#But we get good little snippets like this hehe

[chuuyas-height]

"I like Lucifer for the plot!"

The plot in question:

I'm sorry for the quality🥲

[becausebuckley]

tidbit tuesday!

both @spotsandsocks and @smilingbuckley tagged me and wrote some lovely bits for this <3 here's a little snippet from a marriage of convenience au i started the other day! i'm really leaning into the idiots in love tag here hehe, but i'm loving working on it! tagging @playinginthunderstorms @serenelystrange @kejfeblintz @unlifeira @inell and anyone else who wants to join in!!

“You know, I always thought that if I got married, the first thing I’d do would be changing my name,” Buck says, as they’re standing in front of the officiant. He’s not even sure why he says it, really, but it’s probably because he thought I wonder if she’ll say that we should kiss and promptly decided that any other train of thought would be safer to acknowledge, really.

“Yeah?” Eddie cocks his head and looks at him. 

Somewhere behind them, Ravi sucks loudly on the straw of the iced coffee he made Buck buy him. He added two extra shots of espresso and every single fruit syrup the cafe offered. He’s calling it the adult version of a Capri Sun. Personally, Buck thought that would include alcohol and not two times as much caffeine as a single adult should consume in a day, but he decided not to ask. He’s a little afraid of getting Ravi’s coffee all over his nice white shirt.

Buck shrugs.

“I guess I don’t really like being a Buckley. I mean, Buck is part of that, but I chose that, you know? I kept the good parts. But the only Buckley I like is Maddie, and she’s a Han now, so. There’s not much to keep a connection to.”

“You could do it.”

“What?” 

“Change your name.” Eddie swallows. He looks a little flustered. It’s probably warm in here. Buck’s feeling a little flushed too. And a little nauseous, actually. It’s like there’s butterflies in his stomach or something. Maybe that breakfast burrito isn’t landing well. Yeah, that must be it.

“You could be a Diaz.”

[darkxsoulzyx]

heyyy, just wanted to ask if you played deltarune chapter 3/4 and if you did, what are your thoughts on it?

hey hey hey!

I, myself, have not played the game BUT a group of friends and I huddled in a call and played it together! ^^

As of today, I have finished Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 (not including any secrets or shenaniganry for Chapter 4, mind you. We're doing that *hopefully* tomorrow or the next day)! It's all been very, VERY exciting hehe :3

I'll put my thought below, so

SPOILERS FOR DELTARUNE CHAPTER 3 AND 4 UP AHEAD!!

ok, we good? Great

Okay, so my thoughts are a BIT scrambled (since I binged Chapter 3 in one day, then Chapter 4 *today*), so bare with me

BUT I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE TENNA I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE HIMMMMMMM <3 <3

You can ask @keirspers (/aff) how much I do, because we were in the part of his "crashout" where you can keep saying "I love TV!"

AND I WOULD NOT STOP TELLING KEIR TO TELL HIM "I LOVE TV" BECAUSE I LOVEEEE HIMMMMMMM THEY HAD TO LITERALLY CUT ME OFF FROM CONTINUING BECAUSE OF HOW MUCH I JUST KEPT SAYING "I LOVEEE TVVVV"

HE'S SO SILLYYYYY HE'S SO SCRINKLE SCRUNKLE

I have small clips and recordings of my initial reactions to a few things here and there, and I KID YOU NOT- Seeing his little fangs for the first time? "OOOOOH THE CHOMPIEEESS!!! <333 OH THE LITTLE CHOMPAS!! OOUGGHHHH THE LITTLE FANGIESSSS HEHEHE!!"

LIKE GUYS.

I'm not much of a jevil person, nor a spamton enthusiast.

BUT GUYS.

HEAR ME OUT.

HE IS SO

OH MY GODDDDD

It didn't help that Keir was voice acting the entire thing for me (/super pos they are so cool guys <3) and THEY GAVE HIM SUCH A FITTING, ENTHUSIASTIC VOICE OMGGGG

I LOVEEE HIMMMM I LOVE TENNAAAAAA

I literally chanted along with him every time he said it's "T. V. TIMEEEEEEE!!!" I AM SO ILL. I AM CLAWING BACK FROM DRAWING HIM AS I TYPE THIS.

GODDDD

OKay okay, so the other stuff :3

I wasn't particularly interested in Deltarune's story for Chapter 1, and was slightly intrigued for Chapter 2 (regrettably, I wish I was more enthused!)

BUT. BUT THAT CHANGED IN CHAPTER 3!! Not only because Tenna (heart emoji hehe), but the more secret game parts really intrigued me?

Again, I didn't really find too much interest in the first two chapters until the Weird Route (which definitely caught my interest). Chapter 3's mini-game (?), the one you can only access behind the S-Rank door, continued that same allure. It was mysterious and strange... like something a lot more sinister was lingering underneath the surface!

The mystery behind what's going on, what does Noelle have to do with all of this, what's going on with Kris, what's going on with *Ralsei*??? It had me at the edge of my seat!

Credit to Keir again- their enthusiasm and excitement was infectious! We would theorize and talk about some stuff as we played, and they would often tell me little snippets of lore I may have missed!

For Chapter 3, I really liked the funny TV man :3, the weather lovers <3, and all of the tomfoolery that the other characters got into ^^ Idk what it is about some of the shenanigans in Chapter 3 that made it more enjoyable than Chapter 2, but I think it hit the right spot in terms of my humor X3 Also, this chapter re-established why Rouxls Kaard is THE BEST CHARACTER. I LOVE TENNA SO SO MUCH BUT GOD I LOVE ROUXLS TOO SIGHS

Keir managed to get all of the S-Rank ratings all the times, so I got to see all of the secret parts of that secret game! And wow, I was intrigued.

AND THEN THE ENDING???? THE KNIGHT???????? I WAS ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT, IT WAS SO COOL!!

AND THEN THE UNDYNE CAMEO??? I CHEERED WHEN I SAW HER, HYPING HER UP AFTER YEARS OF KNOWING HOW ABSOLUTELY BADASS SHE IS- ONLY FOR HER TO GET Immediately kidnapped,,,,, F in the chat for Undyne /lh

I was absolutely LOSING MY MINDDDDD but, that was nothing compared to Chapter 4.

While 3 had all my best laughs and fangirling, Chapter 4 was... wow, was really something else.

First- the Toriel outfit jumpscare?? Yeah that spooked me too /lh UNDERTALE MENTION I GUESS??

Also the church location? Beautiful ^^ The singing? EXCELLENT. THE SHYREN CAMEO???? WAS UP AND OUT OF MY CHAIR TEARING MY SHIRT OFF TO REVEAL A SECRET T-SHIRT THAT SAID "I LOVE SHYREN"

I had lots of fun seeing the church shenanigans, then the subsequent town shenanigans ^^

Keir and I visited the Castle town shortly after, and ough,,, ralsei,,,,,

and then we went to Noelle's house! Super cute and fun until it uh. wasn't. (we had to vent sighs) Asgore being in Noelle's house was uh... sus as all hell. Got me very intrigued ^^ <3 The closet duel had me cackling each time Keir got swatted XD Anddddd Carol. Wow. She lived up to her looming presence and then some.

We got kicked out and I think we went to the church next? And GOD SEEING GERSON FOR THE FIRST TIME, I WAS LOSING IT. I LOVE GERSON GUYS TRUST I was super excited, absorbing every piece of lore and dialogue I could get from this guy! The prophecy stuff, as well as his perspective on it all, really spoke to me ^^ In his secret battle (?), his talk about how the author of the book series "stopped because it became something entirely too big for them" really,,, hit home haha Also Jackostein spooked me at first when he did the "YOU'RE TAKING TOO LONG" stuff, but then it just kept derailing XDDD I completely lost it when he said "YOU'RE TOO TOO" and just handed the too too to us LMAOOOOO

The reveal that he was already dead was something I knew since Chapter 1, so I was not too terribly surprised. Still bummed me out though :(

And then the darker reflection of the world creeped me out just a tiny bit? It was still fun though.

The reveal that Kris is simply a flesh cage confirmed some stuff for me, but then more questions arose with Susie's destiny. What did Susie see that we didn't??? So curious...

AND THEN THE FUCKING TITAN APPEARING??? GODDDD

That fight was tough, but so, so cool!! We finished up everything (Kris is... really sus as hell. I don't know who's side they're on anymore).

and god... It's raining somewhere else? It hit like a truck. Not for the reason people would expect (I stare directly at a wonderful indie fan-game, Act to Flirt by @/zirkkun-games)

But yeah... it was really a somber and climatic ending...

AND THEN.

AND THEN FUCKING

SANS FUCKING UNDERTALE DELTARUNE MOTHER FUCKER

IS SHAKING HIS ASS WITH OUR MOM?????

yeah nah I couldn't think of a better ending lol

TLDR; I LOVE TENNA, Chapter 3 was super fun, Chapter 4 piqued my curiosity, sans mention

So yeah, those were my unfiltered thoughts about the whole thing <3 Thank you so much for reading ^^

[chicgeekgirl89]

A/N: @lemonlyman-dotcom. My darling. I HAVE CONNED YOU!! This is like in the Hallmark movies when you find out he/she was really a prince(ss)/secret millionaire/the owner of the evil corporation all along. YOUR SECRET SANTA IS MEEEEEEEEE!!! The Christmas tree fic is a FAKE!! I pretended to moan and groan about how I couldn't get this fic written BUT REALLY I WAS DELIGHTEDLY CRAFTING IT FOR YOU THE WHOLE TIME!!! Oh the evil joy it brought me every time I posted a little snippet of complete malarky and you reblogged it MWAHAHAHA!! 😈 How did I do? Were you fooled by my outstanding acting? Hehe, I hope you were and that this is a complete surprise! I took your @tarlos-santa prompt idea about Owen and Carlos teaming up to get T.K. the perfect gift and ran with it. It's full of holiday shenanigans and little easter eggs for you, good luck finding them all! (Also I hope you like this badly photoshopped header, I am delighted by the low quality badness of it lol!)

Read on AO3

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

Carlos freezes, his lips pressed against the soft skin that lies just below T.K.’s bellybutton. His left index finger is hooked into the elastic waistband of T.K.’s boxers and  he’s already pulled them down low enough to see the sharp jut of his husband’s hipbone. He lifts his head, slightly alarmed. “Am I sure I want to give my husband a pre-work blowjob? Well I was, but now I’m not.”

“No, not that. Please keep doing that,” T.K. says, shifting a little bit, his hands going up behind his head. “I meant are you sure you want to go Christmas shopping with my dad today?”

“Oh, that.” Carlos presses another kiss into him. “Why wouldn’t I want to go?”

“Because my dad is…a lot,” T.K. says, then sucks in a breath when Carlos scrapes his teeth over that sexy hipbone. “And he’s terrible at Christmas shopping.”

“I know,” Carlos mumbles against T.K.’s skin. “That’s why I’m going.”

A week ago Owen had given him a call and invited him out for lunch and Christmas shopping. Surprised, but also pleased, he’d readily agreed and they’d made plans to meet at a restaurant in The Domain and hit up some of the stores afterward. Owen had texted Carlos last night to remind him to wear comfortable, practical footwear and bring reusable bags. 

“Maybe,” he says, nipping at the sensitive skin in the crux of T.K.’s thigh so that he squirms, “if I go, you’ll actually get something you like this year.”

“You really think that you can convince my dad to buy something normal for Christmas?” T.K. scoffs. “Good luck.”

Carlos looks up at him again. “You underestimate the cow eyes?”

“You’re going to use the cow eyes on my dad?”

“If I have to.”

“You’re going to use the cow eyes on my dad to stop him from buying me a fifteen pound block of imported cheese from Italy because the salesman tells him it’s a good deal? Or a decorative, three foot tall, hand carved horse statue that he thinks matches the aesthetics of the loft? Or—“

“I will take care of it,” Carlos assures him.

“What if he—“

“T.K.!”

“What?”

“How about we stop talking about your dad while I’m trying to blow you?”

He tugs T.K.’s boxers down, freeing his morning wood and T.K. lets out a hiss as the cool air of the loft touches his skin along with Carlos’ fingers. “Okay, yeah,” he says, his voice tight with the beginnings of pleasure. “We can do that.”

