#what did Gideon say when she saw the First? it had the look of a picked-over body but hot damn what a beautiful corpse

[emilyprentissluvr]

How You Get the Girl (Emily Prentiss x Reader)

"And that's how it works. That's how you got the girl"

Summary: In which Derek and Hotch give you advice for your first date with Emily.

Warnings: None

YOU STUDIED the chessboard in front of you, happily occupying your thoughts with the number of moves it would take to checkmate Gideon rather than your most recent case. If you played it right you would be able to take him down in five moves.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I have something for you." Gideon said, pulling your attention away from the board as he handed you a small, wrapped gift. "Forgot to give it to you at the party." He added as you took it from him.

"But you don't give birthday presents." You said as you looked down at the box and then back at him with a soft smile. He just nodded and gestured for you to open the gift, so you did.

You pulled the ribbon off and ripped the gift wrap before opening the box. When you looked inside you saw a sheet of paper with reservations to the nicest French restaurant in DC.

"Wow. Thank you." You smiled as you looked up at him. It was not what you were expecting but you were excited nonetheless.

"You're gonna love it," Gideon said with a rare smile.

"We are. You're coming with me right?" You asked.

"No. I hear someone else on the plane is a huge French food connoisseur." He answered.

"Who?" You questioned quietly.

"The only person that willingly watches those cheesy romance movies with you." He said with a chuckle which caused your eyes to widen. "Emily?" You questioned nervously as your fingers began to tap on the box.

It was no secret to anyone that you admired the brunette.

You were often caught staring at her which resulted in endless teasing from everyone else. The only problem was that you didn't know how Emily felt about you. Sure, she was flirty with you and very protective, but that was the case with everyone else. So it was safe to say you were in the dark about what the brunette felt for you.

"She spent the summers up there with her grandfather," Gideon said calmly, which was the complete opposite of what you were feeling at the moment, "Wh-what should I say?" You asked anxiously as your eyes darted from Gideon over to Emily, who was sitting in the window seat absorbed in her book.

When you looked back he just raised his eyebrows. You sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to help you. Gideon then gave you a small, encouraging nod, so you took a deep breath before standing up and walking towards Emily.

As soon as you sat down in the seat across from her, Emily looked up and closed her book, "Hey birthday girl," She said with a big smile. She had been calling you that even though your birthday was a couple of days ago. But you were in no rush to tell her to stop because, in all honesty, you loved the way her voice sounded when she said it.

"Hey," You said softly, matching her smile. "I- uh- wanted to ask you something.' You said nervously, as you rested your hands and the box on the table.

"Okay," Emily said softly she clasped her hands together on the table and leaned forward with an encouraging smile.

"I have reservations for that French restaurant downtown on Friday night. So, if you aren't busy I was wondering if you wanted to go with me? I mean, no pressure at all if you don't want to go but I just thought it would be nice and-" You rambled trying to avoid eye contact with Emily before the brunette spoke up, "Y/n!" She interrupted, causing your gaze to finally land on her.

"I would love to go with you." She smiled and your eyes lit up excitedly, "Really?!"

"It's a date." She chuckled.

"A date," You repeated, biting the inside of your check to try and hide your elation.

Emily reached across the table to give your hand a small squeeze that sent butterflies through your stomach.

"I'll pick you up at six?" You asked, trying to hide your nerves and surprise at the fact that she said yes.

"Sounds perfect." Emily smiled before removing her hand from yours and reaching for her book again. You couldn't help but bite your bottom lip to keep you from smiling as you turned your attention from Emily to the window. Although, if you had been looking, you would have noticed that Emily was more invested in watching you than the book in front of her.

●・○・●・○・●

It was Friday morning and you were tapping the kitchen counter waiting for your coffee to finish brewing. "There you are, lover girl!" Morgan said with a grin as he walked over to you. "You ready for your date tonight?" He asked, giving you a friendly bump on the shoulder as he stood next to you.

"Uh-huh," You said unconvincingly as you poured the coffee into your mug.

"What do you mean uh-huh? You've been following Prentiss around like a lost puppy for the last year and now you finally have your chance to win her over!" Derek asked raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know, I'm just..." You trailed off as you finished pouring your coffee. "Just what?" Derek asked confused.

"I want Emily to know how I feel about her." You said which only caused Derek to chuckle. "Trust me, she knows, you aren't exactly subtle."

You glared at him before stressing your concern, "But I'm not good at all the 'dating stuff'. I get nervous and don't know what to say," You continued with a sigh as you poured the coffee into your mug.

"Hold up! am I hearing this correctly?" Derek asked with a cheeky grin.

"Hearing what correctly?" You asked confused.

"Are you asking THE Derek Morgan for dating advice?" He said cockily as he pointed to himself dramatically.

"I- what?! No!" You spluttered.

"Ah ah, I think you were babygirl!" Derek said as he wrapped an arm around your shoulder teasingly. You were about to protest when you realized that maybe Derek could help, even if it was by a long shot, probably a very long shot.

"Okay fine," You muttered as you removed his arm from your shoulder, "But if you tell Emily, I swear to god I'll kill you."

"My lips are sealed." He said pretending to zip his lips closed. You rolled your eyes at his theatrics, "Alright, where do we begin?"

"Where do we begin what?" Your boss's voice said from behind you.

"I'm giving Y/l/n dating advice." Derek grinned and you sighed in embarrassment because once again your business was being aired out to the entire team.

"You're taking dating advice from him?" Hotch asked, only furthering the flush on your cheeks. "I- um." You started before Derek cut you off, "Of course she is! Who wouldn't want Derek Morgan's step-by-step guide on 'How You Get The Girl'?" He said cockily.

"Maybe you need to make a guide on How You Keep The Girl," Hotch said as he poured the coffee into his mug.

"Ouch, bossman," Derek said feigning pain while you laughed.

"I could give you some pointers, Y/n," Hotch said and you and Derek both looked at him in surprise.

"What? It's a slow day." Hotch said with a shrug. You knew the files on his desk would say otherwise but the fact that he was willing to help you despite being busy brought a smile to your lips. "Yeah, I would like that."

And that's how you found yourself sitting on Hotch's office couch while he and Derek stood in front of you, giving you pointers from the opposite ends of the spectrum.

"You don't need to rush anything, it'll come organically. Just enjoy yourself and don't put too much pressure on the night." Hotch said.

"Be bold. Women love that." Derek said.

"Just be yourself." Hotch added.

"You have to reel her in, but leave her hanging a little bit at the end so she'll come back on the next date wanting more." Derek said and your brain was starting to spin a little bit.

"Wait, so am I supposed to be bold or be myself? Because those two can't happen at the same time." You questioned.

"Be boldly yourself." Hotch said causing you to furrow your brows, "What does that even mean?"

Before anyone could answer the question you heard a knock on the door before Emily's head peaked through the door. "Hey, I hope I'm not interrupting but I have some casefiles," Emily said to Hotch as she walked in and looked at the three of you slightly confused. You immediately sat up straighter and Derek had to stifle a laugh.

"Hey, Emily." You said nervously. "We were just- um- you know..." You started, already mentally chastising yourself for your lack of words.

"We were just giving Y/l/n some pointers for her firearms requalification next week." Hotch said, easily lying and you let out a sigh of relief for his quick thinking.

"Uh huh." Emily said she put her files on Hotch's desk and immediately walked over to you on the couch. You could feel your heart rate pick up as she stood less than a foot away from you. "You know I could give you some pointers at the range this weekend. I find a hands-on approach usually works best for me." She said with a smile as she reached out to squeeze your shoulder.

"Yeah! I would like that." You said, probably way too quickly as you felt your cheeks go red at the thought of her doing a hands-on approach.

"Great, I'll see you later tonight. I'm excited" She said quietly as she used the hand that was on your shoulder to brush a stray piece of hair out of your face.

"Y-yeah me too." You stuttered which earned a small chuckle from the raven-haired women. She gave your shoulder another small squeeze before heading back to her desk.

"A Hands-on approach, huh? Can I join?" Derek teased, pulling you out of the trance that you were in.

"Shut up," You groaned as you fell back onto the couch, "Now back to the advice please."

Derek began to open his mouth but you held your hand up, "Preferably from the man who has years of marriage under his belt."

"You both wound me." Derek said as he mimed his heart being stabbed.

●・○・●・○・●

You blew out a deep breath as you stood in front of Emily's apartment door. Derek and Hotch's advice felt like they were moving a hundred miles per hour in your head. You tried to push them down as you knocked on the door.

Footsteps gradually got closer to the door before you heard the doorknob turn and were met by Emily's smile. You couldn't help but stare at her as she opened the door completely. "You look beautiful." You murmured as you admired the way her floor-length red dress clung to every curve perfectly. Her hair was curled and sat above her collar bones that were on display.

"And you look gorgeous." She said softly as she closed her door and grabbed onto your arm so you could lead her to the car. You had chosen to wear a suit to dinner, and you had never been more thankful for your intuition that you decided on a red corset underneath your blazer.

The car ride there was peaceful, chatting about work and other random things. That was one of the things you loved about Emily, even though she could turn you into a stuttering mess, she could also put you at ease better than anyone else ever could.

When you got to the restaurant you were shocked by how fancy it was. With your job you rarely had time to go out, especially not to somewhere like this. You both sat down but frowned as you opened the menu. "It's all in French." You stated with a small frown as you looked at words you didn't know the meanings of.

"Well, luckily for you, I'm fluent in French." Emily said with a wink and you decided that you truly never had been luckier.

After you both had ordered and almost lost consciousness at Emily speaking French, she reached over to grab your hand.

"Can I ask you a question?" She said.

"You just did, but you can ask me another one." You said with a teasing smile causing her to roll her eyes playfully.

"What were you doing with Hotch and Morgan, earlier?" She asked intrigued.

"Oh um, I thought we already told to you." You spluttered and the tiny hint of confidence you had two seconds ago was completely gone.

"You're a perfect shot, Y/n. If anything they need pointers from you." She chuckled and you just looked up at her, cheeks red from embarrassment.

"Well, the real reason is slightly humiliating." You muttered

"You could never humiliate yourself to me." Emily said with a small squeeze of her hand.

' I beg to differ' You thought.

You started to think back on Derek and Hotch's words from earlier, 'Be boldly yourself' was what Hotch said and you decided it was now or never.

"I really like you, Emily!" You blurted out and you saw Emily's smile grow so big her dimples were popping out. "Should I be offended that you think liking me is humiliating?" She asked.

"I- Oh my god! No! That's not what I meant-" You rushed out before Emily let out a deep laugh, "I'm kidding. Take a deep breath, honey."

The way the pet name easily fell from her lips almost made you forget what you were even talking about. Eventually, you were pulled back to your senses when you felt Emily gently playing with the rings on your finger.

"Promise me you won't laugh." You said seriously.

"I would promise you whatever you want." She smiled and if hearts could melt, yours would have in that moment.

"Well, Hotch and Derek were kind of giving me dating advice..." You said with a wince and watched as Emily fought off a smile.

"You said you wouldn't laugh!" You practically whined and Emily shook her head.

"I'm not laughing!" She said, "I just happen to find you so adorable I can't help but want to smile."

"You think I'm adorable?" You questioned, hardly believing that Emily could feel the same way you felt about her.

"I think you're a lot of things. And I happen to like all of them." Emily said with a smile so big her nose scrunched a little.

The rest of dinner couldn't have gone better. You couldn't remember the last time you had laughed or smiled this much. By the time you left the restaurant, you were both a little tipsy so you decided to take a walk in the park to sober up a little bit. It was spring time so the flowers were blooming and you two were surprisingly the only people out.

"Say something to me in French." You giggled as you clung to Emily's arm.

"Je n'ai jamais eu autant envie d'embrasser quelqu'un qu'en ce moment". Emily murmured as she looked at you.

"What does that mean?" You asked softly as you gazed up at her.

" I said 'I have never wanted to kiss someone more than I do right now.'" Emily repeated as she stopped walking so she could fully admire your features.

"What's stopping you?" You asked as you glanced down at her plush red lips.

You smiled as she pulled you closer, her soft hands cupping your cheek as your lips met. You could taste the champagne you both had from earlier and the smallest hint of her coconut chapstick as you deepened the kiss. You pulled her in by the waist, trying to get impossibly closer as you both smiled into the kiss. It was passionate, but soft, a kiss that took all of your worries off the weight of your shoulders.

Eventually, you pulled away with a smile on your lips. "You know," You started as you moved your hands from your waist and wrapped them lazily around her neck, "Derek said that I should leave you hanging a little bit so you'll come back on the next date wanting more." You smiled as she pressed a couple of quick kisses to your lip.

"Does this mean there's another date after this?" She asked as she wiped smudged lipstick off your bottom lip.

"Only if you speak French" You giggled as you admired the way her eyes shone in the moonlight.

"C'est un rendez-vous alors" (It's a date then). She said as she placed another kiss on your lips.

"I hope that was a yes." You murmured and Emily smiled, "Of course it was. How could I ever say no to you?"

#emily prentiss #criminal minds #emily prentiss x reader #emily prentiss fanfiction #emily prentiss x reader fic #emily prentiss x you #emily prentiss x y/n #emily prentiss x female reader #derek morgan #aaron hotchner

[mayasaura]

sorry if this has been answered before or if there's a post about this, but I've been seeing a lot of posts labeling harrow as schizophrenic and/or having trouble recognizing reality, including the one you just made about crux as harrow's caretaker and reality-indicator.

I realize that these interpretations come from htn, but I'm curious as why people feel that it's always been a trait of harrow's instead of a side effect of the lobotomy?

I was under the impression that she created the reality problems as an excuse to cover the blocks in her memory, especially since we know that wake/the sleeper didn't possess her until after gtn and most of her confusion happens in the river bubble.

even the "hallucinations" of the body don't really impact her perception of reality, and it's actually alecto's soul not a real hallucination. the only questionable moment I can remember is when she sees cytheria under the bed and ianthe says there's nothing there, but we know ianthe is a duplicitous legend so I read it as ianthe lying to harrow lol

long story short, I was wondering if there was scenes in gtn, ntn, or post-realization htn that indicate harrow has had these reality problems pre-lobotomy? or if you know of a post analyzing it further? sorry to throw this at you, I just haven't seen any analysis of it but I saw your post so I was hoping you would have more info :) I really adore all of your tlt analysis posts!

Hi! Yeah, if you go into my '#harrow's schizophrenia' tag, I've made several posts about it, and other people have added on to a few of them with further elaboration.

But I don't think I've ever laid it out fully like a thesis. And I have several stressful things I should be doing right now, so I can't think of a better time to get into it.

When Harrow's brain is editing Gideon out, there's an effect a little like a record skip. Her memory snags on something, very briefly, and then quickly moves on. Or she'll make an assumption or say something that doesn't actually make sense without Gideon in the picture, but she won't notice. The most prominent example is the details in chapter 3 surrounding her opening of the Tomb:

Just ellipsis "found out" ellipsis to skim over the very large part Gideon had to play in those events. If she were to interrogate the memory, it would be strange that she doesn't remember how her parents found out, but doing so would make her brain bleed. She would black out, and most likely forget what she was trying to remember.

