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gubler-me-up · 3 years

Text

No Need to Rush

Request: can u pls do a spencer x bau fem! reader where she’s dyslexic but also a genius like spencer and like someone maybe another member of the team/unsub makes a comment abt her being stupid. and she gets really upset abt it. then later spencer comforts her and they have really romantic but rough sex. where he’s just like reassuring her of how smart and beautiful she is.

A/N: Thanks for the request, anon! Sorry this took a lil long to complete but I wanted to make sure I wrote this accurately and incorporate everything you wanted into it! Please let me know if you don’t feel as if this representation of dyslexia sits right with you and I will edit it no problem. This fic also concludes smut week (woo!) so I hope you enjoy 💓

Couple: Spencer Reid/Fem!reader

Category: Smut

Content warning: Learning disorder degradation, mentions of violence, rough sex, fingering, penetrative sex, creampie, choking

Word count: 3.2k

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It was the dead of winter in Seattle, Washington and a sniper decided it was the best time to have some target practice. His target practice ended up taking three innocent people’s lives as they were living their day-to-day lives. To top off his killing spree, he wrote handwritten letters to the police department. His letters were rambles about him not stopping until he finds his final target.

Hotch had left Spencer and you to go over the letters to try and figure out any indications of who his final target could be. He had sent JJ and Morgan to interview the victim’s family members to try and see if there were any similar people in their circle. Having you four working diligently on piecing the entire story together could end up saving another person from meeting an early demise.

You loved working with Spencer because the two of you were always up to speed with your thinking process. Both of you analyzed each letter with care, making sure nothing was missed which could possibly be used as a clue in identifying who this person and who their real target is.

You felt as if you were taking too long to go through every letter. There were about 20 of them and his incoherent rambles were giving you a hard time efficiently reading them. You had 10 to go through and Spencer was already finished and writing on the whiteboard clues he found in the letters. You were still on your seventh letter, dissecting and writing down what you thought was important. You couldn’t help feeling bad you were taking a long time.

“I’m sorry,” you said.

Spencer looked back at you with a questionable expression. “For what?”

“For taking forever. I’m taking up time reading these letters when I should be brainstorming with you.”

“Y/N, you’re not slowing down the process. If anything you taking your time can identify some major evidence.”

“Yeah, but you could do it within two minutes.”

“Doesn’t mean anything. Valuable information is valuable information no matter how long it takes you to find it. Besides you’re the smartest person I know, so nothing will get past you.”

“Doesn’t feel like it sometimes.”

“I’m here to remind you it’s all the time. I’ll be here to remind you every day if you ever doubt yourself.”

You smiled as you felt your worries drifting away. You were always self-conscious about having dyslexia. Growing up with it was the hardest part of your early years because people would see your extraordinary capabilities but questioned them whenever you had to read or spending longer than usual completing tasks. It was embarrassing for you. Even in adulthood you felt anxious about letting people know you were dyslexic because you were worried they wouldn’t see you as a genius.

When you let the members of the team know you were dyslexic, they accepted you as you were. It made you feel welcomed and understood for once in the longest while. It was especially nice hearing Spencer say you were a genius regardless of your dyslexia. You felt as if he understood you the most out of everyone because he had a rough time growing up as a child prodigy.

As you continued to read through the letter you were on, something caught your eye. You looked up at the whiteboard to see what Spencer had written. He had written about sunsets, trees and a park. He had concluded it was about Kerry Park in Seattle and speculated the unsub could possibly live near there. What you had read though made you think of a different possibility.

“Kelly Park,” you said aloud.

Spencer turned to you. “Kelly Park?”

Before you could explain your findings, Hotch and detective Royce entered the room. You were happy they did, so you could explain to everyone your theory as to who the unsays actual target is.

“Find any useful information we can put towards finding the unsub?” Hotch asked.

You nodded. “Yes. Kelly Park’s the end goal.”

“Kelly Park? You mean Kerry Park by West Highland,” detective Royce said.

“No, I mean, yes, but the unsub slipped up…uh no, they-uh- replaced Kelly with Kerry because there is a Kelly Park who lives nearby,” you explained.

“Wait, so is it Kerry or Kelly the name of the person who lives nearby Kerry’s Park?” Hotch asked.

“Sorry, sir. It’s Kelly Park who lives nearby Kerry’s Park.”

“How can you even speculate that?” Detective Royce asked.

“Because it’s in this letter. He says, ‘I spend my days looking at Kelly Park and wondering when I’d be brave enough to leave. I don’t think I am but one day I’ll be free,’” you said while holding it up.

Detective Royce took it from your hand to take a closer look. He furrowed his eyebrows as he read. He looked back up at you questionably.

“Maybe he’s dyslexic. Only an idiot would write Kelly instead of Kerry when referring to Kerry Park,” he said.

You clenched your jaw as he said his ignorant statement. You knew the unsub wasn’t dyslexic and you had a clue right infant of you. You snatched the letter away from his hands as you took a deep breath to calm yourself down.

“I’m actually dyslexic myself and I can tell you right now this unsub is not,” you said.

“I should have known from the time you mixed up Kerry and Kelly in your explanation. For a genius you sure don’t talk like one,” he said.

You felt your eyes stinging from the tears which were trying to breakthrough. What he said was familiar to everything you heard from your childhood. It was degrading to hear it when you knew you were on to something. Especially evidence which could potentially save someone.

“Don’t talk to one of my agents with such disrespect, Royce. My team and I would never slander your team, so we expect the same courtesy back,” Hotch said.

“Hotchner, you can’t seriously believe this is a connection,” detective Royce said.

“Who said it couldn’t be?” Spencer said.

“Common sense. He’s trying to mess up his words on purpose to take us off track from what really matters,” detective Royce said.

“Well, I’m not taking that risk. While you stand there with your arro…ignorance, I’ll actually go and do something about this piece of evidence,” you said as you walked by him to exit the room.

You could feel your heart drop with every step you took. Before you called Garcia you took a trip to the washroom. You went into a stall and made sure it was locked before you let your tears escape. You hadn’t felt humiliated for the longest time. The questionable look and harsh comments detective Royce spat at you made you feel sick. You knew you were smart and you knew you were onto evidence to save someone’s life. Yet you were doubted.

You wiped your tears away and took a few deep breaths before exiting the stall. You couldn’t let what he said distract you from finding Kelly Royce. You knew it would affect you for the rest of the day but you would sleep better at night knowing you saved a life. You didn’t want to be crying over two things tonight.

------

You sat on the edge of the hotel room bed. You had finished getting ready for the night and were ready to get into bed to forget about the day. You were happy you were right about Kelly Park and saved her hours before she was scheduled to go into the heart of Seattle for an appointment. Her ex-boyfriend, Michael Richards, had plotted for months on how to make her death look like an accident. Too bad his guilty conscience and ego didn’t mix well and he compulsively wrote down his thoughts.

It bothered you immensely detective Royce still didn’t give you your flowers at the end of everything. You understood not everyone would apologize for their ignorance and you should be used to it by now. However, you couldn’t help but think about it over and over.

You heard a few light knocks on your hotel room door. You looked at the clock. It was 11 p.m. You got up to go peek through the peephole to see who was trying to get your attention this time of night. You looked through the peephole and saw Spencer standing outside. You opened the door. As you opened it he looked at you with a smile but you could see the concern in his eyes.

“What brings you to this part of town so late?” You asked.

“I want to make sure you’re okay before you go to bed. I know how frustrating today was for you and I don’t want you going to bed with doubt on your mind,” he explained.

You stepped aside and gestured him to come inside your hotel room. You were happy he had stopped by. He was always the first one to give you words of encouragement and a reason to put your doubts aside. You closed the door and made your way over to the edge of the bed to sit. You patted the spot next to you for him to sit down. He took the seat next to you, sitting closer to you than expected. You two were shoulder to shoulder and thigh to thigh. It was comforting to you for him to be so close.

“You know, if it wasn’t for you pointing out Kelly Park in his letter, she might not be alive,” he said.

“I know and I’m glad it worked out in the end. I just…”

You trailed off as a wave of doubt overthrew your thought process. You started to think if you had been wrong, if it were just your dyslexia getting the best of you, an innocent life could have been taken. A tear slipped from your right eye. You quickly wiped it away before Spencer saw. He must have seen it escape because he placed his hand on your thigh and squeezed it.

“You have a beautiful mind, Y/N,” he assured you.

“It doesn’t translate properly when I say the wrong words, read slower than average, mix up-”

“And all that doesn’t make a difference to how you save lives every day. If detective Royce wasn’t so prideful he would have thanked you properly for bringing to light what they brushed off,” he said.

You chuckled. “Yeah, he is a prideful idiot.”

“Exactly, so don’t let him or other doubters get to you. I believe in you wholeheartedly and always will. The team does as well, so we’ll always back you up.”

You smiled brightly at him as you felt your deep sadness fade away. He had such a way with words you felt as if you could rule the world solely based on his encouragement. You opened up your arms and embraced him in a hug. He wrapped his arms around the small of your back. He rubbed your back gently as you placed your head comfortably in the crook of his neck.

“I love how you’re always here for me, Spence,” you whispered into his neck.

“I’ll always be here to remind you of your worth and beauty,” he said.

You leaned up from his neck and faced him straight on. Your faces were just an inch away from each other as you lost yourself in his eyes. You softly smiled and found yourself saying things before your brain could process them.

“I could just kiss you right now,” you blurted out.

“Why don’t you?” He asked.

You were now speechless as you weren’t expecting him to be open to the idea. Perhaps he did find more than just your mind to be beautiful. One of his hands moved from your back and found its way to the side of your face. He moved your face closer to his and your lips finally met each other. He gently eased his tongue into your mouth before he dived fully into your mouth.

You placed your hands on his chest. You pulled on his shirt to bring him forward even more to minimize the space between you two. He moved his hands and placed them both on your hip. He brought you onto his lap without breaking your kiss. You glued your hands to his face to prevent him from even considering moving away from you. His hands squeezed before slipping his hands down your pyjama pants.

You didn’t give it a second thought and raised yourself off his hips so he could pull your pants off along with your underwear. He leaned away from your lips as he stared at you with a deep yearning in his eyes. He caressed his hands up your thighs, to your hips and then under your shirt. He pulled your shirt off to reveal your bare breasts.

“I hope you like what you see,” you said.

He smiled. “Of course. You’re beautiful beyond words.”

He then placed your right nipple in his mouth and swirled his tongue around your nipple. You moaned loudly as his tongue made your nipple feel a stimulation you never thought they could feel. He freed your nipple from his mouth as he quietly hushed you.

“We can’t let anyone know where in the same room together,” he whispered.

“I don’t care,” you said as you desperately leaned into him to steal another kiss.

He kissed you back. You held his head in place so he wouldn’t dare move away from you again. You soon felt his thumb circling around your clit. It wasn’t enough to make you stop kissing him but it made you release endless moans into his mouth. You then felt him shove two fingers into you which made you stop kissing him and set your moans free into the atmosphere. He pumped his fingers in and out of you so quickly you couldn’t find the time to catch your breath.

“If you can’t handle my fingers, how do you expect to handle my dick, beautiful?” He asked.

“I…I can,” you stammered.

He smiled. “I haven’t doubted you yet, have I??”

He took his fingers out of you and went to work on undoing his pants. You stared down at his huge bulge as he slipped down his pants and then his underwear. Your eyes widened as you saw his dick. He looked at you to see the amazement in your eyes. He softly chuckled as he grabbed your ass and squeezed it tight as he brought you forward to position you.

“Sit down on it and try not to be too loud,” he demanded.

You did what he asked and lowered yourself onto his dick. The further you went beyond the tip the more your mouth went agape. You could barely even get to the base without feeling as if his dick was already completely inside of you. He did you the favour and forced you all the way down on his dick. You let out a shriek which was cut short by him sticking his two fingers coated in your juices inside your mouth.

“Bounce on it and don’t make a sound. Understand?” He asked.

He nodded your head ‘yes’ for you and you started bouncing on his dick. You could feel your legs quaking as you engulfed his dick in and out of your repeatedly. Once you established a rhythm, you rolled your eyes to the back of your head and enjoyed every inch of his dick stretching your walls.

“How about we pick up the pace?” He asked.

Your eyes shot open as he bucked his hips up and disrupted your rhythm with his new set motion. You moaned heavily around his fingers as his dick kept ramming into you with no mercy. He used his other hand and squeezed your left breast. He licked your breasts before gently biting your nipple.

“Fuck,” you moaned.

“I only ever treat extraordinary women like this,” he said.

“Really?” You moaned.

He lifted you off his dick and laid you on the bed. He gently wrapped his large hands around your throat as he positioned himself on top of you. You could feel your adrenaline pumping as he lowered his face down to yours and kissed you softly on your lips before he stared into your eyes.

“You’re the only extraordinary woman I know,” he said.

“Fuck me like an extraordinary woman,” you said.

He obliged and rammed his dick into you with urgency. You moaned repeatedly as you took in every inch of his dick inside of you. He kissed along your jawline before reaching your ear.

“Who gets fucked like this?” He asked.

“Extraordinary women,” you whimpered.

“And what are you?” He asked.

“An extraordinary woman,” you whimpered.

As he continued to fuck some sense into you, he whispered nothing but the sweetest things in your ear. He called you beautiful, brilliant, amazing and his favourite, extraordinary. It felt nice hearing those things being repeated over and over in your ear especially by him. His dick definitely enforced the message as with every word he said to you, his motion would intensify. You wrapped your legs around him as he continued to fuck you.

“Where do you want me to cum, beautiful?” He asked.

“Inside of me,” you moaned.

He tightened the grip around your neck. “Louder.”

“Inside of me,” you shrieked.

“Look at me while I cum inside of you,” he demanded.

He grabbed your face to keep you still so your eyes were focused on him the whole time. He bit his bottom lip as he stared at your worn-out expression as he fucked you. He slowly stopped going at his rapid pace and soon stopped. You felt his cum fill your insides and you let out a soft moan at the feeling.

He let go of your neck and eased up from on top of you. You felt him stick two fingers in you and he pulled them out quickly. He placed his cum covered fingers on your lips. You opened your mouth and licked the cum dripping off his fingers.

“I don’t ever want you to doubt yourself again. You’re fucking amazing,” he said.

You leaned up on your elbows and smiled. “You are too.”

“Since I can’t stay in your room for the night without raising suspicions in the morning, how about we do something when we get back home and you can stay the night at my place? You know, for extra reassurance,” he said with a smile.

You giggled. “I’d love that.”

He leaned into you and gave you another big kiss on the lips. As he parted from your lips he stared at you with softer eyes from before and brushed your hair back.

“Maybe I’ll stay for a few more minutes. You like cuddles?” He asked.

“I love them,” you said.

He chuckled. “Great because I have a deep desire to cuddle you and make you know you’re treasured.”

You could have cried when he said that. Instead you wrapped your arms around his neck and pecked him on the lips. It wasn’t the best time to cry. You wanted to cherish the moment as a positive part of the day.

“Thank you, Spence. You’re extraordinary.”

“I guess that makes us a perfect match.”

“It sure does.”

—–

Tagged: @shadyladyperfection, @slutforthegubes, @pinkdiamond1016, @spencerreidsthings, @itsmyblogandillreblogifiwantto, @slutforsr @bxtchboy69, @fallinallinmendes

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reachgirl · 3 years

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On Buddie and them potentially being aware of their feelings

So we definitely see evidence of how Eddie might feel about Buck, how he clearly loves and trusts him. He absolutely relies on Buck a lot as someone who loves Christopher, as that person you go to who cares about your kid as much as you do. And he clearly doesn’t handle not having Buck around very well during the storyline that must not be named.

He also looks at Buck like “you’re lucky you’re pretty”, a LOT. And he’s shown to think about Buck’s wellbeing and Buck’s feelings. For a guy who’s not usually great at ~the talking~, he seems to sense that Buck needs to hear him actually *say* things like that he trusts him, out loud. For Buck, someone who’s been told that he’s reckless and impulsive, not diligent, not reliable (and to be fair to Bobby, has been all those things at times, but is desperate to change that view of himself), to be told that he’s trusted - more than anyone else - with someone’s kid? That’s huge. And Eddie knew that he needed to hear that, he also knew that he needed to feel like part of something when Buck was depressed and hanging around at home after the truck bombing. And Eddie was the one who noticed Buck wasn’t around at the station. For Eddie, the fact that they “have each other’s backs” is so important, because, and it’s insane how this is not wishful thinking on the fandom’s part, he actually tells Shannon that she doesn’t have his back. So yeah, absolutely nobody is disputing that Eddie loves Buck.

And I’ve talked about how I believe that Eddie might be bi leaning towards more into men than women (his “not my type” and aunt pepa’s reaction to buck are the foundation for this theory), and his particular combination of upbringing, experience and location really messing with him admitting that to himself (Conservative religious culture, Texas, army, getting married young because of outside expectations). But many of the scenes we get from him could - FROM THE OUTSIDE - very well just show a guy who has a lot of love and respect (and occasionally some fond exasperation) for his best friend. Possibly more, but not in that active, pining way. Not like he’s truly aware of it, yet.

But Buck? He pretty much always looks at Eddie like he’s the best thing that has happened to him, ever, and he can’t believe his luck of getting to be around this man. The smile he constantly gives him, and - in seasons 2 and 3 - only him, is the actual “I want to sleep with you smile” from season 1 Buck. I don’t make the rules.

He constantly finds ways to help him out, reads up on things he knows Eddie is interested in or things that are for some reason something Eddie is dealing with (whether it’s baseball biographies or summer camp brochures), and absolutely always looks to him for approval anytime he does something well or remotely badass. Or even when he makes a joke. It’s almost like 95% of the stuff he does, he does so that Eddie will see.

He sees himself as part of Eddie’s family to the point of not feeling like he’s a guest at their house, he has proven he would actually die for Chris, and he spends much of his free time finding ways of making Chris, the most important person in Eddie’s life, happy. He shares in both the happy and the difficult parts of raising Chris, he gets involved in school problems, and he’s there for Eddie to talk through all the little things that come up when you’re a parent. Often times, with single parents, when the other parent isn’t around, the problem is that there’s nobody else in your life who shares the same love and enthusiasm or worry you have for your child. You could talk about everything relating to them for hours, but even the best meaning friends will at some point reach the limit of how interested they are. Not so with Buck.