Two hours later Carlos is showered and dressed and pulling into the parking lot on the north side of the Domain. He checks the mall map and heads toward Flower Child, a restaurant with great vegan options and fresh ingredients.

Owen is sitting at a table outside, a Yankees hat on his head, and he stands when Carlos gets close, excitement on his face. “Carlos, good to see you,” he says, pulling him in for a brief hug.

“Thank you for the invitation.” 

Owen looks at him sympathetically as they sit. “I know this year is going to be hard,” he says. “And I know Christmas shopping with me isn’t the same as doing it with your dad, but I want to help where I can.”

Carlos bites back a snort of laughter. He and his dad never once Christmas shopped together. His dad hated shopping. It’s very sweet that Owen—who loves shopping and would consider an afternoon at the mall with his son a highlight of his week—thinks Gabriel and Carlos would have enjoyed doing the same, but honestly the idea of trying to drag his dad around for hours buying presents is hilarious.

“That’s very thoughtful Owen, thank you,” Carlos says, hoping with all his might that his dad is watching down from somewhere and laughing too.

“I took the liberty of ordering us both their seasonal rose petal lemonade,” Owen says. “Have you had the Glow Bowl here? The shiitake combined with the sunflower sauce is di-vine.”

“That sounds good,” Carlos says, flipping the menu over to take a look.

“The last time I brought T.K. here he had the roasted beet and organic apple salad.”

“I think I remember that,” Carlos says with a smile. His father-in-law has a penchant for taking menu items very seriously, a fun quirk that has carried over to T.K. His husband gets very excited anytime they try a new restaurant. Although he usually ends up liking Carlos’ meal better than his own, stealing bites until Carlos offers to switch. 

He ends up ordering the Glow Bowl and Owen decides to go wild and try the Brussels sprouts and organic kale salad after some banter with their server. “So,” Owen says, taking a sip of his lemonade. “How’s the new job?”

“Not so new anymore,” Carlos says. It’s been almost eight months at this point, but he and Owen really haven’t spent any significant time together since he started with the Rangers outside of professional reasons. He’s barely had time for his husband let alone anyone else. “I feel like I’m starting to find my place though. It’s different from beat work.”

“I’d imagine so. The hat and the belts alone are quite the change,” Owen comments.

Carlos chuckles. “Yeah it’s definitely a look.”

“Well, it’s one you wear quite well. How’s your mom?”

His smile dims. “She’s okay. The holidays are hard. She and my dad had a lot of traditions. But my tías and my sisters have been around a lot, so that helps.”

“And she has a son who is carrying on his father’s legacy,” Owen says. “I’m sure that helps too.”

Carlos shrugs, letting his fingers hug the glass in front of him, the condensation making them slick. “I guess.”

“You are humble to a fault Carlos,” Owen says. “I’m sure both of your parents are proud of you. I know I am. The way you’ve handled things this last year is impressive.”

“It doesn’t feel impressive.” Vulnerability slips into his tone. It’s not something he allows often, but his father-in-law pulled him back from the edge of making one of the biggest, most irreparable mistakes of his life. He’s already seen Carlos at his worst; admitting that he’s been struggling won’t do any damage. “It feels like I’m barely keeping my head above water most days,” he admits.

“The first year of marriage is always challenging,” Owen tells him factually. “I would know, I’ve done it several times. You and T.K. have faced some unique circumstances that have made it even more difficult. But you’re still together, working on yourselves, your relationship, your careers. That is impressive. Don’t forget to let yourself celebrate it.”

“Thanks,” Carlos says, dropping his eyes as his cheeks flush. “That means a lot.”

“Good.” Owen taps the table, his face serious. “Now, let’s talk about T.K.’s birthday. I have some ideas.”

They eat and talk with companionable ease. Carlos steers Owen away from the idea of hiring a mariachi band and circus performers for the party, but does concede to hiring a DJ. They also decide to have it catered by Carlos and T.K.’s favorite taco truck; the one that makes homemade churros that are to die for.

When they finish eating they throw away their garbage and Owen looks at him with renewed vigor. “So,” he says, “where should we start?”

“Well I have a few ideas—” 

“So do I! Come on, let me show you!”

Carlos follows his father-in-law down the line of stores. Even though it’s seventy-five degrees outside the place feels festive. There are windows decked out with wreaths and snowmen and Christmas trees, and Mariah Carey is blasting over the speakers. Families walk by, some smiling, others arguing. There are little kids dressed in their holiday best, ready for family photos, and a few melting down over toys that Santa won’t be bringing for several more weeks.

They walk into a store selling fitness equipment and Owen gestures grandly to a large black tub. “An ice bath!”

Carlos tries to school his face into something neutral. “An ice bath?”

“They are all the rage in the health and fitness industry right now. They boost your metabolism, provide stress relief, reduce inflammation, and improve your mood.”

“Mhm,” Carlos says, fully aware of the ice bath craze, but seeing for the first time just how difficult it might be to sway his father-in-law away from some of his more zany gift ideas.

Owen’s face falls in a way that is so reminiscent of T.K.’s disappointed face that Carlos feels a pang of guilt. “You don’t like it.”

“No, I—it’s a great idea,” Carlos says. “I’m just…I’m not sure where we’d put it in the loft.” He tries to emphasize how small and unsuited the loft is to this kind of gift without saying it aloud.

“Ah!” Owen says. “That’s the thing! This one is completely collapsible. Store it in the closet until you want it and then inflate it with one of these pumps in less than twenty minutes.” He grabs one off the shelf and holds it up to show Carlos. “It’s a cinch!”

“It…yeah. Seems…easy,” Carlos says, wondering how the hell he’s going to steer this ship to something more appropriate for T.K.

“And,” Owen says, “it’s really two for the price of one. Because you both can use it. Not at the same time obviously, it’s a very small tub.”

“Right,” Carlos says.

Owen eyes him critically. “Hm…you don’t seem to love the idea.”

“Oh no, I mean, if you think T.K.—“

“No, no, I can see it in your eyes. This isn’t the one. Not to worry, I have other options.”

He marches down a few aisles, but before they can find whatever it is he’s got his mind on, a smiling employee blocks their path. “Hello gentlemen. Finding everything you need?” she asks.

“Ah, not quite yet,” Owen tells her. “We are shopping for my son. This is his husband, Carlos.”

“Nice to meet you,” she says and something in her eyes hooks onto them. “You know, I’m not sure what exactly you’re in the market for, but we are having a sale on our elite face shape massagers.”

“Face shape massager?” Carlos asks in confusion.

She whips out a white box with a circular shaped device on the inside. “Yes! This little piece of technology can help reduce the appearance of double chins and improve skin quality! Would you like to give it a try?”

“Um, no, that’s okay,” Carlos says. “You know I really think we need to be moving on, right Owen?”

“No, no!” Owen says. “Give it a try. It can’t hurt. We Strand men have strong jawlines and I’m sure T.K. would like to keep his intact as the years go by. Let’s see how it works.”

Before Carlos can protest further the woman is looping the device over his head, his jaw clamping shut at the pressure. She pushes a button and red light illuminates his skin while the entire thing begins to vibrate. “Can you feel how the photons lift and firm the skin?” she asks.

“Mhmm,” Carlos says, the sound vibrating along with the massager.

“That is incredible,” Owen says, taking a step closer so he can get a better look. “It has red and blue infra lights?”

“It does! And it works even better when combined with our Cleopatra LED Light Mask,” she says, showing them a plastic mask that would make even Hannibal Lecter flee in terror. Carlos can only imagine how T.K. would use that to torture him, leaning over him in the middle of the night, his face lit by the red glow of the lights…

Carlos rips the massager off his face and hands it back to the woman. “Thank you so much for your time, but I think we’re going to go a different direction.”

"I don’t know Carlos, these both seem very reasonably priced,” Owen says, checking out the tag.

“You know what, I actually think T.K. already has both of these,” Carlos says in desperation. He mentally casts around for a believable lie. “…Marjan got them for his birthday… last year.”

“Oh, well, in that case—“

“What about for you, sir?” the woman asks Owen, her skills at capturing her prey honed to perfection after years of retail work. “I can see you take excellent care of your skin. Your pores are nearly non-existent.”

Owen beams and fifteen minutes later they walk out the door with two bags of “me-gifts” for him to put under his own Christmas tree. “Are you sure you don’t want some of these under eye de-puffers?” Owen asks, “They come in a two-pack.”

“I’m good,” Carlos says. “Thank you though.”

“Let me know if you change your mind.”

“Will do.”

“Okay,” Owen claps his hands. “So we’ve struck out on T.K. so far, but I have another idea.”

“Great!” Carlos says.

Owen looks at him with great confidence. “A hat.”

“A hat?”

“A hat.”

Forty-five minutes later Carlos loses the hat battle and they leave a Western wear shop with a brown leather cowboy hat for T.K. that he is going to love, but will have no practical use for outside of their bedroom. Owen is thrilled that his son can now match with Carlos, and Carlos is just glad they got the brown one and not the shiny blue one with silver stars.

He offers to take their bags to the car since they’re starting to get in the way and he’s on his way back, trying to figure out how he’s going to convince his father-in-law to go to Dick’s Sporting Goods and buy some batting gloves that are actually on T.K.’s wish list. Owen will probably dislike this idea because it is both practical and reasonably priced.

Carlos is plotting his plan of attack when a hand reaches out and grabs him, jerking him behind a sign with a map of the mall on it. “Whoa, hey!” he says, before realizing it’s Owen who has latched onto his arm. “What’s going on?”

“Look. Over there.”

Carlos follows the line of his finger to a kiosk selling cellphone cases and accessories. “Owen, what am I looking at?”

“That guy.”

“The one that looks like Santa?” The jolly, bearded fellow is talking to the seller at the kiosk, smiling and laughing.

“And the other guy.”

A shifty looking man, younger than the bearded grandfatherly type who is talking to the salesperson, is lurking near the stand too. “Okay…” Carlos says.

“I’ve been following them since you left. I’m pretty sure they just shoplifted from Bath and Body Works. And it looks like they’re about to do it again. We need to stop them.”

“Owen, that’s a pretty serious accusation. Are you sure that’s really what you saw?”

“The jolly one was distracting the workers with his holiday charm and I’m pretty sure the shifty one put several hand sanitizers in his pockets.”

Carlos barely stops himself from rolling his eyes. “Pretty sure?”

“There was a stand of candles in the way, but I know I’m very sure he was shoving them in by the handfuls.”

“Then let’s go tell a mall security guard.”

“All they’re going to do is call APD. You can arrest them now and prevent more crime from happening before APD can even get here.”

“I can’t arrest them because you think you saw them do something,” Carlos says.

Owen sighs. “Just watch. You’ll see.”

As they watch the shifty guy moves away from the stand and slinks toward another store a little further down. Carlos relaxes his shoulders. “See? Nothing happening here. Let’s check out—“

He’s interrupted by a huge crash as an entire shelf of the cellphone kiosk hits the floor, sending things flying everywhere. Everyone in the area stops and stares as the kiosk worker reels backward and falls to the floor.

Owen and Carlos move simultaneously. “Whoa, easy there,” Owen says as the kiosk worker tries to sit up. “That was a nasty fall. Are you hurt?”

“No, no, I’m okay,” he says, wincing as he pushes himself upright. “I don’t know what happened.”

“It looks like someone removed the pins from this shelf,” Carlos says, examining it. 

“Removed the pins? Why would someone do that?”

“Could have been a prank of some kind,” Carlos says.

“Or it could have been someone trying to create a distraction,” Owen says, giving Carlos a meaningful look.

“A distraction?” The guy looks confused. “What?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Carlos tells him. “Here, we’ll help you clean this up.”

They spend a few minutes picking up cellphone bits and bobs and helping the guy get the shelf back into place. “Is that everything?” Owen asks.

The guy looks around. “Yeah. I think so. Thank you guys for your help, I’m sure you have other things to get back to.”

As soon as they’re out of earshot Owen shakes his head. “Told you. Shoplifters.”

“Owen…”

“I know, you think I’m crazy. But where are that Santa guy and his shifty elf helper now, huh? Did they stick around to help? No. I bet you that shifty guy loosened that shelf on purpose and then he and Santa grabbed things from one of these nearby stores while we were distracted.”