And an example from the same chapter of a statement that doesn't make sense, unless you know about Gideon:

Two things are important about these examples, the first being that they don't upset Harrow. She doesn't think they're strange, because she barely thinks about them, which was sort of the point of the lobotomy in the first place. The second is that they can be immediately explained by plugging Gideon into the Gideon-shaped hole in Harrow's memory. If you know about Gideon, and what Harrow's done, there's no mystery remaining.

In contrast, there are other details in chapter 3 about Harrow's childhood that Harrow did, and does, find strange and upsetting.

Gideon didn't attend services, and she most definitely didn't participate in chants. Putting Gideon back in the picture does nothing to explain the "weird, thuddering beat" Harrow finds disruptive. But it does sound an awful lot like an auditory hallucination, as does hearing doors open and close where no doors were opening and closing.

Maybe we could try to explain the doors by supposing she was hearing Gideon coming and going without remembering the source, but that doesn't really track with how we know her mind processes the missing pieces. If Harrow were papering Gideon over in her memory, it wouldn't be important who was or wasn't opening doors and where. The focus of her memory would quickly shift, just like it did when trying to remember how her parents found out about the Tomb, in order to avoid looking at what she's hidden from herself.

Then there's the next paragraph:

Again, plugging Gideon into this memory does nothing to explain it. Even if Gideon had been in the habit of sneaking up behind Harrow and attempting to choke her out—which, yikes—Harrow has already seamlessly blocked out the memory of one attempted strangulation. Then there are the phantom ropes she sees, her parents' method of suicide haunting her.

The forgetting where she was, losing time, and false memories do seem at first glance like they could be explained by the lobotomy, seeing as that is sort of the whole purpose and effect. But I'm pretty sure even these are real memories. Again, because of the focus of her attention. She's remembering having forgotten, while the lobotomy make her forget to remember.

Then there's Harrow's overall behavior. Her reactions to her hallucinations, especially in the River bubble, which imply that not all of this is new to her. She isn't shocked, or caught off-guard. She has coping mechanisms. She's figured out what evidence she can probably rely on to rule out hallucinations, and what's more likely to be suspect. A lobotomy, even a necromantic lobotomy, doesn't come with built-in tools for coping with its effects. Her memory of her past without Gideon in it is fractured and incomplete, not an entirely new life story with new life lessons.

Finally, from Nona the Ninth, some evidence that Harrow's problems with reality definitely predate the lobotomy:

Crux remembers them.

#the locked tomb #harrow nonagesimus #harrowhark nonagesimus #harrow's schizophrenia #tlt meta #ntn spoilers #harrow the ninth #htn spoilers #long post #such a very long post sorry #op

[hothothotch]

Heeey ! I have a Hotch request 😄

Context: she’s one of his first case, some young girl who hacked the Pentagone to make a point to a teacher that you don’t have to be good in class to be a genius in something. They try to arrest her but she didn’t did anything just enter their server and disconnect. But all the way into interrogation she flirts with him. They let her go and he sees her a couple years later?

I don’t know how to end this, but yeah just a thing I got in my head for a while 🥹

hey! i loved writing this one and, again, i want a part two of it, so maybe you should expect one haha. i hope you like it, anon <3

Requests are open!

1991

"I'll plead the fifth in this one..." you smirked up at Agent Hotchner, batting your eyes seductively — or as seductively as you believed you could be — as you observed him through your eyelashes, "And I'm very good at pleading, just so you know".

Aaron didn't react visibly, even though the urge to roll his eyes was definitely there. After a few minutes of interrogation (probably ten, but he wasn't sure, since you were a delight to hear — ironically speaking), Aaron had lost count of how many flirtatious comments you had thrown at him, the situation way more annoying considering that his boss, SSA Gideon, was sitting by his side, observing everything with as neutral as an expression he could have, clearly as unamused as Aaron.

"Oh, come on!" you groaned, clearly unpleased with Aaron's lack of response to your flirt, "You can laugh, right? There's nowhere on your contract saying 'FBI Agents have to be stiff and serious, even the hot ones'!".

"I don't usually laugh when interrogating someone" Aaron replied, opening up the file he had in front of him to read your name out loud, "Much less when they invade the Pentagon's system".

You tried to bit back the proud smile that showed up on your face at the acknowledgment of what you've done — you highly doubted one of those Agents would clap their hands at your achievement, and still you'd rather face them than your parents, that were probably fuming on their way to the Bureau.

If SSA Hotchner and Gideon's faces were the last things you'd see for the rest of your life (that probably wouldn't be as long as you once thought it would), you might as well fall in style.

"That was impressive, wasn't it?" you asked, your voice clearly smug as you leaned against your chair, "I'm really good at that!".

"Not that much" SSA Gideon intervened, "I can name a few hackers that can do the same".

You raised one brow in defiance, trying to mask the way his words had evidently hurt your ego, "I didn't say I'm unique, I said I'm impressive. There's a difference" you pointed in a matter-of-factly way, before turning back at Agent Hotchner, "From now on, I'm only answering your questions, pretty boy".

"It's Agent Hotchner".

You chuckled, "Okay" you nodded curtly, "Pretty Agent Hotchner boy".

That time you saw the way he reacted, his body language denouncing you was starting to frustrate him. If you didn't know it was overstepping — more than you've already overstepped — you probably would make a joke about how you could help him with his frustration, but you weren't really into going to jail over harassment.

Trying to exhaust his patience was one thing. Crossing the line between amusement and crime was something you didn't want to do.

Oh, yeah. You had hacked into the Pentagon.

"Okay, look..." you started, straightening your pose on your chair, grimacing when the metal of the cuffs (an unnecessary accessory, if you will) skimmed on your skin, a clear indicative that you'd soon have a new bruise at that spot, "I've hacked into the Pentagon, true" she directed a pointed look at Gideon, rolling her eyes, "Yes, I'm aware there are a lot of other hackers that can pull that out, but I had a point to make!".

"Which was?" Aaron questioned, his eyes still trained on you. With a quick look to his hand, you noticed he was wearing a wedding band — golden, brilliant; he was probably freshly married. You questioned if he looked at his wife in that intimidating way, or if it was reserved to people like you, or that he judged to be like you.

You took a deep breath, leaning against your chair, "I'm graduating on MIT" you started explaining, even if you knew they could find that information on your file, and that they probably already knew that, considering you'd been smart enough to hack into the Pentagon from your college's computer, but not enough to hide your tracks, "And I was unlucky enough not to get good grades at this specific subject, and my teacher made a point to humiliate me in front of everyone. So I made a point in showing her that while she's theoretically smart, I'm technically smart".

The single raise of Agent Hotchner's brow was enough to reveal what he was thinking about you after your explanation — that you were a spoiled child, that you couldn't have things any other way except for yours, that he could have you arrested solely by how bad your reasoning had been.

"Yeah, pretty Agent Hotchner boy..." you crossed your arms in front of your body, "Not everyone is born with everything on a silver plate, y'know? My attention is not as good as it was supposed to be".

Aaron switched a quick glance with Gideon, his demeanor betraying nothing as they kept their eyes locked for a few minutes, expectation suddenly building on your body along with the urge to pick at your nails, an anxious behavior you had.

"Let her go" Agent Gideon finally said, standing up from his chair, turning his back on you both to walk out of the interrogation room.

"What?" you squealed in confusion, placing the palms of your hands on top of the metallic desk you had between Agent Hotchner and you, "That's all?".

Aaron hummed in agreement, standing up to grab the cuff keys' in his pockets, his hands brushing with yours for a second, and you could swear there was a sudden electricity on that touch, causing you to push your hand away.

He looked up at you with one brow raised again, his voice a bit more humored now, "What? You want to be arrested?".

"You arrested me, pretty Agent Hotchner boy" you reminded, shaking your cuffed hands, "And while I think being cuffed is sexy, I can't wait to remove those. They're hurting my pulse".

"You should've told us, we'd lose it a bit" he shrugged, opening the lock expertly, before sitting on the desk, "You only logged into the system and turned it off. We can't arrest you for turning the computers off, so you're free to go".

You faced him for a while more, trying to find something to say, maybe a snarky remark — a joke? But nothing came to mind. So you only nodded, standing up from the chair with a smile.

"So off I go" you told him, massaging your pulses, "Guess we won't see each other again, pretty Agent Hotchner boy".

Aaron shook his head, crossing his arms, "I hope not".

"Ouch" you put your hand over your chest dramatically, "You wound me, honey. Hope you don't miss me too much".

Aaron finally allowed himself to roll his eyes, standing up from the desk to walk toward the door, "It won't be a problem".

...

2011

You were honestly — and positively — surprised when the message arrived in your inbox, the (a rather last minute) white invitation warming your heart in a way you didn't think it would.

JJ and Will were getting married.

It was a surprise not because you thought you wouldn't be invited, but because you didn't think it would happen at all; the last time you and JJ talked (only a year prior to that date), the woman had been pretty straightforward about not being ready to get married, even if Will clearly was. You were surprised to know that he supported her and it wasn't an issue, even though JJ sometimes complained about how they ended up fighting over the topic.

You were happy they finally got to an agreement. And even happier that their agreement gave her an excuse to leave her house, even for only a few hours.

"You look beautiful!" you stated once you spotted JJ on the dancefloor, bringing her for a hug when she finally recognized you.

"I can't believe you're here!" JJ held you against her body happily, and you could feel her smile on your shoulder as she rocked you from side to side, "I thought you were in Paris!".

You nodded when she pulled back, allowing you to move and embrace Will, that had a similar smile on his face, "I was. But the Pentagon called me back and I was forced to come back. Which is a loss, because I was starting to get used with the accent. And the paycheck".

Will shook his head, laughing at your last comment, "I'm sure Interpol will be missing a great Agent".

"That they will" you nodded eagerly, playfully throwing your hair over your shoulder, "I was their jewel, and now they have nothing. But I'm happy to be back home. Will be even happier when I find a good house for me, since I've sold my old house".

"Oh, that's your lucky day!" JJ commented, immediately taking your hand in hers, already guiding you through the dancefloor to a table where a few people were gathered, laughing at something one of them had said, "My friends' neighbor just passed away, and their old apartment is vacant. Maybe you can rent it".

You smiled, ready to give JJ an answer when you looked at the table again, your eyes widening at the sight of one man in the middle of the group. You froze in your place when you recognized him, your jaw slightly dropped when your eyes met, recognition clearly passing through his eyes as well.

You heard JJ saying your name, and you were fairly aware that she was introducing you to the group, though the only name you managed to hear was, "This is Aaron Hotchner, my boss, and friend".

Boss. It was curious — last time you've seen Agent Hotchner (or pretty Agent Hotchner boy, as you once called him), he was an Agent working under Jason Gideon's supervision.

Ten years had gone by, though. A lot had changed. You, to begin with.

"Oh, huh... hi!" you waved at the group, trying to pretend you had gathered any of their names, "JJ was telling me that one of you had a neighbor who had passed and may have an apartment free for me?".

Aaron — who seemed to be on a trance just as you'd been in the past few seconds — cleared his throat at your question, trying to brush away the embarrassment of how you kept looking at each other. If someone in his group noticed, though, none of them made a comment about it.

"That would be me" he stated, and you held the urge to mutter an 'of course that is', "Maybe we can talk—".

"On the dancefloor" the old man beside him suggested, nudging Aaron slightly with a mischievous smirk on his lips as he took a sip of his drink (whiskey, you deduced), "Do you like to dance?".

"Very much" you nodded, directing your response at the man who asked the question, but your eyes were focused on Aaron, "That's one of my technical skills".

If there was any doubt to Aaron that you remembered him, this doubt fade away at that exact moment — and you noticed it by the way his body language immediately changed, going from an almost nervous one to a more relaxed one.

"I guess you can show me, then" Aaron offered his hand to you, a smile appearing on his face when you immediately accepted it, guiding you back to the dancefloor, "Let's just try and not be arrested tonight, okay?".

You snorted, patting on his shoulder when the song turned into a slower one, and your eyes met one more time before you replied, "I won't make any promises".

Thank you for your request ✨

#aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner x reader #criminal minds #hotch #hotch x reader #hotch x you #aaron hotchner fanfic #aaron hotchner imagine #aaron hotchner fanfiction #aaron hotchner oneshot

[spencest]

FIRST... DATE?

pair: Spencer Reid x fem!YN Hotchner

synopsis: Gideon gives Spencer tickets to a Bruins game, with the excuse of inviting Y/N. However, things don´t go as they both planned after he asks his friends for advice.

warnings: none, just fluff, corny, and awkward Spencer

inspired by: S1 E4: “Plain Sight”

words: 2,2k

A/N: Sorry, this is really bad. This is the first one, i promise the rest will be better. Take it as an introduction to the story

Y/N'S POV

it had been one of those cases that left you thinking for a few hours, so i decided to settle into my seat on the jet, trying to find something that could distract me. It was then that my gaze went to Spencer, who as always was playing chess with Gideon.

i couldn't help but feel bad for him, his birthday had been interrupted by a case, and one of those that left you with the worst feelings. He didn't even complain when he had the chance, i just saw his joy fade when my dad interrupted the little celebration we had prepared for him.

i wanted to continue with the celebration that Morgan, Elle, JJ and i had prepared for him, but i know that my friends were too tired and that he would probably refuse this time.

i let out a sigh, remembering the way he smiled when he saw the cake, or the way he kept trying to beat the infinite candles despite explaining him why it wouldn't work.

my chest felt warm when that happened. Spencer has a comforting smile, the kind you would love to see over and over again, because he will always give you that nice feeling.

you would know he was a sweet, innocent soul just by seeing him smile.

a clearing of the throat brought me out of my thoughts, it was coming from my side so i turned my head to see who was calling my attention.

it was Spencer.

- hey, uhm... Gideon just gave me some tickets to go see the Bruins tomorrow, and i found out that you really like them... - After saying that there was silence, i looked at him for a few seconds, waiting to see if he would say anything else.

- uh yeah, actually i love them, why?

- well, i wanted to know if you... uh.... wanna go with me to watch the game - i saw him playing with his hands and looking towards Gideon's seat.

i felt my cheeks heat up, was he inviting me to a Bruins game? me?

i cleared my throat, trying not to make my nervousness so obvious.

- sure, i'd love that, Spence

i saw his cheeks turn red in the same way, which made me feel a little more confident.

after that we stayed talking for a few minutes, agreeing on a time to see each other before the game and once ready, Spencer sat down with Gideon again, but not before turning to look at me before sitting down.

JJ suddenly appeared next to me, smiling.

- so, a date with Reid? - She murmured as she sat next to me.

i hit her with my elbow, embarrassed again.

it's not a date, it's just hanging out as friends.

once i got to my apartment i started to prepare dinner. After dinner i usually call my mom to talk to her about my day and keep in good contact.

she's my best friend, the only person in the world i would tell everything to. Even if it means having my dad listen to some of the conversations from time to time, especially now that my little brother Jack has born, since he usually comes into the room he shares with her, telling her that Jack misses his mother, and then he just didn't come out again.

however, the ringtone on my phone alerted me while i was cooking, so i quickly took it out of my pocket.

