I’m so angry I answered this whole thing and then accidentally refreshed the page ANYWAY:
who’s the one to wake up the kids: They both do - Toby did it more so when they were in elementary school because Spencer would wake up really early and didn’t want to wake up the kids, but by the time they were in high school, Spencer would wake them up. (”Come on guys, no complaining, you have to get ready.”)
who makes the breakfast: Toby! He loves making breakfast; if everyone else in the house is sleeping, he’ll make breakfast and the smell will wake everyone up.
who’s the one to cry for everything: Toby will cry, especially if it’s a big moment. He’ll get reminded of his own childhood and get emotional thinking about how he’s getting the chance to be there for his kids.
who’s the more discipline parent and who’s the more lenient one: We’re talking about Spencer Hastings and Detective Cavanaugh. They are both the disciplined parent.
who helps with the science fair: Toby; he makes the process really fun and will help them build whatever they need. Spencer would help but she also gets overly excited and explains concepts wayyyy into detail and her kids’ eyes will glaze over as she’s talking.
who does baby talk: Toby did it a little with their first kid and by the time their second child rolled around he was completely done with it.
who wakes up for midnight feedings: Toby. Spencer has offered, but Toby said that since Spencer carried the children for 9 months and had to give birth, the least he can do is wake up at 2 AM.
who’s the one who always worries: They both do, but Spencer will always flash back to the A times, especially if the children aren’t picking up their phone or aren’t home after curfew.
who picks up the kids early from school for some fun: I don’t know if either would really do this? Like, maybe Toby once? But you know who would? Aunt Hanna does this CONSTANTLY and it drives Spencer up the wall.
who’s the competitive parent: SPENCER SPENCER SPENCER.
who kisses the ouches: Toby :D
who’s the sucker for the puppy eyes: These two are VERY good at resisting puppy eyes, but even the strongest people crack, and one out of 10 times, so will Spencer and Toby.
who makes the “dad jokes”: Spencer, oddly enough. She never misses the chance to be witty and make a dad joke.
who embarrassed their kid for fun: These two will tag team and when they make up their mind to do something, they are DETERMINED to be as embarrassing as possible.
who’s the over protective one: Both are pretty protective, but Toby is slightly more protective and tends to bring out the Cop Voice to his kids more often.
who’s the “take a sweater!” parent: Spencer, but Toby is the one who buys a billion sweaters for them.
Which one sexts like a straight white boy? I can’t really see either of them doing this often but I bet Spencer likes being a dick and will slip into obnoxious white boy texting just to tease Toby and make him laugh.
Which one cried during a fucking disney movie? Neither cry, but Toby will tear up at the really emotional family-centered Disney movies.
Who put a goddamned fork in the microwave? Probably Spencer but in her defense she was probably writing a speech and calling like 5 different people.
Who does the silly hands-over-the-eyes “Guess who” thing? Toby will do it on anniversaries to surprise her and it makes Spencer smile every time (although admittedly there’s a millisecond where she tenses up before she hears his voice and smiles).
Who puts their cold hands/feet on their partner? Spencer is a total heat hog; she’ll just steal all of Toby’s heat (in all things, she’ll take his hoodies and blankets with no shame).
Who had that embarassing Reality TV marathon? Spencer watched The Bachelorette just to laugh at it and of course she got completely invested.
“WHY ISN’T HE PICKING JUBILEE??? I’m done, I’m done with this.”
Who laughs more during sex? Toby will; Spencer will make some witty or sarcastic remark and he’ll just bust up laughing.
WHO IS THE LITTLE SPOON? Toby for sure. Spencer has moments when she’s the little spoon but Toby really loves it.
damn it now i need you to go on a angst filled, tear my heart out, spalison rant after that rude pll sleeping post
I can’t stop laughing. I’m sorry. Ok, Anon. I’ll write out some headcanons just for you instead of an actual analysis for extra feels. If you’re interested in actual canon analysis check out my Character Dynamics tag.
Since it was the sleeping Liars post that upset you, I’ll elaborate on that.
I rambled a lot, so I’m just gonna add a read more here. Also, at times it almost seems more like a ficlet then just headcanons with actual canon stuffs and it flickers all around unsure of what style I’m writing this ramble in? Like, this is a true, unfiltered ramble born from staying up all night you guys. I’m so sorry lol.
There are at least two flashbacks of Ali hanging out alone with Spencer in Spencer’s room (there are no flashbacks of her doing this with any of the other girls). She came right in and was practically in Spencer’s face digging around in that bag when she was “dead”. She mentioned leaving stuff at Spencer’s house a lot the other time she visited when she was “dead”. It makes me feel like she was seriously there all the time.
