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#I hope I don’t get murdered for this opinion
one-hell-of-a-moth · 15 days
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I’ve been seeing so many points about Sebaciel, and I think my take on it is - isn’t it more interesting to look at it as a predator-prey relationship, where Ciel is literally being primed for Sebastian eating him?
Isn’t it more interesting to look at the motifs surrounding consumption. Isn’t it more interesting to consider the implications of the “loyal dog” devouring his “master” after their contractual relationship is over. I just think that a lot of Sebaciel shippers see the obviously unfair and EXTREMELY uncomfortable power dynamic (like the panic attack scene in the circus arc) and immediately jump to “wow that’s kinda hot they must be fucking” instead of thinking about the deeper implications.
I don’t know if I sound insane, and a lot of things are very clearly sexualised in the manga/anime that shouldn’t be - but I feel like from the Campania arc onwards there is very little basis to say “Sebaciel” canon, and a lot more material for “Sebastian and Ciel have such a horrifically tangled web of power dynamics and unpicking that is going to be very fun”.
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Also, on a spooky note: From the beginning of the school year, people have been telling me they saw me driving a red car (I don’t drive a red car), and that they’ve seen me in places I haven’t gone to. Today, I overheard people talking about someone’s description, “She was about this tall and…” etc. etc. They told me I lost my tablet, and that it had my name on it. I don’t have a tablet.
Either I have a doppelgänger in the area, or something nonhuman is trying to replace me 🙃
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samuraisharkie · 1 year
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ok I genuinely think @is-the-owl-video-cute has gone off the deep end. what makes you act like that on the internet for real. I don’t even have a real stock in this bullshit drama but they are just the most reactionary asshole to people? how can y’all look up to them they are genuinely so immature and pissy. they’ve been throwing a fit over users they personally dislike and using absolutely no proof at all to say they doxxed ppl. there’s like zero proof other than they don’t like them LMAO. can y’all log the fuck off please?? before someone actually gets hurt??
#is-the-owl-video-cute#yeah I’m tagging actually I hope ppl searching for drama see this and get a reality check#I saw that archived link what the actual fucking shit in hell were they thinking typing that?#they arent fucking animal murderers. they don't like the way scout handles their media presence or their farm#but that doesn’t mean they doxxed them and there is zero evidence to suggest as much. they’ve said they didn’t so like. nothing to go on.💀#(frankly also. scout and owlvid should be able to handle criticism and disagreements like normal fucking people#instead of flying off the handle literally every single time. like it’s a pattern)#I think both of them should just log off until they learn to handle this shit in a normal way#and without encouraging their impressionable followers to go on witch-hunts after ppl.#especially bc they don’t like it when it happens to them?? yet they say NOTHING when their followers start harassing ppl?? telling lol#I can’t stand it. y’all aren’t educators and you will never be the end all be all of every opinion you have. stop assuming such.#owlvid has had wildly inaccurate ‘facts’ about rabbits before but acting like they KNOW this shit is infuriating.#I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that every ‘is the x animal cute’ blog has gone to shit and up a creek though#just particularly disappointed in owlvid and scout for the way they’ve handled this#while KNOWING the amount of followers that would swallow their boots all the way their their head if they could#like. cmon. you can say you don’t know enough abt this subject to comment. it’s ok.#and I think scout should be able to handle and address criticisms abt their cows without losing it every single time like#I’ve never met a good farmer that can’t handle criticism for their animals. it’s part of the job you won’t please everyone#and if you are planning on being an educator you have to be able to handle those criticisms with a level head and understanding.#that’s not what owlvid OR scout do. they are influencers on a power trip.#if you want respect you have to give it. not one of the dreaded rabbit people have been disrespectful about their criticism.#it is not so the other way around and that’s telling as hell#the only time I’ve seen these apparently evil sadistic rabbit bloggers make sardonic or disrespectful (I guess?) comments is on their own#and when they’re frustrated about being labeled like they kick puppies for fun for being a fucking normal ass farmer lol#you’d think maybe scout would be able to get that. maybe not so much owlvid bc they don’t seem to understand rural animal care#for the record I’m not looking at any of these blogs involved with scrutinizing detail bc I have better things to do#but I have kept an eye on the situation w scout and animal control being called and how it got twisted into ‘doxxing and swatting’#by high strung ppl who should not have been online#I value my blood pressure too much the urge to just turn off my phone overcomes any desire to look through the drama
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dadboddean · 2 years
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pride is still a privilege for most of the world especially non white communities
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hotvintagepoll · 3 months
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Propaganda
James Stewart (It's a Wonderful Life, The Philadelphia Story, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington)—the thing about Jimmy Stewart is that for a weird-enough looking guy, he is yet somehow SO hot and SO believable, ALWAYS. He always plays the same person—he's always, well, Jimmy Stewart—yet that person can be a murderer, a dark cynic, a naive idealist, the boy next door or an old man who knows better, and every one of those is hot. I would jump his bones in a heartbeat
Toshiro Mifune (Rashumon, Seven Samurai, Grand Prix, Stray Dog)—i love and respect my boi tab hunter (rest in peace you beautiful, beautiful man ❤️), but after i watched like 12 of his movies in a row on tcm last year, i ALSO love and respect toshiro mifune, son of a literal actual hatamoto’s (a high-ranking samurai) daughter, also very possibly related to the best judokan EVER, AND, he’s the guy who SHOULD have been obi-wan kenobi. the fact that he’s ALSO hot as hell just adds to his appeal.
This is round 4 of the bracket. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage man.
[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]
James Stewart propaganda:
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"Ough I saw him first in It's A Wonderful Life, where he is very charming as a suicidal family man being absolutely crushed by capitalism. But then. The Philadelphia Story, in my opinion, should get the same kind of press The Mummy does for being a bisexual dream. Now I'm not really bi (not into women) and it's honestly up for debate whether i'm attracted to men or not, but COME ON!! The movie stars James Stewart as well as Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn (and Ruth Hussey). Stewart plays a common working man, a journalist, to contrast with Grant's character, who is mega-rich. He is scrappy and hates rich people. Hot! They have a whole scene together where he's super drunk and being really physical with his acting, which I love because he is kinda wet noodle shaped. Hot! He carries Hepburn in his arms while singing Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Hot! He gets punched in the face by Cary Grant. Hot!!! In The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, we get to see him portray an alternative type of masculinity, opposite John Wayne doing John Wayne. He is even more wet noodle-y, to put emphasis on his incompatibility with the rugged masculinity of the cow-boy, he wears an apron for a lot of the film, again, to blur his masculinity, and he gets shot. Hot! Also he's older here, if that's your thing. Long story short: He's giving librarian chic and The Philadelphia Story made me want to be poly."
youtube
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“Here he is next to Grant, in what I believe to be a promotional shot for The Philadelphia Story. Please don’t get distracted by Grant (or do, i’m submitting him next).”
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“He’s a nice guy and a good guy and deserves all the happiness and joy ever! Classic boy next door/class president kid that everyone loves for real. Stand-up for the Little Guy vibes. With a charming fun side!!”
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Toshiro Mifune propaganda:
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"In addition, he spoke fluent mandarin and every time he was casted in foreign films, he said his lines in the language of the movie (although they ended up dubbing him. He wasn’t happy about it though).”
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Submitted: this gifset
Also submitted: this video (yes, that one)
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"Crucial Toshiro Mifune propaganda: THOSE LEGS."
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"That is hella muscle. Go watch The Hidden Fortress, aka Star Wars A New Hope. His thighs deserve an award."
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katszumi · 5 months
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“do you think i’m a good person?” you could tell katsuki had to swallow his pride in order to ask you, but when you made eye contact with the male in front of you, the clear look of insecurity was plastered over his face.
your eyebrows knitted together. “i do,” your eyes searched him. obviously, he was trying to maintain his robust appearance, but the way his shoulders slouched more than usual and the very very small pout on his lips, you noticed he wasn’t his usual self. “why are you asking me this?”
your voice lowered in volume and he hated how soft you spoke to him. he didn’t like pity, even if you didn’t view this as such.
katsuki lifted his shoulders and quickly dropped them, his eyes shifting away from yours.
“people talk,” he begrudgingly answered. “just wanted to see if the people around me agreed i guess.” and by people, he meant his stupid classmates and pro-hero teachers, but mainly he meant you.
your opinion mattered to him the most after all.
you shook your head, denying his speculation. you wondered who he was around to even hear something like this.
you inched yourself closer to katsuki on the couch in the dormitory lounge, slipping your hand into his dormat one that laid on his thigh. of course he would explode anyone else that would dare touch him in an affectionate way, but it was you. the only person who could even remotely manage to get him to feel tender inside and be sentimental back—or at least he tries his best.
katuski’s red irises ogled into yours, waiting for your lips to part.
“it doesn’t matter what they think. you’re bakugou katsuki, mr. great explosion murder god dynamight,” katsuki’s shoulders racked gently from laughter, “and you’ve saved countless lives at the age of 17. from what i know, that’s a good person and a damn good future hero.” you hoped your words would inspire him, but his eyes weren’t hopeful enough.
“yeah, i save lives, but if i’m an asshole about it then does it even matter?”
katsuki was being so vulnerable right now that you couldn’t believe it. he told you things he wouldn’t share with anyone else, but never would you have thought how open he could be with you. your heart was warm from the thought.
“don’t let people who know the surface-level bakugou affect the inner bakugou. if they choose not to learn who you really are, then their perspective of you is bias, and that’s unfair.” you explained.
“but,” he started, though you didn’t let him finish.
“and the people around you know that you are a good person. you may be loud, arrogant and brash at moments. but, we wouldn’t want it any other way. who else would we tease for fun if you weren’t there? or if we wanted some honesty, or a good laugh. we love you, kats. the inner and surface level of you.”
katsuki couldn’t help the smile that tugged on his lip, his shoulders lifting with relief. he lightly squeezed your hand that was still entwined with his. you figured it was his way of saying thank you.
“you love me?” he repeated, his smile now forming into a grin. he turned his back and started to lean back, resting his body in your lap.
you giggled, your face warming. “yes, i do.”
“say it then.” his eyes gazing into yours. of course katuski was aware of your love for him. there was nobody sane that would date someone like him; it truly seemed like a beauty and the beast situation in his eyes.
it was all more reason to fall in love with you even harder. he didn’t deserve your love and kindness, but there you were always giving it to him. you’re beautiful, delicate, and intelligent. it would be a sin to not praise the ground that you walked upon. because you were everything to katsuki and he wasn’t sure if he was up to par.
but while you were here, showering him in unconditional and gentle love, he was going to try and learn how to be the best person for you and the people around him. he would hate himself if he lost you because of his irrational behavior considering you’re the future in his eyes.
your smile matched his, crescent moon’s beginning to form under your eyes from how wide your grin was.
“i love you, katsuki.” finally. the words he loved to hear. and it ached. it ached all over. since when did he turn into such a big softie? but, it didn’t matter as long as you remained in his presence.
his rough, calloused hand reached up to cup your face, swiping his thumb across the apple of your cheek.
“i love you more, y/n.”
come here katsuki… lemme love u pls. hes so beautiful and soft. delicate bakugou 4 life !!!
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gremlingottoosilly · 7 months
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Cabin in the woods (yan!Konig x fem!Reader x yan!Horangi)
You and your friend group are definitely not a part of a typical slasher movie. Two weird guys you met at the corner store somewhere in rural Austria definitely not serial killers. You are definitely going to be saved. You are definitely not going to like being their little trophy.
TW: Yandere, Age gap(Reader in her early 20, murder husband in their late 30), Serial Killers, Mild Gore, Extreme dub-con(Bordering cnc), Blood, Horror, Kidnapping
CHAPTER 1 You meet two weird locals at the corner store in a city in the middle of Austrian woods. Your timid nature is going to be your downfall.
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Come to the woods, your assholes-of-a-friend said. Come on, he said, I know that for someone like you, dwelling in some shitty forest for three or more days only to drink mediocre beer and probably have even more mediocre sex while mosquitos are biting at your vagina sounds like your worst nightmare, but! Have you considered it could be fun? 
Yeah, you have considered it. Considered it, thought about it and already decided not to engage with the idea. Spending the holiday in your own country, your own city and by your computer was far better than running around some random Austrian forest – and so you decided to kinda…ditch the idea. 
Considering what happened in the next few days, you really should have been more true to your words. 
Because you agreed to the proposition – because you don’t want to antagonize your friends, because you already feel strained from them, because they are assholes and they continue to be assholes but they are the only ones you have. Maybe you shouldn’t rot in your room, maybe you should agree to spend Spring break with them, getting drunk in the woods and maybe chasing some wild boars across the place. 
— Sorry. 
Some asshole – not the friend one, just an asshole in general, like everyone else in this fucking country that is so stuck up at being in the woods and mountains, that you are literally going to be sick – took the last remaining bottle of coke that was still left on the shelve. You were not having it because it was almost night already, the last remaining store open in the area, and you needed your sugar fix and something to mix alcohol with so you wouldn’t get drunk and stupid immediately. 
You aren’t letting go of the bottle. 
The guy doesn’t let go either. 
— Sorry, I think I got it first. 
You hate how weak your voice is. Never be the active, social one of your friends, you’re stuck being just a dumb girl who has literally everyone walking all over her. You decided to dig your heels into the ground and sent this asshole where he belongs – so, your grip on the bottle intensifies. 
— Haven’t seen you. 
He tugs the bottle back to him – and he has some arm strength, surprisingly for someone in this town. To be quite honest, you are too intimidated by his deep, annoyed voice to even consider looking at him, so you don’t know what the guy looks like. Maybe it’s an MMA champion – celebrity shop at some weird corner stores in abandoned Austrian cities too. 
— I am very sorry, but I really, really need this bottle. 
You don’t, actually. There are multiple bottles of Pepsi right here, and not like you have a very specific preference for the drink that is bad for you. You just got tired of people walking all over you, tired of your friends that constantly getting you into their shenanigans without asking for your opinion and you just want something good happening to you at least once. So, you tug the bottle back to you, and press it against your chest, hoping that whoever this man is will get the memo and get the fuck away from you until you’ll get your pepper spray. Ah, right, you forgot to bring one…well, he doesn’t have to know about that. 
— What do you need this bottle for? 
— Important reasons. Secret reasons.
The man sneered and you finally got a good look at him. And…fuck. 
Tall, broad, maybe more on the leaner side, but you can clearly see his tight muscles that form this perfect, thin type of masculinity that makes you think about greet athletes and that weird webtoon you were occasionally reading because you don’t have anything better to do with your life. You lick your lips, nervously, suddenly aware of the fact that you wear some old hoodie, battered jeans, and exactly zero makeup – you were supposed to get chased by the bears in the forest, not a meet-cute annoying strangers. 
He is Korean if little doodles on his jacket and an accent are saying the truth. You force yourself to get your gaze away from the mask that was covering more than half of his face, black glasses that obstruct the view even more, and messy black hair – the only thing about his appearance that you can actually see. 
Maybe, it’s good that you can’t see his face – you need to get out of here, preferably with a bottle of coke and some other snacks before your friends start questioning why the only person who didn’t want to go is so reluctant about leaving the store. Besides, it’s already almost closing time and you need to gather your thoughts. With a deep sigh, you push the bottle closer to you. 
But this time, he didn’t humor you with softness. He kept it close to himself and suddenly, you are very aware of how much weaker you are than him. You could put up a good fight against a mouse, maybe, a squirrel on a good day – but in this tugging match, you were no, pun intended, match for him. You look closely at his cargo jacket – the patches look official, normal, making you think about the military and what the fuck Korean soldier is doing in the small town somewhere in the rural, touristy-foresty-mountainy part of Austria. 
— Please, sir, it’s getting silly. 
— Yes, it is. Give up now. 
He has that weird calmness in his voice – a low grumble that makes you shiver, the urge to just give up your control and present him your neck like a good pet makes you want to vomit. God, it’s humiliating – you just hope that your friends won’t be here to witness your utter humiliation. 
— I really, really need this bottle. Please? 
You master your best puppy eyes, looking at him with a half-lidded gaze, hoping he has at least a somewhat working and aching heart inside of his lean, muscular chest. The dark glasses of his don’t allow you to see his face clearly, but you can feel how he slowly eyes you from head to toe, slowing down at how much your hands are trembling at the confrontation. 
In a normal situation, you would give up already. But this isn’t a normal situation – you wanted to learn how to be brave, independent, and stand up for yourself in small things, even if your friends still going to swirl you around into making dumb decisions. 
— I was the first to grab it. Why should I give it to you? 
His voice is mesmerizing – you didn’t expect something as deep from a random stranger in the corner shop and here you are, embarrassed, cheeks heated because you want to ditch your friends and look at the random guy you just met. Ah, the tragedy of meeting someone remotely attractive and closer to your age – or at least looking like it – in a mundane place so that the horny thoughts would make room inside your head. 
— Because this would cheer me up really nice, sir. 
You master even puppier eyes – and you lick your lips some more, hoping to elongate the point of how shitty your day was, and how nice it would be, just to have a bottle of coke to cheer you up. Man lets go of a grumpy noise, shaking his head. 
“Fucking tourists” he mutters – and you feel even more embarrassed immediately. If anything, he is probably a tourist too! 
— Sir? So the coke-stealer has manners after all. 
His laugh is dry, and you want to take the bottle and leave – but when you yank it closer, he doesn’t let go. If anything, he grabs it even firmer, thin plastic deforms under his touch, and the tactical gloves he is wearing are only empathizing with the vast difference between you and him. 
— I’m not a coke-stealer. I had dibs on this bottle. 
He stares at you, tilting his head to the side. You look stubborn, like an angry little kitten – and, god fucking dammit, Horangi loved cats. Always wanted to get one or two, adorable furballs that would lay on him and Konig, maybe destroy the wildlife around their house. he loved cats and never had time to take care of them because of their combined jobs – so when he looks at this stubborn little woman – little more in her posture than actual size – he feels all the desire to take a kitten home gets straight into his pants. 
He has to find Konig. Ah, and get the bottle back. 
— Dibs don’t matter if you can’t even hold it. So, the bottle is mine. 
— Sir, if anything, this bottle can’t belong to you yet. You haven’t paid for it! 
— You too. 
— But I will. 
— Just as I am. 
He chuckles, more amused than anything. You look angry, you look pissed, you munch on your lower lip nervously because you don’t want this man to walk all over you, but you also really want his – it belongs to the state, actually – coke. So, you yank it one last time, already preparing to give up and drink Pepsi as the loser woman you are. 
Instead, the bottle goes right into your hand with ease – and you fall on your back, losing the connection between your legs and the ground. You prepare to fall and crack your head on the floor, just like a wet kitten of a person you are. 
Instead, you stumble into…something. You want to say that it’s something soft, maybe a snack aisle or the pillows that are being sold in this store for some reason, but this mysterious “something” under your cheek is firm, tense and warm. 
Just like in the worst romantic comedies you ever saw, you are crushed into a broad male’s chest. Don’t mess it up with another man’s broad chest, those are actually two very different individuals and the concentration of pecks on the square meter already makes you feel uneasy. You bite your lips nervously, wanting nothing more but to disappear – you finally have the bottle in your hands and you can swiftly retreat to the cashier on the other side of the shop, but the man behind you stops you. 
— What’s going on, Tigeren? 
Ah, good. The wall of muscles behind you smells of generic male deodorant and something metallic – and has the voice of a Greek god mixed with the most stereotypical Austrian accent ever. Not like you are an expert on accents or voices or tones because you’re not sure that Greek gods would have such high and grumbling voices, but you stand not corrected, drowning in your bad decisions. 
You feel the firm hold on your shoulder gently put you away slightly, as the man comes to touch the asshole’s hand. Softly, gently, you want someone to touch you like this. You lift your gaze from the pair and…
Did you miss a Halloween party with the tough rule of wearing a mask all the time, even when you’re going out to grab some more snacks? You lower your gaze from the man who also wears a generic black mask and dark glasses, your eyes slowly go down to his pants and…
Did you miss a horse-riding party? 