INCOMING CALL

mama

- hi? - i asked her, fearing that something had happened.

- when were you going to tell me? - she asked me, with a very serious tone of voice, so much so that she scared me.

what did i do?

- what are you talking about, mom? - The nervousness was clear

- about your date with Spencer!

wait... what?

- how...? - Then something clicked in my head. - was it dad?

- it doesn't matter! why hadn't you told me?

- i was just getting home! you know i always call you after dinner. - I tried to defend myself, but i heard her snort on the other side of the line.

- this is more important than routine! it's your first date since you broke up with...

- it's not a date. - i let out a sigh.

- your dad said it's a date.

- don't believe him anything!

- what are you gonna wear?

- i don't know, he'll take me to watch the Bruins game...

i heard her scream, which made my eyes widen.

- is he going to take you to watch the Bruins game? Y/N, honey, that's a date.

- but…

she interrupted me and started giving me advice for “the date.”

my noodles were forgotten when i heard her enter the non-verbal language tips.

- hey, Spence. - i greeted him, watching him quickly get out of his car to get to the passenger side and open the door for me. - Thank you

after getting in and closing the door, i hurriedly put on the seat belt while he returned to his place.

- hi Y/N, you look... g-good - i heard him stutter.

my clothes were pretty casual. I decided to ignore much of the advice i received the night before, choosing to be myself.

this is what i would wear to watch the Bruins, but a little prettier.

- thanks, Spence. You look good too.

he looked quite formal, but still casual. It wasn't exactly the same outfit i would see him in on a day at work.

i have to admit, it looks more than just “good.”

his cheeks reddened as he began to drive. A somewhat uncomfortable silence settled in the atmosphere.

- is this your first time watching the Bruins?

- do you wanna eat something?

we both asked at the same time, so we looked at each other a little surprised, and then started laughing.

- for me it would be nice to eat something before going. -I decided to answer his question, still laughing a little.

- cool, i actually know a place near where we should go

he started to tell me a little about that eating place, but i noticed that he sometimes stopped himself when he felt like he was talking too much, so i tried to ask more. I want him to feel comfortable today. I want him to be himself.

when we arrived he asked me not to get out of the car, and instead he got out, walking around the front until he reached my door, which he opened for me.

after unbuckling my seat belt i got off and we both started walking inside the place.

calm music played in the background, and the atmosphere was cozy. I saw some families eating quietly at some of the tables. The conversations were not so loud, there was no smell of food, the colors were pleasing to the eye.

it was the perfect place to go to eat, so i turned to see Spencer, smiling at him and thanking him with my eyes for that.

we quickly found a table and went to sit down. The silence is more comfortable now, but i still feel like Reid was avoiding talking and that was getting me a little upset.

- is everything okay, Spence? -His eyes widened, he seemed surprised, almost scared by the question.

- yeah, why do you ask?

- for no reason, don't worry. - I smiled at him again, trying to convey confidence. - And tell me, is this your first time watching the Bruins?

- oh, n-no, no. I had already gone before. - He was quick to respond.

that surprised me. He doesn't seem like the type of person who is passionate about hockey. It almost sounded like a lie

- really? what other game have you gone to? - I rested my elbows on the table, getting a little closer to him.

- well... - He closed his eyes for a moment, as if he were trying to remember. - i went to see the one a few days ago against Pittsburgh

before i could ask anything else, a waiter came to us with two menus in his hands.

- hi, sorry to interrupt you, here's the menu. In a few minutes i'll come back. - We both nodded, watching him leave.

during our stay at the place i decided not to ask him any more questions about hockey, focusing on knowing a little more about his personal life, about the things he does outside of the BAU. I discovered his passion for certain writers, and i even tried to convince him to read some novels, arguing the entertainment it would bring to his life.

he seemed more relaxed at that moment, his shoulders no longer looked tense and he no longer stuttered. He was being him for a moment and that really made me happy.

once we finished eating he offered to pay, being faster than me and paying before i could even say anything to him.

the game had already started, it had been 10 minutes since it had started and Spencer didn't say a word. He was attentive watching the game.

normally someone would think that he was just enjoying the game, but from the corner of my eye i could see him moving in his spot and playing with his hands constantly. That distracted me, so i couldn't really focus too much on the game the Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers were playing.

- Spence, are you okay? - He was startled when i called him

- Yeah! Why? I don't look good? - He stammered again

- Spence, do you really like hockey? -I saw him bite the inside of his cheek, still playing with his hands, so i decided to take one of his hands when i noticed that he was distracted by his thoughts.

- Not really, i mean, i'd never been interested in hockey before, but Gideon gave me the tickets and…- His voice was getting faster, so i gently squeezed his hand, making him stop. - Sorry, i shouldn't be talking so much either.

- What are you talking about? Spence, it's okay if you don't like this, we can leave and do something else if you want. -I offered him, but he started to shake his head, telling me no.

- No! Well i... actually i wanted to learn so i could understand it and that you wouldn't be the only one who know about this but... uh, when i had everything ready they told me to try not to give so many data or statistics and to be more of a gentleman, but they don't understand that if If they take away my statistics, things get a little more complicated and i... - He started talking faster again, so i squeezed his hand again.

- Spence, who told you that?

For a moment i saw him hesitate

- Well... Morgan... JJ... Elle...

i let out a sigh, relaxing my shoulders, which i didn't even notice were tense.

- Spence, i don't want you to stop giving me your data and statistics, even if that means you´ll tell me all the time. That's fine with me, i love it when you do it.

his cheeks turned red again.

- Really? I know it can be suffocating and i don't know when to stop...

- Really, you can tell me whatever you want, i just want you to be you, relax and do what you really want to do. So, do you wanna keep watching the game or should we leave?

- I wanna continue watching it, the truth is it's quite entertaining to analyze the possible plays, plus the Bruins are playing better, so i can't take this opportunity away from you.

i smiled at his words. That's when we were finally able to concentrate. Spencer talked to me the entire game about different tactics they could use, or why the other team was losing.

and yes, we earned bad looks from those near to us.

and yeah, maybe i still don't know if this was a date or just hanging out as friends.

but i know that i have a beautiful experience to tell mom that same night, and three people to hit when i see them.

Spencer is a lovely person, and getting to know him better helped me see that comforting smile again. Even at the end of our date / not / date he hugged me for a few seconds. For a moment I feared that he might feel my strong, rapid heartbeat against his chest, but if he did then he didn't show it, and that's something I was grateful for.

Spencer, what exactly are we doing?

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid angst #spencer reid smut #spencer reid #criminal minds fluff #criminal minds smut #criminal minds #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x you

[beskarandblasters]

Apotheosis Part One: The Capture

Sith!Din Djarin x Rebel Spy!Reader

Apotheosis; the elevation of someone to divine status; deification.

Apotheosis Masterlist | Din Djarin Masterlist

Series summary: Din Djarin is a force-sensitive bounty hunter, working for the remnants of the Empire. He's on the hunt for you, an ex-rebel spy who has key information; the location where Luke Skywalker is building his Jedi training academy. But when you're captured, you're not going to give up the location easily. Din will have to utilize “alternative methods” to turn you over to the dark side.

Series warnings: reader is able-bodied, canon divergent, dark!Din, switches between Din and Reader’s point of view, eventual smut, Star Wars lore (not super heavy), (more warnings will be added as story continues)

Author’s note: Welcome to the first installment of this silly little trilogy! I hope you all come to like this different take on Din! ❤️‍🔥 Thank you to @jupiter-soups, @kajashe, and @pedgito for beta reading this for me!

Summary: Din Djarin is sent by Moff Gideon to capture you and Grogu.

Word count: 3.5k

Warnings: just an introduction of our two main characters, the reader gets captured at the end, reader does not know Din’s name yet, canon typical violence, force sensitive!Din, no use of y/n

You

Life used to be good. Back in the day when you had your friends in the Rebellion, you felt like you had a sense of community; a sense of belonging. But when the Empire was destroyed the need for the Rebellion dissipated. So, you chose to live out your days on the planet Corvus, in the village of Calodan. It’s a stark difference from your old life. Gone were the days of being a rebel spy, acting as an imperial officer while the Empire was constructing the second Death Star. You were someone important, reporting back to the Rebellion with information that was vital to the Rebellion.

And for what? To toss you aside as soon as they stopped needing you? Surely for someone as vital as you were to the Rebellion, they would’ve made sure you were well taken care of, living a relatively comfortable life. But the reality is quite the opposite. 

Calodan is rough to say the least, living under Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth’s oppressive rule. She’s walking proof that there are still fledgling pockets of the Empire scattered across the galaxy. This time of peace will surely come to an end. And when that time comes… Wouldn’t the Rebellion call upon one of their most trusted spies?

Maker, that’s awful. You’re wishing for unrest in the galaxy just so you can live an exciting life again. The reality is, you’re wishing for more than just some thrill. You’re wishing for stability, friends, food in your stomach, a sense of community, and belonging. That’s what you’re after. 

And it’s all so far out of reach. 

-

You’re walking back from the market, your small bag of the little food you could afford slung on your shoulder. You’re always on edge here, even in your own home. It’s only right when Calodan isn’t necessarily the safest place to live. Morgan Elsbeth and her guards have people chained up in electrical cages in the village center on a whim, regardless if they did anything wrong or not. Kriff, if someone looks at a guard the wrong way, it’s straight to the cages. This causes everyone to move through the streets quickly, keeping their heads low and avoiding eye contact with others. It’s for their own safety but you can’t deny it’s also made the village lonely and secluded. You’re not living here; you’re merely surviving, just barely. This isn’t the life you pictured for yourself. 

Lost in your own thoughts again you barely notice the presence behind you. Just as you turn your head to look, the figure is gone. All you saw was the edge of a dark cloak, turning a corner and heading down an alley. You don’t linger. You know better. You’ve been able to stay out of trouble ever since you moved here. And you’re certainly not going to start now. 

Power walking and extending your strides, you head home, holding your breath and keeping your head low. Once you get home you lock the door behind you and finally breathe. You slump down into a chair at your kitchen table and set your bag of food on the tabletop. That could’ve been nothing. It could’ve been your imagination. Or someone else trying to mind their own business. After all, you weren’t attacked, the person didn’t say anything to you. They were behind you and then gone an instant. You’re just being paranoid again. 

That is until you’re emptying your bag and you notice a small piece of paper folded up and resting at the bottom. With shaky hands you grab it and before you unfold it you try to think about what it could say. It can’t be credits that someone is after, you don’t have any. You don’t entangle yourself with the wrong crowd here. You keep to yourself, only leaving your house when it's necessary. But the idea that someone is watching you, taking note of your routines, what route you walk home every day, knowing when to plant the piece of paper in your bag without being noticed… That scares you. It makes you feel like the walls of your house are about to close in on you. It makes you feel like someone is lurking in the shadows, ready to strike when you’re not looking. If they know where you live, they will wait inside your home and strike. They could-

Breathe. Unfold the kriffing paper. 

So, you do. And you’re… somewhat relieved? 

The note reads; 

Come to the edge of the forest at the north side of Calodan at nightfall… alone. 

At the bottom of the piece of paper is a hand-drawn symbol of the Rebellion. 

Maybe you’re getting that action you wished for. But you’re still hesitant. Anyone could write this note and pretend they’re associated with the Rebellion. 

It is tempting, though. You have a blaster hidden deep in your closet. It hasn’t been used since you moved here. Tonight seems like the perfect night to dig it out. 

You’re kneeling on the floor, rummaging through your closet. In the back, there’s a wooden box, containing your blaster and other things from your time in the rebellion. You feel it with your hand and slide it towards you, lifting the lid and being flooded with memories. Inside the box is your old imperial disguise, a pin in the shape of the Rebellion symbol, your grappling line, and your blaster. You take the blaster in your hands and rub your thumb under the cool, black metal.

You can do this, you tell yourself. 

Rising from the floor, you tuck the blaster and grappling line in the waistband of your pants and set off into the night. The wall on the north side of the village is the least guarded at night. The person who left the note must’ve known that. 

You’re swift on your feet, moving quietly and keeping your head in a constant swivel, on the lookout for any witnesses. But everyone is home like they should be. It’s past curfew. If you were to be caught you’d be subjected to the electric cages. 

You can do this, you remind yourself. 

You reach the north wall and aim your grappling line at the top of the wallet, retracting the line and pulling yourself to the top. Your landing is a little shaky but you still got it. It feels like old times again. You reattach the grappling line to the other side of the wall and slowly lower yourself on the ground. You made it. You did it. 

But there’s still this strange person to meet, a stranger who for some reason knows who you are, knows your past. Taking a deep breath, you walk towards the forest, anxiety brewing in your stomach about just who this person could be. The forest is misty and it’s hard to see. You replace the grappling line in your waistband and draw your blaster, on high already for any attackers or one of Morgan Elsbeth’s guards who somehow noticed you leaving the village. 

“You made it,” a woman’s voice calls from your right. 

You turn and look who it is. You can make out a figure standing in the fog, wearing a dark gray cloak. Her hood is on her head but you can make out blue and white head tails peeking out. 

“Do I know you?” you ask. 

“No, but I know of you.”

“Oh?”

She removes her head and you're certain it’s Ahsoka Tano. You’ve never met her but you’ve heard stories during your time in the Rebellion. She was never associated with it, laying low and in hiding. So why would she leave a Rebellion symbol on the piece of paper?

“Ahsoka Tano?”

“Seems like you know of me, too.”

“Why are you here? And why did you leave me that note with the symbol?”

“I knew it would get your attention; get you to trust the anonymous sender. It worked, didn’t it?”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“I need a favor.”

“What kind of favor?”

“For Luke Skywalker.”

Kriff, Luke Skywalker? The Luke Skywalker?! You haven’t seen him in forever. You gotta play it cool, though. You can’t seem too eager. 

“What does he want?”

“He doesn’t know about it yet but… I need you to watch over someone very important to him.”

“Well, how can it be important if he doesn’t know about it?”

“He’s building a Jedi academy on Ossus and I rescued a force-sensitive child from the Empire-“

“The Empire is still around?”

“There’s always remnants; sympathizers left in the galaxy.”

“Right.”

“I need you to watch over him until I can take him to Luke. I have to make some repairs on my ship before I can go and it’ll take me some time.”

“That’s all you need me for?”

“I needed someone I could trust. Leia said you’d be the perfect person here.”

Leia. Maybe you need to do this. 

“When will you be taking him?”

“Two rotations from now. So you’ll do it?”

“Fine. If it’s to help Luke then why not?”

She smiles and moves her cloak to reveal a pouch hanging over her shoulder, hitting her at her hip. Inside the pouch is a small creature, pastel green with large black eyes. He looks to be of the same species as Yoda, whom you've never met. But you’ve heard stories of him. 

“This is Grogu,” she says, taking off the pouch and walking forward to hand it to you. You take it in your hands and wear it on your shoulder, looking down at Grogu who’s peering up at you with questioning eyes. 

“She’s a friend, Grogu,” she reassures him. 

“How old is he?” you ask.

“About fifty. But for his species that’s still pretty much a baby.”

“So… How do I take care of him?”

“Don’t let him out of your sight. He can find things to get into if you’re not looking. Just make sure he’s fed and he should be pretty good for you.”

