#however it was Jimmy who started it all he freaked out first

[dykedvonte]

Of all the themes in Mouthwashing, I think the themes of punishment and virtue are the most subtle.

It’s so odd because it’s a subversion where all the characters are punished for their virtues more than their flaws except Jimmy. Curly sees the best and people and tries to do right by all parties whether deserving or not. He is then forced to see everyone fall to their worst states while he can’t do anything. Daisuke is optimistic and hopeful, playful to a fault and a big morale. He dies in agony the one time he is forced to act in a serious event. Anya is kind and capable, knowledgeable in her field. Yet, she is treated like a dunce and does being treated like a dead weight.

The only characters who aren’t punished per se are those without direct virtues. Swansea is ornery and rude the moment we meet him, Jimmy is self explanatory. Yet, Swansea is still punished with Daisuke’s death, while Jimmy escapes in a way. Not having to face the final aftermath or even acknowledging how he could never really fix it. He suffers and is tormented, but he doesn’t really care because in his mind he didn’t fail in his head of proving something to Curly.

This is rambling y really but it really is the theme of no good deed but to the extreme. Good people punished for their attempts at virtue while the bad person victimizes themself over their suffering.

[m0remor1]

Who’s Birthday Are It???

Logan Howlett x FtM!Reader

NOTES: FINALLY i’m posting my first oneshot! i’m crazy new to this but i really wanted to post something Wolverine related considering i never shut up about him…,.,,… hope yall enjoy!!

WC: 1,668 words

TAGS: hurt/comfort, Comic!Logan (I def used some of his Origins’ backstory though el oh el), established “friendship”, ALMOST make-out scene, no smut, reader is basically the same height as Logan, really slight description of violence, a little unserious and silly

October 12th.

It used to be a somewhat fun occasion back when Logan was still Jimmy the sickly little Victorian boy. His family was well off enough to afford him gifts and heaps of food that he could barely stomach while showering him in attention he wasn’t all that present for. Could’ve been out of pity or something, but there’s no way of him knowing that now.

The earliest memory of his birthday that stuck after taking three rounds of adamantium between the eyes was Sabretooth hunting him down. The biting cold of bum-fuck nowhere, Canada, the actual biting and tearing of flesh, the hours of endless beatdowns that left Logan in a heap while his torn flesh weaved together layer by layer.

What’s even worse is that the rat bastard made this a tradition.

And considering Logan’s as old as dirt, there’s only so many birthday punchies he can endure from a bloodthirsty maniac before he starts to loathe it. He does his best to block the day out of his mind, ducking the other X-Men to avoid any pointless—and frankly annoying—birthday wishes from them. It’s almost impressive how absent he manages to be on his own birthday.

Cut to what feels like his billionth ‘special day’—he’s shacked up in a seedy dive bar nursing what’s now half a bottle of Jack’s while awaiting his inevitable crashout with his feline freak of a nemesis. His leg is bouncing off the stool, his hand is clenched hard around the glass he’s refilled countless times, and his muscles are tensed in preparation.

You, however, didn’t seem to get the memo.

Well—you did. You’re just politely ignoring it. A completely inconspicuous excess of cash magically found its way to your pockets after a couple battles with anti-mutant thugs, and you’d been hanging off Logan’s shoulder long enough to take note of his favorite brands.

And thank fuck you garnered as much money as you did, because the man’s tastes were almost disgustingly expensive.

And now, here you were with a small box held behind your back while you finally found the bar Logan was brooding in. Took a good couple hours to track em’ down, but a win is a win regardless.

“…You know I ain’t celebratin’. Get lost, bub.” Logan pipes up the moment he catches your scent sneaking closer, a scowl pinning itself to the burned in plasma screen bolted to a high point on the bar.

“Oh come on—you’re not even takin’ gifts? I had to study for this, man.” You huffed in complaint, hovering over the stool next to him.

And before Logan can press you to leave, the box you held behind your back slides into view and thuds softly against the wood counter. It earns a side eye from the older man, a glimpse of shock chipping away at his stoned mask just a teenie bit at the sight of the box’s logo.

“Bribin’ me with a couple smokes ain’t gettin’ you anywh—“ The minute Logan unlatches the box and opens it, he’s met with the sight of a FULL box. Stacked to the brim with tightly wrapped cigars that held the brand’s shiny sticker. He gives you a fully stunned look, almost slack jawed as he quickly shut it and cursed under his breath.

“…I’d make a real shit cop.” He mutters as he taps the worn leather of the seat cushion beside him in a silent demand to take a seat.

And you’re SAT. It’s almost comical how fast you scurry into the seat. You’re lucky it’s bolted to the floor, or else you would have conked your head on the grimy hardwood real hard. There’s a beat of silence as Logan takes a cigar from the top of the box and almost glares at it in an attempt to spot something wrong. But he finds nothing. Shit—they don’t even smell off. He extends a claw halfway to snip off the ends, reaching into his pocket for a lighter.

FINALLY you get to show off again.

You bring a hand to stop him, fishing through your own pocket to fish out the second half of your gift.

“Hollon—“ You whip out a silver zippo lighter. “Ta-da!”

…

“How empty is your wallet right now?” Logan questions, taking the lighter from you and scanning each detail of the silver embossments on it.

“…I think a moth or three is in it right now.” You jest, watching as he drags a finger over the detailing.

There’s a traditional Japanese-style dragon curled on the front, the silver metal darkened in the crevices to look grungy. The rest of it is black, save for the engraving on the side. The letters of his name are straight and jagged, each shiny silver line meant to look like a claw had scratched it in. He’s almost mad at how much he likes it, because it means he has to admit that one—he really is an art nerd, and two—he’s getting soft. His stomach twists a little, but not in the ‘there’s perilous danger incoming and everyone’s gonna die’ way. More in the ‘this stupid kissboy’s worming his way further into his good graces’ kinda way. And he doesn’t know what to do with it.

“This is dumb, y’know. Ain’t a reason for a lighter t’be this extra.” He grumbles as he gives it another shift between his fingers.