— Some tourist tried to steal my coke. Nothing, Ko. 
— I’m not a tourist. 
You mumble, under your breath. You don’t want to be here – the area suddenly becomes intoxicating, you feel out of place and you want to run away as fast as possible but the only thing you can do is to just strive on, hoping that you’d at least keep your beverage with you. You take a step to the side, hoping to retreat quietly, like a ninja – but they both notice and turn to your side immediately. 
— This is a dangerous place, lady. 
The tall guy – well, they are both tall, but the second one is fucking enormous, towering over the shelves and making you feel insignificant compared to him – grumbles it gently, almost carefully. You are inclined to listen to him, taking up his words like a damned prophecy. You know this place is dangerous – it’s a forest in the mountains of Austria, of course, it is dangerous, you tried to tell your friends this, but…well, to no avail. Useless as usual. 
— I’m aware, thank you. Can I…excuse me, I will leave now. 
— With my coke. 
Korean guy snorts, the clear amusement in his voice. You don’t like the way he emphasizes the point of you stealing it from him – you both are entitled to it, if anything, he is the weird one to think that he has some special dibs for this. The bottle is already warmed up from your combined touches and you groan from the fact – now you will have to choke on the warm cola while all of your friends have fun with their dumb alcohol cocktails and ice cubes and everything you forgot to bring because you were the last one to get here. Because you were the last one they asked to join – feeling like an afterthought, you lick your lips nervously. 
— Of course. The one you wrestled out of my hold. 
— You let go of it, sir. 
— Didn’t want to make a scene with a little thing like you. 
You feel the tips of your ears burning. Oh, how you wanted to punch both of them – the tall one and the slightly less tall one, both chuckling like a pair of grannies on the porch. Like this fucking place needed more bears. 
— You should be careful around these parts. Weird things going around. 
The mountain has spoken again – weird, but all of his phrases feel more like something straight up from a horror movie. Combined with the eerie dim light of the tiny store and his mask, it sent a shiver down your spine. Gosh, you need to watch fewer horror movies and read less terrible dark romance books. You are jumpy, nervous, anxious, everything that doesn’t combine well with a forest trip. 
You take a step back and the blue eyes follow you. When did he take off his sunglasses? Why do they both need sunglasses at night? 
He looks at you and, fucks sake, you stumble into the aisle again. With a bottle of coke in your hand, which isn’t the best weapon in the world, you stumble to the cashier. 
Cold gaze follows you. Oh, how he follows you. 
You nervously bring the coke bottle to the old man behind the counter, listening to the tired German speech – you recognize the numbers, memorize the price of a single bottle, and yet…you feel the eyes glue to your back as you desperately rummage through your pockets. You swear to god that you had cash on you this exact morning – but you go through your pockets, through your backpack, and try to search for maybe some old cents and cards. 
Nothing. 
God, you feel like a failure – embarrassed that you wasted so much time trying to get this bottle only to put it back on the shelf in defeat and…
— On me. Move your ass, tourist. 
The Korean guy notches your side and you glare at him with a mix of anger and shame – he pays for the bottle, probably grinning from how well he taught this annoying as fuck tourist a lesson, and also for the few snacks he bought, probably for himself and his…friend? Boyfriend? 
You move your ass obediently, going out of the store, and your head hangs low in defeat. Your friends are smoking outside, everyone is visibly annoyed with how long it took you only to go out empty-handed. Jenny, one of your girlfriends, a tall brunette with a perfect fucking body that shouldn’t belong to someone in the real world and not 90-era comedies, looks…worried. 
You went to ask her what was wrong, but she shook her head, looking somewhere behind you. 
You stare at the ground, watching as your shriveled shadow from the single-store light swiftly being absorbed by someone’s much larger frame. You gulp, not wanting to look behind you, knowing what – or who – you might want. 
Tall guy with a…coke bottle? Well, you weren’t expecting that. He gives you the bottle and you can almost see the condescending smile on his face as his fingers linger on your hand for longer than they should be. You take the offer, not really understanding what the fuck is really going on. 
— Thank…you? 
— No problem, kleine. 
You can hear the smile in his voice and your hands are trembling. Jenny looks at you with surprise, clearly not expecting nerdy ol’ you to pull someone so…well, not nerdy and maybe old. 
— What the fuck? Who is…
— I’ll explain in the car, alright? 
— Did you drop it or something? 
— I…I think I lost my wallet. Have you seen it? 
She stops for a second, thinking. There are a few things Jenny is good at – burning the tip of her tongue with a lighter, wearing crop tops, eating men alive (unless they are the most annoying ones alive). Lying isn’t one of them – not because she is a good person, but because she would rather flip your shit upside down and make you as upset as she possibly could. 
— Chad took it. Said you’d find the nearest bus to get the fuck out of here if you’d have it. 
He…
You can’t fucking believe this. All this humiliation because her annoying boyfriend didn’t want you to ruin this little unfriendly gathering. You feel angry tears in the corners of your eyes, almost ready to sniffle like the needy thing you are. God, you’re weak and pathetic and…
The Austrian guy behind you coughs, attracting attention. 
— Ladies like you shouldn’t go out this late. Bad things might happen. 
Jenny snorted and you already wanted to close your eyes. She was clearly not having it and she had a very short temper – you take a step back, towards her, hoping to set her down. Instead, she took one look at your pleading expressions, and it made her even more annoyed. She was never good with locals. 
— We’re getting out of this dump as soon as possible, sir. Didn’t ask for your opinion though. 
He chuckles and the sound sends a shiver down your spine. 
— Just wanted to warn you. Tourists are disappearing around these parts. 
— We’re not some dumb tourists. 
— Ach? You aren’t? 
Jenny fails to hear the amusement in her voice. You tuck the Coke bottle in your arms, hoping that they would stop. 
— We’re not a bunch of dumb tourists and we will call the police if you’d proceed harassing us. 
— Just wanted to give your friend what she forgot. Keep an eye on each other, ja? 
— We will. Fuck off before I’m calling the 9-1-1, verstehen? 
You feel even more embarrassed as she storms off to the truck where Chad and everyone else is staying, not even paying you a glance – too used to your sorry ass going right after her, like a lapdog that your other friend likes to bring everywhere in her tiny pink purse. 
You sigh, feeling horrible. The guy is creepy. Tall, looming over everyone, both of them are fucking terrifying – but they paid for the coke and the Austrian one is genuinely trying to tell you something. A bit paranoid, maybe, but you see the cargo jacket he is wearing, so he is probably either a paranoid survivalist or maybe a part of the military. You like having someone worried about your safety, even in more of a scary horror movie-esque form. 
— I’m…sorry for Jenny. She isn’t always like this, we’re just tired after a long road. 
— You were driving whole day? 
— We’re, um…on a trip. You know, a little getaway in the woods. Would have been nice. 
The giant tilts his head to the side. You just noticed that his hands are twitching a little, fidgeting with the bottom part of his jacket. You find it almost cute, endearing in a way – at least he is as anxious about talking to you as you are to him. You find yourself also fidgeting on the bottle, swirling it in your hands, never understanding what you should do in a somewhat normal social situation. 
— Be careful, kleine Hase. Like I said, it’s a dangerous place for young ladies like you. 
The way he said it, calling you a young lady, made him look extremely old – and made you feel even more embarrassed and uncertain about your future. Here you are, wasting your youth on shitty road trips to Austrian woods instead of reading horror books and watching romance movies. 
— Thank you, sir. I…I’ll keep that in mind. 
— Are you two alone on the trip? 
Alright, it was a bit creepy. his cold blue gaze bores in your face, making you feel small. 
— No, Our male friends are with us. 
He humms, almost sounding amused. 
— Good. Wouldn’t want it to be too easy. 
— Sorry? 
— Wouldn’t want someone bad to hurt you so easily. 
You smile. He is nice, even if a bit creepy – you nod slightly, taking a step towards the truck, since everyone else already got in and you still have a long road to the place of your camp. 
— Thank you for the bottle, sir. 
— You are welcome. Keep yourself safe, ja? 
You nod. 
Keeping yourself safe sure does sound nice. You can do it, right? (You can’t,  but you don’t know that yet)
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korizzybee · 3 months
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Clarisse’s younger sister has feelings for Percy Jackson
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Pairing: Percy Jackson x black!fem!reader (romantic), Clarisse La Rue x black!fem!reader (platonic)
Synopsis: the new boy, Percy Jackson, shows up to camp, Clarisse’s younger sister Y/N falls for him.
Warnings: Y/N & Clarisse have different godly parents, Clarisse grabs Percy Jackson, Y/N is daughter of Apollo
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I feel bad for the newbies that come to Camp Half Blood, my big sister, Clarisse, always feels the need to ‘break them in’ as she says. So when she told me she was going to be doing the same to the new boy, Percy, I felt bad for him.
Imagine my surprise when I saw her and her half-siblings storming out of the bathrooms, soaked. I looked to find the cause of her state walking out just a few minutes after her. I stared at him and he stared at me.
“You’re Percy Jackson, the boy who killed the Minotaur, correct?” I asked him, unlike Clarisse I wasn’t that skeptical to not believe him. Sometimes things just happen and you get that adrenaline rush.
“Uh..yea, I am.” He said, he seemed cautious of me. “Aren’t you Clarisse’s younger sister?” He asked me.
I stepped closer to him and held out my hand, I noticed the boy was slightly shorter than me. “Y/N La Rue, daughter of Apollo, best bow user at camp. Pleased to meet your acquaintance.” I said with a confident smile.
“Percy.” He said, shaking my hand and letting it go. For a boy, he had really soft hands. “Percy, did you somehow do that to Clarisse?” I asked. “I mean if you did, I don’t hate you for it or anything. It’s finally time someone here stood up to her, someone who isn’t Luke.”
“I don’t really know how to explain it..” he said to me, looking down at his hands. “Honestly, I’m not even sure I understand how it happened.”
I hummed and looked at the sky for second before looking back at him. “Well it was nice meeting you, Percy. Let’s chat again sometime, okay? Okay.” I said, not giving him the chance to respond as I walked back to my cabin.
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The next day was capture the flag, and as usual, the Apollo kids were on the red team with the Ares kids. Mainly due to the fact Clarisse didn’t want to hurt me since I’m her younger sister.
After the conch blew, the red team let out a war cry. I didn’t of course, I didn’t want to accidentally scream too loud and bust everyone’s ear drums.
I looked at the other side of the stream where I locked eyes with Percy, I smirked and sent him a wink before walking away with the rest of my team. Clarisse was barking orders and I could tell she had a plan up her sleeve, must’ve had something to do with last night.
She turned to me, “you already know what to do, lil’ sis.” She said, ruffling my hair with a smug smile. I put on my helmet then ran into the part of the woods where Clarisse would hunt.
My job was to stay in the trees and shoot down anyone who just so happened to stumble in there. If I was captured, use my sonic scream to let them know where I am and to distract my enemies.
I climbed up high in one tree, part of me couldn’t stop hoping I would see Percy though. In my honest opinion I thought he was kinda cute.
Over the last ten or fifteen minutes I was able to take down ten campers from the blue team. What I love about my cabin being on the red team is that, that means the blue team barely has any campers that are good with bows.
They have the Hermes cabin, of course, but most Hermes kids prefer swords. I could clanking and other noises out in the distance, one distinctive voice I could make out clearly was Clarisse’s.
I like watching her fight so I climbed down from the tree and ran to the direction of the noise. I could see the lakeshore, once I got there, Clarisse let out the most shrilling scream I had ever heard.
A scream of pure anger, and the expression she wore on her face was murderous. Her spear. Her spear was broken. The only thing she felt was the closest she could get to having some sort of connection with Ares, now it was broken.
My eyes flickered over to Percy, I felt my heart beat speed up. I couldn’t tell if it was because I saw him, or because Clarisse stormed over to him and lifted him off the ground slightly by his armor.
Before I could go and stop her, the horn blew and the blue team ran down to the shore carrying our flag. I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding when Clarisse dropped him.
She stormed passed me, nearly bumping me in the shoulder. Percy and I locked eyes, I wanted to talk to him and ask him what happened. I wanted to also congratulate him on his first win, but I knew I needed to talk with Clarisse. So, instead, I just gave him a small smile and walked off.
Maybe tomorrow I could get the chance to meet up and talk with him.
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582 notes · View notes
sundrop-writes · 3 months
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Figure It Out
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A Criminal Minds Casefic
“All things are subject to interpretation. Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.” -Friedrich Nietzsche 
Summary:
Since you joined the BAU, you have been keeping a terrible secret from the team.
When the team takes a case in your hometown - your festering secret comes to be known with a vengeance.
Fem!Reader x Gen!BAU Team (Platonic). General Casefic, modelled after a Criminal Minds episode. Angst, Mystery, Hurt and Comfort. Set during Criminal Minds Season 3.
Word Count: 18,000
Criminal Minds Masterlist | AO3 Link
Detailed Warnings and author's notes below the cut.
Warnings: this is a general casefic - there is no romantic pairings in this fic, it is more about the mystery of the case and how the reader character fits into it (if this were a real Criminal Minds episode, this would be the episode named after the reader) - with that being said, the main relationship focuses are between Emily and the reader and Spencer and the reader (because I am biased and I love them) but there isn’t any romantic threads or romantic tones, it is all platonic; the reader character uses she/her pronouns and is described as a woman, but I went out of my way to make sure that there is no descriptions of the readers looks or body type; there is use of Y/N and L/N (as in Last Name); mentions of the reader being from Georgia (because the case takes place in her hometown); smoking/cigarettes - mentions of the reader character smoking tobacco; mentions of the reader character being injured (severely in a past incident, and minor injuries during the course of the fic); mentions of vomit/mentions of the reader character throwing up; lots of warnings for general Criminal Minds topics; murder, killing, somewhat graphic descriptions of dead bodies, violence, guns/gun violence, mentions of rape and sexual violence, mentions of systematic violence towards women; there is no graphic depictions of rape/no rape scenes in the fic, but there is mentions of the event of rape happening to certain characters, references to rape culture, and the shame/guilt/self blame a rape victim feels; mentions of stalking/stalking behaviors - including the delusion mindset of a stalker, obsessiveness, sending someone unwanted letters, mentions of a ‘one sided’ relationship; mentions of trauma/PTSD; descriptions of symptoms of PTSD; themes surrounding the cycle of violence; I did kind of purposefully make the warnings a bit more vague than I usually do, because I really don’t want to spoil the plot of this fic. But as lot as you are okay with the maturity of all these themes, you should be okay with this fic!!
A/N: This is pretty much 100% inspired by the music video for Figure It Out by Royal Blood - which the fic is named after. I highly recommend watching the music video, because it is fucking art in my opinion, but I have taken such heavy inspiration from it in terms of the style, tone, and even storyline - so the music video kind of spoils this fic. So probably watch it after you read the fic lmao. I also feel like the instrumental version of the song goes very well with this fic. This fic is not at all typical and I am terrified that people won't like it, or that they won't 'get it'. But I am very proud of it, so I am going to put it out there and hope that people enjoy it. So - please enjoy!! I really love writing Criminal Minds casefics and coming up with the details of a case, and writing it in this style was so, so exciting and interesting for me, and I really do hope that you can enjoy reading it.
...
“All things are subject to interpretation. Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.”
-Friedrich Nietzsche 
...
Thursday, August 16th, 2007. Madison Police Department, Interrogation Room #1 - Madison, GA. 3:39AM.
The chilled air of the interrogation room only made the regret more palpable in your lungs. 
The hum of the fluorescents overhead made you feel like a bug about to be zapped - like your entire life was over and you would soon be resigned to a cage. 
You hated it, but you had to wonder what you would have done if you had ten more minutes. Ten more minutes before they had arrived, sirens screeching, lights flashing. Your mind kept replaying the moments over and over again. The knife had felt so perfect in your hand. 
Ten more minutes. 
“I just want to talk.” 
So caught up in your thoughts, your mind so foggy from the hectic night - you had almost forgotten that there was someone sitting in front of you. 
He looked so entirely stiff - wearing his cookie cutter suit and his carved-in scowl. He did nothing to shift your mood. 
“This is just a conversation. Nothing more.” 
He continued on, using a monotone, would-be soothing voice when you didn’t say anything. 
The metal chair felt stiffer underneath you, and you felt further suffocated within that small, concrete box. 
You felt inclined to call it an interrogation, but you wouldn’t be so quick to tell him that. It’s not like you were going to tell him what he wanted to hear. 
“You can smoke in here if that makes you feel more comfortable.” He added on, pushing something from the middle of the table toward you. 
A pack of cigarettes and a lighter. There was also an ashtray. A collection of things that someone had put there, knowing that you would be resigned to this tiny, tiny room. 
“You don’t have to treat me with kid gloves, Hotch.” You huffed, saying his name, using the same technique that he would likely be using on you. You could mirror him, get ahead on the mind games. “I’m not as crazy and detached from reality as you think I am.” 
Perhaps that was a false statement. You weren’t even sure how crazy he thought you were. Perhaps, that in itself made you detached from reality. You couldn’t be sure. 
Nonetheless, you took him up on the offer. You reached out and eagerly picked up the pack of smokes, ripping off the outer plastic before you took one out, shoving the tip between your lips and lighting it up. 
You took a heavy draw, and the nicotine throbbed through you. Seemingly adding to the headache you already had from the large gash on your forehead that they had hastily bandaged before bringing you in here, rather than relieving it. Still, you sucked on the cigarette like it was your only lifeline - taking a moment to tap some of the ash into the small ashtray while you stared at Hotch carefully. 
You wondered if you should really tell him all the gory details. 
“Just tell me what happened. Tell me your side of the story.” Hotch said, trying his best to sound warm and convincing. It didn’t work. “I’m just trying to figure it out. Just like you are.” 
Perhaps your biggest regret was that you were here, cooped up in this hole - and he was in the hospital somewhere, laying in a soft bed, being attended to by nurses, being comforted. The fact that he was still breathing - even with the assistance of a tube down his throat, and not in a body bag.
“You’ll never look at me the same if I do tell you.” You managed to find these words, and these words only. Ominous, almost threatening - more so than you intended. 
“I won’t.” He returned. Shallow, fallible. 
Suddenly, a crash from the hallway broke the tense silence that was brewing between the two of you. The door was thick, but it wasn’t enough to disguise the ruckus coming from outside. 
“No! No! You have to let me through! I have to be in there!” 
The voice was familiar, but that tone of desperation certainly was not. 
“Reid, he specifically told us to sit this one out-” 
“Sit this one out?!” Reid repeated the words back, his voice warping with pure shock, the inability to conceptualize such a thing. “You expect me to just sit out?” He scoffed. “If it wasn’t for me, two more people would be dead, and there wouldn’t even be a ‘this one’! Now let. Me. Through.” 
“Reid-” 
With all his bolstering stubbornness, he shoved past whoever had been trying to stop him, and as you took another heavy puff off your cigarette, the interrogation room door came flying open. 
Hotch stood up, rushing to block the door, but you smiled. Though you were numb from the day’s events - it was your natural instinct upon seeing him. 
“Reid-” Hotch choked out, trying to block the gangly man from even entering the room. 
“Good evening, Doctor Reid.” You greeted him gently. 
Upon seeing your reaction - so much more open and warm - Hotch allowed him in. This was the wedge that he needed to pry you open. Reid closed the door behind himself with an indigent huff and a glare toward his superior. 
Reid crossed his arms, hovering near the door as he turned his stiff-jawed glare toward you now. Your cigarette turned to a hot cherry in your hands - sucked to death already, and you stubbed it out in the tray before starting a new one. You knew chain-smoking was an even filthier habit than the occasional ciggy, but you had one hell of a day under your belt. If there was ever a time, it was now. 
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Reid asked, his voice stiff and oppositional. 
“Oh, so many things.” You said, your tone clever and unphased. Hotch let out a sigh as he sat back down in his chair. He was glad that you were talking openly now, at least. “Shall we go in alphabetical order, or start at my birth and work or way back from there?” 
