#wow i spent too much time on this whoops

[villain-crown]

heart | @jegulus-microfic | words: 855

* I’m running late on the prompts whoops

critical care, part 6 (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5)

a Jegulus nurse!AU

“Wow, he’s mean.”

“I’m meaner,” Regulus replied and holy shit James believed him.

He could picture it now: Regulus, a relentless, demanding little thing on top of him, sinking onto James’s cock with a vicious hiss and riding him until he was spent. He would be so small but a force of nature all the same, wrapping James’s heartstrings around his little finger like a leash.

Bloody hell, he’s going to look amazing on our Christmas cards.

“Were you just waiting for me to get angry?”

“I was waiting to see if you could,” Regulus corrected, licking a bit of cream from his spoon. James watched the pink tongue dart out, give a good, long lick and disappear past plush lips once more.

I’m not meant to survive this lunch.

“So you and Riddle used to…?”

“Used to,” Regulus replied carelessly.

“What happened?”

“He asked Sirius if he could fuck the both of us at the same time. Not a good look.”

James gaped at him, thoroughly distracted from his lascivious thoughts. “What!?”

Regulus set his spoon to the side. “It was before Sirius got together with Lupin. He was sleeping with half the hospital and every now and then one of his conquests would decide they wanted the matching set. So now Sirius loses his shit at anyone that looks at me sideways and I get the pleasure of sneaking around behind his back like this.”

That… made a lot of sense actually. James had just assumed that Sirius was being baselessly paranoid but there was something a bit bittersweet about it now. Sirius loved Regulus more than anything or anyone. He must have felt very guilty for putting his little brother in that position.

“I’m sorry.”

Regulus frowned. “Why? It’s not your fault.”

“It’s just… what you say.” James cleared his throat, switching topics. “But why did you want to see if I could get angry?”

“I wanted to make sure I wasn’t wrong.”

“About?”

“You manifesting the right attitude to fuck me.”

Even though James had very blatantly been hoping for it, the direct statement made him choke hard. “What!?”

“I like it rough,” Regulus explained calmly, making James work hard to will the beginnings of arousal away. “With teeth and nails and words. I don’t see anything wrong with it, but I understand that not every guy can deliver.”

James suddenly pictured a naked, sweating, panting Regulus on all fours under him with James’s teeth digging into Regulus’s smooth, warm shoulder as he took him from behind in harsh thrusts. It wasn’t James’s usual style—he liked looking at his partner; liked a bit of connection. But he was only human and what else was he supposed to do but agree if Regulus wanted a little pain with his pleasure?

There was something else that concerned him, however.

“Do you think Riddle’s angry enough to tell people?”

Regulus looked disinterested. “Riddle doesn’t scare me. He understands that the only power he has over me is whatever I decide to give him. If he turns me in to HR, I’ll turn him in too.”

“Mutually assured destruction.”

“No, actually, because I can get another nursing job tomorrow. He’s in a competitive program that lasts two years. He can’t afford to get kicked out. He wouldn’t get another cardiovascular fellowship with a sex scandal on his record. If anything, he’ll try to protect me to protect himself.”

Gorgeous, vicious little thing, James thought admiringly.

“I’m not being unreasonable. If he doesn’t want any problems, he just has to keep his mouth shut. It’s not that hard.”

“And you’re good at that sort of thing, are you? Keeping your mouth shut?”

Regulus just looked at him. “I make a much better impression with it open.”

“I bet you do.”

“So?” Regulus picked up the spoon again, idly pressing it against his tongue. “I already know you’re interested, so let’s not kid ourselves there. The real question is if you’re too scared of my big brother to fuck me the way you obviously want to.”

And that really was the question, wasn’t it? Sirius would lose his mind if he found out, that was a given. If he didn’t take a hit out on James, he’d at least refuse to ever speak to him again.

Objectively, this was a very obvious choice.

He should be running away screaming at the very suggestion of engaging the Slytherin like that.

…But fuck, Regulus was fit.

Like, expensive fashion magazine meets dirty wanking material fit.

This is really sort of Sirius’s fault, he tried to convince himself. The way Remus had told it yesterday when James had struck up a very ulteriorly-motivated conversation on the subject, Sirius had practically raised Regulus and had no spine whatsoever when it came to denying him anything.

“He’s never even heard of the word ‘no,’” Remus had concluded with a fond roll of his eyes. “Sirius spoils him rotten.”

And James would be out of his fucking mind to say no to him too.

“…You know what? Fuck it. I’ll fist fight Sirius every morning in the parking lot for the rest of my life if I have to. We’re doing this.”

#regulus black #james potter #jegulus #starchaser #james loves regulus #sunseeker #jegulus microfic #protective sirius black #marauders nurse!au

[ereawrites]

SHISUISHISUISHISUISHISUI CHOO-CHOO. I’m on the train for this man. 😩😩 I honestly don’t even know what to ask. I just—EVERYTHING SHISUI. I’m down bad and it’s RIDICULOUS. Just throw out some wild ass hc for this man. Idk. Maybe some post fight adrenaline hawt ass f*cking. 😭😭🥵

UNDER THE CUT FOR HORNY JAIL

I don't think a fight will get shisui going per se. after a battle he just wants to rest and recuperate. but sparring?! he's so into it

he probably lowkey treats training together as a kind of flirty foreplay, ESPECIALLY if they aren't together yet/haven't confessed their feelings to each other, but he knows there's a mutual attraction. it gets him so worked up to be close to them like that

that's not to say that he won't still give the sparring his all. because he will. shisui doesn't half-ass training, and he doesn't want them to either. he finds it really attractive to see them focused, and tbh if they're able to keep up with him or even beat his ass a little bit... he likes it a lot

let's say they're pretty evenly matched, so they've spent a while battling, and they've ended up resorting to good old-fashioned taijutsu now that they're exhausted. they're both sweaty and panting and end up grappling on the floor. shisui somehow manages to get the upper hand and pin them on their back

he's feeling pretty bold from the adrenaline and the physical contact, so he leans down to their ear to make some kind of quip. and honestly if he knows they're into him, and there's no one around, he kisses them. he can't help himself when they look kind of dishevelled, it gets to him

it's going to turn into a heated make-out session pretty quick. he also gets a boner embarrassingly fast lol. he accidentally starts grinding onto their thigh which has him kinda sheepish, but if they're just as into it as him, neither of them are really going to care. he just laughs it off and starts kissing their neck. and he BITES the neck too

okay as much as shisui lowkey gets off on public/risky sex - and he is really tempted to just fuck them right there - he's not insane. after a few minutes he's going to pull them over behind the treeline to continue. it's honestly pretty cute, how they kind of fumble their way over to the trees, still kissing and laughing

by this point, he's probably too into it to bother fully undressing them. he's going to move what clothing needs to be moved, pick them up under the thighs and press their back against the tree trunk, and go at it

manages to keep enough sense about him to bury his face into their neck to bury his moans. and WOW does this boy moan when he's in one of these moods. it's so good. towards the end, as he gets louder, he has to bite down on their shoulder to cover the sounds. they're going to be covered in marks whoops

fucks deep when he's like this. specifically likes to do the thing where he rolls his hips. his thrusts are kinda sloppy but in a good way

between the adrenaline of sparring and the risk of being caught, neither of them are going to last long. he definitely covers their mouth when they cum, but he wants them to keep eye contact with him during it. he might beg for it actually if he's really worked up

very chill afterwards. laughs and apologises for getting so feral. he does feel bad for not being a gentleman, especially if it's their first time together. he's not too embarrassed, it was a good fuck so he's happy lol. but he's definitely going to try to make sure that the next time is more special

#shisui #shisui x reader #shisui smut #shisui uchiha #shisui uchiha smut #shisui uchiha x reader #naruto #naruto x reader #naruto smut

[alvivaarts]

About Separate Ways (Spoilers)

Wow, guys. I was super excited to get gameplay footage/input from friends about Separate Ways (too broke to own the base game myself) to put into my longfic, but aside from some super cute Luis/Ada moments, I am... dissapointed.

Capcom hire me, at least I can keep the plot consistent because what the actual fuck.

Will discuss below to avoid spoilers (much more story than gameplay, but gameplay wasn't great either), but I'm not going into insane detail save for some things. READERS BE WARNED!

I'm also specifically looking at this through the lens of my own fanfic, Simulation Swarm, which is my take on how Las Plagas works and infected!Leon (in addition, infected!Ashley and a lot of Leon's unacknowledged trauma and relationship issues throughout the game series). I was majorly excited about Separate Ways because it implied that Ada also gets infected- which I really want to still implement even if it changes a LOT of major things about the fic.

I'll go over the good stuff first. AKA, stuff I'm keeping, and not retconning.

1- Luis' characterization was still amazing. It was really nice to see his character balance out Ada's, how he's still as chipper as he can be. Additionally, it's VERY clear how much he cares for Leon and Ashley alike, and he goes out of his way to get Ada the suppressant and still respects her throughout that process. 2- Pesanta/IT/U-3's design with slightly more of a scorpion shape. That was sick! 3- The fact that Ada was aware of most of Leon's movements and a lot of what happened, and in a way was following him around and handling things he couldn't/wasn't aware of. * 4- Ada didn't help Leon into the chair, Ashley did. But that scene isn't even shown. 5- Luis and Ada def had chemistry, and it was so cute!

Well! Short list. Now for the bad stuff. AKA, shit I'm retconning/ignoring/pretending never happened (most of the DLC).