“Or,” Carlos says pragmatically, “the shelf was never installed correctly and fell on its own.” He smiles and nods toward the sporting goods store. “How do we feel about some batting gloves?”

Owen does buy the batting gloves, but Carlos suspects it’s only because he’s preoccupied with his fictional shoplifter case. He keeps looking around, trying to be casual about it, but failing miserably. Strand men are great at a lot of things; subtlety is not one of them.

“You’re still thinking about those guys, huh?” Carlos asks as they walk out of Dick’s Sporting Goods.

“I know in my gut that they’re up to no good, Carlos,” Owen says. “You see a lot of shady people in my line of work.”

“More than in mine?” Carlos asks skeptically.

“Okay, fair point. But are you really telling me you don’t think they looked a little suspicious?”

Carlos mentally reviews what he saw earlier. “They definitely looked like they could be trouble. But we have no proof. Unless we see something else, there’s nothing we can do.”

“I’m so glad you agree,” Owen says. “I think it’s time for further investigation.”

Carlos stops walking, his brow furrowing in surprise. “Further investigation?”

“Come on. We’re making a little detour. I hope you know what you want for Christmas.”

Carlos follows him toward the center of the mall where a giant Christmas display has been set up and fake snow flurries from the sky. There’s a large gingerbread cottage, fake reindeer, a candy-cane lined path, mounds of cotton acting as the only snowfall Texas will see this year, and the centerpiece of it all is a gigantic throne upon which sits a jolly Santa who is holding two screaming toddlers while an elf attempts to get a picture worthy of a Christmas card. 

“Owen, what are we doing here?” Carlos asks. Two men hanging around a kid-friendly area sans children is not a good look.

“I heard that Santa guy talking earlier. He doesn’t just look like Santa, he is one of the mall Santas. The scrawny guy is an elf. And I know where their green room is.” He takes a look around and then ducks under one of the candy cane striped ribbons that line the area to keep pedestrians out. “Follow my lead,” he says and then drops out of sight into a mound of cotton snow.

“Owen!” Carlos hisses, dropping to his own knees instinctually so that both of them are now hidden in the piles of fluff. “Owen what are you doing?”

“Investigating. This way,” Owen whispers over his shoulder, beckoning Carlos forward. 

He really has no choice. Owen is going to do this whether Carlos follows him or not. So Carlos crawls on his hands and knees after his father-in-law, past reindeer legs and lollipop stems, until they reach the base of the gingerbread house. 

Owen points silently toward a cutout window and, like something out of a cheesy, 90’s Christmas film, they both rise up underneath it, trying to listen and peek over the sill without being seen. 

Sure enough the Santa look alike and his scrawny elf partner are both inside. “Ugh. Only like fifteen hand sanitizers and a couple hand lotions,” the scrawny guy says, shoving merchandise into a large blue duffle bag. “Got some decent jewelry from Kendra Scott while everyone was distracted with that cell phone kiosk though.”

“I told you. We have to keep it small. Otherwise people will get suspicious. Besides, we got that laptop last week and all those clothes from Anthropologie. Those are worth a lot on resale.” Santa takes a sip from his coffee cup. “I made almost ten grand off a mall in El Paso last year. Trust me. This’ll be worth it if we can make it a couple more weeks.”

“It had better be. This elf costume itches,” the scrawny guy retorts, reaching for a red and green costume hanging from a hook on the wall.

Owen motions to Carlos and they crawl back out toward the regular part of the mall. “There you have it,” Owens says as they stand. “Proof. Let’s bust in there and arrest them.”

“You aren’t authorized to arrest anyone. And I’m off duty,” Carlos says. “There are lots of bystanders around. This isn’t a violent crime. We need to call it in first.”

“Okay, so call away.”

“I will,” Carlos says. “Keep an eye on them, let me know if they go anywhere.”

“You got it,” Owen says.

Carlos sends a mental apology to his dad. He’d been really annoyed all those times Gabriel had gotten caught up in one of Owen Strand’s schemes. But now he can see that it’s a very slippery slope and once you start sliding you can’t stop.

He places a call, explains the situation and confirms that officers will be arriving shortly. Relieved that this is almost over, he turns back to tell Owen they need to stick around until APD arrives, but Owen has vanished

Frantically Carlos scans the area, his eyes landing in horror on the line of children and parents waiting eagerly to meet Santa. Sometime in the last ten minutes their suspects have taken center stage, Santa on his throne and Scrawny taking photos. Owen is up next in line, the woman behind him eyeing him suspiciously as she holds tightly to the hand of an eager little boy in a sweater with a T-Rex wearing reindeer antlers on its head. 

Before Carlos can even move, Scrawny, now dressed in full red and green elf regalia, calls Owen forward and he marches up toward Santa’s throne. “Oh no,” Carlos whispers under his breath as he jogs over to the line. “Excuse me,” he says, trying to push toward the front.

“Hey! No cutting! Get in the back!” an irate father yells.

Another elf with a headset puts both hands out to stop Carlos from moving further. “Sir! Sir! You have to wait at the end of the line!” 

“This is official Texas Ranger business,” Carlos tells her, his heart pounding as he watches Owen step right up to their suspects.

“Right, sure it is,” she scoffs.”

“Buddy, what do you want?” Santa asks, suspicion in his voice, despite the smile on his face.

“Owen, stop!” Carlos calls desperately, pushing past the headset elf who immediately begins calling for security.

Either Owen doesn’t hear or he doesn’t care, his voice carrying over the din of the crowd. “What I want to know is, why you think it’s acceptable to use the good name of Santa Claus for criminal activity,” he says.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Santa tells him. “Ho, ho, ho, is this some kind of joke?”

“It most certainly is not a joke,” Owen says. “Santa is supposed to give gifts away, not steal them for himself.”

“Okay, get out of here,” Scrawny the elf says, marching toward him.

“I will not get out of here,” Owen says hotly. “The two of you are robbing the stores of this mall and I won’t stand for it. Not at Christmas.”

“Buddy, you knock it off right now,” Santa says, his twinkly persona dropping away as he gets to his feet.

“You don’t deserve to wear this suit,” Owen tells him, poking a finger at his chest. “We have evidence of what you’ve done. Let’s not make a scene in front of all these families. The respectable thing to do here is to calmly turn yourselves over to the authorities.”

Owen is right. That would be the respectable thing to do. But this is not a respectable Santa. 

Instead, he runs. And Owen goes after him.

“Owen! Wait!” Carlos yells, vaulting a gumdrop fence to try and get closer.

It’s too late. Owen takes a flying leap and tackles Santa into a snowbank, knocking a fake reindeer’s head off in the process as the crowd around the display gasps in shock and Run, Run Rudolph begins to blast over the speakers.

“Stop! Texas Ranger!” Carlos yells, and then ducks as Scrawny grabs a giant candy cane and swings it at his head. 

Carlos catches the candy cane in both hands and grabs on tightly. “Drop it!” he orders. 

Scrawny refuses to let go and they wrestle over it for a minute until Carlos manages to rip it out of his hands, chucking it to the side. “Get on your knees,” he says, but Scrawny is scrappy. He lunges forward and catches Carlos around the middle, sending both of them sprawling onto the floor.

Carlos grunts as he lands flat on his back, the air immediately knocked from his lungs. Scrawny takes advantage of that to deliver a devastating blow to his jaw that sends pain exploding through Carlos’ face. 

On instinct more than skill he manages to hook a leg around Scrawny and roll them both over, grabbing his wrists and pinning them to the floor. “Stop moving,” he orders between gritted teeth. “Turn over.”

“I didn’t do anything!” Scrawny yells.

“Yeah well, you can tell the officers all about that when they get here,” Carlos huffs out, shoving the man onto his front and pinning his hands behind his back. 

His assailant subdued, he looks up and find that Owen has Santa in a headlock. “Get off of me!” Santa yells.

“You, are a very bad Santa,” Owen says breathlessly as blood pools in a cut on his lip and a black eye begins blooming around his eye socket.

“He’s hurting Santa!” The yell of a small child catches Carlos’ attention and his face heats as he realizes how many onlookers are gaping at them, cellphones taking video that is likely going to break the internet at some point later today.

“Owen let him go!” Carlos calls as mall security appears in the distance, one of them cruising in on a Segway that has been decorated in red and green tinsel garland.

Owen releases Santa, both of them doubling over in pain as Carlos pulls Scrawny to his feet. The Segway security guard skids to a stop and approaches him warily. “I’m Carlos Reyes, a Major with the Texas Rangers,” Carlos tells him. “These two have been stealing from stores in the mall all day. I have APD on the way.”

“We’ve been getting reports of items missing,” the officer says. “Didn’t ever think it would be Santa and his elf though.”

“Do you have somewhere to hold these two until they get here?” Carlos asks.

“Yes, sir.”

Carlos hands off Scrawny as another two guards grab Santa and plop him down into the back of a golf cart, securing his hands with zip ties.

“Are you okay?” Carlos asks Owen. It’s hard to get the words out, his jaw aching more and more with each syllable as it begins to swell.

“He got a couple good shots in,” Owen says, swiping at the blood on his lip. “I’ve had worse though.”

“You should have let me handle it,” Carlos says.

“Sorry Carlos, I know you’re good. But you’re not good enough to take on Santa and his elf,” Owen tells him. 

Someone from mall security gets them ice and then APD finally shows up. Carlos has just finished giving his statement to an officer when EMS arrives. He groans when he sees who it is. “We’re in trouble.”

Owen follows his gaze and winces. “Oh yeah. We are.”

Tommy, Nancy, and T.K. are moving toward them and Carlos can spot the exact moment they get close enough to realize who they’re going to be helping today because all three of them freeze on the spot. T.K.’s eyes go wide and then a mixture of worry and fury crosses his face as he picks up the pace and beats his partner and his boss to their sides.

“What happened?” he demands, kneeling down and putting a hand on Carlos’ thigh.

“There was a situation that needed to be dealt with and we handled it,” Owen says and T.K. shoots him a look of fury. 

“What does that mean?” 

“It means Santa was up to no good and we stopped it,” Carlos says, suddenly feeling very tired. 

T.K. opens his mouth, but Tommy and Nancy reach them at that point and they have their own questions. “Well this is a bit of a surprise,” Tommy says, reaching for the ice that Owen is holding on his eye. “What on earth have you two been up to today?”

“Yeah Captain Strand, I thought you had worked through the anger issues,” Nancy says, attaching a pulse oximeter to Carlos’ index finger.

“This wasn’t anger. This was holiday related justice,” Owen says primly.

“More like holiday related shenanigans,” T.K. mutters under his breath, but the concerned eyes he shoots at Carlos and the steady rubbing of his hand up and down Carlos’ thigh for comfort bely that his anger is really just worry.

“Okay, both of you, tell us what hurts,” Tommy commands.

In the end they get taken to the hospital for x-rays. Owen is pronounced fine, no damage done to his eye socket, although he’ll have one hell of a black eye, and Carlos’ jaw isn’t broken, but it is badly bruised. Scrawny really packed a punch. He’s relieved when he’s finally back home in bed, T.K. fussing over the comforter and the ice pack he’s holding to his face.

“Is the ice too cold?” T.K. asks. “Are you hungry? Of course you’re hungry, it’s like eight o’clock. I’m going to make you some soup.”

Carlos has a feeling he won’t be eating solids for several days, and soup does sound good; lunch with Owen feels like weeks ago at this point. But he catches T.K.’s hand and tugs him down onto the bed instead. “In a minute,” Carlos says. “Sit with me for a bit first.”

T.K. perches on the edge a frown on his face as he brushes a hand through Carlos’ curls. “I shouldn’t have let you go with my dad today. I knew something like this would happen.”

“How could you possibly have known something like this would happen?” Carlos asks, cracking an incredulous smile and then wincing when it sends throbs of pain through his face.

“Because that’s how it always is with my dad. If there’s trouble, he’s going to find it. He’s almost gotten us killed twice. He went undercover with a white nationalist group. He bought a horse and kept it at the firehouse for weeks. It’s like he literally can’t help himself.”

“He did the right thing today though,” Carlos says. “Those guys had stolen thousands of dollars worth of stuff from the shops in the mall.”