Reid let out another nasal thick sound. Apparently, he wasn’t in the mood for banter. 
You were met with nothing but a stony wall of silence, and cold glares of disapproval. It almost made you feel guilty. Almost. 
“Let’s start with this,” Reid corrected you. “Why?” 
Truthfully, you couldn’t give him that answer. You didn’t think you would ever have enough time to conjure it up within yourself. 
“You’re the genius profiler, Doctor Reid.” You fired back coldly. “You tell me.” 
… 
Thursday, August 16th, 2007. Abandoned Country House - Madison, GA. 2:20AM.
Prentiss led the team as they searched through the house. It was the only solid lead they had as to where you might be. It was a house that your parents used to own - a place of significance because you had lived there the summer when it first happened. 
“Clear!” 
She went through the living room, the kitchen, the entire first floor, leading the team with Reid at her side, guns drawn. 
“Clear!” 
As she crested the top of the stairs, she heard sobbing. 
It was distinct - something that tugged harshly on her heartstrings. 
Even though it was against protocol not to clear the rooms in order, she rushed toward it. Reid continued to flank her - obviously he had heard the noise too. 
Prentiss landed a sharp kick on the door’s handle, causing it to fling open. 
The picture on display in front of her almost caused her to drop her gun. 
Hotch had been right. 
You were on top of the man, straddling him. Both you and the man were badly beaten - but right off the bat, Prentiss could tell that he was far worse off. Clearly, you had bested him in the fight this time. 
The contents of the room strewn about; broken glass, busted furniture, the curtain rod torn down. It looked like the remnants of a bad WWE brawl. You were the picture of desperation - heavy, hot tears coming from your eyes, blood smearing down your face from a gash on your forehead as you stared down the man beneath you with fiery madness in your eyes. 
You had a knife to his throat. A large hunting knife - the same kind that all the other victims had been stabbed with. 
You had the tip of it poised to his throat, just barely touching his skin. If you put any amount of pressure on the blade - if you bared down, then you would slice right through his esophagus. It would take almost no effort from you at all to end his life. 
From what Prentiss could see, the man was unconscious. He was completely slack, his body still on the ground. He was bleeding from a small head wound. His life was entirely in your hands. He couldn’t fight back. 
Both your hands shook vigorously as you struggled with the warring inside of you, as you struggled with the weight of the confrontation with your life’s biggest monster. 
Though it went against everything inside of her, Emily kept her gun raised. She kept her arms stiff, keeping her gun pointed at you. As much as she detested that man, knowing what he had done - it was her job to shoot you if you tried to kill him. Right now, she hated that job. 
“Put the knife down!” Prentiss ordered sharply. 
You didn’t move. 
Naturally, Reid, in all of his softness and empathy, slackened his arms and holstered his gun before anyone could blink. 
“Come on, put it down.” She tried again. 
You ignored Prentiss entirely, your hands still shaking, making no moves to lift the knife away from the man’s throat. 
Reid moved to step into the room, and from his view at the top of the stairs, arms stiff and gun pointed in your general direction - Hotch called out to him. 
“Reid-!” He tried to warn Reid against doing this. Of course, he didn’t listen. 
Reid knelt down beside you, posturing in surrender with his arms. Of course, he wasn’t even on your radar at the moment. Your entire gaze, your entire focus was on the unconscious man underneath you - the true target of your agony. 
“Y/N,” Reid said your name calmly, trying to capture your attention. “You don’t have to do this.” 
You hesitated for a moment, and Prentiss worried that even his gentle voice wouldn’t be able to get through to you. 
“I have to.” You sobbed out. More heavy tears slid down your face, and you began to shake more visibly, shockwaves moving throughout your entire body. 
“You don’t have to.” Reid told you, his voice calming, gentle. “You - you can give me the knife, and then we can just… walk away. And then it all ends.” 
“It won’t just end!” You screamed out, your voice a curtling weep that bounced off the walls. 
It made Prentiss’ heart jump inside of her chest. If it wasn’t protocol, she would have dropped her gun and run over to comfort you with a hug. But she knew that you weren’t in the most stable place. You might have tried to stab her with the knife. 
“It can end.” Reid assured you calmly. “You just have to come with me. You just have to put the knife down and-” 
“I have to make it stop!” You screamed, trampling over his quiet voice. “I killed those women. I killed them!” 
“Prentiss!” Hotch edged in, warning her. 
If you didn’t move off of the unconscious man soon, then she would have to take you down. 
“Just give him a minute!” Prentiss fired back. She had faith in Reid. 
“We both know that’s not true.” Reid told you. “You didn’t kill them. You didn’t mean for this to happen-” 
“He killed them because of me!” You shouted, cutting him off. “We both know it’s my fault.” 
“It’s not.” Reid choked out. “Please don’t say that.” 
There was a gutting silence. 
“Please, just give me the knife.” 
At this point he was doing some pleading of his own - but your hands were unsteady and you still refused to look at him. 
You weren’t going to give up the fight that easily. 
… 
Thursday, August 16th, 2007. Somewhere On The Country Backroads - Madison, GA. 2:11AM.
“I want two squad cars down the road, I want state police cutting off all the possible exits to the major highways.” Agent Hotchner was on the scene, doing what he did best - giving orders. “I want to cut off any chance of possible escape incase the suspect tries to flee-” 
“Hotch, do you really think that’s necessary?” Morgan asked. “We’ve got the house. Thermal cam’s got two bodies on the second floor. There’s nowhere to run from here. We’ve got spike strips on all the dirt roads. No car is getting past any of that. It should function as a hard extraction from here.” 
Hotch glared at Morgan as he fastened the straps on his bulletproof vest. The glare of the red and blue lights from the squad cars only made the deep frown lines on his face look firmer. 
“I am not taking any chances.” Hotch said. “We both know this is an incredibly delicate matter. We found one of the victims across state lines. We know this suspect has mobility. I’m not risking finding another body.” 
The air became tense as everyone realized what he meant by ‘another body’. 
“I want tactical swat to go in first-” Hotch began, and was quickly cut off by Morgan. 
“You’re sending in swat when there’s a hostage in there?” Morgan questioned harshly. 
“Even if we go in there blazing, showing force, she might not come in quietly.” Hotch explained.
“You’re serious?” Prentiss replied, hooking the wire of her earpiece around her ear in order to tuck the mic in. “She’s the one you’re worried about? She’s a victim in all this.” 
“You saw the incident report.” Hotch reminded her. “The amount of defensive wounds she had… the first time he attacked her, she fought back hard. She’s desperate, she’s feeling cornered, she-” 
“She’s terrified right now.” Prentiss pressed harshly. “She doesn’t need a bunch of men going in there waving guns in her face.” 
“She could sacrifice him.” Hotch theorized, further trying to prove his point. “This could be her chance to finally get justice. Finally getting rid of the man who’s tormented her for all these years.”
“So we have to bring them both in. Quietly.” Morgan said. “We can’t just go in there shooting. If your theory is correct, then she could use him as a human shield.” 
Hotch nodded. “Fine. No tactical swat. Prentiss, you take the lead.” 
“Yeah, and I’m taking Reid with me.” Prentiss told him sharply. “Somebody with a little compassion around here.” 
Prentiss nodded and scoffed, walking past Hotch, gently whispering ‘what the hell is wrong with you’ on her way to get in the car with Reid. 
… 
Thursday, August 16th, 2007. Madison Police Department - Madison, GA. 1:45AM.
When JJ let out a harsh sigh, Emily turned to her, swiveling in the borrowed office chair with a creak. 
“What is it?” Emily asked. 
“Don’t you feel that?” JJ replied. Emily shrugged, waiting a moment for her to finish the thought. “That… overwhelming feeling of dread?” 
Of course, it was obvious. No leads. No breaks in the case. 
It was hopeless. 
“Come on, I thought you were the hopeful one.” Rossi pointed out, tossing his empty paper coffee cup into a nearby trash can. 
“How can I be hopeful when one of my best friends is caught up in all this?” JJ fired back. “If she-” 
Before she could finish that thought, Reid stormed in, capturing everyone’s attention. 
“Guys, I think we got the profile all wrong.” He announced, a look of worry knit into his features. “And - if I’m right, then I think I know where she is.” 
… 
Thursday, August 16th, 2007. Abandoned Country House - Madison, GA. 1:45AM.
You knew that it was cruel, but you couldn’t help but to enjoy his groans of pain. 
There had been so many others - so many monsters to take down. So many men that you had gotten rid of without a second thought. Men you had put bullets in that didn’t mean as much to you as this. So many others you had easily forgotten about. But he had taunted your soul in a special way. And you knew that you were enjoying this too much. 
“Tell me you like it!” 
You screamed, taking another downward swing with the piece of wood - a leg broken off from the chair he had bound you to. He had been convinced that you wouldn’t break free. Laughable. He should have known better.  
When he didn’t respond, you took another swing. 
You could have stopped. You could have ended it. But you didn’t. 
“Come on, tell me you like it!” 
You screamed in his face, sputtering blood across him. At one point, he had punched you in the mouth. You weren’t exactly sure where the blood was coming from. You didn’t exactly care.
That would be your excuse.  
He had hit you too. You were battered. You were just a fragile woman, after all. 
“You’re a fuckin’ crazy bitch.” He coughed, sputtering out some blood himself. “I… I always liked that about you. It was one of the reasons I fell in love.” 
He grinned - bright red spread out across his teeth, and it gave you the intense desire to see those teeth missing. To make him swallow them. 
“You don’t love me.” You told him firmly. “You just get an adrenaline rush from being around me because I’m not afraid of you.” You explained. “Unlike the other whores, I fight.” 
While you were preoccupied with the words, he flipped onto his stomach and began crawling across the floor. 
He thought you were too stupid to notice, but he was inching his way toward the hunting knife that had been thrown out of his hand during the scuffle. It was a slow, sluggish crawl. You had broken a few of his ribs, his kneecap. It was nice to see him so slow. You had probably severely damaged his internal organs with how hard you had been beating him with the makeshift baton. 
It was worse than last time. You stood above him like a menace - watching and waiting. You hated that you knew you would take an odd kind of joy in removing his hope when you stole the knife from his grip. 
Just as he grazed his fingers across it, you brought another harsh swing down across his achilles tendon, causing him to scream out in pain. 
You still had a lot of strength left in you. He was tiring out. 
He was losing the game. 
“Come on baby, tell me how you like it.” You continued to mock him. “Tell me how good I am.” 
“Fuck you.” He moaned out. 
You felt satisfaction bloom inside of you - those were the words. 
He had finally given up hope. He had finally realized that maybe: he wasn’t going to beat you. Maybe he wasn’t above you on the playing field anymore. He was fucking around with a fellow predator, not toying with his prey.  
“Oh baby. You know I’m only doing this because I love you.” You said, repeating his own words back to him in a cruel mockery. 
That was when he realized: this wasn’t just a lover’s spat. This was a culling. 
… 
Thursday, August 16th, 2007. Just Outside of Madison Police Department - Madison, GA. 1:04AM.
Reid needed some air. 
Working on the case so diligently, not coming up with any leads. It was intensely difficult. Letting the balmy summer Southern air flow over him, getting a good gulp of the fresh air into his lungs - it was a bit more awakening than drinking his sixth cup of coffee for that day. 
He was surprised when he rounded a corner, trying to go for a short walk to stretch his legs, and he saw a very recognizable face hovering near a gray Honda. 
“Mrs. L/N?” He posed, approaching her gently. “It’s late. What are you doing here?”
JJ had promised to call her if there were any updates. Reid didn’t want to disappoint her by telling her that there were none. 
“It’s Miss L/N.” She said quietly. “I never married.” 
Reid nodded at this. “My apologies.” 
She looked deeply troubled. 
Reid waited patiently for her to reply to his initial question - for her to tell him whatever was burdening her. If he was lucky, it could help with the case. It was always the families who could help put those final puzzle pieces into place. That was something Gideon taught him, so he took it as sacred advice. 
“You’re Doctor Reid, aren’t you?” She posed, stepping forward to approach him slightly - still stiff, still stand-off-ish. He easily understood why. He nodded in response. “My daughter speaks very fondly of you.” 
Reid cracked a small smile at this. 
His attention was then brought to a small box - a shoe box as she held it out to him. 
“I don’t mean to bother you at this late hour, but… you said to let you know if I thought of anything that might help you.” She reminded him. He nodded again. “And I - well, the reason I didn’t bring these up the first time… you can understand that I have a need to protect my daughter?” 
“Of course.” He affirmed. “It’s every parent’s natural instinct to protect their child.” 
She looked solemn at his words. 
“I had no idea that… that what happened to her could potentially be connected to these… these murders in any possible way.” She told him, shuddering as the word passed through her lips. “I was just trying to shield her, you have to understand.” 
She handed him the shoebox, and when he took it and lifted off the lid, it took him only a moment to understand. He would need to find a quiet place to fully inspect the contents, but it was all being pieced together in his mind now. 
“Thank you for bringing me this.” He told her quietly. 
“Doctor Reid, you have to promise me that you’ll bring my daughter home unharmed.” She said, tears coming to her eyes. “She’s a good girl. Please, just bring her home.” 
Unfortunately, he couldn’t promise her that. Not under the circumstances. 
“Ma’am… I will try my best. That is all I can promise you.” He told her. 
She nodded in quiet understanding before Reid turned and marched back inside. 
… 
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007. Abandoned Country House - Madison, GA. 11:03PM.
The flint of the lighter flicking seemed to be the loudest thing in the room in that moment - even with the low hum of the eleven o’clock news playing in the background. 
It was so odd. Everything was exactly like you remembered it. Withered - but the same. 
Even the chair you were sitting in. The old wooden chair that had been lugged up from the kitchen, one that you used to sit in for hours and do homework - it was rickety, but somehow the same. 
You took a sharp drag off the cigarette after it was lit for you, continuing to listen to the feminine voice on the radio as the news played. 
“I’m Special Agent Jennifer Jareau, and I’m speaking on behalf of the Madison Police Department. Tonight, we are making an urgent appeal to the public for information. Earlier this evening, a woman went missing in the area of-” 
“I never took you for a smoker.” He said, his voice sharp and confident in the words. 
You tapped your cigarette into the ashtray with your free hand before raising it up to your lips to take another drag. Right now, the smoke heavy in your lungs was the only thing keeping you sane. 
“I never smelled it on you back then.” He added on when you didn’t respond to him. “Bitches who smoke always smell like dirtbags. You just… smelled nice.” 
“I didn’t smoke back then.” You quietly replied. 
He had driven you to take up the habit. 
You took another drag of your cigarette - you wanted to enjoy it. The longer you could drag it out, literally, the longer you could delay the inevitable. 
“-The suspect was last seen driving a blue and white, 1970s Ford truck. If you see the vehicle, please-” 
“They’re lookin’ for ya.” He said casually, nodding toward the radio. 
You wished they weren’t. 
You directed the conversation elsewhere. 
“Tell me how this is gonna end.” You urged him quietly, ashing your cigarette again. 
“You and I both know… this was only ever gonna end one way.” He told you, his voice irritably cocky. 
He had you now. He had won. 
“-We believe that this abduction is connected to a string of recent murders in the area. It is critical that if you have any information, you call our tip line at-” 
He rose from his spot then, and turned off the radio. 
The silence was gutting. 
He moved toward the door, but you abruptly caught his attention. 
“Remember,” You told him. “You made me a promise.” You said quietly. “No more. No more girls.” 
He chuckled at this. “Of course, darlin’. No more.” 
It felt like a lie. 
“But only because I love you.” He gave a filthy grin along with these words, and your insides shuddered. 
You knew that he wasn’t actually capable of love. You had known that from the moment you first laid eyes on him. 
You didn’t bother to muster any words in return. 
He crossed the room back toward you and leaned down, planting a kiss on your forehead. Your body stiffened, entirely stony toward it. It was selfish on his part - loving on you like a doll, rather than trying to bring you any comfort. 
He moved back to the door silently. 
You worried about what would happen the moment he went out the door. He turned to you just before he left. 
“Don’t run off now.” He said with a wink. Ego. Sarcasm. 
“Where am I gonna go, Dan?” You sighed. 
You lifted your tethered hand up to drive the point home, and the clink of handcuffs was now apparent in the otherwise silent room. 
He shut the door with a chuckle. You put out your cigarette in the ashtray, reaching for the loose spoke in the back of the chair. This was a chair that you used to sit in for hours while studying. That loose spoke used to bug you all the time. 
It came free after only a few tugs. 
… 
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007. QuitTrip (Corner Store) - Madison, GA. 10:24PM.
The previously dark parking lot of the secluded, back country convenience store was now entirely lit up with red and blue. Four police cars had crowded into the area, surrounding the place where you had last been seen. 
Inside, under the harsh white fluorescent lights of the store, Hotchner and Prentiss were interviewing the store clerk - a young man who had supposedly been the last person to speak to you before the abduction. 
“So, you’re sure that you didn’t see anything?” Hotch pressed the young man - someone who seemed so entirely nervous under his harsh, unmoving gaze. 
“I swear, man, I didn’t see anything.” He said, his voice cracking slightly as he spoke. “She was parked in the back of the parking lot, and once you walk around the corner, there’s no way to see someone through the doors. It’s like - like a total blind spot, man.” 
“The UnSub had to have known that.” Hotch noted quietly, turning to Prentiss. “He approached her knowing that he wouldn’t be seen.” 
“Do you think he was waiting out there?” Prentiss wondered aloud. 
Then she turned back to the clerk. 
“Was there a man in here before she came in? He would have been in his 30s. Very cold, he wouldn’t have said anything. Just paid quietly and left. He might not have even bought anything - he might have just walked around, checking the blind spots. And if you asked him what he was looking for, he would have given you a glare rather than speaking. This man is not sociable. He’s very distant. He likely wouldn’t have looked you in the eye.” 
The clerk shook his head. 
“No, nobody like that.” He explained. “That lady - she was my first customer in, like, hours. She just bought her ciggies and left. And I thought it was weird cause she bought a lighter too. Most smokers already have a lighter on them.” 
“I didn’t know Y/N smoked.” Prentiss said quietly. 
“Me either.” Hotch confirmed. 
Hotch’s attention was captured by a screen behind the counter - surveillance feed, showing several different places inside the store. There was one camera just outside the door. If he wasn’t mistaken, that camera was pointed at that ‘blind spot’ in the parking lot. 
Without asking permission, he raised the partition and walked around the counter, his eyes hyper-focused on the screen. 
“Can you get me this footage from a few hours ago?” He prompted toward the clerk. “The view of the parking lot. We need to see what L/N did after she left the store.” 
The clerk nodded and began typing things onto the keyboard, and Hotch prompted him to stop when he saw you appear on the footage. Prentiss came around the counter as well, leaving the three of them crowded in close to the small screen as they watched the past version of you. 
You walked across the parking lot - toward your car, a cigarette hanging out of your mouth. You were making determined steps - until something stopped you. 
“The UnSub caught her attention.” Prentiss noted. 
Then - something entirely strange happened. While staring at the man off screen, you leaned against your car, and began ashing your cigarette, as if chatting idly with him. 
“He’s not using force.” Hotch thought aloud. “Do you think he’s got a gun trained on her?” 
“Maybe.” Prentiss hummed quietly. 
He was out of the frame, so it was only a guess. 
Then, after a few moments of this - you simply walked off. You walked in the direction he had been standing. 
“Did - did she just go with him willingly?” Prentiss gaped, entirely in shock. 
When she glanced over her shoulder, Hotch was gone. 
He stormed out into the parking lot, frantically gazing around. Prentiss followed him, chasing his chaotic energy. 
“Hotch!” She called out. “Hotch-!” 
“We need more camera angles! We need-” 
“Calm down.” She urged, grabbing him by the shoulders. 
“It just doesn’t make any sense.” He rasped. “Why would she go with him willingly? Why - why? Why would she?” He was frantic. “He must have threatened her. He must have-” 
They both didn’t want to think of the obvious. 