1- Ada's infection is weird as fuck. She got... shot? And infected? And then, infuriatingly (because I've spent WAY too much time thinking about the physiology of Las Plagas and researching w/ the help of others how the infection would work) PUKES UP her plagas?!?!? HELLO!? This in particular drives me insane because like. Las Plagas nests and develops behind the sternum, between the lungs, where it can attach to the nervous system along the spine. It is TOO BIG for a human body to fight against, it's growth shoving lungs out of the way is why people cough up blood. It's nowhere near the throat or stomach and clearly it's extremely well engineered/evolved for human hosts not to end up in conveniently the wrong location. And if she did puke it up, at that point, miraculously, after two days? Her intestines are fucked. She's dying of internal bleeding. I don't fucking care how much of a bad bitch Ada is because at that point Wesker wasn't gonna help her. The fuck? Capcom, know your own lore challenge. 2- We got NO backstory, not even HINTS about Ada's past and origins. Again. 3- * Seriously made Ada's character into a very flat character and removed a lot of the urgency/clear want for her to help Leon from the original DLC. Seriously, she does not gaf about anything but her mission and making it more convenient for herself. Everything she does to help Leon is sheerly coincedence- which, honest to fuck, does not line up. Especially considering she appears to completely lack empathy until... uh oh, Wesker wants to kill a bunch of people? Like sure, she has that BRIEF conversation with Leon in the boat but like... what happened to the people she has history with, the people she could've ABSOLUTELY been saving to spite Wesker and allow her to have her own motives until whoop-de-doo, uh oh, gotta stop a genocide! Be so for real. 4- Bonus: After Luis helped her and she'd made the deal to get him out, he, still dying, calls her with a warning about Krauser. It took a long time for him to die. She SHOWED UP after witnessing the fight and pretty much just... left him. Despite all of that. Which I get from a 'not fucking with canon' standpoint, but seriously. 0 effort. 5- Krauser literally fucking gets away when she fights him???? 6- Wesker keeps making appearances. For some reason. It's not even clear why, he literally just shows up to be intimidating and to threaten Ada into doing the job but like. At that point, honest to fuck, he could've done it himself? Also it was majorly hard to empathize with Ada considering we STILL KNOW NOTHING ABOUT HER OR HER MOTIVATIONS. 7- Luis has no distinct fire trauma. (Okay. Revoking this after the discussion, I just had a no media literacy moment after everything I was taking in. Luis' response was actually pretty good and honestly? Should be appreciated. Though it does bring up another point- while I love Luis, I guess I was walking in with it more being an expectation for it to be 'Ada's Story'. We didn't get that, though the Luis background was great!) 8- Ashley's interaction with Ada was a single line asking for help and Ada just. Walks off.

Anyway, everything I've seen first hand and have discussed with others has left a sour taste in my mouth. Boo, @Capcom. Good thing I can make up my own stupid little stories and pretend that none of that happened.

#resident evil #biohazard #leon kennedy #leon s kennedy #infected leon #ada wong #aeon #adis #luis serra #las plagas #separate ways #separate ways dlc #resident evil 4 #resident evil 4 remake #residentevil #re4 #re4r #re4 make #re4 remake #re4make #re4r leon #re4 leon #re4 ada #review #capcom

[dandylovesturtles]

just a little drabble thing

I know I have stuff to work on but in my defense, I've done writing on both my projects today so leave me alone with my brainrot

this is absolutely the fault of @intotheelliwoods and the brainrot their Leo losing an arm anyway art has given me. Please go check out that post and the linked comic and give it all the likes and reblogs SERIOUSLY.

okay here's a thing byyyyeeee

He sees the ball out of his peripheral vision, before he even hears Mikey yell, "Heads up!" He reaches to catch it, but it smacks into the side of his head anyway, and it's only once it collides that he realizes.

It hit his right side. He'd reached with a hand that wasn't there anymore.

It's just a rubber ball that Mikey had been kicking around. It didn't hurt where it made contact, just bounced off his head harmlessly before dropping to the floor and rolling away. Nothing to be upset about. And yet...

Something sad and ugly twists in his gut.

"Whoops! Sorry, Leo!" Mikey's voice pulls his attention. He's holding the ball now and looking at Leo and Leo wishes he wouldn't. "Didn't mean to hit you."

"You didn't, that was on purpose. I've been working on my headers!" The joke rolls out of him with such practiced ease he doesn't even have to think about it. He's grinning and he hopes nothing shows on his face.

It's such a little, stupid thing and he has no reason to be upset so why is his chest burning?

"...Everything okay?" asks Mikey, looking at him too closely now, and Leo is struck by the urge to push him away so he'll stop, an urge he quickly pushes down because wow, dramatic much?

What is he going to say? "I couldn't catch the ball and now I want to cry about it"? What is he, five?

"Just thinking I want to get some snacks," he lies, backing away from Mikey toward the lair's exit. "Be back in a few. Hey, if you want something, text me!"

"Leo!" Mikey calls after him, but he's already running through the tunnels like the coward he is.

...

"...Hey Leon."

Leo peeks up around his knees. Leonardo is standing over him, so big and tall and imposing. Leo isn't sure how it's possible that he ever gets that big.

He's not wearing his arm, and Leo's eyes linger on the missing piece before sinking back down to his own legs, pulled up to his chest.

"How'd you find me?"

He hears an amused huff. "You think I'd forget where I used to do my teenage angsting?"

"Who's angsting? Not me. I'm angst free."

There's some shuffling, and then he feels a warm weight on his left side.

"You remember what I said? You can tell me anything."

"There's nothing to tell," he tries. When there's no response, he tacks on, "It's stupid anyway."

"How about you tell me what it is, and then I'll decide if I think it's stupid?"

Leo hesitates, reaching over and fiddling with one of his bandages out of habit. Leonardo is quiet, and patient, and Leo hates how it works on him every time.

"...Mikey kicked a ball at me. Probably not on purpose." Not that he would mind if it had been on purpose, actually, because Pizza Supreme knows he's thrown many a thing at his brothers in his life, but that isn't the point. "And I tried to catch it but... I tried to use my right arm, before I remembered, oh yeah, don't got one of those anymore."

"Okay." Leonardo's voice is measured. "What part of that is supposed to be stupid?"

"That it didn't even hurt but I'm out here "teenage angsting" anyway?"

"Okay, poor choice of words. That's my bad." Leonardo leans into him, and Leo doesn't pull back. "Sounds to me like you aren't upset about the ball. Sounds like you're upset about your arm."

"Yeah, well, I spent weeks being sad about that. I'd like for it to be over, please."

"Unfortunately I don't think it works like that, Mini Me. Grief moves at its own pace. Trust me on that."

Leo pulls his head up, fixing his older counterpart with a stare. "You don't seem bothered by it anymore. How'd you manage that?"

He gets a shrug in return. "I don't think you should use my reaction to gauge your own."

"Why not? We're literally the same person."

"We stopped being the same person the day you stopped the invasion."

Leo isn't sure that's true.

Perhaps sensing that such is the case, Leonardo sighs and continues. "I've had longer to get used to it than you. Eventually, your body starts to adjust to make up for it. Plus, I was older than you when it happened, and I'd already lost... things that made an arm feel like nothing by comparison."

Leo shudders at that, and Leonardo reaches with his arm, giving Leo's shoulder a comforting rub.

"It took time, though. And it still trips me up sometimes. My body forgets and tries to reach with an arm that isn't there. The robot arm doesn't help with adjusting."

He can't help but smile at that, just a little. "But it's so cool."

"Damn straight it's cool. Can't wait to see what Donnie's got cooking up for you."

"Raph nixed the flamethrower attachment."

"He's probably already added it, you just have to swear not to tell."

Leo snickers, and Leonardo laughs along.

"One way we're still the same," Leonardo says when they're quiet again, "is that we aren't good at being kind to ourself. But you're going to have bad days, and you're going to have days where the little things feel insurmountable. And I'm asking you on those days to be kind to yourself."

The sad, ugly thing in Leo's gut is still there, but he feels better anyway, staring at the wall of the tunnel with Leonardo's weight still at his side. Be kind to himself, huh?

"...Seems like you could use the same advice, old man."

Leonardo chuckles, reaching over to give his head a light cuff. "Yeah, yeah. Let's try to learn together."

#dandy fanfiction #rottmnt #rise leonardo #future leonardo #it's the learning to be kind to yourself by literally being kind to yourself for me #who's peepaw is this? #ell's I guess #peepaw is peepaw

[hueningsloverr]

౨ৎ txt as musicals !

pairing: ot5 txt x musicals summary: god. idek where to begin. txt as musicals. word count : 0.6k im actually so sorry i even wrote this wow what was i thinking. if you dont know these songs LISTEN TO THEM.

yeonjun : heathers / mean girls there is also a tiny dash of moulin rouge in him

it boy energy is so reflected throughout BOTH

i’m sorry

definitely a candy store guy

he 100% cracks corny jokes like in stupid w/ love

but the amazing theatricality???

the vocals????