“I mean—f’you don’t like it I can jus’—“ You reach for it, but Logan snatches it away before you can even graze it. “Aht—Back off. Yer gonna have t’pry this from my cold dead hands in 200 years.”

He hunches over the lighter slightly, clinking it open and striking the little wheel a couple times before it came to life while you stifle a giggle. The cigar eventually starts to glow a faint red at the tip, and Logan drags in a hefty breath that he holds. It takes a moment before the smoke billows from his lips, and something in you lurches with glee at the sight of said smoke framing his bearded face. His blue eyes dart to you, watching with a raised brow as you pretend to look anywhere else but him. And poor soul—instead of catching on to what were probably some FREAK nasty thoughts—he thinks you want to bum a puff of his cigar. His hand tilts to offer it over, but you shake your head.

“M’good. I’d probably cough up a lung or two.” You don’t wanna admit you hate smoking in general.

Because if we’re being honest, it’s kind of a lie. Sure—if you walked past strangers you’d cough like you had pneumonia to make em feel a little guilty. But with a scent that didn’t make you want to dry heave and a lethally handsome face behind it, you could only bring yourself to pretend that the cigars were too strong for you.

But this… this old man has to go and insist.

“…Could always shotgun it.” It’s aggravating how fast you wanted to blurt out an okay. “Wouldn’t mind sharin’ my gift a lil.”

This little bastard knows what he’s doing. He HAS to, considering there’s a ghost of a smirk on his face at the sight of your shock. You clear your throat behind a clenched hand, trying to play nonchalant and failing horribly.

“I mean—yeah, sure. Whatever, I guess...” You can’t even look at him properly it’s that embarrassing.

Your face runs hot when you lean a little closer, eyes squeezed shut as if you’re ready to get punched or something.

“Good god—relax, bub. Y’look like I’m handin’ you a pipe bomb.” Logan leans in too, but his free hand grabs at your collar and pulls you even closer.

Words are failing you fast, leaving whatever retort you could come up with in the dust before you even thought about the first word. Your eyes peek open, watching his chest puff as he took another drag off the cigar and held it. He lets the smoke die out a little before dragging a calloused hand up the front of your jacket and to the junction between your neck and shoulder.

His large palm presses against the side of your neck, the pad of his thumb swiping across your plush bottom lip and earning a breathy sigh from you. When his hand moves to your jaw to keep your head still, you shiver at the slightly rough drag of his worn fingertips against your skin. Your stomach is doing gymnastics and the both of you can probably hear the drumming of your heart against your ribs. Your hands find purchase on his thighs to keep you upright while you’re leaned forward, and you thank whoever’s up there for giving you an excuse to do so. You part your lips as he gets in your face, blowing the sheered out smoke into your mouth and maintaining crazy amounts of eye contact while you inhale it.

Hands clench at his muscled thighs in a bid to keep you grounded, but it’s mostly just because you’re trying to resist closing the non-existent gap between you two. However, before you can even think of kissing him, your lungs start to burn and you turn away to cough and sputter as transparent smoke puffs out of your mouth.

“Y’ain’t supposed ta breathe it in like a shitty cigarette. Yer supposed to taste it.” Logan can’t help a snicker as he pats your back while you hack up the smoke in your lungs.

“Gee… thanks, you little—“ Whatever expletive you had for him gets lost in another coughing fit, complete with a little wheeze that finally seemed to help clear you up.

You glare over at the other man next to you, but your anger feels unfounded when you catch him almost full on grinning. Sure—it was kind of at your expense—but you got him to smile. On what’s usually the worst day of his year, no less.

…Man—you’re really great at this whole birthday thing.

[crumbazaar]

Mouthwashing Plans! (con't)

Swansea: Swansea is very reticent to open the cargo hold, as he knows every infraction will cut into his pay. However, when they fine the mouthwash, he decides to fall back into his past alcoholism and spends all his time drinking. Shortly after the crash he discovers that there is one working cryo-chamber. However with five of them, he knows it will cause an argument that could turn ugly. He decides to just spend his time guarding Utility, under the guise that it's filled with foam and if anyone else attempts to cut through it will break the airtight seals and kill everyone on board.

He trusts Daisuke enough to have him deal with rationing the food, not Jimmy (or even himself, as he's constantly drunk). He doesn't seem to trust Jimmy with much of anything. He reluctantly gives him the axe to reach the extra meds in the locker by medical, but afterwards he keeps tight hold of it and Jimmy says he even sleeps by Utility so no one can get in. It's very possible Anya asked him to not let Jimmy keep the weapon, which is part of why Swansea makes sure to hold on to it.

I believe Swansea doesn't have much faith in being found. He knows their cargo isn't very important, and the company doesn't care about them as they've been fired. He might also just realize that based on the amount of time it would be hard to even have a ship find them before they perish. He instead tries to have a good time by drinking while making sure the crew doesn't kill each other over the cryopod.

Three months in, Jimmy catches Swansea and Anya talking, and it seems like they've both confided in each other. Anya about her pregnancy and Swansea about the pod or at least his expectations of being found. Perhaps he promises to let her use the pod to save two lives (if it works that way), if they agree to hide its existence together, or maybe they agree to save Daisuke.

Swansea seems to have given up on being rescued, and is focused on making the end of their lives as safe and comfortable as possible WHILE getting as drunk as he can. There is a possibility that if they fully ran out of food, he'd let someone know about the pod to have a better chance of escaping. The most likely options being either Daisuke whom he believes got screwed by being added to the Tulpar crew, or Anya who is pregnant and a woman. He doesn't have any delusions about Jimmy accepting either of those options and such doesn't present him any of them.

When their crewmates die, Swansea tells Jimmy to use the tank, but then decides to kill him instead. He either figures out that because of Anya's pregnancy, it's Jimmy's fault OR, just wants revenge for getting Daisuke killed. The sequence mostly references the death of Daisuke, but since it's from Jimmy's perspective Anya doesn't factor into the situation.