“I know, but I wish you hadn’t been in the middle of it,” T.K. grumbles, his hand coming up to gently cup Carlos’ bruised jaw. “Did you get any shopping done? Or did you spend the entire time playing detective?”

“Oh we got some shopping done,” Carlos says. “And I tried. I really tried babe. But your dad is…”

“Stubborn? Difficult? Unpredictable?”

Carlos nods. “All of those things.”

“So? What should I look forward to getting for Christmas this year?”

“How do you feel about hats…?”

[angeart]

pirate au u say 👀

mhm! pirate au indeed! it’s an old collaborative project that never moved anywhere. but i absolutely love it anyway and like to think about it! (and i did get permission to work on it alone if I still wanted to revive it, so maybe one dayyy? 👀) 

lemme tell you about the premise :3 …as per usual, had to torture the birb. i’m sure this is now expected of me. so we start with injured grian in pain and distress (yay!) 

the avians in this au can shapeshift between a full bird form and a more humanoid winged form (the usual avian form). grian is a parrot, and as such is a coveted part of a pirate crew. a pirate captain with a parrot avian? now that’s something! 

unfortunately for grian though, he ends up on a pirate ship that treats him really horribly and gets him hurt all the time. and you know pirates. they're greedy. they don't give up their possessions if they see a sliver of value in them. so once owned, grian is no longer allowed to leave. he gets a bird cage instead of a bed, and isn’t allowed a whole lot of freedoms, kept mostly as a trophy, something to possess and boast about and take the crew’s frustrations out on. he’s basically a mistreated prisoner; they don’t care about him beyond what he symbolises.

scar is a pirate captain of a different pirate ship. mumbo, impulse, pearl, jimmy, and joel are all part of the crew. (boatem + bad boys :3c)

the story really starts when scar’s crew pulls up some rubble from the sea, and finds a bleeding, half-drowned, barely-alive parrot bird tangled in a fishing net. they decide to try to save him, poor little thing… but much to their surprise, once awake, the bird ends up shifting into an avian, and hey, look, it’s actually a person! 

as you can expect, grian absolutely definitely panics when he finds himself on another pirate ship. (he thought it’s over.) (he thinks he’ll never be free wahhhhh he starts off so scared 🥺all the pirates are the same in his head, he hasn’t had a single good experience 🥺)

in case it isn't painfully clear, this is a found family au 🥰 strewn throughout with hurt/comfort, severe trauma, and some healing! just the way we like here, hehe

here’s one singular art i have for this au:

[FULL ART HERE]

… and if you want, i might be (very easily) convinced to dig up a snippet of what i have written (i had chapters # 2 (grian pov of waking up) and # 3 (mumbo pov of Dealing With It), so those exist in my wip files.)

–—–—

wip question from here

[thevalkyriesshadow]

Am I planning a D&D session or writing a fic for @houseofwindweek March 10th-16th? 🤔

If you guessed fanfiction, you're correct! 🤭

Summary: The House of Wind Gang, plus their good friend Balthazar, are meeting for their weekly game of Dungeons & Dragons. But this isn't just any regular game. This game marks two year of them playing Tomb of Annihilation together, so it's a super special night. Emerie, their Dungeon Master, asked them to come in costume. Little do they know, they're going to be playing the game -- in real life! The cool abilities their characters have, they have. The magic they wield, our favorite group of friends now wield. Hit points are totally a thing and 'ones' will be rolled. Will they survive bloodthirsty yuan-ti? Can they solve the ancient riddles of the tomb before it's too late? Will Nesta have a new awakening? Will Gwyn, Azriel, and Balthazar figure out their shit already and just kiss?! There's only one way to find out. And that's to Roll Initiative. 😈

And because I'm a HUGE dice goblin, I had to choose d20s for each of the characters, obviously. I'm going to use them throughout the fic to determine things like initiative and whether a skill check or magic spell will work. Hehe

I decided on their dice by factoring in their character in the books and the classes I chose for them, which are:

Nesta- Phoenix Sorcerery

Cassian- Path of the Giant Barbarian

Emerie- Dungeon Master

Azriel- Phantom Rogue

Gwyn- Circle of the Shepherd Druid

Balthazar- Cleric of the Tempest Domain

I'm thinking the first two chapters of the fic will post on Day Three: In/Out, and the rest on Day Seven: Free Day!

💖 Enjoy a little snippet until then! 💖

TW: Blood

We jog down the only other passageway and emerge into an underground cathedral. There’s a balcony, carved and sculpted with serpentine images at one end. Blood trickles from between the teeth of some carved serpent heads. It drips into a pool of thick crimson below. It flows into a trench that leads to a wide stone bowl set into the floor. On the other end of the room is a large cauldron. Not too unlike the one in our lore. Steam rises from it, accompanied by a fleshy odor that makes me want to gag.

In the center of it all is a dozen yuan-ti, crowding around an altar set to the far end of the room. They all turn and swivel their heads our way, hissing fills the room until it’s a low hum.

That’s when I spot Balthazar. Stripped of his gear and clothing. Leaving him as bare as the day he was born. His brown curls are soaked in blood – hopefully not his – and his eyes are wide with panic.

Then Emerie’s voice booms around the room.

“Initiative is as follows.” The yuan-ti begin to slither their way across the floor. Their half human-half snake bodies are adorned in jewels and slathered in blood and viscus. “Nesta, The Yuan-ti, Azriel, Balthazar, Cassian, then Gwyn –”

We huff and let out sounds of grumbling as we get into position. Hopefully the yuan-ti fuck up their first attacks…

[trekkiehood]

so you said you could be persuaded to talk about your “throughout the great war” series … i am here to persuade you 🫶🏻🫶🏻

It doesn't take a lot to get me to talk about it lol, it's all I think about anymore 😂 😅

I'm so excited about this series!! Putting it under a read more because it got long lol

So currently I'm posting "Numbers With A Death Wish" which is the starting point. Here we have Buck being shot down and it really only covers the month of October. I have some more little one-shots I'd like to write but they're not super plot heavy so I don't know when I'll get to writing them.

My current WIP is my Radio Wip (mid March 1944) followed by Great Escape Fallout (end of March 1944) and then Whipping Post Wip (April 1944). These are all from Bucky's pov and I'm leaning towards this being a long fic. If I do this then the fic would probably run through at least September 1944 but maybe I'd just run it through the end of the war lol idk.

I've written some of Radio and a good bit of Whipping Post so we'll see how quickly we move through this. I'll continue to tease as I write because I crave writing validation lol.

After Whipping Post we start to see the cracks more in both of our majors. Since this one is from Bucky's pov we'll have Bucky withdrawing while Buck is struggling and trying to control the things around him and stay positive for the men.

The next main plot point is when Buck starts acting "weird" and Bucky starts to notice and that's when Gale has a massive breakdown. And Bucky is like ?????? This is around July of 1944 and is immediately followed by a very rough August plagued with deadly illness and psychotic breaks. Now this will be a VERY important plot going forward. Trying not to spoil every single plot I have lol but I don't think it's shocking to say that one of the Buckie's nearly dying of illness will be important going forward 😂

The plot after this is in September 1944 and it will be a turning point in the story. Kind of a "things will never be the same now". But what's FUN is that it's from Bucky's POV but what happens to Buck will be behind closed doors hehe. So at least at the beginning he/we will know that SOMETHING happened and that it has lasting effects, but exactly what will be unknown. After that it's just more of Bucky watching Buck lose it. I have specific things but they are less plot heavy and more episodic. I may still keep it in one long fic but idk lol.

I also plan for some Buck POV one-shots/short stories interspersed and linking with this longfic. It will include things like what started the July spiral and what exactly happened to him in September (technically the September one will be from my OC Wesley Davidson's pov and is the reason for his existence lol). I would also like to play with Buck's German and Jewish heritage. I might let him confide in Solomon things he hasn't even told Bucky about but idk yet. I need to study Judaism more and solidify how much Buck keeps from Bucky. But regardless, even as I'm writing the longfic from Bucky's pov, we will be getting little tie in snippets with what's going on with Gale too!

The biggest unknown in this series is the forced march. I don't know what I want to do. Right now most of this series comes from a place of "canon enough no one can prove it didn't happen in the show" so I'm not sure how I want to end it. Because on one hand, so much angst potential just keeping it mostly canon with Buck escaping without Bucky. But also... idk that I want to separate them lol. And idk if that means they both stay or go. Essentially, the ending I have no real vision for. But that's a good long way away.

We have at least nine arcs I have planned for this long fic I will hopefully come up with a great name for lol. So assuming I do it this way (which the poll is also leaning towards) And then at the very least three-four Buck pov fics. So pray the hyperfixation lasts long enough to get through it lol.

Even though the "main" fic is from Bucky's pov this series is about Buck and his lack of mental stability and trauma in the stalag. It's just more fun to hurt him with Bucky watching hehe

If you have any specific questions I would LOVE to answer them!! Here is a general outline I posted awhile back if you want to ask about a specific plot. This is the ramble I have for now but I will probably ramble again lol. Appreciate all of the support and if there is anything specific you would like to see please let me know and I'll see if I can work them in!!

[minamorsart]

🌌✨The Empyreal Within character designs of Lotor, Allura, and Ven'tar! I might do Honerva and Zarkon next, we'll see! This is part of an upcoming project that I am super excited about and will reveal in time!!! 💜

Explanations of the outfits below! I thought about them a LOT hehe.

18 year old Lotor: these designs I am the most pleased with! Lotor's official design in the show is very different from the rest of the Galra, which I believe is significant to him venturing further away from the precedents established by his father and cementing his own individuality. However, as an adolescent it makes sense that he would still wear Galra attire, hence the bulky armor (to make him look bigger since he is smaller than the average Galra) and red and gold colors which appear to only be worn by the royal family. I like to think that the insignia on his chest is a symbol for royalty, but is also exclusive to Lotor's identity, as no one else wears that particular insignia in the show. And despite wearing clothes specifically chosen to represent the Galra Empire, I can also picture him wanting to incorporate his own personal tastes, so there are accents of purplish-blue (as blue is part of Lotor's color scheme) and the addition of his waist cape, both of which represent his growing desire for change and independence.

Mid-20's Lotor: this is during the many years of his banishment. I imagine him hopping from planet to planet, concealing his identity as much as possible while adopting a more humble lifestyle and pursuing his passion for exploring. It is during this isolated pilgrimage that he does a lot of introspection, self-actualization, and gains self-confidence both as a man and as the Galra prince. But before that happens, the lack of identity really shows in his clothes -- lots of neutral colors (with a hint of desaturated blue), absence of any insignias or designs that would connect him to any culture, whether Galra or Altean. These clothes in particular were inspired by Jedi ponchos and Sasuke from Naruto: The Last, and perhaps are worn while Lotor is on a desert planet for a short time! And just like with his armor as seen in the show, he has started to wear gloves to cover himself up almost completely, indicating his avoidance of vulnerability and getting close to others.

Ven'tar: for her fortunately I didn't have to change much about her character design! She is Lotor's age when they meet and the only other change I made to her was to take away her big cape so that she appears younger. Since her planet and species name is not revealed in the show, I want to come up with one myself. Caelifera is the scientific name for grasshopper, so I'm thinking I could do something with that!

11 year old Lotor: this design is also taken directly from the show, so I didn't have to do much there :P The cloak he wears in the little doodle is inspired by the one adult Lotor wears in S6E4. In this case, however, it is several sizes too big for young Lotor and drags on the ground.

Allura: sadly we don't know much about Allura's life on Altea, however in S1E9 we get to see tiny snippets of different stages throughout her life and her good relationship with her father, so I used those as references! I gave her braids, short puffy sleeves, and a slightly shorter skirt to give her that innocent little princess look, and then used the colors from her dress in the show to create a cuter and more childlike aesthetic!

If you read all of that you're the best 😆🙏 I'm definitely by no means an expert in character design and have lots more to learn, but I had a lot of fun coming up with the original designs! Especially Lotor's, but no surprise there hehe. I studied many different Galra armor and clothing featured in the show worn by Lotor, Zarkon, Honerva, and Galra commanders. More than anything I just really wanted to see Lotor wearing something different for a change 😂 and then everything else took off from there!

[amathslutsguidetofandom]

Infinite Solutions (snippet)

Hey hey, lovelies!