She enjoyed Spencer’s company as they could hold long winded conversations and actual debates that were challenging. She also got a thrill out of having someone around who was just as snarky as she was. She liked teasing Spencer, she liked the way Spencer would mock her, she liked the way Spencer would roll her eyes when she’d say something flirtatious.
She liked having someone who was genuinely her friend.
Spencer wasn’t afraid of her, Spencer didn’t idolize her, Spencer didn’t “want” her, Spencer just was. And with Spencer, Ali just was. She was just a person. A complicated mess of a person, but still seen as a person nonetheless.
That was something precious to her. All the masks she put on for the world to see, all the different sides of her that slipped through the cracks, it didn’t matter. Spencer was still right there. They may have argued, they may have said hurtful things, Ali may have said or shown too much “weakness” and suddenly turned cold in fear, but in the end, Spencer was still there.
They still simply were and there was a security in that.
She also noted Spencer’s fierce protectiveness and she greatly admired that about her. Whenever Spencer defended her, whether it was an obvious verbal attack at whoever dared to mess with her or a subtle movement to place herself in front of Alison, it meant more to her than she could put into words.
She’d never dare try to of course. That would just be a little too “touchy feely” and she and Spencer certainly weren’t “touchy feely”. No, they showed affection through taunts and flirtatious insults. But the feelings were still there. She felt like Spencer would keep her safe.
Alison is seen going to Spencer’s house when she was upset both after whatever happened at Jason’s party and when she had a busted lip. (By Veronica’s reaction to Alison coming in the house, the scene implied she may have been staying the night at the Hastings’.)
I feel like that may have been a regular occurrence. Ali would just slip over next door and enter Spencer’s house when she was looking for a safe place.
She had honed her lock-picking skills mainly because of her love of exploring, though she also loved exploiting that skill. The lock she picked most was the Hastings’ back door though. After sneaking in several times in the middle of the night, Spencer finally asked how she kept getting in. She was appalled to learn her friend was breaking into her house, though she couldn’t deny how thrilling it sounded and proceeded to have Ali teach her how to do it herself.
Most nights Alison would sneak over resulted in her sleeping over. She was such a blanket hog that Spencer got so she simply left out another blanket folded up at the foot of her bed just in case Ali came over. Some nights Spencer was already sleeping when she’d wake slightly to the feeling of weight settling on her bed and the faint smell of Ali’s perfume.
Alison never said why she came over to sleep next to Spencer and Spencer never asked. In all honesty, she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to know why.
It was a great comfort to Ali. Anytime she was scared or upset, she’d find herself slipping through the Hastings’ back yard. Spencer didn’t make her feel self conscious about it and never asked questions that made her uncomfortable. Spencer just let it be and Alison found herself sliding into bed next to her more times than she liked to admit. It got so she would sometimes sneak over simply because she missed it.
Then she “died” and she couldn’t just crawl into bed next to Spencer. Spencer couldn’t protect her, her presence couldn’t sooth her, she couldn’t even see her. She couldn’t see any of her friends. She had to try to fall asleep all alone in strange places, wondering if it was even safe to.
She had to stay away and watch them from a distance, always fearing what may happen. What may happen to her, what may happen to them. And she’d cry herself to sleep, trying to remember what Spencer’s room smelled like. Trying to remember the sound of her breathing while she slept. She cried the hardest one night when she realized she couldn’t remember either of those things anymore.
It wasn’t until she came home that she actually feared sleeping next to Spencer again. So much had happened and so much had changed. She didn’t know how to talk to any of the girls anymore. She didn’t know if they even cared about her anymore. She couldn’t tell and everything was so hit and miss. She wanted the comfort she used to feel, but the thought of trying scared her. The thought of Spencer not wanting her there scared and crushed her.
It wasn’t until the night of a thunderstorm that it became unbearable. At each clap of thunder, her anxiety grew as she covered her ears, trying to block out her mother’s hysterical cries of, “What have you done?”
She swore she could smell dirt and for a panic filled moment, it felt like it was filling her nostrils. She couldn’t be in her room any longer. She felt like she couldn’t breathe. She wanted Spencer. She entertained the thought of crawling into bed with her father instead, but knew he’d ask questions that she couldn’t answer.
Steadying herself, she made the familiar trek through the Hastings’ back yard. She noted that the lock had been changed, so it took a little longer. Soon enough, she was tiptoeing through, careful to avoid the step that creaks. Peaking in, she slowly eased Spencer’s bedroom door open and silently shut it back behind her.