But unlike Eddie, Buck is also aware, to a point, of how much he’s focused on Eddie. Where Eddie’s jealousy comes across as more spur-of-the-moment, not something he’s even aware of, Buck seems like.. he’s thought about how he feels about Eddie. Others definitely have. Maddie’s comment about his “man crush” aside, even a random christmas elf (long may she live) comments on it. Hen and Karen immediately agree Buck would invite Eddie, like, Karen knows about this even. Their reaction when Buck is acting irrational over how they might get Eddie out when he’s buried alive and most likely dead already is that reaction of “Oh fuck, this will break this person” that is usually reserved for the significant other or parent. Bobby definitely reacts to Buck in relation to Eddie the way a father would, carefully weighing being amused at how obvious he’s being, and concern over not wanting him to get hurt doing something stupid trying to save Eddie, or by falling for him when it might not be reciprocated. They all know that Buck’s a little (more than) smitten with Eddie. And Buck... of course he’s going to notice how his friends and family react. I think he’s been aware of it for a while and is constantly trying to navigate and balance this.

Of course he hasn’t told his face about balancing anything at all yet, because look at that man’s face any time he looks at Eddie, look at that scene with the medal. He absolutely can’t help it. And sometimes it’s like he wants them to pick up on it - for example, pushing Maddie on the fact that he doesn’t consider himself a guest. And that’s completely understandable, sometimes you want people to pick up on something and maybe even comment on it (because their reaction reaffirms to you that maybe you’re not crazy) while also not wanting attention on that point. People are complicated like that. And Buck may be a himbo, but he’s complicated AF.

We get Buck being really weird about Eddie and Shannon in general - right off the bat. When Shannon shows up at the station and she and Eddie talk, Buck’s in the background and overhears that they’re sleeping together. He clearly struggles with this information, (and Chim possibly notices..) then he get’s real petty about them potentially getting married again (”Maybe you can get a discount”) - and he nopes out of the situation as quickly as he can - because he doesn’t want to risk saying anything snarky.

Then Chim and Buck go christmas tree shopping, and Chim comments on how Buck can’t let Eddie’s situation with Shannon go, and it’s true, he can’t stop himself. But when Eddie asks him for advice in front of the fountain (/metaphorical water penis as I like to call it), he’s suddenly all “I didn’t think it was my business” ... ok, sure, Buck. Then he basically tells Eddie to try and make it work with Shannon. In terms of character development, in a romance, this is the part where person A wants to be with person B but doesn’t think they have a chance, so makes the choice to try and settle for being their friend, which, heartbreakingly, involves pushing them into the arms of someone else.

Also, his kind of “oversharing” of Eddie’s situation with Ana to the rest of the team is, to me, a pretty clear indicator that the topic makes him uncomfortable and he’s trying a Ross Geller-I’m making Fajitas- “let’s show everyone how very completely normal I feel about this” approach, which.. it doesn’t.. work that well. And when does this ever work, it’s super easy to see through this, and it usually just serves to draw more attention to the fact that you’re uncomfortable with whatever is being discussed.

Buck also takes everything Eddie says to heart. Like, fucking takes it and will not let go of it. Half a season after Eddie tells him that he makes everything about himself, he breaks down telling Maddie he’s worried he’s making the situation with the old firefighter about himself again. During the kitchen scene (or “The actual how-to-guide of what to do when you thought the guy you have a crush on doesn’t reciprocate but then you have a fight and he really doesn’t handle being away from you so well so you kind of might as well see where being a little more openly flirty will get you”), Buck’s clearly thought about Eddie’s words from the grocery store fight, and he’s gonna call Eddie out. And maybe do other stuff.

Looking at what the writers are actually doing, to end the season, there’s the clawing at dirt of it all, Buck falling apart when Eddie’s buried alive. Buck being in almost all of Eddie’s memories when he’s close to dying. And Maddie’s comment about not wanting to set Josh up with Buck, which is innocent enough, but why throw that in on top of all of the above, if not because maybe what we’re actually looking at is that they’re setting up a sexuality crisis for Buck, and him realizing he’s maybe into Eddie, but Eddie not actually reciprocating (yet)? And say Buck is then somehow forcefully pushed to see the truth about how he feels, maybe by, i don’t know, coming across TK and/or Carlos on a call, and one of them asking him how long him and Eddie have been together? We might get Eddie with Ana, and a very long, drawn out process of Buck realizing what’s happening and trying to leave them alone, and Eddie being really confused about why Buck’s being like that. Then we would have two options (well, more, really, but these are two I like): 1) Eddie pushing Buck on that point and demanding an explanation and Buck just coming out with it because fuck it and sorry and please let me see Chris still 2) Buck’s sexuality crisis (or not crisis, if he’s always been pan/bi, which, look, nothing I’ve seen has disproven this theory) leading to him dating a guy and Eddie getting really jealous but not actually being aware of the fact what he feels is jealousy (because he doesn’t realize how he feels about Buck, see this whole essay you just read), and Buck being the one who confronts Eddie about why he’s being such a homophobic asshole about this, and Eddie straight up kissing him because he can’t not anymore.

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catie-does-things · 4 years

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There’s a certain pushback against the common criticism of how Aang’s character arc was handled in AtLA - the criticism that he doesn’t have to actually learn anything or grow in any way in the story’s resolution - that goes along the lines of: Well, he shouldn’t have to grow up any more, because the war has already forced him to grow up too soon, and holding on to his childhood innocence in the face of that is a powerful message.

But...that’s not how stories work.

Aang is the protagonist of the show. You can’t tell a compelling story where the protagonist doesn’t change. If your hero comes out the other end of his journey with all the same wisdom, values, and maturity that he started with, then he hasn’t really gone on a successful journey, in the narrative sense. To be sure, not every character has to go through radical growth over the course of the story - but the protagonist has to. Otherwise, they shouldn’t be the protagonist.

And the problem with “holding on to childhood innocence” as Aang’s heroic boon is - it’s temporary at best. He’s not some sort of Peter Pan character who can stay a child forever. (And incidentally, you know who is the protagonist of the original Peter Pan story? Wendy, who at the end of the story grows up.) At some point, Aang will have to grow up, as we all do. And growing up is not something negative, but something good and natural that should happen in every child’s life.

Even when you have a character who has been forced to grow up too soon by their circumstances, this is no exception. You can’t redress that wrong by regressing the character or keeping them stagnant. Children of war still have to become adults. Moving forward is still the only option. And in terms of what message we want this show to send, showing how to grow and mature in a healthy way even with the trauma you have suffered would be a lot more powerful than simply saying you don’t have to grow up after all.

And with other major characters in AtLA, the writers clearly understood this. Katara, Sokka, and Zuko have all been forced to grow up too soon just as much as Aang has, if not more, but they all continue to mature over the course of the series and get to actually resolve the traumas and insecurities that the war has left them with. Aang gets this in partial and temporary ways in certain one-off episodes, but his overall arc does the opposite. In the final resolution of the story, the only lesson he has learned is that everything he believed and wanted was right all along. For him, character growth is treated as unnecessary, even though as the protagonist of the story it is actually more necessary for him than for anyone else.

And this actually ties in to another common counter-argument, that Aang is preserving the culture of his people by maintaining their pacifist ways. Because Aang, as a twelve-year-old, can not possibly have a fully mature understanding of his own culture - no twelve-year-old does. There’s even ample evidence in the show that this is not the case - from the implication that Gyatso killed many of the Fire Nation soldiers who attacked him, to the advice Yangchen gives Aang in the finale. Allowing Aang to cling to a simplistic, childish understanding of Air Nomad values does not in fact preserve their culture - but having him reach a more nuanced, mature understanding of those same values would.

All that said, I will add my usual caveat that I don’t think Aang necessarily should have killed Ozai, from a narrative perspective, but the way that he gets out of having to do it still should have required him to mature in some way, rather than simply being handed to him the way it was. And of course there was a perfect set up for this in the book two finale - mastering the Avatar state (which he evidently needs in order to use his energybending ability) requires him to let go of his attachments. Making that sacrifice would in theory bring him more in line with the Air Nomad philosophy. But then that entire plot point got dropped like a hot rock and completely forgotten about in favor of a deus ex machina.

And as a final final caveat - I don’t hate Aang. I don’t say these things because I think Aang is somehow a bad person or bad character. I just think the writing on the show had some serious flaws regarding his character arc specifically. And these flaws are ultimately a disservice to Aang himself, who would have gotten so much more out of his own story if the writers had allowed him to have real growth.

#avatar the last airbender #atla meta #anti bryke #aang

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fanmoose12 · 3 years

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Partners

Characters: Petra Ral, Levi, Hanji Zoe x Levi Genre: Action / Mystery / Romance Rating: T

Detective!au

Summary: when Petra was promoted to a detective and partnered up with legendary Levi Ackerman, she felt like the happiest person in the world.

But, as she soon found out, detective Ackerman she used to admire so much was actually a far cry from the ideal policeman Petra thought he was. He was rude, harsh and easily annoyed. And, in addition, he still hadn’t moved on from the death of his previous partner - detective Hange Zoe.

Chapter 11/?

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Сhapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Сhapter 7

Сhapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

With every word from Levi's mouth, Erwin's face grew darker and darker.

"Fuck." He declared, as soon as Levi had finished. "Fuck," he repeated, rubbing his temples. He took a deep, heavy sigh, and when he blinked, the tense expression was miraculously gone, the usual look, full of determination and conviction, taking its place.

"So no sign of forced entry?” he asked, calm and collected and completely devoid of the previous frustration. “No sign of struggle? And no sign of Petra?"

"Yes, sir." Oluo confirmed with a frantic nod, which reminded Levi of a stupid toy dog Hange once put in his car.

Had the matter at hand been at least a little less grave, perhaps, he’d even crake a smile at the comparison. Hange definitely would have. Alas…

“And do we know who’s behind it?”

“No,” Levi replied. “Hange suspects one of Zeke’s man, but she also thinks some third party is involved.”

Erwin accepted his answer, slowly scratching his chin. “And where is Hange herself?"

“She went to talk to Zeke to ask if he knows something, and…" Levi faltered, not sure if he should share this information with Erwin. Hange was sure that Zeke was innocent, and Levi never doubted her, but…

"And?" Erwin prompted.

Fuck it, Levi decided. Perhaps, Erwin’s unbiased opinion was exactly what they needed.

"Oluo found Zeke's cigarette pack inside the apartment," he said, throwing it on Erwin's desk.

"It's not his," there wasn’t even a hint of doubt in his voice. Erwin didn’t even glance twice at the evidence presented to him. "Zeke would never be so careless. Someone's trying to sabotage him, and they are not very good at it."

“So you think it’s someone else?”

“Naturally.”

Erwin’s confidence eased a portion of his worries. If he and Hange were of the same mind, then it must be the truth. At least, he didn’t let Hange meet up with a potential culprit all by herself. Not that it gradually quelled his concern, but it was something…

“Zeke Yeager…” Oluo mumbled, biting his thumb. “Yeager, Yeager… I heard this name somewhere…”

“Huh?” Levi raised an eyebrow, looking quizzically at him.

“Yeager!” he exclaimed, his eyes lightening up. “Of course! Yes, now it came back to me!”

“What came back?” Levi demanded, glaring at Oluo in annoyance. God, how he hated being kept in the dark…

Oluo didn’t respond, irritating Levi even more. Instead he reached Erwin’s desk in two short strides, pushing him aside. “May I, sir?”

“Be my guest,” Erwin made a welcoming gesture, pulling his chair back. “If you know something, then…”

“Could be just a coincidence,”Oluo muttered, as he opened the database on Erwin’s computer. “But…”

For a long moment nothing happened. The office was silent, except for the sounds of typing on a keyboard, and Oluo’s quiet murmurs.

Levi shared a look with Erwin. He shrugged helplessly, seeming just as bewildered by Oluo’s actions, as Levi himself felt.

“Aha!” he beamed, finally showing Erwin what he found. “Like I said, could be just a coincidence, but I came across name Yeager before. Here.”

“A family murdered in their own house,” Erwin began reading, his eyes quickly scanning the page. “Wife and husband found dead in their own bedroom by their fourteen year old son, who came back from a sleepover. The identity of a murderer remains unknown.”

“It was the first case I took as I started working,” Oluo confessed, scratching his neck. “That’s why it stuck with me. Don’t know if it has any connections to your Zeke…”

“The father of the family, Grisha Yeager,” Levi read the name from behind Erwin’s shoulder. “Zeke is his son. From the first marriage, but still… Maybe, he was murdered, because someone wanted to get back at Zeke.”

“And now that same someone wants to finish the job,” Erwin agreed. “The culprit was never found after all. It’s a solid theory.”

“Or as solid as we can get for now,” Levi nodded.

"It's different from other cases, though,” Erwin contemplated thoughtfully, his gaze turning distant, as he taped his finger against the desk.

"Other cases?" Oluo shuddered. "Are you talking about recent... Murder cases?" he paled, his lower lip trembled, and Levi started to regret bringing him here. They needed to keep their heads clear. Petra needed them to keep their heads clear. There was no time for worrying and panicking right now.

In Levi’s experience, that attitude could only lead to more tragedy.

"It's obviously different with Petra," Erwin said, his voice going an octave softer. Levi stared at him, almost gawking. Erwin wasn't the man to give empty promises. Either he was that optimistic about this whole ordeal, or... Levi preferred not to think about the other possibility.

"Levi?" Erwin turned to him. "What do you think?"

"I think Oluo is right, Petra was taken by someone close to Zeke. But either it was the same perpetrator from before or someone else, it remains to be unknown," he replied. "And I think we don't have any time to waste."

"Agreed," Erwin clenched his jaw, his brows furrowed. "I'll talk with Pixis and Nile, ask if they know anything or if they have any people they can spare... We need to start the search..."

"Sannes!" Oluo suddenly exclaimed, startling Erwin and Levi. "Sannes, we should check him first! We’ve planted a bug on him just yesterday!"

"Fuck," Levi groaned in frustration, feeling like the biggest and the most useless idiot in the world. He had completely forgotten about it.

"I didn't see him at work today," Erwin noted. "Perhaps, it's worth checking it out. Take care of it, Levi."

"Will do," he nodded. "Permission to go?"

"Report to me once you find anything," Erwin stood up. "I'll go to Pixis and Nile."

Levi nodded again, and left the office, his steps swift and heavy.

***

"Could it be our lead?" Oluo asked.

They've listened through every conversation that Sannes had that day and the day before. And only one of them, the one where he had agreed to a meeting with an unknown man, had raised Levi's suspicion.

"Not sure if we can call it a lead," he mumbled, biting his lip. There was no word about Petra and no mention of the actual location, but it was something they could work with. It was a starting point, at the very least. Much better than nothing. "But it's definitely a clue. Come on, we need to continue our investigation."

"Meaning..."

"Meaning we're going to break into Sannes' office and see if we can find something inside. Don't worry," he clasped Oluo's shoulder with just a little too much force. Oluo coughed, almost doubling over under Levi’s hard hand. "Nothing you hadn't done before."

***

“Zeke is a fool,” the man sneered, his voice full of disgust. “He’s not the man he was before. Ever since he took in that Zoe, he made mistake after mistake. It’s time to put an end to this. It’s time for someone else to take over his legacy. Our gang needs a new leader. Someone, who has as much potential as Zeke, but who doesn’t yet possess any of his flaws. Someone, who is cunning and ruthless. There is only one man who can do this," he finished, and even from afar Petra could see a shine of adoration in his eyes.

Sannes scoffed, rolling his eyes, not moved by the passionate speech at all. "And who is that?"

"No one can achieve the greatness Zeke once possessed. Except," the man smiled, and the sight of it made shivers run down Petra's spine.

"His own brother."

"You've gone mad," Sannes rolled his eyes, still unconvinced. "You've lost it completely, and now you want to drag me down with you. I refuse. Good luck getting arrested, but I’m out of here.”

“You’ll regret this, Sannes,” the man promised, his eyes flashing. “You’ll come begging for us to take you back in no time.”

“I really doubt that, boy,” Sannes sneered, his face showing nothing but disgust. “And if you’re going to actually proceed with your plan, then be ready to meet Ackerman. Believe me, it won’t be a pleasing experience. See you in prison,” he finished, and left, throwing the door shut.

As soon as Sannes had stormed out, the man with an eerie smile turned around to face her.

Instantly, Petra closed her eyes and lowered her head, but the man simply laughed.

"There is no need to pretend," he spoke, shortening the distance between them. "I know you've been awake for quite some time, detective Ral."

She looked up then, saying nothing and glaring at him beneath her bangs. Just the sight of that man left her breathless, her heart beating so loudly she could hear it in her ears, but she wouldn’t show him her fear. She was better than this. He may have had an ultimate upper hand over her, but she would never give him the satisfaction of seeing her tremble.

"I think we've started off on a wrong foot," the man smiled, the shadow of a lightbulb above him making him look even creepier. "I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Floch, nice to meet you!"

With the same crazy smile on his lips, he reached out and patted her shoulder. Petra winced, unable to move away from the undesired touch.

"What do you want from me?" she hissed, trying to hide the shaking in her voice. As discreetly as possible, she tried to loosen her restraints. In movies she watched with Erd, Gunter and Oluo, heroes always freed themselves so easily, the ropes being nothing more than a nuisance. But in reality, they didn't bulge an inch. Petra searched through her mind, trying to remember what characters from those movies did. Wiggle out of the restrains? Broke their wrists? Or was it applicable only for the handcuffs? Shit. She should have watched more movies like this, instead of melodramas and rom-coms. Shifting her attention back to the present, she stared up at her captor, still glaring at him defiantly.

"What do I want from you? The same thing I wanted from the others."

The same thing he wanted from the others? But the others were... dead. Petra suppressed a shiver.

"It's nothing personal, really,” he continued in the same careless manner. “All I need from you is to motivate your partner."

"Levi?" Petra gasped. "What it has to do with him?"

To her surprise, the man shrugged. "Nothing, really. In a way," he swept his hand across the room. "He's just a victim of circumstances. He's one of the best detectives in this city and he has a personal connection with Zeke. It'd be a shame not to use him."

"But why do you need him?" she pulled on the ropes, leaning closer towards the man and looking deep inside his eyes, trying to see right through him, trying to understand him. "Why can't you just kill Zeke and be done with it?"

The man tutted, shaking his head. "That's not what I—" there it was, that same pleased, creepy smile. "What we want to do. Taking Zeke's life would be too easy. We want to destroy it. But unfortunately," he continued in a voice of badly feigned sympathy. "You're not the main event here."