That you didn’t fear him. That - it hadn’t even been an abduction. 
“He must have threatened her.” Prentiss easily agreed. “She wouldn’t have gone with him otherwise.” 
They didn’t bring up the fact that you had a gun and plenty of training on how to use it. They didn’t bring up the fact that the profile said the UnSub couldn’t easily charm - he would have kidnapped you by force. 
Unless you were special. Unless he thought he could talk to you specifically for some reason. 
“Guys, what’s the news?” JJ asked, finally walking onto the scene. 
She hated the grave looks on Prentiss and Hotch’s faces. 
“I want you to put a press conference together.” Hotch said, straightening himself out and turning to her. “Make an appeal for witnesses. Tell them that there’s been a woman abducted in the area, but don’t tell them that L/N a Federal Agent. It could set the UnSub off if he believes that this abduction is being treated with a higher priority. If he feels a higher pressure from law enforcement, he might-” 
“Right.” JJ nodded. Hotch didn’t need to say the words in order for her to understand. “So: release her name and her photo, but act like she’s just a regular civilian?” 
Hotch nodded. “Exactly.” 
“If I get going now, I think I could still make the eleven o’clock news.” JJ said, rushing off with her cell pressed to her ear. 
“Let’s just hope that it brings Y/N home safely.” 
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007. QuitTrip (Corner Store) - Madison, GA. 8:03PM.
You felt an odd amount of relief having nicotine in your system again. 
This was the first time you had smoked a cigarette in years. You had quit the habit shortly after you joined the FBI Academy when one of your advisers warned you that it might cause you to fail the fitness test. And you felt like you should just knock the habit, seeing as the only reason you had taken it up was because of… him. 
But - all of this was so triggering. Being back in your same small shitty town. Feeling it suffocating you like a plastic bag. 
The murders. 
You sucked on the cigarette for dear life as you walked back to your car, and just as you were about to get in - the windows of the car open, inviting in the sweet summer air, the keys still inside because you did feel an odd amount of trust in your hometown - something captured your attention. 
“Y/N.” 
Hearing your name in that voice made you freeze on the spot. The warm breeze felt like ice against your skin as you took your hand off the door handle, turning toward him. 
“You’re lookin’ gorgeous as ever, darlin’.” 
“You.” You ground out the word with as much disdain as possible, hot rage boiling in your blood as you looked at him. “I should have known it was you.” 
He let out a sharp chuckle - a sound that made your throat tighten up. He flicked his tongue out across his teeth, grinning his terrible Cheshire grin at you. 
A hand instinctively went for your gun, and your palm hit an empty section of your belt. He let out another sharp chuckle when his eyes followed yours, making the same realization that you did. 
You had left it sitting on the passenger’s seat of the car. Right beside your phone. 
You wondered if you could dive through the open window before he could get to you. When he made a posturing move, brushing his unbuttoned plaid shirt away and revealing the gun he had strapped to his belt underneath - you realized he would shoot you if you moved too quickly. 
You were stuck. 
“Of course it’s me, baby.” He said, casually replying to your earlier words. “You had to know that I did all this for you. For us.” 
Giving into your fate, you propped yourself against the side of the car - trying desperately to steady your wobbling legs without making it look like you were doing so. You tapped your cigarette, spilling some of the ash before you brought it to your lips once again. 
“I missed you like hell.” He told you with a snakeskin grin. 
“I didn’t miss you.” You bitterly fired back. “Not for a fucking second.” 
“Guess I made it difficult to miss me, huh?” He said, cocky as ever. “With my frequent correspondence and all?” 
“You know what I meant.” You fired back.
You glared at him sharply but didn’t say anything more, afraid that he would whip the gun out and shoot you. 
He sucked in a breath through his teeth, something that sounded utterly sarcastic. 
“Ooh, darlin’ that’s harsh.” He said. “That would almost hurt. If I didn’t know the truth.” 
You wanted to argue. You took in another large drag to help hold your tongue. You knew the results of arguing with him - it wasn’t worth it. 
“So… I think you know how this goes.” He announced. “You can come with me now. Or… I can go get another girl.” 
“No more girls.” You told him. “I’m here now. You won. Whatever business you have - it’s with me.” 
You stamped out your cigarette as you walked toward him, and your phone began to ring on the front seat as his truck rumbled to life and pulled out of the parking lot. 
… 
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007. Madison Police Department - Madison, GA. 7:26PM.
“Hello! Everyone, listen up.” Hotch called everyone to attention as the local police continued to filter in, most of them standing around with cups of coffee in hand or notebooks out, ready to take notes. “We’re ready to give the profile.” 
“Yes, and please keep in mind that this is just a general set of guidelines describing the suspect.” Rossi said. “This is not a concrete list of things you should be looking for. A profile is more useful in the elimination of suspects, rather than the inclusion of them.” 
He then turned to Derek, who began reciting the profile that the team had put together so far. 
“This UnSub, or Unknown Subject, is most likely a white male in his thirties to forties.” Morgan explained. “He drives an American made vehicle, something large enough to conceal and transport victims, and something that has off-road capability in order to get to the more secluded areas where some of the bodies were found. So think trucks, heavy duty vans, anything with thick treads on the tires and a large payload. And his vehicle will most likely be in a more discreet color. This guy won’t be driving around in something flashy. He’ll be in something that blends into the background, like a beige or black truck.” 
“So what?” One of the local cops piped up. “We put out an APB for every single heavy duty black truck in the area? This is the south, do you have any idea how many people around here drive a truck? Especially ones driven by men in their forties.” 
“There’s more.” Hotch noted, looking toward you. 
“This UnSub likely believes that he is dating these women in some capacity before he kills them.” You explained. “He has left scraps of poetry at the scenes, pages of romance novels - several of the victims had wine in their stomachs or burns from candle wax on their skin. And it’s highly likely that he turns violent when the women reject his advances, or don’t live up to the fictionalized relationship he has made up about them in his mind.” 
“How does that help us?” Someone asked. 
“Well, it’s very likely that he frequents the same hunting grounds.” Rossi explained. “We encourage you to go to local bars, and nightclubs, even gyms or cafes and pass out the profile to women who fit this type.” He said, motioning toward the pictures of the other victims. “He will be on the hunt again soon, and he has a very narrow hunting ground, living in such a lowly populated area. So we might be able to catch him off guard if his potential victims have the profile as well.” 
“This man is romantic, but he’s not charming.” You added on. “He isn’t sociable. He’s very cocky, very self-centered. He believes that he is God’s gift to women, and he has a very fractured sense of reality in general. If women reject him in everyday interactions, he will get noticeably irritated, and even violent. So he will be remembered as an unpleasant person in most women’s stories.” 
“This UnSub most likely has an inside knowledge of law enforcement.” Reid stated. “But, because he has a very antisocial personality, he wouldn’t do well working with the public. We currently have our analyst combing through files of those who flunked out of the police academy or live in the area and are retired from the military in some capacity. We believe that he might have even been in prison for an unrelated crime or institutionalized at some point, giving him a close look at the inner workings of law enforcement, and also attributing to the large break between the first two crimes.” 
Reid took a breath, and then continued on. 
“He was knowledgeable enough to purposefully dump one of the bodies across state lines in order to get the FBI involved in this case, but it was just one of the bodies, and it was dumped in a very well trackied area where it would be found. So that leaves a heavy insistence that he was fed-up with the local police not giving his case enough attention or - simply not being smart enough to keep up with him.” He explained. 
“He is very cocky.” Prentiss added on. “Incredibly over-confident. He is a narcissist to his core, and he believes that he will never be caught unless he wants to be. He thinks that he has an intricate cat-and-mouse game with law enforcement, and he can go off the grid and disappear at any time that he wants.” 
“Well… isn’t that true?” One of the cops asked. “I mean, the guy’s been at it for years and we still haven’t caught him. There’s no DNA, no real leads.” 
Hotch hummed, nodding. And then he walked over to the evidence board and motioned to the pictures of the two most recent victims - barely recognizable compared to the shining, smiling photos their families had provided. 
“We believe that he’s decompensating.” Hotch explained. “He is growing more violent toward each victim, which means that he is getting more sloppy - eventually, he will go off-book. He will break his routine in some way, and that will be the moment he’ll give us something to catch him with.” 
“So… you’re just waiting for him to kill again so you can actually catch the guy?” Someone asked sharply. 
“No.” You easily replied. “We’re praying it doesn’t come to that.” 
“Thank you everyone.” Hotch said, clearing his throat, giving an unconscious signal for everyone to disperse. “That’ll be all for now.” 
Everyone easily fell under his authority, and meandered back to what they had been doing before, now armed with the profile and ready to distribute it to members of the public, to the potential victims. 
You had a harshly, sickly feeling in your stomach as you gathered some of your files. It was the same feeling that had been turning your guts into knots since you had arrived back in Madison for the first time in years. Your eye accidentally caught the evidence board - the tall, intimidating wall lined with the gruesome photos of all the women. 
Women who looked strangely like you. Same hair color, same skin tone, same body type. All of them horribly brutalized and left for dead. All of them terrorized, tortured right up until their last moments.  
“Hey.” 
JJ’s voice snapped you out of your swirling dark cloud of thoughts, drawing your eyes away from the evidence board with a gentle hand on your upper arm. You huffed out a harsh breath as you let her guide you, turning around to face the blonde woman as she stared you down with a distinct look of concern knit across her features. 
“Are you okay?” She asked. “I’ve never seen you like this.” 
She had a point. You had been doing this job for some time. You had gone to the FBI Academy straight out of college, after getting a degree in criminal forensics. And none of it ever bothered you. You had learned about the study of blood spatter and the decomposition of bodies on live body farms, and you never flinched. 
But this case - it was getting to you. 
It was likely the first time anybody on the team had ever seen you so disturbed. 
“I’m fine.” You lied, trying to shrug off her touch. 
“Come on.” JJ sighed in return. “I don’t need to be a profiler to figure out that was a big fat lie.” 
You rolled your eyes at this. 
“You’re so brilliant.” You let out a sigh of your own, and put down your files on the nearby conference room table. You stretched out your back, deciding that you would give her an inch, hoping that she wouldn’t take a mile. “I’m freaked out. So what? Doesn’t everybody have room for a bad day?” 
“Of course.” She nodded. “Of course, you can have a bad day.” Her lips pursed, and you knew there was more coming. “Is - is it anything more than that?” 
“I’m tired.” You lied again, hoping she wouldn’t call you out on it this time. “It’s been - what? More than twenty hours since we landed. For these guys it’s been years, searching for this bastard. I wanna catch him.” 
“We will.” JJ assured you, sounding rather dull in her declaration. 
“I’m gonna drive down the street and grab an energy drink or something.” You announced, grabbing your blazer off a nearby chair and putting it on. Not that you would need a jacket with the southern weather - but your cash and your keys were in the pockets. 
“I thought you quit Redbull.” She chuckled. 
“It’s been one of those days.” You replied, shaking your head as you walked out of the room. 
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007. Madison Police Department - Madison, GA. 5:13PM.
“There’s still one thing that’s buggin’ the hell out of me.” Morgan announced as he walked back into the room with a fresh cup of coffee in hand. 
“That is?” You posed, looking up from the stack of personal files - potential suspects - that you were reading in order to engage him in the conversation. 
“What is with the two year hiatus from this guy?” He said, motioning to the board. 
The first victim had been abducted and killed all the way back in the summer of ‘99, but none of the other victims matched up until a missing person from September of 2001. And from there, the killings picked up in frequency - and the killer had taken over twenty six victims in and around Madison up until now. 
“It is weird.” You commented. “Usually after the first kill is when an UnSub is the most hungry for more. After that first taste for violence.” 
Morgan raised a brow at your strange choice of words and you shrugged it off. 
“Maybe he was hospitalized.” Reid said, appearing seemingly out of nowhere to make this comment, studying the board with his own intense expression. “Institutionalized? Maybe he was arrested for something completely unrelated, like - drugs, outstanding traffic violations?” 
“That’s helpful.” You sighed. 
“It could be.” Reid replied, sipping his own coffee. “I mean, we theorized that this UnSub has pre-existing knowledge of law enforcement - if he was in prison, maybe he was reading up on the law while he was in there? Who has closer knowledge of the law than ex-cons?” 
“Good point.” Morgan nodded. “I’ll call Garcia and have her widen the search.” 
“She is gonna love that.” You mumbled under your breath, already frustrated with the large pile of potential suspects you had to go through. 
Morgan took out his cell and walked into the other room, and you heard a distant ‘hey mama!’ as he chirped to Garcia on the other end. 
Then, you heard another voice that was all too familiar to you. 
“See, you’ve all just been working so hard, I thought you could use some sustenance!” 
It was your mother. 
You rushed out of your seat to find her in the middle of the bullpen, handing out muffins from a large basket that she had in her hand. 
It wasn’t entirely surprising to you, but it made your stomach sink. She was too much of a social butterfly for your liking. She knew about the last time you had been in this police station, she talked too much. No. You couldn’t risk her telling anyone. 
“See, that one’s blueberry, you like blueberry?” She was chatting idly, being her usual overly social self. 
“Yes, thank you so much Ms. L/N,” Prentiss smiled as your mother pushed more food into her hands. 
“Oh please, call me-” 
You knew that you must have looked like a storm, walking toward her with a scowl on your face. 
“Ma!” You barked, much harsher than you meant to, causing her to look up at you abruptly. “Ma? What are you doing here?” 
“Well see, you’ve been here all day, and you’ve been working so hard, so I made dinner for you and your friends,” She grinned, motioning toward a large tinfoil tray filled with mac and cheese that she had placed onto one of the desks next to a stack of paper plates and plastic forks. Naturally, a chunk of it was already missing. 
You wanted to scream when Reid walked over and began scooping out a portion for himself. 
“Ma, they’re not my friends, they’re my co-workers.” You said, exasperation ripe in your voice. 
You knew that this, too, ended up sounding much harsher than you had intended. As if you didn’t think of these people as friends. But you couldn’t stand the woman babying you. It’s not like she did much of that when you were an actual baby. 
“I’m an adult now, and-” You continued on, and she cut you off. 
“Oh yes, yes.” She nodded, reaching out to pinch your cheek in an utterly frustrating way. “Your co-workers.” 
“Please, Ma.” You sighed. “You can’t be here right now. This is a police station, not a bake sale.” 
“She can stay for a few minutes, can’t she?” Prentiss grinned, peeling the wrapper off her muffin. “We can take a break for dinner. I wanna hear some childhood stories about you.” 
Reid looked up eagerly at this, and you glared at both of them. 
“Oh, you should hear about the time she painted her face blue with the paint from-” Your mother began to tell a delightful embarrassing story, but you cut her off. 
“No.” You said sharply. “I’m sorry, but we have work to do. Important work. Once we actually catch the guy, I’ll bring everyone by the house for tea and cookies and you can show everyone my naked baby pictures, the whole nine yards. Just - not now.” 
You unceremoniously ripped the basket of muffins out of her hands and placed them on the desk beside the tray of mac and cheese, and she began to argue with you, calling you rude, telling you that she had raised you with better manners while you ushered her out the door. 
Prentiss and Reid exchanged a particular, concerned look as they watched you and your mother argue through the glass doors of the precinct. 
“Now what do you think that was all about?” Emily asked quietly. 
“For once, I have no idea.” Spencer mumbled in return. 
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007. Georgia Highway 72 - Madison, GA. 1:32PM.
“This is new.” Morgan noted as the two of you walked away from the SVU, approaching the dumpsite where the latest victim’s body had been found. “This guy doesn’t usually dump bodies out in the open. You think he was in a rush?” 
The two of you had been sent to check it out while Hotch and Prentiss spoke to the family, and the others went over evidence from the many pre-existing cases at the station. 
“Not likely.” You replied. “Preliminary report says there’s still no DNA, no skid marks from his tires, no shoe prints. He’s not getting sloppy.” You felt a sickly wave of vomit splash up as you looked at the woman - her ankles sticking out of the tall grass just off the edge of the highway, where she had been left, entirely visible for anybody passing by to see. “This was a present. Like a fuckin’ cat leaving a dead mouse on the porch. He wanted us to find her. And he wanted us to find her quickly.” 
“I’ll tell you one thing,” Morgan noted, tentatively stepping into the grass and gently moving the long spokes of greenery back to get a better look at the victim. “He’s definitely escalating.” 
You crouched down to get a better look yourself, and you had to agree. 
Her face was almost entirely caved in, but it appeared to be from a series of blunt hits, and not from a singular swing with a heavy object. Between the pre-mortem swelling and the post-mortem rage, where he had continued to mutilate her even after her death, she was practically unrecognizable from the photo that her family had provided you with. The only reason the team had been able to confirm her identity for sure was that she had been reported missing, and she had been found wearing a unique custom charm bracelet that her parents could confirm belonged to her. 
You wished that you could guarantee they would never see her body in this state. 
“What’s that?” Morgan wondered aloud. 
You hummed back in confusion. 
Before you could wonder any further about what he meant, he reached out and gently pried open the victim’s mouth, fishing out a small piece of plastic that he had seen sticking out from the corner of her swollen, bruised lips. He had to fight to get it out of her stiff, death rigored body, but when he was able to - a small plastic bag came out of her mouth. 
A small plastic bag containing a piece of white paper. 
“What the hell?” Morgan mumbled quietly. 
Naturally, he opened the bag and took out the paper, and you looked on with nervous curiosity as he read what was on the note. 
“You are the stars hidden by clouds.” He read aloud. “I know you’re there even when I can’t see you. Your shine peeks out and reaches me in the depths of my soul. Tell me your arms are long enough to reach me across oceans. Tell me someday we will be together, somehow, some way. Tell me that this love we have can survive being together as well as we’ve survived being apart. Tell me we are more than the chasm of our divide.” 
Bile splashed up in your throat. 
You hated that the quote was distinctly familiar to you. You hated how you knew it. 
You could still hear his voice in your head, and it made your bones quake. 
“Hmm.” Morgan looked over the paper thoughtfully. “It’s another page ripped out of a book. Just like the other one. I’ll call Garcia and have her look it up, maybe-” 
“You don’t have to.” You said, hoping that your throat wasn’t too painfully constricted around your words. “It’s Jacqueline Simon Gunn.” 
Morgan easily saw the haunted look behind your eyes - the years old terror that you were having a much harder time suppressing now. 
Oddly enough, it was a feeling that he knew well. Perhaps that’s why he saw it in you so easily. 
“You alright?” He bothered to ask, even though he knew the answer was ‘no’. 
“I’m fine.” You lied. “We should bring this back to everyone else.” 
You rushed away from the crime scene like a bat out of hell, and even though he knew he should have pressed further - he let you. 
… 
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007. Madison Police Department - Madison, GA. 10:08AM.
“Good morning, y’all.” 
The BAU was greeted by Chief Dalton, the Madison County Chief of Police, as you all filed into the small police department. 
“You can set up in the conference room over there, I hope we got y’all everything you need.” He said, flashing a warm, welcoming smile. 
“This looks fine, thank you.” JJ said, reaching out to shake his hand. “I’m Special Agent Jennifer Jareau, this is Doctor Spencer Reid,” She pointed to him, and he nodded in return - of course, rather than shaking hands. “This is Special Agent Emily Prentiss, Agent Rossi, and Agent L/N. Our Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner and Special Agent Morgan will be here later - they wanted to go and interview some of the families of the victims, get some more background information.” 
“L/N?” He motioned toward you, his eyes becoming fixated on you as you set down your bag and lifted one of the lids off the boxes to get a glance at some of the files. “That name sounds awful familiar to me - are you from Madison?” 
“Oh yes, I am,” You grinned at him, stepping forward and giving him a handshake, to which he grinned back widely. “I grew up here. This is actually my first time back in years.” 
“Well, welcome home.” He said. “I wish it was under better circumstances.” 
“Me too.” You easily agreed. 