“Okay… Am I meeting you back here when you’re going to take him?”

“Mhm. Meet me back here in two rotations, same time.”

“Alright…”

“May the force be with you,” she says, turning and walking deeper into the forest, her cape billowing in the wind. 

You sigh and look down at Grogu. He doesn’t say a word but you don’t expect him to, instead, he cocks his head to the side, looking up at you with a blank expression on his face. 

“Alright, kid. You’re going to have to be quiet on the way back to my house. Got it?”

He babbles a strange noise that you can only assume is a noise of acknowledgment before you set off back toward the village. You grapple up and over the stone wall as you did when you left, landing softly on your feet and retracting the line. The coast seems to be clear. And just like before you’re light on your sweet, moving like the wind. Once you’re home, you let Grogu out of his pouch and onto your bed. All you know about him is that he’s young and force sensitive so he’s going to need a watchful eye at all times. This is going to be the longest two rotations of your life. 

Din

Moff Gideon recruited Din to join his cause several cycles ago, but it wasn’t willingly. He knew Din was special back then. Force-sensitive Mandalorians are hard to come by. But it took some “convincing” to turn him over if you could call it that. Most people would call it torture. 

“Please bring me Din Djarin,” Gideon says to one of his officers. 

He bows at the command and leaves the cockpit, setting off down the hallway. Gideon has a task for Din, a special one this time. For a while now, Din’s been working as a bounty hunter for Gideon’s small remnant of the Empire. He’ll go after anyone Gideon tells him to, and he normally doesn’t ask questions. But this time, Din needs to know the full scope of who he’s going after. That someone… being you. And also the child. The Empire knows Luke is out there somewhere, building a Jedi Academy. They plan to stop Luke in his tracks and capture any force-sensitive students he may already have, turning them over to the Dark Side as soldiers for the Empire. 

The cockpit doors open once again. It’s the same officer as before but this time Din is behind him, stance strong and ready to take on a new mission.

“I have a task for you, Din Djarin,” Moff Gideon says. 

“To where?”

“Corvus, more specifically the village Calodan. One of our own, Morgan Elsbeth is the Magistrate. I’ve just received word from her that an ex-Rebel Spy has crossed paths with Ahsoka Tano and has taken the child into her care until they leave for the Jedi Academy. I need to go there to capture the spy and the child. If you talk with Morgan Elsbeth she’ll tell you when to strike.”

“I understand,” Din says with a tip of his helmet and nothing more. 

He turns and leaves the cockpit, thinking about his new mission and how he’s going to capture you. If he can, he’d like to sneak up on you when you’re sleeping or walking down a dark alley. You’re an ex-spy. He’ll have to be smart about how he goes about this. But once he captures you and tries to get you to talk? That’s when the fun begins. 

-

He leaves the docking bay in his ship, a Razor Crest, punching in the coordinates for Corvus and setting a course. On the way he thinks about how he’ll get you. Sure you’re an ex-spy, but that doesn’t mean anything to him. He’s never missed a bounty and he’s certainly not going to start now. Moff Gideon is confident in him, too. He is sending Din with no backup after all. This is all routine for Din, nothing to lose sleep over. 

Din is a force to be reckoned with… literally. There are not many force-sensitive Mandalorians out there. He could’ve chosen to be a Jedi, to follow the Light Side of the force. But the Dark Side was calling to him in a voice louder than the Light Side could ever appeal to him. He’s never felt so much raw power before, tapping into abilities he never knew he was capable of.

But for a fleeting moment when he thinks about the other Mandalorians, the covert he left behind, he feels bad about what he did. The feeling doesn’t last long though. Instead, he feels sorry for them, sorry that they’re weak. If they’re so weak, then maybe… they don’t deserve to live at all. 

He grips the gear shift on the Razor Crest a little tighter and makes the jump to lightspeed, hyper-fixated on you and your demise. 

You

It’s been two rotations since Ahsoka delivered Grogu to you. You’re due to deliver him back to her tonight and honestly… you couldn’t be more relieved. He’s adorable but he’s also a handful, getting into things when you’re not looking, moving things with his mind, hiding on you, the list of mischief he gets into goes on and on. When you were wishing for more action and excitement in your life, babysitting was not what you pictured. 

Part of you wants to ask Ahsoka if you can go with her but the other part of you is embarrassed, worrying that you’ll look desperate seeking out any chance of an adventure. 

Alas, all you can do right now is wait until tonight. 

Din

Din parks the Crest in the forest before heading to the front gate of Calodan. The guards at the watch tower take notice of him and let him in. They knew he was coming. One of them meets Din down below and escorts him to Morgan Elsbeth. She’s waiting for him on her pathway to her house, surrounded by water and her garden; a beautiful place to discuss something so grim. Her front gates open and Din walks towards her on the path. Her lips curl into a smile when she sees him. 

“Welcome,” she says.

“I was sent by Moff Gideon,” he says, standing with his hands hooked on his belt. 

“I’ve been expecting you.”

“You say there’s a spy in possession of the child… How are you so sure?”

“I always have at least one of my men patrolling the forest surrounding Calodan. One of them overheard them talking. She’s meeting Ahsoka Tano tonight at the forest on the north side of the village.”

“When?”

“At dusk tonight.”

“Understood. I will capture them then,” he says, turning and walking to leave. 

“So confident,” she says in a somewhat hushed tone so he wouldn’t hear. 

But he does, stopping in his tracks and turning to look at her one last time. 

“I never miss.”

And with that he’s gone, walking back out of the village and into the misty forest. For now, all he can do is wait for you and Ahsoka to meet up and ambush your little meeting. 

You

The sun has finally set. You’re placing your blaster and your grappling line in the waistband of your pants again, the same as you did two nights ago. Grogu behaves on your way out of the village, staying quiet as you weave in and out of the dark alleys and hop the wall with the grappling line.

Stepping into the forest you’re on high alert, anxious to hand him off to Ahsoka already. You swear you hear a twig snap somewhere. You turn to look in the direction of the noise to see… nothing. It’s just your imagination. You’re being paranoid. 

Pull yourself together. You were a spy for many years in the Rebellion. And now you’re jumping at the snap of a twig?

A figure appears in the mist. You can’t make out who it is, blinking a few times. 

“Ahsoka?”

But then a lightsaber is drawn, illuminating the figure and the mist surrounding them. It’s not Ahsoka. It’s… a Mandalorian? He’s wearing pure Beskar armor, vibrant and silver in color, with a black cape billowing in the mist. His stance is strong and menacing, making you feel small and inferior. And the lightsaber he’s wielding is one like you’ve never seen before. It’s black and its blade is one of a traditional sword. It sounds different, too, emitting a higher-pitched sound than that of a normal lightsaber. 

Without thinking you draw your blaster, aiming at the Mandalorian and moving Grogu so he’s behind your back. And then, the Mandalorian begins charging at you, running at you with full speed. You shoot at him but it’s no use. Every blast is defected by him. You scramble thinking about what to do next. But Ahsoka’s voice interrupts your thoughts. 

“Over here! Throw him to me!” she shouts. 

She’s on your right, hands outstretched and ready to catch him. You slide the pouch off your shoulder and toss him over to her. There’s no way he’s going to make it but Ashoka catches him, using the force to carefully pull him towards her. 

But before she can take him into her arms the Mandalorian stops and does the same. And now you can’t believe your eyes. He’s pulling Grogu towards him with all of his might. But Ahsoka’s strong, not letting go of him that easily. It’s like a game of tug of war between them with Grogu stuck in the air. If they do this any longer it’ll hurt him. Without thinking you aim your blaster at the Mandalorian, somewhere his Beskar isn’t protecting him, and shoot at the side of his thigh. The Mandalorian yells in pain and lets go of Grogu, sending him flying into Ahsoka’s arms. She takes him and runs, light on her feet as she runs through the trees. The Mandalorian will go after her next if you don’t stop him now. You keep shooting at him now that his attention is on you. But same as before, he deflects every single blast. 

Your next instinct is to run, either after Ahsoka or back towards the walls of Calodan, somewhere, anywhere just away from him. You take off running as fast as you can, into the forest and narrowly missing rocks and tree roots. You don't dare look over your shoulder to see if he’s chasing after you. 

All of a sudden you feel something around your legs, closing in on you. You look down to see a fiber cord whip, not too dissimilar from your own grappling line, encircling your legs. Within an instant you’re down on the ground, head slammed against a rock. You try to wiggle free but it’s no use, the cord is tightening around you rapidly. The last thing you see is the Mandalorian standing above you, piercing into your soul with the stone-cold glare of his visor before the world around you fades to black. 

Follow @beskarandblastersfics and turn on post notifications to be notified when parts 2 and 3 come out!

Banners/dividers by @saradika-graphics! Still searching for credits for the art used!

Tagging anyone who interacted with the announce post/masterlist!

@diversemediums @noxturnalpascal @harriedandharassed @angel-with-a-heart @victorian-cherub @yorksgirl @sweetercalypso @corazondebeskar @clawdee @deathwife @perotovar @dinsmechanic @weepingclamfiredragon @pascalpvnk @thepriceofdevotion @wethairjoel @raisinghellionsblog @theywhowriteandknowthings @slamxpoetry @genetics4life @tardy-bee @ka-x-in @carpathianspaceprincess @pamasaur @jjhayhay20 @drawingdroid @decembermidnight @softiedingo @immarocketman @tuquoquebrute @axshadows @morallyinept @planet-marz1 @5oh5 @survivingandenduring @karlaispunk @perennialdoll247 @baronesspascal @for-a-longlongtime

#din djarin x reader #din djarin x you #din djarin x f!reader #din djarin #din djarin fanfiction #dark!din djarin x reader #dark!din djarin #sith!din djarin #sith!din djarin x reader #star wars fanfiction #starwarsficnetwork #pedrostories #apotheosis

[random2908]

You know, it was a very interesting perspective change to see Gideon from the outside. This was literally the first time we’ve ever had scenes with Gideon where we’re not hearing her internal thoughts, and it really changes her character.

Like, I know Muir consistently described Gideon as a “dirt bag” in tumblr posts and interviews when the first book came out.

And this is someone who kicked Harrow when she fainted rather than catching her; this is someone who, when carrying an unconscious Harrow intentionally bumped her into walls and doorways in the hopes that she’d wake up with mysterious bruises on her head or maybe even a concussion. But, you know, we heard her internal narrative at that time, we heard about how she was holding back from doing worse, but also about how she’d been so consistently abused that maybe this was all justice anyway.

But we saw her grow and change, we saw her be kind to Harrow at the end (...and then not), we saw her stop hating on the teens and actually care when they died. Corona liked her (Corona pretty much never heard her speak), Magnus liked her (Magnus literally never heard her speak), Jeannemary liked her (Jeannemary was a teen looking for a role model and would have latched on to her no matter what her personality). So when she came back and never had a good thing to say to anyone at the end of the second book, we were all rooting for her anyway--she was awesome and they all deserved her wrath and her snark, because we’d been in her head for two books.

And now we have... she’s rude to Nona, because Nona is possessing Harrow’s body, and because Nona kissed her based on her body-language reaction to thinking she was seeing Harrow. If it were Gideon’s narrative still, we’d be told how well and truly justified she is, how sketchy and even villainous Nona is; but it’s Nona’s narrative so instead we hear about how rude Gideon is in her body language, not even her conscious choice of words.

We have, she’s about to give Paul her jacket but gets awkward and doesn’t. Nona sees her fail to help; in Gideon’s narrative her instinct was to help but she just felt too awkward.

We have, she says the same rude jokes to everyone that she did in the first two books, but even though Pal and Cam are still putting up with that, even though Ianthe still thinks she’s funny, we’re getting it from Nona’s perspective and Nona doesn’t like her and so doesn’t like her rude jokes.

Ianthe actually does like her, and it’s not clear whether that’s a point in her favor or not.

It’s the same Gideon through and through, she even gets mad at Alecto usurping her place in service to Harrow. But what a difference an uncharitable reading makes.

#nona the ninth #nona the ninth spoilers #ntn #ntn spoilers

[deconstructthesoup]

One thing I really liked about the Scott Pilgrim anime is that Gideon is the only one who remained evil.

Yeah, he got a depression arc, and he got a girlfriend who's scary enough to not take his shit and for him to actually respect her, but he's still evil. He still fully intended to blow up a theater to get back at someone. He got his CEO position back, and we all know that that's only an opportunity for him to be more evil. And if the end credits scene is to go off of, he's got plans.

But the other exes? They got closure. They got character development. They got to move forward. Because they honestly... weren't that bad.

Matthew Patel, who had the biggest glowup, was literally just a middle school thing. Yeah, Ramona ditched him and was kind of sucky, but it probably wouldn't have lasted anyway. And like she said, he didn't really get "evil" until high school, and by then he'd already moved.

Lucas Lee? Maybe he had some mild toxic tendencies when he and Ramona dated, but from what he saw, he was actually pretty sweet during their relationship. In the comics, he's honestly the most reasonable of the exes, deciding to actually have a chat with Scott before Scott convinces him to grind to death. And he didn't do anything to Ramona to make her break up with him---she just dumped him for Todd.

Todd Ingram, while being a little bit obsessive---and based on the comics and the anime, a compulsive cheater---didn't seem that horrible when they were dating, either, unless you count the "punch the hole in the moon" thing. He and Ramona broke up because of a long-distance thing. She went off to college, he went back to Envy. Bit of a douche? Yeah. Actively horrible to her? Not really, honestly.

Roxie Richter, our incredible half-ninja lesbian, is arguably the best out of Ramona's exes. She and Ramona had a genuinely healthy relationship, they actually got along great, and Roxie deeply cared about her... and Ramona straight-up broke her heart. When you look at it, Roxie really is the only ex who fully did nothing wrong. No erratic tendencies that caused Ramona to decide to cut her out, no behaviors that Ramona probably knew would become problematic unless she split. Roxie was sweet, she was Ramona's bi awakening... and Ramona didn't like her as much as Roxie liked her. The whole situation was just mass miscommunication, and it's totally understandable why Roxie is still bitter down the line. Unlike with the others, Ramona's fully in the wrong, which is why they need to reconcile first.

Kyle and Ken---okay, in the comics, they were amazing villains, and it's kind of a crime that they keep getting shafted, but honestly... I get it. Their relationship with Ramona wasn't actually that complicated. They were players, she played them back, they resented her for it until they got over it. Of course they're the exes that are kind of the masterminds in the anime---along with Old Scott---and of course they're the exes that are the most chill.

Gideon, on the other hand, is the only ex who can only be described as a full-on bastard. Out of all seven of the "evil" exes, Gideon's the only one who Ramona outright says was abusive. In the comics, beyond just starting the league, he controlled her and Scott's mind and straight-up imprisoned his own ex-girlfriends, fully intending to do the same to Ramona. He's also the only ex who was defeated by both Scott and Ramona, and it's the most satisfying thing to see him fully get his ass kicked. It's fully unsurprising that his backstory in the anime was that he was an incel who nobody liked, and he got dangerous once he got money.

