#to be totally clear she's not actually crushing on him in the last drawing i just wanted to show it was a more lighthearted natural moment

[statistically-spencer]

Fortunate Dream PT. 2

Summary: Your dream of joining the BAU was becoming more and more real. How will you handle sharing a private jet with your favorite characters?

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!reader (eventual), BAU members x reader(platonic)

A/N: Sorry for the long wait on this one! I finished Calculus 1 in 4-weeks while also being in a musical so I ran out of time there for a bit. Enjoy!

w/c; 783

Part 1 here

As confused as you were, you were having a great time experiencing the relationship that dream-you had with the members of the BAU. Everyone seemed to like you just fine.

On the jet, you found a place to sit in the window seat on the opposite side of the isle, where Derek sat, leaving an empty seat next to yourself. Derek gave you an assuring smile. You wondered how many traits that you, and this version of you had that overlapped. Did the team know about your fear of flying? Did they know about your raging crush on Dr. Spencer Reid? Did they know that you had absolutely no idea what you were doing and that you totally should not be there right now?? 

Glancing up, you made eye contact with Spencer, who seemed to be walking suspiciously close to your row.

Oh.

You tried to act natural as he took a seat next to you. 

You didn’t have to act natural for long, though, because in an instant the jet began to roll forward, faster and faster.

You swallowed deeply.

“Are you okay, Y/n? I know you never like flying but you seem like something is really off.”

“No, I’m okay.” You lied, “I’m just... I just didn’t sleep much last night and I’m really tired.”

“Oh, well you know, there’s no need to worry about turbulence. If anything, we should really be concerned about-”

“Spencer, no offense, but if you’re about to tell me about how what we should really be concerned about is the onset of a thunderstorm, contributing to the possibility of microbursts, I’d rather not hear it.”

You heard a chuckle and looked up to see Derek standing next to you. 

“Oooh, she’s got you figured out, Reid. Better be careful.”

You blushed. You were only remembering something Spencer had said in an episode of Criminal Minds. Had that episode happened yet in this timeline? 

“Oh no... I was just... I just don’t need to be any more freaked out than I already am right now.” You cleared your throat. 

Spencer smiled at you, “We’ll be fine.”

You were trying to think of something to say to the man. Anything. This was your chance to talk to the love of your life and you were drawing a blank. You couldn’t think of one clever thing to say to him. You just kept looking up at him, and whenever you looked, it seemed like he was looking, too. Which was probably a good sign, right? Instead, it was mostly silent. With you making the occasional attempt to look fine whenever there was turbulence. 

In the midst of everything, you forgot that you were, for the time being at least, a real FBI agent. And, you were in fact, actually dealing with criminals. However, those facts became extremely apparent when Garcia phoned in with details about the case. 

It was hard to focus when Spencer was sitting next to you the entire time. Being so real. So cute. So... Good smelling somehow. 

“-Well, we know hardly anything about the suspect.”

If you had been in a laughing mood after hearing all of the gruesome details of the case, you would’ve laughed at Emily’s statement.

“Male. Thirty-five-”

You froze, realizing that you and Spencer were saying the same thing.

“...Keeps within his inner circle.” You finished, looking Reid up and down slowly.

A quick glance around the jet told you that this was not an uncommon event. In fact, the knowing looks that were being shared by the rest of the team said quite the opposite.

Spencer blinked, trying to come up with more information.

“Also he definitely has children.”

“Obviously.” You blinked, looking around.

“I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

Luckily, the look on Spencer’s face wasn’t disgust like you expected. He looked... Proud? Happy?

Wait a minute. You were so caught up in information about the case that you didn’t stop to wonder how you came to that conclusion. Was that normal for you? Were you also a super genius? Perhaps. It was highly plausible, now that you were thinking about it. You were obviously young like Spencer was. Why else would you be on the team at that age? Huh. You liked being smart. It was cool.

“We’ll need to split up upon arrival-” Hotch interrupted your thoughts, “Prentiss you’ll be with Morgan, you’ll share a room at the hotel as well. And Y/L/N, you and Reid will be staying in the other room.”

Oh.

You stole a quick glance at Spencer. The over-confidence you had both been showing had disappeared in an instant.

“You got it, boss.” You tightened your lips.