SO yeonjun

and ikik abt the soobin meangirl meme but like

lets be real

jjunie just has that energy

and not in a bad way

like in a 'yeonjun told me to dye my hair purple so i did!' way

and when i say heathers i don't mean the negatives

like that musical is fucked up

i mean the level of iconic-ness (?)

sassy man apocalypse fr

"i like looking hot buying stuff they cannot :3" - yeonjun (definitely)

soobin : six

...

i'm actually so sorry for this one!

he competes with himself, that much is obvious

soobin seems like the type to really question if he deserves something - if his suffering was enough

he's the type to compare past suffering to current

like 'well i suffered back then and i turned out fine, i'm not any more important for suffering now' type of stuff

he's the leader, its his job to be the strongest

and he lets himself have some fun

(i mean his first [?] scandal was him showing his middle toe.)

or he could be super serious like the great leader we all know he is

or he's just a total mess, but yet still so strong ??

hes admirable

he's in the history books fr

beomgyu : hamilton

the perfect balance of chaos and serious

i mean he's literally "lock up your daughters and horses!"

while also being "mom i'm so sorry for forgetting what you taught me"

beomgyu was written by lin manuel miranda argue with a wall

its also just so interesting, like gyu

like you could study both hamilton and gyu

a fan favourite

you can't go wrong with hamilton

and you can't go wrong with guy

hamilton has its… fans

and gyu has his bamtoris

both would doxx you if you speak ill of their favs

the gateway into the community

like gyu was the first member i found out about

and hamilton was the first musical i liked

you dip your toes in, and next thing you know you just spent $25 for some merch

taehyun : hadestown

it’s so sad

yet serene and passionate like tyun

i mean, just look at him

those eyes - that smile!!

boba eyes :3

also, he so was a greek mythology kid

probably bought every percy jackson book / related piece of media when it came out

he knows everything

theres just something so tyun about it all

hadestown is a musical you might not know about

but the second you do you're like "wow wtf i was missing out on literally everything good in this world"

and that's literally tyun too

like if you somehow don't know about vocal king taehyun

the moment you find him obsession forms

or at least in my case

my little tyun🤧

i could see him staring in the mirror going "who are you? who do you think you are"

hueningkai : be more chill (bmc)

you can not tell me this boy didn't have some sort of issue making friends

the photos of him sitting alone at lunch (?) pre-debut???

hes so jeremy heere

because he's really just a sweetie

but no one notices him besides his very close friends

definitely would almost accidentally take over the state of new jersey

type of boy to go all the way if he likes a person

im talking joining the same clubs as them

and even joining the friend group they're in

all of it

we all know he used to think so poorly of himself and talk down on himself

like he had those voices in his head

has his michael in the bathroom moments

thinks he's a loner, a loser, a freak

you know the usual high school insults

but he's able to grow confident, with some help

i luv hueningkai ;3

and i luv be more chill

authors note : i lied this is not based off of making the bed. my bad. whoops. maybe next time!

©2024 — all rights reserved to hueningsloverr , please do not plagiarise or translate any of my work

#hueningkai #huening kai #txt #choi beomgyu #beomgyu #choi yeonjun #yeonjun txt #yeonjun #txt yeonjun #choi soobin #txt soobin #huening kai txt #txt huening kai #txt beomgyu #kang taehyun #taehyun #txt taehyun #tubatu #tomorrow x together fluff #tomorrow x together imagines #tomorrow by together #tomorrow x together #hueningsloverr

[lonesplashy]

Ok I see ppl on Tumblr talking Abt how much they liked the final episodes but honestly I was severely underwhelmed by the fionna and cake ending. If you don't want to see me just list out everything I like and dislike and why according to my arbitrary personal preferences scroll now.

The second half of the fight with scabby was meh and repetitive. At least the gumlee was cute. Fionna is still the bestest even if her final fight kinda sucked. I love her dearly and I hope she is living her best life.

The lack of Ooo Marceline in the end was literally so disappointing too I wish we could've seen her again at SOME point.

And just in general the ending felt really rushed, I feel like if they had some more episodes to work with it would've been a lot smoother.

Simons pov was just so severely underwhelming, it just felt like filler to me.

I literally didn't care if it was going to be happy or sad ending for Simon as long as it made me feel things like the last couple of episodes did but it just felt totally flat. It didn't really feel like an ending at all. I wouldn't even mind the breakup angle they took under normal circumstances if it wasn't for the fact he like. Literally spent 12 years basically being in a constant mental breakdown, and a thousand years before that subconsciously searching for her, and her literally driving herself to insanity and becoming golb to keep him safe, but wow suddenly everything's chill cuz he played a video game. Ok. Simon just realized that whoops he didn't always take Betty's feelings into account and they parted ways.

And I will repeat: I DO NOT MIND THE BREAK UP ANGLE. IT MAKES SENSE OBJECTIVELY. HOWEVER. IT FEELS LIKE THERE WAS LIKE. TWO MINUTES OF THOUGHT PUT INTO IT. DEFINITELY NOT SUPER HEARTSTRINGS PULLING TO ME. DO NOT GET IN MY COMMENTS BEING WELL ACTKULLY THIS IS JUST ME COMPLAINING ABOUT CARTOONS.

I liked the golbetty in the bus and the golbetty statue. I could bs something about them going their separate ways on a journey the other can't go on and insert trigun quote here about how the ticket to the future is always blank but I just really like golbetty. She's great shes monsterous she's perfect.

Just in general Simon and Betty felt off to me during the final episodes, I can't really put my finger on it but they just felt weird. I'm sure Betty's been doing a lot of thinking in the void and all but it still fell to the left of them I think. The whole time I was watching I was just like. Hm.

Edit: got it. Betty has always been wanting to keep Simon thinking about her. Always. With AI Betty head she flat out said "I knew it would drive you crazy but at least you'd always be thinking about me" and it's like a core thing she does stuff for the Dramatics. While you can argue she's been doing a lot of thinking in the void and matured because of it she's also been a goddess of CHAOS. If anything she's gonna go more loony rather than more mature.

Not to sound like a doomed crazy yuri enthusiast but there are literally no normal or healthy actions you can take after literally becoming a god for someone.

Maybe I'm just too committed to the bit but I'm a solid believer that if you start a weird fucked up path you gotta end on a weird fucked up note. Although the severe disappointment of nothing happening is probably the most fucked up thing they could do to me.

Ik it's supposed to be some sometimes life doesn't give you a tidy ending stuff but also this is fiction I get enough fuck yous like this from reality and ignored job applications I want my fuck yous from fiction to be not sadly vague. Or at least better written.

At least Simon's in therapy. About time.

And the little emoticons he's using in his phone. :)

Do feel free to put your own opinions in on whether you liked or disliked the ending just play nice 🤙

#i think i wouldve rather watched simon explode tbh #significantly more entertaining #fionna and cake #fionna and cake spoilers #petrigrof #fionna and cake episode 10 #fionna and cake episode 9 #im ignoring canon in my head theyre having crazy nightmare dream sex #also what was simon supposed to do about the bus flap his arms and fly to Australia

[darby-draws]

@marscats37 when did they realize they may or may not have a thing™ for each other ? (and who realized first ?)

Thanks for asking this Mars! It's a bit long, covers a lot of their history. (But it could have been longer!! I've edited it down perfectly of course.)

Gabriel and Felipe have a tricky past of being in a bit of a Will They Won't They situation. They've actually known each other for a while. (They met like 5 years before "current timeline" so thats probably 6 years before they are like actively Dating™)

Gabriel: 20, (not even he should have been at the club age. Wow.) Works at a laundromat, usually at odd hours. Not much confidence in himself, even if he seems put together don't trust him he's only 20 and faking it. I think his narcolepsy is making him fall asleep inconveniently pretty frequently at this era. (<- and that embarrasses him even though he can't help it) Coping badly with that. Felipe: 22. Works for his dad's pool business cleaning pools in the summer, but has the sidegig of being an unemployed sk8r boi. A simple man, please, no need to make relationships complicated! (<-doesn't know he knocked someone up a year ago.)

Felipe is actually the first of the core General Menace friend group that Gabe meets. They never really hung out or spent much time together directly. Felipe would loiter around Gabe's work sometimes and they liked seeing each other! (<- this is when Felipe thinks they could and should have A Thing™ together. Wishful thinking... His friends notice this and tease him for having the hots for Laundromat Boy.) They Almost hookup once in this early era. Unfortunately due to circumstances of Gabriel's narcolepsy and his easy-to-embarrass attitude, they don't hook up, because he fell asleep instead and then was, embarrassed. It's like, fine, no biggie? BUt he's in a weird headspace and he kinda brushes away the thought of potentially hooking up again. He's been goin through a lot lately, maybe this isn't the right time, etc etc. They both think "okay, so that's not happening..." (Unfortunate, but also they were really young its probably for the best)

Next time they get close to having A Thing™ together, is at the start "current" canon timeline. General Menace, the band that Gabriel is in has just formed. He's gained a bit of confidence over the years, so he invites Felipe to one of their shows. They can hang out after! ("hang out"? 👀 thinks Felipe) Yeah hang out. With the band. Unfortunately due to circumstances: Gabriel spending all his energy drumming, Sammy getting introduced to Felipe and hitting it off, and Gabe spending a little too much time with his roommate and ex Eve, they both think "this probably isn't happening, again". Sammy is very affectionate, like Felipe is. And Felipe likes things to be simple, no fuss. So since Gabe is not as direct with feelings, and Sammy literally Sat in His Lap. After JUST Meeting. There was an easy answer to where his attention was going tonight. WHOOPS~! Gabe immediately knows he should have been more direct he messed that up didn't he... But doesn't wanna cause drama with the band or his friends, if Sammy and Felipe like each other, hey mannnn that's great! Awesome! 😬 (<- This is his realization that they could have had A Thing™ going. But they don't so he's being brave with his feelings.) (He saw that they had chemistry together and feels like it would be Bad and Selfish of him to bring up his Own desires. But literally if he said something right away, Felipe woulda been right there with him, Sammy wouldn't have gotten so attached, etc. It would've been great! But! Don't tell him that, he didn't knowwww!!!)

On Sammy and Felipe's side of things, Sammy is super eager, clingy and in the happy honeymoon phase, and while Felipe is having lots of fun with this, he also thinks, hey we were just hooking up right, we weren't Dating™ right? so he does still keep his flirty attitude towards Gabriel. WHich is FINe says Sammy, who said that they aren't dating so of course he can still flirt with other people (<- didn't realize it would be within his own friend group)

Gabriel and Felipe hookup a few months after Sammy and Felipe started hooking up. (In a hotel room, with Sammy sleeping in the next bed over shh shh its fine.) It's fun, and Gabriel's finally like, opening up about his wants and desires! (FINALLY.) Felipe's directness and his own openness with wanting Gabe makes Gabe comfortable to get into that discussion. They start out casual too, just like with Sammy, no need to put much pressure on what this relationship is yet, just having fun with it!