"Not the main event?" Petra echoed, confused. If it wasn't her, then....

"Not sure if you've met...” his eyes lightened up with something dark and dangerous. The smile on his face grew wider, more sinister. “But surely you've heard of one Hange Zoe?"

"Hah," a short chuckle escaped her lips. Very soon it turned into a full blown laughter. Petra would have clenched her sides if she wasn't tied up, she would have doubled over, hands on her knees and chest heaving, overcome with a sudden feat of giggles.

"What are you laughing at?" Floch inquired, the smile disappearing under a frown.

"You, of course," Petra answered, still breathless. "You're a bigger fool than I thought. To think that you can take on Hange Zoe..." of course, he had already gotten her, but Floch had taken her by surprise and she wasn't nearly as experienced and skilled as Hange. And even if they do somehow catch Hange... "Levi would never let you even get close to her. More than that," Petra raised her chin, a confident smirk pulling on her lips. "I'm sure he'll show up here so very soon. He'll save me and ruin your stupid plan. Then you'll be rotting in jail alongside your Zeke."

"We'll see about that," Floch promised through gritted teeth. "Wait a couple of hours, detective, and we'll see if your optimism would remain just as strong."

He gave her a furious look and then did a sharp turn, heading to the door.

“Enjoy your last hours. I’ll come to check up on you later.”

With that he had left, and Petra finally managed to breathe normally.

*** "Weren't you supposed to be good at this?" Levi dryly inquired. With a bored expression on his face, he was leaning against the wall, watching Oluo fiddle with a lock on the door to Sannes' office.

"I never said I was," Oluo grunted, wiping sweat from his forehead. His head darted from one side to other, checking if the hallway remained empty. "It's my first time breaking into someone's office, you know."

"Eh?" Levi frowned, confused. "Then how did you and Petra get in the other day?"

"I stole a key," Oluo huffed.

Levi rolled his eyes, pushing Oluo aside. "Let me handle it then. You go and stand on a lookout."

Oluo didn't need to be asked twice. He got his fair share of bullying from Levi today. With an annoyed but very quiet - he wasn’t so thrilled about receiving even more insults - sigh, he rose to his feet, going to do what Levi had requested of him. He didn’t even reach the end of a hallway, and Levi was calling out to him.

"Already?" his eyebrows went up. "You broke the lock so quickly? How?"

"Well," Levi shrugged and pushed the door open, sporting an almost smug expression. "Let's just say I wasn't always a law-abiding policeman."

"So cool..." Oluo whispered in reverence, as he followed Levi inside the office.

In Oluo's humble opinion and in comparison to a small cubicle he shared with Erd, Sannes' office was huge. A large desk, a wide bookshelf that took up most of the wall, a leather couch and a mini-fridge with a coffee machine and a microwave oven? If affiliating yourself with criminals meant you can have a workplace like this... Oluo wasn't that opposed to the idea anymore.

But they took Petra, he reminded himself. They were the bad guys, even if they were much richer and more successful than he could ever be. They certainly didn’t deserve any of it. And his job was to catch them.

"So what should be our starting point?" he asked Levi.

"You could start with telling me what the fuck you are doing inside my damn office."

With heart in his throat, Oluo whirled around. As his eyes met Sannes' dark and furious ones, Oluo gulped, slowly taking a step back.

He chanced a glance at Levi and was surprised to see that he didn't look as scared and panicked as Oluo himself felt.

Quite the contrary.

"Sannes." he snarled.

With wide eyes and mouth open in shock, Oluo watched how Levi manhandled Sannes, a man, who was almost twice his size. He pushed him to the wall, fisting hands into his shirt.

"Where is Petra, you scumbag?" he hissed into his face. "Where are you holding her?"

“Let go of me, you freak!” Sannes shouted. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Oh, but you do,” Levi’s voice dropped even lower, almost resembling a growl. “You know about everything – Zeke’s dealings, Petra’s kidnapping, Hange’s survival,” he pulled Sannes even closer. “So I repeat my question – where are you holding her?”

"I don't know!" Sannes wheezed out, already out of breath.

"Bullshit," Levi answered, his voice so dark and dangerous it made shivers run down Oluo's back. And he wasn’t the one Levi was talking to. He really didn’t envy Sannes right now. "You know it, and if you're not a complete idiot, you're going to tell me everything right fucking now."

Sannes looked down at him, his gaze calculating. "If I tell you, do you promise not to reveal my connection with Zeke?"

"No,” Levi answered coolly, shaking Sannes once more. “But you're going to tell me anyway."

Sannes closed his eyes, breathing deeply through his nose. "Fine,” he said. “I'll tell you everything. Just let me go."

"Smart choice," Levi murmured and instantly took a step back.

Sannes sighed, running a shaky hand through his hair. "He's keeping her at the docks,” he mumbled, his face aimed at the ground. “I'll send you the exact location."

"Good," Levi nodded, much calmer now. "And after you do that, go straight to Erwin. If I were you, I wouldn't make him wait. Perhaps, he'd be more merciful then. Although,” he added, sending Sannes one last glare. “I doubt he actually would."

Levi turned on his heels then, walking out of the office. Oluo stayed behind for a second longer, a pressing need to ask Sannes a question arising in him.

"Petra?" his voice broke on her name, but Oluo willed himself to stand strong, looking up at Sannes without an ounce of fear. "Is she alright?"

"Dragged and unconscious," Sannes replied, rubbing the spot where Levi had grabbed him. "But she's unharmed. For now."

For now. Those two words made his knees buckle. They needed to hurry. Petra's life was on the line.

***

With sweat dripping down her face and completely out of breath, Hange finally reached Zeke's hideout.

Panting like a chain-smoker and with her leg muscles burning, she climbed all four sets of stairs, cursing Zeke all the while. Why couldn't he put his office on the first floor? Or next to a police precinct? Would have made her life so much easier.

As expected, Zeke was inside his meeting room, smoking. The fat rings of smoke were flowing around the room, flying just below the ceiling before dissipating into nothingness. Hange narrowed her eyes, squinting at the cigarette in his fingers. Could the cigarette from Petra’s apartment really belong to him? Perhaps, they should have run some tests on it… No, Hange shook her head. Zeke was innocent - at least, in that regard.

She looked around the room, nodding at Pieck and Porco, who, as usual, were sitting next to their boss.

"Ah, my dear Hange!" sweeping the ash from his cigarette, Zeke raised his hands, opening them in a welcoming gesture. "What brings you here? Already missed us?" he winked and Hange scoffed.

"Missed your ugly face?” she rolled her eyes. “Not in a million years."

Zeke shook his head, his gaze filling with disappointment. "Detective Ackerman has a terrible influence on your sense of humor," he complained, his expression turning sourer.

"Whatever," Hange fell down on a chair next to him. "I came to ask you for help. Petra is missing."

"Petra?" Zeke frowned, looking genuinely confused. The lost look inside his eyes cemented Hange's conclusion that he wasn't the one involved in her kidnapping. Zeke was sleazy and unreliable, but he was also a very bad liar. Well, that meant they managed to rule out one possible suspect…

"Yes, Petra. Levi's partner."

"Ah, he found a new one already?" Zeke spread his lips into a wide, self-contained smirk. "Not very loyal, is he?"

More loyal than you will ever be, Hange wanted to say, but stopped herself. Now was not the time to start a pointless squabble.

"Do you know something or not?" she demanded from him.

"I don't," Zeke answered, putting a cigarette to his lips and exhaling the smoke right in Hange's face. He knew how much she hated it, asshole. She waved the smoke away, scowling fiercely. "But I do know one thing," he turned to Porco. "The time has come, start packing."

Without asking for clarification, Porco nodded, thrusted hands into the pockets of his leather jacket and hurriedly left.

Hange watched him go, stunned. Was Zeke planning something? What could it be? Why didn’t she know about it?

There was only one way to find out. She surveyed Zeke’s face carefully, trying to see his motives reflected there.

"Packing? To where? What the hell are you talking about, Zeke?"

"Don't worry about our destination," he patted her hand, looking so condensing Hange had to clench her fists to stop herself from punching the bastard. "You're going with us after all."

"Like hell I will!" Hange threw his hands off, glaring at Zeke. "And you can’t seriously expect me to follow you. What does all of it mean?"

Zeke shrugged, lightening up another cigarette and taking a long drag. "It's the grand finale, Zoe. The dramatic climax, the thrilling last act. And I was never the one for theatrics. So I'll leave the stage and go on my way."

"You promised to help," Hange grunted. She couldn't believe it, she actually trusted the bastard, and now he tries to escape? She wouldn't let him. "Or did you lie to us?"

"I wasn't lying," Zeke scoffed. "Like I said, I don't enjoy the drama. I simply changed my mind."

"So you won't honor your promise?"

Zeke rolled his eyes. "Zoe, please. I'm a criminal. The word honor was never in my vocabulary."

"Fine," Hange huffed, blowing hair out of her face. The attempt to awaken his consciousness failed. Maybe, she could appeal to his ego instead… "But someone is targeting you. Don't you want to know who it is?"

"Not particularly,” Zeke shook his head. “Since they went through all that trouble just to get me, I'd rather we never meet. Lord knows what they're going to do then, and, unlike you, detective, I know what self-preservation means."

"So that's it? You're just going to leave?"

Hange couldn’t believe it. She knew Zeke was a scumbag, but goddamn it. She didn’t expect him to be that untrustworthy.

"Of course, I’m not going to just leave," Zeke smiled. "I'll take you with me. To make sure that no one is going to follow us."

Hange snorted. "You're that delusional? I told you already, I'd rather die than go anywhere with you."

"Be it as you wish," he said. "Pieck," he lazily outstretched his hand to her. "Make our dear detective cooperate. Do with her what you want, but make sure she won’t get in our way."

Hange turned to Pieck, her heart skipping a beat. She held her breath and tensed her muscles, anticipating her first move. She could take Pieck in a fight, in theory. But in reality, she came unarmed, and Pieck always carried a gun. And a couple of knifes.

And Hange wasn't sure that her wits were much sharper.

There was a bit, the air in the room growing stiff. Hange swallowed, her one eye narrowed, as she watched Pieck. Maybe, if she makes the first move—

"No." Pieck said suddenly.

For a moment, there was silence. Hange sat there, dumbfounded, staring at Pieck and feeling utterly lost. She didn’t mishear? Did Pieck really—

Next to her, Zeke seemed to have the exact same trouble. He blinked a few times and then his expression changed, turning into a look of betrayal and fury.

"What did you just say?" he snarled, baring teeth at her.

"No," Pieck repeated, staring straight at him, not swayed by his outburst. "I won't touch Hange, and you, Zeke, will go with her and surrender to the police."

"What do you think—"

"Stop it, Zeke," Pieck sighed tiredly. "Own up to your shit and stop running away. Do you really not get it? If you do this right now, whether you'll kill Hange or take her with you, this—" she gestured around, her gaze on Zeke hard and disappointed. "This running and hiding will never end. If you touch a hair on her head, detective Ackerman will get you even from underneath the Earth. Accept it, Zeke," she stood up and squeezed his shoulder. "You've lost that battle the moment you started it. You simply picked up the wrong opponents."

With slow, elegant steps Pieck approached Hange and bent down to leave a gentle kiss on her cheek. "Goodbye, Hange," she murmured, tucking a hair behind her ear. "It's been fun."

In spite of herself, Hange smiled. Sarcastic, adorable Pieck always had such an effect on her. "Are you leaving already?" she asked, touching a place where Pieck's lips met her skin.

"Well," Pieck grinned. "Pock had started packing, right?"

"And where are you going?" Zeke wondered, his lips pressed in a line and hands crossed at his chest. He stubbornly refused to even glance at Pieck.

"A secret," she chirped, smiling cheerfully. "But I'll make sure to send a postcard. Hange, I'll send yours to detective Ackerman's address?” she winked, chuckling at the sight of red color on Hange’s cheek. “And, Zeke? You'll be staying at the state prison, right?"

"Oh fuck off, Pieck," he groaned. "Go away already."

Their eyes met for a second, and Zeke's gaze softened ever so slightly. "Try not to get caught, will you?"

"Roger that, chief!" Pieck saluted, kissed Zeke too and then headed to the entrance, gliding on the floor and humming under her breath.

"You two should talk," she advised Hange and Zeke, and then quietly closed the door.

As soon as Pieck was gone, Zeke dropped his head on his hands, sighing in frustration.

"How the fuck do you do it, Zoe?" he sent her a side-glance. "How the fuck do you manage to inspire that kind of loyalty in people?"

Hange shrugged, sitting back in a chair, and curled her lips in a crooked grin. "Try not being a complete jerk, perhaps?"

"Fuck off," he retorted, hiding his face again. "You'll send me to jail, right?"

"R-right," Hange sang. "And before that, you'll help us looking for Petra."

"And if I refuse?"

"Initially, I planned to be the one organizing your arrest. But I can give that honor to Levi..."

Zeke visibly shuddered.

"Fine," he looked up, fixing the glasses on his face and brushing the hair back from his forehead. "I'll help you. Now get the hell out of here."

Hange arched an eyebrow. "You're coming with me, you know that?"

"I'll come," he huffed. "I promise. For real this time," he added, when Hange just kept giving him an unimpressed look. "Just give me half an hour to get all of my possessions in order, would you? I don't know if I'll be coming back after all."

"Half an hour." Hange nodded, looking at him strictly. "If you don't show up in half an hour, I'm sending Levi to get you."

She would have stayed behind and monitored him, but time was of the essence. She promised Levi she'd back in two hours. And the watch was telling her it was almost an hour past that. She needed to get back, and quickly. Hurrying out of the building, Hange rushed to the precinct.

But in her haste to get back to Levi, she didn't see a swift shadow that followed right after her.

***

One way, then the other, back and forth, left and right, Levi paced around the room.

Seven. That was the amount of steps needed to get from one end of Erwin's office to the other.

Levi glanced out of the window, and then turned around, starting anew. He clenched and unclenched his fists, thinking if he should look at his phone again. Maybe, he missed a message? Didn't hear its ringing? Maybe, she had already replied to a dozen of his texts and calls?

"Levi," a heavy hand fell on his shoulder, making him stop in his tracks. "Levi, we can't wait any longer," again, Erwin's voice was so much gentler than usual, and that alone should have been enough for him to realize that he was being irrational. That, the eyes of a dozen other policemen, gathered in Erwin’s office, who looked at him with a mix of worry and sympathy.

"We have the location," Erwin reminded, bringing him back to present.

"I know."

"We have the team."

"I know."

"We have a plan."

"I know," Levi gritted through teeth. "But we do not have Hange!"

Frustrated, he turned away from Erwin. He took out his phone, holding it tightly.

Why didn't she call? Why didn't pick up the phone and answer his texts? Where the fuck was she? She promised to be back in two hours. Almost three passed and no sign of that messy, four-eyed brilliant weirdo. The knot in his stomach grew tighter with each passing second.

Logically, he knew Hange could be simply running late. She could be stuck in traffic or she could be busy trying to get some kind of useful information out of Zeke. But while Hange was never the one to care about such trite matters as punctuality and she could easily get absentminded and usually appeared to be scatterbrained and frivolous, she was so very different during the times like this. Times, when lives were on the line. Hange never let herself be so unfocused, that’s why Levi was so worried now. He was anxious, and he knew that feeling won't go away until he sets his eyes on Hange, alive, breathing and well. He just got her back, the thought of losing her… Levi cursed, checking the phone again.

"Levi..." Erwin sighed, patting his shoulder. "You know, we can't waste our time."

He knew that. Petra needed their help, needed him. He couldn't let her down, but still...

Hange, oh god, Hange. He couldn’t lose her. Not again.

"Perhaps, detective Zoe isn't going to come back," came a quiet murmur from the corner of the room.

Levi’s head whirled in that direction, and, in a flash, he was beside him. "What did you just say?" he demanded from Oluo, barely stopping himself from grabbing him just as forcefully as he had done with Sannes.

Oluo swallowed, a trail of sweat rolling down his face, but he stared back at Levi, raising his chin.

"She was working with an enemy for more than two years. Maybe, she was the one who kidnapped Petra."

Levi closed his eyes, counting to ten in his head. He was not going to lose it right now. He was not. Not when Erwin - and a dozen other of his colleagues - were looking at him.

"Bozado," he began as calmly as he was able in that moment. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course, sir!" he answered without a moment of hesitation.

"Good," Levi nodded. "You trust me. And I trust Hange. With my life. And if you are at least half as smart as you're trying to appear, you'll trust her too. If you're not ready to,” his gaze grew harder, enabling Oluo from turning away. “Then get the fuck out of my team. If you doubt Hange, you doubt me, and I can’t work like that, I have to trust my people. So what do you say – are you leaving or staying?"

"I'm... I'm staying with you, sir."

"Alright," Levi watched Oluo’s face for another second, his eyes narrowed. Would he follow his orders without question? It seemed like he would. He hoped so, at least. With a low, thoughtful hum, Levi turned to Erwin. "We can start the operation. Bozado will lead my team."

He pointedly ignored the shocked gasp from Oluo. The boy wasn’t nearly as experienced, wasn’t even a detective, but their mission was to get back Petra. And Levi believed Oluo wouldn’t let himself fuck it all up.

It's obvious he has feelings for her, Hange once told him. She was right that time, but then again – when she wasn’t?

"And you, Levi?" Erwin asked.

"Half an hour," he promised. "Half an hour, and I'll be at the location."

Hange swore to come back to him. This time, Levi won't let her broke that promise.

Closing the door behind himself, he hurried to Zeke. He prayed that Hange was alright. Zeke wouldn’t get out of this alive, if she weren’t.

***

The silence pressed onto her. The silence, the waiting for god knows what - it was all making Petra go slowly insane. She wanted to hear something, any sound would do at this point.

Or so she thought.

But then Floch came back, sauntering inside and still sporting the same deranged grin, and Petra realized that she preferred silence so much more than the low, out of tune humming mixed with the sound of him polishing the various knifes taken from a long table in front of him.

She squirmed, the ropes digging into her skin even more. It would leave bruises, she thought absentmindedly.

Bruises? She chided herself almost immediately. Who would care about bruises if they find her dead? She suppressed another shiver.

They won't find her dead, Petra tried to persuade herself. They won't, because so very soon Levi would be here, and he'll save her. Perhaps, detective Hange would be with him, maybe, Oluo too...

She had friends who cared about her. They won't let her be murdered. She just had to keep believing in them.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked Floch, trying to distract herself from the thousand of horrible what ifs.

