#experimenting with drawing suckers a lil bit so they suck

[aeriona]

My boneless children (i will put them in my air fryer)

[crookes-library]

Tag Game: fandom edition

Thanks for the tag @ulfrsmal 💙💙

your name: for tumblr...crookes

your first fandom(s): Naruto I think was the first one I really sought out on the internet because no-one at school read it

your current fandom(s): I'm not totally active or contributing in a lot lately because my energy is being sucked up by sucky stuff! but I like to think I'm still in the last kingdom fandom and I always love the untamed and beyond evil and I'm a lil newbie to the locked tomb fandom I guess

how did you first get into fandom: I dunno really, I was the weird kid at school and spent my time on the family computer trying to find people into the same stuff as me? lol, a lot of forums initially, especially when I started reading manga

how long have you been engaging with fandom space?: 17-18yrs maybe?

how often do you read fanfics?: honestly like not for a good while, like over a year cause stuff but I read a couple griddlehark fics recently that I loved! And I'm always a champion of fanfic in general

top 3 characters from your current fandom(s): from the ones I named uhtred, wei wuxian and gideon nav are forever faves

have you ever written a fic for fandom? if so, shout it out!: for sure, started on ff.net when I was a teenager lol, you can find me as crookes on ao3 now

have you ever drawn fanart for a fandom?: y'know for someone who took AS level art and had an ongoing feud with the art teacher cause she was super like my mum (and the math teacher who liked me told me the art teacher bitched about me in the staff room for being stubborn) I cannot draw for my fucking life so no

share a personal headcanon that you feel very strongly about: honestly like high-fiving you ulfrsmal about trans headcanons because like my biggest like close to my heart headcanon about tlk is that Aethelflaed was genderqueer, there's a small line in one of the books and I can't even remember which now, that says she kept the binder of the Saint that inspired her geese flag as a religious relic and the story does v much set up Aethelflaed as like the more ideal heir of Alfred as the stronger, better strategist and its all v mcr you should've raised a babygirl I should have been a better son pressure to be more like a male heir who could inherit the crown and general gender confusion, I could literally write a whole tumblr essay on it but!

you're trying to convince a friend to get into your current fandom(s) with you. what episode, clip, or scene are you showing them?: oof for my most recent fandom the classic pool scene for griddlehark in the 1st book 'I've lived my whole wretched life at your mercy, yours alone, and god knows I deserve to die at your hand. You are my only friend. I am undone without you.' ... like what can I say, I'm a sucker for complicated devotion

and finally, what does fandom mean to you?: friendship, kinship, a place to belong, sure there's some people who are fuckin awful or exhausting but you get to choose who makes up your fandom experience so chat to who you vibe with and block who deals you psychic damage , its a big old soup, swim for the tasty bits ✌️

[detective-caruso]

dance with me || TJ x Cora

“@dani14dawn​: Yes, please! I’m all in for TJ x Cora as well and funny/romantic stories related to dancing/waltzing, maybe having Cora teach TJ how to waltz (or it could be TJ teaching Cora).“

prompt: Cora teaching TJ how to properly waltz (since he hasn’t had any experience ofc). 

genre: F L U F F 

wc: 1,870 (i got carried away oopsies)

A/N: i wrote this before bed so sorry if it’s trash uwuwuwuwu i got a lil lazy at the end. send more prompts ! i love writing about these two shitheads ! 

___________________________

+ it was midnight and TJ was still awake, his music on low as he placed his feet with the music, his arms wrapped around the invisible partner, doing his best to try and attempt to waltz. it was only himself, surrounded by the soft waves of the music and the pale, yellow lighting of the few lamps he had on. his cousin was getting married in less than 16 hours and she chose him to have him as her special dance. the only thing was, TJ had no idea how to dance.��

+ as Cora was driving home from the office, she noticed the Caruso household still had their lights on. it was midnight on a Thursday, TJ surely would’ve been in bed by now. out of the sake of her amusement (but also his safety), she decided to pay TJ a visit.