They start getting more serious slowly over time, just hanging out more and getting comfier together. Felipe introduces Gabriel to his other friend group, and invites him to that groups Big Annual Camping Get Together, which is probably a pretty big turning point in the relationship. (His friends are surprised: "You're still into Laundromat Boy?!? WHOA!") At the same time, Sammy and Felipe have been weaning off their hookups together, they're on good terms and they really don't want it to get messy with complicated emotions. Sammy's happy for Gabe n Felipe, honest! (No matter how he phrases this he never sounds genuine, sometimes on purpose for comedic value because he knows he's clingy... but, really, he loves his friends, I promise. 🥺)

Over some time, the friend groups dynamic changes a bit. Sammy and Felipe become roommates together, Eve and Steph start dating and are talking about moving in together too. It gets Gabe thinking. "Hey... Why am I still living with my ex, and not my boyfriend now. Whoag. My boyfriend... 💞💖💘" And this starts the era of them like, ACTUALLY Dating, Living Together, etc etc.

It took idk six long years for them to explore some things, figure themselves out and mature, and finally get to this point. But they're finally getting things where they want!!! And I think that's awesome! 👍

#asks #original characters #oc talk #general menace #gabriel #felipe #sammy #<-hes here too! :) #anyway theres still more I could say of course but this at least touches a bit on each era #the Finally Officially Together era is pretty short because thats kinda. developing. but we still have a lot of thoughts about that too #its just the easiest one to not ramble on about yet because the others feel like you need backstory and context built up #but i love the finally together era. Gabe comes out to his family which could be a big long post in itself I bet. #I love them your honor

[1-800-c0sm1c]

꒰crossteaming pt.2 !꒱

genshin characters as your streamer bf/gf !

character x gn!reader

includes kazuha, venti, itto, thoma, and shenhe!

warnings : none.

a/n : thank you for all the notes on the 1st part , much appreciated <3

KAZUHA - THE GEOGUESSER PRO

of course the wanted criminal knows all about geography. (and poetry of course too, but well get to that later)

doesnt matter where in the world he is plopped down in, kazuha knows exactly where he is, and hes quick about it too.

competes in geoguessr tournaments too and often wins with ease.

hes the type to do google maps speedruns as well, and none of his friends are nearly as good as he is.

if youre ever lost somewhere, just send kazuha a pick of your surroundings on twitter, and hes sure to find your cross streets soon enough!

“you said how i got your address…? dont even worry about that bro.”

youre literally just there to distract kazuha, if im being entirely honest.

oh, hes 1 guess away from a 50 state streak ? not if you can do anything about it. especially if he had a penalty set up for getting answers wrong.

he has called you a pest multiple times, but its out of love <3 i dont genuinely think he could ever get mad at you for real, hes very calm all the time.

he also likes to share poetry! on the days you (lovingly) annoy him he likes to write funky lil haikus about how annoying you are <3 isnt that sweet?

what can i say, hes a funny little jokester, at least on camera. when its just the two of you alone hes a lot more romantic, i promise.

“shall i compare thee to a summers day? no, a summers day is not a bitch.”

VENTI - THE GENSHIN STREAMER

pretend for a second that hes not a character in the game, or even better yet, he voice acts one of the characters. venti never shuts up about how good his team comp is and how he always manages to get the characters he wants. (secretly hes just spending a LOT of money.)

character build reviews but hes actually pretty nice about it! sometimes there will be a build that he cannot physically say anything good about and its entertaining, so chat started sending in builds that were purposely bad just to get reactions out of him LMAO.

adventure rank 60, no doubt about it.

the most annoying co-op player. oh you wanted to be that character? too bad, now hes going to play them and hes got a better build too, guess you should switch <3

SOOO many unfinished quests yet he complains he has nothing to do. (guilty)

“go touch grass? im a genshin player… what is that supposed to mean?”

venti loves telling the story of how you two met in genshin co-op. you on the other hand.. well you wish he would stop talking about it every stream you appear in.

lots of streams together! he wont wish for a character without you, he claims youre his good luck charm. (he loses most of the 50/50s.)

will help you do any quest! as long as he wants to, and its one that he knows how to do. so maybe not ANY quest, but hes trying his best.

he may be annoying with strangers in co-op domains, but any character you want to play you can. no questions asked, hell switch immediately.

he does more damage than you but hell still say that you did all the hard work and hes proud of you <3

ITTO - THE FORTNITE STREAMER

“wow you did so much damage just now, you absolutely carried me! thank you, i love you. :)”

the best part about itto being a fortnite streamer is hes not even good at the game.

he tries his best, really he does. but somehow those cracked 12 year olds have got him beat.

has spent an embarrassing amount of money on the game, but you can tell how much he appreciates every item hes acquired.

plugs his creator code CONSTANTLY. hes gotta make that money hes spent back somehow!

whenever he has a really bad loss he just blames it on stream sniping because he can. yeah i basically turned him into ninja, whoops!

“oh my god bro again? you know what, reported for stream sniping!”

you and itto are truly a dynamic duo. youre actually decent at the game and hes entertaining to watch.

chat loves when you play duos games together, and you both do too! (even though hell take all the credit if you win.)

his favorite item is the chug cannon, mostly because he wants to make sure youre full health and shield at all times <3

has made many sacrifices of his characters life in you honor, even if you still dont end up winning, you appreciate it.

lots of moments from his streams have been clipped and put into funny moments montages and they all go straight to his neverending ego.

“we are the clowns and you all have front row seats to the circus.”

THOMA - THE VARIETY STREAMER

i couldnt see thoma sticking to one main category, i feel like every stream hes doing something new, and hes somehow pretty good at anything he tries out.

his commentary is really what gets people to stick around for his content, he can make anything sound interesting.

think of him as a steamer like rtgame! hes got really fun sims and hitman series, games you dont think could be made funny, but then he does and its overall a really great time.

hes got so many inside jokes from all the games hes played, youve got to be there for every stream otherwise you miss out heavily.

nobody even knew what he looked like for awhile because he didnt have a facecam, but once he started using one his viewers went up by 100k, no joke.

“where is that from? oh, its an inside joke, you probably wouldnt get it.”

thomas viewers are literally so jealous of you. youve pulled the ultimate man right there.

honestly i dont see you appearing on his steams much other than for the occasional mario party game.

i feel like since you never really appear most of his viewers didnt even know you two were dating until those random streams happen. everytime it does twitter goes wild with “THOMA HAS A S/O?” and half the replies are also freaking out while the other half is like “you didnt know?” its a mess every time.

most likely youre in thomas chat instead of in the room, and you tend to instigate chat into spamming emotes a lot and getting it turned to sub only mode. its honestly pretty funny.

one time you walked into his room to ask if he wanted mcdonalds and he was watching paint dry. this had been going on for 4 hours. you didnt ask questions.

“the hoes gonna love this.”

SHENHE - THE CALL OF DUTY PLAYER

i think call of duty lobbies are the only place on earth that can handle shenhe if shes genuinely angry.

shes a toxic gamer for sure, dont get on her bad side.

shes gotten pretty good at the game too, shes one of those people who buys the new game everytime one comes out instead of just playing the same version.

chongyun will make appearances at times, they played mario party together once and it was hilarious. (for the viewers at least, maybe not chongyun though LMAO)

chongyun won and she 1v1ed him in nuketown right afterwards. (hes never won against shenhe again)

“everybody gangsta til chongyun is in the lead.”

chat doesnt understand how you can handle shenhe half the times, but truthfully she just has her own way of expressing her emotions.

for example, she broke one of your controllers playing once, and she drove her ass to best buy at almost midnight to go get you a new one, along with a note saying nothing but “sorry :(“ in the prettiest handwriting youve ever seen.

sometimes you even make her angry on purpose just because its funny, and you know no matter how much it may look like it, she could never get mad at you.

i know i said shenhe was a cod streamer, but imagine also playing apex with her alright? definitely a loba main, and shes literally just as toxic on here as she is on call of duty. 

probably has had 3 xbox accounts banned already.

“no chat i am not saying slurs in general chat, this time at least.”

#✧;;↬ my work.❞┊🍓 #genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #genshin impact x you #genshin x you #kazuha x reader #venti x reader #itto x reader #shenhe x reader #thoma x reader

[rinwritesfics]

The Picnic

Plot: Wrecker's plans fall through - but in the best way.

Warnings: None.

Word Count: 499

Author’s Note: Something soft and sweet for this man because he's lovely.

It was a special day. Everyone was out and about on their break, which gave you a reprieve to check the meager medical supplies aboard the Marauder.

A dull thud sounded, then another. You’d know that step cadence anywhere, which caused you to smile. Wrecker had returned.

All the time you had spent with the Batch had afforded you the opportunity to get to know them all – especially the very tall, sweet man who had worked his way into your heart.

And you were worried he knew. Being half-blind and half-deaf did not mean he missed seeing or hearing things you didn’t want him to notice. But that kind man never seemed to ask about your shyness around him, nor did he say anything if he noticed you looking at him for an extended amount of time.

You hurried to look busier than you were when he came around the short corner.

Wrecker beamed. “I got a surprise for ya!”

Your heart fluttered. “You do? You didn’t have to do anything for me.”

“But I wanted to!”

“Alright, lead the way.”

He held out his hand and you shyly grabbed it.

“Close your eyes,” he said. You did. He led you a short distance and then said, “Ta-da!”

You opened your eyes and on his bunk was a basket.

“Wow, uh, it’s lovely Wrecker,” you said with as much happiness as you could muster to cover your confusion.

“I’m taking you on a picnic!”

Your face lit up in surprise, then a blush. A picnic with Wrecker? It almost sounded like a date. Excitement filled your veins and then it was replaced with dread as you heard it.

Tap.

Tap.

Taptap.

Pitter-patters turned into heavy downpour as rain hit the roof of the Marauder.