It was surreal being there again, watching the other girl sleep. The smell was familiar and comforting and she was ashamed of herself for ever forgetting it. She stood there awkwardly uncertain of what to do now that she was actually there. She knew she wanted to climb into bed, but would Spencer allow it? It had been over two years and she knew there was real tension between them now.
She moved her eyes to the foot of the bed and noted that her blanket wasn’t there. It shouldn’t have surprised her. Again, it had been over two years that she was gone. Yet the sight brought tears to her eyes that she was trying (and failing) to blink away. It was just a stupid blanket. A stupid extra blanket that wasn’t even special. It wasn’t even all that nice to look at. But Spencer would put it there for her.
And it was no longer there.
Thunder rumbled in the distance and Alison stood crying silently unable to move in the dark room, frozen in place and staring at the bed that used to bring such comfort. She noted how the girl in it slept peacefully, completely unaware of her falling apart just a few short feet away.
while I live for your thoughts on Paige McCullers I'm going to come out of left field and ask for Hanna Marin! And just for the fun of it, also give me your thoughts on McHastings if you want! :)
Hanna Marin
How I feel about this character: She’s all heart and impulse, really. Her bluntness always comes off grounded in reality as opposed to Spencer’s hypotheticals or Emily’s zombie-level descriptions. Those scenes where she’s being blunt to Spencer in front of the liars are amazing, both because she’s honestly trying to help and because Emily and Aria make the most offended faces and noises.
All the people I ship romantically with this character: I’ve always liked Haleb as seen in the show, they were cute. Other than that, no one really.
My non-romantic OTP for this character: Each of the liars, duh. (She’s so giddy when Emily gets into hijinks but annoyed when they have to tail people, understanding of Spencer’s Spencer-ness while refusing to completely agree with her logic, both gets annoyed with Aria hiding stuff and drags her along as an enabler.) Ashley Marin. I still think a friendship with Paige would be delightful.
My unpopular opinion about this character: I don’t know if it’s unpopular, but I think her sense of morality is very sanguine, that is it’s mostly born out of sympathy. She feels bad if people are hurt right in front of her, and she’ll definitely step in. But if the situation isn’t one requiring immediate intervention or seems more abstract, she tends to forget about it, or at least forget to do anything about it.
One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Stop. Talking. To. Mona. Even Lucas, sketchy kid he is, pointed out back in S3 that talking to Mona at all, even when you tell yourself you know she’s lying, is tantamount to giving her free ammunition. I mean, realistically the show would be so much less fun if any of the girls did that.
my OTP: Heh, I don’t really have strong feelings on Hanna ships, mostly because she kind of just does stuff based on her current situation rather than on any overarching system. Hanna does what she wants.
my cross over ship: the above still holds, but I went through a mental list of characters from stuff and am now pondering the hilarity that would be Fenris from DA2. Like whenever he says something blatantly hyperbolic about mages she’d call him out on it, but she wouldn’t gloss over the shit Danarius put him through, and Fenris appreciates honesty iirc. (and now I’m imagining Fenris trying to borrow books from her to practice his reading lessons with only to discover they’re all mystery novels.) eh, very tenuous idea.
a headcanon fact: The shoplifting was something she initiated, not Mona.
Mchastings below!
when I started shipping it if I did: Halloween train, Spencer is incapable of apologizing in a straightforward way but Paige totally understands what’s happening here and says the utterly ridic line “It was a pleasure” with complete sincerity. fucking dorks.
my thoughts: tbh I like the idea of them running into each other a few years after Rosewood, post-A nonsense, unintentionally getting together? (this is my headcanon, so I can totally declare that Toby was actually working for the A team and that messed up Spencer for an even longer while.) I can see both of them losing themselves in academics and swimming, respectively, while in college. A few weeks after getting in touch they’ll somehow end up playing Cluedo or some other mystery game in Spencer’s little apartment, Paige will jokingly say she’s surprised Spencer isn’t sick of mysteries by now and immediately wince ‘cause bad topic but Spencer’ll just chuckle at that and say she likes mysteries with answers. stuff….escalates from there.
What makes me happy about them: the dorks they’ll end up being. neither of knows how seriously they’re supposed to be taking this thing between them, because it’s probably the first lasting relationship for both of them since Rosewood. Until something appropriately dramatic happens to one of them, and other’s protectiveness kicks in, and they’re both like yeah, this is a thing. I think they’d have a lot of respect for each other’s achievements even if they don’t fully understand the field, and that they wouldn’t pry when it come to secrets. They’re not very outwardly romantic, just gallows humour and fierce understanding, if that makes sense.