Why haven’t you— no, she wouldn’t ask him that. She would remain optimistic.

“You’ll see very soon,” he told her enigmatically. “My friend is almost here.”

His friend? Did he mean Zeke’s brother? The one, who had planned it all? And what would happen, when he comes? Would he—

No, she stopped herself once again. She needed to hold onto that hope. She needed to stay strong.

The sound of footsteps somewhere above her startled Petra. Hearing them too, Floch started chuckling. He turned to Petra, pressing a finger to his lips.

“That’s my friend,” he whispered quietly, as though it was the biggest secret in the world. “And he brought someone with him.”

The next second, the door opened and a man – so young, probably in his early twenties – stumbled in. He was hobbling slightly, his hand pressed to a place just below his hairline. His face was a mess – split lip, bruised eye that already started to turn deep purple, bloodied nose and forehead.

“You didn’t tell me she was a fucking psycho,” he grumbled, glaring daggers at Floch. “I wouldn’t have a chance, if I wasn’t armed.”

“But?” Floch passed him a white cloth to wipe off the blood. “You’ve caught her, right?” his voice was full of hope, and his fingers were trembling in anticipation.

“She’s in my car, dragged out of her mind. Help me get her here.”

“With pleasure,” Floch turned to Petra, winking. “You’ll have company so very soon, detective. I hope you’re excited! I am!”

He didn’t stop to hear her response, following after his friend and leaving her alone once again.

It was possibly her last chance, she realized. Petra desperately pulled on the ropes, trying to get away, but to no avail. She couldn’t move an inch, and it seemed like the more she struggled, the tighter her bindings became.

Not enough time passed, before Floch had returned, dragging a body inside. His friend put the chair, right next to Petra, and Floch dropped the body there.

No, not just some body, Petra realized. Fear crippled inside her, seizing her heart in its merciless hold.

Not just some body, Hange Zoe’s body.

Her head was bowed, but even from where she was sitting, in a poorly lit room, Petra could see blood dripping down her cheek and neck.

So much blood, she thought. She was breathing, albeit faintly. But she wasn’t waking up.

Her heart stopped, as Petra realized another thing – if Hange was there, no one was looking for her. And if no one was looking… then Hange and she… they would most probably… not be found.

At least, not alive, or so it seemed.

Petra tried to hold onto that sliver of hope, but with Hange Zoe’s bloodied face in her line of sight, it was getting increasingly harder and harder to.

#/gasps/ update?? to that fic????#levihan #also yeah pieck and porco had simply turned into bonnie and clyde they're legends like that

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pokedashwarrior55 · 3 years

Text

Ninjobservation #2

Analyzing the Elemental Alliance as a group and uncovering the real reason the Time twins (Twims for short) were "traitors"

So I have rewatched Hands of Time for the 3rd time this past year and Me and my sister Purplefern (She has a ton of good Twims fics on Ao3 ^^) have learned a lot about the old elemental alliance (EA).

THE CLAIM

The EA were a strong clique that did not appreciate the Twim's general attitudes and personalities. Chen saw the growing discourse and manipulated both sides into turning on each other.

[[They be judgin' (””art”” by me) ]]

To start let’s look at all the Leaders of this Alliance

Wu back before his eventual growth with the ninja was a strict teacher. Morro ran away due to his inability to understand his problems (problems he may have caused with his teachings). He is generally harsh towards the Ninja in season 1, forcing them to train all day because they simply talked during his lesson ("Never trust a snake").

Due to being the son of the FSM he put pressure on himself to always be virtuous and leaderlike (believes he has to uphold order) and he takes this believed expectation of authority to heart. He is no nonsense, yelling at Libber (the Master of Lightning) for simply talking slightly off topic before an important battle. He has a strong sense of right and wrong, according to his own moral standards and does not waver on what he believes is in/appropriate.

Garmadon

Although less righteous than Wu, joining the alliance after the war began, he has also been seen as a strict and serious teacher. Because of the growing venom in his blood I'd argue he was even more strict, less in attitude but more in general rules of law and order. We see in Rebooted that Garmadon set strict rules for himself like "no weapons" to keep his destructive side in check and we know that Young Garmadon is so sensitive to rules as he claims that even reading another's mail is a crime. He joined as a leader and most likely upheld rules not just for the alliance but for his own sake.

Ray and Maya

We see little of them but they are both good friends- and Ray appears to be the right hand man-- of Wu They are such good friends that Ray is the one trusted with the Map to the Golden Weapons. From his tone and diction he seems very dogmatic and if he's anything like Kai, he's quick to assumptions and to attack people who he perceives as bad according to his own strict principles. He just feels like a stuffy guy. I don't have much on Maya but she's a good people person so she gets along with the others really well. Also she married Ray, so that has to say something. They both went along with the Time Blade plan.

Other Elemental observations

Except for Libber (Lighting), all the Masters are older than the Time twins. (Krux can fight in S7 so he's not older than 70. They are most likely mid to late twenty's during the war)

The EA is a pre-established group (Garmadon refers to them like they are a pre-existing entity in ToE flashbacks). They were two confident and arrogent twenty year olds strolling into a pre-established clique of old honorable fighters during a war. Not the best time for bonding.

Ice feels very much like Wu and Garmadon, considering he gave his powers to an analytical robot like Zane is saying a lot about him. He most likely does not tolerate "shenanigans", especially during a war.

They battle in a tight group

Krux and Acronix

These two act like they don't belong in the group. During the party celebrating the end of the war they are seen standing away from the rest and are genuinely happy to be recognized by Wu for their efforts. Although retcon, the two are not seen battling with the rest of the group. They instead most likely are so powerful (and impulsive and difficult to work with) that they are sent on duo missions to protect villages (They are also not the best followers).

It's also a nice parallel to our ninja in ToE. They stuck together like a family and were disliked and excluded from the rest of the EM's. The same could be said for The Twims since they always fought together and were similarly excluded.

Krux

Krux is a planner and a sassy dude. He’s stubborn and will tell people they are wrong to their face. The 16 personalities that matches him best is INTJ (the Architect). This analytical type hates people who are who they consider idiotic, do not participate in formalities, and are aggravated by heavy rules and restrictions made by someone else, especially someone they do not respect (which is most people).

Although we do not see him much as a young man we know that he is prone to grudges and will resort to less kind methods in sake for the means to an end. Definitely not someone Wu and Garmadon would like since they are trying to uphold order and keep a chain of command. But Krux believes in his own plans and his own chain of command. He is not good at small talk and would mostly stick with his brother during group events like meetings and parties, so in general his terrible social skills probably made him pretty unliked.

Acronix

Acronix is quick witted and heavily proud of himself. He won’t admit he is wrong and is very loud in general. This may be a side tangent but Acronix may have ADHD, which would not be understood back in the day and people would regard him as annoying or rude.

EVIDENCE FOR ADHD

-He is shown to stand in a position that suggests hand fidgeting (A LOT)

-Quick to anger over minuscule details

-yeah he's distractible but he's also quick to move through ideas/activities

-impulsive

- During their important battle back in time his attention is on the pretty fusion dragon flying around instead of listening to Kruxs plan of attack.

-His attention shifts to the destiny's bounty and he toys with the ninja despite saying right before he couldn't stay and fight Wu cause he had to meet up with Krux.

- in general he is constantly shifting from idea to idea, oftentimes leaving his original plans completely un-finished

He could have trouble paying attention to meetings and with his bond with Krux and tendency to quick action he would choose his brother's plan and strike independently rather than following whatever Wu is doing. This leads them to fight beside each other alone instead of with the main group, making the elemental alliance think they believe to be better than them.

In terms of Personality types he’s a hardcore ESTP (Entrepreneur). Like his brother, they are free analytical thinkers who do not respect higher authority simply because they claim to be the leaders and hate rules and regulations getting in the way of their progress. He says what's on his minds regardless of feelings and will defend his opinions despite others sensitivities. He is perceptive enough to pick up on small changes and habits but he is quick to share that knowledge (usually in a snarky remark). I doubt the alliance appreciates what he has to say when he’s blabbering about everything in such a rude tone.

MOE

Now this all may start to look like a silly “Hands of time did nothing wrong” theory. But there is a key factor in this that not many people talk about. The previous Master of Earth (or Moe for short).

We know that Chen manipulated Moe into turning against the alliance so it was not technically his fault. Chen could’ve said that because the serpentine rose from the earth he was entitled to fight for them. Heck he could’ve been 100% hypnotized by Clouse’s dark magic (His eyes were not swirly so it was not hypnobrai like is suggested in WOTD). He is most likely some lovable dummy who was easily swayed and a kind person to apologize once the truth about Chen is revealed (considering that he’s Cole’s grandfather). Moe as a person is fine. What is sketchy is Moe being easily forgiven and allowed into the alliance despite turning on all of HUMANITY. What he did could’ve hurt way more people. He fought with the snakes and attacked innocent people and powerless soldiers (like the rice farmers) and was off scott free! The Twims only fought the elemental alliance and Wu and Garmadon at the monastery. Not nearly as destructive.

They figured out that Chen made the alliance turn on each other after the war and forgave Moe for that, but isn't it strange that they never gave the Time Twins that same benefit of the doubt? We know from “Way of the departed” and general logic that Chen and Clouse helped tip them over the edge. Whether you believe this to be canon or not is irrelevant because if the EA knew that Chen was involved once why would they not assume he was with the time twins too? Seems like they already disliked the two and were just ready for a reason to punish them. All flashbacks we get are told from unreliable sources like Wu and Ray (who both were enthusiastically the ones planning to strip them of their powers.) Speaking of, let’s analyze this example of their “betrayal” shall we?

THE BATTLE IN QUESTION

This is the flashback we get of them fighting against the alliance. The first time you watch it all you really know is that they are fighting against the EA, when Wu is describing their arrogance and the danger of their powers. How evil right? To attack their companions like that? But there is a lot wrong with how Wu phrases the fight and how it actually goes down.

They have Bamboo staffs.

A weapon that is primarily defensive and not a good weapon of choice for a planned ambush or assault. They are non lethal weapons. And Acronix is said on LEGO.com to be quick to learn any weapon so someone as adaptable as he is would not intentionally bring something so weak to a fight unless he had been forced to improvise.

Always on the defensive.

Someone as tactical as Krux and skilled as Acronix would never let themselves be on the defensive like this if they had the first blow. We see that Ray has the first attack in the flashback. Although Acronix is known to jump in without thinking he has his brother who would not just go into a fight just to lose. And even if they did end up on the defensive after having the first strike Acronix has his powers. He would’ve brought both of them out of a situation if things got too hard (which he is known to do in battles HE starts). But they clearly did not start this battle.

They are surrounded.

These two guys with nothing but staffs are encircled? Krux as a planner and Acronix as a quick witted warrior would never let themsleves get into that position if it had been a battle that they had started and had been planning to win. This framing makes it feel like they are being ganged up on.

In a remote location.

The battle takes place on a gravel road no where near a major city. If they wanted to take over wouldn’t they strike somewhere more populated? And if they were attacking the EA...they would have attacked the EA directly. They were probably just walking and talking and got ambushed.

Chen?

Very possible that Chen sent an “anonymous” note to the EA telling them of the Twims plans to attack. They are arrogant, have openly hated Wu’s leadership, and don’t gel with the group so of course they would take a tip like that and attack someone they don’t like. It’s possible they had ideas of taking over the EA but the world seems a bit out of their morality range until provoked.

Now that they have been attacked the two form a real plan to overthrow these fools who don’t like them and have unfairly attacked them (just like Chen had been telling them they were likely to do). They bring real weapons (swords) to an important location (the Monastery) to fight the specific people they do not like (Wu and Garmadon).

The Punishment

Ok so these powerful elemental masters are going to attack the EA. They were once allies and they are too powerful to defeat with their powers. If only there was a way to temporarily suspend their powers so they could talk this out and have an understanding of each other and perhaps uncover Master Chen's involvement-- since the Hands of Time were semi-sensible war heroes who were the sons of a previous master of time who presumably responsibly used the element without issue (and was most likely a samurai since Krux says their helmets are samurai helmets)... sigh too bad there is not such a material… oh wait.

WHAT ABOUT VENGESTONE???

These fools really decided that destroying an important element forever, and violently ripping it out of its users was the only option? There were generations of time elementals before them that had the element. They could throw vengestone nets at them or fight until they get knocked out and then vengestone cage them. But they don’t want to know why they betrayed the alliance. It was not because the element was too dangerous. It was not because they had to strip them of their powers (cause there are less lethal ways of doing so). They just did not give these two any mercy.

CONCLUSION

The Time twins are hard to work with and stuck together no matter what. The alliance is very strict and dogmatic which both Krux and Acronix would hate being trapped in their day to day alliance meetings and group mentality. Chen used their egos and their exclusion to his benefit to keep the fight going after he was banished and sent a letter to start up conflict with the EA. The EA did not like the Twims so they were ruthless and did not give them the same mercy they did for Moe (They also are not Elements of Creation. Wu would do anything to protect the main 4 but he’ll punish these punks).

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lils-writes-stuff · 4 years

Text

The Good Earth

Spencer Reid x reader

Best Years Season 2 part two | part one | season one

summary: while in oregon, reader suspects somethings up with spencer

warning: normal criminal minds things, minor angst

A/N: based on season 8 episode 5; there’s some JJ x reader moments in here that I love

Y/N walked into the kitchen of her and Spencer’s apartment. Her boots clicked against the hardwood floor as she moved swiftly to make sure she had everything in her go-bag. Spencer had already left to head into work early that morning to work on some paperwork he hadn’t finished that was due.

This was a frequent thing he had been doing lately, and at first, Y/N wasn’t concerned, but he had been doing it for about two weeks now. As a girl would do, her first thoughts as to what he could be doing were anything but good, but then she thought about who Spencer was.

She was muttering under her breath items she had, “Keys, wallet, go-bag, laptop…”

Her routine check she had going was interrupted when her phone pinged.

An email from Strauss.

With an eye roll, she picked up her phone to open it. Strauss had been sending her emails with different options for moves or details about cases they had. It was annoying, really, she was baiting her.

Y/N quickly closed the email and put her phone in her pocket. She grabbed her go-bag and headed into the office.

------------

“What do you mean, he’s not going? Every kid loves trick-or-treating,” Penelope exclaimed to JJ about Henry.

“Henry’s scared,” JJ replied. “One of his little buddies told him Halloween was the only time when all the real monsters come out because they can blend in.”

“Never thought about that,” Rossi shrugged.

“Good monster strategy,” Y/N sang as she walked over to them, hearing the tail of the conversation.

Penelope chuckled, “You did tell him it wasn’t true, right?”

“Of course I did, but he’s convinced,” JJ shook her head as she replied.

“Childhood fears are resistant to adult logic, sometimes you just have to wait it out,” Rossi told JJ in the hope to reassure her.

“For how long?” She asked, leaning on her knees.

“Well, if he’s twenty-three and this still worries you, you may have a problem,” Rossi answered.

JJ, Y/n, and Penelope let out a light laugh.

“Well, see, the thing is, I think I am partly to blame,” JJ confessed as she stood up from her chair.

“How so?” Y/N asked as the four of them began to walk to the round table room.

“Well, the other night Will and I were up late, we were having some wine, talking about some of the cases we’ve worked on-” JJ let out a sigh as she continued her confession- “And at one point, I said I felt like there was no end to all the monsters walking around, and…”

“Henry sneaked into the room to listen to the grownups,” Rossi said, finishing the predictable end to her story.

“Yeah, we need a cone of silence for our house,” JJ said which made Penelope and Y/N chuckle.

They walked into the round table room and took their seat. Y/N took hers in her usual spot next to Spencer.

“Good morning,” He said, for the first time being able to talk to her this morning.

“Morning,” she smiled as she sat in her seat.

“Those of you who like a good mystery, please unleash your inner Agatha Christie, ‘cause this one’s a real humdinger,” Penelope opened before she grabbed her remote and brought up the case.

“Gary Ellard, Barry Deaver, Paul Hicks, Terry Rodgers. Over the course of the last month and a half, these four men have gotten in their cars in La Grande, Oregon, and drove into the never-to-be-seen-agains-Ville. Poof, gone. The latest victim Terry Rodgers disappeared twenty-four hours ago.”

“Forensic evidence points us anywhere?” Y/N asked.

“Uh, point would imply there is evidence, and there is no evidence, at least for the first three victims,” Penelope answered.

“No forensics, no witnesses, no ransom demands, maybe these guys just voluntarily decided to hit the road,” Derek pondered.

“Four sudden disappearances in a community this small-- this isn’t about seeking greener pastures,” Rossi argued.

“And based on last known sightings, we’re dealing with a sizable geographic area,” Hotch added to Rossi’s argument.

“He’s efficient and well organized, not easy to make four people vanish and stay vanished,” Y/N commented as she leaned onto her arms on the table.

“It has been done before, though,” Spencer spoke. “Political kidnappings frequently require holding multiple adults simultaneously.”

“Or they’re already dead,” Rossi countered. “Nothing says ‘can’t be found’ like a shallow grave in the middle of nowhere.”

“Assuming they are alive, how is the unsub controlling them?” Blake asked.

“And for what purpose?” JJ posed her own question to Blakes.

“The time between abductions is shortening with each victim, wheels up in 30.”

------------

“Garcia, anything on the last victim, Terry Rodgers?” Hotch asked as she answered the video call.

“Only that he’s unemployed and lives in a cabin in the woods, but primitive, like no flush toilet primitive,” Penelope answered.

“That doesn’t fit the victimology of the other three. Ellard coached track and field at a local college, Deaver's small business owner, and Hicks is an attorney.” Derek read off the file in his hand.

“All married with young families,” JJ added.

“Another difference-- the first three victims were all born and raised in La Grande,” Rossi added another difference.

“Yeah, Terry Rodgers only moved to town a couple of months ago,” Y/N added as she looked at her file.

“Do we know where from, Garcia?” Spencer asked.

“Rhode Island, though there’s a five-month gap between Terry being in Rhode Island and then arriving in Oregon,” Penelope answered as she looked at the timeline. “Where he was and what he was doing is a big fat blank.”

“It says here that vomit was found in the vicinity of his abduction,” Derek noted as he looked at the crime scene report.

“Mm, thank you for reminding me of that disgusting detail, Dreamy D. Yes, that vomit has been collected and is being analyzed as we speak, and I am very grateful that I have this job and someone else has that one,” Penelope answered with disgust for the topic.