Here's a little snippet of the Professor!Andy Barber x Professor!Reader series/mini-series (haven't decided yet, lol). I've made a poll asking whether or not I should pursue this fic, and I've been getting great responses. So, there is a possibility it may become a series. 🤭🤭🤭

Anyways, Enjoy!!

Pairings: Law!Professor!Andy Barber

Word count: 700

Warnings: None yet

Summary: *It's still a surprise, hehe*

“You’re doing it again,” you hear a rough voice say. Looking away from the chalkboard, you see the dark-haired, blue-eyed man giving you a tired, tilted smile. You smile back, confused. “Huh?”

He sighs and nods his head, as if asking if he could enter. You nod, allowing him. “You’re going to break it,” he points at the white chalk in your fist. You hold it as though it’s the last thing to your name; you were so focused you didn’t know you were holding onto it for dear life.

“You’re supposed to be at home, sweetheart. Not break your head over some problem,” he waves his hand towards the blackboard. You bite the inside of your cheek, forcing your facial features to not react to the “sweetheart”. He looks at his expensive watch that sits nicely on his exposed forearm.

You take in his look, from the neat brown loafers to the nicely fitted black slacks to the light blue button-down where the sleeves were folded to his elbows, to the dark blue tie tucked nicely around his thick neck.

You push those thoughts aside, and you listen to him complain that you shouldn’t be here, at the university, this late at night.

“Just solving a problem,” you counter, placing the chalk back on its shelf. Andy sighs and nods, “I understand, but you know sleep is important, right?” You walk to your desk to pack up your stuff and you feel him follow you. He ducks his head to catch your eye, “right?”

You nod mindlessly, zipping up your messenger bag. You reach for the heavy textbook you haul all the time, but Andy grabs it before you could. “Let me,” he insists, as he adjusts his coat over the hinge of his elbow. You nod and say your thanks; you switch off your desk lamp and CPU, as your final routine for the night.

“Shall we?” He whispers, his deep blue eyes glinting against the moonlight streaming through your office window. You nod and your lips slightly twitch upwards, “sure, yeah. You gonna walk me to my car?” He chuckles and shakes his head, “that gonna be a problem?” His Boston accent incredibly strong.

You shake your head and lightly smile, “not at all, Barber.”

You both walk towards your door, and he holds it open for you, and you walk past him nodding your thanks.

The Boston chill hits you like a freight train, and you shiver instantly. Andy and you make a beeline towards your Corolla at the back of the parking lot. He makes you laugh with his dad jokes, and you ask him about little 3-year-old Jacob, and he says that he really appreciated you going to Jacob’s pre-school's Mother’s Day event.

“Ah, it’s really nothing. Anything to make that little troublemaker smile,” you brush off the compliment. Andy shakes his head, “No, I really do appreciate it a lot. You know, ever since Laurie left-.”

You nod, “Andy, It’s fine. And I really don’t mind helping you and Jakie out, really.” Andy gives you one of the softest smiles ever, and it warms your whole body despite the freezing chill of Massachusetts.

You press the button on your car keys, and your dark grey Corolla beeps. Andy opens the driver's side and as you’re about to get in, you stop and turn to face him. Your eyes widen as you didn’t realize how close you two were.

You could see the green specks in his eyes, and the little grey hairs in his thick beard. “I uh,” you start, staring at his lips. But your mind trails further to a place where it makes the tip of your ears flare red. You shouldn't be feeling these things towards Andy, he's a good friend of yours. A most importantly, your co-worker. Yes, you were in different faculty’s, but still.

Worst thing is, you could see that he feels the same. He senses the slight desire, the slight neediness you both have for the other. It's been simmering since the day you two met. The way he grips onto the door, the way he hands you back your textbook. He can’t stop looking at you, he can't stop thinking about you.

You're both waiting for the other to do something or the other, waiting for the bubble to burst.

“Goodnight,” he whispers, his eyes darting between your lips and eyes. “Night,” you whisper back, and you pull yourself from your frozen position and get in the car. He shuts the door gently, before lightly tapping on your window and waving goodbye. You replicate the same gesture, before pulling out of the lot.

🎀🎀🎀

Alright lovelies!!!

What do we think?

This is the offical first piece of writing I will be posting on here. So, any feedback, thoughts or even comments are really appreciated!!

Till next time!

Stay Coquette-y,

Anya 🫶🏽🕊️🎀

[nani-nonny]

Our Final Resting Days snippet :D (the latter half of it, though)

Hehe ;)

This won’t be too big of spoilers since it follows the plot of the beginning of the movie (the first 4 minutes that you can see on YouTube hahah!) so no worries :D we already know how Our Final Resting Days ends hahaha!

(1.4K words) Casey Junior=“Case” / Future Leo=“Lee” / Present Leo=“Leo”

Lee snaps his fingers, getting Leo’s attention back. “Focus,” the elder scolds and points to the ground again. There’s a rectangular object with strange markings on the back of paper—Leo’s eyes widen when he realizes what he drew on.

Lee reiterates his words for Leo, “This is the key that opened the doorway for the Krang. Remember it.”

Case is looking down at the drawing, his eyes narrow as he glares at it unblinking. His hands have formed tight fists on the ground, but he doesn’t say anything. If he were anymore disappointed, he doesn’t outright say it. It shows clearly in his shaking arms, and the whites of his knuckles.

Lee hands the drawing to Case, who doesn’t take it, so he hands it to Leo.

Leo doesn’t grab it either, confused and watching as Case blinks back a tear. “What did you say to him?”

Lee removes his hand from his wound to grab Leo’s hand and place the drawing in it with the other. His hands envelope Leo’s hand, closing the younger’s over the drawing. He gives a bittersweet smile and answers, “I told him you’re going home.”

Leo’s eyes widen, about to turn to Mikey as he puts the pieces together, but Lee adds quickly, “And you’re taking him with you.”

“What…?” Leo whispers out.

No.

No, no, this isn’t…

Leo’s head shakes slowly in disbelief, staring down at the drawing now stained with blood. He flips it over to confirm his earlier, unspoken realization and stares straight into the photo of his smiling family. He can feel his heart break.

Leo’s mouth gapes open, but he has lost his voice. He tries to give the photo back, but Lee is wincing in pain holding onto his wound. He looks at Case for help—for anything—but his friend’s eyes have steeled over.

Case’s face forces a stone cold expression, stern and rigid. But it’s purely forced. A forced determination expressed outward, but the clenched, shaking hand doesn’t do him any favors. Nor does the watery left eye.

Leo turns back to Lee who bites back the pain to reiterate to both of the teens.

“The people who stole the key will open it for the Krang. You have to find it before they do,” Lee closes his eyes for a brief second as his face distorts with pain. “You have to find the key and stop the Krang.”

Case’s forced sternness falters, the watery eye now has a tear falling from his cheek. He looks more like a child than ever before as he tries to retort, “But Sensei—.”

Lee grabs Case’s shoulder and interrupts the teen to repeat, “Find the Key. Stop the Krang. Say it.” He turns his head toward Leo, “Both of you.”

Leo doesn’t want to. He won’t. He can’t. Because saying it will admit their loss for good. Saying it will admit to his brother’s death. Saying it will be saying goodbye to the future—this future. He doesn’t want to lose Lee.

But Case is more disciplined. Case is more mature, raised in this war that Leo spent only a handful of months in. And much to his dismay, Case says it.

“Find the Key. Stop the Krang.”

But Case is still a child. Although he said it, he holds Lee’s arm and his lip wavers as he says pleadingly, “I don’t want to lose you.”

Leo notices in the corner of his eye the Krang have gotten much closer. He had forgotten all about them when Mikey’s power was ignited. And it becomes all too real when their glowing red eyes release low hums as their lasers power up.

Lee forces himself to his feet, grabbing Leo’s sword since it was the closest weapon. He calls over his shoulder, “Mikey!”

Leo returns his attention to Mikey, and he can see his little brother’s body cracking. Mikey is physically cracking like fragile glass, sharp and jagged lines breaking his skin apart. Glowing orange lines make the cracks appear clearer and far more terrifying than witnessing the cracks alone.

Leo’s hands are frozen over the photo but his foot takes one step toward Mikey. His voice catches in his throat, but Case speaks for him.

“Master Michelangelo, no! You’re gonna—!”

Mikey glances over his shoulder and gives them a reassuring wink before forcing his hands apart. The gateway bursts with life, accepting the box turtle’s willing sacrifice and hums with energy. It shimmers beautifully, creating a powerful breeze that carries away the glitters of Mikey’s remains.

Leo feels like a ghostly hand tears a piece of him from his heart along with his little brother. He turns to Lee to see if the elder slider has felt the same, but the elder is smiling.

Is this what it felt like? For every death he faced? Every life he lost?

How?

How can he keep smiling?

A metallic hand sweeps at Leo, who dodges it with a quick dive to the ground that was more of his legs failing him. He feels weaker.

Lee pulls Leo and Case toward him and hides the teens behind himself as he swings Leo’s sword at an incoming metallic swipe. The sharp clang of metal meeting metal reverberates, accompanied by the shrill shriek of a laser shoots down at them.

Lee is quick to activate his power and cuts through the air in front of him. A portal opens in the sword’s wake, forming another portal perpendicular from the several Krang in front and shooting the laser clean through their abdomens. Their lifeless bodies crumble to the ground only to be replaced by more Krang in metallic suits.

“Go! Now! You don’t have much time,” Lee yells and meets the blade with another metallic swipe. He takes a step back as he gasps with pain, holding his wound. Leo tries to help Lee to his feet, but the elder pulls Leo aside and blocks another metallic hand’s swipe.

“Leo, you need to go!” Lee yells as he pushes Leo toward the gateway. Leo realizes he’s the only one still standing by Lee’s side, noticing Case has made his way to the gateway all while swiping away at Krang hounds.

Case revs his chainsaw and swings it into the eyes of another hound. He looks over his shoulder and his eyes widen when he sees Leo hadn’t followed him. “Leo! We have to go now!”

Lee ducks, taking Leo with him, as they dodge a smaller laser that traveled a far distance across the battlefield. He grabs Leo by the upper lip of his carapace and chucks the teen toward Case, who catches him. “Get out of here!”

“No…!” Leo gasps as he watches Lee open a portal that redirects another laser at another lineup of Krang in metal suits. Having found his voice again, Leo yells, “No! Come with us!”

Case grabs Lee’s sword from the ground and hands it to Leo then swings his hockey stick at a Krang hound. His voice is shaky when he yells, “Let’s go!”

Leo twists the long sword in time to catch the bite of a Krang hound from his left. Case slaps the hound off Leo and pulls the slider by the upper arm. Tears fall from the future teen’s face as he drags Leo with him.

“Find the Key. Stop the Krang,” Case reminds Leo.

“Damnit, go!” Lee yells and pivots to turn around completely and throws the sword directly at Leo. The sword flips and flips and flips until the end of the hilt meets Leo’s forehead painfully. The sheer force of the throw sends Leo back, knocking into Case’s body, and making the lair trip over each other through the portal.

As they fall through, they witness the portal closing and a larger laser from above completely incinerate Lee.

The portal closes and the teens are left on the ground, toppled over each other like a tangle of limbs. They’re frozen where they lie, unable to register anything. The only thing they see is Lee’s mouth mutedly speaking to them and his kind, kind smile.

They both replay it in their minds. They replay it over and over and over and over and over again. Because seconds ago, he was alive. Lee was alive. Mikey was alive.

Seconds ago, they were just speaking with Lee and Mikey. Seconds ago, Lee and Mikey smiled at them.

But right here and now they’re both gone. So living in a memory is far better than now. Even if they only get to relive it for a few more seconds before the realization settles in their minds.

[dekkiidan]

Peppermint, lemon balm and matcha for the trio mayhaps? :3

🌻 Xan

Uweeee, thank you for your ask, Xan! I had a lot of fun contemplating these whilst on my little work break out in the sun, hehe! I don't know why, but thinking about what classes as a "treat" for my trio was really difficult, so I pondered for a long time, ehe!

Matcha: What is your OC’s preferred little treat?

Lemon Balm: Does your OC have any bedtime habits or rituals?

Peppermint: How does your OC handle the cold?

Answers under the cut as always! :3

Matcha - What is your OC’s preferred little treat?