Why would you say that?

#spencer reid x reader #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds fanfic #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid #fortunate dream #statistically-spencer #criminal minds dream fic

[jack-kellys]

notes from december performance post-previews that i somehow just wrote up last night in august 2023 whattt how did that happennn:

the way jack replies to “you’re seeing stars alright” feels way more in response to crutchie’s attitude- and when he talks abt his dad getting stomped on it’s not just a context reveal. it’s jack telling crutchie he’s self-aware, he understands his shit place in the world and his desire to change it. just that it’s nice to dream. ow

“time for dreaming’s done” isn’t said with a smile. btw. if u even care

jack stealing finch’s mirror gets me every time

katherine looks back at jack at his “im crushed!” with a little smile

i get that the only reason buttons helps with a lot of the tricks is because he’s the DC but that doesn’t make it any less sweet… he’s always with splasher lmao

jack is quite uncomfortable with the nuns, he doesn’t look at any of them

never ever over spalsher’s little head tilt after his big flip

oscar grabs race’s collar on “i guess he didn’t take care of me!”

morris goes to hit crutchie again after pushing him to the ground before jack stops him

love when race bounces on his toes when he thinks he says something funny

morris blows his cig smoke into davey’s face when he’s grabbing him the extra paper

henry imitates les with finch as his davey, hobbling up to weasel down on his knees

jack rolls his eyes after telling davey “it’s just business” after shaking les’s hand. like can u believe this guy lmao

“mine taught me not to starve” looking at davey like ‘wtf is wrong with you’ LMAO. like jack’s irked with davey actually judging for something so ingrained into jack’s life fr

“HEY!! who was that guy >:(!”

medda checks on jack’s hair and he giggles mid sentence :) like “mooom in front of my friends??”

kaths look of Disgust when jack goes “i admire smart girls” is soooo done. she’s finished w this mf

katherine stays on the set as it shifts into WWK’s scene, staring at jack’s drawing, totally absorbed. i just think it’s fun how when davey sees jack’s backdrop he’s stunned in the same way kath is at her portrait. anyway

jack goes toward finch during the “our union is hereby formed to watch each other’s backs” after leaving ike and finch sweeeeerves away from him. finch only comes on board when davey does actually

when jack’s on the wagon with the “what if the delanceys come out swinging” etc he does a small laugh when the newsies all yell their response like he’s surprised !!

katherine is positioned right above the world’s door as if she’s. inside. ofc initially we read it as her just observing from above but it’s her literal building too.

“specs, you take queens.” “thank you!”

buttons gives kath a friendly wave and race offers his water cup when katherine comes into jacobi’s. walks right past the water even as race keeps his hand out lmfao

tommy lifts elmer into his arms after kath says they’d make front page

“this is not some little vaudeville im reviewing” felt more significant

“give those kids and me the brand new century and watch what happens” is a Plea.

welliguessitdependsonhowyoulookatitifyoulookandseebrooklynthenthey’rewithushaha! then race guns toward davey to yell at him

davey is not afraid to yell when his nerves get shot —> when the scabs boutta get they shit rocked

“them? or them.” OSCAR WAVES LMFAOOO

piggyback for les from racer

fight time

-morris has it OUT for racer in the pre-cop half. literally think he gets smacked with the bat TWICE. he’s on the ground, watches splasher get smacked from the ground, and BOLTS UP and races over to him shoving past morris. insane

-jack only swings on the rope to make a clear path for davey and les actually bc that action is the only reason they get to that half of the stage

-finch and romeo teammates for LIFE. they fought like the whole thing together fr. only pair that stuck out to me for the whole length of it (and then of course they watch crutchie get taken from the audience ough)

-nah jack Is a good fighter thru this it’s just the seize the day moment w the delanceys that he’s shit at btw

-davey doesn’t fight literally at all the whole time :/ c’mon. uncanonizing this in my mind

-SPECS KICKS ASS !! he’s got a bat and everything!! fuck yeah!!

shut up jack wipes at his eye during santa fe at “guy can catch a break”