So of course, when all of the other exes are getting cool redemption arcs, moments of self-actualization, coming-out moments, and instances of actually befriending the heroes, Gideon's the one who stays an asshole. He has a fall from grace and becomes a loser, the girl who he winds up with is also evil and thinks him being evil is hot, and at the end of the series, they're a villain power couple, emphasis on villain. Gideon learned to treat his girlfriend with respect, and probably moved on from Ramona... aaaaaaand that's it. He's still a dick. He's still an evil mastermind.

So... yeah. The Scott Pilgrim anime is great, as are the comics. Check 'em both out.

#the movie's all right I guess #scott pilgrim #scott pilgrim takes off #gideon graves

[incorrect-mtg]

A two-part story I posted via Twitter Threads

She did not expect her next meeting with a member of the Gatewatch to be by randomly seeing them in her streets.

"Jace!" she called out "Long time no see! What brings you to Zendikar?"

His answering grimace was unexpected.

"General Tazri" he said "I…bring news about Gideon."

The following conversation left her tired and emotionally drained.

She closed her eyes, focusing on the image Jace had magically shared with her, of the statue they had built in his honor.

"I'll talk to some people" she said "they'll be happy to build a matching one here."

"You know he'd probably hate that, right?" Jace said with a humorless chuckle "not that it stopped us from doing it."

"If he didn't want us to built statues in his honor" Tazri replied, shrugging "then he should have thought first before becoming Zendikar's hero."

----

Over the following years, Jace became a regular — although infrequent — presence at Sea Gate. He'd come by, theyd sit down for a drink and update each other on the going-ons of Zendikar specifically and the multiverse as a whole.

And then, shortly before the invasion, it stops. She figures that the Gatewatch is far too busy dealing with the fallout of a whole new brand of horror from beyond the stars for a friendly visit. Her schedule is certainly full.

And then one day she hears Chandra Nalaar shouting her name and she knows she lost another friend.

The pyromancer looks, on one hand, exactly like the bright young woman that burned two Eldrazi titans to ashes. On the other, she looks older beyond her years, a tiredness in her eyes that wasn't there last time they saw each other. It's a look she sees all too often on Zendikar.

She takes Chandra to the same place she'd go to with Jace and they exchange tales. The pyromancer might not have Jace's telepathy, but she is an eager storyteller all her own and soon she is updated on the entire mess that was the Phyrexian Invasion everywhere else.

As their conversation winds down, she declares "Well, guess we will need to build another statue. Next to Gideon's."

"You know he'd probably hate that, right?" Chandra says, unwittingly echoing Jace's past words.

"I'd assume so" she replies "But here's the thing, Chandra – all of you are heroes of Zendikar. I'm sure there are already multiple statues of each of you all over the plane." she takes a sip of her drink and continues "and by the gods I would build a whole plaza in your honor. So if you don't want a statue yourself, stay alive. Got it?"

A moment of silence.

"Also drop by every now and then. I don't want to associate the sight of you with death." she finishes, taking another sip.

Chandra laughs before replying "Sure. When we find a path here, I'll convince Nissa we should get a house close by, how about that?"

#magic the gathering #chandra nalaar #jace beleren #tazri #short fanfic

[ao719]

…Sometimes Not (Part 6)

The Scars Still Follow Me Around

Song inspo: Don’t Hold Me - Dean Lewis

A/N: This is an au mini series to my Always You story. Thank you @burnsoslow for prereading! Please excuse any errors.  

Book/Pairing: TRR; Liam x OC (Reyna)

Rating: T • Warnings: None but some mild language.

Catch up here

“Are you all packed?”

Reyna looked at her phone that was propped up against the pillows on her bed. “Yeah,” she replied, patting the top of her suitcase. “I think I got everything.”

“Everyone is really excited you’re coming,” Liam chuckled. “When I told Maxwell, he was practically bouncing up and down.”  

Reyna smiled. “It’s been a long time …”

Liam smiled in return. “Too long.”

In the few months since Liam and Reyna’s Paris run-in, the two had quickly fallen back into the friendship they once had. They resumed their video chats a few times a week and kept one another up to date on their day-to-day, playfully bantered and bickered, and laughed and joked, just like old times.

It was crazy how once that awkwardness ebbed away, it felt like no time at all had passed. They were back to the Liam and Reyna they were before they crossed that line … and that included her keeping her feelings for him hidden, just like she had before. Their past situation had gone unspoken about by either of them, seemingly brushed under the rug and ignored as though that part of their story never happened. He didn’t bring it up, so neither did she … but maybe that was for the best.

Liam had also been in New York a few times, and the pair had hung out like they always had before. Now, Reyna was preparing for a trip to Cordonia. It was Leo’s 30th birthday, and the Aldridge family had been invited to attend the ball being thrown in his honor. Liam had called to extend the invitation himself along with the offer to send the royal jet for them. Reyna smiled as she said she was looking forward to it … but behind that smile lingered some scars.

This trip to Cordonia would mark the first time Reyna had returned since Liam’s coronation ball, the last time she saw him before their reunion three years later; it would also be the first time she would see any of the Cordonian gang since then as well. Knowing she was going back there was proving to be more difficult than she thought it would be.

More than three years had passed, but Reyna’s upcoming visit brought to light unresolved feelings and issues that she hadn’t realized she held onto until now. And along with that was a simmering resentment she didn’t even know she carried.

“You ok?” Liam asked, pulling Reyna from the daze she’d fallen into.

“Yeah,” Reyna smiled as she looked at him through the screen. “Just tired. It is almost midnight here.”

“You can sleep on the flight over,” Liam said. “Also, I made sure the jet was stocked with all your favorite snacks.”

“And they say chivalry is dead,” Reyna chuckled.

Liam winked with a grin, then glanced at his watch. “Alright, I better shower and start my day. And you need to go meet your parents at the airport. I’ll see you later.”

Reyna smiled halfheartedly. “Can’t wait …”

****

A couple of hours later, high above the North Atlantic, Reyna stared down at her book, the words blurring together beneath the dim overhead cabin light. She couldn’t concentrate; the jet smelled of rich leather mixed with the lingering scent of Liam’s cologne. All she could think about was him … and her impending arrival in Cordonia.

“I’m surprised you’re not asleep,” Gideon said just above a whisper.

Reyna glanced over at him; he was sitting in the seat across from her, beside her sleeping mother. “Same to you.”

Gideon smiled. “So … what’s on your mind?”

“Nothing,” Reyna replied with a shrug. “Just reading.”

Gideon gave her a look, and when Reyna furrowed her brows in question, he sighed. “If I didn’t know you as well as I do, the way you’ve been staring at the same page of that book for the last 45 minutes was a dead giveaway.”

Reyna sighed, closing the book and drumming her fingers against the cover. “This will be my first time back in Cordonia since … everything … and it just seems to be dredging up some stuff.”

“You and Liam are in a good place now,” Gideon said. “You can’t let what happened back then ruin what you just got back.”

“It’s not about Liam.” Not specifically. Reyna glanced over to meet her father’s gaze. “It’s the first time I’m going to see Leo …”

Gideon stared at her for a moment. “Ah,” he nodded in understanding.

“It’s been over three years and I … I didn’t know it even bothered me, but getting ready for this trip, knowing I was going to see him … it seems to have brought up this resentment I didn’t even know I had. All I can think about is what he did being the reason …” Reyna trailed off, shaking her head. “I know, it’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid,” Gideon said. “But holding a grudge isn’t going to change the past, Reyna.”

“I know,” Reyna sighed.

“Well … perhaps this trip will give you some closure you didn’t know you needed.” Gideon smiled sympathetically when she looked at him. “Try and get some rest.”

****

Much later, after his last meeting of the day, Liam hurried from his study and headed to the south wing to change; Reyna and her parents would be arriving soon. He’d filled his schedule with back-to-back meetings in hopes of helping him pass the time by staying occupied, but it didn’t do much in helping to keep him distracted.

Liam was excited for Reyna’s arrival, but a little on edge, wondering how her visit would affect the way he’d already been struggling. They were in a good place now and he didn’t want anything to ruin that, which is the reason he’d kept how he still felt about her to himself the past few months since their Parisian reunion.

It hadn’t been easy.

They had fallen so easily back into their old routine, and while Liam was enjoying having his best friend back in his life, every time he saw or spoke to Reyna, he was only reminded of all the reasons he’d fallen in love with her in the first place. Her bigger-than-life personality, her wit, her sense of humor, her brilliant smile and infectious laugh, her kind heart.

Holding those feelings in had been difficult, but there was one thing that helped Liam: the simple fact that he was terrified. He had just gotten Reyna back in his life and he didn’t want to do anything to risk losing her again. Sure, what they shared three years ago was without a doubt the greatest thing that had ever happened to him, but then everything went to hell and he lost his best friend because of it. And that was something they hadn’t even spoken about. They had talked about everything that had happened during those three years apart except the reason they had missed them. It was like it didn’t exist … like crossing that line and how they felt never happened. She didn’t bring it up, so neither did he … but that was probably for the best.

After changing, Liam rushed down to the foyer, having received a message from Bastien that the Aldridge clan had arrived. When he reached the top of the stairs, his eyes immediately fell on Reyna, standing with her parents while they spoke to his father and Regina; she glanced up, smiling when she saw him.

Liam descended the stairs and everyone turned their attention upon hearing him. “Your Majesty,” Gideon grinned.

“None of that,” Liam chuckled, shaking his hand before greeting Catherine with a kiss on her cheek. He then turned to Reyna, meeting her outstretched arms. “Hey, you,” he whispered; he hugged her tightly, inhaling her scent before stepping back. “It’s good to see you all. How was the flight?”

“Long,” Catherine chuckled.

“It’s a tiresome journey,” Constantine said.

“Oh yeah. Flying by private jet,” Gideon playfully rolled his eyes. “How grueling.”

Constantine chuckled and looked at Liam. “I was just saying how nice it is to have Reyna here again.” He glanced back at her, watching Liam sling his arm around her shoulder with a grin. “It’s been so long.”

Reyna smiled. “It has.”

“I couldn’t believe it when Liam told me he ran into you in Paris,” Constantine grinned.

Gideon coughed to conceal his laugh. “Yeah … small world.” He cut his eyes over to Constantine. “So, where’s Leo?”

Constantine chuckled at his quick change of subject. “He’ll be meeting us for dinner.” He looked at his watch. “Which will be in an hour. You should all get settled beforehand.”

Staff members appeared, grabbed Gideon’s and Catherine’s luggage, and headed up the stairs to the guest wing. “Come on,” Liam said as he grabbed Reyna’s bag. “You’re in the south wing with me.”

Reyna nodded, dropping his gaze as they turned toward the stairs; that wing — his wing — held so much history. It was where everything between them started … and where it ended.

“We’ll see you at dinner,” Constantine called out as they reached the top of the stairs; Liam lifted his hand in a wave of acknowledgement before they disappeared down the corridor.

When they entered the south wing, Liam started down the hall toward her room. As Reyna passed by the living area, she paused, hit with the memory of the last time she stood in there.

“I love you so much, Rey … and I wish that were enough. But things … they are different here.”

“So that’s it? Everything that we had … is just done and over … just like that? Like none of it ever happened … like none of it fucking mattered at all?”

“You matter. We matter, Reyna. We always have. I … didn’t cross that line … with the intention of us finishing here …”

“Rey?” Liam called out. She stiffened, blinking away the tears before continuing down the hall. His brows furrowed. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Reyna smiled. “Just jet lagged.”

Liam stepped inside her room, setting her bag down; she flopped down on the bed a moment later, and he chuckled as he laid on his side next to her, propping his head on his hand as she yawned. “You have time to rest before dinner.”

Reyna glanced at him. She wasn’t quite ready to see everyone. “Do you think we could have dinner up here, just us? We can hang out … maybe watch a movie?”

“Sure,” Liam nodded, not thinking anything of it; he knew she was probably tired. “No one will mind. What are you in the mood for?”

They stared at one another, both their mouths curling into smiles as they tried to read the other. “Pizza,” they chuckled. “Jinx.”

“I’ll call for it and let my father know we won’t be joining them,” Liam smiled as he rose from the bed.

*******

That night, after consuming two pizzas while watching some rom-com Reyna put on, Liam lay wide awake in bed. Not only was Reyna’s presence there keeping him awake, but the way she seemed off was as well. It could have been as simple as the jet lag like she said, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was something else.

Once they decided to remain in the south wing for dinner, Reyna seemed fine; she was fine while they ate and watched their movie, talking and laughing with him the entire time. Then Leo called, asking if they wanted to meet up for drinks because he hadn’t seen her yet. Reyna’s demeanor shifted; she said she was tired and was going to go to bed.

Liam rolled to his side, letting out a breath. He wondered if just being there was hard for her … and if it was hard, was it because maybe … maybe she still felt — No. He scolded himself as he closed his eyes, pushing the thought far out of his mind.

*******

The following afternoon, with the palace abuzz with final preparations for that evening’s ball, Liam and Reyna strolled through the gardens.

Liam’s eyes slid to Reyna; she’d still been acting off. Any time he asked if she was ok, she said she was fine, but he wasn’t buying it. She opted for one of his omelets that morning instead of joining their families for breakfast and seemed to get lost in thought a few times while they walked through the palace afterward. It only made him question the thought he had last night that he was trying but failing to ignore.

When they came to the hedges at the entrance of the garden maze, Liam turned to her with an impish grin. “It’s been a while … how well do you think you remember?”

Reyna laughed knowingly. “I could find my way blindfolded.”

“Bold words,” Liam quipped.

“I’ll even give you a head start so I can’t follow, and I bet I still beat your royal ass to the center.”

Liam’s brow arched at her challenge. “You must love losing.” He turned and ran into the pathway.

Reyna laughed as she started after him, but then the memory of the last time she stood in that spot between the hedges made her freeze in place.

“I wish I could go back and change it, Liam … I wish I could take it all back, that entire summer. I regret all of it.”

“Don’t say that, Rey … you don’t mean that.”

“I do. Because at least if it never happened … you and I would still be friends. The exact fear that had kept us from crossing that line all these years … has now become a reality, Liam. A decade worth of friendship … it’s been ruined. And for what? Because in the end … none of it was worth it. It broke our friendship, and I can’t speak for you … but it broke me. And there’s no coming back from it … nothing between us will ever be the way that it was before we crossed that line.”

“I don’t hear you!” Liam’s voice singsonged in the distance. “Are you lost already?”

Pulled from the memory, Reyna shook her head and let out a shuddered breath before she started after him.

****

That evening, Leo’s birthday ball was well underway. Liam stared at Reyna from where he waited at the bar for a refill while she caught up with Maxwell and Olivia. Despite appearing to have a good time to everyone else, he knew her and could tell she was putting on a bit of a front. Something was bothering her, and he was pretty certain at that point that he was right in thinking that being there was hard for her. He’d finally pieced it together once he realized the significance of each place where she seemed to get lost in thought, including that ballroom; when they entered, she momentarily froze as if hit by a painful wave of nostalgia.

What Liam couldn’t figure out is what it meant, if anything at all.

While speaking to a group of friends across the ballroom, Leo spotted Reyna as she stepped away from Maxwell and Olivia and headed for the balcony. He excused himself from the group and started making his way toward her.