You thought that would be the end of it, until: 
“You know I hardly recognized you. Such a pretty face, but the last time I saw you, you was beat to a darn pulp.” He remarked, giving a pained chuckle. 
Your stomach swelled with anxiety, and it felt like a pure balloon of concrete sitting inside of you. You felt all the eyes in the room on you - Rossi, JJ, Emily, Spencer - all of them staring you down as this man aired your dirty laundry like it was as casual as the weather report. 
“You came through here - what was it, the summer of ‘99? I’ll never forget that assault report. I’m surprised you can still see out of that right eye of yours, with the way-” 
“Coffee?” You cut him off when you managed to find your voice, rushing to change the subject and praying he would get the hint. “Where can I get a coffee around here? Long flight. And we’ve had an early morning. Long flight, going over the case.” 
You didn’t even realize you were tripping over your own words, repeating yourself in a rush to fill the air so he wouldn’t speak about the past anymore. 
“Oh, it’s right through there. In the break room.” He said, motioning vaguely behind him. 
“Would you mind showing me, please?” 
You knew it was cowardly, but you were now desperate to escape your colleagues, and wanted to drag the Chief away before he spilled anything else from his loose lips. 
He escorted you out of the room and it was only a mere moment before conversation ensued about the strange thing that had just happened. 
“Am I gonna be the first person to say ‘what the hell’?” Rossi asked, looking around to his teammates, who all had equally shocked and confused expressions. 
“It’s a small town. These people don’t exactly understand secrecy. Or tact.” JJ sighed. 
“Yeah, but why would Y/N keep that a secret from us?” Spencer asked, frowning. “If she was assaulted-” 
“Yeah, in the summer of ‘99.” Emily pressed. “That was a long time ago. Have you told everyone on the team every little detail about your life from ten years ago?” 
“Eight years.” Spencer easily corrected her. 
“Whatever.” Emily rolled her eyes. “We’re not here to profile her. We’re here to catch another scumbag and leave.” 
There seemed to be a resounding nod at this.
“If she wants to tell us about what happened, she will.” Rossi added on.  
… 
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007. Outskirts of Madison - Madison, GA. 9:52AM.
“There’s my beautiful girl.” 
He had a perfect view of you through the scope of his gun. 
Of course, he would never hurt you. There was no bullet in that gun that was intended for you. This was just the perfect way to see you. Up close and personal. Just the way he liked it. 
This was the first time he had seen you in so long. You wore your makeup differently now - your hair was a bit different. But you were still his girl. 
“You’re gonna love the present I left for ya.” 
You spoke his language - violence. 
You wrote your life in blood, just like he did. 
You were perfect. His perfect girl. 
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007. Inside the BAU Jet - Somewhere Above America. 7:12AM.
“So, the ME dates eight of these victims from within the last year alone?” Prentiss questioned, looking over some of the files on the table in front of her. 
“Well, it’s difficult to tell with the soil erosion and the heavy rain that the area had recently, but they are significantly less decomposed than the others.” JJ explained. 
“What I don’t understand,” Morgan noted. “Why would he give up his gig now? I mean, twenty four victims in a mass grave in the middle of the woods, and he leaves a twenty-fifth victim in the middle of the road, clearly intending for police to find it. With a damn note attached, giving up the exact coordinates of his mass dumpsite. Why?”
“It is strange.” Reid agreed. “Typically, whenever killers have contact with the police, it is to taunt them for their inability to get caught, believing that the police are stupid and they as killers are invincible.” He said. Naturally, this rolled into a rant as more facts came to mind about the subject. 
“Serial killer Dennis Rader, also known as the BTK killer, standing for Blind, Torture, Kill - he taunted police with letters over a period of three decades, between 1974 and 1991, each one that he sent to the local police simply saying ‘good luck hunting’.” Reid explained. “Occasionally, he would send them graphic descriptions of how he had posed the bodies at each crime scene. And he was only caught when a floppy disc he sent to a local television station was traced back to a computer that he had used at his church.” 
Reid laughed at this revelation, finding it amusing. With all eyes staring at him, he reached the realization that this wasn’t helpful to the case at hand - and then he easily clammed up. 
“So, this UnSub gives up the dumpsite because… he’s feeling remorseful? He wants to get caught?” Rossi theorized. 
“The level of violence across these recent victims has no indication of remorse.” You replied. “One of the bodies found at the dumpsite was missing over half her teeth, and had all ten of her fingers broken in multiple places. Seemingly pre-mortem.” 
There was a heavy silence at this. 
“Perhaps he’s feeling ignored,” Hotch posed. “He feels like his crimes aren’t being well covered by the media and he wants glory. He finally wants recognition for what he’s done.” 
“Well, wouldn’t he have sent some kind of manifesto or another letter to the police?” Morgan posed. “And it seems like the guy went through a whole lot of trouble for a long time, trying not to get caught. He buried them out in the woods, secluded. Wrapped them in plastic, scrubbed the bodies clean so there’s absolutely no DNA. Doesn’t seem like someone looking for glory to me.”  
“Not to mention that he wrote the coordinates for the dumpsite on the back of a page ripped out of a novel.” Rossi said, squinting down at one of the files - a close up forensic photo that had been sent over by the local police department. 
Prentiss held out her hand, and Rossi handed over the photo, and then she began reading the words off the page aloud. 
“-I wish, as well as everybody else, to be perfectly happy, but-” 
“-but, like everybody else, it must be in my own way.” You finished the quote before she could, the words flashing through your mind with a sickly twist in your gut. It was all too familiar to you, in the worst way. “It’s Sense and Sensibility. Jane Austin.” 
Everyone fixated on you with a strange gaze, wondering how you knew this off the top of your head. Especially when usually this would only be something that Reid would be able to recite so perfectly by heart. 
“Maybe he thinks that he’s romancing these women?” Prentiss theorized, trying to move on from the strange moment. 
“That’s plausible.” Hotch agreed. “When we land, Morgan and I will go interview some of the families. JJ, get us their contacts. I want to know if any of these women had problems with an ex boyfriend or even a bad date whom they rejected. It could be someone they once viewed as a potential romantic partner that went horribly wrong.” 
JJ nodded at this, going to look through her files for the information. 
“This level of torture - it’s likely a substitute for sexual gratification.” Morgan theorized, looking at the crime scene photos one again. “Maybe he is romancing these women, but in his mind, this is the ultimate form of romance? Having all of his conquests together in death - it’s a declaration of what a casanova he is. In his fractured world.” 
“It still doesn’t explain why he gave up the dumpsite to the police.” Prentiss argued. 
“Men like to brag about their sexual exploits.” Rossi said, nodding toward Morgan. “If these women are his conquests, in his mind, then he wants his manliness, his accomplishments, to be appreciated by other men.” 
Prentiss sharply rolled her eyes at this. 
“Well, at least we know our UnSub’s not a woman.” She remarked sharply. 
… 
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007. BAU Offices (FBI Headquarters) - Quantico, Virginia. 6:15AM.
JJ stood at the front of the room, ready to present the newest case to everyone. 
“Last night, a body was discovered on the backroads of South Carolina, about five miles outside of the town of Delph. She was found naked, mutilated. Heavy bruising all over her body that insinuates the killer kept her and tortured her for days. Final cause of death appears to be blunt force trauma from multiple hits to the head, but she also had several shallow stab wounds across her body, seemingly from some kind of hunting knife with a rough blade.” 
JJ explained, beginning to present the case as she clicked the small remote, causing images of the crime scene to pop up on the large screen in the room. 
“The victim - now identified as Ashley Prembrooke, hadn’t even been reported missing. She left her parents house in Madison, Georgia, about three days ago to drive back to her dorm at the University of South Carolina. When she didn’t show up on time, her roommate assumed that she was staying at home for a few extra days. Her father has cancer, so she wanted to be there for him.” 
There seemed to be a particularly dark aura in the room at this news. 
“Did the killer know that she wouldn’t be reported missing, or did he just snatch her up by chance?” Morgan asked. 
“Her car was found abandoned at a rest stop a few miles from the border of Georgia.” JJ explained. “So… it seems to be random.” 
“Well, I hate to ask this,” Rossi said. “But why are we being called out for just one body?” 
“That’s the thing.” JJ sighed. 
She clicked the clicker again, and several close-up photos appeared. Photos of the victim’s mutilated body - among the harsh bruising on her torso, there was a piece of white paper, partially stained with blood. It had been folded and stapled into her flesh. 
“The victim was found with this page… stapled into her skin.” JJ said, clearly finding the words disturbing to speak aloud. “Written on the back, was a set of coordinates. Local police discovered that these coordinates lead to a random patch of woods, about ten miles outside of Madison, Georgia.” 
JJ queued more pictures onto the screen. It was those very woods - overturned dirt. And more than a dozen bodies, wrapped in plastic among the soil. 
“It was the site of a mass grave with twenty-four other victims - all women around the same age, with the most recent ones all having the same body type, the same hair color, same general makeup as Ashley Prembrooke.” 
“He has a type.” Hotch stated the obvious. 
“And for some reason, he tipped the police off to his hiding place.” JJ reminded them all. 
“Twenty four victims?” Prentiss questioned, clearly shocked by this number. 
“That’s what they’ve found so far. The decomposition on some of the bodies seems to go back as far as a decade, but it’s difficult to date them exactly.” JJ replied. 
“So… the guy is experienced, hasn’t been caught in years, and he hands over his honey pot to the cops? Is he trying to get caught? Is he feeling guilty?” Rossi posed. 
“No, not with that level of violence. There’s no remorse there.” Morgan replied. 
“He dumped Ashley Prembrooke over state lines. We could be looking at somebody with an incredibly wide hunting ground who gave up one of many dumpsites as a way to taunt police.” Hotch theorized. 
“That doesn’t seem to be the case.” JJ explained. “So far, eight of the most recent victims have been matched up with missing persons reports, all of them women from Madison. All within the last year alone. It seems like he targeted Ashley because she was from Madison - that’s his comfort zone.” 
When the pictures of the missing women - now confirmed dead, murdered violently, popped up on screen, your throat tightened. 
You had known at least two of them. You had gone to school with them. You had seen them cheer proudly at high school pep rallies - you had known them lively and bright. And now they were bones rotting in the soil, taken by some monster. 
Beyond that, there was an alarming trend. 
They looked like you. You couldn’t deny that. Same hair color, same body type, same skin tone. 
And they were from your hometown. 
Between this, and the letter, the morning was getting to be too much for you. You wanted to believe it was all a series of terrible coincidences, but… 
Looking across the roundtable at you, Reid was the only one who saw that sickly look come over your face. He was desperate to know what was troubling you. 
“Reid?” Hotch got his attention, finding it strange that the overly talkative man was quiet this morning. “You’ll work the geographical profile?” 
“Yes.” Reid nodded, finally taking his eyes off you. “It’s unusual for the killer to hunt wider than a five hundred mile radius from home. So it’s likely that he lives, works, and operates all within Madison.” 
“Good. We could be looking at a copy-cat who knew about the previous killer’s dumpsite, or… something else entirely. But we need to get on the ground there and find out.” Hotch said. “Wheels up in thirty.” 
Everyone dispersed from the table when Hotch finalized with this, and you found yourself much dizzier than you realized as you tried to stand. As everyone moved to their desks to gather their things, you moved to the counter to get a coffee - hoping to calm your nerves. 
“Y/N.” 
You nearly jumped out of your skin when Reid’s voice came from behind you - your own blood was pumping in your ears, and seemingly, he had snuck up behind you. But his usually quiet footsteps simply couldn’t be heard beyond the nagging thump of your own anxiety. 
“What?” You barked back, knowing it was far too harsh. 
“Are - are you alright?” He asked, hesitant to bother you with the question. 
“I’m fine.” You lied as you dumped the sugar packets into your cup, your shaking hands accidentally spilling some across the counter top. 
“Are you sure?” Reid pressed. 
You let out a heavy sigh and turned to face him, crossing your arms heavily over your chest. 
“What?” You said the word again, sternly, glaring at him. 
All he did was give you a soft, understanding expression in return. 
You hated it. 
You hated how he was so open - it was almost horrifying, how you could have easily told him what was bothering you. 
Sweet, accepting, understanding Reid. 
If you told him the truth, he probably would have told you some statistic that he found comforting. It would have been sweet, coming from him. But then, he would have been looking at you with those eyes all damn day, holding pity in his heart and not truly focusing on the work that needed to get done. 
“Can you look at the shit we see every single day and always be okay with it?” 
You easily made up an excuse, pretending you were rattled by the crime scene photos, even though this murder was no more graphic in nature than any other you had been subjected to seeing recently. 
“I’m human. So what?” 
Reid studied your face carefully. He saw guilt dancing in your eyes - the way you gently bit your lip was your tell for lying, that much he knew from playing many rounds of poker with you on the plane rides home. 
But he felt that simply nagging you more wouldn’t get the truth out of you. Not right now. 
“Okay.” He acquiesced. “I know it’s hard. If you ever need someone to talk to-” 
You stormed off, accidentally slamming into his shoulder on the way along in your haste to escape the conversion. Reid heavily eyed the cup of coffee that you had left cooling on the counter before he turned and left himself. 
… 
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007. BAU Offices (FBI Headquarters) - Quantico, Virginia. 6:04AM.
You walked into the bullpen with your bag on your arm, sipping a strong coffee in a travel mug you had brought from home. 
“You look tired.” Emily commented as you walked over to your desk. “Late night?” 
You moaned in reply, not yet ready to let go of nursing your coffee mug, taking a few more long gulps as you took the strap of your bag off your shoulder and slung it into your chair. 
“Last night, the fire alarm in my building went off at 3am.” You told her, finally surrendering the mug and putting it down on your desk. “I was out of bed in a panic, barely awake, went into the hallway to evacuate - and the sprinklers had gone off. So I ended up standing outside for more than an hour in my little jammies, soaking wet, and it turns out - some teenager from the third floor pulled the alarm because he was having an argument with his mom. He didn’t want to go to summer school.” 
“Yikes.” Derek commented. “Well, you know, if you ever need a calm, cozy place to sleep, you can always give me a call. And you can bring your little jammies.” He told you with a wink. You rolled your eyes, knowing that flirting was his default. “As long as you don’t mind Clooney licking at your toes in the mornin’.” 
That almost made it sound more appealing. You did love that dog. 
“You know, a study was done at the University of New Hampshire that concluded that twenty to thirty minute windows of sleep actually optimize the human brain for functionality the most.” Spencer added on, leaning back in his chair at his desk as he explained this. 
“The schedule of a ten to twelve hour work day, followed by an eight hour sleep period has only been instituted in society as a commonality since the industrial revolution. And it doesn’t actually flow with how the human brain has been optimized by evolution. Before that, most people optimized their lives around a wake-sleep period of three to four hours, taking care of chores in the morning, participating in a midday nap, and then socializing in the evening and partaking in community events before sleeping again in the evening. And most communities functioned around people sleeping and waking at vastly different times rather than everyone having one collective morning routine.” He concluded, giving you a smile. 
You found his rambling fascinating, but you found it ironic that you could barely process half of what he had said - because you were too tired. 
“Well, unfortunately we can’t all live in villages and pick berries for a living.” Emily remarked with a yawn. 
The conversation shifted when Penelope walked in, and gave you a bright smile. 
“Good morning, pretty girl.” She greeted you. 
“Mornin’, Penny G.” You replied.
“This arrived on the mailcart for you, postmarked from a few days ago, stamped express. I figured you’d want to have eyes on it as soon as possible.” She told you, handing you a very average looking white envelope. 
You weren’t sure why, but it invoked a strange feeling in your gut. 
The moment that you saw the handwriting on your front - the script that made up your name. 
The way he had written it. 
Bile rose up in your throat, and you forced yourself to swallow it back down. All eyes in the room immediately knew that something was wrong. 
“What is it?” Emily asked. 
“Nothing.” You quickly replied. 
You didn’t even want to open it, but bitter curiosity was eating at you. 
How the hell had he found your work address? He knew where you worked now? 
“I’m gonna - bathroom.” You mumbled an excuse as you rushed back out of the room again, practically fleeing toward the bathroom, leaving all eyes on your shadow. 
In particular, Spencer’s eyes followed you hard as you retreated. He wondered how a simple letter could upset you so much. 
You secluded yourself safely in a locked stall, your heart thumping in your chest as you began to tear into the letter. The envelope turned to sinew in your hands with your anxious inability to open it properly. In a few moments, you pulled out the piece of paper with a shaking hand, and dropped the shredded envelope onto the floor. 
You barely managed to read its contents through tearful eyes. 
Lover, 
Fate has sent us on such different paths, but I will be with you again soon. 
I still miss you every single day. I remember your smell. 
I know none of the men you have spent your recent years with can measure up to me, which is why I have set you on the path back to me. 
“I wish, as well as everybody else, to be perfectly happy; but like everybody else, it must be in my own way.” 
-Daniel 
Your chest caved in when you realized that there was something taped to the corner of the page. 
You recognized the piece of dark cloth in an instant. 
It was from that night. He had kept it. 
You couldn’t keep the bile down that time. You turned to the toilet and puked up a horrible swirl of black coffee and half a toaster waffle that you had scarfed down while getting dressed for work. 
When you had just barely caught your breath, you heard the door to the bathroom creak open. 
“Y/N?” Emily called out your name. “Are you in here?” 
You didn’t answer. 
Instead, you heaved a large glob of putrid spit into the toilet and wiped your mouth with the back of your hand. 
“Are you okay?” She asked, her voice now coming from right outside the stall you were in. 
“I’m fine.” You handed out that lie, not knowing how many times in the next day you were going to be saying it. 
“You don’t sound fine.” Emily told you. “I thought I heard you throwing up.” 
“Bad sushi.” You lied. “Stopped by the corner store on my way home. You know I never cook. Food poisoning is usually 50/50 with that kind of shit. Just another thing to add to my great night, right?” 
You let out a sour, sarcastic chuckle, but Emily didn’t follow suit. 
You knew that you would have to face her sooner or later, so you wiped your mouth again and then turned and unlocked the stall door. 
“I’ll be fine.” You told her, throwing her a very fake smile. 
“Yeah.” She said, tone flat, entirely disbelieving. “Would it have anything to do with that?” 
She motioned to the letter, which you had almost forgotten was crumbled up in your fist. 
“Can I see?” 
You didn’t even consider how suspicious it would be, but as her hand moved toward the paper, you ripped it up and tossed it into the toilet, grabbing the envelope up off the floor and tossing it into the mess of paper and vomit as well before you flushed it all down. 
“It’s nothing.” You grunted out, another very poor lie coming from your lips as you exited the stall and moved toward the sinks. “It’s garbage.” 
You turned on the tap and leaned down, taking in a mouthful of water to rinse out your mouth while she watched you with careful, piercing eyes. 
“It’s kind of pathetic that you’re trying so hard to bullshit me.” Emily remarked. “Not just because we’re both profilers, but because it’s so painfully obvious that something is wrong.” 
You swirled the water around your mouth, rinsing it out, and then spit into the sink before you turned the tap off. When you rose up to your full height, you caught Emily’s eye in the mirror - pitying. You hated it. 
It was that kind of pity that held you back from telling her the truth. 
She reached over to the dispenser and got you some of the paper towel, handing it to you as she spoke again. 
“You know you can tell me what’s bothering you, right?” She said, reaching up to put a gentle hand on your shoulder. 
There was a small, quiet moment - the words edged on your tongue. 
You truly considered just coming out with it. 
But then- 
A harsh knock on the door cut through the silence. 
“Y/N? Em?” JJ poked her head in through the door, clearly looking for the two of you. When she spotted you, she continued on. “I need everybody at the roundtable in five.” 
“Let’s get going.” You said, wiping your mouth and then crumpling the paper towel to toss it into the garbage can. 
… 
Thursday, August 16th, 2007. Madison Police Department - Madison, GA. 1:45AM.
Reid stormed in, capturing everyone’s attention. 