^guy who lets out a sigh of relief when the post card is still in his pocket. fuck off

act twooo

kath goes to racer abt where jack might’ve gone and he’s abt to answer before albert pipes up

race flicking davey’s hat to the side>

^also they keep chatting thru tap sequences i love it

kath holding davey’s hand while they talk in the corner during table movement

crutchie holds his side when he sings…

^the only part crutchie gets teary at is when he starts talking abt the boys/family :,)

“and a little something extra, just on account of im gonna miss you so-” sounds like medda broke off bc her voice got watery 🥲

“every newsie—who could walk—was out there selling papes” OW the rephrasing of that line

as soon as jack turns his backdrop around to show the strike painting davey walks away soooo fast to turn away

WWH reprise is such an argument. “WE’RE ALREADY WINNING!!” yell davey yell!!

^jack makes the most fuming, boiling angry face after “y’know why a snake starts to rattle 😌?”

davey initiates the spit shake when jack offers his hand

kath is Mortified watching snyder expose jack’s refuge history AND SHES SO MAD when pulitzer gets between her and jack omfg

“be glad you’re alive, kid” is spoken and cruel asf but wbk

morris’s laugh kills me everytime it’s so fucked in the head. goddamn

jack doesn’t let davey touch him when he enters the rally like he doesn’t want davey to look like he knew abt the betrayal beforehand….

scope runs RIGHT up to jack after spot pushes him and goes to yell at him LMAO… lucky has to drag her away

“is that really what it’s like in there? rats everywhere, and vermin?” is taken as judgement and not concern and jack fuckin jumps on it LMAO

the actual motion of disgust jack makes at “you just double crossed us to your father- your… father.” dead every time he literally flinches

“i just didn’t tell you everything!!” is said at the opposite side of the stage as jack and looking down and away. idk why she’s the only katherine that has ever played this line as guilty but i’m always so glad for it

“i’m not stupid.” “no-” “i know girls like you… don’t wind up with guys.. like me.” heathers voice: i will never shut up abooout this

jack seems very afraid of the word love?? during kath’s entire piece of STBI he stays away from her… and she def thinks she’s fucked up for a sec fr

wah this song is so tender :( they hold each other very softly

“hey! um… it’s good to have ya back.”

clarice’s spot also has a moment with race beside just letting the kids into the cellar together..<3 ik lillie’s has more tho

there is something so personal abt davey jacobs saying “bleeeed ‘eeeem” while looking dead into jack’s eyes

davey’s reckless hug once jack’s made the deal with pulitzer… every timeeee

FINCH CRUTCHIE HUG!! first to get to him and holds him the longest before race and jack come along :)

“new york’s got us. and we’ a family.” is said as such a statement of fact like crutchie just ends any argument right there. he just knows jack so fucking well.

:)

#literally watched the brawl like 5 times at .75 speed LMFOAOO #i care abt it so much . cannot believe i haven’t done a fight fic yet it’s cruel #newsies #newsies uk #uksies #analysis #but mostly for the sillies #fizz freaks #i miss my analysis posts ok i was on such a high in london

[ccrisntok]

Heathers au part 2 💀

Okay, off the bat, this one is worse. this post is much sadder than the first one.

TW// Blood, Death, Corpses, Suicidal thoughts/actions, Guns, Homophobia, Violence, Eating Disorders (Again, basically anything that happens in Heathers: The Musical.)

Also, spoilers for Heathers, and DRDT!!!

As I said, this post is a bit more serious than the first one. You need to read the first part to really understand this one btw. sorry. I'm too lazy to explain things again hdafkjlds

This post will have the sad parts of the au, since it's basically a story run-down, but imma still try and keep it a little silly at least.

But there will be a part 3, since I literally can't post all of the images (I have over 30.) And part three will be a lot more light-hearted (just fun doodles, and some cut images from this post), so if this ones too intense, just wait for that one <3 or. dont. thats cool too. Btw I'm gonna re-use a few drawings from the last post for story progression <3

Again, credit to @another-danganronpa-fan for the original au concept!

(First off, a better rendition of the Heathers + Xander. I didn't make any other full body refs because I got lazy. Anyway, I wanted to talk about these guys a lil more in this post. Character relationships and whatever.)

I feel like the Heathers as a unit all fucking hate each other. David guilt trips Arei into staying and threatens to reveal that shes queer if she argues with him, Arei makes fun of him for having severe mental health issues, and Arturo belittles both Arei and David, constantly commenting on their appearances, which he considers "Barely acceptable", basically its a cesspool of toxicity.

