#and--wanting to spare her sons from suffering any further--sets the house ablaze; not realizing no one else is inside | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

maschotch · 2 years

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I would love to hear your thoughts about Hotch and fire because I never really noticed it but when you point it out it does stand out as something he gets VERY affected by very quickly

its not the most obvious pattern, which is par for the course when it comes to anything relating to hotch’s past. but i think its sooo interesting that hotch seems to be on edge/more emotional when they deal with cases involving fire. in ashes and dust he seems particularly moved talking to the burn victim and insists on being the one to speak to her; in house on fire he averts his eyes from the burnt corpses and has a shorter temper; in devil’s night he’s antsy the whole case and makes brash decisions (like running into a burning building???)

its subtle changes, so subtle that im not entirely convinced im not just hallucinating it all, but it seems like there’s something there. especially during the final confrontation with the unsubs in each of those episodes: the steel-faced hotch is gone, and he seems incapable of hiding his fear. in devil’s night he has a hard time looking away from the unsub’s lighter; in house on fire he keeps glancing down at the spilled gasoline. if it was anyone else i wouldnt pay any mind, but hotch is known for staring down death (like with foyet). he’s.. uncharacteristically emotional

i feel like something must have happened. even gideon—who has better insight on hotch’s past than anyone—seems concerned when hotch volunteers to go to the burn ward or gets distracted looking at a child’s burnt shoe on the ground. the way hotch lingers on the picture of the mother with her son… something mustve happened in the past for him to take this so personally

im not sure what it is. again, we dont really know anything about hotch’s background (and what we do know is frequently contradicted a couple seasons later—like the way his father died) so its not like we have a lot to work with. simply because of his interaction with charlotte cutler, i think it might have something to do with his mom? we dont know anything about her outside other than her attending mary baldwin. there are just so many unknown variables and oddly intimate moments of connection he has with various abused-sons throughout the seasons

was he in a fire growing up? was his mother? maybe his mom was inside and he stood helpless on the outside, unable to save her? was it an arsonist? was it his father? or was it his mother herself—tired of her life and trying to tear it all down with her? was it all just a horrible accident? was it before or after his father’s death? was his mom dying the final push for hotch to stand up to his father?

there are just… so many questions. so many possibilities. but, whatever happened, hotch is definitely afraid of fire.

#r there too many links? i wanted to cite my sources lol #asks #aaron hotchner #i feel like i should have a cm meta tag but i feel like its too fucking late #anyway.#my personal fav potential backstory is his mom going crazy #full on wander the halls; yellow wallpaper; haunting of hill house crazy lady long white dress mom shit #and--wanting to spare her sons from suffering any further--sets the house ablaze; not realizing no one else is inside #(or maybe baby sean is inside and he's the only hotch can get out?)#if it happened before his dad's death then i think this moment drove hotch to finally kill him #if it happened after his dad's death.. it means his mom is Way Crazier than we thought #and i think it'd be fun if it was shortly after hotch started going through puberty #so he's getting taller and he's starting to look more like his father #and his mom (unable to come to terms with her husband's death--unable to come to terms w her son killing her husband) rejects that reality #she gets confused and think aaron is the one who died. and when aaron tries to approach her she recoils as tho he was his father #he gets Freaked the Fuck Out by that #then goes to get groceries or some shit and when he comes back the house is in flames #smth like that #very emo very wattpad #but its MY headcanon i can be cringe if i want

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