After being given a shoebox full of strange letters by your mother, he had finally pieced it together. He finally realized the secret you had been hiding - the thing that put you right in this killer’s crosshairs. 
“Guys, I think we got the profile all wrong.” He announced, a look of worry knit into his features. “And - if I’m right, then I think I know where she is.” 
He motioned to something in his hands - it was a worn-out old shoebox, something that made everyone curious and confused. 
“What the hell is that?” Prentiss asked. 
“Come on.” Reid ushered everyone into the conference room, and once the whole team was gathered, he shut the door. 
He opened the box and spilled it into the middle of the table, revealing a flood of hand-written letters. JJ stood back in shock, Hotch observed carefully and silently as usual, and Rossi, Morgan, and Prentiss began to pick through them while Reid explained his revelation. 
“Y/N’s mother gave me these.” He explained. “All of them are addressed to Y/N, and from what I can see, they’re pretty much weekly, and they go back as far as 1999.” 
“When the first murder occurred.” Morgan easily pieced the two things together. 
“Not only that,” Reid added on. “The first murder took place in August of ‘99.” He said, pointing to the picture of the first known victim on the evidence board. “And I think the first letter, or one of the earliest, is from July of ‘99. At least.” 
“So - so she was having correspondence with the killer?” JJ questioned. “What? Was he in prison? Are you saying that Y/N is involved with this in some way?” 
“No-” Reid rushed to correct this assumption, and Morgan cut him off. 
“She was at Quantico when the latest victims were killed. Even if the guy has a partner, I really don’t take her as bein’ responsible for this.” He said. 
“Plus, these don’t exactly read as love letters.” Pretniss pointed out, her expression growing disturbed as she read what the killer had written from the letter in her hands. 
“-every day I dream of you, my love. I remember the way you felt underneath me - clawing for your life, desperate. I remember the way you screamed. Tasting your blood for the first time made me feel alive again. I hope the bruises meant as much to you as they did to me.” 
“The use of ‘I’ language denotes self importance - the author has a natural narcissistic personality disorder, but he pretends that it’s a fulfilling two-way relationship, when naturally it’s a fixation on someone who could never truly live up to his fantasies.” Reid explained. 
The room fell silent as the reality of it hit everyone. You were the target of someone truly dangerous. Someone who was going to kill you when you didn’t perform the fantasy that he had in mind for you. 
“She was being stalked.” Reid declared quietly, sounding defeated. “She still is.” 
“These killings aren’t someone having separate, individual fantasized relationships with each victim; this is about the killer repeating the same relationship over and over again, performing the same ritual killing in order to relive the same fantasy over again, projecting it onto different women of the same type.” Hotch said, coming to the realization as he stared at the different victims photos on the evidence board with a firm look on his face. “He’s been in love with the same woman in his mind for years, but nobody can live up to the real thing. That’s why he gave up the dump site. Because he wanted to lure her here. He wanted the FBI here, because he wanted to get L/N here.” 
“Okay, but the bigger question is: why L/N? What was the incident that got him fixated on her in the first place?” Rossi questioned, asking what was on everyone’s mind. 
JJ’s face was struck with horrible realization, and she ran to the door, ripping it open. She screamed the Chief’s name at the top of her lungs until she got the man’s attention, looking entirely crazed to everyone else in the station. Naturally, she didn’t care. He bustled over, scurrying toward her urgent voice, spilling coffee on himself in the process. 
“Chief.” JJ breathed out. “You said that Y/N came through the station, and she was beaten up the last time you saw her - when was that?” 
“Oh, I dunno?” He creased his brows with concentration, trying to remember. “About ‘98? ‘99?” 
“Did she file a report about the incident?” JJ asked. 
“Yeah.” The Chief replied. “It was a break-in. Poor thing. Summer vacation, her mother wasn’t home, off with the church on a retreat hittin’ the bingo halls up in Texas. She said that she never saw the attacker, though. He was wearin’ a ski-mask.” 
There was a silent exchange among the group that said they knew the truth - you had seen the attacker, you knew him. It’s why you had gone with him willingly this time. But you hadn’t told the police the truth back then because you had been too scared. 
“Can you get me that report?” JJ asked. 
After too many anxious minutes, the Chief came back with an old file in hand, and JJ snatched it out of his hands with a mumbled thank you before she shut the door in his face once again. She placed it down on the table among the mess of letters, and flipped it open. 
“Oh my god.” Emily gasped when she saw the photos inside. 
There was a spread of old polaroid photos, pinned to the sides of the file. They were almost too graphic for the team to look at - one showing the damage to your face; both of your eyes bruised, one of them entirely swollen shut. Scratches, deep gashes, harsh bruising all over your body. You were wearing a dark cotton tee shirt with patches ripped out of it - as if someone had been clawing at you and nearly ripped the clothing off your body to keep you from getting away. 
“This wasn’t a burglary.” Derek mumbled, frowning as he picked up one of the photos and inspected it closer. 
“Get Garcia on the line,” Hotch told JJ. 
She dialed the tech’s number on the conference hub, having to unbury the small bit of technology from some papers before she did it. It rang for a few moments before the woman on the other end picked up. 
“Where’s our girl?” Garcia asked anxiously, talking about you. “Is there any news? You’re calling because there’s good news, right?” 
“Babygirl,” Derek called out, trying to get her to focus, but she trampled right past this and continued to ramble on. 
“Please don’t tell me she’s dead!” Garcia shrieked on the other end. “Cause I can’t keep losing people! And I know it’s selfish to say that I can’t lose her, but she’s one of my best friends, and I’m gonna be a mess! And she promised to be the maid of honor and my wedding, and I know I’m not even engaged, and I don’t even have a boyfriend, but I need to have her around for big milestones in my life like that, she’s like the best person I know, and-” 
“Garcia, we need you.” Hotch told her firmly, cutting off her emotional ranting. 
“Right.” The tech replied, sucking in sharply, trying to catch her breath. There was some scraping in the background - the wheels of her chair on the floor as she scooted her chair into her desk. “What do you need? I’m here.” 
“I need you to look up reports of rape in and around Madison County between 1991 and 1999.” Hotch told her. 
“Rape?” Garcia replied, seemingly shocked by the topic and how it might relate to the case at hand - how it might relate to you. 
“Come on, babygirl.” Derek encouraged her. “Work your magic.” 
“Yeah. I got it.” She said hesitantly, and then there was the clacking of her keyboard as she worked. 
“Oh. Ugh.” 
“What is it?” Rossi was the first to ask. 
“There’s over five hundred cases.” Penelope told them, clearly disgusted by this number. 
“Can you narrow it down to women in their twenties? With similarities to the victims who have been targeted by the killer. Same hair type, same race, same body type.” Hotch told her. 
“Turning on the creep filter.” Garcia said, using her usual sense of humor that she turned on to shield herself. “That leaves us with… about twenty cases.” 
“Were any of them prosecuted?” Hotch asked. 
“Two of them.” Penelope replied. “A couple of sorority sisters from the University of Georgia were held at gunpoint and raped by a pizzaman in ‘95. He went to trial, got ten years. And he was paroled for good behavior in 2003. Yikes.” Emily rolled her eyes in agreement with his comment. “And shortly after his parole, he crashed his car into a tree in a drunk driving incident. Looks like he’s probably not your guy.” 
“What about the other eighteen cases?” Reid asked. 
“Um… no.” Garcia replied. “None of them went to court. A lot of these say that the victims were attacked by a stranger… that he broke in through the back door. Hold on.” 
“What?” Derek prompted her. 
“There is one here. Terry Driver. She said that she was raped, and she identified her rapist as someone she knew - Daniel Matthews. But he was never arrested because his brother gave him an ability for the night of the incident.” Garcia explained. 
“I bet that one was air-tight.” Rossi scoffed. 
“What type of injuries did the victims have?” Hotch asked. 
“Um… nothing major.” Penelope replied. Hotch frowned. “A black eye… a few scratches.” She hesitated. “Ligature marks… from being tied to their beds. God. That sounds like the most horrible night of your life, doesn’t it?” 
Hotch shook his head, sweeping a tense hand over his face. “He doesn’t fit the profile.” 
“Wait.” Reid swallowed thickly, staring at the photos of you that were sitting in the middle of the table. 
Battered. Bruised. Broken. 
“Some of the letters refer to him having an awakening. ‘An awakening in my soul. A bond through blood.’” He explained, naturally reciting the words from memory after having only read them once. 
“She fought back hard.” He held up one of the photos - one of your arm, showing deep, bloody scratches. Defensive wounds. “She found back so hard - he must have liked it. It-” 
“It gave him a taste for violence.” Prentiss finished off the thought, fear written all over her face. “She - she was the one who made him realize that he could use violence to replace sex completely. So he switched from rape to murder.” She came to the shocking realization aloud, her eyes flickering from the photo of you to all the photos scattered across the evidence board - all the victims he had practiced on in the wake of you. 
“Oh - oh my god.” Penelope gasped, having heard all of this over the intercom. “He’s gonna kill her? He’s gonna kill Y/N?” 
“Garcia, What can you get me on Matthews?” Hotch asked. 
“Um, right - Daniel Matthews…” There was more clacking of keys, and then Penelope replied. “He grew up in Madison. Looks like he went to the same high school as Y/N. He used to play football. He has a juvenile record for… vandalism, underage drinking. The usual. Oh…” 
“Oh?” JJ wondered aloud. 
“He had a very brief stint in the FBI Academy. He was kicked out 2001 when he was accused of sexually harassing fellow female applicants, and he was flagged on the psych eval as having a possible narcissistic personality disorder.” Garcia explained. 
“Bingo.” Rossi sighed. “That’s our UnSub.” 
“Oh my god. The hiatus.” Morgan said, his eyes fixated on the evidence board now. “‘99 was the year he attacked Y/N, when he first got a taste for it… and then… he followed her to the Academy?”
“And he resumed the killings when he got kicked out.” Rossi picked up on the thought. “When he couldn’t be in close contact with her anymore… he couldn’t get a high off of retraumatizing her, reliving that night in his mind, he needed to relive it through the other victims.” 
It all fit together now. 
It was a horrible puzzle, but it all fit together around you. 
“Reid, you said you might know where he took her?” Pretniss said, turning back to the very tired looking genius. 
“Yes,” Reid shoved aside the file with the graphic photos of you, and went shuffling through the letters for something. When he found it, he handed it over to Prentiss. “A lot of the earliest dated letters make reference to ‘our special place’. Or-” 
“-the bed I first made love to you in.” Prentiss read it off the page, clearly holding back vomit. 
JJ grabbed up the file with the report about the break-in, shoving aside the photos, looking for an address. “It’s here. I’ve got it.” 
“Okay, I want squad cars, tactical swat, I want spike strips on every road in or out of that place. I need everyone mobile in ten minutes.” Hotch ordered sharply, causing everyone to jump into action. 
Thursday, August 16th, 2007. Abandoned Country House - Madison, GA. 2:20AM.
It should have felt like a victory to hold a knife to the throat of your rapist - someone who had been taunting you for years after the incident. 
But somehow, you still felt small. You still felt so chaotic and out of control. 
Both your hands shook vigorously as you struggled with the warring inside of you, as you struggled with the weight of confronting your life’s biggest monster. 
In the back of your mind, you were aware of the guns pointed at you. You would have liked to believe that because Emily was your friend - she wouldn’t shoot you. 
Part of you thought it would be worth it. To kill this man and take a bullet in the process. 
You just hoped that she would aim to wound and not to kill. 
“Put the knife down!” Emily ordered, her voice sounding muffled in your ears as blood thumped hard through you. “Come on, put it down.” 
“Reid-!” 
You heard his name being called out, and you saw a figure moving from the corner of your eye, but all you could focus on was the blade in your hand. The sight of a thick, unmarked neck, ripe for the taking in front of you. The idea that all you had to do was press down and slice through flesh - and then, this would all be over. 
No more torment. No more letters. No more taunting. 
“Y/N,” 
His soothing voice spoke your name, and you held a sob inside of your chest. 
You had grown so much of a life beyond this. Beyond him. He had tried to ruin you, he had tried to keep you in some little cage in some shitty town, and you had outgrown him. You had friends. You had people who loved you. 
But you still couldn’t escape him. 
“You don’t have to do this.” 
Your hand shook as you held the knife. 
“I have to.” You replied, unable to hold back your sobs. You barely noticed the tears coming out of your eyes - barely able to identify why your vision was blurring, why your face was suddenly wet. 
“You don’t have to.” Reid told you, his voice calming, gentle. “You - you can give me the knife, and then we can just… walk away. And then it all ends.” 
“It won’t just end!” You screamed out, your voice a curtling weep that bounced off the walls. 
If you let Daniel walk away from this, he would come for you again. He would. 
Or he would keep killing other women in your place. And you couldn’t let that happen. 
You couldn’t let your cowardice be the reason that so many women had died. You should have killed him the first time he had ever touched you. You should have been brave enough then. 
“It can end.” Reid assured you calmly. “You just have to come with me. You just have to put the knife down and-” 
It just sounded like noises in your ears at that point. 
Spencer just didn’t understand. 
“I have to make it stop!” You screamed, urgent to make him truly hear you. “I killed those women. I killed them!” 
“Prentiss!” A voice called her name, but it was so distant in your ears. 
“Just give him a minute!” Prentiss fired back. 
“He killed them because of me!” You shouted, cutting him off. “We both know it’s my fault.” 
“It’s not.” Reid choked out. “Please don’t say that.” 
There was a gutting silence. 
“Please, just give me the knife.” 
You couldn’t give up. 
You had come too far to let Daniel win now. 
“It was my fault. I know what happened. If I had just been a good little girl… if I had just laid there and taken it… it’s all my fault.” You quietly wept, your arms still shaking - muscles ripe with hesitation as you struggled with your grip on the knife. “I have to be the one to make it stop.” 
By violence it was done, and by violence it would be undone. 
You could be brave enough this time. You could be the one to end it. 
“No, no you don’t.” Reid told you. “You don’t have to do it alone. We can make it stop together. Just give me the knife. Please.” 
You had been alone your whole life. What was one more thing? 
Just press down. Something in your mind screamed. Slice his throat. End it. 
“Please, just look at me.” Spencer begged, his voice growing more desperate. “Please.” 
You didn’t look up at him. 
You knew that you couldn’t. 
If you took one look at those soft, pitying eyes, then the tiny bit of bravery you had gathered up would crack away. 
“Y/N, please.” Spencer continued. “I know why you think you have to do this. I know that his face is the one that’s been in all your nightmares since that night. I - I know you were all alone then, on the night that happened. You must have felt so alone.” 
You let out another sob at this. 
You had been so alone. 
“But you’re not alone now. You’re not alone now, okay?” 
Spencer’s gentle voice delivering the words made them feel so true. 
“We’re here with you now. I’m here with you. You don’t have to do this alone. You don’t have to fight by yourself anymore. You don’t have to be strong.” 
You heard a crack in his voice for the first time - his own tears. 
It wasn’t pity. 
It was genuine sadness for you, as he thought about what had happened to you. What had happened in this very bedroom all those years ago. 
“Spencer-” You choked out his name, and your body betrayed you. 
You finally collapsed, your hand dropping the knife, and Spencer reached out and grabbed you as you fell, helping to move your shuddering form away from the unconscious, horrible man as the others finally moved in. 
You heard more voices, more shouting - maybe Hotch giving orders. 
But all you felt was Spencer’s arms around you, creating a shield as he rubbed your back and gently hushed you, letting you sob as loudly as you needed to, giving you a kind of comfort that you had never felt on that horrible night. 
… 
Thursday, August 16th, 2007. Madison Police Department, Interrogation Room #1 - Madison, GA. 3:39AM.
The chilled air of the interrogation room only made the regret of it all more palpable in your lungs. 
Maybe Reid had saved you from yourself, or maybe he had caused you to make the biggest mistake of your life. 
You should have killed Daniel. 
You hated it, but you had to wonder what you would have done if you had ten more minutes. Ten more minutes before they had arrived, sirens screeching, lights flashing. Your mind kept replaying the moments over and over again. The knife had felt so perfect in your hand. You should have sliced his throat. 
Ten more minutes. 
The hum of the fluorescents overhead made you feel like a bug about to be zapped - like your entire life was over and you would be resigned to a cage. 
Daniel had been hauled away in an ambulance. He had been entirely unmoving. In ‘critical condition’. They would likely charge you with manslaughter if he didn’t recover - it wasn’t likely that he would. You had overheard Prentiss remark on the irony that he was an organ donor. Because you had beaten him so badly, but not killed him, it was likely that his comatose state would lead to his organs being donated, and saving more lives. 
It could be viewed as a beautiful thing. 
But you had to wonder if the poison he had in his veins was contagious. Should the heart of a killer really live on inside someone else’s body? 
“Let’s start with this,” Reid asked you sharply. “Why?” 
Truthfully, you couldn’t give him that answer. You didn’t think you would ever have enough time to conjure it up within yourself. 
“You’re the genius profiler, Doctor Reid.” You fired back coldly. “You tell me.” 
You let out another puff of your cigarette, and he frowned at you. 
“No.” He said. “No more bullshit. No more games.” 
You definitely were not used to this version of Reid. 
You were surprised that it had taken you almost killing someone to bring out his cold side. But you supposed that everyone had a line. And you had crossed his. 
“Why didn’t you tell us you had been raped?” He asked. “Why didn’t you tell us that the rapist lived in your hometown and was a viable suspect in all of this? Why didn’t you tell us that the letter you received the other morning was just one of many your rapist sent you over the years, stalking you, obsessing over you after-?” 
“Why?” You said, your voice scraping against the word harshly as you tossed it back at him, cutting off his ranting. 
He gave you an impatient expression as it hung in the air - eyes wide, pursing his lips. 
It caused you to flare with anger. 
You let the cigarette burn down to a hot cherry between your fingers, the harsh sting against your skin being the only thing keeping you from lunging across the table and strangling him. 
You stubbed it out in the ashtray before you answered him. 
“Why didn’t I want to suddenly announce to a group of my intellectual peers that I was raped?” You echoed back, more tears gathering in the corners of your eyes - you knew that you must have looked quite crazed, especially when Hotch stiffened, and Reid’s expression dropped. “You know, when I first came to the BAU, it was the only time in my life that I wasn’t viewed as a victim.” 
“Y/N-” Spencer said your name in that gentle tone again, but you weren’t having it this time. 
“My dad left us when I was only a year old. And everybody viewed my Mama as this fucking martyr because she raised me by herself. ‘Oh poor girl. She doesn’t have a daddy. Poor little girl, all alone. Her mama does such a good job.’” You said, ranting in a crazed tone. But the floodgates had opened, and you couldn’t stop it. “Nobody wanted to talk about how my Mama was off half the time, drinking at bars, out partying with friends. She got pregnant at sixteen and she didn't want to stop having a life. God forbid I get in the way of that. I took care of my damn self! I raised myself!” 
You knew you were screaming, but you couldn’t stop it. 
“L/N-” Hotch tried speaking to you in a firmer voice. 
But you couldn’t stop. 
“Daniel only broke into the house that night because he knew I would be alone.” Your voice warbled harshly on the word, and you hated it. 
You hated the look that Reid and Hotch were giving you. 
Pity. 
That look you had been trying to avoid for so long. 
“When I came here that night and made the police report, they all knew I was bullshiting. They knew that it wasn’t a fucking burglary.” You pressed on. “But none of them said anything! They didn’t care.” 
There was a tense moment. You swallowed thickly around your own tears, holding back sobs once again. 
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Spencer tried again, seeming to be personally stuck on this point. “I asked you if something was wrong. Why didn’t you tell me?” 
“That look in your eye.” You told him, entirely honest. “That look you have right now. I - I couldn’t stand the idea of you looking at me like that forever.” 
“Daniel approached you in the parking lot of the corner store.” Hotch stated calmly. “Why did you go with him willingly? Did he have a gun on you?” 