“Rodgers is the obvious anomaly of the four, but there’s no apparent overlap between any of the victims,” Spencer said after he finished an in the head analysis.

“It’s almost like the unsub was selecting his targets at random,” Blake said as she agreed with Spencer.

“Blake, you and Morgan go talk to the families of the victims. See if there’s something that links them that’s not on paper,” Hotch ordered and the two agents nodded.

“Dave, Reid, and I will go to the abduction site. Y/N, you and JJ go to Terry Rodgers’ cabin,” Hotch gave his final orders as the plane was just about to land.

-------------

The cabin was dark and smelt damp. Truely, it was very off the grid style.

“Besides the outhouse, this cabin isn’t really so primitive like Garcia let on,” Y/N said as she began to look through some of Terry Rodgers’ things.

“Okay,” JJ sighed from her squatted position in front of Terry’s books. “Economics, Philosophy...political theory, not exactly breezy, take to the beach reading.”

“Hm, sounds like something Spence would take if he liked the beach,” Y/N laughed as she thought about Spencer at the beach. Looking like a fish out of water.

“He doesn’t like the beach? Why’s that?” JJ laughed as she opened a book.

“Something about sandy food, pink skin, limited and unengaging topography, you know, Spencer Reid reasons for not going to the beach,” Y/N said as she remembered the reasons Spencer told her.

JJ let out a laugh as she continued to look through the books.

“Speaking of Spencer, do you know why he’s been getting to work so early lately? He says it’s paperwork, but you know,” Y/N pried, hoping JJ might know since she’s his best friend.

Without looking back, she could feel JJ stiffen at her question. Clearing her throat, JJ quickly changed the subject, “You know, there’s a lot of material here about global warming, overcrowding, evils of technology.”

“Did you just change the subject?” Y/N asked, turning to look at JJ.

“No, I just found something interesting related to the case.”

Y/N looked at her with a challenging gaze. “You totally just changed the subject. What do you know?”

“There’s no phone, no TV, I wonder what this guy does for fun.” JJ turned away from Y/N to look around at all the different items around the room.

“JJ.” Y/N said trying to go back to the question she was avoiding.

JJ turned back to Y/N with a innocent smile on her face. A smile that showed she was hiding something.

“It’s nothing, Y/N, you don’t have to be worried about it.” She was hiding something, but Y/N decided not to push it too far...yet.

“JJ, come on, he has to tell me soon-” Y/N turned back to a cabinet and began to look through it- “I mean he can’t keep doing this forever, so you might as well just-”

She cut herself off as she smelt a familiar smell. She reached her hand into the cabinet and pulled out a ziplock bag. Holding about ten grams of Marijuana.

“Found what he does for fun,” Y/N said, showing JJ the bag.

--------------

JJ and Y/N walked into the police station about an hour after they left Terry Rodger’s cabin. Y/N tried to pull what JJ was hiding out of her, but ended up having no success and gave up for the time being.

“So did you learn anything?” Rossi asked from a small coffee station as he saw JJ and Y/N walk in.

“Yeah, Y/N tells me Spence doesn’t like the beach,” JJ responded as they walked over to the table in the middle of the room.

“I don’t,” Spencer said, confirming Y/N’s tell.

“Yeah, so Terry Rodgers definitely wanted to live off the grid, he had a small generator for some small electrical needs. Other than that no phones, TV, or Radio,” Y/N answered Rossi’s question with its actual intent.

“And lots of material about the evils of technology, living healthy off the lang, that sort of stuff,” JJ added to their findings.

“Sounds like the Unabomber,” Rossi commented.

“We did find a small stash of weed he had hidden away,” Y/N mentioned the only really significant finding.

“Did you find any evidence that a baby lived there or visited there?” Hotch asked.

“Uh, no, why?” JJ asked, turning to Y/N to see if she had found something. She shook her head.

“We just got the list of the items he purchased at the supermarket,” Spencer said and handed the list to Y/N when she reached for it.

“Four jars of baby food,” JJ read as she looked at the list with Y/N.

The two looked at each other confused. They both racked through their findings in the cabin again to see if there was any sign of a baby.

“A body matching Rodgers’ description was found ten miles out of town,” the Sheriff said as she entered the room with a sigh.

Y/N, Hotch, and Derek rolled up to the scene just as the body was being pulled out of the water.

“A fisherman found him washed up on a bank,” the Sheriff sighed as the body was set down by the crane on the ground.

“Well, other than the ligature marks on the wrists and ankles, there’s no sign of violence and torture,” Derek said as he examined the body.

“There is so much care taken with the killing and disposing of the body,” Y/N commented.

“Sedation and drowning,” Derek agreed.

“We may have to dramatically change who the unsub is,” Y/N said with a surprise of her own words.

“What do you mean?” The Sheriff asked.

“We might be looking for a woman,” Hotch answered.

-------------

“We believe the unsub that we’re looking for is a woman, who is highly organized, she’s thorough, and she’s patient,” Hotch said as he began the profile.

“Based on the complexity and the sophistication of the abductions, we think she is most likely between the ages of thirty and forty,” Spencer said.

“She’s familiar with the rural area surrounding La Grande. Either a native or someone who’s lived there for a while,” Rossi continued on about who the unsub was.

“We think she’s keeping her victims in isolation in the countryside, which means she has access to land or a structure. That is remote, hidden, and private,” Derek added.

“She’s abducting exceptionally health-conscious men, ideal specimens if you will,” Blake said.

“Specimens, for what?” The sheriff asked, shocked by Blake’s terminology.

“Possible breeding,” JJ answered.

“The ability to father children is something we think she’s looking for in her victims,” Hotch said.

“They’re all age-appropriate, and they are all fathers,” Y/N added.

“But why kill the last victim?” The sheriff asked.

“She may have seen him as being flawed,” Spencer answered. “He was the least physically fit of the four, and neglected to pay child support.”

“Making him undesirable,” Blake clarified.

“The victims may be surrogates for a man that she wants but she can not have,” Derek said.

“Because she killed the last victim, we have to consider the possibility that the unsub is engaged in some sort of elimination process,” Rossi said.

“Preselecting a handful of prime candidates and then whittling them down one by one, until she has her ideal breeding partner,” Y/N added on to the elimination theory.

“And if this is the case, then the killing’s just begun,” Hotch said.

------------

“I’m still waiting on the full M.E. report on Terry Rodgers,” the Sheriff said as she entered the room the team was working in. “They say they want to retest some of the findings.”

“Did they say why?” JJ asked, curious as to why they would do that.

“No,” the Sheriff shook her head.

“I recognize that scowl Aaron,” Rossi stated to Hotch, who indeed did have a familiar scowl on his face. “What are you thinking?”

“Something Garcia said earlier about not being able to sit on a park bench in this country without leaving a paper trail,” Hotch admitted.

“And…” Y/N said, moving her hand in a ‘keep going’ motion.

“So what if Rodgers wasn’t in the country for those five months?” Hotch proposed the thought.

“It wouldn’t be the first time someone crossed borders to get away from troubles,” Rossi said as he agreed with Hotch’s thought.

“Guys there’s something interesting about this grocery list,” Spencer said as he walked across the room to the five at the table.

“What?” The Sheriff asked.

“Look at the items he bought in bulk; garlic, green tea, vitamin D, ginger. All these items are specifically known to boost the immune system,” Spencer said, then set the list down on the table for those sitting to see. “What if Terry Rodgers was seriously ill?”

“What about the baby food?” JJ asked, not knowing how that would fit on the list.

“A side effect of radiation treatment is sores inside the mouth. In fact, doctors advise you to eat the way an infant would eat,” Spencer replied, showing how it fit.

“Chemotherapy?” Rossi questioned.

Spencer nodded, silently saying ‘more than likely’.

“The marijuana in the cabin could have been medicinal,” Y/N said as she thought more into the theory of Rodgers being sick.

“I’ll have Garcia check medical facilities outside the country,” Hotch said and pulled out his phone. “Reid, you and JJ got to the medical examiner to look for a pre-existing condition with Rodgers.”

Y/N watched as the two walked out of the room together, wondering what they were hiding from her.

--------------

“It was Hodgkin's Lymphoma,” the M.E. said as he gave the final report to Spencer.

“Did you find any sedatives in his system?” JJ asked.

“The question is, what sedatives didn’t we find?” The M.E. replied. “Melatonin, Valerian, Marijuana, hops, catnip, kava-kava…”

“Bone meal and kelp,” Spencer finished as he read the report.

“In the victim’s stomach, along with some materials that we’re retesting,” the M.E. said, then stood up as he got excited to show Spencer something. “Take a look at the bottom.”

“Sawdust residue caked in the nostrils?” Spencer read with questions at the finding.

“Not just any sawdust, pure pinewood pellet sawdust,” the M.E. told them.

“It’s usually imported from China. Was it a 0.5% mixture?” Spencer’s question took the M.E. back.

“I don’t know, all I know is it’s not your every day, spread-on-the-floor sawdust.”

The two agents thanked the M.E. and began to walk out of the small office they were in. Spencer called Rossi to inform them of their findings before they got back.

“You know, Y/N asked me today about why you’ve been leaving early for work,” JJ said as the two walked to their car. “To do paperwork?”

Spencer sucked in a nervous breath. “You didn’t tell her anything did you?”

“Of course not, only that she doesn’t need to worry,” JJ replied in a reassuring tone. “But ‘paperwork’ was the best excuse you could come up with?”

Spencer let out a breathy chuckle, “It was a spur of the moment excuse.”

They were quiet for a second as they both buckled their seat belts and JJ started the car.

“But she’s onto something now, and she’s going to dig if you don’t do it anytime soon.”

Spencer sighed, “I know, I just don’t know when yet.”

------------

“Yeah,” Rossi said as he hung up his phone then walked into the sheriff’s office where Derek, Hotch, and Y/N stood. “That was Reid, they found half a dozen natural sedatives in Rogders' system.”

“I don’t get it, the unsub’s drugging victims and trusting that they’ll conk out at the right place at the right time.” Derek’s confusion was reciprocated as Y/N nodded.

“Yeah, why not use a pharmaceutical Drug? Or Poison?” Y/N asked.

“Which would be quicker and a lot more reliable,” Rossi nodded.

“Natural holistic elements must be important to her,” Y/N said as she thought more about it.

“She may have health issues of her own,” Hotch agreed.

As Hotch finished his speculation, he pulled his phone out as Penelope called.

“Go ahead, Garcia.”

“I just hit the trifecta, but with two things instead of three,” Penelope said excitedly. “What is that, a bifecta?”

“Exacta, what you got?” Rossi pushed her to get to the point.

“Well, that-- anyway, two missing vehicles, not missing anymore. Paul Hicks’ car was found by some utility workers an hour ago, it rolled off into a ravine. And Gary Ellard’s car was picked up on a speeding violation in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho.”

“Idaho?” Derek said, confused.

“Stolen by some local kids ten days ago in La Grande,” Penelope cleared up the confusion. “Car was just sitting by the side of the road, keys in the ignition. They made a typical sound teenage decision, decided to take it on a cross-state joyride.”

“Garcia, I need to know the exact spot where the vehicles were originally found,” Hotch said as he moved out of the office into the conference room.

“On it.”

-------------

“All right, based on what we just got, this is the revised best guess route of the victims the days they were abducted,” Y/N said as she pointed to the map for Blake and JJ. Her and Hotch devised this new route together in an impressive thirty minutes.

“Two intersect here-” Blake pointed to an intersection of two of the victims- “the other two here.”

JJ then pointed to a spot on the map. “And this is where Terry Rodgers bought his groceries.”

“Looks like Paul Hicks might have gone there after his doctor’s appointment,” Blake said.

“Now what was at the intersection where Deavor and Ellard crossed?” JJ asked.

“That’s a shopping center with a dozen or so businesses,” Hotch answered as he pointed it out on the map.

“We’re getting a list right now,” Y/N added.

“One of the deputies sighted an abandoned car on the outskirts of town. There was a second set of tire tracks behind it that matched those found at the Terry Rodgers’ abduction site,” the Sheriff said, rushed as she peered into the room.

---------

Y/N stood next to Hotch as he inspected the inside of the car. Looking over all the beautifully wrapped gifts that were tucked into the back seat.

“Vehicle’s registered to Cheryl Winslow, 4801 Davenport Avenue,” the deputy on site told the two agents.

“These are all from a baby shower,” Hotch said as he finished looking at the gifts in the back seat.

“We contacted her husband, she’s due in three weeks,” the deputy confirmed.

“If this is our unsub, taking a pregnant woman is a huge change in her victimology,” Y/N said as Hotch turned to her.

“We profiled she was abducting the men as breeders,” Hotch reminded her.

“But why take someone else’s baby if you’re planning on having your own?” Y/N furrowed her brows in confusion.

“Maybe she can’t have one or she lost one.”

“So this-” she moved her hands in a circular motion- “this isn’t about fertility, but the experience these men would bring as fathers.”

Y/N paused as she thought more and Hotch gave her a look, telling her they were now thinking the same thing.

“Is she trying to build a family?”

---------

“That was Hotch,” Rossi said as he hung up his phone. It was the next day now, Cheryl Winslow had been left in the parking lot of the hospital in the early morning, along with her delivered baby. “The doctor told him the placenta was scrapped completely out of the victim’s uterus.”

Y/N and JJ grimaced at the thought.

“Every bit of it.”

“You know the placenta does carry special significance in many cultures. In ancient Egypt, it had its own hieroglyph. And the Ibo tribe in Nigeria considered it to be the child’s dead twin,” Spencer said. His facts were insightful but not helpful here.

“Well, that would be helpful, if our unsub was an ancient Egyptian or Ibo tribe woman, but...” JJ sassed.

Even though JJ’s comment was full of sarcasm and sass, it gave Spencer a thought. He began to mumble to himself as he went through his unlimited knowledge in his brain.

“I can hear the high-pitched whine from your IQ all the way over here, what is it?” Rossi asked. The humor-filled question made Y/N and JJ chuckle.

“It could be placentophagy,” Spencer said as if everyone knew what that was.

“What?” JJ asked.

“Consuming it. In the wild, it’s common for animals to eat their own afterbirth. It’s super-rich in nutrients,” Spencer explained.

“Oh god, I’m going to be sick,” Y/N said as she leaned her lead on her hands at the thought.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait-” Rossi held his hand up to Spencer to stop him before he continued- “so the unsub might have harvested this last victim...for food?”

Spencer lightly nodded his head, grossed out also at the thought.

----------

“It’s about food,” Rossi said as he began to explain what they had deciphered as the motive. “Herbal sedatives, gruel, and now the placenta.”

“Ugh,” Penelope’s sigh was heard through the phone. “And FYI, there’s no record of anyone in La Grande buying that weird kind of sawdust the M.E. found. I’ll widen the search.”

“We still need to figure out how this unsub was able to drug all these men,” JJ reminded everyone.

“The southeast intersect doesn’t get us much,” Spencer nodded to the map. “Laundromat, video rental store.”

“The other intersect is the supermarket, yet none of the employees recognized Paul Hicks, he never shopped there,” Y/N said as she pointed to the spot on the map.

“Garcia, what day of the week were each of the victims abducted?” Hotch asked Penelope on the phone.

“Let me see. Gary Ellard on a Monday, Barry Deaver on a Saturday, Terry Rodgers and Paul Hicks both on a Thursday.”

“Is there anything special that happens in the vicinity of the markets on Thursdays?”Hotch asked.

“Uh...wow, you’ve done this before, haven’t you? Yeah, there’s a farmers market across the street from the supermarket every Thursday morning,” Penelope answered when she got a hit.

“And where is it today?” Hotch continued.

“Pendleton, about forty miles north on Interstate 84.”

“I’m sending Blake and Morgan,” Hotch replied then hung up the phone.

-------------

Y/N threw the paper towel she used to dry her hands away as she pushed the door to the bathroom open. She pressed across the room as she saw Spencer receive something off of the fax machine.

“What do you have?” She nodded to the paper he held in his hand.

He turned back and watched as she stopped in the spot next to him. “Full toxicology report.”

His eyes went down to the paper as he quickly read over it.

“And?”

“Unlike any tox panel I’ve ever seen before,” he turned the page so she could read what he had seen.

“They found gypsum?” She asked after she read the finding.

“Yeah, gypsum’s rich in sulfur, a vital plant nutrient,” Spencer explained.

“I’m sorry, so she’s feeding her captives soil additives?” Y/N asked, slightly grossed out.

“Seed meals, too. Look-” he pointed to a finding further down the page- “cotton, flax.”

“That’s animal feed, right?” Y/N asked Spencer for confirmation.

He nodded.

“Why would you treat a human being like livestock? People raise cattle to eat.” Y/N was so confused now. This unsub’s motives were all over the place.

“The unsub might be using the placenta as food, but nothing in the profile suggested cannibalism,” Spencer agreed with her confusion. “I mean...unless the sawdust they found in Terry Rodgers’ nose…”

“What about it?” Y/N asked when he paused.

“When livestock die, animal carcasses turn into a useful soil amendment through the aerobic biodegradation process--”

“Like compost?”

“Exactly, you need to add a substrate high in carbon to balance the nitrogen. And one of the most efficient substances on earth is pure sawdust,” Spencer explained as he started to piece things together.

“She’s using her victims as human fertilizer,” Y/N muttered as she caught on to what Spencer was saying.

---------------

“Sheriff the surgeon who operated on Cheryl Winslow said that whoever did the c-section might have done one before,” Hotch said as the Sheriff walked into the room.

“If she did, we never heard about it,” the Sheriff responded with wide eyes. “Nothing like this has ever happened in La Grande.”

“Well, we can keep looking, expand the search radius to nearby towns,” Derek suggested.

“What about farms?” JJ’s question made everyone in the room look at her. “My grandparents had a farm in Pennsylvania. Once my grandmother had to deliver a calf by c-section to a cow that was in distress.”

As JJ finished, Hotch’s phone rang.

“Go ahead, Garcia.”

“I have got something, Emma Kerrigan. She runs a small juice and vegetable stand at the farmers market, and she works part-time giving out free samples at the health food co-op. I’m sending you her picture now,” Penelope said as she sent the picture.

“That sounds like our unsub,” Y/N said as she walked into the room, only hearing what Penelope said.

“Where does she live?” Hotch asked quickly.

“Piping Rock Farms west of town, like a hundred acres, belonged to her husband’s family-”

“Wait, she has a husband?” Derek asked, cutting Penelope off.