Wrecker looked up at the ceiling of the ship, then deflated.

“Aw, man. I really wanted to impress ya.”

You stepped closer to Wrecker and placed a hand on his arm. He looked at you, eyes wide and lips parted in surprise. You decided to take the leap, warmth in your cheeks.

“You already have. You’ve done something really nice for me.”

“But ya won’t get to enjoy it. The weather ruined it.”

“We can eat in the cockpit. Lay out a blanket and listen to the rain as we eat together.”

He smiled. “Really?”

“Yeah. Besides, a date turned on its head isn’t going to make me lose interest in you.” You froze as you realized what had come out of your mouth, but it was too late.

His eyes widened again. “Y-you like me?”

You whispered, “Yes.”

He whooped with joy, then picked you up and spun you around. You giggled and he set you down gently.

“Oh, you have no idea how long I’ve been wondering if I should tell ya how I feel. I really, really like ya, too.”

You smiled, then leaned into his side.

“Well, shall we?” He grabbed the basket and a blanket, then your hand.

“We shall.”

Taglist is open!

#tbb wrecker #tbb wrecker x reader #clone x reader bingo #cfb2023

[fabcrabart]

♡♡♡

THANKS YALL FOR GOIN DOWN MEMORY LANE WITH ME!!! thank you all so much for the support and kind words, thanks for remind me that time spent on something you love is never time wasted ;w; ❤️❤️❤️

most of the art i’ve done since those WoW days have been commissions, mostly of WoW chars! \o/ i’m so bad at keeping public galleries updated lol but i think there’s a few i never shared here

and i THOUGHT i posted my convention badge stuff here too but apparently not whoops lol. since i’m gearing up to make more i should probably post the ones i did before

[grace-nakimura]

whoops. (1/2)

rating: pg-13 at the most, and most of it is for language. pairing: past - and kind of present - grace nakimura/gabriel knight. trigger warnings: pregnancy. mentions of the occult. grace's lack of brain cells (affectionate). not beta'd. summary: eight weeks after the events that took place in rennes-le-château, grace finds her hopes into being a big damn hero put on a hold. also known as, no one is going to write it, jane has left us on read about it, so i'm going to do it.

eight weeks.

In hindsight, she should’ve known something was amiss; no, it wasn’t her being late, either. Grace had dealt with irregular periods since she was thirteen. After the first month of nothing, she didn’t think much about it. She was too busy settling into a flat in Mumbai and chalked it up to her body working like it usually did—coffee and those powdery doughnuts convenient stores like to sell—to pay too much attention. Then the second month went by, and Grace said, “well, might be stress,” because she was once again going halfway around the world trying to be a Big Damn Hero. 

Better reasons this time around, but the same story.  

Her jeans fit a little tightly. Her breasts were sore, tender really. It was the heartburn—Christ. She was thirty. Surely, thirty was too young to worry about heartburn? Especially after eating a jalapeno, when she grew up eating spices that were way warmer—that made her suspicious. Maybe she was sick; maybe it was some sort of stress of moving across the world, with only a letter to a man she would always love more than he’d love her, and a short phone call to her parents in New York.  

Sometimes she thought about e-mailing Gabriel.  

She never did. Not because she hated him, but because she was afraid he hated her.  

I wouldn’t blame him if he did, was what she told herself, because for all his faults, she wasn’t always innocent either.  

“You’re young,” Gerde had told her when Grace chalked up the courage to give her a real, sincere apology. Grace had bristled at that at first—twenty-four wasn’t young; she was a grown woman—but Gerde just gave her a knowing look that said, see? Then they shared a beer and spent most of the night talking about history, about philosophy, and for a rare time she saw how Gerde spoke about the late Wolfgang without hedging on sadness, but a sort of fondness, and Grace remembered thinking, wow, I hope I love someone like that one day.  

She had a photo of him, of Gabriel, in her wallet. Of course, it wasn’t only him, but Mosley was there, too. Gabriel had his arm around his best friend while looking into the camera with a smug grin.  

Out of all the things she missed about Gabriel Knight, it was that smug grin of his. 

Eight weeks. Eight weeks passed and she spent it making her small flat livable, while pouring herself in whatever Chandrel threw at her. Mostly, it was meditation—apparently, she had trouble centering herself and opening her mind, ergo, she was stubborn—and research. Which was fine. Learn how to count before you could add or subtract. Didn’t stop her from being restless and wanting to advance when she was four, and it was still the same at thirty.  

What gave it away, what finally made her think, huh, my body has been acting weird so I should investigate it, was the smell of incense. It was during a meditation with the other initiates when something when she got a whiff of something so foul, so unimaginably rancid, she shot up from the pillow she saw on to throw up her breakfast in a potted plant.  

“Meditation isn’t for everyone,” a Nigerian undergrad named Aretta joked, but her brown eyes were sympathetic when another wave of nausea hit.  

That day she purchased three pregnancy texts. She realized a little too late where she purchased from did not have an English translation so, with swallowing her pride and humiliation, and because she felt she needed to apologize for what happened earlier, she handed the sticks to a baffled Chandrel who was outside, trimming the weeds on his knees.  

“Sorry about...” she trailed off, not wanting to allow the word ‘vomit’ to escape her mouth, ‘else if she thought about it too much, she might repeat it. Chandrel was proud of his garden, and he had been nothing but a good friend; he didn’t deserve that. “Um. I don’t... I know a few words in Hindi, but I don’t know if this is Tamil, or...” 

“Marathi,” Chandrel said with bemusement. Sometimes, when he spoke to her, it felt like he was speaking to a child, and while a part of her wanted to bristle like she did when Gerde called her young, a larger part of her allowed herself to be humbled. Maybe the meditation thing was working, or maybe she was simply growing up. He took the tests—a brow quirked knowingly—with brown eyes staring at the results for a moment, before handing them back to her. “Congratulations are in order, I assume. Or condolences.” 

Whoops. 

twelve weeks.

She had typed out an e-mail to Gabriel about, oh, five thousand and twenty-two times. Sometimes she just ranted at him, blamed him, as if she wasn’t a willing participant; as if she hadn’t thought about what happened—although maybe she would’ve wanted the situation to be a bit different—a thousand times before it did. Sometimes she gave into self-flagellation and apologized to him. For envying him. For wanting to be him at some point, even if half of that want was merely her doing her best to ignore the growing unrequited feelings that blossomed without her saying so. For leaving without a proper goodbye because, despite it all, he changed her life for the better.  

She went to New Orleans to grow up, to make her own choices, and applying for that job at Saint George’s did exactly that.  

The ones that she’d never send were the ones to which she told him she loved him. That it was fine that he didn’t feel the same, she heard him tell Mosely as much, and what happened, while it meant a great deal to her, probably wasn’t the wisest idea for either of them. That wouldn’t change how she felt and maybe, someday, they could continue being friends. Just friends with a Whoops in their lives.  

Sometimes she wrote letters, actual handwritten letters, even if the new millennium was dawning and no one wrote letters anymore. Hell, it took Grace weeks to convince him to use a computer than his typewriter.  

She knew she could call. At least, she could call Gerde, who was a good friend, had been a supportive friend even if their initial meeting was awful, if only to reassure her that she was fine. She hadn’t spoken to her since returning briefly to Rittersburg to collect her things. They had hugged, Gerde had wished her well, and while the woman wanted to pry, she had the grace to keep any questions silent.  

Every e-mail was deleted; every written letter was crumbled up and tossed in the bin.  

“I have bigger fish to fry,” she had told herself, unconsciously rubbing the small bump. Most women don’t show their first time around, or not really, but Grace found herself rubbing that spot where the smallest of bulges formed more and more as of late. “I still have to tell my parents.” 

Thinking about telling Gabriel made her heart hurt; telling her parents made her heart go into overdrive into a flat-out panic attack. Not good for Whoops, the doctors had said, so she decided not to tell them. At least, not yet. Maybe when she could look her very, very traditionalist parents, who came to America when she was three so she could have the best life possible, in the eye and say, “well, you always wanted to be grandparents!” without dying from sheer terror. 

“What are you going to do about Whoops?” Aretta had asked, braids placed in a bun on top of her head as she walked with Grace arm and arm toward some hole-in-the-wall food joint that Grace had been constantly craving, regardless of heartburn. While low-rise jeans were becoming a style, Grace enjoyed the high-rise variety, especially when she knew soon most of her blouses would not fit. They were already snug at the bust area, much to both her horror and slight amazement. “Have you considered—” 

“Everything,” she told the younger woman with a great big sigh. “I even started to make an appointment at the clinic like you suggested, but...” 

Aretta did not, nor would she ever, judge, and merely offered a small smile. She and Gerde would’ve gotten along a lot quicker than she and Gerde did. Then again, that was Grace’s own blunder, not Gerde’s. “It was only a suggestion, Grace,” Aretta soothed, “the choice is yours alone. It is your body, after all, not mine.”  

Grace nodded and offered a small smile.  

Having their fill of samosas with chola, they spent the rest of their time going over the bestiary sitting crisscross-applesauce in the middle of her flat, that still had yet to be fully unboxed, scribbling their own experiences—well, Grace’s, anyway, since all Aretta knew was what her mother had taught her—in the margin of their notebooks.  

Whoops still hovered in the background. Hard not to when all she felt was bloated, gassy, or rarely—and she counted herself grateful since her mother had often said that carrying Grace meant she was spending more time over the toilet than having any sort of pregnancy glow—throwing up. Tucking her raven hair behind her ear, thinking she ought to give it a trim because it was growing too long, she blurted out, “What if I keep it? Whoops? I mean, it shouldn’t be too hard, right? Women have kids alone all the time.” 