Mohs

Mohs loves anything with good texture - whether that be a chew or a crunch! But it has to be something they can really sink their teeth into. I think they'd be a real sucker for the hearthian equivalent of mochi. Nice and chewy. And, flavour wise, it's got to be something similar to taro. A nice savoury base with a hint of sweetness, hehe!

although, I imagine with their jagged and pointy teeth, getting anything stuck between their chompers would be a real pain

Stein

My gut response was to say that Stein is a sucker for things like crisps, but I actually think they have a secret sweet tooth - especially since adopting Mig, who is a little bit of a marshmallow thief. They try, and fail, to keep a check on how much sugar they're ingesting on the daily - but the idea of them sneaking a sweet treat from under the bar now and then is a little too good for me to pass up.

Dusty

Perhaps not an edible treat as such, but I think a treat for Dusty would be something that requires time. Thanks to their busy schedule, they really appreciate having time to just stop. As such, I think maybe an activity other than their work is their little treat - even if that's half an hour to pick and arrange some flowers, or take a quick snooze in the sun with their hat over their eyes.

If we want to remain traditional though, I think they probably enjoy a really cold bottled root or ginger beer as a special treat after a hard day's work.

Lemon Balm - Does your OC have any bedtime habits or rituals?

Mohs

Mohs is a fan of routines in general, and bed-time is no different! In their own cabin, they tend to do a quick tidy up of the communal living space (luckily they and Tuff are both relatively tidy!) - mugs put to soak in the sink, fluffing pillows, refolding any throws or blankets to drape them over chairs etc. before they wash their face, brush their teeth and head up to their mezzanine to change into their jim-jams and hit the hay. They also use a nice smelling balm (lavendar, oats) on their face before bedtime to help them sleep, as they struggle to nod off.

If they're at the ranch, well, maybe that's for another time

Stein

Stein's is nice and easy. Clean down and lock up the bar and then -either:- Have a drink and a chat with Mylo and see where the evening takes them, or immediately head to bed and fall straight to sleep. Proceed to snore loudly.

When Mig comes into their life, bedtime stories and mandatory tucking in and a kiss on the forehead are a must. Stein absolutely dotes on Mig and adores these little snippets of parental joy they get to share with them.

Dusty

Depends entirely on where they are in their working year. If they're out with the herd, their routine is solely focussed on their animal's welfare. Ensure the area is safe, do a head-count, check for any injuries or signs of sickness, and then set up a small camp for the night - Timber Hearth style with marshmallows, a toasty campfire and a comfy (if well used) sleeping bag, of course.

When at the ranch, which is normally during the grubbing season, they'll do a welfare check on the cows and grubs, before locking up the barn, double checking the pens for the rest of the herd, and then heading inside to clean themself up (quick face and hand wash, or a nice cool shower if they have time) and hit the hay.

Peppermint - How does your OC handle the cold?

Mohs

Very badly! Mohs really feels the cold and has to wrap up in many layers to keep themself warm if they're out doing fieldwork in the winter months. They have a big puffy duffle-esque coat, fluffy hat, mittens, boots with insulated lining - the whole nine yards, and still end up shivering like a leaf if they're outside for too long!

Stein

Stein runs hot and has extra squish to keep them insulated, and as such, it's not uncommon to see them just in their tank top even on chilly days during their barrel runs. If things get too cold, they simply don their jacket.

Dusty

Dusty doesn't mind the cold, but they would prefer warmer weather, if only for the herd. They're sensible about their outerwear and know when to wrap up warmer if needs be, but their physical work often keeps their blood pumping hot when they're out and about.

Thank you so much for your questions, Xan! I had a lot of fun thinking them over, and now I want to draw more cold-weather outfits for Mohs too, hehe!

[inkspottie]

Hewo Spottie! New reader here, I've just finished my speed-run reading of all FOUR of your writings so far and I have A LOT to say! Let's start off with Vicissitude, it's very great! I like how you made it gorey and not very sweet without going in too much details, or making it disgustingly realistical (exemple is that some authors bring it to high realism and goes in massive details that makes the character's pain slash through you). You've made a part about Sebastian throwing up once while I've seen some far more disgusting where the characters piss themselves etc and I can't thank you enough for not doing that!!!! And I loved Sadao a lot, Brahams was fun but I prefer Sadao, he reminds me of myself, he's silly. Get yo mom Seb, Eve deserves to live!!! For Confluence, I really love it too! Chapter 14 made me want to throw my phone out the window but the fic is so good I couldn't raaah!!! Fishbug is canon!! I've shipped it since Vicissitude and was always like "yeah no I'm delusional" but I'm noooot! The characters, the fic, the art.. AAAAH I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IIIIT!! Pragma was very cool my favorite moment was Sadao just ADMIRING the view of Sebastian and then the little voice of reason going "bitch you're boutta loose your arm and you're thinking about a fish fuck's muscles? LEARN YOUR PRIORITIES" And the first snippet in Die with a smile? I love you Spottie!!! It was so nice!! It wasn't the kiss we excepted but there was still kisses so yay! You and your fics are awesome sauce Spottie, 11-10!!!

Hehe thank you for the kind words! Glad you enjoy my work!!

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Saturday Lovely Fandom. We've reached the second to last ep of this series rewatch. Unreal. God I LOVE this ep. So so good. Tim being her handler. Reminds me of Alias. Which was my first love for tv show/ship. If you ever watched Alias you’d know why I love this asset and handler situation so much. Let us start.

5x21 Going Under

Start out strong Lucy is going UC. Has to do with the last episode. Frank Teska has been released from prison. He killed his brother for the attack on his daughter Dara. He is back in business. Looking to get into the Ghost Gun trade. You need specific polymer to make them. Metro raided and took his supplier out. Which is where Lucy comes in. She will pose as someone at Southland Chemicals. Be his new supplier.

We join our ship talking about the OP. Tim mentioning he’s using Hard Luck as his CI. Lucy not trusting this guy as far as she can throw him. Tim’s reply is the best. The fact that his CI knows how important Lucy is to him *squee* Then telling her as such. That this guy knows Lucy is special to him That if he messes up Tim will hunt him down. Gah I love this. Calling in favors for his girl. Work version of romantic ha

Lucy’s sweet expression when he tells her this. Basically saying he loves her in not so many words. Lucy being Lucy calling it 'Undercover love.' hehe Tim isn't even fighting it anymore. Just smiles shakes his head and rolls with her antics. We all know he loves her for it. Damn they cute. Actions always speaking louder than words with these two. Lucy couldn’t be cuter as Tim walks away. Her smile saying more than words ever could about how she feels about this man.

Then we get these GLORIOUS phone calls. Like rom-com goodies up in this episode. Love me some protective Tim. Asking her if he needs to talk to her boss? Lucy waves him off. Says she's got it. Tim looking mighty fine Phew lord Scruffy, his sweater and his eyes popping in this lighting. Mmm. Lucy of course checking in on him next. I love this so very much. He won't tell her he's struggling.

So she's going to check on in him since he won't do as such. Tim knowing exactly what she means. Asking if that means he misses her? We all know he does but he deflects in the cutest way. Saying no. His smile when she calls him a jerk. But he's YOUR jerk Lucy haha. He is so damn smitten with her. Loves teasing and messing with her. Just as much as she does for him. One of their love languages shining through in this moment. My damn heart.

She asks if Tim can check in on Tamara? Tim doesn’t hesitate for one second. Of course he’ll check in on their daughter. Doesn’t want her to lose any focus on the job. We then delve into the cute snippet conversations that have my shipper heart fluttering. Lucy telling Tim not to watch 'Top Chef' without her. I love that they have a show they watch together. Makes me giddy. Such a couples thing to have that. Tim giving her crap saying he can’t make any promises.

Lucy asking Tim if he ever wished he had a normal job? Tim says without people shooting at him? Not once. Lucy replying me either. These tidbits are just fantastic. They both love their line of work so much. This whole talking about everything and nothing at all just shows the deep bond they have. Comes from riding together for years 12 hours at a time. Her being UC is isolating but they get to have these moments despite that. Little pockets of joy before this OP heats up.

Tim asking if she’s making any friends? Lucy going on about a lady in her office. It’s so cute I can’t stand it. Talking about his grandkids and such. I love this is so very much. They did a really good job with these shots and the VO's. I saw a lot of people saying felt like rom-com and it really does in the best way. Just being on the phone whole time. Even though they're physically apart they still find a way to connect and be together. It’s so sweet imma get a cavity.

Day 4 rolls around and Tim ask if the monotony is getting to her? Lucy tells him no as long as it’s not for nothing. I mean she had two weeks of it in 3x14. 4 days is nothing but now she has Tim so she's got more to miss this time around. I adore the voice overs in this scene. Tim reassuring her it’s probably cause Frank is double checking her story. I love this shot of Tim in the side mirror. Fierce protector reporting for duty.

Frank has finally surfaced and approached Lucy. Her cover story of being a wanted felon has worked out. Frank thinks she’s an easy target because of it. Lucy playing the fresh start card with him. Not wanting to get into business with him. She does this so well. He tells her not an option. That he needs certain plastics and she needs to not go to jail. Telling her it’s low risk.

Gah I love Tim watching over the situation from across the way. Looking fine af BTW. My god I'll never be over how tall he is and I love it. Tall drink of yum. Look at him in his civvies, the hat, the glasses, the intense way he's watching her. Listening in to their convo. Trying to keep his protectiveness in check. Doing his best not to step in. Especially when Frank threatens her. Which causes Lucy to say yes. Frank says they’ll have dinner tonight then. He’ll come get her from her place. They can hammer out the details of this new partnership.

Lucy meets up with Wesley, Harper, Grey and her man. They’re going over this date for her. Tim looks like he’s going to crawl out of his skin. He hates the idea of this guy possibly thinking it’s a date. He hates this entire conversation really. Keeping his hands in his pockets. Looks at the ground trying to settle his protective nature.

I love Grey checking in with Tim. Minute he hears the word 'romantically and date.' He immediately looks at Tim. Knowing he hates this on so many levels. Tim isn’t being at all discreet with how he feels about this situation. He's basically squirming in front of all of them. Tim continuing to try to put on a brave face. Not well but sure trying. His whole body language screaming his immense discomfort.

Tim is being the least subtle he’s ever been in this moment. Hating the idea she needs a good wire in case he’s handsy. You can see him take a deep breath and clench his jaw at the thought of this. This conversation is killing him softly. Some angsty goodness though. The check in's these two have above getting me in the feels before she sets to leave. That silent communication of their's prominent af. I LOVE him walking Lucy to the door. The intense looks they share on the way.

They both look amazing btw. He keeps constant eye contact with her till he can’t any longer. The intense longing in his stare as he watches her go. *heart clutch* His entire world just walked out the door and it shows. Eric crushing it with the longing look. This is the type of angst I eat up. It’s so so good. Worried Tim is lovely to behold. And that man is insanely worried. He is an open book as she walks away from him. Trying to keep himself from losing his damn mind over this man possibly touching her.

Grey immediately checking in with him. Man wasn't exactly subtle during that whole conversation. Asking Tim if he’s ok? Tim lying saying he’s 5x5. Such a detached military reply. When he is anything but detached in this moment. Wade knowing he’s lying. Their friendship is underrated. Grey saying he has to treat this like any other OP. Any other UC. Sure he'll get right on that. Thanks to Lucy his emotions aren't so easy to turn off anymore. Also not like it’s the love of his life he’s watching over or anything…

Lucy goes to dinner with Frank all wired up. Tim watching intently outside. Fierce protector at the ready. The intense look on his face as he watches over her is doing things to me. *fans self* Like a lion pacing back and forth in it's cage waiting to be let out. Ready to attack at the slightest provocation against her. It's insanely hot tbh. He would gladly throttle this man if given the chance to. All he needs is to be given a reason.

Lucy almost gets Frank to admit to his brothers death when bullets start flying. We watch Tim in an absolute panic call this in. Desperately searching for her in the wreckage from his car. Trying to find her as he rattles off their address. I love her jumping up and looking his way so he knew she was ok. His giant sigh of relief when her head pops up. Feel like we all did that with him. Went from all out panic to instant relief. I said in the hospital scene she is his whole world. That just got shot at and he was paralyzed until she popped up.