“He had a gun.” You told him. “He did have it pointed at me. But - I didn’t have mine. I didn’t like the odds.” 
Hotch nodded at this. 
“I didn’t want him to take another girl.” You added on. “I knew they were replacements. At that point, I realized what it was. I figured nobody else should have to die because of my mistake.” 
“Mistake?” Spencer echoed back quietly. 
“Not killing him the first time.” You said, knowing this was likely a bit too honest. “I should have killed him the first time he ever put his hands on me. I should have. I wanted him dead.” 
Tears leaked hot from your eyes at this, and Spencer’s eyes grew glassy - he blinked back his own. 
“You wanted him dead, but… did you want to kill him?” Hotch posed. 
“I don’t know.”
...
“That is how heavy a secret can become. It can make blood flow easier than ink.”
-Patrick Rothfuss
...
A/N: This is a oneshot, meant to function as an episode of Criminal Minds, so please respect it as such. Please do not ask for a sequel or a continuation, because there will not be one. If you are going to comment about the work, please comment about the body of what has been written. I highly appreciate reblogs and comments if you enjoyed it, and if you want to see more of what I have written for Criminal Minds, definitely check out my Criminal Minds masterlist.
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convolutings · 4 months
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Look don’t get me wrong I love the PJO TV show. The cast is perfect and some moments that were added I absolutely loved. But… there are some things I felt were so well done in the book there was no need to change it and I’m a little disappointed by the adaptation’s version.
Some of these takes I saw from other people and it put into words what I was feeling so I’m just expanding on what they said.
1. Gabe could’ve been worse. We are supposed to get mean Smelly Gabe vibes and Sally isn’t supposed to feel comfortable standing up to him. I understand “girl boss” and disneys restrictions but it still wasn’t great. I’m hoping they add something towards the end so his murder feels deserved.
Edit: upon a rewatch I take this back and believe Gabe was still abusive, if not physically as in the book, but as manipulative and demanding which is still abuse so I actually appreciate the changes they made now.
2. Sally felt off. Like they read her plot points but didn’t understand her character. She is wholesome and kind and devoted to Percy. The Sally we know never would’ve put that much pressure on Grover, plus him putting the pressure on himself is vital to his character. They also made her seemingly pine for Poseidon. They shouldn’t have changed the way she described her relationship with him and the choices she made to keep Percy safe. (I will say though that the Jesus joke was perfect and hilarious)
Edit: upon rewatch I still believe the wholesomeness was lost a little but I have come to like her character more and think these changes allow for greater depth into Sally’s story which I’m excited for.
3. We should’ve gotten Percy remembering the warm glow of Poseidon. I thought it was important that Poseidon broke the rules and came to see Percy when he was a baby and had that memory.
4. Percy thinking that Annabeth looked like a goddess when he first saw her was so cute and said a lot about how he viewed her. I think they should’ve kept it.
5. I think Luke being the one to guide Percy around the camp was a great choice, but Annabeth should’ve been part of welcoming scenes. And Grover should’ve been the one to tell the story of Thalia.
Edit: Episode 3’s reveal of Grover’s story was genius I take this back!
6. The claiming in the book was perfect! There was no reason to change the dialogue or have the trident not be the way it’s originally described. And seeing the campers reactions/having them bow down was important. I was underwhelmed tbh.
7. Percy is SMART! He was the one to put together that Sally was alive and agree to the quest in order to get her back. There was no reason for Grover to be the one to do it.
Otherwise it was wonderful. I still love it immensely and the care into the heart of the show I feel is still there. I can’t wait for next week!
And yes, I know Rick wrote the episodes and was a part of every single choice that was made so if he wants to leave something out obviously he knows his story the best this is just my opinion.
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asimpwithfreetime · 1 year
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What type of yanderes the Sullys are?
Inspired by: @elxrastra I hope you like it <3
Characters: Jake Sully, Neytiri, aged up! Neteyam, aged up! Lo’ak and aged up! Kiri
Bonus character: Tsu’tey
Reader: genderless (not mentioned), can be human or any Na’vi race (then again, not mentioned)
General tags/warnings: yandere behavior, descriptions of violence, maybe ooc, manipulating, murder
Content warnings: English is not my first language, gifs from Pinterest, these are all headcanons and you may not agree with my opinion
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Jake Sully
He would be the type of yandere to manipulate you without you noticing.
He would not be jealous or act out near you but he has death glares to anyone that gets close to you.
He definitely would be really loving and never force you into anything, you always give in willingly don’t you?
He will say things that will make you change your mind and think the idea is yours.
If in ANY SITUATION some of your friends or your relatives say that he is toxic, manipulating you or anything like that, believe that this person is not going to live much longer. You won’t remember them though, he will make you forget about them.
If you want to leave him because you discover how he really is, he will manipulate you by crying and begging, I don’t think he would be violent towards his darling. Smashing vases and punching walls? Probably. Doing something to his darling? I don’t think so.
Even as a yandere, I think he will try to look like the good guy or the hero in your eyes.
Overall, he is 6/10 violent yandere (not enough to scare you off, because he tries to never show it around you) 10/10 manipulative yandere.
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Neytiri
Okay, hear me out, she is a pretty violent yandere. She could smash someone’s face against a tree right in front of you.
She knows you are too scared to run away, also in Pandora, where are you going to run away to? The sky people that are destroying it and will probably try to keep you to themselves? The huge forest inhabited by creatures that could kill you? She knows you don’t have other place to be.
She is also really strong so everyone knows not to mess with her or her darling. If someone tries to pry you off her, she will kill them. She is still pretty devoted to Eywa so I believe she may ask Eywa for forgiveness or cry while doing it.
She will treat you nicely tho. She will give you cuddles and love and will comfort you when you are scared. All your necessities will be taken care of. She might be a violent yandere but she cares for you deeply. She knows that treating you nicely is the best option.
She will cut off all you connections with friends and relatives, you can only have eyes for her. If anyone ever tried to tell you that you should run away, she will go after them, with all her forces.
In a scale, she is 12/10 violent yandere and a 3/10 manipulative yandere.
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Neteyam
He must be the best type of yandere to ever exists. He never will let it show with you and won’t even obviously manipulate you. He will be really sly and cautious with his actions.
He knows how you think or act. And he knows you care for him deeply. He will come home covered in cuts and bruises if he thinks you are going to leave him. After a night of no sleeping tanking care of him you can’t even think about that.
He is really sweet with you and will never act out in your presence. If he need a to send someone a message he will do it behind your back. Hugging you from behind and sending a death glare that could send the other person into the sixth ring of hell is his favorite method.
If he is going to kill somebody, he has it planned months before. And you will never know.
If he finds out that someone is trying to convince you to leave him because they know the truth about him he will act hurt, and he will show you he is nothing like that.
That person will be gone soon. How dare they tell you something like that? Didn’t they see how much Neteyam loves you? He will do anything to be with you.
He can go great lengths to be with you. If you ever leave he will follow you everywhere. He can’t physically live far from you.
If Jake ever says something about you, he will defend you but will never stand against his parents desires. He is really sweet but will hide you from them if they try to get in between his darling and him.
In the manipulative scale he is a 5/10 not so much but enough to change your mi d if he needs it and a 3/10 of violent around you, but without you he is 13/10 just overly planned so nobody can catch him.
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Lo’ak
I think he is like his mother, not so violent. He has the manipulation like his dad and the violence of his mom. Pretty dangerous combination.
Lo’ak will be pretty protective of his darling and will never get violent near you unless he needs to. Is Ao’nung gets too close or any other Na’vi look at you, he is not scared to fight for you. Killing, on the other hand, he can’t do it in front of you.
Manipulating on the other hand is a piece of cake for him. He knows that you care about him and his situation with his father. Whenever he knows you have seen him acting up or being weird he’ll come to you with a problem with his dad. Your suspicions long gone when you are caring about him.
He will not hesitate in punching someone if they dare to say something about about your relationship. If someone is advising you to get away from him, he will not be scared to kill them.
He goes against everything that his father tells him to do if he isn’t feeling like doing so. If Jake tries to convince him that he isn’t acting sane he is capable of running away with you. Obviously via manipulation.
If you are scared of him he can go about it in two ways: 1- manipulate you into thinking that you were wrong and feeling guilty of doubting him oooorrrr 2- he will scare/kidnap you into staying with him in a secluded place, far away from you and his family.
I’m the scale he is 8/10 manipulative (he can be really good but only when needed) and 9/10 in violent (again he is really good but he must be really needing to do so).
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Kiri
I can’t picture her as a yandere tbh. She is really soft. But let’s give this a try.
She is a manipulative yandere that’s for sure. But she is not scared to use the power of Eywa against those who try to come in between her and her darling.
She will show you the wonders of Pandora, trying to keep you as fascinated as she can so that she can have you close to her. If you are distracted you won’t see the bleeding bodies will you?
She isn’t too violent when it comes to you. She will never show any yandere quirkiness around you. She will also make sure nobody can tell you about it.
If you want to leave her side, she might become aggressive and might as well trap you. You won’t go away. Eywa sent you to her and she will NEVER let go of her mate.
She hasn’t killed someone yet, but she will have it as an option.
She is 4/10 violent (only when SERIOUSLY needed) and 10/10 in manipulative.
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Bonus! Tsu’tey
He is a pretty violent yandere. NEVER towards you. He will never act violent towards you.
He is not scared to kill and go great lengths to keep you with him. Even if you don’t believe him, he will always assure you it is for your own good.
He has a soft spot for you. He can be killing mercilessly and then suddenly see you and his whole expression will soften. He will hug you with love.
It is really weird his duality, cold with everything and everyone and then the softest when it comes to you. That might be the reason why you are close to him.
He will play dumb at first, pretending that he has nothing to do with the injured humans/Na’vi or the mysterious murders, but he has done everything.
In the scale he is a 6/10 in manipulative, he does it pretty well at first but then he just gets tired of trying. You are his, why can’t you see it? Why can’t all those dumb humans and Na’vis can’t see it?
He is also a 9/10 violent. He is really violent but never towards you.
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carolmunson · 1 year
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okay, since some of you asked for it:
unpopular opinion but i don’t actually think eddie was a nice soft boy at all. dustin and mike are literally afraid to ask him to move hellfire. ‘he’s always revved up,’ implying that he’s always like this, always a little close to snapping. he’s not nice to them when he asks them to find a replacement. he also guilt trips them about 'taking them in like lost sheep' and shoves them off to find a replacement instead of keeping lucas included. which is why i don't understand the 'fierce protector of his friends' take because he's so quick to drop lucas just because he's 'moved to the dark side.' aka, throwing balls into laundry baskets.
which leads me to when he gets up on the table, people are not trying to fuck around with him. this is a common occurance, people are not surprised to see him up there and yelling. they aren't surprised that he's making a spectacle of himself. if eddie was soft and sweet, he would’ve gotten beat up. if eddie was soft and gentle, he'd probably be scared of jason. guys like jason in the 80s loved being macho and punching out losers — eddie just gave him the devil horns and called it a day. eddie’s absolutely gotten in fist fights before and won (his dad is a literal criminal!) otherwise someone would've thrown something or told him to shut the fuck up. people are scared of him, even his own friends! there’s more reasons than just playing DND and metal that make town certain that he’s a cult leader. you don't just assume someone is a murderer if they haven't shown any interest in violence before, especially considering his dad was likely a shitty dude. he even bullies erica when she first shows up to hellfire and only respects her when she bullies him back and bests him. he is someone you have to EARN respect from. he will never respect anyone outright or be understanding outright. he doesn't fully respect dustin or mike to start either, he views them as underlings.
even chrissy assumes he's going to be mean and scary, there's gotta be reason behind that. he's not nice or kind in school, which is likely a defense mechanism. he’s sweet with chrissy because he likes her, he has a crush on her. it’s very clear that he has since he was a kid, otherwise why would he bring up them hanging out in middle school? why would he even remember that if he hasn’t been pining for her this whole time? he admits too, albiet flirtily, that he thought SHE'D be mean and scary too, because he doesn't like people 'like that', people he assumes are 'on the dark side'. i’m sure he hoped they’d kiss a little when she went to his trailer. he's even a little sarcastic when she's there, again, defensive. 'the maid took the week off'. but ultimately, he's nice to her because he wants to kiss her and has a crush on her. i don't think it's because he's fully 'showing her who he really is'.
also he's a literal drug dealer????? like?????
he only becomes more gentle and open with dustin and co. when he gets pulled into the upside down/vecna stuff because he needs support. they grow a bond over shared trauma. and i do believe eddie had a big brother type relationship with dustin, but just like steve he loves him begrudgingly 'i love you, you little shit bag' kind of shit. i do believe he liked and cared for his friends but i also think he always had a big layer of mean kid armor on because he had a hard life growing up. how i percieved the character is 'mean bully whose secretly nice but is mean and boisterous and loud as a cover' trope. when he explains that his father taught him to hotwire, he seems bitter about it. of course he is, all the other kids were learning to play ball. but he obviously still retains this information and a whole bunch of other crime tricks from his dad. he's BEEN partaking in this shit. he KNOWS he's a shitty guy. you don't just get taught how to hotwire once and then suddenly know how to do it years later. he's done it before! multiple times! he has practice! he likely knows about warzone cause his daddy absoLUTELY had a gun or two. his dad probably took him there once. he was pulled left and right into bad shit growing up and that will HARDEN YOU. wayne says that murder 'ain't in his nature' and i'm sure it's not. i'm sure he's different with wayne, but idk, to me, it doesn't erase the fact that outwardly, i don't think eddie was nearly as sweet and gentle as people think he is canonically. i think he's a very hardened and tortured person and that even becomes clear with his reaction to chrissy's death and how he goes about things going forward. he was a weird kid with weird interests in a cookie cutter conservative town, had a criminal father, and an unconventional family situation in the 70s and 80s, that shit'll fuck you up and over -- look at boomers y'all! they are emotionally stunted! but, i could go on forever with this character analysis. so i'll stop here. but -- in the words of the real housewives reunion meme: that's MY OPINION!
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jamespotterismydaddy · 7 months
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For The Taking
aemond x sister!reader smut
A/N: this is based off a request here for obsessive!aemond so i hope you love it!
TW: smut, DUBCON, incest, knife kink, blood kink, breeding kink, size kink, murder, rough smut
word count: 1,789 words
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Aemond chaperones all of your meetings with possible suitors. It’s just what a good big brother does, right? He watches closely to make sure they don’t get too close, don’t say anything too suggestive, or do anything that could ever bother you.
He walks, ten steps behind, as you promenade around the gardens with Lord Tully. He hates him already. In theory, Lord Tully checks all the boxes. He’s handsome, considerate and only eight years your senior but something about him makes Aemond see red. Some boring lord from Riverrun could never be good enough for you, his perfect baby sister and the worst part is, you seem to like him.
“Of course, Ser.” You giggle at the lord’s words. Fuck. Aemond missed what he said.
“I shall have to part ways with you for now, princess. I have felt a sudden need to speak to the King.” You beam up at him. Speaking to the King could very well mean a marriage proposal.
You nod in response and giggle again when Lord Tully kisses your hand before leaving.
“I don’t like him.” Aemond says sternly. Your face falls.
“What? Why not?” You say as you look up to your brother with puppy dog eyes. His opinion means everything to you.
“There is simply something about him I do not trust. You can do much better.”
“I don’t understand. I thought he was-”
“Do you not believe me?” Aemond asks you, putting a hint of sorrow in his eyes.
“No! Of course that’s not it. I’m just disappointed. It seems there has been something off about every suitor. Soon there’ll be none left.” You pout a little as you look down.
“You will find a perfect match.” He tilts your head up so you have to look him in the eye. “I will only have the best for you.” 
“I know.” You say softly before pressing a light kiss to his cheek and murmuring something about attending to your needlepoint with Helaena. You make your way from the gardens.
~~~
The next day, the royal family has a breakfast. A family breakfast. You don’t think that you’ve shared a meal with your father in weeks so there must be some sort of news.
“My love.” Your mother starts. “We have something wonderful to tell you…” She looks to the King who seems to be irritated that he has to speak on the manner.
“Lord Tully has asked for your hand and we have granted it.” Your father finishes.
“He has?” You look at Aemond nervously.
“Yes, isn’t it wonderful?” Your mother beams at you, happy with the match.
“But mother, I was sure we discussed my thoughts on him.” Aemond starts and you watch the look on Alicent’s face change. She knows. A mother always knows.
“Ser Brynden is a good man and a knight. You’ve also shot down all of her other suitors, Aemond.” The Queen looks at him sternly. Aemond is fuming but says nothing. “We will start the wedding preparations soon.” She says to you with a soft smile.
The rest of the meal is tense but your mother tries to push through, chattering about wedding dresses and cake. Though, when everyone is finished eating, Aemond leaves quickly, a disturbing look in his eye.
~~~
In the middle of the night, you are awoken by the sound of your bedroom door opening. You call out your guards name and receive no response. You start to get nervous. You grab a candelabra from your bedside table as you get out of bed.
“Who’s there?” You call out.
Aemond comes into view.
You sigh in relief. “Aem, you frightened me.” You put down the candelabra.
“Were you intending to fight off an intruder with that?” He chuckles. And then… he walks into the moonlight. There’s blood on his collar.
“Oh Aemond, are you hurt?” You rush over to him, a concerned look in your eyes as you inspect him. You go on your tippy toes when you hold his face in your hands so you might be able to see better.
“What a caring little girl you are.” He coos at you but the look of worry strewn across your face doesn’t fade. “It’s not my blood.” He says darkly but you still don’t get it.
“Who’s blood is it?” You ask tenderly, just glad he isn’t hurt.
“Tully’s.” He says and this is when you realize.
“Is he… alright?” The concern is gone from your voice. You’re frightened again.
“Most people aren’t alright after being run through with a sword and fed to a dragon.” He says and chuckles again. Your mouth goes dry.
“You… you…” Your eyes well up with tears. You’re utterly shocked.
“Killed him? I did.” He says and then notices the look on your face, how you have started to inch away. He reaches his hand behind your head, running his fingers through it before gripping it tightly at the roots.
“Ah… Aemond, that hurts.” You whimper and he loosens his grip slightly so he’s just holding you in place.
“I’m sorry, darling. You know I never want to hurt you but the way you’re looking at me right now… it hurts me.” He says calmly.
“You truly did it?” You ask and the tears start to fall.
“I did it for you. For us.” He explains.
“Us?” You’re confused again.
“Yes. Can’t you see? None of these men are enough for you. You’re mine.” He says firmly as he pulls you closer and looks you right in the eyes.
“But mother says it’s… unnatural. Aegon and Helaena are an exception to support Aegon’s claim.”
“We are Targaryens. Wedding you is my gods given right.” He says as he wipes the tears from your face. “I’ll make sure of it. Mother will have no choice but to accept when your belly swells with my babe.”
“W-What?” You try to say more but his lips are pressed to yours before you can get the words out. He kisses you roughly and forces his tongue into your mouth. So much for a gentle first kiss. His arms snake around your waist and pull you against him. When he parts his mouth from yours, your lips are swollen and you stand still in shock.
“Take your nightgown off.” He commands, his eye staring firmly at your nipples that poke through the fabric.
“No, Aemond. We aren’t wed. You’ll ruin me.” You beg him.
“Shhh. I’m your big brother, rūs.” (baby) “You need to trust me.” His fingers go to the straps of the nightgown and slip them down your shoulders so that the garment falls to the floor. You let him, ever the obedient sister. His fingers move to your smallclothes, letting them drop off you next. His gaze washes over you. “You must be the prettiest girl in all of Westeros.” He praises and you don’t know if you blush more at the words or your nakedness. “Lay back on the bed, rūs.” You pout a little and don’t obey him. You’re frozen in place. “Now.” The command brings you back to reality and you listen this time and lay back, your legs clenched together. “Open up those legs.” He says.
“I’m frightened.” You whisper out and he chuckles.