Xander, your average, emotional totally not British boy, doesn't really see any of this and thinks the Heathers have it so easy, and even idolizes them a little, especially David. Or rather, whatever persona David gives off to others.

This leads to him being recruited, in combo with his forgery skills, and his British accent. Cuz, yk, British accents are hot to some people.

So Xandy gets to be an honorary Heather. This is fine for like, 5 minutes before he is immediately asked to humiliate the shit out of Eden, which he does, begrudgingly. He does this by forging a note to Eden from her crush, Arei, inviting her to a party Ace was hosting that night. Arei doesn't know about this plan until it happens.

at some point between this and the party, Xander sees Teruko beat the ever-loving shit out of Levi and Ace, and he's like "oh wow 😳", which is the first time he ever notices her.

As the party starts, Xander starts getting drunk as hell, and during so, makes some kind of jab at Ace in relation to his ED (I couldn't really find a way to incorporate Heather Duke's bulimia into David, so, sorry Ace.) This leads to Ace fucking hating him with a passion.

this does not end well btw

Xander parties rlly hard, and that ends up escalating to him accidentally publically outing Eden at the party (while wasted & high), which leads to Eden being humiliated by the partygoers. Arei, who does actually like Eden as well, obviously doesn't out herself and helps in Eden's humiliation for the sake of self-preservation.

Eden's like "wha" bc she still thinks the note was real, and is super confused and hurt by Arei's reaction.

I don't believe the two would be childhood friends, like cannon Heathers, I feel like they would just. Like each other. Steal glances occasionally, wave, and smile. Stuff like that from someone like Arei would mean something, at least to Eden. And seeing what she thought was so clear shatter would hurt her a lot.

After this, Xander fucks off because him and the Heathers get in a huge fight, and he finds Teruko like. In the bathroom or something hiding from the party. I didn't really want to make him break into her house so. I didn't :) they uh. hold hands or something, and then they fall in love wooooahhhh whoda guessed

So Xander vents about his imminent death bc Art's mad at him, and Terukos like, "yeah... lets go apologize....." (she does not want to apologize). so they pull up and Xander's like "I'm sowwy Art i wont do it again" or something and then uh.

(why is the family guy death pose so hard to draw) Art drinks some Kool-aid or something that Teruko mixed with drain cleaner and dies.

Xanders like, "NOOOO WAHT THE FUCK" and Teruko, who obviously wanted him to die, is like "oh. we need to cover this up as a suicide". They do just that, and in the wake of his death, Arturo is seen as even more of an icon than he was in life, since the fake note portrayed him as an actually kind, tortured soul.

Arturo's ghost haunts Xander from this point on, basically just calling him stupid the whole time.

so after this, David and Arei are like, "Aye uh. Art's dead. You wanna hang out in the woods with us and Levi and Ace?" And Xander, desperately trying to not seem suspicious, says yes. Arei didn't really want to do this, but David forced her, and brought tons of alcohol with the intention of getting Levi and Ace drunk so they would fight and it'd be funny. He hasn't taken up Art's spot yet, so he's still kinda chill.

they. do fight, and Xander's kinda like "oop", but David's hoping it gets violent, for funnies.

it gets kinda personal..

Then it gets REALLY personal 💀

And Levi ends up beating the shit out of Ace.

Now, not unlike canon, I don't know what circumstances got Levi disowned by his parents. I feel like in this au, he probably moved in with Ace and his folks, which would give him another reason to put up with Ace's shit. Out of literal necessity. And like, they are probably friends to an extent.

Anyway, after this, rumors spread that Xander was actually the one who beat the fuck out of Ace, unprovoked. Since Ace is like 3'2 or some shit, people think Xander just beat him up bc he was an easy target without Levi around or something.

This happens because of a combo of Ace not really remembering what happened, his spite towards Xander, Levi lying about it, and David agreeing with the story (again, for his own amusement.) Arei doesn't really care enough to speak out, and Xander's reputation goes from already dead, to decomposed.