What makes me sad about them: shh I deliberately set this post-A because otherwise there’d be drama about Spencer keeping A a secret. Uhhh, not really sad but I guess they can bond over having shitty/absentee/high-expectations parents, yay? (srsly I do not believe Nick McCullers did a 180 degree turn around, he is probably still pretty shitty)
things done in fanfic that annoys me: ehhh anything that involves bashing other characters, especially emily.
things I look for in fanfic: not something I specifically look for, but I’ve been low-key obsessed with the idea of Mchastings as jaeger co-pilots. like they’re both surprised when they find themselves in sync while sparring.
Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Emily for Paige, Aria for Spencer.
My happily ever after for them: Resolving not to go home for the holidays and coming up with blatantly false excuses for it. Getting competitive over board games and video games. Being awesome at whatever their respective careers are, and hopefully Spencer isn’t a lawyer like she wanted.
who is the big spoon/little spoon: Officially, it’s 50-50. In reality, Spencer automatically curls up in a tiny ball when she falls asleep and Paige sleeps with her body awkwardly splayed out over her side of the bed, so.
what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Watching movies, maybe? I think they’d both enjoy doing their own thing while being in the same room too. Like Paige tinkering with her bike while Spencer’s completing the crossword, stuff like that.
tell me about your pll headcanons (especially anything you have about spencer and emily)
Ooh okay! :)
Spencer used to extremely value how she presented herself in elementary school, and knew she could kick everyone’s ass with her prep school chic outfits even as a child
Emily and her dad have lots of bonding moments, especially after Alison’s “death”, and after she came out because Mr. Fields is just lovely and deserves some more attention
Emily gets her bamfness from her mum, and sometimes they take some alone time after Emily gets home from work to just chill and watch tv and talk about what Emily really wants because Pam worries that she’s put so much pressure on her daughter and ultimately wants her to be happy
Spencer is usually great at keeping it together, but with all of the confusion surrounding her relapse, she ends up having a breakdown and reflects on her past relationships/mistakes and Toby lets her vent it out but then gets upset when she mentions Wren, and the “string of guys she led on and stole from Melissa” and he gets upset and she ends up calling the girls and only Hanna picks up and surprises Spencer with awesome advice that she realizes she’s taken for granted in the past and Hanna is actually clever
Emily makes it out of Rosewood safe and happy and somewhat involved with sports but maybe just on the sidelines because of her injuries and takes a break from relationships for a while and ends up meeting some super cute journalist whom she doesn’t trust right away because of her past but then there’s so much flirting and unspoken “i really like you and we should just make this official already” that they finally give in and Emily asks her out
The girls end up doing something like Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants and exchange some memento of their journey after the Alison/Rosewood drama is gone and they keep it going long after they’ve all grown up and gotten married/having kids/moved away
Aria holds a minor grudge against Ezra for a bit because of the book and tries to genuinely take time for herself and write her own feelings down and appreciates why he did it, and starts rekindling her connection to him bit by bit
And/Or Ezra stays in a coma in the hospital after the finale and then Aria’s finally written down all of her emotions and hopes and dreams and plans for them in the future because she knows she will never love anyone like she loves Ezra and when he wakes up… he forgets everything and it devastates her and she has to pull herself together again and teach him the past, telling the truth from the beginning and reads him her story and he starts remembering little details like the film he saw with her and her mum before they were officially a couple, and the colour of dress she wore to the art gala, and how many birthmarks she has, and how she takes her coffee, and then finally he remembers about B-26 and it all comes back to him and he asks her to forgive him and she says she did that a long time ago and there are tears and kisses and hugs and my heart shatters
Hanna calls out Ali on her abuse and manipulation and finally Alison sits down and apologizes for the hurt she caused everyone, especially Hanna because I still feel Hanna deserves that after everything Ali put her through
Aria and Mike do some more bonding in the next season and Mike’s voice is heard, and their family gains some closure on their traumatic issues
Maybe Hanna and Emily have a thing/moment because now that Ali is back, Emison happens for a bit whether it’s confirmed or not, and Hanna listens to Emily chat about her feelings and encourages some stuff but keeps warning her about Alison’s abusive behaviour because she cares and Emily deserves so much better but Hanna knows how important this relationship is to her so she’s gentle about it (shh i love their friendship)
Spencer gets back into tennis as a way to cope with her withdrawal and recovery and ends up coaching some kids for the summer
Aria and Ezra go off for a few weeks in the summer to get away from Rosewood and visit all their favourite places from their favourite works of literature and classic films and document it all with Aria’s camera and then return and print them all out and make a wall with the photographs and ticket stubs and mementos in Ezra’s cabin or somewhere just for them and they have a really good start again for what feels like the first time
The girls end up owning their colleges and aren’t labelled as “those poor friends of the dead girl” and don’t have to worry about their ties to Alison and the drama surrounding her, and it feels really good
Okay I’m having fun with these but am going to pause and get your feedback before rambling on again :)
Omg just imagine that conversation between Ashley and Hanna though. "Hanna, I've told you: no girlfriends, no boyfriends!" "But MOOOOOM, Chassey isn't a girl, OR a boy! She's my enbyfriend." And Hanna will look smug as hell and Ashley Marin will just roll her eyes and make a desperate grasp for the wine while Hanna flounces out and Ashley hollers after her like "NO NON-BINARY LOVERS OF ANY KIND IN THE BEDROOM EITHER HANNA!" "MOM!!!"