He couldn’t breathe until he knew she was alright. His whole body slumping against his seat in relief. Eric crushing it out here with his expressions getting me all emotional. I love how his eyes dart back to her once more before he takes off after the shooters. Double checking she really is there. He couldn’t even be in pursuit of them until he knew she was ok. You can see he wants to stay but can’t. Having an internal battle but knows he has to go after them.

His cop brain in a delay due to this. This delay in reaction definitely affects him in his pursuit of the shooters. Don't think he was fully there mentally. Tim's head was most definitely not in the game when he went after them. Taking us back to 5x01 when Tim told Lucy if her head isn't the game 100 percent it'll get her killed. He is the living embodiment of that line in this moment. This dude almost killed him. Even when the gun is in his face his reaction time is slower.

That is not the Tim Bradford we know and love in the field. He was clouded his emotions running rampant. He had not compartmentalized at all. When Jan shows up it really hits him what almost happened to him. Saying he got lucky it was empty. Otherwise…ugh I don’t even wanna think about it. He’s panting his adrenaline waning and it showing. Looking over where the guy was knowing this could've been far worse. Knowing what it would've done to Lucy.

I love the minute she’s done dealing with Frank Lucy calls Tim. Anxiously awaiting him to answer her call. Both so worried about one another. Gah this episode is fantastic. Never seen Tim this panicky or shaken up. This is a UC OP he’s involved in I can’t imagine how he’d be if he wasn’t.

He just loves her so much. Having a legit meltdown till he knows she’s ok. It’s all over his face as he talks to her on the phone. Eric killing me softly in this one. Lucy isn’t pulling any punches with her worry either. Both making me emotional as hell. Tim replying ‘Yeah I am now.’ *internal screaming* Wasn’t ok till he knew she was.

The love they have for each other is all over this moment. I’m not crying you are…You can see all the tension leave his body when he hears her voice. The neediness in both their voices when he says they should meet up. Gah yes you do. They needed to hear each others voice to calm down after that adrenaline fest.

Then we come to THE laundry scene. One that broke my damn brain. Pretty much broke the entire fandom's brain. I love how she rushes to him and clings on. Wanting zero space between them. Tim leaning into her arms. Rubbing his hand up and down her back. I’m sure both their hearts were racing. They are each other’s safe space and this hug shows that.

So scared and only finding comfort in each others arms. So much emotion surging through them in this hug. I love me a good hug and this one is fantastic one. Trying to ground one another with it. Speaking their concerns about what they just went through. The swaying gets me too. I love everything about this hug.

Lucy basically launches herself at him. He catches her effortlessly and holds her so tightly to him. The remaining tension melting out of of their bodies. Because they were running on adrenaline and anxiety until this hug. Tim holding her so close making sure she’s real. There with him. I’ll never be over this moment and how lovely it is.

This next portion just proves why Lucy is his person. Tim is losing his mind with worry over this guy. Over him trying something. His anxiety coming off him in waves. Lucy wants to soothe him because it's her natural instinct. Tim looks like he wants to cry or punch a wall or both when he ask if he’s tried something? Lucy reassuring him he hasn’t but even if he did she’s got this. The fierce protector coming out strong right now. He can barely contain it. Tim deflecting a little saying ‘I know.’

Lucy knows this man so damn well. Telling him knowing and feeling ok are two different things. She's so right. I love the way she grabs his jacket trying to comfort him. Tim is being so soft and vulnerable in this moment. She wants him to know it’s ok. She’s ok and it’s very ok if he isn’t. Eric killing this episode left and right with his expressions. His heart is hurting it’s all over his face and Lucy is reaching out with a reassuring touch. I love her for validating his feelings. Not judging him for them.

But also knowing he’s being very vulnerable right now and she’s being wonderfully receptive to that. Tim gets a little defensive saying. Not his first time. Lucy is SO good with him. Doesn’t shame him for being bristly about this. Knowing it’s his PTSD in full swing. So soft in her reply and expression. Letting him know probably what’s making this so much worse for him. This is why she’s his person. Never shames him for his feelings only loves him through. Gah they’re making me so emotional. I love this couple so much.

Before Tim gets anymore emotional he tells her he has to go. Now isn’t the time to talk about this. That he knows if she doesn’t feel safe she will bail. If she’s good he’s good. Lucy confirms she’s good. Tim says he has to get back to the station then. Grey is waiting for a status update. Lucy stops him before he can go. Not ready to be apart from him just yet.

Grabbing his arm keeping him from leaving. I love the way she is looking at him landing on his lips. Then she says the 4 words that made us all collectively lose our minds. ‘Lock the door first.’ Is this real life? Did we really get this moment? Adrenaline fueled we made it out alive laundry room sex? Oh my damn lord.

The way he looks at her when she says this. *fans self* Tim is definitely not treating her like any other UC…I remember gasping at her saying this. Needing to be with him in this moment. Tim’s smile realizing what she’s saying. My god. Laundry room sex is now canon for them. We got shower sex last ep and now laundry room post-op sex. My god the writers were good to us. I like being pandered too LOL Also you know there is a damn good chance highly likely really this was unprotected too.

Lucy couldn’t let him walk away yet until she had him. Hot damn. Tim not one to deny her anything is easily roped into her naughty plans. I’m still not over the risks they took to have this heated moment together. They had a frenzied hookup while she was on assignment. I’m dead. They’ve actually killed me in the best way. S5 truly is a fic come to life. I love every minute of it. Clearly missing and craving sexy time with her man. Also probably still hopped up on adrenaline as well. Undercover hookup phew lord we are blessed haha

Lucy calls Tim after she gets away with Frank from the warehouse. Saying the OP is done. Frank has nothing left to build. Tim is flirty af in his reply. With a shit eating grin to go with it. Saying that’s too bad... Lucy is confused and says why? Tim referring to their hookup in the laundry room. Bummed he wasn't going to get another. Timothy Bradford I never haha This man is so different when he is truly loved and happy my goodness. I couldn't love it more.

Hard to believe this entire episode is canon. Tim is definitely loving his sex life with Lucy and proud to let her know about it. Hell so are we haha Horny Tim is hilarious and I love him so. They could find another laundry room for a repeat performance if he would like LOL Fanfic come to life this season swear to god. We live in a world where this scene happened and I’m dying.

They return home because at this point it’s their home. Gah love how Tim looks at Lucy as he approaches her. Man is so insanely in love with her. Lucy saying she needs a big meal, hot bath and quality sexy time. Heh. Then to sleep for 24 hours straight. I love how Tim encases her hands in his caressing them as they speak. Running his hands up and down hers. Needing this connection.

I love Tim being the physically affectionate one of the two. I always knew once they got together he would be the one who couldn’t keep his hands off her. Touching really is one of their many love languages and I adore it. Never saw them nearly as touchy with their ex’s. Just another reason proving why they’re so right for each other. Gonna be the death of me and I welcome it. Lucy can tell something is up. Asking him what’s going on?

Oh my poor damaged boy. Having a trauma response right now with her saying she needs time to decompress. I love him not deflecting and telling her how he’s feeling instead. That’s not easy for him. I also totally get his response. I still have trauma responses to things as well. Lucy knowing it is telling him it was only a week. That one nights keep will do her just fine. Trying to say without saying she’s not Isabel. Tim accepts her answer.

Lucy says she has to come clean about some thing though. That she knows she made him promise not to. But she watched 'Top chef' without him. For shame Lucy Chen . For shame LMAO I guess that monotony did get to her since she finished it without him.... Tim is so offended I’m dying. Calling her a 'Bad girlfriend' *screams into a pillow* They’re so friggin cute I am dying. Lucy's 'No, I'm sorry!' It is horrible Tim is right haha Making him promise not to then watching it without him. Every right to be playfully mad at her.

Lucy wastes no damn time and confronts Tim about the shooter in the alley. I love her so much for always calling him on his shit. Saying how he didn’t tell her he almost died in that alley. Tim brushing it off saying because he didn’t. Oh Timothy. Acting like her losing you wouldn’t completely wreck her. Absolutely devastate and ruin her like it would for you. I think that’s exactly why he did it though. Acting like it’s not a big deal when he knew it was.

Protecting her from that fact. Lucy coming at him saying doesn’t matter who told her. That they’ll set aside the fact he left it out of the report. 2x01 Tim would be appalled ha. Doing it for the same reasons Lucy did then. Insane how this same kind of fight still involves Isabel indirectly. Lucy can’t believe him right now. Acting like it’s nothing. Like she didn’t almost lose him.

We see a little more trauma Tim come out here. Just assuming she's keeping things from him when she's under. I so relate to him reacting this way I do. I misread something my best friend had texted me the other day. I made an assumption like Tim is here. My friend was wonderful texted me back ‘ Your trauma is showing.’ And it knocked me out of it. It’s involuntary when it runs so damn deep. And we know it does for him.

I’m so glad Lucy is there to knock him back out of it. Saying No you know Isabel did for a fact. Calling him right out for it. These kinds of fights are so good for them. Forces them to face the stuff they’re hiding. Things they didn’t really touch on last episode. This was a much better and more open conversation. Tim didn’t hide behind being ‘fine.’ And Lucy isn’t letting him get away with it. Tim can’t fight that logic and it’s all over his face in the second gif. The way his body slumps in reply.

Lucy making a strong ass point next. Saying if this is going to work between them he has to see the difference. She not wrong. He really does. Tim shooting back of course he can. (Babe you got some work to do...) What I love the most is Lucy said her piece. Put him his place about this. Which was needed and now Tim is saying his. The dialogue in this scene so much more productive than 5x20 was. Airing things out and how they actually feel. Tim voicing his need to know she will listen to him if he sounds the alarm.

That otherwise all the pain he went through was for nothing. Then he says the line that shows me Lucy is the love of his damn life. ‘I can’t lose you the way I lost her.’ Tears in this man’s beautiful eyes. Imma cry myself. Finally voicing the fear he kept inside last episode. He cannot lose this woman My heart. She is everything to him. Pulled him out of the depths of his pain and hurt. Brought him back to life. He loves her so much and is saying as such in this moment.

Lucy can see this and reassures him he won’t lose her that way. She would walk away for him if it ever got that close. Ugh my heart. He sounded the alarm earlier and she shut it down. So they both have stuff to work on. I mean it's why he brought it up. He felt like he was sounding the alarm in the laundry room. Lucy brushed it off saying she didn't want to tap out. But them having this conversation hopefully they can be more aware of these things for a future OP and in general really. The need to openly communicate is a must.

Tim says 'Okay.' Choosing to trust what she is saying. Then we get another glorious hug. The way he clings to her. His hand around her neck pulling her to him is so visceral. He loves her so damn much and it’s shown beautifully in this embrace. How much she means to him. Pulling her in close. Lucy doing the same thing clinging to him like a life raft. Her arms pulling him close to her as well. We see both her hands on his shoulders. *sigh*I'm so proud of them for both speaking their minds in this scene.

