXACT recreation of what happened in Enemy of Trust, down to the saved looking up at the savior while the savior is looking onward. she’s just swapped places with the Schnee in question, and...they are the priority targets this time, unfortunately.

Cinder smugly flipping her hair out of...her eyepatch...she really is living her best life and she knows it

Blake made the right choice, and it didn’t matter at all.

Qrow ending the last episode with a berserker charge at Harriet and then immediately pulling back here and trying to talk her down really got to me, as did him trying to block the bomb with his body. the man is so desperately trying to be better than he was, and it doesn’t take a lot anymore for him to realize the right path.

Elm and Vine--

the thing about Elm and Vine is that both their powers boil down to getting attached. so watching Elm hold Vine in place while Vine holds the two airships together, everyone in this little world, it’s...everything i could ever want, out of how the story of the AceOps would end.

Anairis Quinones for dark horse MVP. why can’t you just let me do my job, delivered in the way that it was, is the perfect encapsulation of Harriet Bree desperately trying to outrun her personal feelings and the grief it has given her.

Elm tells Harriet that she’s their friend, to stop her from killing a part of herself as she tries to kill others. it’s the first time this happens in the episode, but not the only time.

Penny saved Blake so they could save Ruby together, and it didn’t matter at all.

our heroes have GOT to stop falling for the “watch the thing flying in the air! OH WAIT I STILL HAVE A WEAPON IN MY HAND WALLOP WALLOP” trick. it happens multiple times in this one episode.

Harriet, who has the fastest Speed Semblance known, says there’s no time to make it out of the blast range. she doesn’t try to outrun it. she just...stays put, and admits that she brought them all here, to this. i’m sorry.

here’s the thing: they’re soldiers. they were prepared for this eventuality, where they don’t make it out. that’s why Elm let Vine go grab Harriet; because she thought they were all going to die, and if that happened she wanted Harriet close enough to reach.

but--just like with Team Hero--some of them do make it out. they just have to watch.

Vine and Hazel sacrificed themselves in the same way in the end: pulling their loved ones close wasn’t working, so they threw themselves around the thing trying to kill them instead.

Ruby was clever, and pragmatic, and brave. it didn’t matter in the end.

Cinder letting Neo fall as soon as she gets a chance proves that she still lacks patience, and that’s going to bite her in the ass.

the Penny-Blake fastball special and the fall; Penny crying tears for the first time, but not moving immediately to rage, as she had last episode, when Yang fell.

Weiss’ shaking hands around Gambol Shroud, crying berserker tears as she tries, desperately, to pull off another miracle. it’s another role reversal in a way: her sister’s the Riza Hawkeye, but she’s the one emptying useless clip after useless clip into an enemy she can’t kill, because her heart has been ripped in two.

the last time Nora Valkyrie saw Jaune Arc, they clasped hands, and their eyes met with determination, and hope.

it figures that a Schnee would be the last one standing, letting all her friends die first. she was right, but again: wrong Schnee.

Weiss diving past Cinder’s blind spot to slice the Grimm Arm, to save Penny--the same script, but the wrong player. and too late.

at Haven, Jaune went from trying to do harm to unlocking his Semblance, and realizing that he was meant to heal. here, he goes from trying to do what he is meant to do, what he has made peace with, to...

it will take a long time, i think, for him to learn to live with himself, even with Penny reassuring him that this is what she wants. to go from wanting to harm to being the one who does no harm, to being forced to acknowledge a person’s right to die, and carry out the deed himself. it’s a new variation on what he’s always had to wrestle with since Pyrrha’s sacrifice.

Weiss managed to outlast Cinder Fall without an Aura WITHOUT getting her entire body broken, Winter

the boundary between material worlds is made of darkness. the boundary between souls is made of light, and there is no danger of falling.

where...what is this? of course Winter doesn’t know. she never would have, even if she had gotten the powers, because she would have used the Transfer machine.

i thought of you, and here we are. that was all it took. the last time Penny saw Winter, Winter was still loyal to Ironwood. she’s only known abstractly, secondhand from Weiss, that Winter was on their side again and trying to help save Mantle, for about an hour. and yet: i thought of you.

and in the face of this thought that is love, Winter averts her eyes. tries in vain to hide her face, because she knows she is unworthy. she doesn’t deserve this.

but here’s the thing: no one deserves this. Penny. are you...the one? even Penny herself wasn’t sure.

you were my friend. the second time it happens this episode. friends save friends from themselves. friends transform what would have been murder into sacrifice.