+ TJ jolted up as he heard knocks at the front door, leaning over to pause his music as he jogged to the door, making sure there were no clear signs of the fact that he was dancing to Patsy Cline by himself. he opened the door to be greeted with a tired looking Cora. he sighed.

+”  “hey stranger,” Cora began with a smile. her hands rested in her jacket pockets, her fingers intertwining with one another as they began to feel clammy as he saw how flustered TJ looked. “what’re you doing up this late?”  

+ he felt his cheeks warm up as he realized how embarrassing the truth was. he couldn’t tell Cora, his work partner, he was up practicing his waltz ability because of how much of a nervous-wreck he would be if he messed up his cousin’s wedding dance. “nothing too important, just... busy doing personal stuff-” he was cut off by Cora walking in, bumping shoulders as it caused him to step back. 

+ “what kind of personal stuff?” she asked, walking in with the same grin on her face, her eyes darting to the couch as she sat down. TJ’s phone lit up as a notification from an app appeared, but also revealing the music he was listening to. she let out a cocky laugh,taking his phone into her hands. “Patsy Cline? what are you? 65?” she giggled.

+ his head jerked as she slid by, closing the door as he made his way to her. “firstly,” he began, his face redder than ever. “you do not walk into someone’s house without permission. secondly, I told you it was personal matter. don’t you have to get home?” he said, his voice cracking at times from how embarrassed he was.

+ Cora smiled at him before feeling something underneath her feet. picking up the object, she continued to smile as she looked at him. “dress shoes? okay, TJ, I know I’m just starting out, but I feel like I need to do some detective work unless you tell me what’s going on.” she smirked, looking down at the shoe.

+ TJ sighed at her snarky comment, letting his head fall before walking over to sit next to her. “fine.” he sat down, letting his back rest onto the cushions behind him. “my cousin, Anne, she’s getting married tomorrow and she chose me to be her,” he stopped, looking up at her. “’special dance.’” he said, putting air quotes on ‘special dance’.

+ “really? you out of all people?” Cora teased, her smirk growing wider.

+ “let me finish.” he said, rolling his eyes as he leaned forward to the edge of the couch. “I’m honored to be her dancing partner, Cora, but I just..” he said before his breath hitched. “I don’t know to.. waltz.” he admitted. it almost felt wrong to say, it felt as if he just admitted to a crime. 

+ “seriously?” Cora replied, her smirk disappearing. “TJ, you could’ve told me.” she said with pep in her voice, she bounced up as she spun around to meet his gaze. “c’mon!” she held out her hand.

+ “wait- huh?” TJ said, jerking his head up. “what’re we gonna do?” he said, sounding a bit scared. he stood up as he took a hold of her hand. “what are you doing Cora?” he sighed, his voice changing from scared to confusion.

+ with TJ’s hand still in hers, she grabbed TJ’s phone off the couch and pressed the arrow, indicating that next song was starting. she turned the volume up a bit, but not too loud as she set the phone down onto the coffee table. “i’m teaching you how to dance, Caruso.” she smiled softly.

+ TJ was a sucker for old retro love songs, his favorite artist being Patsy Cline. ‘Why Can’t He Be You’ played softly as he felt his hands being lead by Cora’s. his tender hands resting on her waist, his other intertwining with hers as it held up beside them, filling up the empty gap in the air.

+ Cora seemed to be a natural at this, she treated this as if this was another hang out session with her boss, but TJ felt every part of his body shake. he didn’t know what it was about her, but every time they seemed to touch or have a flirtatious interaction, he would feel his brain melt and the butterflies would flutter. 

+ “so, basically the waltz is just the ‘box-step’ dance. you know what that is, right?” she asked, her eyes fluttered as she looked up at him. she knew she was short, but under the circumstances like this, she seemed to be even shorter compared to TJ.

+ “I-um..no..” he admitted, another embarrassing confession he had let out tonight. “I have no experience in dancing.”

+ Cora, once again, laughed as her grip on his hand began to feel clammy. “noob.” she mumbled out as she took a step back to look at both of their feet. “firstly, when I move my right foot back, you bring your left up we step together to the right, okay?” she said, moving her feet to indicate the spots they were going to be stepping into. 