Like his brother, Leo was good at reading people, and it was obvious to him that Reyna had been avoiding him since her arrival. She’d skipped out on dinner the night before, declined to have drinks, skipped breakfast that morning, and had yet to even say hello to him that night. She was alone on the balcony now, however, and there was a long overdue conversation they needed to have.

Leo knew that his actions three years ago catalyzed Liam and Reyna’s downfall. What he did was the reason things between them had ended because Liam was suddenly faced with the duty and responsibility of the crown and all of the bullshit that went along with it. He’d heard over time from both his father and Liam about how Reyna was affected by everything that transpired after.

When Leo heard from Liam that the Aldridges were coming for his birthday celebration, he told himself then that he would talk to Reyna. It might be three years too late and there was a good chance she’d never forgive him, but he needed to at least try to give her the apology he had long since owed her. She may be his brother’s best friend, but Reyna was his friend, too; he also shared over a decade worth of memories with her, and she became the sister he never had.

Reyna stood on the balcony, letting the cool night air wash over her. As good as it had been to see some familiar faces that night, that was the last place she wanted to be. The moment she stepped inside the ballroom on Liam’s arm, the night of his coronation and watching him choose someone else flashed in her mind. She’d wanted to leave ever since. It was ridiculous, she knew, to allow the past to affect her this way, but it was as if her mind and heart were screaming for closure she wasn’t sure she’d ever truly get, not when it came to Liam anyway.

That trip only continued to remind Reyna of how unfinished they felt and probably always would, at least to her.

When Leo stepped outside, Reyna turned upon hearing him; he watched her shoulders slightly stiffen, but she smiled. “Hey, stranger.”

“Hi,” Reyna replied. “Happy birthday.”

“Thanks,” Leo smiled as he came next to her.

“I was going to come find you later … once everyone stopped crowding around you,” Reyna lied.

“No worries,” Leo nodded, then looked at her. “How’s it feel to be back?”

Reyna glanced away from him. “It’s been fine.”

Leo sighed. “Listen, I, uh … I’m actually glad I caught you out here because there’s something I really need to say to you.” He let out a breath as she looked at him again. “I owe you one hell of an apology for everything that happened that summer you were here.”

Reyna was surprised he’d brought it up, but despite feeling the way she had been, she tried brushing it under the rug; she couldn’t bring herself to let him know it still bothered her. “That was three years ago,” she shook her head. “It’s in the past.”

“Is it?” Leo questioned, and she furrowed her brows. “Reyna, you’ve been avoiding me since you got here.” Guilt flashed across her face, and he shook his head. “I don’t blame you. We haven’t seen each other since that night, and I never gave you the apology you deserve. And I understand if you hate me because what I did back then was so fucked. I wish I could go back and change how I went about it, but I can’t. But I’m truly sorry for everything you had to go through and deal with because of what I did.”

Reyna stared up at him, and just like that, her resentment was snuffed out; his acknowledgment and genuine apology turned out to be exactly what she didn’t know she needed. Then, guilt of her own hit her. “I’m sorry, too … for avoiding you and not just talking about it. To be honest … I didn’t even know it bothered me until I was packing and it just … hit me that I was going to see you for the first time. Then all of these … feelings followed … and I didn’t really know how to go about dealing with them.”

“I get it,” Leo nodded. “I … I wasn’t thinking back then … at least not about anyone but myself. When I came back, Liam … boy did he let me have it.” He rubbed his jaw, remembering the crack of his brother’s fist across it that day. “He was so angry with me … and so broken. And then I heard from my father about how you had been … and I felt so guilty knowing I was the reason you both were hurting so much.”  

Reyna let out a breath. “For what it’s worth … it wasn’t only your doing. I know I was to blame, too, for how certain things played out.”

Leo knitted his brows. “How are you to blame?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Reyna shook her head. “It really is in the past now,” she subtly smiled. “And if Liam can forgive you, I certainly can.”

“It wasn’t easy,” Leo scoffed. “It took him nearly a year to be close to normal with me again,” he chuckled. “But thank you … for your forgiveness. Honestly, it’s the best birthday present I could have asked for.” He held his arms out in an offer, and she smiled as she stepped forward and he pulled her into a hug. “By the way—” He squeezed her tightly before he stepped back “—It’s fucking good to have you back. Liam moped around this goddamn place for the last three years like you were his puppy someone dognapped.” Reyna snorted, but then her eyes slightly widened, darting from him to over his shoulder. Leo stiffened. “He’s standing right behind me, isn’t he?”

“Sure the fuck am,” Liam snapped. “Mind if I steal my puppy for a moment?”

Leo grimaced guiltily as Reyna laughed. “That’s my cue.” He gave her one last hug. “Thank you again,” he whispered before kissing her cheek. He turned, chuckling as he dodged out of the way of Liam’s fist aiming for his arm before disappearing inside.

Reyna met Liam’s gaze when he turned to her; she wondered about how much, if any, of that conversation he’d heard. He smiled at her, slipping his hands into his pockets. “How does continuing our age-old tradition of sneaking out sound?”

Reyna grinned. “Heavenly.”

“Not as heavenly as the burger, fries, and milkshakes I have waiting for us up in my wing,” Liam winked as he held out his hand. Reyna laughed as she took it, and he led her off the balcony.

****

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”

Reyna giggled as she stared down at Liam; his head was in her lap with a white bowed microfiber headband keeping his hair back from the facial mask she had painted on him. “Open,” she chuckled.

Liam complied, parting his lips to be fed a French fry. When she pulled the cucumber peels off his eyes, he fluttered them open, staring up at her with a deadpan expression as he chewed, which only made her laugh harder.

“Your face is gonna be so purrty,” Reyna snorted.

“I’m already purrty,” Liam scoffed, finally cracking a smile when she laughed again.

They’d come to the south wing and consumed their burgers, milkshakes, and most of their fries before she talked him into letting her give him a facial. He waited, wondering if she’d bring up the conversation she had with Leo … one he’d partially overheard. He couldn’t take it anymore, though; there was a question burning inside him about something she said that he needed an answer to.

“So … I, uh … I heard you talking to Leo on the balcony,” Liam said tentatively.

The smile faltered from Reyna’s lips. “How much did you hear?”

“I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. I was coming to get you to make our getaway … and I heard him apologizing.”

“Yeah,” Reyna nodded.

Liam continued to stare at her. “I think it’s good that he did … and I know he appreciates you forgiving him. You didn’t hear it from me, but he was a little nervous about you coming,” he smiled ruefully.

Reyna chuckled. “Lil’ old me?”

“Please,” Liam snorted. “I’ve seen you mad. You may be small, but you’re scrappy when you want to be.”

“It’s part of my New York charm,” Reyna quipped.

“Well … I’m glad to know things between you two are back to normal, but …” Liam hesitated for a moment before continuing. “Can I ask you something?” He held her gaze as she nodded. “Why do you blame yourself?”

Reyna took in a deep breath and slowly let it out; she knew it was coming the moment he’d mentioned he overheard. Her fingers brushed against his temples as she adjusted the headband in order to distract herself long enough to come up with something plausible, but the truth came out before she could. “I wasn’t there,” she said in a cracked whisper. “Your dad gave you … gave us … a way, and when you came for me, I wasn’t there. Because I wasn’t coping like a normal person. I had hit rock bottom … and I wasn’t there.”

“Rey …” Liam sat up and turned to face her. “It’s not on you.” He sighed, his shoulders slumping as he stared at her misty eyes. “Ok, well … you admitted that you blame yourself, so I suppose I should admit …” That I’m still so in love with you and never stopped. “So do I. It remains the biggest regret of my life … and I’m certain it always will be.”

Reyna’s brows knit. “What does?”

“That I didn’t fight harder … for you to stay … for us … to find you when I came to New York. I should have fought harder.”

“Liam …” Reyna shook her head. “It’s not your fault.”

“And it’s not yours,” Liam retorted. “It was … it was circumstance, Rey. Do I wish things had been different? Yes, more than anything …” A flash of something flickered in her gaze. Hope? He shook the thought; it wasn’t that. He cleared his throat, needing to mask his mistake. “Because, at the least, we wouldn’t have lost those three years. But taking the blame … that isn’t going to change any of it.” She nodded, knowing he was right. “So how about no more blaming ourselves? Deal?”

Reyna smiled. “Deal.”

“So … is that all that’s been on your mind?”

The way in which he asked Reyna told her he already knew the answer. She should have seen it coming based on the way he kept catching her lost in her musings and asking if she was ok each time. It didn’t matter that they had those three years apart; he still knew her better than anyone, even better than she knew herself most of the time.

“I just …” Reyna shifted her gaze from his, letting out a breath mixed with a wry laugh. “It’s my first time back since …” She trailed off, not needing or wanting to say it. “And I just keep remembering things …”

Liam nodded in genuine understanding. “I get it … I live here, so I really get it.” He had three years to get used to the memories constantly invading him. No matter where he went inside his own home, remnants of their relationship lingered everywhere, good and bad. “But maybe now that you’ve had this first visit and things are better … it’ll be easier next time … if there is a next time.”

Reyna smiled at him. “There’ll be a next time.”

“Good,” Liam smiled in return.

It wasn’t the whole conversation, but the past was somewhat acknowledged, so it would be enough. At the least, they knew that it wasn’t simply forgotten by the other.

As they stared at one another, however, those lingering confessions were on the tips of their tongues, that their past was still very much their present and they both felt the same way now as they did back then.

Neither was willing to put their friendship at risk again, however … so they swallowed the words.

After a moment, with him still staring at her with such genuine affection, Reyna’s head tilted to the side as her smile grew and a chuckle escaped her.

“What’s so funny?” Liam asked.

“I’m having a hard time taking you seriously right now,” Reyna giggled.

Liam’s brows furrowed, but then he watched her gaze flicker up to the bowed microfiber headband he’d forgotten he was wearing; he rolled his eyes with a good-natured grin as she laughed. “Get this shit off my face,” he chuckled as he turned, laying back and resting his head in her lap again.

“You love it,” Reyna smiled down at him. “Ok, but wait …” She grabbed her phone and twisted her upper body, bringing her face down next to his; holding her phone above them, she snapped a photo. “Ok,” she chuckled as she sat up. She took two facial pads, gently wiping his face clean. “There.”

Liam opened his eyes to meet her gaze, and he stared up at her. She started to lean down, and for a moment his heart shot to his throat in anticipation, but then she rested her forehead against his.

“Thank you,” Reyna whispered.

“For what?”

“Knowing me … and knowing I needed to get away and talk.”

Lifting his arm, Liam rested his hand on the back of her neck. “You don’t need to thank me for that.”

***************************************

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#the royal romance #trr #choices the royal romance #choices trr #liam rys #king liam rys #liam x oc #trr liam x oc #king liam x oc #choices liam x oc #trr liam #king liam #trr fanfic #trr fanfiction #trr fan fiction #trr fan fic #choices trr fanfic #trr au #trr au fanfic #choices trr au #cfwc fics of the week

[paradoxcase]

Chapter 31 of Nona the Ninth

I feel like it's kind of significant that this is the second to last chapter of this book and I'm still doing these posts one chapter at a time. At this point in the other books I think I wound up doing the last few chapters all in one post, because I didn't want to wait to find out what was going to happen in them. This book is definitely much lower energy

This has to be confirmation that Nona is telepathic, doesn't it? Palamedes said earlier that he got the layout of the Ninth from Gideon/Kiriona, but Nona never saw that, she was asleep when that happened. It doesn't matter how accurate she is at driving the truck through the River if she doesn't know the layout of the place or where they're intending to wind up. The only way she could know this is if she read Paul's and/or Gideon's mind

I know they probably mean that Noodle will be moral support, but after everything else that happened in this story so far I momentarily thought Paul was saying that the necromancers were going to kill Noodle and use the resulting thanergy to heal people

The Ninth seems much darker and more dreary in this chapter than it did back at the beginning of Gideon the Ninth, but I don't know how much of that is because it is legitimately darker and more dreary now that it's being overrun by monsters and how much if it is just that it's Nona's POV

I went back and looked, and there is in fact this description in Gideon the Ninth:

This thing possessed Colum supposedly because Mayonnaise Uncle had siphoned him and his own soul was currently absent. Teacher told them there were monsters at Canaan House that could do this, but it was never explained why they were there. I don't know how accurate we can trust Teacher to be given that he was a construct and he didn't even tell anyone who Cytherea was, but I'm going to guess that these are not naturally occurring and probably resulted from necromancy experiments that were being done at Canaan House and I guess also at Antioch, and for some reason now on the Ninth. It doesn't sound like Gideon is realizing that Colum was possessed by one for the first time, so she already knew there was at least one place other than Antioch where they were present, right? And it doesn't sound like they are restricted only to possessing people who are being siphoned, if this is happening all over the Ninth right now, unless they are just possessing already dead bodies or something. Gideon said they were waiting for Crux to die so they could possess him more easily, right?

So three or four months ago supposedly not even John had seen one of these, and yet there was at least one just chilling at Canaan House this whole 10,000 years or so. Or maybe they just didn't come out in numbers at Canaan House due to a lack of dead/vacant bodies to possess? Although there certainly weren't a lack of dead bodies by the end of the book, and it sounds like they might be possessing living people on the Ninth. It sounds like they are saying that they need to wound people to infect them, so maybe to infect living people they need to do that and only Colum was vulnerable at Canaan House because his soul was temporarily MIA and there weren't any just wandering around in bodies and capable of wounding people?

I have to note that no one did this to Colum's body at Canaan House. Ianthe "killed" it by removing his head, but no one burned anything. And Colum's body was presumably sent back to the Eighth House... and it was also alone in John's morgue with the frozen bodies of the people John sent back to repopulate the Ninth... maybe that was the infection vector? Only I think all those bodies went back to the Eighth and Ninth like a year ago, and according to Crux this has only been going on for a day

The fact that Canace and Davith are gone certainly doesn't bode well

I guess if she told Aiglamene that she killed herself to save Harrow Aiglamene wouldn't believe her and might be even more pissed at Harrow, haha. It's interesting that Aiglamene doesn't seem to question or wonder about how she is still walking around while dead

Gideon was angry at Nona for being in Harrow's body without being Harrow and telling her to shut up and calling her a baby and stuff when they first met, but now she is protecting her from Aiglamene. And it's interesting that she said "don't be mad at her because she's not Harrow" instead of "don't be mad at her because Harrow did nothing wrong". I'm sure she's still mad that Harrow didn't want to consume her soul, but she knows quite well that Harrow had nothing to do with her death and could have told Aiglamene that, which would probably be a useful thing for her to know in the probable event that Harrow regains occupancy of her body at some point in the last chapter of this book

Well, I mean, there's Paul

So I guess Pyrrha is banking on Alecto bailing them all out once she gets back into her right body (or at any rate, the body that John originally made for her). At the end of the chapter, Nona tells her that she probably won't care about them anymore once that happens. I guess we'll find out who's right pretty shortly

I don't think Harrow ever mentioned believing she was someone else? I almost wonder if Alecto actually took over her body sometimes? But I don't think Harrow ever mentioned forgetting things that happened, the way that G1deon thought he just forgot things that he did because Pyrrha was actually using his body at the time

I mean, yeah, you can't take that away, but if Alecto turns out to really not care about fixing any of their problems next chapter, there's still some practical issues they'll have

It's interesting that G1deon liked Alecto, given that Mercy and Augustine both said that they hated her and asked John to kill her, so I have to wonder what kind of interactions Pyrrha and G1deon had with her

...I've seen pictures of this T-shirt on tumblr, and was like "what does this have to do with the Locked Tomb?"