oh man, Hanna would just abuse any possible loophole while Ashley catches on as fast as she can. It’d be awesome.
(but knowing PLL, it’s more likely Hanna gets with one of Rosewood’s creeper adult men than a girl/non-binary person. Sigh. One can always dream, though.)
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR PAIGE MCCULLERS HEADCANON PLS :)
hehehehehe, lemme just put a read more so as to not scare away the non-PLL obsessed
1. This is basically blasphemy, but she doesn’t get intensely competitive over trivial stuff, though maybe jokingly competitive. In that, for her any competitiveness is more of a matter of pride rather than a need to win, which kind of sets her apart from Spencer. Like, I bet Spencer and Paige would still compete over stupid stuff, but Paige would be pretending to take it seriously while Spencer would wholeheartedly be taking it seriously. Seriously, S3/S4 Paige is a pretty easygoing gal when it comes to minor stuff.
2. In second grade, she decks Noel Khan in the face for running off with Hanna’s barbie dolls and ripping off their heads for a laugh. She’s rarely spoken to Hanna, but it just seems so wrong that the teacher in charge of recess brushes it aside and tells Hanna to stop crying over “silly toys”. So when he’s looking smug afterwards, and turns to Paige to brag about how he finally got Hanna to stop talking about those stupid dolls, Paige gets mad to the point of seeing rather than feeling her fist move. On the ride back from the principal’s office, her dad mutters things about “not being ladylike” that she just rolls her eyes at. Her mom, however, takes her aside once they reach the house and very firmly tells her that violence is only okay if the other person started it first. Since then, Paige has only broken that rule twice.
3. I think of her mom having a job that requires a lot of travelling, and in general a pretty likeable person. Like, most of Rosewood is wary of Nick McCullers, but consider Mrs McCullers fine to speak to. Young!Paige was probably fairly close to her mom and looked up to her a lot, but as grew older her mom’s job required more and more travelling, so she sees her less. Which leaves her alone with her dad and the huge amount of pressure he places on her to excel at swimming, and also his ideas of what a “proper daughter” should be. She fulfils the former, and ignores the latter, at least until the letter incident.
4. Speaking of it, she spends the rest of the school year after that incident keeping mostly to herself. She quits field hockey, stays on the swimming team. Alison's face seems to be mocking her every time she looks at it, and she doesn't so much as glance at Emily. Not going out much, she ends up gorging old documentaries and movies and books regularly. It's so much less stressful to see fictional people, than worry about how she's seen. (If she watches that one scene from Morocco repeatedly, well, that means absolutely nothing.)It's during the summer holidays that she decides she won't let Alison win, that she'll transform herself so completely that whatever proof Alison has is useless. When she gets dressed for the first day of 10th grade, her dad looks so pleased.
5. Her hands shake immediately after the head dunk. She stares at them, wondering if they did what they did. This wasn't how 11th grade was supposed to go at all. This is the last time she breaks her mother's rule. She still thinks of it as that, though her mother probably doesn't even remember it. It's funny what sticks with you.
6. 11th grade is when she meets Pru, who just transferred to Rosewood High. It's nice to have someone who'll definitely buy her act, she thinks. Pru laughs when she tells her that, long after she's out. "C'mon, I was probably the only one who wasn't shocked. I had no idea what you were playing at, but you had a wicked sense of humour and teasing you was fun, so I figured I'd stick around". Paige throws a pillow at her head, harrumphing, and can't help but think it's nice to have a friend.