HOWEVER I've replayed the second half of the game and I'm starting to wonder if Swansea attacked Jimmy at all. The first sequence in the game of their conflict, we see Jimmy freaking out in the cockpit with Swansea trying to break in. He grabs the pipe to seal the door and ties it to the lock so no one can get in. He has an unknown item that makes his hand shake that we can assume is the gun. In a later sequence, after Swansea says he can get in the pod, he gets attacked in medical after getting the gun. Then you have the dream sequence fight in Jimmy's delusion of a graveyard with Swansea sneaking up on him to axe him to death. Swansea gives his final speech to Jimmy, which I read as being genuine (although maybe it's just Jimmy's way of rationalizing killing him) tied to a chair in Utility with the same rope from the cockpit and he is shot in the head twice.

[igotanidea]

The fear: Jason Todd x fem!reader part 2

part 1

"I don't understand. Why isn't it working on him?” regardless of Jason’s protest, the second he got Jimmy to safety Dick and Tim took him to the batcave to run some test and assess the damage. Surprisingly, seemingly the toxin did nothing.

“I don’t know” Tim muttered, torn between confusion and curiosity “but it’s disturbing. I believe Crane has been altering the formula and the effects are yet to come.”

“Maybe I’ve just become immune to Scarecrow’s tricks.” Jason was sitting on the nearby chair, arms crossed over his chest, right leg bend and rested on the left, utter annoyance on his face “Will you two just let me the fuck out of here?!” he hissed

“NO!” Dick and Tim said in unison, however, the motives of the answer were slightly different for each of them. While both of them were worried about Jason’s state of mind, Dick didn’t want him to be alone. The oldest Wayne knew exactly what memories could come back due to the fear gas and felt the urge to help Jay through it. On the other side, Tim didn’t want him to suffer if there was something he could do about it. He just needed more time to figure it all out.

“I hate you both. Truly, madly, deeply.” Jason huffed

“Oh, come on, Jaybird, we all know if you wanted to get out you would have already done that. And yet, you’re still here. No one’s keeping you captive.”

“Shut up, Grayson.”

“Nah, I don’t think I will.” Dick smiled

“Don’t you have anything better do to? Anyone else to save?”

“You’re my priority at the moment.” Suddenly the air in the cave got a bit more serious and tense.

“How long do you think this may take?” Jay asked quietly “I got job to do.”

“We’ll cover for you if…..”

“NO! Hell no, I told you to stay away from Crime Alley.”

“If you don’t want to be alone you could have just said so.”

“Shut up, Grayson!”

“Why is it always me who has to witness this?” Tim rolled his eyes, begging whatever bigger entity there was for mercy “Can you two just calm down?”

“NO!” apparently, the sides turned and now it was Dick and Jason yelling in unison at Tim

“I wasn’t really expecting any other answer.”

“I��.” Jason exhaled deeply “how long?”

“If my analysis is right ….”

“….. and it’s always right…” Todd mocked

“.. it may take up to 10 hours.”

“Great. That is just freaking great. Anyone up for the board game while we wait?”

***

Now

Tim was right. After 10 hours it all started coming back. Slowly.

At first, it was only the knot in his stomach, origins unknown. Then, his head started spinning and his vision became blurry. Soon, Jay felt surrounded and suffocated by the green fog.

And then it was only worse. Dick and Tim were forced to watch their brother crouch in the corner of the room, his eyes wide in terror, fixed on one point in the space yet blind to everything that was happening as his brain was working against him.

The memories from Ethiopia. The sound of footsteps on the wooden floor. The vicious laugh of a maniac who was attacking a kid. The feeling on crowbar on every part of his body. The smell and metallic taste of blood. He was going to find him again. Joker was going to torture him and kill him again. The story was going to repeat itself. There was literally nowhere to hide. Poor Jason. He hid his face in hands, sobbing quietly, silent begging to just leave him alone.

“I… I don’t want to go back…..”

“Um, should we do something  or…..?”

“What do you suggest we do, Tim? How do we help him without letting him know that we see him in this state? It’s still Jason. Any sign of vulnerability he’s shown may be the cause of another fight. And he’s terrified. I don’t know  about you, but I’d rather avoid it.”

“We can’t just leave him like this.”

“Of course not. But we also cannot help him. There is however one person that can.”

“You surely don’t mean …..”

“Yeah, yeah I do.”

“She won’t like it.” Tim warned

“But she will come. She always answer when needed.” Dick took a few steps forward and squatted next to Jayson. “Jaylad? Hey, I need you to look at me. You’re gonna be fine, all right? I’m calling Y/N”

“What?” for a second Jayson’s sight became a bit more aware “Don’t you dare! I don’t need her here!“

“We both know that is not true.”

“I don’t want her here!”

“Jason….”

“Don’t you dare calling her! I can handle myself. There’s no need to. I don’t want her hurt and he’s coming to get me. I need to keep her safe. I have to keep her safe……” his whole body shook, since it couldn’t process the possibility of the girl getting captured by the Joker and tormented the same way he had been.

“He’s too far gone now.” Tim pointed out “I think we really have to call her for the rescue.”

“Told ya.” Dick was  already dialing the number of his friend “Y/N?”

“Dick? Hey there, boy wonder. It’s been a while.”

“Really? It seems like you never left. We still got your framed picture on the display.”

“Oh, please, after a month? I never thought you to be sentimental, Grayson.”

“Only for you, Y/N….”

“Oh for crying out loud!” Tim hissed and took the phone from his brother “Y/N.”

“Tim? If you’re there than can only mean you have an emergency.”

“I need you to come. We need you to come. Please?”

“Of course. You know you can count on me. Is it Damian or…. Jay?”

“It’s Jason. If you don’t want to….”

“No.” she cut him off instantly, her voice a bit more concerned “What happened in the past stays in the past. I promised you something when I left and I intend to keep that promise. I’m on my way now. See you soon, bats.” The click on the other side indicated that she disconnected.

“Do you think this will work? I mean, given all the history…..”