“Had. Died in a car accident a year and a half ago, leaving her and a ten-year-old daughter,” Penelope clarified.

“Let’s go.” Hotch hung up the phone and rushed out of the room to suit up.

-----------------

The team rolled up to the farm. The sky darkened as it had rolled into the night.

Y/N jogged behind Rossi, JJ, and Spencer into a barn. After making sure the barn was cleared, they lowered their guns and looked around.

Rossi walked up to the one machine that was covered by a green tarp.

“What’s that?” JJ nodded to the tarp.

Rossi grabbed the green plastic-fabric and pulled it back, revealing a grinder.

“Oh my…” Y/N muttered as she looked at the inside that was covered in blood.

They heard through their earpieces that Hotch, Derek, and Blake were heading to another barn on the property next to a garden.

By the time they made their way to the garden, Derek said he found Emma.

They watched as Blake handed her a bag of what looked to be ashes.

“It’s a miracle,” Emma said and kept repeating as she poured the bag on her daughter she had buried under soil next to one of her victims.

Hotch grabbed her as she poured the last bit on top of her daughter and pulled her away. The Sheriff took her away from Hotch and placed cuffs on her to lead her away.

That next day, the team was back in the office finishing up reports from the case and having a day in the office.

Y/N had her feet resting on the corner of her desk, her last report of the day in her lap as she read over it to make sure everything was all good.

It was all hallows eve, and all Y/N wanted to do was get home, watch a stupid scary movie with Spencer and hand candy out to the kids who lived in their apartment building.

She looked up from her work to see Spencer already looking at her.

“Hey, Spence, did we remember the candy for tonight?” She asked, taking her feet off the desk and stood up to walk to his desk.

“We should have a lot if you didn’t eat it all,” Spencer smiled, pointing his pen at her.

“I wouldn’t ever do such a thing,” she laughed.

“That’s a lie straight from the pits of hell Y/N Y/L/N,” Derek said walking up behind her. “You keep a stash of skittles in your desk year-round.”

“And never share, need I remind you,” Rossi added as he remembered all the time he asked for some.

She gasped dramatically and placed a hand on her chest, faking offense to their comments. “Gentlemen, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

The three men laughed at her claim with an eye roll.

“Uh, excuse me, everybody. I have an announcement to make,” JJ said as she walked into the bullpen, rubbing her hands together excitedly.

Once she knew she had everyone on the team’s attention, she continued.

“As I’m sure some of you were aware, Henry was a little nervous about going trick-or-treating this year, but he’ decided to go anyway,” JJ said excitedly.

“Great, what changed his mind?” Rossi asked.

“The BAU did,” she responded sheepishly. “I told him that he should go out on Halloween and try to figure out which monsters are real and which ones are not.”

“So he wants to be a profiler?” Y/N asked with a smile.

“Ah-” JJ held up a finger- “he wants to be his favorite profiler.”

On cue, Penelope led in a small Henry, dressed up as their very own, Spencer Reid. Little converse, a sweater vest, a tie, and even his own satchel bag adorned his body to make the perfect Spencer.

“Wow! Yeah!” Spencer said excitedly as he stood up from his chair to meet Henry in the walkway between desks.

“Oh my gosh, JJ this is too cute,” Y/N gushed as she stood next to Spencer.

“Oh, wow!” Spencer squatted in front of Henry who ran up to him. “You look great, Henry.” Spencer fumbled with his I.D. badge and clipped it onto Henry’s sweater.

“Oh, he’s official!” Derek laughed.

“Tell him,” Penelope whispered into Henry’s ear.

“E equals MC squared!” Henry exclaimed his new knowledge excitedly.

The smile on Spencer’s face was unbeatable.

“The monsters don’t stand a chance,” Blake gushed as she looked at JJ who nodded.

Y/N kneeled in front of Henry. “Here Henry let me do for you what I have to do for Uncle Spencer every morning.”

She gently grabbed his tie and pretended to straighten it for him. Everyone laughed at the action, knowing full well that’s what she did every time his tie was crooked.

“He’s gotta have the full effect,” Y/N looked up at JJ.

“Oh, I know, should we go get you some candy?” JJ said as she leaned down to Henry. He nodded his head excitedly.

He took her hand as she led him out of the office and to the candy with Penelope.

“Watch your back, Pretty Boy,” Derek said to Spencer, clapping his hand on his shoulder as he and Rossi walked past.

Tag List (let me know if you want to be added!!):

@throughparisallthroughrome @word-scribbless @nintendumbfuck @confused-and-really-hungry @justine-en @andiebeaword @itsarayofsunshine @baby-i-am-fireproof @abitofeverythinggg @nanocoool @marceline-is-my-spirit-animal @fancyfaucet @im-a-raging-gay @atletino @mo-whore @peterparkersdestiny @bandsandjill @mbowles23-blog @sarcasm-n-insomnia @citrussirus @nerual222 @april-14-blog @reidloversisforever @heavenlyholland @justawildmarebae @sana-li @thesailbells @l0ve-0f-my-life @spencer101reid @spencersdolore @delicateprunecashpony @sader12345678 @dashlilymark @mysticalmagicmoon @onebigfangirlworld @saturn-mp4 @hurricanejjareau @thatweirdo466 @angryknightstatesmantrash @nograciass @danandphilfan6 @la-vie-en-amour1 @squirrellover1967 @reidswords @skyirates @spideyspencer

#spencer reid #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid smut #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid x reader #Criminal Minds #criminal minds meme #criminal minds imagine #criminal mids fic #derek morgan #derek morgan imagine #aaron hotchner #aaron hotch hotchner #Penelope Garcia #emily prentiss

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esseegg · 3 years

Text

egg theory.

this occurred to me after i saw leaks from Ch. 290 of the My Hero Academia’s manga. it’s not really a theory, just speculation.

warning: contains manga spoilers, Dabi, the Todoroki family, and suicidal implications.

another warning: my thought process is very lengthy and a tad repetitive for the sake of evidence in reasoning. i also get a tad bit “Let’s see what’s in Dabi’s head today” at the end. writer instincts.

I don’t have any images of the manga to pull from, nor am I going to bother with grabbing them. This is more of a psychological analysis, anyways.

For those who’ve read the manga’s most recent chapters, or perhaps even stumbled upon manga snapshots of Dabi, we’ve all noted a few trends: Dabi’s uncharacteristic smile and his uncanny, ecstatic hysteria. At first, we believed this to be a result of potential grieving for Twice’s death and/or the anticipation of finally facing off with Endeavor (for the last time, per se) and/or the thought of seeing Endeavor finally being crushed by Shigaraki’s current rampage.

However, upon seeing Ch. 290′s leaks, I don’t quite believe in such speculations. If anything, these possibilities are not alone. In general, the leaks contain these things: a confession to his mother and the consequent reveal of his Todoroki identity to both his mother and his father.

Setting aside Rei for now, most people have interpreted these details as signs of a final showdown between Dabi and Endeavor. I don’t discredit this. That idiot can’t waltz in with that much drama and not expect a fight in his head.

My problem with all this is that, as we’ve noticed, this energy is entirely opposite of what usually defines Dabi. Dabi is stoic. Dabi is cold. Dabi is not one to go searching for the limelight. Granted, there are a few exceptions to this, but none alike Ch. 290. Here, and as of recent chapters, his carefree attitude is unhinged, fueled by a thrill, an anticipation, a blind excitement, and pure, raw joy.

Now, let’s factor in Rei again. Rei received the news in clearly a much calmer, civil, more sensitive format. You see his body language, and you can see that there is a tenderness in posture alone. He doesn’t even try to put up a front with his expression. It’s plain and simple: a broken, irreparable son giving the last sliver of good he can offer to his mother... The truth.

In summary, Dabi has displayed two things: the giving away of something precious (his identity, tied to his goals and crimes and ongoing life) and blind elation. Most interpret these things as a complex display of vengeance, built atop the foundation of a still human heart. Now.. I do believe the man has a heart. He is certainly human. But humans are scary sometimes.

I don’t think Dabi expects to live. I think he expects to die on that battlefield when he confronts his father. He might not expect to go any further than that. He gave some sort of solace to his mother (as nice as it might’ve been to think him dead, rather than a lost criminal), the possibly last precious person to him in this life.

When suicidal people have finally made the choice, the plans, the preparations for death, they become happy. It’s a misleading thing, actually. They give away what’s important to them, spend a little more time with whoever is most precious to them, then they move on.

I don’t believe that Dabi is looking to die. However, his life’s purpose, which he had been building up to for who knows how long, has finally fallen into place. Once he witnesses or reaches a certain point, I don’t think he will have any complaints about death. And that scares me.

Think about it. His acclaimed ideology is a replicate of Stain’s. Aside from hero society being absolute filth, he believes that if one person has the will for it, they can inflict the change they want to see in the world. And quite frankly? Dabi is very well-equipped for such a thing.

He is a confirmed Todoroki son, son to society’s Number One Hero. Endeavor’s career, fame, prosperity is all at its prime. In public, at least. And Dabi knows this.

Dabi is arguably a perfect candidate to change all that, to inflict the destruction on the world that is his father’s dream. It’s that very dream that chained Rei to Enji, that gave birth to four children, that gave three of those four children complete neglect from their father. That dream, as we all know, has finally been recognized. Without the children. Without the mother. All Endeavor needed was the fall of the great All Might. Now, Endeavor is at the top. And the only direction you can go, after you’ve reached the top, is down.

I wouldn’t put it past Dabi to label himself the manifestation of his father’s corruption and mistreatment of the family. After all, what’s more life-shattering than the Number One’s son turned criminal, killer, and conspirator against society itself? What’s more slandering than the knowledge that the son was not born this evil? That it’s the father’s fault for planting the seeds of long-awaited vengeance?

What’s better than the disgusting climb for morals and virtue, as your old man tries to cry out heartbreak over what you’ve become? What’s better than being the one to kill him? What’s better than forcing him to mayhaps kill you by his own hand? What’s better than letting him know that this is a part of his past, his regrets, his guilt and grief and self-loathing, that he’ll never be able to redeem, fix, and glorify? What’s better than maybe... exposing your old man for what he really is?

Dabi doesn’t necessarily need to do it himself. He just needs to walk up on the stage that is the battlefield, wash his hair dye out, do a twirl, and reclaim the name he had left for dead. Shout it to the world. Go on monologues and maniac speeches for all the heroes to hear. Let them know what Endeavor’s done to his son, to his wife, to his children, to innocent people he didn’t view as humans, but as stepping stones to a dream he didn’t even attain with integrity.

It doesn’t matter who dies. It doesn’t matter who lives. As long as he gets to crush his father’s world, to inflict the change he always wanted to see... he’s happy. Truly, blindingly happy.

disclaimer: i have no idea what the leaks say, only that Dabi’s shirtless and a little dramatic. all my reasoning is based on recalled information, with no check for accuracy. i’m just scared that Dabi is going to canonly die, and the fandom will need to collectively feed itself with coping mechanism fanart and fanfics to pretend our burnt chicken nugget is still with us. have a nice day.

#bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha 290 #mha 290 #dabi #dabi my hero academia #touya todoroki #egg's thoughts #i'm probably an overthinker but i just think this train of thought was cool #i've already thought of counters to prolong Dabi's life for at least one corn chip's worth #but meh #the egg's gotta hoard a little

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blackdragon-selfships · 2 years

Note

do the character meme with your romantic f/o? unless you really wanna do one of your platonic ones? (kittyandco)

Thanks, @kittyandco 💖

Went ahead and filled it out with Aary…cause I need to do more work before I can introduce my new platonic f/os. They’re from a very old cartoon I watched as a kid…and nostalgia brought them back. More on that later…

favorite thing about them

Oof…it’s hard to choose. I’ll say personality-wise, his passion and eagerness to learn things. When he learns something new he has to find out more, but usually he comes to me and asks me to ramble for hours on it (coincidentally it’s usually a special interest of mine)

Physically: Those beautiful eyes of his. No further comment needed.

least favorite thing about them

With him specifically, his manipulative side. He doesn’t lie, but he still manipulates anyway. It’s cool for the show right now, since it’s the central villain that is his target…but not much else.

favorite line

Hm…well he has some good ones in the show. Some are clues about his mysterious past, some are terrifying…and some are totally innocent(ish) and playful.

I like this one…though it’s famous for being taken out of context and almost as overused as “How may I serve you?”:

“Has our relationship truly escalated to this new height? Am I your little bug pal?”

It’s to his accomplice, the central villain…and it’s very much mocking, looking for a reaction. But I still liked the tone it was said in. It was one of the few times so far his voice was anywhere close to friendly and playful as opposed to sinisterly seductive or on the rare occasion, angry or commanding.

But…I really like this line from the TDP Con panel last year (2020 on Zoom) skit where everyone plays D&D. XD

for context:

It’s the heroes (main trio and Soren) and the villains (Viren, Claudia, and Aaravos) and Aaravos is the DM. Everything has devolved into chaos as they’re all fighting each other in the very first scene, and everyone says what they’ll do. Viren (the central villain in the show) says his character will take action…but doesn’t actually say WHAT he does to do that. He is obviously projecting too, but this is Aaravos’ response after a moment of silence:

“…like what do you actually do?!”

He sounds so annoyed and a bit confused actually, and it’s so funny. XD It isn’t canon, I know, but the tone is great. Especially toward Viren, whom Aaravos is working…somewhat with, somewhat for. Regardless, it’s very funny every time I hear it. He’s so out of his element it’s hilarious. XD

random headcanon

Of the books he reads, he enjoys fiction most. Others see him reading large, complex textbooks on magic theory, philosophy, or psychology and others…but his favorites are works of fiction such as mystery novels and unrealistic but indulgent romances (the latter being so bizarre to people who know him as a godlike, unshakable Archmage) and the occasional time travel novel or adventure of someone from a world without magic ending up in one surrounded by it.

unpopular opinion(s)

I have several…but I’ll be brief on them:

-I don’t praise his villainous ways mostly because of the manipulation aspect (which is his biggest negative trait so far). In a relationship, I want to feel safe to know he won’t slip and do it to me.

-I don’t think his goal for himself is to take over the world, or at least the continent. As a god or other.

-I sincerely hope he is not an allegory of the devil…I am absolutely retconning that if he is.

-I don’t think he is going to kill Viren and take over as Big Bad of the series. At all.

-Not sure if this is unpopular…but boy do I hope he isn’t just the Puppetmaster either. I don’t think so based on evidence he can and does develop friendships and bonds…but that’s just begging for things to turn toxic for any relationship.

song i associate with him

Several. lol I’ve shared many (here, here, and here)…but here’s another one:

This

Though…again this could easily be a song for Viren (and/or Claudia) But for now my angst-loving heart is saying it fits Aaravos.

favorite picture of him

…it’s hard to choose. I’ll go with this one:

Sadly not his default colors because context-wise this is an astral projection in a sense. But his expression (as most) is cute…and I like that it looks like he’s looking down at me (as he does) and saying something playful or amused. lol

☆°● — character ask meme

#me/g answers #ask game: character meme asks #about my danger star ✨#kittyandco

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ertrunkenerwassergeist · 4 years

Note

I send you a Thing over on Ao3 comment section on Heart of Thunder. Feel free to answer it here and delete it there afterwards! I hope you like my little idea on reversal of the selkie!au 😁💗

Delete it? Maybe. But here it is, so that people know what I’m answering to:

How about a reversal of the selkie!au? Galahd has legends of selkie. But those on the islands are like Fae. You have to be very careful to cook me out of meeting them more or less intact. So Galahkari treat them with due caution and keep the hell away.

On the other hand, in Lucis skin changers have a moderately benevolent history. Helpful, if you treat them well but break a contract or harm an innocent around them and YOU. ARE. DONE. There are many stories of a queen or two shedding feathers of a Swan (one black and one white, guess who was more beloved) to settle down with her beloved. Countless more romanticised versions among the literature - all of which the refugees from Galahd scoff at with derision. But most of Insomnia treats those like fairy tales or sth, believing it even less than the takes of the Astrals and their Messengers.

Wider Lucis is a different story. Ppl there still have the Shifters appear from time to time. Tales of ppl with slightly wilder look around them are common. They all try to exercise their hospitality and manners especially well around those individuals.

And if that annoying herd that keeps destroying crops suddenly moves away or the Thunderocs that try to nest on the antidemon lights disappear they keep it to themselves and just smile extra warmly at the stranger should he appear again. Cor is a skin changer. Not many (beyond the Retinue) are aware of that. Mors certainly was not despite using the feral child as a soldier/guard. He feels like a wolf or a bird of prey of some type.

Regis knows the lore, some of the skin changer blood flows through his veins, he understands the urges. (Hmm, maybe Ardyn's mother's ancestor had phoenix blood in their veins? Maybe Somnus was just his half brother?) and knows that Cor's instincts are much sharper. Trusts that whenever Cor deals away with a member of his court, there is something wrong. Hell, even his suspicions are usually enough to start an investigation.

(That's why Titus irks him so much. He has trouble finding evidence between being run ragged by the war, something just /itches/at him in that man's presence. Drautos on the other hand just does not believe in folk tales) And then come the Galahdians.

And Nyx Ulric.

And Cor's every instinct just screams at him to get close to the man. That he is Important. (Doesn't help that he smells nice beneath all the spices, Cor can smell the fragrance even hours after the Glaive finished Guard duty in Citadel. Regis just laughs at him and starts mercilessly teasing his friend. It's only because Cor considers him family that the King does not end up with his throat torn out.)

Unfortunately, the moment Cor gathers enough courage to actually try talking to the man, he stumbles upon a convo disparaging the Lucian naivete re. selkie and decides to stay away and pine from the distance.

Hi, I just wanted to clarify in case tumblr ate my reply to your question: you can absolutely feel free to post this on tumblr with your reply.

Have some more tiny pieces

Galahdians being a bit like the Irish, wary as hell about the fair folk but not selkie, still human.

On the other hand, Cor being able to put on feathers or fur and being *very specific* about how he goes about helping ppl (and only certain ppl) or solving problems Imagine them ranting about naive Lucians having romantic tales about selkie and having the image of bloodthirsty Eldrich sea creatures in mind. While Lucians think about their Swan queens and maybe some furry Messenger like helpful creatures (as long as you don't offend them) Complete culture shock😜

Me:

Okay, first off: This is wonderful. And I love it very much. Also for everybody’s sanity I’ll put my answer under the cut.