“I’ll be gentle, rūs… at first.” He says as he pries your legs open. He looks at you so hungrily as you lie there, waiting for him. You’re so much smaller than him, so delicate. He undresses for you, he likes how your eyes follow his movements. “You like watching me?” He asks before dropping his breeches.
“I-um…” The size of him makes you nervous. “That part goes in?” You ask him.
“Yes.” He says before beginning to play with your pearl, You whimper softly.
“It won’t fit.” You say.
“It will. I’ll make it.” He slips a finger inside of you. “Tell me rūs, have you ever touched yourself here?” You feel the heat rise to your cheeks again.
“N-No, my septa says it’s dirty.” He smiles at your answer.
“Good. This place is only for me to touch.” He positions himself between your legs and pumps his cock a few times. “This’ll hurt.” He sheaths himself inside of you slowly but still too fast for your liking.
“No… out.” You whine and squirm but he holds your hips in place, forcing you to adjust to his size.
“Stop squeezing me like that. I won’t be able to control myself.” He says with a grunt.
“I’m not.” You say truthfully with a whine. You’re really just that tight.
“Is it still hurting?” He asks.
“Only a bit.” You say, tears in your eyes but that’s enough for him.
He begins thrusting in and out of you savagely, hitting so deep inside of you that you feel as if you’re about to burst.
“Gods, your cunt is perfect.” He says as he fucks into so that you’re whimpering beneath him. He’s so big compared to you that he can see the outline of his cock on your tummy. He smirks at the sight and presses down on it to make you squirm. “I’m going to make this belly swell with a baby just like how I’m making it swell with my cock.” He says and leans down more to kiss and bite at your neck. “You’re fucking mine. Do you understand? You’re my wife.” He punctuates his words with his thrusts. The rough behaviour leaves you light-headed.
Aemond reaches over to the bedside table where he placed his dagger and he grabs it. Your eyes widen.
“Aemond?”
“I’ll make you my wife the moment I spill my seed into you, spilling drops of our blood together.” He says as he brandishes the dagger.
You don’t even know what to say, too tired for a response as he grabs your chin and runs the blade of the dagger across your lips until you bleed. You wince. He cuts his own lip right after. His blood drips onto your skin but he doesn’t kiss you yet. He begins to rub your pearl, trying to coax a peak out of you. When he feels you begin to clench around him, he knows it’s time.
“Aem, something is happ-” He cuts you off with a kiss, mixing your blood with his. He fervently makes you his wife in the ways of Old Valyria. You gasp as your peak washes over you, never having felt such a thing before and that gives him the chance to slip his tongue into your mouth, kissing you deeply as he spends inside of you. When he parts the kiss, he gazes into your eyes.
“You’re mine now. By my will and the will of the gods.”
taglist (comment to be added): General: @valeskafics @urmomsgirlfriend1 @girlwith-thepearlearring @darylandbethfanforever9 @lovellies @juhdoche @papichulo120627 @watercolorskyy
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to-the-stars8 · 7 months
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Can someone genuinely answer this ever lingering question as to why DC has such beef with Jason Todd?
They butcher his character and relationships, and for what? There’s so much fucking POTENTIAL not only with his character but with his story! There’s a way to actually write discourse in a relationship without making it so damn abusive. Maybe I’m missing something in the story or just in general, but it’s just so fucking irritating when it could be good.
You have a nice, good boy who only wants to help despite given the short hand in life who is then given a loving father who just so happens to be Batman. That boy is then murdered by Batman’s biggest enemy (don’t even get me started on the fucking Joker who essentially has become idolized in the worst ways by DC writers and directors) still trying to do the right thing despite being fucked over by the very person he so desperately wanted love from. Then, you have that same boy who’s just a little bit older, hurting and angry— acting out in every way he can against the man who loves him but couldn’t see past his own weaknesses. And what do DC writers do instead of making this complicated, intriguing and character growing relationship into something that’s not as fucking dumb and slightly out of character for Batman? They fuck him up.
It’s an extreme to say this, I know. And this isn’t against all DC writers, but you can’t deny a lie when it’s a pattern. It’s a cut and dry story that practically writes itself. You have a little boy who is so full of hope is growing along with the main character of the story (which, in my own personal opinion, Batman has Robin not as a soldiers—and omfg does that damn phrase make me violent—but as a potential, mutual factor of character growth) , who then gets a bit too cocky and distracted by his own hubris and need for love, to a hurt antagonist that goes against the man who he once called father. Like it’s too easy to not fuck this up, and yet DC seems to manages to do this every single time.
It’s almost like they want to portray Batman and Bruce Wayne as a man who is made “tougher” by his trauma (which has some patriarchal undertones if you catch my drift) instead of growing. Batman can grow. He can love. There’s one post that I’ve seen on Tumblr how Batman/Bruce does this whole vigilante thing out of love.
Which is why I don’t get why DC uses Bruce as a tool to hurt Jason when it isn’t really consistent. He loved Jason, and this is backed up by a lot of older and a few current issues. Don’t get me wrong, I get that their relationship post-UTRH is gonna be FUCKED. Yet, even the writing in that I can’t really agree with. KILLING (attempting to kill really) your son who had been dead for years, that you loved so much, and is acting out because YOU? Doesn’t make much sense, but, again, maybe I’m looking at this through a foggy lens.
This wasn’t meant to be a long post, but it’s just been on my mind and perhaps I could use another perspective. So, again, what’s DC’s deal with Jason and Bruce’s relationship, and Jason’s character as a whole?
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sourlove · 6 days
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I loved your new post about yandere mha boys with pregnant reader I was wondering if you could do one where the baby isn’t there’s and they don’t realise until it’s born ? Pleaseee
YANDERE MHA 'YOU ARE NOT THE FATHER!'
ft. Midoriya, Bakugo, Todoroki, Aizawa
TW: OBSESSION, YANDERE THEMES, ACCUSATIONS OF CHEATING, KIDNAPPING, METIONED MURDER, MENTIONED BABY-GO-BYE-BYE BUT LIKE SUBTLY i hope
Thanks for the ask!
READ PART 1 HERE
MIDORIYA IZUKU
Oh dear...that's certainly a problem. The birth of your first child was something he was looking forward to with a lot of hope. Hope that seeing him caring for the child would spark a love for him finally. Unfortunately, it's obvious the child wasn't his, and they didn't look like you either.
You had cheated on him. Well, not actually. In truth, by the time Izuku kidnapped you, you were already pregnant with your current partner, who Izuku got rid of, but none of you were aware of it at the time. But acknowledging that was acknowledging that Izuku's image of a perfect family had shattered and it was all his fault.
So he blames you. Throws all sorts of accusations about you cheating and sneaking out to see other men, and then dumping your bastard baby on him. He refuses to have anything to do with the child and only used them to keep you in line, threatening to get rid of them if you misbehaved. Izuku felt broken. He felt as if everything had taken a sudden wrong turn in his life. He felt like he just lost control of the life he had planned. Everything was going to be perfect, your lives were going to be perfect. Then you had to go and spoil it all.
The only thing you can do at this point is try to make him happy. Maybe if you have a couple of kids that are actually his, he will be willing to forgive you and accept that child as a member of his family.
BAKUGO KATSUKI
Katsuki is angry. But not at you, he's just pissed that he didn't see something like this coming. When that filthy bastard that used to call himself your boyfriend put his hands all over you, how could Katsuki forget? If he had known sooner, he could have done something to stop it before it got too far.
But he's too late now. Worst part is, he has to watch you pay more attention to a brat that isn't even his. Katsuki grudgingly helps with the baby, still a bit resentful that he wasn't the one to knock you up first. The kid starts to grow on him soon. The little brat sort of reminds him of you and he can even pretend it's his for a moment.
It's not too bad, Katsuki decided one night as the baby lay fast asleep on his chest and you curled up next to him on the couch, dozing off as well. Maybe he was cut out for this family shit after all.
TODOROKI SHOTO
Oh boy...
He's relieved that he technically had no part to play in it but he's also very pissed. Who would dare to touch his darling? He hates the thought of anyone being able to impregnate you other than him.
Shoto is literally acting hot and cold, sometimes being helpful and supportive, other times dismissive and harsh. He's not quite sure what to do with another man's baby. All his fears about bringing in a child that has his family traits have disappeared but there's still an actual, living baby to consider.
He tries to get out of his head a bit when he sees you are actually struggling to take care of the baby and of yourself too. All things considered, he still loves you. For now, Shoto will just concentrate on keeping the baby alive and keeping you happy.
AIZAWA SHOTA
He's surprisingly chill about the whole affair. As an underground hero, Shota's seen a lot of people in a lot of different situations. Things like this just happen. While he's definitely surprised, he adapts pretty quickly. He's a pretty good dad, very reliable when you're not feeling a 100%. It really improves your opinion of him and makes you more comfortable around him.
Don't let your guard down though. Shota isn't going to settle for just one kid. Once you're healed, get ready to get pregnant again :)
I HAVE A MASTERPOST WITH LINKS TO MY YANDERE MHA HEADCANONS AND FANFICS HERE
A/N: Please leave a like, comment and reblog if you enjoyed this! Also tagging people can be a bit confusing because I always forget who wants to be tagged so if you do want to be tagged, please specify whether you want to be tagged for a particular series or for all my work.
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ace-spades-1 · 2 months
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Matchmaker
Pairing: Clarisse La Rue x fem!reader and a bit of Faith x Elijah
Summary: Faith is tired of watching Y/N and Clarisse fall in love with each other because she knows they will never act on it. It’s time to take action and with the help of some friends.
a/n: This is kind of a part two of the Orange Peel Theory but it can be read as a stand alone. Sorry for any grammar errors or if any parts start getting confusing. I wrote a few of these in the middle of the night. I’m so happy with how it turned out. I hope you guys like it too.
Word count: 2.3k
—----
Y/N stood up from the arts and crafts benches and ran to Clarisse, who was trying to murder a dummy. Swinging and stabbing the dummy as if it were a monster or Percy himself. Her stabbing stopped at the sight of Y/N walking up beside her, palm open proudly showing her the beaded bracelet she had made.
Faith watched at the arts and crafts benches as the two conversed with one another before Y/N wrapped the bracelet around Clarisse’s wrist, thanked her and left. Leaving Clarisse standing on the training grounds looking longingly at the bracelet displayed on her wrist. Faith groaned and abruptly stood up from her spot on the bench startling the Athena boy beside her.
“Okay, that’s it! We need to do something about those two!”
The Athena boy looked at her confused, he looked towards the training grounds where Clarisse had started to attack the dummy once again except this time it was thought there was something on her mind.
“Do what? About who?”
Faith gave the boy an exhausted look pulling him up off his seat and making him stand next to her.
“Clarisse and my sister. They’ve been dancing around each other for months and have done nothing!”
Faith looked as though she was ready to start pulling her hair out.
“My sister! The daughter of Aphrodite is afraid of flirting! Can you believe it?!”
“You were afraid of even approaching me when you first saw me because you were so in love. If I remember correctly you had one of your sisters approach me first, princess.”
The girl looked at the boy, face flushed remembering the moment.
“That’s different, Elijah!”
She took a breath to calm down, face still flushed as she looked back at Clarisse,
“Besides, this isn’t about me. This is about my sister and Clarisse. I know exactly what to do. We’ll need some help.”
“Oh boy.”
Faith grabbed Elijah’s hand pulling him towards the big house. Inside, the eldest son of Dionysus kneeled in front of his father begging him to conjure up a Red Bull. At least one just to get him through the day. The door hitting the wall made his begging stop, his attention turned towards the two figures standing in the doorway.
“ISAAC—”
Faith looked at the boy on the ground kneeling at his father her face filled with confusion and shock,
“What are you doing?”
Isaac stood up from the ground, dusting off his pants.
“I just want a Red Bull, okay?! These kids are going to drive me crazy! What do you want?”
“I’m sick and tired of watching Y/N and Clarisse do nothing but give each other longing glances and mild flirting. I have a plan on how we can get them together! We need all the help we can get.”
Isaac’s eyes widened at the mention of Y/N. After growing up together Isaac grew protective of her, never letting any boys near her. Even after arriving at camp he still makes sure no boy gets even ten feet from her, especially the Ares children. More specifically the daughter of Ares. He knew of the affection growing between the two and he didn’t like it one bit.
“Woah! Slow down, cupid wannabe! I don’t want my best friend to end up with the camp bully!”
“You don’t want her to end up with anybody!” Elijah quickly butted in,
“Shut it, Einstein! I didn’t ask for your opinion.”
“Come on, Isaac! Don’t you want her to be happy?! We both know that Clarisse will protect her with her life.”
Isaac let out a frustrated sigh running his hand through his already messy hair.
“Fine! But if she so much as lay a hand on her I will put a curse on her!”
Faith quickly nodded in agreement before grabbing his hand and pulling him and Elijah out of the big house, barely squeezing through the door and running towards the Ares cabin. Once again Faith kicked the door open making the door hit the wall. The children inside startled, pointed their spears toward the door ready to attack.
Only to be met with a panting girl, her hands still clutching the two boys’ hands who were now on the ground.
“Where’s Cealton!”
The kids pointed at a sleeping kid in the corner of the room. A leg hanging off the bed and drooling at the corner of his mouth. Faith let go of the two boys' hands and walked to the sleeping boy. She looked down at him for a moment before throwing him off the bed, making him hit his face on the floor.
Cealton looked at the girl above him rubbing his nose,
“What was that for?”
Faith leaned down,
“I have a plan to get our sister’s together.”
—---
The four of them sat together at the Dionysus table. Cealton now had a bandage over his nose as he ate his lunch, Isaac happily drinking his Red Bull, and Elijah looking at Faith as she paced.
“I need them to confess to each ther in the next 3 days and I know exactly how. First…”
“ Wednesday: We need to show Y/N that Clarisse does like her.”
—-
Clarisse walked towards the archery field, spear in hand. One of her brothers had asked her if she could help him with a bow and arrow as he had trouble with it. She scoffed at the request, annoyed that her brother had bothered her during her rest but agreed anyway. The scowl on her face faded as quickly as it came at the sight of Y/N in the archery field attempting to shoot an arrow. Her brows furrowed, frustrated all of her arrows had either been too far or short.
“Hey Y/N.”
Y/N looked up from her bow, smiling at Clarisse as she approached.
“Clarisse, what are you doing here?”
“My brother asked me to help him with the bow and arrow. How about you?”
Y/N sighed frustrated looking back at her bow.
“Also practicing. I want to get better. I want to do more than just sit around and do nothing during capture the flag. I want to help out, y’know.”
“I can help you if you want. Here let’s start with your stance.”
Y/N let out a shaky breath as Clarisse stood behind her letting her hand guide her. She took a deep breath as she pulled back the string of her bow, her heart beating faster as Clarrise rested a hand on her waist. She ignored the hand and tried to focus on aiming her bow towards the target. After a moment she let go.
Y/N let out a breath, her hand clutching her bow tightly, her eyes wide at the arrow that pierced the center of the target.
“Nice job, gorgeous.” Clarisse whispered in Y/N’s ear.
Y/N looked back at Clarisse, their nose touching. Just as they leaned in…
“Y/N! Could I get some help?”
The two quickly pulled away from each other turning towards an upcoming camper. Their voice is toned out as Y/N tries to calm her beating heart once again their reasoning of interrupting blurred. The camper suddenly started to pull Y/N away making her give Clarisse a rushed thank you before disappearing.
The matchmakers watched the scene unfold from the bushes. Isaac being held back by Cealton as Faith barely held in a shriek of delight watching the two girls nearly kiss.
“I just wanted them to talk for a bit but that works!”
“I guess we can move on to step two?”
—---
“Thursday: Second step. Clarisse should ask Y/N out”
“Tell me again why Clarisse needs to give Y/N something?”
“My sister has always been the one to give her something. It’s time for her to return the gesture.”
“Uh huh, and why am I the one doing it with her? Why not you or Isaac or Cealton”
“Because I want to talk to my sister, Isaac is busy taking over his dad’s job, again, and Cealton is busy teaching little kids how to use a sword. Now go.”
Elijah sighed and cautiously approached Clarisse. After some convincing and a mention of Y/N’s name once or twice Clarisse agreed to make flower crowns with the little kids as Y/N and Faith walked by the shore lines of the beach.
“So are you planning on doing anything tomorrow, Faith?”
“I was planning on having a midnight picnic with Elijah by Thalia’s tree. How about you? Finally going to confess to Clarisse?”
Y/N smiled and imagined herself and Clarisse walking by the shore, hands intertwined. Just the thought of Clarisse made her heart soar. She couldn’t imagine a world without her. She’d go through tartarus and back just for her.
“I think I will. I suppose it is time to finally tell her how I feel.”
“Yay! I’ll help you prepare a speech.”
Y/N laughed at her sister’s excitment. Just then Elijah and Clarisse emerged from the trees (why did they go through the woods? idk) each having a flower crown in hand. Elijah excitedly showed Faith the one he had made, happily putting it on her head. As Clarisse gave Y/N her the two stepped out to the side having their own little conversation.
—----
“Friday: Confession time.”
Y/N had said yes to going on a date with Clarisse and Faith was determined to make everything perfect for their confession. First it started with Cealton giving his sister flowers to give to Y/N, then Isaac, somehow, convinced Chiron and Dionysus to excused Clarisse and Y/N from any activities for today, Elijah and Faith had set up a little picnic for the two by the beach, and time finally came for them to confess to one another.
The two girls were walking by the shore, hands intertwined as the sun set on the horizon. Once again the matchmakers were in the bushes spying on the two,
“Okay it’s sunset. Y/N said she’ll confess to Clarisse when the sun sets. Why isn’t she confessing?!”
“Princess, calm down. Let her take her time, she’s probably still nervous.”
The two girls stopped and stared at each other, a small breeze hitting them. Clarisse took off her jacket and wrapped it around Y/N’s shoulders as she hugged herself shivering from the small breeze. The two looked at each other’s eyes, Y/N’s hands resting on Clarisse’s chest as the other wrapped her arms around Y/N’s waist keeping her close. The two stood there in silence, wishing for the moment to last forever.
“Clarisse, I—”
*SPLASH*
The two were suddenly soaking wet from getting hit by water. They looked to the docks not too far away, to see Percy, Grover, and Annabeth looking back at the two girls in horror. Percy started to run for his life as Clarisse chased after him with her spear yelling profanities and words that would make even Hades blush. Grover, Annabeth, and Y/N running closely behind the two trying to stop the girl from maiming the poor boy.
—---
Faith let out an exhausted groan as she sat on one of the benches outside the Ares cabin with the three boys surrounding her. After successfully calming Clarisse down they led the two soaking girls back to Aphrodite cabin to get cleaned up. Apparently Percy had been practicing his powers when he started to lose control and unfortunately Clarisse and Y/N just so happened to be there at the wrong time.
“All I wanted to do was to make them confess to one another. It’s clear as day that they are meant for each other. Was that so much to ask?”
Elijah’s brows furrowed seeing his princess saddened. He quickly hugged her close to his chest, resting his chin on top of her head rubbing her back in comfort.
“I know how hard you worked to get them to confess. There’s always next time, princess.”
“Yea, and next time we’ll make sure they aren’t interrupted.”
“Yea, but for now let’s focus on you two’s little picnic tonight!”
Faith smiled remembering the little picnic they had planned at midnight. She sighed pushing the thought of the failed attempt of a confession. They were right, there was always next time.
—----
In the Aphrodite cabin Y/N leaned against the door frame as she watched her sister and her boyfriend sit side by side on the benches smiling. Clarisse walked up behind her wrapping an arm around her waist and resting her chin on her shoulder.
“I almost feel bad. Do you think we should just tell them we’ve been together for nearly a year and a half now?”
“Nah, it’s much more fun seeing them try to get us together. Let’s keep them guessing, gorgeous”
Y/N giggled as Clarisse pulled her back inside, closing the door as she did so. She pinned Y/N against the door kissing her.
I guess they plan on keeping it a secret for another year.
—----
Thank you for reading!
a/n: Wooo! Finally done!
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