remember what Penny said to Cinder, shortly before Cinder killed her? you wouldn’t know anything about friends. she’s right. it wasn’t Cinder’s choice, but she’s right. and now Cinder has learned how to use that.

i’ll be part of you. it is, of course, something that’s been brought up repeatedly this whole season. but it’s also what Winter said to Penny after Fria died: she’s a part of you now.

and i do love this yoking together of arc words. Winter is of course the firstborn Schnee, but Winter is, more broadly, The Firstborn in this new generation. so here we have something similar to the chain that begins with Winter letting her sisters go, through Penny letting Emerald go, through Emerald helping Oscar escape, to Atlas’ however ephemeral victory over Salem. what Winter begins--haltingly and with resentment--becomes transformed into radiant grace in the hands of her younger siblings. and she gets to be the direct benefactor this time. the prodigal daughter returns to her family.

during Enemy of Trust we watched from the outside as Oscar fell and Penny rose, as one set of eyes closed as another opened. during The Final Word, we watch from the inside: one set of eyes close. another opens.

Winter’s leitmotif plays on the piano for the first time since the previous season as she comes back to the world. it makes sense. the piano version is for her sisters, and she just left one of them.

here is the apotheosis of Winter Schnee: she gets back up. she falters and sways but she gets back up, and then she, the person who once managed to convince herself that so long as she could make peace with someone else’s choice it meant she too was choosing, tells the man who has been choosing for her for years: you chose nothing. and she rises.

in the end James Ironwood was finished by his petard thrice over. Atlas had defected against him. his greatest creation had become the Maiden and unshackled herself from him. and there is of course, the cannon: a literal petard, in the other words, which he fires at Winter, and Winter reflects back upon him.

Jaune Arc used the heirloom that his family has held for generations to kill a defenseless girl. he took the blade and sunk it in deep, because Penny trusted him and he had to be sure.

and then it shattered in his hands.

there’s something here in the second fight between Maidens, about Cinder having a named weapon and forsaking it for what she can make on the fly, and Winter insistent on using a weapon with no name at all, but i still can’t put my finger on it.

Winter never got to see Weiss try to Summon her Nevermore.

the thing that gets me about how it turns out is: Winter was winning. she’d managed to get her hands on the Staff, and even with Cinder’s immediate counterattack she managed to get the Staff away from Cinder. but then Cinder saw Jaune and Weiss, and she remembered a few days ago, when Penny saved Winter instead of going after Cinder, when Winter attacked Cinder to save Penny.

so Cinder attacks Weiss and Jaune instead of racing for the Staff. and Winter--

this is Winter Schnee. she saves people despite herself. she runs toward them, despite herself. and it has always, always been what saves her.

not anymore.

last time it had been Winter who was in mortal danger, and Weiss who, with Ruby’s help, drove Cinder off. same script, wrong player. and too late.

Weiss falls and for a moment, the camera makes it seem like Winter is falling too.

she wants to. no one deserves this.

the thing you have to ask when characters leap for the exit and fall just short is: is it about faith, or friendship? in Jaune’s case it’s both. his faith broke with Crocea Mors. and the portal is one-way, so he had no friends to grab him from the other side.

but Nora was still trying. they clasped hands. she promised.

the first time Winter sees her family--really sees them, after years of separation--she averts her eyes. she hides her face from them, because how can she tell them that Weiss is gone? how can she tell Penny’s friends that Penny is a part of her now, when Penny is just a part, now?

there are people all around her looking to her. there are voices within her. she has never been more alone.

(Winter Schnee has never met Pyrrha Nikos, and Pyrrha Nikos never became Maiden. because Pyrrha Nikos never became Maiden. Cinder Fall did that, too.)

this is what Winter Schnee thinks, as she screams and charges, as she kills Grimm faster than they are drawn in by her despair: in the fairy tales, eldest siblings never win.

i failed you again, master. master, but not queen.

Cinder won this. the heroes tried and tried and tried and none of it mattered, and she won this. but here’s the thing: Cinder won because she was LUCKY, and because she made her own luck. that she was able to pin things on Neo and Team Hero depended on things going exactly as planned, and some things going better than planned. and the reason she’d even made it that far was because she cheated, with the last use of a divine relic. it doesn’t take away her from her victory, but what i do know is this: this is her finest moment. she will never win as completely ever again, and she will fall farther than she has ever feared. (and that will save her, in the end.)

and that’s checkmate. i said that i wanted Atlas to fall the same way that Amity rose, but of course they did it like this. of course it would horrific yet unspectacular, with its General slumped in defeat, unable to fire a single shot from his gun. with the city in the sky falling onto Mantle, in Mantle’s palette. from the Dust from which it arose into Dust again.

as below, so above.