“The plan’s in motion now. We better hope it works.”

to be continued

part 3

@shadow-pancake9

@lwtmonster91

@your-local-cryptid87

@princessbl0ss0m

[panfluidme]

Too Late

Jimmy moved into his uncle's place pretty young, just before middle school. His parents were just fine, but they were well known and people in his hometown could tell that he was their kid. With their few assassin attempts, they decided to send their twin children somewhere safe.

However, Jimmy's twin had jumped a few grades. They had on both their school records put their last name as "Z", just "Z". Jimmy honestly didn't mind all that much, he liked the sound of Jimmy Z anyway. It sounded cool and just rolled off his tongue. 

But the first day of school in a brand new town was still scary. Especially since his twin sister managed to skip two years and was now starting high school. So he didn't have anyone to go into school with. Which meant his was all alone in a school he's never stepped foot in. 

He gripped onto his backpack's straps as he stared at it. He wasn't really in anyone's way, but Jimmy felt like he was glued to the pavement. He couldn't get his feet to move. His heart was pounding in his ear, he was so nervous. 

Jimmy nearly jumped out of his boots when someone touched his shoulder. He turned his head to see a taller blond teen and a shorter brunet teen. The blond smiled warmly.

"First day of school?" he asked, his voice gentle.

The redhead nodded. "Y-yeah."

"That's okay. It's Chris' first day of school too. I'm Martin, by the way."

"I'm Jimmy." Jimmy gave them a shaky smile. He looked at Chris, who waved. "You Chris?"

"Yep."

Jimmy could remember the time he realized his feelings for Chris. They had been hanging out in the treehouse in the Kratt's backyard, Chris rambling on about his favorite bird at the time. Honestly, Jimmy couldn't tell you what the name of the bird was for the life of him. He was too focused on just the sound of Chris' voice.

Chris had been called down to help set the table for dinner, and Jimmy watched him go down the ladder. Jimmy smiled to himself and checked his phone, his heart racing like it always did when Chris was around. A loneliness built up inside of him, a confusing one since Chris just barely left.

Suddenly, a realization hit him like a bag of bricks. The high schooler had fallen in love. Not with just anyone, but his best friend. Chris fucking Kratt. The best nonfamily person Jimmy ever knew, maybe even just the best person he knew in general. 

How didn't he know this sooner? It was so obvious now that he knew. The way he longed for Chris to be around him. The way he missed Chris, even after he just saw him. The way he wanted to hold Chris close, keep him safe from everything bad in this world.

Jimmy set his phone down, his cheeks going dark red. He didn't know what to think, what to say. He just knew he would never be able to be around Chris again without making it a little awkward for both of them.

The redhead was so excited that Chris and Martin had chosen him to be their pilot. Aviva taught him how to use the teleporter, so he became the person who operated it the most. He was a good cook, so he cooked the most. The others cooked, but Jimmy didn't mind being their main cook. Everyone enjoyed what he had to offer.

It was so exciting to be living with Chris, but Jimmy managed to make it a small deal. Best friends lived together all the time. There was no need to freak out over it. It was normal and he could handle it just fine. They weren't sharing a room.

Jimmy didn't know what he'd do if they were sharing a room. His heart would explode, and he would never be able to look Chris in the eye ever again. Their rooms were on opposite sides of the Tortuga, the flying turtle ship they all called home.

His favorite thing, however, was seeing how excited Chris got whenever he got to use his Creature Power Suit. Jimmy didn't know how he didn't just melt there and then every time he saw it, or how he didn't turn red and grin like the idiot he was.

Sometimes, he wished he could go out and join them. But Jimmy was too big of a coward to have any fun. And he'd just get in the way. So, he was fine with watching the brothers Kratt having fun out in nature while he sent them anything they could need. 

The second worst day of Jimmy's life was watching Chris up at the alter, getting to a woman who wasn't him. He wasn't mad at Chris, Chris didn't know how he felt, but he was mad at himself. He had been working up the courage to tell him how he's felt for the last eight years, but then he met Vanessa. 

And no matter what he wished, Jimmy would never be Venessa. He would never be the pretty raven haired, brown eyed girl she was. Even as a gay man, he could admit she was stunning.

That was another thing. Jimmy had never come out, mostly because he just forgot to. At this point, he had thought he told the crew, but hadn't actually. Not that it really mattered, his heart belonged to a man that would never return his feelings.

Small tears welled up in his eyes, but tears were in everyone's eyes. Which was good for him since no one would suspect a thing about how he felt. Unlike everyone else's, Jimmy's was of sadness and regret. He was watching the love of his life get married to someone else.

The worst day of Jimmy's life, however, was yesterday. It had been fairly normal, Chris and Martin were on a creature adventure while Vanessa fussed over her art work of the week. Overall, Jimmy and Vanessa ignored each other. Something that upset Chris.

Jimmy suspected that Vanessa had picked up to his feelings, which had died down a little after their marriage. She didn't stop him from having a relationship with Chris, but she didn't like him. To avoid drama, the two just avoided each other and only spoke when necessary. 

And Jimmy was fine with that. He wasn't her biggest fan, but that was only for selfish reasons. She fit well into the crew and made Chris happy, he couldn't really hate for her other than he had been too much of a coward to tell her husband how he felt, and she had gotten him. He didn't hold it against her, even though it was hard, and he didn't hold it against Chris.

"I've got you," Martin's voice came from the screen, causing everyone to look over. Martin was holding onto Chris, who was dangling over a cliff. He just barely started to pull him up when his glove slipped off, and Chris fell.

Jimmy could only watch in horror as Martin sat on the edge, too shocked to do anything more than just stare over the edge. Everyone half expected Martin to jump after him, but he just sat back and sobbed, throwing his head back.

The redhead barely registered anything other than his heart racing in fear. His breathing was quickening as panic settled over him. He's never felt this way before, he didn't know the feeling this was. It wasn't the normal panic attack he was used to, no this was so much worse. 

An invisible pain washed over him as he sank to his knees. He knew there was no way that Chris survived, everyone knew it. Jimmy hated it.

He leaned forward and let out a broken scream. Everyone ignored him, Koki focusing on Venessa and Aviva trying to help calm Martin down from far way. Fat and salty tears ran down his cheeks. It felt like a part of him had just died.