+ TJ nodded as his eyes darted to his feet, then back up to Cora’s gaze. at first, TJ did a decent job, but he did ended up stepping on Cora’s feet, ending up in him apologizing a million times before her having to tell him to shut up. 

+ as time went on, TJ ended up learning how to properly box step, just 6 songs later. instead of robot like movement, his dancing became more natural and even threw in a few spins for Cora here and there. the music stayed soft but the two grew more closer to one another, instead of their hands in the air intertwined, they were now wrapped around each other, not planning on letting go soon. giggles were exchanged and so were little confessions here and there about one another’s past.

+ “y’know, my father and I use to box step all the time. I would stand on his feet and we would dance to whatever was on the radio..” Cora said as the two swayed. “I guess that’s why I wanted to teach you, just seeing someone who’s horrible at something progressively get better and better, I think it’s maybe a dominant thing.” she shrugged, scoffing at her own joke.

+ TJ’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her, “I’m not horrible! I was never horrible, I just wasn’t... properly educated on such as subject.” he replied with a grin. “I’m not horrible at anything, sure I suck at some things, but I’m not horrible.” he added.

+ “don’t suck yourself off too much, Caruso.” she replied, rolling her eyes. TJ felt his face turn to a bright shade of red as his eyes focused on the floor, causing Cora to giggle at his reaction. 

+ as time passed, Cora’s eyes started to feel heavy as she rested her head onto TJ’s shoulder, drawing the gap between them to close. their chests touching as their heartbeats aligned. TJ looked down at the tired Cora, smiling to himself as he rested the side of his head onto hers. 

+ the two must’ve been dancing for so long that TJ’s phone eventually died. as soon as the music stopped, Cora’s head jolted up, causing TJ to move his head back. Cora stopped and looked up at him with a tired smile, her lips barely forming one. they sat in a comfortable silence as she rested her chin onto his shoulder.

+ “i should really get going...” she said, breaking the silence. TJ looked down at her, suddenly reality coming back into play for him. “oh, yeah- of course..” he said, his hands leaving her waist empty as he pulled away. 

+ after a few minutes of rushing around, Cora and TJ headed to the door. the tension between was thick, and both of them could feel it. Cora’s hand rested on the knob, before turning around to be greeted with a tired but bubbly Anthony. 

+ “listen, Cora, thank you so much for tonight, I really needed the help..” he said, feeling awkward, not really knowing what else to say. he sat there, his hands fiddling with one another as his gaze lead to hers, then back down at his hands. “I’m sorry, I just don’t really know what to s-” he felt himself stop before feeling a pair of lips onto his. Cora’s hands cupped around TJ’s jaw, as his hands wrapped around her waist just like how he did when they were dancing. her lips were soft like satin, he took in the feeling as much as he could, never wanting this to end. he felt himself pulling her closer out of need, desperation.

+ after a few moments, Cora pulled back but kept her hands where they were. she let out a small laugh before leaving TJ’s face empty. “bye, Caruso.” she giggled before opening the door and letting herself out, leaving TJ confused and red. he watched her walk to her car, her giving him one final smile before getting in, starting the ignition, and heading home.

+ TJ closed the door, turning his back and letting himself rest as the thoughts played through his head. he walked back over to the sitting area, seeing the ghost of what they once were earlier hang in the air as he sank into the couch, letting out a satisfied sigh. 

+ “i thought you two weren’t a thing?” a familiar voice announced out of the darkness of the dining room, TJ bolted up to see his dad in the kitchen, looking at the paper with a beer in his hand. 

+ “dad! what- no, I just- how long were you there for?!” TJ felt his gut turn as his dad gave a smirk. 

+ “just the whole time, I was down here watching you dancing and thought it was pretty funny, but then Cora came in and you two were canoodaling and talking about you sucking yourself off and-”

+ “DAD!” TJ exclaimed, feeling himself fall onto the couch with a pillow clutching his face, letting out a frustrated grunt.