He vents to Teruko about this, cuz that went soo well last time, who makes up a plan. She tells him to tell Ace and Levi that he really wanted to fight them, and she would bring a "fake" gun to scare them with. (btw shirtless levi just to warn you) (and a dead body. and blood.) (prob shoulda put those first)

This goes about how you would expect (can you tell I gave a bit more of a shit about these guy's deaths than I did Art's....sorry homie). Instead of doing what Kurt cannonically does (hauling ass in the opposite direction), Levi actually tries to help Ace, with no luck.

I made a longer version of this but Im trynna stay in the image limit so. Anyway, Teruko is like "look what you diiidd Levi he trusted what you said and now he's dead! Ok bye" and then shoots Levi too.

Xander is losing his fucking mind, and really upset, obviously. But Teruko is like "I did it because I love you...." and manipulates him into really believing they did somewhat the right thing, because Ace and Levi were bullies, and ruining ppls lives.

They frame Levi and Ace's deaths as a double suicide. Teruko convinces Xander to portray Levi and Ace as gay lovers who, "killed themselves to escape an unaccepting world", since they contributed to Eden's harassment over her sexuality.

This leads to Ms. Hu publicly speaking up in support of queerness, which leads to the harassment following Eden, and the fear holding Arei back to subside a little, as the student body is moved by Levi and Ace's super real emotional romance.

Ace and Levi's ghosts join Arturo in haunting Xandy, and Xander regrets like. Every choice he's ever made.

Xander and Teruko's relationship is kinda deteriorating, and David decides to take officially take the mantle in the aftermath of Arturo, Levi, and Ace's deaths.

He gets kinda goofy, and starts harassing Arei more severely. This takes a head at an assembly Ms. Hu throws for teenage mental health, where she encourages the kids to vent their frustrations and grievances, which would "set them free."

Arei finally takes the opportunity, and confesses about her turbulent home life, David and Arturo's harassment, and that she struggles with suicidal thoughts. David takes this as a personal attack on his reputation since she mentioned him, and berates her, until she decides to try and end her own life in the school bathroom.

Xander stops her, and tells David to fuck off.

This ends with Arei and Xander becoming better friends, and they start to bond over their shared care for Eden. This reminds Xander how bad he fucked up with his best friend, and reminds Arei that she really does care a lot about Eden, even if she wishes she didn't.

Speaking of Eden, after everything that had happened, the deaths, the harassment, and what she thinks is the loss of the two most important people in her life (Xander and Arei), she also decides to take her own life, Ace and Levi's suicides nailing it into her head that she didn't belong. She wanted to escape to a world that wouldn't judge her, like Martha, and death was the only way she felt she could do that.

She jumps off of a bridge, but ends up surviving.

Xander, obviously fucking horrified, rushes to her side. After seeing how hurt she was, he kinda realizes how serious death is.

He killed people, all because Teruko felt they needed to. He realizes his relationship is toxic (only took a kill count of 3), and decides he can't do it anymore.

He ends things with Teruko, and goes home. He figures this is the end of it, but the ghosts haunting him tell him that Teruko was coming back, and she was mad. Oh no!

After Teruko breaks into his house, Xander locks himself in his closet and listens to her mad ramblings.

She says she's going to bomb the school, killing everyone inside, and she wants to do it with him. The whole school was basically in the building for a pep-rally, and she wanted to frame it as a school-wide suicide pact, with a signed "suicide note", a fake petition she'd passed around the school during the mental health assembly.

Xander, out of options, ties himself to the ceiling and pretends as if he has hung himself, which he hopes will stop Teruko's rampage.

Instead, Teruko decides even if Xander was dead, she was going to kill everyone anyway.

After Teruko leaves, Xander chases after her, grabbing a kitchen knife as protection, with the intention of killing Teruko, and probably himself, for the sake of the school.

After realizing Xander is alive, Teruko doesn't stop her plan. She's even more dedicated to it, and Xander is dedicated to stopping her.

The two physically fight for the bomb, and in the scuffle, Xander ends up stabbing Teruko in the stomach. He takes the bomb, and begins to leave with it, with the intention of using his body as a shield so that the school wouldn't be damaged if he ran out of time.

Teruko stops him, and in one more act of weird, toxic, love takes the bomb from him, and says she will blow up herself, and only herself.