Also, how on earth did Palamedes and Camilla combine into a person who approves of this T-shirt

I'm imagining the last chapter, now: Alecto and Harrow swap souls again, Pyrrha is like, Alecto can you please get rid of all the zombies, Alecto is like, just a sec I have to go get something, ten minutes later she is back wearing the free mustache rides shirt that she went all the way back to New Rho to get from under the sink

#the locked tomb #nona the ninth

[golden--doodler]

So, I just got this amazingly lovely Commission from @stephreynaart of my two Gravity Falls OCs, Maggie and Sydney, as sort of an early Christmas gift for myself (and because I saw they were having a sale on their Comm prices)! And my goodness, they absolutely knocked it out of the park. My heart is so full 🥺😭🫶🏼

The idea is based off this section of the long Gravity Falls fic I’ve been writing on-and-off with my best friend, Matilda (again, not her real name, just an alias for privacy) since around 2020, though I think I actually started writing it before beginning to collaborate with her around 2018. So this fic has been in the works for a very long time!! But we’re almost finished with it (we’re very close) and are planning to continue writing it so it gets done eventually!! So that’s very exciting.

Anyway, the scene takes place during the episode Soos and the Real Girl in Season Two, and Maggie has had a crush on Sydney for a very long time, since they first met in The Time Traveler’s Pig back in Season One. And this is when they finally have their first kiss at Hoo-Ha Owl’s Jamboree:

“You have quite the moves, Syd.” I laughed, my face becoming warmer, and my hands rubbing against my thighs as I searched for something to occupy them with.

She bumped my shoulder with a playful smirk occupying her face, “They weren’t as impressive as when you knocked that beaver with a chair! That look of determination on your face was… whoa.” 

I could’ve sworn she turned away after saying that, but I didn’t comprehend why.

My smile soon faded into more of a frown, “I don’t think I could have handled all of those animatronics without you.”

“I mess things up all the time, and I’m not as brave as you are.” I looked at the ball pit below us, groaning. “Soos didn’t get along with Melody because of me. It’s just that you’re so courageous, I don’t know if I’m good enough.”

Sydney sighed and put an arm around me, “Who got the courage to talk to me?”

I looked up at her, pausing for a moment, “I did?”

“Who helped stop a Summerween monster?”

“You and Soos did.”

“Maggie, you still helped! Who got up the courage to stop Gideon from taking over the town with his giant robot?”

I smiled, “I did.”

“Who stood up to Bill Cipher twice?”

I stood up, “I did!”

“I don’t like you because of traits you think matter. I like you because of traits you have that do matter. You’re courageous, you’re smart, and you’ve protected me more than once.” She chuckled softly. “Honestly, I have doubts too, so you’re not alone. But I think it’s safe to say that going to that fair and meeting you was the best decision I ever made.”

I couldn’t help but feel extremely warm, and my heart started beating faster than before. It was no longer a hummingbird, more like an avalanche of rocks tumbling down the side of a mountain, pushing everything else in its path away.

“You were amazing back there just now, you know. And I would’ve been toast if it wasn’t for those Taekwondo moves you showed me that one time. How about you give yourself some credit once in awhile and enjoy things as they come.”

She leaned forward and gave me a huge bear hug. I reciprocated it, enjoying the moment of peace and quiet after the chaos of .GIFfany.

“Like what?” I asked, wanting some clarification.

“Like this.”

Before I could even process what was occurring, Sydney leaned forward. Her face was becoming closer to mine, and my heart became a hummingbird needing desperate release from a cage. I almost leaned back because of instinct, and there was part of me that didn’t want to allow myself to believe that what was occurring was really occurring. 

Then her lips connected with mine.

It was gentle and tentative at first, and for a moment, all I could focus on was how smooth and delicate Sydney’s mouth felt. Despite my fear, I couldn’t help but reciprocate. The kiss was filled with an unspoken promise and understanding that our connection ran deeper than any self-doubt I harbored. And I couldn’t believe she felt the same way about me as I did about her. This entire time we could’ve been doing this.

The kiss deepened and our hands soon found each other. They interlocked like the twine of a basket, finding each other in the midst of this newfound connection. My other hand explored Syndey’s hair, her wonderful, flowing locks that cascaded like a waterfall down her back.

Sydney laughed once we separated, and we both panted, breathless. Our foreheads rested against each other, “We should probably go. I think we should give Soos and Melody some time alone.”

I laughed and followed her down, and Mabel tackled me in the ball pit.

“MAGGIE, YOU HAD YOUR FIRST KISS! It seems Soos and Melody aren’t the only match meant to be.” Mabel grinned.

“It seems like it.” I quickly hugged her and adjusted my glasses, which were starting to slide down my face.

#gravity falls #gravity falls oc #putting these two adorable dorks on swings for their first kiss was all steph which was such a lovely idea #the winter clothes was my idea to get into the holiday spirit #maggie’s gingerbread shirt is the cutest thing!! #the monochrome purple and yellow actually looks super cool!! i asked for those colors because they’re my favorite~ #i definitely have an obsession with commissioning artists but it’s not my fault there are so many talented individuals out there!!

[itsguysnightitsironic]

Some human skin and bone

The yassification button glitched, so sorry for your loss.

Did this take years of my life? Yes.

Did it take making at less three before realising I used their identifying colours to render them? Also yes.

Drawings without the dramatic light under the cut with some very long ramblings.

(I'm pretty sleep-deprived right now, excuse my weird grammar and ramblings.)

They are in order of making.

HOOTSIE

-She was the first I drew of the bunch, and I based her mostly on a baby I saw in a hair salon. She had these big un-blink-able eyes and these adorable chubby cheeks that just made sense that Hootsie had.

-To try to union the owl and bear parts of an owlbear, I gave her this very puffy ENORMOUS fur coat with a feather jacket under it. To define where in her original design the fur and feather separate.

-Also the claws, since Hootsie has claws, it's your decision to decide if they are REAL or if Gricko made them for her in wood.

-Her makeup it's designed to scream "OWL" and her original markings, from the big eyes, and eyebrows as owls horns, to the line to symbolise her beak.

She was very fun to draw, brain empty, just owlbear.

GIDEON

-You know the whole "re-inventing the wheel"? Well, this was a "drawing Mace by accident over and over again"

-Credits to Beth Mello for inspiration for the splash blood makeup, which it's just so pretty

-I don't know where the metallic horns came from, I know it's inspired by something but it is so locked in my mind and I can't pull the strings to know where it comes from.

I showed this one to one of my old art teachers and he said "It looks like me when I was younger" and now I can't unsee it.

Your genishi is my retired art teacher now, so sorry for your loss.

GRICKO

-Did I ask my father to pose to draw his old hands? Yes. Yes, I did. And I had to make them more rough and hairy because he has "selling wristwatches on tv" hands? Absolutely.

-I based his hair on a member of Metalica, Kirk Hammett. Now that he's older, he has this very pretty long curly greyish hair that just felt very Gricko.

-I cut his fingers. Well, only the right hand, he has the other one but it didn't grow correctly so it's more like little little finger without nail. So he has four fingers, in his original goblin design he has four fingers and so does the human version now, we don't know what happened, Gricko probably doesn't know either.

-The makeup had to have the most eccentric in-your-face eyeliner ever. With some green highlighter to remain of goblin skin, blue and white dots for his magic and to link him with Hootsie's little blue gems, and body paint inspired by Britons war paint. (Which are drawn after two of his totems.)

Lighting for this one was weirdly easy... The ocarina wasn't.

FROST

-As someone who is pretty young and it's starting to grow white hair already, I can say, that whatever it's happening to him it's more from stress than genes. What ghost scared you, sir?

-I fought with his face so much, I had his body ready for days but not the face. I wanted to keep the expression that Frost has in the original, mostly the smug smile he has.

-Credits to Freja Bermann for inspiration for his makeup which it's inspired by multiple of her looks inspired by the solar system.

-I just realised that by giving him "horns" and two dots to symbolize his tiger ears it looks like the froggy chair of Animal Crossing.

I'm not changing it. This is our little secret.

KREMY

-How do you draw an alligator as a human? How??? DRAW??

-You know what, drawing hands it's only fun if it's old people's hands. They have more texture and can be a bit rougher. They can define a character's life so well... For example, here Kremy has four fingers, you can decide if he got it cut off by fucking around, bitten off, or if he gifted it as a sign of faith to his patron, you decide.

-You hear about "Give Gideon a cowboy hat" get ready for "Give Kremy opera binoculars"

-His makeup was inspired by cabaret, just dramatic eyeshadow and eyeliner. There are markings as gator skin around his eyes and nose. And a fake beauty mark because why not?

Drawing Kremy it's always fun, even if I get tortured first by trying to structure his face.

I can't bring myself to do Torbek, Twig and Petunia, sorry, I'm very tired.

AHHHHHHHHHH.... Have a cupcake 🧁.

#legends of avantris #once upon a witchlight #kremy lecroux #gideon coal #morning frost #hootsie the owl bear #hootsie grimgrin #gricko grimgrin #im taking a power nap #wake me for the next ep

[wheelsup30]

The Archer (Aaron Hotchner Angst)

(Note: this fic is set during Hotch’s month off at the start of s5. Also this is my first non x reader post oooh)

warnings: ANGST, mentions of vomit, Spoilers for s3, the end of s4 and the start of s5 ahead, hotchniss if you squint

Word count: 1.2k

Inspo: The Archer - Taylor Swift

The apartment was far too quiet. Buzzing fluorescent lights the only ambience as an exhausted shell stared back at Aaron from the mirror. Showering was never this hard before, it wasn’t even a thought…yet here he was, physically unable to take his shirt off as panic constricts his stomach and throat. He didn’t need to see to be reminded- the wounds weren’t healed yet. Every time he moved he could feel Foyet over him, his hot, nauseating breath washing over his face-

Suddenly the pain is too real, the blade is tearing his flesh and any air trying to get into his lungs isn’t making it- it doesn’t just hurt, it aches, like his body is screaming for oxygen. 

‘Haley.’ Say it-

‘Haley-’ He can’t get it out- he can’t breathe, he can’t speak- she’s not here, she can’t hear you, she can’t help-

Aaron heaves, slowly lowering himself to sit on the bathroom floor, his hands on the sink to support himself as tears blur his vision and burn his cold face. Another heave strains his throat, and he pulls himself to the toilet just as his body rejects any food he’d eaten that day. This was the new normal, every time he showered or even looked in the mirror it started, and it ended just like this: curled up on the bathroom floor and crying until it stopped or he passed out. It’s the former this time and after a few minutes of feeling like he’d never breathe air again, the lack of a reflection allows him to begin breathing deeper, eventually leaving him exhausted.

‘It’s dirty.’ is his first coherent thought when the feeling returns to his face and the sensation of debris from the grout on the tiled floor greets him. 

They’d notice soon enough. The team. It’s hard to hide a problem like this from profilers- hell, it’s hard to hide it from anyone. Part of him wonders how Elle did it, how Gideon did, then he remembers how those tales ended…was that his destiny? To be alone? On the run from a past that would never truly leave? Is that why she left? She must’ve known in some way this was in the cards…she’d saved herself, really, but in doing so he’d ended up alone. Perhaps that was it for people like them. Rossi seemed happy enough, Morgan had an ever revolving door of women from wherever he’d found one swooning that week, and Reid and Prentiss couldn’t seem less interested in romance…sure, there were exceptions, but they were all happy. 

Why was he not allowed that? 

‘Who would want you now?’ The cynical side of him asked. ‘Divorced father, workaholic, Victim.’ 

The word had slipped from his mouth so easily over the years, but now it felt like a wound itself, one being dug into every single time anyone looked at him. A wound he loathed, one he’d sear shut himself if he could. God, he couldn’t stand what this all had done to him, every single passing insecurity he’d bottled up had been smashed out the moment he opened his eyes and saw Emily standing over him. Haley had been there since high school, she was his normal, what he could count on to stay stable- she knew him. Better than anyone. Now he couldn’t even go and see her to talk, see their son, all because of Foyet. It made him feel weak. Insecure. Emasculated. It was like he could feel Foyet’s smirk every time the feeling began to sink in. 

“Hotch?”

A voice rings out in the main part of the apartment and makes him scramble to stand up and flush the toilet, quickly pretending he was just brushing his teeth, though his creased shirt and bloodshot eyes give him away pretty easily. He’d given Emily a key after she’d demanded to be allowed to check on him once a day. Technically he was signed off, so he folded and let her get one cut, now here she was standing in the doorway with those eyes again…the ones that make him want to curl back up on the floor and never move again.

“You okay?” She asks softly, reaching up to brush something off his face without thinking all that much about it. He nods, feeling like his voice is lost somewhere down his throat, though the excuse of a toothbrush in his mouth is pretty genius on his part. 'Good work.’ the cynical part of him taunts. 

“Y’know, you can always stay in Rossi’s guest room…or mine.” Emily offers, concern still lacing her tone and making Aaron’s stomach churn. “You don’t have to stay here.”

Rossi wouldn’t want someone bothering him all the time, Aaron is sure of that, even if part of him is very aware that man would offer support in a heartbeat if he actually asked. ‘He wouldn’t mean it, you know that.’. As for Emily…he wasn’t sure. She’d made the team ages ago, there was no need to impress anyone, and as far as he knew she hadn’t even told the team about her visits…so why? She must have seen the cogs turning in his head, because she steps a little closer while he spits his toothpaste in the sink and rinses it. 

“You threw up, Aaron…I can see the dots under your eyes.” 

Periorbital petechiae. He can almost hear Reid firing up an information dump about it. He must’ve broken blood vessels with how hard he threw up, she was right. Before he can even try to talk, she cuts him off.

“Just for tonight? I could even stay here-”

“No.” It’s the first thing he’s said all day, a fact quickly revealed by just how rough his voice is.

Emily blinks at him, a little taken aback, but as always she’s quickly back to stubborn and determined. “You aren’t okay, Aaron. Look at yourself.”

Aaron turns to face her, a warning in his eyes that is a complete and utter bluff. He wants to be mean, push her away and force her out of the apartment- out of his personal life- but in the back of his mind a little boy with dark hair and freckles tugs at his hand. He wants to trust her, he wants to be held by her, he ‘foolishly’ wants her to make it all okay. But this is more than a scraped knee and tears ignored by a mother, this is pulling down a wall so old it has roots in every fibre of his being.

“Let me help you.” She urges, gently reaching to take his hand. When they make it to the couch, it feels like the force of sitting down has shaken the supports of his wall, like a dam threatening to spill.

“Aaron…” A crack forms, stinging his eyes and pushing a lump into his throat. He finally looks into her eyes, his vision starting to blur while he clenches his jaw.

“I’m not leaving.” 