#rwby #helen writes meta

[bridgyrose]

Hello hope you're having a great holiday season! So I have idea for going on in my head but was wondering what you do with it. Okay it's ladybug RWBY, one is a demigod sent to destroy the demon lord (let's make it Salem) and her new vessel. But the demigod finds her, falls in love, and runs away with her this saving her, now everyone is out to get them (Blake and Ruby could be either one)

“We have to kill her!”

“We cant do that!” 

Ruby’s eyes slowly opened as she heard the voices around her. Her veins burned with each breath she took, almost as if a fire was burning in her chest. She stayed still as she listened to the voices, all in an attempt to gather what was going on. 

“She’s a vessel to the Demon Queen! Just look at the markings on her skin!” 

“She’s an innocent child! We cant kill her!” 

Ruby’s vision started to clear as her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see two people arguing: a girl with cat ears and raven black hair, the other with hair white as snow. She slowly sat up to see more of what was going on. She listened as the two continued to argue, almost oblivious to her own movements. 

“Are you seriously suggesting that you’re going to go against all of your training?!” The white-haired girl jabbed a finger at the ravenette’s chest. “What is wrong with you? This is our chance to finally be free of that witch’s hold over our land-” 

“And killing this girl isnt going to stop Salem, Weiss.” The black-haired girl sighed and pulled back the curtain of a nearby window. “Just look outside. Even if we kill this girl, its not going to stop those creatures of grimm from attacking anyone who moves.” 

Weiss shook her head and put a hand on the hilt of her rapier. “And if we dont kill her, then she’ll just turn into another Salem. This is what you trained for, isn’t Blake? You’ve never hesitated before, why now?” 

“Because I-” Blake turned and noticed Ruby sitting up, a small smile crept across her face. “You’re awake.” 

Ruby slowly nodded and looked over her arms and body. “Y-yeah, I am. C-can you tell me where I am?” 

“You’re in my home,” Weiss replied. She pulled the blade from its sheath and glared at the girl. “All against my better judgement.” 

Blake walked over to Ruby and sat down next to her. “Can you tell us who you are?” 

“I’m Ruby.” Ruby turned to face Blake and stared deep into her eyes. 

“Its nice to meet you-” 

“Oh just stop it!” Weiss pointed her blade to Ruby’s throat and glared at her. “We are supposed to be killing her.” 

“And I already told you I’m not going to!” Blake gripped Weiss’s blade and moved it away from Ruby. “Just look at her. Really look at her. We have an opportunity to do what no one else has done before. We can use Salem’s own vessel against her-” 

“And what if it’s too late? What if she becomes Salem?” 

“I wont let her.” 

“And I cant risk that!” Weiss quickly pulled her blade back and slashed at Ruby. “We have to finish our mission!” 

Blake’s eyes started to glow as she grabbed the blade and broke it in her grasp. “Ruby is under my protection. Its my mission to defeat Salem, and I know we can do this another way!” 

Weiss sighed and closed her eyes, a few glyphs formed behind her as she focused. “Is that really what you think?” 

Blake watched as the white glyphs went red. She quickly gripped Ruby, ready to run. “I do.” 

“Then burn with her.” 

Ruby practically yelped as she was pulled by Blake. One moment she was staring down the glyphs as fire started to pour out, the next she was pulled out the window and into the light of the setting sun. Blake’s grip on her felt like it was going to break her wrist. 

Blake pulled Ruby into an abandoned building and covered her mouth as she listened to the footsteps outside. Once they died down, she pulled her hand away and sighed. “That was close…” 

Ruby slowly nodded and looked at Blake. “Why did she want to kill me?” 

“What do you remember of your life before?” 

“My life… before?” 

Blake nodded. “Do you remember anything?” 

Ruby looked over the markings on her arms once more and shook her head. “No. I remember waking up with you and the other girl, Weiss.” 

“Right.” Blake sighed and stood up. “You are the vessel of the Demon Queen Salem, and I… I think I know how you can help me end this war once and for all.” 

#rwby #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #rwby ruby rose #ruby rose #drabbles #ladybug #rwby ladybug #demon's vessel au