Xander lets her take the bomb, and Teruko walks out to the front of the school. Xander watches as she lets it go off, killing her instantly, and tells her to say hello to God, having faith that maybe her death could grant her forgiveness, if there was a higher power out there to forgive her at all.

........

annnnndddddd I'll draw the aftermath in part three!

Holy fucking shit, I HAVE BEEN TYPING THIS UP FOR LIKE 5 HOURSS AAHH

I'm proud of it, though! There are quite a few images I had to cut, since Tumblr has an image limit and I made way too much, but that's what part three is for, in combo with a little of the aftermath! I just didn't want to split up the story into two parts, since I wanted it to flow well. I hope I managed to do just that.

Hope you enjoyed this fucking roller coaster, and I hope to see you back again for the DRDT Heathers finale! Which... wont be that epic, or anything, but hopefully fun!

#drdt fanart #drdt #drdt spoilers #ace markey #eden tobisa #xander matthews #teruko tawaki #arturo giles #arei nageishi #david cheim #levi fontana #hu jing #tw blood #tw death #tw violence #tw murder #tw ed #idk what xander and teruko's ship name is dkfasf #heathers the musical

[cartoonfangirl1218]

Dork Diaries 15 Thoughts

Alright so I read the latest dork diaries, and while it’s cute. I’m left with more questions than answers. 

When I rereading the series last year, I wrote that I felt by the 10th book, Russell was dragging it out and had lost sense of its original charm. Or I lost my nostalgia. Either way, it is dragging on and this case was no exception. 

There is a minor incident that Nikki overdramatically feels like it’s her fault when it really isn’t a big deal except for the requisite Mackenzie blackmail plot device. Which is never brought up again. 

Nikki and her friends don’t actually go to the titular Paris until halfway through the book as Russell fills it up with other minor incidents and overdramatic airport chaos hysterics.

Paris is great except Mackenzie trying to steal Nikki’s place in the photo-shoot and Brandon-Andre-Nikki love triangle miscommunication. The former is annoying, the latter was predictable but not too bad. The best parts was Nikki’s mistranslation mishap, and she and Mackenzie getting lost in the catacombs. I do like how Russell managed to fit in info of major Parisian sights so kids can learn about how tres chic and amazing it is. I also liked the art style shift in some drawings as Nikki experiments with fashion illustration. 

Now for my questions, and slight disappointments. I feel like the continuity is getting glossed over. Theo who was by far the nerdiest and dorkiest of the band originally (remember Nikki drew him as the human equivalent to Spongebob?), well now he has a glow-up and isn’t it basketball instead of wizarding. Okay, I guess people can change over the year but it feels so sudden in the art and the personality. 

Also the Chloe, Zoey, Theo and Marcus pairings are completely gone. I guess they got over their crushes to each other even though them asking each other out to the Valentines Day dance was so sweet. But nope.

I just miss it, and them being librarian volunteers and Nikki's excitment over Tyra Banks or her advice column and other stuff that made this series feel grounded.

Also I'm just so tired of Mackenzie popping up as an obstacle like her trying to sabotoge Nikki to get a spot in the photoshoot. It makes no sense. Even if Nikki wasn't there, they would replace her with Mackenzie because she's NOT IN THE BAND. It's totally implausible. I know she's rich and gets away with stuff but it's becoming so unrealistic and annoying.

And remember the big secret of Brandon’s parents and his past? I remember it being brought up in books 4 & 5 and it was implied there was a reason that Brandon was so good at french relating to that. This would have been an excellent chance to have some of that mysterious past revealed but nope. Not a word. I actually wonder if Russell forgot about it? 

In fact the whole Brandon and Nikki situation is the most drawn out ever and I’m starting to think that Russell is retconning it to the beginning. Nikki is still wondering if they’re friends or MORE than friends when after being kissed by him, going to the dance with him, his obvious jealousy of Andre, and going on actual dates, I think this position is quite clear. But Russell hits them squarely with the friends phrasing and minor interactions that make me feel she is holding them back. They’ve gone through such big moments and now it feels like they’re regressing, not progressing. 

Know what else is regressing? Even though the whole series is about Nikki’s eighth grade year at school, and this book takes us to the end of Aug, there is absolutely no mention of high school. Unless NY schools work differently, 9th grade should be high school and then this series would be out of items reading demographic and thus an excellent time to finish the series. 