Let’s say the term fae is used in Lucis to describe all magical beings that aren’t humans, animals, daemons, the Astrals or their messengers. When they say “A fae must have done it”, it means something very strange is afoot that shouldn’t bee too closely looked into.

Because benevolent or not, the fae like their privacy. Old children’s tales say that you should never tell anybody you saw a fae or that one helped you. Otherwise they will play cruel tricks and after they’ve had their fun you’ll never see them again.

Lucian tales go along the lines of helpful sprites that protect homes when milk and food are set out, of the Titan’s folk (read dwarves) that first taught humans how to mine, of the lindwurm that was blessed by Bahamut and gave the person who solved his tasks secret knowledge.

But the most popular tales are the ones about shape-shifters. Animal-walkers. It is said you can recognize them at the glint in their eyes, the sharpness of their teeth, the something that is different from what a human face should be. Their stories are most popular with hunters and people outside of Insomnia.

I really love how you describe them :D

On the swan queens: Maybe the white swan could actually be a human that got cursed, and the Lucian King (then prince) broke the curse. The black swan was a shape-shifter, and only shed her feathers permanently after her man who wanted her, solved three unsolveable tasks.

Let’s say the white swan queen was considered very imperious and hysteric and inconsiderate, while the black swan queen was very beloved for her generosity and benevolence.

Which is around the time romanticised tales about shape-shifters and humans crop up like weeds. And they keep being popular into the modern times.

Now for the Galahkari.

Their word for magical beings like that is fihrie. But they are far less benevolent. For them fae/fihrie are beings that dance in the twilight when sun and moon share the sky and their music and laughter drives people mad. They are the beings that twist trees into wrong forms and trap freshly departed souls in their dead bodies. They are the ones that ride on the winds of winter and steal the unwary. It’s also said that they steal the first breath of a newborn baby because that is the most precious thing to them, and if the child survives despite that, it stands with one leg in the fihrie world.

Their stories aren’t about beings that are nice.

But then there are the selkie. Stories tell that they once belonged to the fihrie until one of them once stole not the first breath of a newborn, but the second. And that changed them into something that was just tiny bit more human and less fihrie.

So when the Galahkari come to Insomnia and see all those romanticized tales of swan queens and the lindwurm and sprites and tiny people with butterfly wings?

They think they have lost their minds. And wonder why these people are still alive. Because those Insomnian stories would insult any fihrie down to their bone. Which literally means the offending party will die a slow and gruesome death.

A theory says that the Lucians are loosing the war because the fihrie are so unbelievably furious.

Which leads to a lot of strange behaviour from the Insomnian point of view, when sigils appear everwhere along with salt lines and talismans and flower/grain/grass wreaths.

There is more than one loud discussion of how none of the Lucians seem to realize just how dangerous the Other Folk is. How you give offerings when having to walk through their territory, and while there you don’t eat or drink anything that comes from there. How you make sure a newborn’s first breath is takes as close to a fire as possible, because in their mind it is better to belong to the fires (to Ifrit) than to the Others.

And Cor stumbles into one of those discussions without anyone noticing. Let’s say Nyx isn’t there for one reason or other.

What would Cor think about this?

He would obviously know from Nyx’ aura alone that Nyx is a fae. (Just like Nyx knows Cor is not human. But Nyx keeps his distance because this is not his territory and he has not been invited to Cor’s hearth. Normally Nyx would have to make the fist move and he tried to, but this is not Galahd and things are done differently.)

Now he also knows what the Galahkari think of fae. This would make Cor’s protective instinct go into overdrive. Because Nyx is fae - obviously the only one that came from Galahd - and he’s younger then Cor. Which makes him one of Cor’s now.

And this is how not only human cultures clash, but also fae/fihrie culture.

#ffxv #fae au #not everyone knows how to draw a salt line #cor leonis #nyx ulric #ask #prompt #not sure if this would be cor/nyx #selkie!nyx #shape-shifter!cor #those are two different beings #worldbuilding #headcanons #ignisfelicis #geist writes #this has really great potential #would anyone be interested in more rmablings about this?

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isa-ghost · 4 years

Text

Having A Heart Attack | 3 Scary Games Notes

Welcome to the first fire of 2020 y’all! I dunno why I feel like I should put a quick “reminder” here of what these are? It’s been a while since I’ve had anything to take notes on and it’s a new year, so it just kinda feels right!

My theory notes on fiery videos bulletpoint each noteworthy thing or something I find interesting that happens in a video, along with my personal thoughts, theories, and/or debunkings about each point. In other words, not everything I jot down is definite evidence of anything at all, but has enough reason to be mentioned, even if its just to dismiss suspicions. Its also marked down for people who come into fires late and need the important bits of what they missed!

All of my notes, as well as screenshots and theories from myself and others are all compiled on @isas-theory-wall, so feel free to follow so you have somewhere to catch up if you need it!

As for today’s fiery bullshit...

There’s a transition between the first and second game that’s glitchy but Robin has been known to innocently use that affect for horror game transitions before so I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.

There’s another MUCH MORE glitchy transition between the second and third game that I don’t think is as innocent, not to mention the glitching changes from the screen to specifically the facecam. I went frame by frame through the whole transition and there’s an entire pause between the screen’s glitch and the facecam’s glitch, and the way they each glitch are completely different. The screen’s glitch is like the transition from 1st to 2nd game; its the same style as usual innocent, non-cryptic glitchy transitions. They’re quiet, usually red/blue and look more like scanlines and motion blur than legit glitches. But the facecam’s glitching is more like the Bad Glitches we’re used to; has actual blocky glitches, a loud sound, and they had red, blue and green in them- classic colors we associate with Anti. Not to mention the glitches on the facecam were specifically focused over Sean’s head.

14:48 - “It’s got the zalgo type of text which I’m very very fond of” HMMMM WONDER WHY. He also mentions being very fond of glitches and stuff, “as we know.” This isn’t a hint or anything but obviously we all know he’s nudging the aesthetic of how he does Anti stuff.

These are COMPLETE COINCIDENCES because they’re from the game, not Sean; but the red lights bursting one by one are reminiscent of the end of Dark Silence (in the actual game before the Chase cutscene) and when he has to start running from the thing coming at him, the maze reminds me of when you’d be chased through the maze sequences during Try To Fall Asleep.

29:30 - “Be careful what you’re giving attention to. [. . .] You never know what’s going to come for you in the deepest, darkest depths of your mind.” This reminds me of so many things. Always Watching, Overnight Watch, Quit the Game to Win... We know all about the relevancy of attention with Anti. Not to mention this is a bit of an odd way to phrase being careful online. Especially mentioning “your mind” if its supposed to be about caution with technology.

29:44 - Sean’s audio glitches. A window titled “A” pops up and says “Not long now.” I think it’s pretty obvious why it’s titled “A.”

29:51 - Another audio glitch. A window, again titled “A” pops up saying “He’s coming” and the window is glitching.

The after-outro clips are somewhat back (some vids have them, some don’t)! This video’s after clip is innocent but to fellow theorists: make sure to start checking for after clips in suspicious videos (most likely primarily horror games)! Sean has put suspicious things in them before, and we don’t want to miss anything!

#jacksepticeye

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strayneoculturekids · 5 years

Text

Denial - Minho x Reader

Pairing: Rich!Kid Minho x Rich Kid!Reader

Summary: You and Minho hated each other’s very cores, always having a go at each other and competing with one another. It wasn’t until guys’ mutual friends started getting a bit too close to you did Minho admit that he might’ve been challenging you 24/7 for a reason other than spite

Enemies to Lovers AU, Childhood Friends(?) AU, Rich Kid AU

Genre: Fluff

Requested by Anon: Minho: frenemies to less frenemies with more feelings of love than hate.

A/N: to all of my followers, this doesn’t mean I’m off of hiatus, my apologies, it was just a request I hadn’t finished before I went on hiatus, so please enjoy it!

Warnings: None~

—-

You nodded as you walked alongside your best friend, Bang Chan, to your guys’ next class, wordlessly agreeing with his speech about how he, Changbin and Jisung would ‘make like, the best rap group ever’, so as he liked to put it. You were just about to open your mouth to speak when Minho walked into the conversation.

“Hey, Chan” He smiled, completely ignoring your presence, knowing how much it pissed you off

“Hey, Minho” Chan spoke awkwardly, feeling the tension rise despite you and Minho not having had said a single word to one another

“Hello, Minho” You seethed, being obnoxiously loud, still, the annoying boy pretended like you didn’t exist

“We’ve got the next class together, right Chan?” He said, “Did you finish the homework?”

“We had homework?!” You paused in your tracks, breath seeming to stop, you’d never forgotten your homework before and you sure as hell weren’t planning on starting today

“No, we didn’t” Chan interrupted, trying to sound calm and indifferent “He’s just trying to rile you up, Y/N”

“So gullible” Minho sneered, mumbling just loud enough for you to hear

You almost jumped on him right there and then but decided maybe starting a fight in the middle of the extensive school grounds wasn’t the best idea, especially since you three were only a couple metres from your next class now. Gulping down your retorts to Minho’s spiteful behavior, you walked into the classroom, head held high, followed by Chan and then Minho. You went to the corner and sat in your usual seat, your best friend took his seat next to you and your enemy took his seat next to Chan.

After a couple minutes of hateful silence between you and Minho and Chan in the middle of it all, trying not to sweat, the teacher walked in and the chatter in the class died away.

The lesson began, as usual, with the roll, followed by the teacher introducing what was going to happen during the lesson and then followed by her actually starting it. It seemed today would be a boring lesson; a class test was coming up soon, so it was all bland theory work. You immediately took out your laptop and began making quick notes- just detailed enough for you to come back and actually understand what you were thinking while writing them. Usually you didn’t have to try all too hard in classes to get decent grades, but your and Minho’s undeclared competitions had recently moved along to academics and there was no way in hell you were going to let him surpass you.

The period ended quickly and, satisfied, with the amount of notes you’d written, you looked over to Minho before he managed to close the extravagant book he preferred to write in rather than his laptop; they were the neatest notes you’d ever seen. You were puzzled for a second, you’d never really taken Minho to be a neat person, but you quickly shook your head and began to pack up so you didn’t get left behind, not that Chan wouldn’t wait for you anyway, though.

“Do we have Chapel this afternoon?” You asked, looking to Chan as you got up from your seat; barely anyone at your school was Christian, but going to a Christian private school, chapel was compulsory

“Nah,” He said, quickly glancing to Minho as he walked out of the classroom, only saying bye to Chan on his way out, to which Chan replied with a ‘cya later’

“Oh, thank god,” You said, overdramatically placing a hand over your heart “what do we have, then?”

“I think year assembly” Chan shrugged “Let’s just go to the library, we’ll check there.”

You nodded and followed Chan out of the classroom and into the school grounds.

Your school was big- like, really big. It had five separate parts, one for k-2, one for 3-6, one for 7-8, one for 9-10 and one for 11-12, it was a bit ridiculous, and especially with the years k-6 and 7-12; they were separated across the school grounds so far that it took 15 minutes to walk between them. The grounds were full of luscious plants and large, rustic but comforting looking brick buildings; even more, there were a total of three libraries in the school. The library that years 7-12 used was so big that even you still hadn’t been everywhere in it.

After about three minutes of walking, you and Chan made it back to your guys’ lockers, put away your things (excluding your laptops) and started to walk towards the library. The library was one of the more modern-looking buildings, with windows everywhere, made of white concrete and the occasional house-plant decorating it. Inside, the library looked even bigger, decorated with ridiculous things like the giant snitch hanging on the wall behind the reception desk.

“Guys!” A deep voice came from behind you

You and Chan swung around to see Felix, waving to you from one of the biggest seminar rooms. You looked at the number it had on the front of it: ‘seminar room 3′ and went to the reception desk to sign you and Chan into it next to Felix’s, Seungmin’s, Hyunjin’s, Changbin’s, Jeongin’s, Woojin’s, Jisung’s and, unfortunately, Minho’s names.

Even though you already knew Minho would be inside the seminar room, you still groaned at the sight of him. Minho looked up and raised his eyebrows at you but quickly went back to showing Jisung something on his laptop.

“Hey, Y/N” Seungmin greeted, patting a seat next to him, “You said you wanted help with that history assignment we got, right?”

“You still haven’t finished that?” Minho interrupted, smirking evilly

“Relax, hot stuff,” Jeongin said jokingly “No one except you has finished, we got it two days ago. It’s due in three weeks”

“New watch, Woojin?” Chan said, taking a seat beside the oldest in the group

“Yeah” Woojin nodded and scooted his laptop so it was in between him and Chan instead of just in front of him. “It was a present from my aunt, I’d never wear it otherwise. Pure gold, supposedly; it’s quite heavy” Woojin frowned down at his watch; evidently, he’d been forced to wear it

You let the sound from the other eight boys in the room drown out and started your own conversation about the assignment with Seungmin, who happened to choose the same topic on it as you.

Around 40 minutes passed of you working on the assignment with Seungmin when Hyunjin stood up.

“Guys, we should get going now, don’t want to be late for the year assembly” He sighed dramatically

The rest of the members of the group stood up and followed Hyunjin out the door to the tall science building (where the lecture theatre was).

By the time you got there, a large crowd of everyone in your guys’ year had formed outside of the theatre. A short teacher came bustling through, the students automatically made a path for him to get to the door and unlock it. Once he had managed to push open the heavy entrance, people streamed through it, taking seats in the grand layered room. You and the nine other boys with you took seats at the back; seven of them streamed into the row, Chan was third last, then you, then, to your dismay, you looked back and saw Minho was walking into the row of cushioned seats to sit next to you, an unimpressed look resting on his admittedly handsome features.

Silence quickly fell over the theatre when your year co-ordinator walked into the middle of the lowered platform. She, as usual, greeted the hall and quickly went onto what was going to be happening during the following week, issues that have come up as well as congratulations on small things.

A couple minutes passed and you were half asleep when you felt Chan tap your shoulder. You looked over to your smiling best friend as he held up a discreet finger heart for you. You almost chuckled aloud, but stopped yourself and, quickly, you gave him two finger hearts in exchange. Chan scrunched up his nose in amusement and reached over to your face, tucking a stray piece of hair behind your ear. You mouthed a bashful ‘thank you’. You hadn’t noticed (Chan most certainly had) but Minho was watching everything go down, steam almost coming out of his ears. Why in the world was he feeling like this? Like he just wanted to…grab your hand and make you look at him instead of Chan, Minho wanted to be the one sending you innocent finger hearts, even though he didn’t admit it to himself. No, he couldn’t be feeling jealous, why would he need to?

Finally, after half an hour of the teacher at the front droning on about whatever it is she had to say, and half an hour of Minho sitting with his eye twitching, watching you and Chan platonically flirt, the assembly ended. The chatter immediately started up again and people went to go gather their things for last period- or go straight to their class if they had brought their things with them.

“Y/N” Minho grabbed your hand as a bunch of others passed you two, purposely losing the other eight people in your friend group, trying not to let the red on his face show

“The fuck do you want?” You asked, turning and facing him, ripping your hand away from his grip

“I-” Miho pursed his lips “Whatever. Never fucking mind” He grunted brutally, deciding that talking to you about his feelings wasn’t worth the embarrassment

You huffed and walked away from him, catching up with Changbin and Felix, who you had your next class with.

“Where’d you go?” asked Changbin when you joined the pair

“Minho held me up,” You said, trying not to frown at the statement- you couldn’t help but wonder if you’d imagined the blush that was painted across his face or not

“Minho?” Felix said skeptically “Did he finally confess his undying love for you?”

You were about to elbow Felix, except that when you turned to your friend, he didn’t seem to be joking about it at all.

“Pfft, likely story” You pulled your elbow back, deciding that maybe you could pry a bit more information out of Felix, knowing that he knew a hell of a lot more about Minho than you

“Yeah” Changbin chuckled “Chan has been trying to make Minho jealous” He looked like he had more to say, but Felix elbowed him

“He has? But…he hasn’t really been doing anything different to what we normally do”

“Well, yeah, you and Chan are already pretty platonically intimate, but he’s started doing it especially in front of Minho, haven’t you noticed?” Felix stated smartly

“Felix?” You cocked your head “Are you feeling okay? I didn’t even know you knew what half the words you just said meant”

Changbin let out a snort as he shut his locker, his stuff piled in his arms, quickly joining you and Felix with going to the last period

“Stop dodging the subject” Felix whined, “Just admit that you like Minho too!”

“Hell no” You furrowed your brows “Minho and I have been enemies since- since we were kids. I don’t have feelings for him…” You trailed off towards the end, beginning to sound unsure of even yourself

With that, you became quiet, ignoring Changbin and Felix chatting away next to you. ‘I don’t like Minho…’ you thought to yourself ‘no…I just…admire how smart and talented he is…and how good he is at dancing and singing…and how handsome he can look sometimes…holy shit I like Minho’ the very thought of it made you pause mid-step. Changbin and Felix stopped as well, turning around to check what was wrong. A few year sevens walking behind you almost bumped into you, but quickly changed their path, chattering away nervously.

“what’s up?” Changbin questioned

“Nothing…” you shook your head and kept walking, Changbin and Felix almost had to jog to keep up with your fast pace

“Y/N” Felix ran up to you, panting slightly “We weren’t going to invite you because we knew you’d probably be offended that we even thought you would want to come, but the eight of us are going to Minho’s house tonight, and you could come if you wanted”

“There’s no way Minho would want me to come” You snorted, scrunching up your nose

“But do you want to?”

“I- …no…” You said unconvincingly

“We’ll see whether he’ll let you come once class is over,” Changbin smiled, running to catch up with the pair of you as well

“Whatever,” You grunted in what you hoped to be a stoic voice

You three finally made it to the classroom where your teacher was already waiting at the front of the classroom sat behind her desk.

“Did the assembly go over time?” She asked, seeing as most of the class hadn’t shown up yet

“Yeah” Felix nodded and took his usual seat, followed by Changbin and then you

Just a few seconds passed and students began to flow into the classroom, all taking their ‘unassigned assigned seats’.

It felt as if the class barely began when it had finished, your mind had been on Minho the entire hour and for once, you didn’t take notes on what the teacher was saying- you didn’t even participate in a single class discussion, only narrowly dodging being called on by the teacher a few times.

You exited the classroom, more slouched than usual, wondering whether Minho would let you come along.

You were frowning the whole way back to the locker rooms, completely lost in your own thoughts. Everything you were doing was done absent-mindedly, unlocking your locker, packing away your things, grabbing your bag; it wasn’t until Chan tapped your shoulder that you finally came back to reality.