Lucy calling Tim out was so needed. He has to see she isn’t Isabel. If not it’ll destroy him. No one gets through to Tim like Lucy. This scene was so raw and honest. Very much needed after all that was left unsaid in 5x20. Never be over them being vulnerable with one another especially Tim. Not only telling her he needs her to listen but sharing he CANNOT lose her. Basically laying any cards she didn’t already have from him on the table. So proud of him. He’s come so far and this scene shows it. I truly love the writers for how real they write them. Phew Lord this was a good ep.

~~~~

Side notes-non Chenford

Angela calling Aaron from closet about a case hilarious. The entire ep trying to do stuff for her I was laughing so hard.

Also nice to see Celina go out with a nice guy. She deserves it.

Well the next one is the last one holy moly. Thank you forever and always to those who like, comment and reblog these reviews. You all have made me so appreciated by doing so. I will see you all in the 5x22 :)

[scrumptiousstuffs]

Thank you @firstkanaphans for tagging me in this. Also, thank you for the lovely template by @rythyme (link)

GMMTV 2025 was a lot and I’m still reeling from the series we are being bombarded. I’m not expecting we will be getting all of them released in 2025 because we still have so many leftover from 2024 that has yet to air (all the hetero? 4-5 if I’m not mistaken)

But without further ado, my very bias list of what I am most looking forward:

S tier

Cat for Cash - People who visit my blog will know I am a FK girlie through and through. Add that combination with gazillion of fluffy cats set in the prettiest, coziest looking cat cafe ever existed, I am seated. The plot is secondary. I am ready to cuddle my own cat while watching this comfort series and sip hot chocolate every week. If I have to suffer through food cat ads as sponsors for the show, so be it (but they better make my boys the ambassadors for them as well).

Dare You to Death - JoongDunk in a mystery/crime detective series? I am intrigue. This series also seems to allow Joong to be the more playful of the duo while Dunk plays the more serious detective. Either way, there is murder, mayhem and the excellent chemistry between these two. So, bring it on!

Girl Rules - This will be messy and I am sure I will be watching this with my heart thumping while I try to work out the connections between our 6 main characters. I like NamtanFilm and I have always thought View is such as under-rated actress. I am less certain about MilkLove (is this a good time to confess I drop 23:5 halfway cause I got bored by their acting?). Nevertheless, this has Jojo directing and MilkLove seems to have top it up a notch with this messy, toxic lesbian show.

A tier

Only Friends Dream On - I mentioned in a previous ask, the only way I thought OF Season 2 can work is if we have a different cast altogether in a different settings (or GL ensemble! - and I got that with Girl Rules hehe). So, this is like a dream come true x2. It also has Mix (who Jojo has mentioned will be like Boston in terms of personality?) - so yeah, I am very ready to see Mix in his slut era. Plus, Ninew is directing and he is one of the best acting coach in Thailand (and also co-directed with Jojo for OF season 1). I am less certain about OhmLeng because I think Leng is a little green but eh, we have 6 beautiful men sleeping with each other (and did I just see EarthMix humping on the theatre stage?), so I'll be happy to tune in all the horny mess.

Melody of Secrets - I have no idea what's going on and I admit I got confuse when I watch the trailer. However, it has ForceBook finally graduating from university uniforms (for good, hopefully) and we have the excellent Jan and Ploy as well. From the snippet we have of ForceBook during their cameo in Peaceful Property and as TopMew in OF, I know they can act. So, I will give this a chance.

B tier

Wu - Again, I have no idea what's happening when I watched the trailer. But the trailer showed something about fate and I see the red string of connection? I am sucker for any stories that have fate intertwined.

That Summer - It has Jojo directing. It has Satang/Winny as a lead and I have Mond kissing boys again. What more can I ask?

Me and Thee - This seems campy mafia story to me. It also has the beautiful PondPhuwin starring in this show. I can see myself tuning in without needing to concentrate on the storyline too much.

A Dog and A Plane - Again, it has Jojo directing. Plus, it has TayNew who is of the OG lineup from GMMTV. Of course, I will be tuning in!

C tier

Ticket To Heaven - Not my cup of tea. I know GemFourth are good actors and it has P'Aof directing. However, I will be watching this from the distance (via my moots who will be tuning in and flooding my dashboard with beautiful gifs)

Memoir of Rati - Also, not my cup of tea. I struggle to watch lakorn. Maybe I will give it a try if people tell me this is exceptional.

My Romance Scammer - Is it safe to say I do not connect with the 2 main couples at all?

Whale Store XOXO - I prefer MilkLove in Girl Rules (I admit I tune out when this trailer came out)

My Magic Prophecy - I have already forgotten what this is about....

Love You Teacher - They lost me when Santa regressed to 7 years old.

Burnout Syndrome - it has OffGun and P'Nuchy of Not Me fame. However, I am not feeling the vibe at all. This may change once the official trailer come out.

D tier - pretty much anything with school/university settings (I'm sorry, I am over school/university storylines, for now. The only thing I will watch on repeat that is set in a school setting are The Eclipse and MSP).

Head 2 Head - school setting (see above)

I "Love a Lot" of You - Nanon in his token straight storyline about split personalities. I'll pass.

Mu-Te-Luv - I got so confused with so many characters. Is it like an anthology? Or is it a long series of interwoven/connected storylines?

Boys in Love - Even the side couple of PoddPapang can't save it for me. I may watch their parts only?

Anyone who wants to join, please feel free to do so.

[agnerd-bot]

Message From: Professor Laurel

Open it?

Yes!< Nah…

Hi there, kiddo! It's me, Professor Laurel! How're ya doin'? You gotta be way bigger than when I saw ya last! I dunno if you remember me after all this time, but I was so excited to hear you were moving here, I just had to whip this little recording up. So let me be the first to say… Welcome to the Demanti Region!

I know that Demanti's a bit… Well, a lot different than the Alola region where you're coming from, but I'd like to think that we've got some of our own charms up north!

Naturally, Demanti's super cold, and covered with ice and snow. We've got vast tundras and gigantic mountains, expansive grasslands and near-endless forests, and we've even got some desert lands here! Demanti's a gigantic place, and I just know you'll find somewhere you'll enjoy walking around. I know I've gotten lost my fair share of times, hehe…

And of course, in all these biomes are all sorts of Pokémon! Across the earth, sea, and sky, these amazing creatures inhabit our world, waiting to be encountered. Some people like to bond with their Pokémon by playing. Others work together with Pokémon to help society go on. And of course, Pokémon trainers strive to the top by battling each other.

And of course, there's me! The Pokémon Professor of Demanti. My specialty is in studying item usage both in battles and in nature! Pokémon are so much smarter than we give them credit for, and they always have new ways of surprising us! In one of my research papers, I actually-

Nido!

Oh, whoops! I've been babbling again, haven't I? Thanks for keeping me on topic, buddy! Hehe! I just know you're excited to start off your Pokémon journey, so I'll keep this as brief as I can. I know your mom filled out most of your paperwork for you, but there is some stuff that I need you to fix up for me. Just the usual stuff, photo, preferred name, height and weight, all that good stuff.

But enough of that boring stuff! Your journey is going to begin tomorrow morning, and I can't wait to see you!

——————————————————————————————————

I've been working with a Fakemon region for a while in my head, and while I don't have a real fleshed-out thing to present to y'all in terms of a full doc or the like, I figured it'd be nice to try to get more of my writing out there aside from Fanservants and stuff.

The Demanti Region is geographically based off of Russia, and culturally is mainly based off of Slavic mythology as a whole, with the three starters being based off of myths such as the Bolotnik, Rusalka, and Lady Midday, the legendaries being based off of Chernobog and Belobog, and much of the evil teams' schemes being centered around trying to take the power of Demanti's legends and use them to reshape the very world in their own image.

If folks are interested in this, I'd be happy to share some more ideas I have/am writing. So far I've only got a handful of stuff written down like the aforementioned Professor Laurel, the two main rivals(one of which is written by @300iqprower), the main protagonist, and the Elite Four. I also got the Regional Fossils, two Eeveelutions, and the final evolutions of the Starters.

It's been a while since I tried working on this story(before I even joined Tumblr) but I hope y'all like this little snippet.

[girlinthetardis04]

LIVE WISDOM SAGA REACTION!!!!!!!

I'm finally free!!!! Penelope and Telemachus I'm coming!

Legendary

Telemachus, you haven't even spoken yet and I already love you.

"Open Arms" callback??????

"Full Speed Ahead" callback??????

Athena!!!!

Hey, neat "Monster" reference.

I want to give him cookies and a pat on the back.

Wait wait wait, that's the same melody as "where is he? Where is he? Keep your head down he's aiming for the torches!"

Bitch! Is that Antinous?

EXCUSE ME?????

TRAMP????

TRAMP??????

★I'll be honest, at the beginning of the song I thought it was right after Thunder Bringer, I didn't realize we already skipped ahead. And the irony of him singing about all the things his dad had to get through to get back to him? Ugh!★

Little Wolf

Bold words from someone who has barely three years on Telemachus.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ATHENA'S BACK ATHENA'S BACK ATHENA'S BACK

"Uppercut him. 😐" DID NOT HESITATE LMAO

"Let's try this again" is she talking about the fight moves or about having a protege/Warrior of the Mind? Eh? Eeh?

Bwahawaha the "ooh, maybe I pushed him a bit to hard 😬" "ow 🤕" hahahaha. Reminds me of the training scene in Disney's Hercules.

★I genuinely was not expecting this song to be as uplifting as it was based on the preview snippets. The parts with Athena made me actually laugh out loud, which is new considering how much of a straight man she is Act 1★

We'll Be Fine

★This is actually one of two songs of this saga I actually haven't heard anything from, I don't even know what it's about or who sings it!★

A FRIEND! A FRIEND! SHE CALLED ODYSSEUS A FRIEND!

I know this melody. Why do I know this melody? Curse non musically inclined brain!

Hold it. Are those kalimbas in the back? Polites's instrument? Am I just delusional?

Telemachus, baby, you gotta raise your standards here.

★DA FEELS!★

Love in Paradise

★This is the other song I heard nothing about. I assume it's the one with Calypso★

THE TIME DIVE!

OH MY GOODNESS IT'S NOT JUST THE INSTRUMENTALS HERE!!! IT'S GOT THE ACTUAL LYRICS!!! AAAAAH THAT'S SO GOOD SO MUCH BETTER OH MY GOSH AND LISTEN LISTEN ANY AMOUNT OF STEVEN RODRIGUEZ'S VOICE IS WELCOME HERE PLEASE SING MORE!!!!!

It's like going on the shuffle on my playlist!

Wait, wait, wait, the preview didn't have "Different Beasts", "Scylla" and "Thunder Bringer"!!!!!!!!!

"She's my wife" "....😶....anyways 😊"

Oh, a twist on a classic! Is Jay contractually obligated to reference "Just a Man" every three songs or something?

Poor Ody sounds traumatized...like "not again!" The difference:

Circe: >:]

Calypso: >:3

Hey, Jay, ypu didn't have to do this. It wasn't written down anywhere. The doctor didn't prescribe it.

HEY! HEY! NO. Bad songwriter, Jay, bad! *pretend there's a spray bottle emoji here* you don't get to reference "Open Arms" like THAT

Oh, and now you actually have Polites's voice here! 🔨 *bonk go to time out jail*

★okay I'm gonna take a couole of minutes so I don't physically explode when I listen to God Games★

God Games

★We're gonna hear Apollo and Hephaestus and oh my god hahahaha★

ASAFDAGFAHDSIJE NOT A DRILL PEOPLE NOT A DRILL READY FOR ME TO BE ABSOLUTELY INSUFFERABLE FOR FIVE MINUTES AND NINETEEN SECONDS?

YES YES IT'S REAL WE'RE ACTUALLY HERE PEOPLE!

🫰🫰🫰 hmmm, Luke Holt's voice mmmhmm, and the way he pronounces the names??? He really sounds like a video game annoucer!

Also wait, wait wait, did- did Apollo's voice sound different? That's hehe totally not me freaking out hahahahaha. Justhitplayjusthitplayjusthitplay

Hera has a new voice????? Velvety!

I physically collapsed on my bed here, it's worth noting.

I was not expecting that motivation for Apollo! Interesting!

Oh, okay so that's why Apollo was Level 1.

I was kinda hoping he'd sing for longer but okay 🥲

Hephaestus! My... fourth favorite god! (After Hestia, Hermes, and Hades. Just the H ones)

Is that...Jay? No, it can't be, right?

AND NOW THE PART I'VE HAD ON LOOP FOR MONTHS!

Lol, I'm sorry for laughing but in the demo Athena sounded so much more pained and here she's like "dammit why are you interrupting me I'm in the middle of something!"

AH THE "WARRIOR OF THE MIND" REPRISE!!!!?

Oooh, okay Hera's new voice! I like it, velvety, it's very high class. Though I also loved the demo version because she sounded so JUDGY.

BOSS BATTLE!

Dadada dada dadaa... That's Thunder Bringer in the background!

Hold on, I'm gonna lower my volume a bit because I get the feeling my ears are gonna suffer otherwise.

Oh yeah, I made a good call. Though that voice control dayum!

BWAHAHA I CAN'T TELL IF IT'S ARES OR HEPHAESTUS WHO ASKED THAT BUT EITHER WAY, HILARIOUS! (That's really what it do be like after your siblings fight with your parents - I say as a only child)

*deep inhale* the piano version of "Warrior of the Mind"? Really?

No clue what the visuals are supposed to be here, but according to the music I should be happy.