But Nikki only says they’re returning to school, no pressure or worrying about big bad high school. Just school.

So is Russell retconning this too? In her a acknowledgements she says she's excited to introduce a new generation to Nikki's dork dairies so is she going to be an eternal eight grader?

Also Nikki in general has regressed and I feel she has learned nothing about appreciating what she has or freaking communication in general.

Yeah I think I have definately aged out of this since I'm so focused on these questions instead of enjoying it for what it is.

#dork diaries #dork diaries 15 #tales from a not so posh paris adventure #my thoughts

[pollylynn]

Lookout—A Caskett One-Shot Insert for Love Me Dead (2 x 09)

This is in response to an anonymous prompt, which I've included at the end so as not to spoil. Thank you for the prompt, Anon! This is in place of a chapter of Fabrications tonight; I had a pile of other people's failures dropped on my head tonight and I just didn't make it to the dreadmill.

Title: Lookout WC: 1400

He follows her from the perfect distance. He draws close, then falls back, skirting the edge of danger, because he can. He’s confident. He uses the comparatively thin, post–rush hour crowds to his advantage. Even when she darts suddenly ahead to eat up the last few blinking milliseconds of the little, white Walk man—to beat the red Don’t Walk palm to the punch—the distance he maintains is absolutely perfect at all times. 

He has skills. No, seriously. He is impressing even himself with how good he turns out to be at maintaining a tail. He supposes that she, ironically, deserves some credit for those skills. He’s picked up a thing or two in the last eight months, despite her total unwillingness to provide him hands-on instruction with the more vitally necessary—and coincidentally exciting—aspects of police work, like wheel work during high-speed pursuits, a place in the line-up for those cool, coordinated, weapons-drawn roll-outs when they’re clearing a room a suspect might be lurking in, or anything to do with the car radio. 

The joke’s on her, though, because he’s learned a thing or two anyway. Clearly. He never loses sight of her black leather trench. He has line of sight to its skirts as they whip behind her trying to keep up with her bad-ass stride. Or he has eyes on the tangerine streetlights sweeping over its shoulders. He can tell from the sharp clack of her heels against the pavement whether she’s going to slow suddenly to avoid a collision with some clueless pedestrian or pick up the pace to perfectly time her fluid movement between the slow-moving cars that are trying and failing to escape gridlock. 

He is crushing this tail so hard that he has some headspace to contemplate how, exactly, he’s going to continue surveillance once she actually hits Sutton’s. He’s not worried about her seeing him. No, he’s practically a ninja. There’s not a doubt in his mind that he can slip through the door undetected, fade into the woodwork, get close but not too close. 

But it’s the not-too-close that could—only could, mind you—present a problem. Close enough to eavesdrop is the goal. As entertaining as it is to tail her with the greatest of ease, it’s not actually an end in itself. He needs to know why his daughter is seeking her counsel instead of his. It’s an outrage, given that he is not just an expert in clandestine pursuit, but also the coolest of cool dads. It can and will not stand, so he needs to be within eavesdropping distance. Or not necessarily.  

He’s picturing payoffs. Or maybe a drinking glass to the high back of an adjacent booth. Or if there’s a spy shop along the way, he’s pretty sure he could nip in for bug-and-receiver set up, nip back out, and still not have lost her. Or he could lip read, right? Like, how hard can that even be, given all that he has discovered just tonight about the innate skills he has for intelligence gathering?

He’s hemming and hawing. He’s on his phone surfing for spy gear, though he’s grumpily aware that realistically speaking, toys worthy of a certain British secret agent will probably have to wait for some future op. He’s weighing the pros and cons of paying off a waitress or a bus boy versus flexing his lip-reading muscles when he nearly experiences internal decapitation courtesy of someone grabbing him quite literally by the collar. 

Courtesy of her grabbing him quite literally by the collar. 

“How long are you planning to keep this up,” she hisses. She seems to think his collar belongs to her now. She makes a compelling case, having him yanked down to eye level as she does.  Despite the fact that this is no great distance, given the height of those informatively clacking heels, it’s painful. It’s almost as painful as that very first memorable ear grab on the campus of Redding Prep. 