Aretta made a noncommittal sound, and Grace continued, “I don’t need Gabriel. He always said he was terrified of settling down, anyway, so, me not telling him is just honoring his wishes.” Another noncommittal sound came from Aretta who, if Grace was anywhere but her head, would think it almost sounded amused. “He compared me to a nagging Ikea furniture, anyway, so there’s no loss there. Really. Also, my parents? Well, they can’t kill me if I show up in Manhattan in a year from now just, you know, shoving a baby at them and say, surprise! I can say I adopted it!”  

“Mmm,” and for being younger than Grace, with those dark discerning eyes and a patient grin. “It is your choice, like I said,” and this would be when she finally would take her eyes from the notebook she had been scribbling on, a toothy grin that showcased her gapped teeth she wore proudly. Not like Grace. Grace begged for braces to correct hers. “You do not need to convince me, Grace, but I think you need to convince yourself.”  

Which, when Grace came down from the neurotic burst, she had to release it like the gas that kept her up all night, she allowed. And after a long moment, after deliberating every pro and con, imagining every sort of scenario, Grace was left with this. “I want to keep Whoops.” 

Aretta snorted, “You might need to figure out a name other than Whoops, then.”  

twenty-four weeks.

It was closing in at the cut off where she could travel internationally. The midwife she had been seeing so far had told her she was pushing it, but since her pregnancy was going on without a hitch, then it should be fine. The old woman even gave her a doctor’s note in case there was any trouble.  

Aretta drove her to the airport. Chadrel had to run the academy but gave her his blessing. “The both of you are always welcome back, Grace,” he had told her. 

“It’s not forever,” she reassured him with a laugh. She never got to get her hair trimmed, decided to wear it in a braid because it was the easiest thing she could do in the mornings. “We’ll be back soon. Just need to tie up some loose ends.” 

A knowing look, “I take it you aren’t going to the States?”  

“Not until Whoops is born and I can hide behind her, because I’m pretty sure my mother won’t kill me if I’m holding a baby.” It was the only thing that kept her nerves at bay, really, when it came to telling her parents. They were traditional, yes, but Grace knew they loved her more than life itself. She was their only one, after all. They never understood her wanting to go to New Orleans, or wanting to go to Germany, or even India, but they had supported her, nonetheless. 

Mostly, she just didn’t want to disappoint them.  

Just like she hoped her daughter, her Whoops, wouldn’t be disappointed by her.  

Funny. For a while, she had thought she was carrying a boy; she had assumed that most of the Ritters were males, anyway.  

She had written to Gerde a week before she bought her ticket. She hadn’t told her about Whoops, yet—which was a bit mean, really, just showing up pregnant, but for all Grace wanted to be a big damn hero she was mostly a big damn coward—but did ask if she could stop by. This sort of thing was a conversation one had in person, not phone or e-mail or letter.  

Of course, Gerde had written. We left your room the same. Gabriel has been out a lot, recently, but I know he would be happy to see you. 

“You’ll call, or write, when you get there.” No questions, but straight facts as Aretta pulled her into a hug, which she returned as best as her bump allowed. Although small, it still made moving around difficult. “You gave me the address to that big fancy castle. If you don’t write, you bet your ass I will.”  

And with that, Grace boarded the plane, not yet waddling like a duck, thank God.  

While Mumbai wasn’t as cold as Germany, and she would spend a great deal of the flight burning up, she dressed in her warm maternity clothes. Rittercastle was in the mountains and while she remembered it being picturesque and almost something out of a fairytale, she also remembered how cold the castle was even with heating installed, and how she spent more nights next to a fire than not. New Orleans spoiled her. She grew up with the cold. Now she couldn’t stand anything below fifty degrees. 

Two things that were fortuitous when Grace Nakimura made it to Rittersburg Castle: one, light snow which made finding a cab to take her to her destination rather easy; two, when she arrived, Gabriel wasn’t there, which would give her even more time to explain herself. 

She used that time to explain to Gerde who, when she opened the door to greet her, noticed her bump as soon as Grace walked inside.  

“You’ve been busy.”  

Grace smirked, “you have no idea.”  

And that was how she spent the first night in Rittersburg after many months; sipping hot cocoa, sitting on the couch beside Gerde, telling her everything that happened. From Chadrel, to what happened in France, telling her about Aretta, and then to Whoops. Gerde snorted into her own cup of cocoa at the nickname. “Whoops?”  

“It felt appropriate,” Grace defended, “and nothing seems to fit her.” 

Gerde’s blue eyes twinkled. “Her?” 

Grace gave an almost shy smile, nodding. She felt ridiculous for being so bashful about Whoops. From the moment she felt her fluttering about inside her, letting Grace know that under no uncertain terms she was there, to even showing everyone at the academy the sonogram photos she had taken. It was ridiculous. She knew this was ridiculous, entertaining raising a child, but as every single day went by, she couldn’t see a life without Whoops.  

“You haven’t told Gabriel,” Gerde surmised. Grace nodded, causing the blonde woman to place her cup on the coffee table in front of them, and gave her a look that was far older than a woman of her age. Sometimes Grace forgot she was technically older than Gerde with how she carried herself. Just like Aretta. “I am going to be honest with you, Grace, he’s been—sad.” Gerde made a face as if saying, no, that wasn’t the right word for it, and began again. “He still jokes, he still writes, but there is something missing. He still talks to his grandmother, but that seems to be the only thing that really makes him happy.” 

Well. Shit.  

“You think Whoops would make him happy?” Grace asked, incredulously; easier to be obtuse than understand that, with how Gerde sounded so somber, Grace had to at least be partially the reason for his moods. Grace wasn’t arrogant enough to assume she broke his heart, but she knew that, while he’d never return her feelings, he still cared about her. That they were friends.  

Gerde allowed Grace to take the easy way out, if not for now, with how she snorted once more. “For a man who swears he is terrified of the idea of family, he keeps his own close to his heart,” which was fair. Rebecca Knight all but raised Gabriel, after all; if Mosley and Grace were his friends, Rebecca was his best friend, his world at that. And the fact he did mourn Wolfgang, even if he only knew him a brief time, the reason why he began the journey was to honor him in some way. A sense of duty.  

Well, that was how Grace saw it, anyway.  

She also remembered how he would always make time to visit his grandfather’s, his mother’s, and his father’s tomb, too.  

“I’m afraid,” Grace admitted, still sipping on her beverage. “Not...not just for me, you know, but her. I know Gabriel can be the world’s biggest ass, so can I, and I am not worried about him being an ass to her—damnit.” A groan. “I chose to be a Schattenjäger. Gabriel had to become one.” 

“And you are afraid that your daughter will not have a choice?” Gerde summed up effortlessly. “We all have a choice, Grace. That is one choice she will not have to make for many years yet. If I were you, I would focus on telling Gabriel—” 

“Tellin’ me what?” A heavily accented voice accompanied by boots on the castle ground. 

Grace began to choke on her cocoa, causing Gerde to move and pat her back. 

#myfic #based off my hc & my hc from my rp blog #gabriel knight #grace nakimura #tho it's mostly about rekindling their friendship and a maybe #whoops actually holds the braincell #icb i am tagging this but the fandom is small its ok #also splitting this up into two parts bc its over 5k #i don't know how to do small one shots anymore i guess

[spicycreativity]

Roceit - 3, 81, 307?

Whoops haha hey remember these prompts I specifically asked for and then only filled half of

Roceit + "Wow my pet snake looks so cute this morning and I’d be even happier if I actually had a pet snake" [307]

I haven't written for this fandom in a while, so forgive me if my characterization is a little rusty!

Roman awoke to a warm weight on his chest. It was almost pleasant, or would have been if he could breathe. He shifted a little, feeling out the contours of it with his body as his mind woke up.

His eyes flew open with the sudden realization— he slept alone.

A flat, scaly snout greeted him, mottled browns and blacks blurring at the proximity. But he wasn't too close to recognize the general shape, the slit-pupiled eyes.

A snake.

There was a snake on his chest. A big one.

Roman swallowed and fought to keep his breathing even. If this was some sort of twisted prank by Janus (or worse, his brother), freaking out could only make the situation worse. Janus and/or Remus would probably love to see him cry and flail like some sort of bumbling sidekick. So he had to keep calm.

But how exactly did one remove a gigantic snake from their chest?

Before Roman could pursue that line of thought, a whisper punctuated the silence. "Gem?"

Footsteps shuffled in the hall. The snake cocked its head, doglike.

"Hey, Gem?"

Roman's door, which should have been firmly shut, creaked on its hinges and swung further open. Janus poked his head in and froze, mismatched eyes meeting Roman's

"Ah."

"Looking for this?" Roman asked, carefully metering his tone to keep from disturbing the snake.

Janus entered the room properly and crossed his arms. "Do you make a habit of stealing other people's pets?" he drawled. "Should I keep an eye for a giant spider, too?"

"Hey!" The snake shifted and Roman bit his lip. "I didn't do anything; I just woke up with this… this thing on my chest."

"Oh, very nice." Janus crossed the room and scooped up the snake, which began to coil around his torso like an enchanted scarf. "Did you hear that, Gem? Our resident Disney prince thinks he's too good for you."

Roman braced his palms on his mattress and sat up. "I didn't say that," he said, cautiously eyeing the snake's face or any sign of hurt feelings. A thin, dark tongue flicked out and Roman smiled despite the strange situation. "Gem?"

"That's her name," Janus said slowly, but without any hint of condescension. Almost like he was hesitating. Like he was… shy. "And… I suppose, if you wanted, you could pet her. Just don't bend her scales back."

The textured surface of Gem's back was cool under Roman's fingers and for a moment, he wondered if Janus' face felt the same way. If it felt nice, to have your scales petted. His face warmed and he looked down, coming face-to-face with his own sculpted pecs. Well. No wonder Janus was acting so awkward.

Still, there was something warm in the way it made him feel, that Janus kept his eyes downcast. He made a show of stretching to let his covers fall further down his waist, exposing the waistband of his sleep pants.