“Oh God-” He barely whispers before the wall collapses, his body now heaving with sobs. Emily takes it in her stride, wrapping her arms around him and slowly rocking him. 

“I’m not going anywhere…” She repeats, one hand now rubbing his back. “I know it’s scary, I know…” 

The words won’t come out, he physically can’t do it, but his eyes say enough for her to see what he’s asking.

‘Stay.’

#leowrites #aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner angst #emily prentiss #criminal minds angst #criminal minds

[iamnotshazam]

On Cassiopeia the First, Grand Lysis and the Locked Tomb

Spoilers for Nona the Ninth: This may be an important theory for Alecto the Ninth.

In Harrow the Ninth's conversation where Harrow tells John about the Ninth House infanticide, John says something interesting-

[John addressing Harrow] "You generate too much light, or too much darkness, for me to look at you [. . .] You were awake during your first time in the River, and you performed necromancy, and believe me when I tell you the only one other person has ever done that their first time in. Keep in mind that she was an adult necromancer who went on to found the Sixth House. [. . .] How did they get you?"

I think John may have been speaking more literally about light and dark than I assumed at first. Gideon saw weird auras during one of the trials at Canaan House. But more importantly, Cassiopeia kept awake and used theorems during her first time in the River, too. But her connection to necromancy and death cannot have the same origin as Harrow's, because Cassiopeia was born before the rise of John as God and the death of the Earth. She was a lawyer and Nigella was an artist.

John is taken aback by Harrow's explanation. He wasn't expecting anything to do with eggs, birth, or possibly even thanergy:

"This was . . . all so different . . . before we discovered the scientific principles." "[. . . ] your mother and father committed a type of resurrection," he said. "They did something nigh-on impossible. I know, because I have committed the same act, and I know the price I had to pay. Thalergetic modification of an embryo is difficult enough, but to achieve the same thing with thanergy . . ."

Was Harrowhark Nonagesimus already a Lyctor? There's more than one type. Palamedes called his theory the Grand Lysis or megatheorem, and Harrow rejected it out if hand at first, possibly because she was already familiar with a similar concept and thought it couldn't be that. Her own existence would have been open for discussion if the joining of many souls into a true new soul was possible - so it can't be that, because she's an ordinary necromancer, right?

John ends the topic with:

"Harrow, nobody has the right to know," he said fiercely. "Nobody has the right to blame you. Nobody can judge. What has happened, has happened, and there's no putting it back in the box. They wouldn't understand. They don't have to. I officially relieve you from living in fear. Nobody has to know."

Is God panicking about Harrowhark revealing something to other people? Is God projecting some of his own justifications and anxieties onto Harrow?

The Body (Alecto) is very quick to tell Harrow to lie about her age to Mercymorn. This would have kept Mercymorn from asking questions about the plot to create a child of God to break into the Locked Tomb, but on the first read it's assumed it's Harrow's mind hallucinating a self-defense against investigating the infanticide. But if the true answer might have led to Mercymorn unraveling the success of Dios Apate Major, why would Alecto want her to lie? Why would Alecto want to hide a key to her Tomb? Alecto can't lie. Does Alecto like Harrow that much, to continue her own imprisonment?

Why?

What we know about Cassiopeia as of Nona the Ninth could barely fill a page. She:

Was gay with Nigella but had to keep it secret (why in near future 21st century NZ, though? The nun?)

Was in the original followers, witnessed everything at the cryo-lab, was resurrected, and had her memories erased

Married Nigella, as officiated by John, then turned right around an hour later and told John he was making bad choices

Was at Canaan House with the Lyctors and the Cavs researching how to . . . Lyct. The wiki said she worked closely with Anastasia (?), who had a more complete idea of Lysis, a tripod theory.

Ate Nigella and became the Fourth Saint

Founded the Sixth House, a research library

Left the Sixth House a note 6,000 years ago that eventually led to the Sixth House seceding from the Empire. (Blood of Eden made contact with the Empire 5,000 years ago.)

Is heavily implied to be another Lyctor source for BoE at one point (TV tropes, can't confirm)

Spirit magic and Resurrection Beasts were her specialty

Died in the River fighting a Resurrection Beast, lasting seven minutes under - except Palamedes while being ~mysterious~ implied maybe she didn't die

I'm wondering if pre-resurrection Cassiopeia (truth-teller, secret-keeper) made a note somewhere about how concerned she was about John's mood and possible actions. If she somehow found it again after the Resurrection. If the note was vague in hindsight and she didn't understand the full implications until after Lysis. If she was the first person to understand John was hiding something but also learned that he couldn't read their minds. If she created a moveable research facility and library that held itself separate physically and emotionally from the rest of the Empire, with the ability to move with enough stele, for a reason.

She wasn't like the rest of the Lyctors. She checked in on her House every now and then. She left them a note. Maybe she didn't have to avoid Dominicus like the others. Maybe she didn't have to fear the madness of a Resurrection Beast, where other Lyctors did. The first, broken type of Lyctor. Gideon the First and Harrow both managed to unintentionally make a bodge of their attempt at Lysis. Did anybody else? Would they know how to pick up the pieces and put them back - in a different way?

And was Cassiopeia doing something else during those seven minutes in the River?

There's a backdoor from the Tower in the River that connects directly to the Locked Tomb. Paul-amades thought he knew how to get to the Locked Tomb via the River. Harrowhark began walking towards the Tower as soon as her conversation with God ended. And in the conversation about her parents committing infanticide, Harrowhark told God:

"I am assured they had no previous research to go by. They came up with it themselves."

When her parents learned their daughter had brought Armageddon upon the Nine Houses, they reacted eerily calm. They killed themselves and may have expected her to as well. About a decade before, a person in a haz-mat suit appeared on the Ninth with a baby assumed to be named Gideon. Where did she land, outside of the airlocked Ninth? Who would have gone out to get her? Who gathered up the baby? Who eventually learned this was the same baby that lived through the nursery massacre?

"You remain - what you are," said Crux. "A worthless millstone hung around my darling's neck. You were born to make her suffer. You died as you lived, Gideon Nav - a disappointment to me - and to God."

Did someone put the idea in the heads of Harrow's parents that they needed a necromantic heir so assuredly they would risk the slow death of their house with no children? That maybe the survival of their House would soon not matter? Was there an indication using necromancy that way was even possible?

Mercymorn and Augustine had abandoned Commander Wake after Dios Apate Major. Space is big and stele are hard to come by. Was there someone transporting Wake to the Ninth? Someone with access to the River? Someone with the ability like Nona or Paul

Anastasia was locked in the tomb, as ordered by John. Samael died and Alecto was sorry for him. An oath existed to bind Alecto to Anastasia's blood.

What have Cassiopeia and Anastasia been planning?

#the locked tomb series #harrow the ninth #gideon the ninth #nona the ninth spoilers #harrow the ninth spoilers #alecto the ninth #i have no idea what im doing #tlt theories #john gaius #cassiopeia the first #anastasia the first #pyrrha dve #commander wake #harrowhark nonagesimus #gideon nav #marshal crux #horrible god man #oh yeah it's all coming together #nona the ninth #the locked tomb

[ivfrankenstein]

— HOW I SEE YOU;

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: Aaron Hotchner x fem!BAU!reader

— a collection of episodes that give us a glimpse of love growing over the years, from its different sides, from beginning to end — 1. 

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: “I cling to you like the tear clings to the eye, like the knife clings to the wound.” [based on 4x15]

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: slowburn, mentions of violence (typical cm stuff).

𝐀/𝐍: that’s maybe chaotic, but I hope u’ll like it <3 gif: @hotch-girl inspirations edit 📠

[2009, february]

Of what happened in those 20 minutes, she could only remember the feeling at the end — a relaxing inexplicable sense of relief; like after a grueling race, when you're at the finish line you don't care if you won or lost or how you did it, you're just grateful that it's over.

He was frightened away, and in his haste he must have thought she was dead. Perhaps, that's because she stared motionless for a while into the dark sky above them. She found it amusing, at the end of the hour — it was 5:20 when she left the station, seven minutes later she was walking here, 20 minutes it lasted, now about 5:47 — the park was beautiful, warm, the grass was a little long; she felt it with her left hand and touched the damp asphalt with her right.

Voices were heard distantly, she saw the red light from the ambulance, and Hotch's face was the first one she recognized among the others.

“Y/N, you’re safe now,” he looked anxious — the way she rarely saw him, “They’ll take you to the hospital, you’ll be all right.”

She knew Hotch needed to hear a word from her, but she could barely move her mouth, just stared at him and blinked. Blood from her nose got on her tongue.

“God,” Hotch wiped the trickle over her lip with his hand, “Don’t..” his own lips moved silently.

Y/N reached up to his forearm, hardly perceptible squeezing it — it wasn't that bad, she wanted to say.

She remembered him praying.

“Did he say why her?” Aaron was focused, keeping his eyes on the board; to keep so much in his head he had to constantly strain himself physically — the body movements served as a defense mechanism for him as much as anything else.

“He didn’t know Y/N’s one of us, he just met her on the street,” Rossi didn't want to tell everything he got from the guy: I have no idea why, I see a guy walking down the street with a stupid look on his face and I want to bush him over the head.

Hotch couldn’t get the river of blood on Y/N’s face out of his mind; he broke away from the photos of the victims and turned to Dave, “Her jaw is dislocated from hitting the ground, she goes with metal plates unable to speak for the next six weeks and will only eat liquid food. There’s a wire mark on her neck and I want to believe it won’t stay with her for the rest of her life.”

He blurted it out in the single breath, but never once called Y/N by name, “I know that, Aaron,” Rossi waited before continuing, “I also know that it might remind you of Kate–”

“She’s not Kate,” he cut him off.

“She is not,” Dave meets his gaze, “It was you who told me not to take this case personally this afternoon,” Rossi read it well — the fact that Hotchner's good friend died in his arms was still fresh, and the possibility of it happening again with Y/N was too much. 

“What did he say?” back again, professional and collected, he wants to know.

“That he liked her, that she looked like his girlfriend, that’s all,” Rossi admitted after all, “Aaron, Y/N’s a strong agent, she hurt him just as much.”

“Could that even be enough?” at times he was overcome with rage toward all the scumbags they were dealing with — he know about that part of himself, but the rage had a tendency to escalate into something more when it affected his team, and felt so personal. 

Hotch let Dave take a couple of steps toward the door before he stopped him, there was one single doubt about what had happened, beyond what he had no control over, there was something he could change. 

“Rossi, Gideon once told me that I was doing wrong by always keeping Y/N out of the field,” Aaron said, “that as a mentor I should have stopped holding her long ago.” His frown didn't translate all the confidence in Gideon's comment, and that's why he needed an outsider's perspective.

Dave exhaled heavily, he really was sorry, at the realization that Hotchners post carries so much responsibility for people you already consider family, “As I remember, when Y/N first joined you, she didn't need to have field agent skills, right?” no answer was required, Rossi already knew about that, “You may not agree, but I think Jason is the one who should have taken care of this issue. If we're talking about a mentor.” Hotch remained in a waiting silence, and Dave went on, “I’ll explain only by asking, because maybe my eyes are failing me, but isn't Y/N your partner whenever we got a case?” 

It wasn't something Aaron would normally think about, but it was true, “I suppose, yes, she is.”

“Then make this decision as her partner. If you think she could do more than she did, then send her to retraining,” he added in the end, “only after you discuss it with her.”

Aaron nodded briefly in response. What else could he say that hadn't been said before? 

His silent panic, which had enveloped him at home, this evening turned into silent despair at the service. Now he was, once again, left alone struggling against himself with the necessity of going to family, and the inability to put all the emotions down. Ultimately, he knew in advance that he ended up staying at the hospital, with Y/N, because of an equally overwhelming need to be there, too.

#Aaron Hotch Hotchner #aaron hotchner imagine #aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotch imagine #aaron hotch x reader #aaron hotch x you #aaron hotch x y/n #aaron hotch hotchner imagine #aaron hotchner x you #aaron hotchner x y/n #aaron hotchner x female reader #aaron hotchner fluff #aaron hotchner angst #cm imagine #criminal minds imagine

[queeoretician]

I'm dying to know more about Gideon/Kiriona's feelings about her names as of the end of Nona...

The last time we had access to her internal monologue, she had just found out that she was named (inadvertently) for the man who killed her mother, and (probably more importantly) had been determinedly attempting to kill Harrow for the past several months. She also found out that her mother didn't really give a fuck about her, and was a bit of an asshole in general, and her father didn't exactly make a great impression in their brief interaction.

Then we see her again in Nona, and find that she's been given a new name, and has been made into "the Emperor's construct," and generally seems to be having a shit time of things even before the emotional whiplash of being kissed by Harrow's body only to find out that it's not actually Harrow.

So clearly out girl has been through A Lot and it wouldn't be surprising if she felt super conflicted about all the associations of both her old name and her new one.

How does she feel about the name Gideon now? We know that she isn't opposed to people continuing to use it, but does she resent it now that she knows where it comes from? I can imagine her going either way on G1deon having killed Wake, but there's no way she looks kindly on his repeated attempts to impale her adept. And when it comes to Wake there must be a ton of emotional turmoil of having imagined a mother who would have cared for her all through the hardships of growing up in Drearburh, only to find that her actual mother saw her as a thing, a bomb, a human sacrifice - there's so much shit for Alecto to explore here.

And then there's Kiriona - how much agency did she have in being renamed? Did Jod basically say "OK, you've got a new name now, kiddo," or was it more of a mutual thing (or even her own idea)? I could see it go either way - she doesn't seem to actively reject the name, but she could equally well be conflicted, apathetic, or actively like it (but have that be muted because she's clearly in a bad place).

I'm particularly curious about how the connection to her Māori ancestry plays out - I assume that historical Earth cultures are pretty alien to anyone born in the last few millennia, but she might find personal significance in it depending on how she relates to Jod. I hope Alecto explores this! It's hard to imagine her taking an interest in ancient history in general terms, but then again I firmly believe that she's smarter (and nerdier) than first impressions would indicate.

Speaking of which, one of my biggest questions going into Alecto is about what kind of relationship she and her dad have - how much of her sorrow and jadedness in the final act of Nona are about her feeling disempowered by John's treatment of her, versus everything else going on? Her comments in the barracks scene hint at her not having a lot of say in her current condition (particularly "I am the Emperor's construct" and "Nobody locks me up anywhere"), and I think the most likely interpretation of this is that the whole super-soldier shtick and new name and everything were imposed on her.

But I also find it plausible that she was fully on board with being the heir to the Emperor, and an indestructible badass, and all that, but now that she has these cool things she finds her life dull and unfulfilling (particularly in the absence of a certain small dark necrosaint). In this case, it would give an added poignancy to her reaction after killing Crux - that scene would then be symbolic of her overall lack of catharsis and pleasure in getting the things that she wants in the absence of Harrow.

I really hope that Alecto brings her some measure of catharsis, and a reunion with Harrow that eventually gets them to a happy ending, but damn is there a lot for her to work through before we get there.

#the locked tomb #gideon nav #kiriona gaia #the locked tomb spoilers #harrow the ninth spoilers #nona the ninth spoilers