Jimmy knew for sure there was no way now that they'd be together. There had always been a small hope that it could happen. It was too late...

[blackaleycatt]

Ordinary Things: Chapter 1

AO3 link: Here

5 times Aviva and Koki were clearly a couple + 1 time the guys realize.

Title named after Ariana Grande's song "ordinary things".

1

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Each member of the Wild Kratts crew has their own room in the Tortuga. Usually, they slept in their hammock in the Tortuga’s main room but on the weekends they liked to have little hangouts in each other's rooms. It was a way for them to bond outside of work.

They would watch movies, play board games, play some of Jimmy’s video games, listen to music, and Aviva liked to do everyone's makeup sometimes. Martin, in particular, enjoyed having his makeup done by Aviva, who was practically a pro at it.

Tonight they were in Aviva's room for a mini spa day. The weekend was coming to an end so Aviva suggested doing a “Sunday refresh” to prepare for the start of the weekday. Aviva prepared customized face masks for each of them, taking into account their skin types including retinol for Jimmy’s greasy pizza face and high SPF for Chris and Martin, who spend a lot of time in the African savannah creature adventuring. Koki had her own supply of face masks too, as she and Aviva had been doing spa days with each other since college.

As they relaxed in Aviva's room, the soothing aroma of face masks and incense filled the air, and the gentle hum of "NewJeans" played in the background. They chatted and laughed, enjoying each other's company, and the warmth of their friendship. It was moments like these that made their adventures all the more special. The boys absolutely loved having a spa day and were sad when it came to an end. They were already planning the next spa day as they were leaving Aviva’s room. It was getting pretty late and they had to get up in a few hours. Koki stayed behind, which wasn't surprising since Koki and Aviva spent a lot of time together in each other's rooms, even more than the guys.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

The next morning the crew woke up feeling rejuvenated and relaxed. Martin couldn't help but comment on how amazing the spa treatment was, "That spa day was incredible. My skin feels so rejuvenated and fresh," he said while rubbing his cheeks. "Mine too. My face was so clear this morning I almost didn't recognize myself," Jimmy said, rubbing his hand on his now less pimply forehead. Chris turned on the electric kettle to prepare hot water for everyone's morning beverages.

"I'm glad everyone enjoyed it," Aviva said as she stretched and went over to the counter to prepare her coffee. However, as she sat down at the table, the boys noticed several red blotches on Aviva's skin, going from her jawline to her collarbone.

Jimmy drops his fork and starts panicking. "Aviva, you have a rash on your neck," he says while covering his mouth. He looks like he is about to pass out or something. He's so dramatic.

Martin stops eating and looks at them. He gets up to examine her. "Yeah, you do. It's all over your neck. Are you feeling alright? Did you come in contact with anything?"

Chris soon joins them to look at Aviva's neck too. It had to be serious if it made Jimmy and Martin stop eating.

Aviva looks at them, worried and pulls out her phone to look at her neck. She did have reddish-purple blotches on her neck, but it wasn't a rash. She knew exactly what or who caused it. She covers her mouth, and her face turns as red as Lost and Found, their baby red panda friend. She stutters, trying to come up with an excuse. "Uh, it must be from a product I used last night or the new detergent in the laundry. Um, I'm sure it's fine, guys. Please don't freak out."

She tries to calm them down. She didn't want them to look too closely at the "rash" before they realized it was not actually a rash.

“Hold on, I have some ointment in my first aid kit,” Chris said before rushing out of the room just as Koki walked in.

“What’s wrong, guys? What's with all the commotion?” Koki asked. Aviva was covering her neck, and Jimmy still looked scared as he replied, “Aviva has a weird rash on her neck, and we don't know what it's from.” Koki immediately knew what this “rash” was that they were fussing about, but she tried to hold back a laugh as she approached.

“Koki, why are you laughing? This is serious. She might be dying!” Jimmy exclaimed.

“Jimmy, please calm down. She's gonna be fine,” Koki reassured them, with a grin on her face, both from Aviva’s embarrassment and the way Jimmy was acting.

“Yeah, Jimmy. Freaking out is just gonna make her more scared. Look at her,” Martin motioned towards Aviva, whose face was still red with mortification.

She covered her face and groaned, “Guys, please.”

Koki tried to comfort her by resting her arm on her shoulder, but Aviva glared at her. Chris ran back to her with some ointment. He took a handful and rubbed it all over her neck and chest. Aviva wanted to curl up into a ball and die.

Chris finished applying the cream. “There you go. It should go away soon, but I think you should lie down until it goes away. We don't want you to get any worse.”

“Guys, I'm fine, seriously.” She protested.

“No, Aviva. I think you should rest a little bit. As much as we don't want to, we can go a day without a new awesome creature power if we have to,” Martin sighed sadly.

"I'll take a day off if it'll make you guys feel better," Aviva sighed and finally gave in.

"I can watch her and make sure her rash doesn't worsen. I think Jimmy still needs to calm down," Koki assured the brothers.

The brothers nodded in agreement. "Okay, sounds good. We'll get the dishes cleaned up and head out in a bit. Keep us updated."

Koki smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, I will," she said with a smile on her face.

Aviva glared at Koki once again and headed towards the bathroom.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Aviva stands in front of the bathroom mirror. Koki comes in after her. “What are you doing?” Koki can see that Aviva is scrubbing the ointment off her neck and chest and has a bottle of foundation and concealer on the bathroom counter.

“This is all your fault,” Aviva snaps, ignoring Koki’s question. “You left this huge mark on my neck and then you had the audacity to laugh about it.”

Koki bursts into laughter, “I'm sorry. I thought you knew I was gonna leave a mark.”

“I didn't know it was gonna be that big. I've never had a hickey before,” Aviva complains.

“The guys must have never had one either. I can't believe they didn't realize it wasn't a rash.”

“Me neither. But I'm just gonna cover my 'rash' with some makeup so they won't be concerned anymore,” Aviva answers her question, holding up the foundation and concealer.