Sure enough, Janus shifted his weight and coughed a little and pulled out two more arms to pet Gem in three places at once.

"So why did I wake up with your snake in my face?" Roman asked, and immediately regretted his choice of words.

"Oh," said Janus, reeling his energy inwards, "I put her there to mess with you, of course. I just came in here pretending to look for her as part of a comedy bit. What do you think, did you laugh?" When Roman only scowled, he sighed and added, "She can open doors. She likes to wander the subconscious sometimes."

"Hmm…" Roman looked at his door, bright cherrywood reflecting the imaginary sunlight streaming in from his window. "I must have forgotten to lock my door."

Silence descended upon them. Roman bit his tongue. He hadn't spent much time alone with Janus, not since… everything. It was almost pleasant to have something to talk about that wasn't a point of great existential dread.

Something mundane and scaly and cute.

"Well," said Janus after a few more excruciating seconds, "I suppose we should be going now." Without waiting for a response, he turned to go.

"Ah," said Roman, seeing him already almost at the door. "If you and Gem ever want to come visit when I'm wearing more clothes, I um. I don't think I would mind that."

"I'll have Gem's people talk to your people," Janus said, but Roman could have sworn he winked before shutting the door.

#spicywrites #sanders sides #trivia here since theres not rly a good place to put it in the post: #gem is a boa constrictor bc it was the first snake to pop into my head lmao #the name is short for 'geminus' #geminus being one of the god janus' epithets: janus geminus #it means 'twin' #presumably a reference to janus (the god)'s 2 faces but i didnt bother to check

[bettsfic]

2022 in writing

whoops, i wrote this at the end of december, put it in my drafts, and forgot about it. this is my seventh year writing a recap and i just read through all of them again. part of me thinks, "it's been 7 years and i haven't accomplished a fraction of what other writers have in that same time." but then the other part of me remembers 1) other writers are on their own path and working at their own speed, and 2) it's unfathomable to me how utterly mentally fucked i used to be. and i mean, i'm still mentally fucked but at least i'm working on getting better. the point is, i had a different starting line than others.

anyway, it's a new year and that means it's time to think to myself for the 7th year running, "dear god when am i going to publish a book." every year i think, this is going to be my year! every year it isn't.

overcame the worst writers' block i've ever had

"overcame" is making it sound more dramatic than it was. i went on a medication that fucked with my brain and then went back off it. but i worry that when i think back on 2022, i'm not going to remember all this cool stuff i did, i'm going to remember how utterly miserable i was for six months. how terrifying it was to feel like someone else was living in my body. i wrote a little bit about it in october's newsletter.

some of this post i've copied over from my newsletter.

but also i have to acknowledge that when i came back to writing, it felt like my brain had been totally rewired and i feel capable, creatively, of about 10x more than i used to be capable of. i'm still trying to articulate what changed and why.

published some things

“shut up and kill me” -- featured in issue 41 of Barren Magazine. the editor who chose it said it was his favorite of the 700+ submissions they received. very happy this weird story has found its home. please heed the warnings!

“coping skills” -- featured in issue 1 of Flossy Lit Mag, a magazine my friends started and which has some great work in it already.

("not if, when" was published january of this year, so it'll go in next year's update)

published other people's things

in 2022, ofic magazine published 33 prose pieces and 3 art pieces! over half of what we accepted came from not yet published authors and you have no idea how happy that makes me.

won a grant

i’m very very excited to say i won the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund grant to help offset the travel expenses of the residency i attended! i’ve been applying to this for years and it’s amazing to have been awarded it. the judges had a lot of lovely things to say about my work and it was a big confidence boost.

did a residency

i spent a month in beautiful Wyoming at the Jentel Arts residency. i met some wonderful artists, got a lot of work done, and had an amazing time. definitely the highlight of my year.

made the top 10 of a big contest

i submitted "Not If, When" to a screenwriting website hosting a prose contest, and out of what seemed to be a lot of submissions, i was a top 10 finalist, and now my story is being pitched to production studios to see if they want to buy the film/tv rights. i've also had a few phone calls with hollywood people wanting to talk to me about my work (i'm still confused about that) and i think they've gone well. no idea what the endgame is here though.

ran other workshop

i intended to run two fanauthor workshops but i only managed one, because of the whole "just gritting my teeth trying to stay alive" thing. but the one i ran i think went really well!

coaching/editing is my job now

i didn't think too much of that until i met with my thesis advisor to get caught up and she was like, wow that's the dream. and she invited me to be a panelist for the annual publishing symposium at my alma mater.

i'm not getting rich or anything, but i've picked up enough commercial copywriting work to make ends meet.

applied/submitted to a few places

totals:

11 residencies (8 rejections, 2 rejections with encouraging feedback, 1 acceptance)

4 publications (1 encouraging rejection, 3 acceptances)

1 award (1 acceptance)

2 screenwriting-ish contests (1 rejection, 1 finalist placement)

this has been far and away my most successful submission year. 6 major wins!

wrote 421k words

what's extra wild about this word count is that ~400k of it was across 6 months. from january 1 to june 16, i wrote only 22k words. and then from june 17 to december 31, i wrote the rest. and for the finished works, this doesn't include their respective trash docs (where i put everything i cut from a story). if i add in those, it's an additional ~90k.

year over year word count comparison:

2022: 421k

2021: 183k

2020: 375k

2019: 430k

2018: 450k

2017: 150k

2016: 343k

2015: 250k

2014: 311k

nine year total: 2,913,000

& other stuff

i really advocated for my mental health this year and i'm super proud of that. i mean dealing with my brain was basically a full-time job and i've come to accept i'll be spending my entire life micromanaging my own head, but for now things are okay

unfortunately i got a diagnosis that wasn't what i expected, that seems mostly correct, and which i'm having trouble accepting

i moved into an apartment with my best friend and it's going really well so far

the only travel i did was to missouri to visit family, and to wyoming for my residency

2022 goal recap (from 2021)

sell a book any book dear god -- got close, but nope

finish a draft of a new novel -- big nope

get an apartment -- yep! and it's great

publish 3 issues of OFIC -- yes and i'm very proud of them

publish 12 newsletters -- no, published 5 newsletters

register OFIC Press as a nonprofit -- not yet, working on it (this is far more difficult than i thought it would be)

run a successful Fanauthor Workshop -- yep! 2 sessions out of my goal of 4

write a proposal for a fanfiction craft book -- no, but i talked to my agent about it and now we're working on it together

write a script (pilot or feature) and submit to contests -- yes but it was Bad and i've gotta, you know, make it not bad

2023 goals

these are going to be remarkably similar to last year's, considering it's all just stuff that's been set in motion.

SELL A BOOK

finish a new novel (it's february and i've already kind of done this, but still putting it on here)

publish 4 issues of ofic mag

publish at least 6 newsletters

build the 2024 ofic press catalogue

apply for nonprofit status

run 4 workshop sessions

submit nonfiction proposal

build a script portfolio (feature, pilot, spec)

find a healthy balance between writing and living

annual thank you!

despite how badly i derailed for the first half of the year, i'm really grateful to fandom, readers, and all the friends i've made here for your support and encouragement, without which i wouldn't have been able to do any of this.

prior year recaps: 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021

#writing update #2022

[forest-hashira]

stopping by to ask for a bedtime story. pls tell me how you met the boys and and and i must know how the first date went <3

hi em!!! i'm so sorry this wasn't a bedtime story for you yesterday i was too intoxicated last night to be able to say this coherently...

ok so. i have an age gap going on with stsg, but i didn't know them beyond reputation for a long time (i attended kyoto jujutsu high, so they weren't my teachers dw). i didn't actually meet them until after i graduated. the higher ups, unsurprisingly, sent me on a mission i was not cut out for, so they stepped in and saved my ass. i was embarrassed as hell and kind of on my guard (hearing utahime-sensei bitch about gojo for years will do that), but they were both really nice. suguru made sure i wasn't too badly hurt after they'd taken care of the curses, but i did wind up kind of snapping at gojo for pushing me out of the fight completely (i said something along the lines of never being able to learn to defend myself if i never got to fight), and he just kinda... stared at me bc he didn't expect me to talk back to him. suguru apologized on his behalf, asked again if i was ok, and offered to escort me back to where i was staying (i didn't take him up on it).

cut to a couple weeks later. stsg were in kyoto for some meeting between the staff of both high schools, i was back on campus between missions (i just kinda..... never really moved out of my dorm after graduation, whoops) and ran into them again. before i could say literally anything to them (didn't get out any sort of greeting at all), satoru was blurting out a very awkward apology for how our first meeting had gone. i forgave him, and we exchanged small talk for a bit (i hated every second of it, small talk makes me Insane), and then they had to leave for another meeting, but before they walked away, satoru handed me a little piece of paper with their numbers on it, telling me if i ever needed anything just to reach out to them.

i put their numbers in my phone but didn't contact them for a few more weeks, until i was given another mission i had a feeling was more than i could handle. they agreed to come as backup, and promised not to interfere unless i really needed help. everything went fine in the end, but i appreciated them being there and keeping their word about not cutting me out of my own mission.

we texted back and forth occasionally after that, until one day they invited me out to a little cafe when i was in tokyo for a couple days. i didn't know until afterwards that they intended for it to be a date, i just assumed i was third wheeling, since their relationship was no secret to... pretty much anyone in the jujutsu world, and because i'm oblivious as hell so i didn't even know they were interested in me.

after that (failed) date, they decided to split up and each take me on a solo date. sugu went first, which toru wasn't happy about, but he spent a fair amount of the date talking toru up to me, which i thought was really sweet, but i was absolutely blown away when he told me that satoru had been pining after me basically from that first meeting.

anyways. my first date with suguru was to a secondhand bookstore, and then afterwards we had lunch in the park. it was fairly quiet, very low key, very nice; very him. my first date with satoru was to a roller rink. i have terrible balance so i spent the whole time clinging to him and wobbling around like a newborn baby deer, and he ate it up. when he finally had mercy on me we left the roller rink, he took me out for ice cream. it was a little chaotic, very high energy, very bubbly; very him. they both walked me home after our respective dates, and asked permission before kissing my cheek. it didn't take long after that for me to fall for them, hard.

wow ok that was..... a lot longer than i expected i'm sorry for talking your ear off em 😭

#asks answered #enchanting em #fallon's friends #self ship tag #sorry i started typing and apparently i had a lot to say kjshkdghdkjghsjk #but i haven't thought much abt our origin story so this was fun!!!