“Beckett! What are you . . . I mean. Wow! Running into each other like . . .crazy, right?”  His ability to feign surprise is definitely not in the same league as his mad surveil and tail skills. Or maybe it’s in exactly that league, given that she has him by the collar. Still, he soldiers on. “I mean . . . crazy!”

She ignores his stammering amateur theater. He’s not sure if that’s mercy or contempt. “What is wrong with you?”

“I have a right to know!” he blurts. The declaration loses something, given the involuntary yodel that creeps into his voice. “She’s a child, and if she’s in deep to the mob for thirty large, I need to know.” 

“Just how big an idiot are you trying to be, Castle? Is there like . . a contest?” She releases his collar—finally—thrusting him away from her in a gesture of disgust. “You think your kid—the child of a millionaire—is going to come to me to solve her mob payoffs?”

“Maybe she wants to turn state’s evidence!” He makes a show of setting his shirt and overcoat to rights. “Maybe she’s worried about her loved ones’ kneecaps!” 

She’s working on an artisanally crafted look that will convey precisely how unlikely she finds this concept. He’s bracing for it when he spies a glint of red-gold hair in the not-nearly-distant-enough distance. He catches a glimpse of pale cheek. He sees her lifting on her toes and ducking around people’s shoulders trying to get a look at the interior of the cafe to see if her confidant—her practically-a-stranger confidant—is already at the meet. 

He panics. That is the explanation he will carry to his grave. And given that he’s kissing her—he is suddenly kissing Beckett—he might be carrying it to that grave in hurry. He has her by the lapels of her trench coat. As he turns their two bodies to present his back to the general area containing his daughter, a desperate part of his brain wonders if the fact that he doesn’t have his hands on her actual person will, in any way, save him. 

But the desperate part of his brain falls quiet. All parts of his brain fall quiet, because he is kissing her, and she is . . . kind of kissing him back. No. Strike that. She is completely kissing him back for the span of many Mississippis. He knows this instinctively. It's not like his quiet brain can count. But he knows it's been a lot of Mississippis before they jolt apart, shocked in equal measure. 

“She’s here.” It’s a high-quality stage whisper, facilitated, no doubt, by the fact that every part of his body is stock still, frozen with terror. “Alexis . . . she is . . . is she behind me?” 

“What?” The word is breathy. It’s ragged and she’s blinking a mile a minute. “Where?” 

“She was going to . . . see.” It’s the worst justification in the world. He wishes he hadn’t said it before the sibilant vibrates his already-vibrating lips. It invites the question of what his daughter was going to see before his super-spy move and what she very well could have seen just now. 

She has accepted the question’s invitation. Or vice versa. Whatever. She is thinking about what his daughter very well may have seen, and her eyes are wide. She claws her way past him. 

“She’s sitting down,” she says. Relief rolls right off her. “She’s on her phone.” 

“Does she look—“ 

The rest of the question is lost as she shoves at his shoulder to keep him from turning around. He wants to protest, but against all odds, he’s survived the last forty-five seconds. It’d be a shame to die now. 

“Go,” she says through her teeth. He’d like to oblige. Kind of. But she has his collar again. “Get out of here.” She’s hissing again, right in his ear this time, her front pressed into his back, and it’s difficult. “Go, Castle.” 

“I . . .” He tries not to squirm, but it’s fairly impossible. “I’m going, if you’ll . . . You’ve kind of got my . . .” 

She makes a sound. It’s a small, surprised thing, and he imagines her mouth in the shape of an O. He imagines a sudden multitude of things about her mouth as her fingers violently untangle themselves from his collar, and she is gone. 

He is rooted to the spot. He is picturing monuments right here. He kissed her. 

A/N: I know it's not quite the prompt you gave, Anon, but I hope you enjoy nonetheless.

Prompt: prompt: they’re arguing and character a shuts up character b with a kiss

#Castle #Caskett #CastleABC #Castle: Season 2 #Castle: Love Me Dead #Castle: 2 x 09 #Kate Beckett #Richard Castle #Alexis Castle #Fic #Fanfic #Fanfiction #Fan Fic #Fan Fiction #Writing #writing prompt #Anonymous prompt