“Yeah, because Jimmy is acting like you have some kind of deadly disease.”

Aviva chuckled lightly. “Yeah, I guess it was funny. But next time be more careful.”

“OK, ok. I'm sorry,” Koki says as she hugs Aviva from behind and kisses her cheek.

"I guess I'll forgive you this time." Slowly turning around, she leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on Koki's nose.

[misterxsamsa]

I'm so fucking sick of being treated like shit by a community I joined explicitly to try and find comfort in something I enjoy. I'm so incredibly tired of feeling constantly anxious and paranoid, having people treat me fucking terribly, and then having to keep silent about it to avoid public conflict, or to not be associated with it forever, or to not be harrassed by people with much bigger followings than myself, or to not have it used as further ammo to send more shit my way. If you were around for the original mister-samsa, you might know exactly what I'm alluding to, but trust me, you don't know the depth of it, things got really fucking bad. I'm not going to act like people being catty and aggresive with me is on par with the worst I've experienced through Tumblr, but things get hard sometimes. I just want everybody to remember that there are people behind the screen here on this hellsite, and in this fandom about 75% of the people you'll be interacting with are probably severely mentally ill, so if you ever have a problem with anybody, just be normal. Send them an anon, a message, literally anything, engage in grounded conversation because nothing on Tumblr's that serious. [There's context under the cut, if you're interested.]

I basically reblogged someone's Jimmy post with some silly ramblings that got pretty disconnected from their original post, just because I felt inspired. It's 99% unchanged on my blog still, so you'll be able to see what I'm talking about. They got super fucking aggro in the replies, saying that I was twisting their words, and needed to delete the reply or people were going to think that my headcanons were shared by them, or represented the interpretations talked about in the original post, when their post was very different. It was weird? I don't think they realized that reblogs don't show up next to their original posts, and are shoved into the notes, but they didn't back down when multiple people pointed this out? Also, our posts were so differently legit nobody would think that. I was apologetic and nice at first, since I followed this person and genuinely did like the post. Hell, I even added a little edit to the original post stating that my words might not nessecarily reflect their views on Jimmy. However, I got pretty fed up the longer things dragged out. They wanted me to delete my reblog and put it into an original post, but I didn't want to reward the rude badgering after all that, and there's so many images it would've been a pain in the ass. When I wouldn't give in, they called their bigshot artist friend to tell me, and I quote, to take "pity" on them because of their mental health, after they spend MULTIPLE HOURS making me paranoid and stressed as fuck, like, yeah, okay. Dude, and everytime I'd be like: "Hey, i'm not doing this, there's nothing else for us to talk about, and it's not that serious" they'd accuse me of dragging things out just because I didn't want to do what this random guy, who was rude, was trying to pressure me into doing by stressing me the fuck out. Honestly, part of why I didn't want to just delete it, outside of principle, was because I wanted there to be proof of this guy's assholery in-case of anything, right? You can never be too carefui. That worry got multipled tenfold when their artist friend got involved, who I know for a fact all of you probably follow, and that's when I really truly started tweaking out. I mean, like, freaking out, getting stressed and anxious. Even as I got annoyed with this guy, I never crossed into being aggressive, maybe towards the artist, but not OP. When I pointed out my own mental health, and the fact that this guy was the instigator of the situation, not me, they basically just didn't aknowledge it, and continued to insist OP was the victim while provoking me again, and again, and again. My god, and then OP started guilt-tripping in the replies and talking about how he was a horrible person, like, it got embarassing and I'm just so tired. Dude, for all I know those guys are in every JTHM server blabbing about this nothingburger situation, and it's my word against theirs since I'm the schizophrenic, and the artist is extremely well-liked, and then OP deleted the post to try and scrub the replies [alongside everybody clowning on them, it got to 50-something notes]. I'm going to continue tweaking the fuck out unless I just say something, anything, even if nobody cares and nothing comes of it. It's not even like they got that artist friend involved because they became too distressed to reply, they continued to do so. If I didn't know any better I'd say it was an intimidation tactic, but I'm a paranoid schizo, so that that tinfoil hat anecdote with some salt. I'm just really not doing well right now, and this is just the cherry on top of it, I guess. There's nothing I can do except continue to be stressed about it, and maybe type here for catharsis.

[hoperays-song]

More Spider-Man AU Stuff

Johnny became Spider-Man or Skate-Spider on a school field trip when he was young, but went for a long while without taking up the title. He only did eventually because he realised he could help people in a way he couldn't before and save them like he couldn't save his mum. She died while he was young due to an illness but he still blamed himself and saw being Spider-Man as a coping mechanism at first.

The singing competition was essentially the same but without the gang plotline and the characters being much younger. They all became friends afterwards like the do out of AU but have spent 3-ish years together at this point. Buster also adopted Ash then as well.

Jimmy runs a newspaper as well as a ton of other entertainment things and they do all hate Spider-Man.

Instead of Spider-Man losing a police captain or his uncle, he has to be the one to sever his ties with his uncles and dad. In this AU he never knew about the gang and caught them in a robbery. Johnny tried to talk them out of it, even revealing his identity, but couldn't and in the end arrested them. Aka a much more angsty disownment arc.

Nooshy was adopted by Marcus around two years before the start of this AU when he found them camping out behind the garage. She lives in her own apartment now but acts as Johnny's “person in the chair” after helping him come up with the Skate-Spider persona in the first place.

Rosita is still Johnny's foster mum and finds out he's Spider-Man when he returns from patrol too hurt to hide said fact. She immediately started covering for him and helping him improve his gadgets as a way to make sure he's safe.

Several newspapers are running rewards for who can tell them who Spider-Man is and the troupe are all competing together. Johnny is actually pretty scared they might find out who he is because they've gotten close before.

In the timeline, the singing competition in Sing 1 is replaced by just a regular show as it focuses more of Johnny being Skate-Spider and his relationships. The Redshore trip does still happen according to the timeline with the same plot points however, just with Spider-Man stuff thrown in.