[invisibleraven]

Haunted Holidays

December 24: Fairy Lights <-AO3 link!

“I know you’re disappointed, I am too,” Julie said down the phone line. “But the ticket prices are just way too high to afford coming home this year.”

“I’m more than happy to pay mija, you know that,” Ray replied.

“No, I can’t ask you to do that,” Julie chided. “Look, I know it sucks that we’ll be apart for Christmas, but that means I have months to save up and come home for the whole summer next year, okay?”

“Are you sure I can’t convince you to come?” Ray asked. “I don’t want you to spend the holidays alone.”

“I won’t be alone,” Julie assured him. “Reggie is stuck here too, and we’re going to have a nice, quiet Christmas together. But we’ll video chat for presents on Christmas morning, and it’ll be almost as good as me being there, okay?”

“You try telling your tia that,” Ray grumbled. “I’m sure she’ll call you later telling you to come home too.”

“Next year, I promise,” Julie vowed. “Te amo papi.”

Ray repeated the sentiment, and Julie ended the phone call with a sigh. Reggie offered her a cup of coffee, which she took with thanks. “Your folk take it any better?” she asked.

The tips of Reggie’s ears burned. “Oh um, I wasn’t planning on telling them? They don’t care if I come home or not-this will be one less thing to fight over. I usually spend the holidays with my MeeMaw, but she gets that the flights aren’t cheap. I’ll see her over spring break if I can.”

Julie flung her head back with a groan. “Man, why does everything have to be so expensive?”

“Capitalism?”

“Fuck Capitalism!” Julie proclaimed. Reggie bumped fists with her at that, and then they looked around their barren little apartment. “Won’t be much of a Christmas, but at least we’re together.”

Reggie hummed. “I’m sure we could go find a few cheap decorations and a second hand tree if we looked.”

“I unfortunately have a shift in an hour, so I can’t help with that,” Julie replied. “But feel free to look around, and if you find anything decent, let me know how much I owe you.”

Reggie gave a mock salute, and soon saw her off to work while he decided to hit the thrift stores. He had honestly never really cared about Christmas, but he knew it stung Julie to not be able to spend the time with her family, so for her, he was willing to go all out.

The next few days were rinse and repeat, with them working, and Reggie finding them decor, while Julie agreed to handle the food. It wouldn’t be anything fancy, but it would be better than nothing.

The morning of Christmas Eve, Julie rushed out of the apartment, with Reggie promising it would be fully decked when she came home. She had volunteered to pick up a shift today , since the tips would be good, and she could add them to her going home fund for next year. Or maybe pay Reggie back because she knew he spent more than he was admitting to on the holiday decor.

Of course the day dragged on, and Julie swore no amount of tips made it worth it-even if she could now swing by the bakery and pick up a tray of pastry for dessert. Plus a Santa cookie, just because.

Julie rushed home, almost giddy to see what Reggie had done with the space, and to have a few days free. Sure, it sucked not to be going home, but she had to make the best of a bad situation right? She kicked her boots off at the door, calling out “Reg! I’m…home?”

The space was filled with fairy lights, strung from the ceiling, the cupboards, around the windows. “Oh wow.” There was a tree in the corner, decked out with little decorations of red, purple, and gold. A laptop was set up at the coffee table playing a crackling fire, with soft music coming from it. There was garland and tinsel and holly everywhere, but in a tasteful way, not just flung over every surface.

“Hey, you like it?” Reggie asked, grinning from beneath a ridiculous pair of antlers he was wearing on a headband, a small red dot painted on the tip of his nose.

“Reggie… this is magical!” Julie said, setting her things down so she could hug him, whooping as he spun them around. “You didn’t have to go through all this trouble!”

“Yes I did,” Reggie assured her as he set her down. “I know you’re bummed you couldn’t get home, so I had to make your holiday season as amazing as you.”

“Well I love it!” she declared. “Let me get my stuff off and I’ll start cooking, we can put on a movie, have a good snuggle.”

“Sounds like a perfect Christmas to me,” Reggie said. “As long as we can wear our holiday jammies too.”

“Well d’uh.”

Julie hadn’t gone all out for the food for tonight-just some fish tacos, but she had a small chicken for the two of them for tomorrow. Plus it would last days, so they could survive on leftovers for a few days. They ate quickly, then met back up with cocoa to snuggle while watching Love Actually-a favourite of Julie’s, and only because she had won the thumb wrestling match and narrowly beat out Reggie’s choice of Gremlins.

“At least you didn’t suggest Die Hard,” Julie said.

“I mean, it is a great movie, but it’s not a Christmas movie,” Reggie said. “You should be more happy I didn’t suggest the Star Wars Holiday Special.”

“Ugh nope!” Julie declared. “I’ve seen enough clips of that to ban it from our home.”

“What if I tickle you into agreeing?” Reggie asked with an arch of his eyebrow before pouncing, making Julie squeal as he assaulted her sides with his fingers, making her cackle with laughter.

“Stop! I give!” Julie declared, breathing heavily, flat on her back on the couch, Reggie perched over her, smiling down and a little winded. The fairy lights everywhere gave him such a golden glow, and Julie reached out, tucking some of his hair back. Sucking in a breath as he caught her hand, kissing the centre of her palm.

“Julie…”

Eyes met, and there was no more need for words, as Julie pulled him down for a kiss-a real, passionate, fiery kiss that had Julie whimpering into it and Reggie’s toes curling in his festive socks. A kiss that ramped up and then slowly petered off as they needed to breathe, pulling back with wide eyes and racing hearts. “Wow,” Reggie whispered. “Didn’t even need to break out the mistletoe.”

“You never needed mistletoe with me,” Julie promised him. “I never needed any of this.”

“I swear if you quote Mariah Carey at me,” Reggie fake threatened, but grinned as Julie pulled him in close once more, nipping at his ear, which made him gasp.

“I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know…” she purred.

“Oh darlin’, I swear, I’ll make all your wishes come true,” Reggie declared, scooping her up from the couch. “Just lead the way, and I’m yours.”

“My room then,” Julie declared, laughing as Reggie trotted them off.

Sure she hadn’t gotten to go home to her family that year, but Julie didn’t really care at that moment, because she finally got what she really wanted for Christmas all along. And the next year, she got to bring him home with her, and every year after that as well.

#jatpadvent2023 #rulie #julie and the phantoms

[my-shields-are-down]

Ok so what’s your thoughts on 5x5?

I liked 5x05 overall.

I love Celina - I know she bugs people with all her "woo woo"-ness, but I grew up around all of that - my community was very open to the weird and different and alternative ways of doing things. I especially love that Nolan has to manage expectations with her and coach her on being the best cop she can be - and its' taxing on him.

I feel like Mr Nolan has been coasting this season. So he got a golden ticket - whoop-di-doo. His new TO assignment has only been interesting (to me) because of Celina. He let Bailey die instead of killing Rosalind. I'm surprised that Bailey hasn't made more out of that fact - that Nolan chickened out and didn't step up to save her. And then she proposed? What is he even doing this season?

Sorry, tangent. back to 5x05.

I felt sad for Tim most of the episode. From my perspective he spent all of his time in the hospital thinking about Lucy - even with ashley sitting on his bed, holding his hand. To me Tim seemed very sad and very alone. His eyes were on Lucy whenever she was nearby like he could sense her presence. My heart just ached for him. I thought the glimpse into life with Ashley was telling. Tim was going through the motions and not causing waves - eating the diets she put him on, considering retiring because she wanted to live in Bali on his free money, pretending he didn't have a dangerous job he loved. She struck me as being very self-centered and oblivious. How do you not know your boyfriend has been shot? They had sex right? Did she never give him head? I mean the gunshot that started all this was in his lower abdomen - did she never go down there?

Clearly they never talked about his job, his goals and aspirations, his dreams or his wants and needs. He's obviously my favorite character and she just ignored all the wonderful things about him. And that breakup was cold - but thank god she's now gone.

I loved Tim's thinking about Genny and Lucy. I'm so glad Lucy was the catalyst for reuniting Tim with his sister. You just know he loves being an uncle. The fierce protector will always protect Lucy. of course he locked down the information about his surgery - if Lucy didn't know, she could focus on running the station and not worry about him.

Great episode for Lucy I thought. She got to be acting Watch Commander, acting Sergeant and run the roost so to speak for a day. WOW - think about that = Obviously Tim trusts her, but Grey does too. As do many of her colleagues. Talk about a confidence boost - and if she chose to - another career path to consider. One way to be Tim's peer is to be a fast-rising sergeant.

And the end scene where it's the two of them. ah, that was bliss. I'm so glad she visited him in the hospital and kept him company. After that super scary situation and surgery, being dumped within minutes of waking up from the surgery, having the love of your life, your person, who just being around brings you so much peace, joy and happiness RUSH IN to make sure, to see with her own eyes that he’s ok? I mean come on - how fantastic is that for Tim? All that alone time? I'm so glad they finally are coming together again.

Especially after he woke up from the surgery and looked around for Lucy, and she wasn’t there. I’m so glad Tim got a bunch of happiness by the end of that episode.

Two thumbs up. Excellent Chenford episode.

#askandrea #chenford #tim bradford #lucy chen #the rookie