“Lix told me you wanted to come to Minho’s this afternoon?” He questioned

“What?! I didn’t say that!”

“Good, because I wouldn’t have let you come anyways” a snide voice interrupted from behind Chan, one that so obviously came from Minho

“Well,” Chan said, stepping aside, letting you and Minho have direct eye contact before continuing “Y/N would probably feel really left out. I’ll just skip out on your place tonight and hang with Y/N”

“Wha-?” Minho looked very taken aback, but his surprised expression was quickly replaced with that of an annoyed one “Fine, they can come,” He crossed his arms “only because I don’t want Chan to not come” Minho quickly added when you gave him a perplexed look

“Whatever, I’m only coming because I have no other plans tonight”

“tsunderes” Chan muttered under his breath

“What?” you and Minho both squinted at him suspiciously at the same time

“Nothing! Nothing” Chan defended himself, smiling in what he hoped to be an innocent fashion

After less bicker between you and Minho than the eight other boys had expected, the ten of you made your way to the school gates, being met by a black stretch limo and a sophisticated looking driver.

“Dude” Seungmin frowned at Minho “weird flex”

“What?! I don’t have another car that fits ten people” Minho said, smiling, raising his hands in defense jokingly

You almost smiled while watching Minho interact with his friends, he looked so handsome, smiling and joking carelessly with them, but you caught yourself just as the corners of your lips turned upwards.

“This is Y/N” Minho motioned to you when he talked with the driver, being much more polite than he normally would with you otherwise

“Ah, Y/N. I remember you,” The driver smiled and looked kindly to you, you smiled and waved back, you enjoyed the company of literally everyone in Minho’s family except Minho himself “The last time I saw you was when you were about eight; are you and Minho finally friends?”

“Pft- they’re not- we’re not friends- I-” Minho seemed to notice he was doing more damage to his image than good, so he hastily followed his friends into the car

“Hm. Seems Minho has a crush” The driver muttered to you as you entered the door

Without waiting for a reply, the driver left you in a flustered state to go to the driver’s seat. With a vigorous shake of your head, you entered the limo and shut the door behind you. It was incredible, like the typical millionaire limo you’d see in movies- black everywhere, basically couches instead of seats- hell, there was even a mini-fridge.

“I second Seungmin” Hyunjin came just as you sat down, looking around the car “Weird flex, Minho”

“Don’t pretend like you guys aren’t just as rich as me” Minho smiled, rubbing the back of his neck, his cheeks heating up

“Jeongin and I are here on academic scholarships, remember?” Seungmin spoke up “and Changbin is here on a music scholarship”

“Chan and I are here on music scholarships too!” Jisung yelled stubbornly, being far louder than necessary

“Yeah, but you and Chan could afford to be here without scholarships” Woojin raised a brow at Jisung

Soon enough, the car was full of chatter, you were so busy talking that you hadn’t even noticed the car had started moving and, before you could even process that the car had come to a stop, the driver opened the back door once again, telling you that you had arrived at Minho’s.

You blinked once and shook your head, soon stepping out of the limo into the surprisingly bright sunlight. In front of you stood possibly one of the biggest houses you’d ever seen- it was even bigger than yours; you had to strain your neck back just to see the top.

“Welcome to my oh-so-humble abode,” Minho said to you, ignoring the other eight boys for now since they’d already been there

“I third Seungmin,” You raised a brow, looking at Minho, unimpressed “Weird flex”

For the first time in your life, you thought you’d just caught a glimpse of Minho flashing a genuine smile directed at you, but he’d turned away before you could tell. To say it didn’t fluster you would be a complete and absolute lie; you stood there, cheeks red, refusing to believe that Minho could make you feel like this.

Finally, after a bit of a mess, the ten of your made it into Minho’s house, through the hallways that seemed almost endless, passing the far-too-big living rooms decorated with extravagant gold, silver, jewels and a couple charming house plants and up the wide marble staircase to be finally met with Minho’s room. The room was just as big as you’d expected it to be, but it was much more home-y than the rest of the house. A king-sized bed was placed in the corner, black sheets adorning it and a sweet looking wooden bedside table. There was what looked to be a gaming corner in a part of the room, a large, full-body mirror stretching across almost an entire wall and a modern but not overwhelming desk tucked away in the corner right of the entrance along with a couple bookshelves stacked with study books and keep-sakes next to it.

“That mirror is so distracting” You sighed, looking to the overly-large mirror

“It’s for dancing” Minho mumbled as he passed you, so low that you didn’t understand what he said

“Huh?”

“Nothing,” He said quickly, turning away from you with a red face

“I’ve got the switch!” Jisung shouted, running up to the array of consoles in the far corner of the room and grabbing the red, blue and black coloured Nintendo switch along with six other black controllers “Who’s playing Smash Bros with me?!”

Chan, Felix, Seungmin, Hyunjin, Changbin, Minho and Jeongin all rushed forward to grab a console, sitting on the bean-bags surrounding the corner while Woojin and you stood back, chuckling at their childishness.

“You’re not joining them, Woojin?” You asked, taking a seat on one of the spare bean-bags

“Nah, the winner of the brawl rotates out” Woojin replied, relieving his wrist of the gold watch he had around it the whole day

You nodded and watched as the boys all hastily picked out their favourite characters on the gaming console and started a brawl.

“What character do you normally pick, Y/N?” Felix asked, keeping his eyes on the screen

“Usually it’s Link” you shrugged, searching the boys’ chosen characters “the Breath of the Wild one” You added, remembering how many Links there were

“What a coincidence” Seungmin smiled mischievously as the brawl started and they all started smashing the controllers

“Minho usually chooses Zelda” Hyunjin interrupted, smirking at the large TV screen just as you’d gotten to Minho’s character

“Pfft, Zelda’s a bad character,” You said haughtily

“Not if you know how to use her properly!” Minho defended himself “Hah! See!” He said just as he’d knocked Felix (who had chosen Pikachu) off the stage

“Lucky shot!” Felix yelled as he respawned and immediately went for Minho for revenge

You laughed, completely forgetting the fact that you absolutely despised Minho in all the chaos. Only another couple minutes passed and the shouting became louder than ever; Seungmin (who had chosen Dark Pit) and Chan (who had chosen Meta Knight) were locked in a battle between each other, everyone else aside from the pair had run out of lives. Finally, after a shout of frustration and triumphant cheer, Chan lost his last life.

“catch, Y/N” Seungmin called, throwing you his controller

You quickly caught it while blinking, unaware of what was happening. You then saw Chan hand over his controller to Woojin and realized it was your turn to play. You walked forward and plopped down on the same bean bag as Jisung, who was closest to you.

“Agh! Hey, there’s no room for both of us!” Jisung whined, scrunching his nose “Just sit on my lap” He grabbed you under the arms and lifted you slightly onto his lap

“Can you see?” You asked, trying not to block your friend’s view

“Yeah” He confirmed, leaning slightly to the side while you leaned slightly to the opposite side

After that, you paid no attention to Jisung, busy changing your character from Dark Pit to Link while Jisung (who stayed as Kirby) peered around you. Minho, on the other hand, was glaring at Jisung like he never had before. ‘They could’ve just as easily sat on my bean bag’ he thought poutily to himself, glancing at you before shaking his head and turning back towards the screen just as another brawl had started.

Just for the irony of it, you immediately went for Minho’s character, still Zelda, and started fighting. The shouting quickly started up again and Minho was thrown off the edge by you, something to which he took great offense from, immediately respawning and going to attack you again. You and Minho continued your guys’ separate brawl until Jeongin (who’s character was Yoshi) interfered and managed to land a K.O move on you, considering your health percentage had gotten so high. Minho cheered and high-fived Jeongin while you frowned and respawned.

A couple more minutes and you and Minho were the only ones left. All of the boys shouting behind you seemed to be cheering on only you.

“You guys are so biased!” Minho yelled angrily “Just cause’ Y/N’s so pretty and sweet you cheer for them instead” Although his hands weren’t free, you could almost see him crossing his arms

“No, it’s because they’re a better player than you” Hyunjin (who had been Ice-Climbers) commented matter-of-factly

“You think I’m pretty and sweet?!” your jaw went slack and you were so distracted that you didn’t even bother to try and jump back up after Minho knocked your character off-screen, resulting in him winning

“What?! No! That’s not- I didn’t say-” Minho stuttered, his cheeks flushing red

“Yeah, yeah, we all know you guys have major crushes on each other, hand over the controllers” Said Seungmin, grabbing Minho’s controller from out of his hands and happily pushing Minho off of his bean-bag and taking his spot

You didn’t even process that you were absent-mindedly handing Chan the controller and sinking back into Jisung’s chest, both of whom were chuckling almost uncontrollably from your bewildered state.

“Alright Y/N, up” Jisung pushed you off his lap, toward the spare bean-bag where Minho had taken a seat, still puffy “Now that I’m free of my handi-cap, you fuckers are going down!” He yelled

You and Minho made quick eye-contact. He puffed out his cheeks and moved to the side of the bean-bag, making free space for you. You raised your eyebrows but nonetheless, took the seat next to him, trying to get comfortable without making skin contact with your self-proclaimed enemy, but it proved to be quite difficult with how much the bean-bag was moving.

“Sorry” You muttered, aware that by now, Minho was probably beginning to get annoyed

When he didn’t reply, you looked up to him, yet again, you two made eye contact for a split second. Minho’s eyes widened and his face turned even more red. He quickly averted his gaze to the screen, most of your guys’ friends had died by now and were instead cheering on Changbin (who was playing with Samus), Seungmin and Jeongin.

An hour must have passed, but you and Minho didn’t move from the bean-bag unless it was to retrieve the controller from the two that had been the last in the brawl, which was followed by you guys immediately going back to the same bean-bag to sit next to the other. You had no idea which round it had happened, but one time when you got up and went back to the bean-bag, Minho pulled you into his lap before you got the chance to sit next to him, and the next time Minho had to get up, you sat back down and made Minho sit in your lap, and it changed like that depending on who had to get up. Neither of you seemed to notice that everyone else in the room stared at the pair of you in shock each time it happened.

“You two…” Chan shook his head, smiling to himself

“What?” You looked up from your place on top of Minho’s lap

“Huh?” Minho peered around you to look at Chan

“What happened to hating each other?” Jeongin teased

You and Minho paused, faces growing red. Neither of you answered, just looked down, not willing to take your gazes off of the ground, even though Felix had just taken your last life in the game.

Finally, after it grew dark, you guys turned off the TV and console, leaving it and the controllers for a charge.

“There are uh…” Minho looked to his fingers and began to count on them “six bathrooms upstairs, not including my parents’ en suite. So…which of us are going to shower first?”

“Fuck- I didn’t bring clothes” You face-palmed, only now remembering that you’d been invited to the ‘sleep-over’ unexpectedly, and hadn’t brought any supplies to school with you

“You can borrow my hoodie,” Chan said

“I brought spare sweat-pants, actually,” Seungmin said

“I’ve got another t-shirt” Hyunjin rummaged around in his bag

“Would offering you a pair of fox socks be weird? They’re fluffy” Jeongin questioned cutely

“I don’t think any of us have spare undies” Seungmin looked around with a raised eyebrow

“You can borrow Minho’s boxers” Changbin chuckled, joining in

“Wha-” you blushed

“I mean, it’s probably the best option if we’re being completely honest” Woojin added, fighting back an amused smile “You do clean your boxers, don’t you, Minho?”

“Of course I do!” Minho said, looking fairly offended “But lending them to someone else- isn’t that a bit unsanitary…?”

“I mean I’m sure it’s fine between…romantic partners” Jisung smirked, raising his eyebrows suggestively

“Shutup” Minho glared at his friend

Despite his initial protests, he walked over to his overly-large cupboard, opened it, and got out a pair of plain black boxers. The entire group ‘ooh-ed’, all except for you.

“This is actually happening? We’re actually doing this? …jesus christ…” You tried not to laugh as Minho reluctantly threw the boxers at you and pointed to his en-suite

Trying not to die of embarrassment, you walked into the bathroom while the other nine boys sorted out which five would be showering first, followed by Minho showing them where the other bathrooms were.

Not too long after, everyone had showered and the ten of you gathered in a circle.

“Let’s play truth or dare” Seungmin smiled- it would look sweet if you didn’t know any better

“I’m down” Hyunjin agreed, a chorus of agreements sounded throughout the group

“Me first,” Minho said quickly “Felix, truth or dare?”

“Dare, obviously,” He said in his deep voice

“In the next room over, there’s a balcony where you can jump safely into the pool from. I’ve done it before.” Minho paused dramatically “I dare you to jump from the balcony in your PJ’s into the pool”

“What?! I’ve already showered!” Felix complained

“Fine, you can take off your shirt” Minho reasoned, still smiling

Felix opened his mouth to protest, but nothing came out, so he stood up, the group following him, exited the room and proceeded to march to the room next to Minho’s.

“Other way, idiot” Minho said from the group

Felix bashfully changed directions and went into the other room, which was similar to the rest of the house, so unlike Minho’s comforting room. The balcony doors were glass and Felix quickly stripped himself of his shirt and socks and stepped out onto the balcony. The drop wasn’t far, it was like a diving board, the only catch, you supposed, was that Felix would have to shower again, and probably steal a pair of Minho’s pants.

Without another thought, Felix dived into the pool, creating a big splash.

“IT’S FUCKING FREEZING” Felix yelled once he resurfaced, quickly wading his way to the edge of the pool and pulling himself out

The group chuckled while Woojin shook his head. Minho threw a towel at Felix which he grabbed and wrapped around himself.

“The door inside is over there” Minho pointed to the left “you know your way around this house. Seeya in a bit”

“Seeya” Felix waved, ruffling his wet hair to hopefully dry it a bit so he didn’t completely soak the carpet inside

The rest of the group walked back to Minho’s room and rearranged themselves in a circle, leaving an empty space for Felix.

“Wait….we have to wait for Felix to get back so he can ask the next person,” Changbin said, scrunching his nose

“I’ll go!” Chan interrupted, looking rather amused “Minho, truth or dare?”

“uh- dare” Minho hesitated, knowing that if he said truth, he’d be asked whether he had feelings for you

“I dare you to kiss the cutest person in the room”

“Pft- easy” Minho smirked again, standing up

“Other than yourself!” Chan quickly added when he saw Minho making his way to the large mirror behind him

Minho groaned and turned to face the group just as Felix had walked in, looking rather cold and, without even asking, went into Minho’s closet, grabbed a pair of pants and made his way to the en-suite with his dry shirt and socks and- somehow- another pair of his own underwear.

“I smoke all you bitches” Minho stated “but if I must, Jisung come here”

Jisung raised his eyebrows, whispering a ‘what the fuck’ to himself, staying seated.

“Don’t lie to yourself, Minho” Woojin leaned forward “we all know you think it’s Y/N-”

“Yeah” Hyunjin intercepted before Woojin could finish his sentence “it’s obviously me. Have you seen this face?” He cupped his face in his own hands and gave a charming smile to the group

Minho looked over to Hyunjin, unimpressed.

“Okay, change of dare” Chan stated before a fight over who the cutest in the group is broke out…again “I dare you, Minho, to kiss Y/N”

“damn” Changbin snorted

“just straight up? How bold of you, Chan” Minho glared at his friend

Chan smirked, maintaining eye contact with Minho. None of the group seemed to notice that, in the corner, your entire face was shining red. You had tried to distract yourself from the situation by focusing on the running water of the shower that Felix was using, but your brain hated you and that started to lead to images of Felix you didn’t want, you quickly moved on from that. ‘I wonder how jealous Minho would get if he found out that I was unintentionally picturing Felix showering’ you thought to yourself, and the thought of Minho being jealous seemed enough to distract you.

“Y/N?” Minho turned to you

“huh?!” You snapped out of your thoughts

“come here” Minho motioned you towards him

“How about you come here?” You scrunched up your nose, ignoring your oh-so-obvious blush

Minho, ignoring his own ‘oh-so-obvious blush’ silently got up and walked towards you. The entire group watched with bated breath. The room was completely silent, Felix seemed to have stopped showering now and was drying off, so not even the sound of water running could distract anyone. Minho cupped the side of your cheek, his palm and fingers were surprisingly cold, but you could practically feel the heat radiating off of his face from all the blood rushing to his cheeks.

“so…” Minho started, breaking the silence, and the group finally seemed to be able to breathe again “can I kiss you?”

“…yeah”

And with your confirmation, Minho leant forward and placed his lips onto yours, immediately pulling away afterward. The seven people around you erupted into a mixture of cheers, ooh’s and fake gags. Felix came barrelling out of the bathroom, beckoned by the sudden uproar, his shirt still wasn’t fully on and he looked extremely confused.

“What happened?!” He asked, finally putting his arms through the last hole

“Y/N and Minho finally fUCKING kissed!” Jisung yelled

“They did WHAT?! AND YOU GUYS DIDN’T BOTHER TO TELL ME TO HURRY UP SO I COULD WITNESS THE MOMENT?!” He looked utterly distraught at the news that he’d missed something so ‘important’

The group burst into chuckles, snorts and giggles. Minho and you hadn’t made eye contact since the kiss, although, it was so short that you weren’t even sure it could be considered a kiss; that fact didn’t seem to trouble the group though.

“Oi Felix!” Minho yelled, and once again, the group turned silent

Minho grinned before turning towards you again, his cocky smile faltered slightly when he made eye contact with you, but before he could turn back, he went in an kissed you again.

“OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” Felix whooped

“truly a moment to behold” Chan shook his head comically, along with Woojin

Your mouth hung open slightly, just out of surprise that Minho had kissed you again.

“You should’ve asked first!” You pushed him away, angry that he had the ability to make you so flustered

“Sorry” Minho smiled sweetly and rubbed the back of his neck

Eventually, the ten of you moved on from the kiss and continued with the game, which ended in Hyunjin almost being brought to tears from eating an entire spoonful of hot sauce, Changbin confessing that he did, in fact, steal Jeongin’s socks, more than once, Seungmin coming very close to accidentally knocking Jisung over the head with a baseball bat, Chan admitting that he had slept in Seungmin’s bed before purely to annoy him and then blamed it on Felix, and Woojin baking cupcakes for everyone (one of the more tame dares) and far more, too much to explain.

Finally, when it came time to sleep, which was well past midnight, you and Minho slept on a spare mattress together, arms tangled and sharing warmth between the two of you. It was, you felt, the most content you’d ever been in your life.

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