Johnny has a different skateboard that he carries on patrol so his dad doesn't recognize it and he takes all the pins of his jacket before patrol as well (also his jacket has pins in this AU). When not skating on patrol, the skateboard is hung around his shoulders with a strand of webbing.

Ryan is actually introduced a bit before the Redshore trip as an English student who Johnny saves as Spider-Man. During the Redshore trip however, it's revealed that Ryan, as well as being a dancer, is in school an is doing a paper on modern heroism and wants to talk with Skate-Spider about what that's like as a hero vs as a civilian. Johnny is constantly scared he's going to figure his identity out.

Clay figures out Spider-Man’s identity after like 12 seconds but keep his identity a secret. He says this is due to him having a stage persona when he was younger so he recognized the two's similarities (Johnny and Skate-Spider).

Ryan does figure out Johnny's identity after a while and drops it in while they are hanging out after practice, promising to keep it a secret.

The troupe as a whole finds out Skate-Spider's identity during the big show down with the big bad and promptly freak out that their friend is likely hurt.

The disownment reconciliation scene wouldn't be at a theatre performance in this. It happens during a fight with a villain when part of the jail is destroyed, causing Johnny to panic about his family's safety. He runs into his dad and the two talk it out then.

Calatonia will be New Calatonia instead but Redshore stays the same.

Quote:

“No, you raised me to do the right thing. Why can’t you see that’s what I’m doing?”

“And you're willing to do that even if it means turning your back on your family? By betraying us?”

“If that’s what it takes, then yes.”

“Johnathan, don’t you dare-“

“I'm sorry dad.”

[overthinkingtaleblr]

My brain is going mental. Anyways, since I did one for Toast and his family, I figured it would be fair to do one for Ghost and his family as well. Plus some Jimmy because why not?

Mysteries

Ghost had alot of questions about her family, mainly her father. Timothy Casket was, in her mother's words, "a kind, modest man" that took his wife's name (much to his family's dismay) and worked tirelessly to keep up with everything. When he heard about being a father, he was ecstatic. He was there for the whole pregnancy, and was often seen looking down at his daughter, cooing and playing with her.

Then he disappeared without a trace, and left them with near nothing. The In-Laws knew what happened to him but wouldn't tell out of pettiness.

Her mother couldn't bare to look at her because she reminded her so much like her father, which led to a disconnect, and Ghost feeling ghosted hehe as she got older. Her mother would feed and care for her, but she didn't do much beyond that. It just ached too much

Friends?

It was during this time that Jimmy found her. She had been cuddling her stuffed animal, talking to it, as children do, when she heard a response across the room. Looking up she saw a young kid, around the same age as her, looking back at her. She was shocked he was there; he was shocked she could see him.

They soon started talking, and becoming eachother's first friend. Since no-one else could see Jimmy (yet), everyone chalked it up to Imaginary Friend, which made Ghost a bit uncomfortable since Jimmy got defensive at those comments ("I am real! I'm not like them!"). This also started her interest in the paranormal, as Jimmy often stated that he was alive even though it was obvious that he was dead.

If only she knew what would become of them

The start of it all

Ghost was out alot, mainly to get away from the stranger that was her mother, partly to look for the attention she wanted elsewhere. The streets were not kind: stealing became a must, and she was an easy target.

This was how Ghost and Toast met, with her trying to get something off a window sill. Scurring off with her prize, she thought about that boy and why he helped her. She... She hoped to see him again.

And she did: the second time she noticed him across the road, and they waved at each other. The third time was when they finally spoke for real, across the school fence during break and lunch. Toast told her where she lived if she wanted to chat there later, and soon she was there anytime she was out, talking to him from below the branches.

This also led to the end to her and Jimmy's friendship. Maybe everyone was right with him being imaginary, so they started talking less and less. The intense jealousy from him when they did was starting to scare her.

Then she started going over to Toast's house. Oh boy did Jim not like that. Their argument about it led to her cutting ties, and unable to convince her otherwise, he stopped showing up ... For now.

First BlackOut

When Jimmy did come back, it was through possession. he felt... Powerful. He had no idea that he could interact with the world after so long unable to. It went to his head, and the loud cackles were evident of that. Ghost's mother had heard it however, and soon she was in the room trying to see what happened. Jimmy read it as an attempt to get him, and freaked, running out the room and into the kitchen with Ghost's mother head on his heels.

The knife on the side of the counter was just the wrong place at the wrong time. And Ghost woke to a painful headache, and her mother lieing in a puddle of blood, the blade in her hands.

She never worked out who caused it.

After...?

After that, Ghost couldn't remember much. It was a haze of faces he swore he could name, researching about the paranormal, working out who he was, and alot of stress starting up P.I.E.

It got less fuzzy when Toast came back from the UK, and helping him through his grief and addiction. It probably help him a little as well.

Oh god— First, congrats to Ghost, trans rights, but from there— Ghost forgot like. Who he was? Almost entirely? At an older age? That’s a fresh take…

It does also add to Ghost reminiscing on the past mid-mission— I can see Toast getting excited if he starts talking about a memory Toast was there for, and getting frustrated if he’s confusing something he saw on TV for a real memory. Also explains how Ghost managed to not learn how to read And go through the American schooling system without evoking developmental issues (I say, out of personal experience).

Ghost’s mom dying because Jimmy was bitter that Jimmy was close with Toast makes me… wonder how that’s gonna go. Both because Jimmy is probably still going to have that grudge against Toast even after this, but also because Ghost might feel like he’s a danger even to the people he wants to be around. Because who’s to say who Jimmy is going to strike next when he’s feeling grumpy about Toast. Whoever is closest? Is he going to try to attack Toast himself? Gavin? Who KNOWS! Horrifying!

Anyways! Thank you for sharing! This was really fun to read and I like the kind of cliffhanger this was left on!!! ^^ there’s clearly more story to this, and where you decide to go next I’m excited to see it!

[feathered-moths-ablaze]

Werewolf Jimmy AU

First off, I would like to thank @overthinkingtaleblr and @sodalite-lite for the inspiration of this AU. Your ideas and art are amazing and great food for thoughts.

Secondly, this does include mentions of starvation and cannibalism, so if you're sensitive to those topics, you have been warned.

Lycanthropy

Before getting to the AU itself, here's the rules about the Werewolf curse and how it works

The two ways of becoming the werewolf is either through bloodlines, which can be unreliable as the curse is recessive, or being bitten.

Only the bite can spread the curse. Getting injured through other means like claws or being licked are safe.

When first bitten, you have a two hour window. Wild Blueberries can fully cure but can be scarce in certain locations and alot must be eaten to fully cure. There are medical treatments, but they can only postpone it.

After the two hours, the first transformation starts. It's very painful and long, and leaves the wolf in a feral state as panic, pain, hunger and power is going through them all at once.

The transformation lasts throughout the night until dawn/sunrise. This differs depending what time they transformed at and the season.

Coming back from a transformation can leave the person very sore.

Afterwards, there is no cure. Wild Blueberries can repress it, but not be rid of it

The first few transformations will leave the wolf pained and feral, but if you persist, then the body will get used to the transformations, making it quicker, less painful and no risk of going feral.

The transformation will leave the wolf hungry, so have food on standby or they'll go off to hunt.

Werewolves don't hunt Humans unless in dire situations. Usually, rabbits and deer are the intended pray.

They can recognise friends and will be alot more friendly with them than with strangers.

Jam, while not a drug, is addictive to werewolves. If one gets their paws on a jar, expect it to be licked clean by the time their finished.

Ok now that the basics are down, time to go on about the AU

Plot

So when Toast first transformed and bit Ghost, he spread onto him. However, because of the Blueberries he ate beforehand, he didn't get the curse. When the full moon happens, Ghost thinks he got off scott free, and goes on about his day.

Weeks later, he wakes up somewhere sore with his clothing torn, hands and mouth especially covered in blood, and the taste of unfamiliar meat on his tongue. Understandably he freaks out and calls Toast, who's equally freaked out about how Ghost just up and left then was radio silent for the whole night.

Neither of them know what really happened- well, it's obvious what, but how? Shouldn't the berries have stopped it? Did it just increase the time frame instead of cure it? Is he a werewolf after all? Why didn't it happen on other full moons? They only have theories and ideas from what they know.

As the months go by, Johnny gets more stressed about it. From the few times it's happened again, there's no pattern. Yes it's happened under the full moon, but those nights are random and not every full moon triggers it. Toast has been exploring his werewolf abilities and limits and mentioning it all to him in hopes of it bring an answer, but it only brings more questions.

Spooker and Colin keep hearing rumours about "a man eating coyote" that they bring up to the Johnnys at some point. They don't know about Ghosts' problem, so when he asks for more about it, they tell him what they've picked up.

It leaves him a little unsettled when the dates seem to line up with when he's woken up bloody. But that's just a coincidence right? Right?!

Then a few days later, during a duo mission, something triggers Jimmy to appear, who runs outside in anticipation. Toast follows, confused about why Ghost just ran out. He runs faster when he hears pained screams.

He's still under the shade when he spots him, dark red fur sprouting from his shoulders and teeth sharpening, and Toast realises two things:

1) Johnny isn't here anymore.

2) Jimmy got the curse.

Somehow Jimmy, who's as far as alive as one can be without being labelled as dead, is considered alive enough to get the curse, and transforms in front of Toast.

Of course, because of his conditions, he looks alot different than usual werewolves. His ears are too long and sharp. Thick fur surrounds his neck and spouts from the tail tip, yet under all the fur, his ribs are poking through. And when he turns his hungry pale eyes onto Toast, it's obvious that there's only one thought in his head: kill

After a long night of Toast and Jimmy fighting for their lives and the sun finally comes up, and Toast is conflicted about telling Ghost.

On one hand: He needs to know. This isn't something you can't just keep quiet about. On the other: he's seen how Ghost reacts about questions about or involving Jimmy, and he doesn't think he can survive another encounter.

Toast tells him anyway.

Of course, Ghost is horrified. The voice in his head is now a feral werewolf that's killed who knows how many, and nearly put Toast on that list! How do you handle that?!

Meanwhile Jimmy mocks him. I mean, he could've killed Toast, his best friend, the one who started all of this, and no-one would believe him when he said it was Jimmy when he's the one covered in blood. Makes you wonder how he didn't get caught before. Oh well, better stay quiet or there might just be an accident next full moon.

Now P.I.E has to deal with two werewolves. Oh dear.

Design

He's based off of red wolves since gray felt more like Ghost and I wanted to use one that was more brown and native to America. I wanted to give him a "wolf but off" vibe and I think I nailed it with the thicker fur and long ears- gives him more of a lion look.

The reason why he's malnourished and skinny is because of how he needs to possess Ghost in order to do anything and doesn't seem to stick around long after he's made a kill. With such a small time frame, you probably don't have much for the wolf to eat. Plus how much is the probability that he can posses while there's a full moon?

I do headcannon Jimmy is a good few inches shorter than Johnny, so his wolf form is also short (but taller than Ghost. Sorry not sorry short anger boi)

Extra Info

Is this going to be another AU that I'll make art for like my Rainworld Taleblr AU? Probably not, but that could change later on in the future.

[goldendoodlerlockerlove]

Tell us more about Gene and Alexis! Gush to your heart's content!

Pom!! You're too sweet, really, letting me gush like this 🥺. Now that you asked me this, that reminded me that I have the next few panels of my comic done, and should be posting them either tonight or tomorrow! :D

I've already posted a bunch about it, but yes, I took on the feat of making a (sort of) long-form Bob's Burgers comic immediately after I finished my first shorter one. That was definitely inspired by @bluebirbbs and their lovely comic, which everyone should go read if they haven't already because it's fantastic.

I mentioned the comic because it's all about Gene and Alexis. Alexis is my OC who's around Gene's age. They moved to Seymour's Bay and started going to Wagstaff around the time the My Butt Has A Fever short happened and were incredibly nervous about meeting new people and having to adjust to living in a new, seaside town. They're kind of insecure and immediately thought people would find them awkward and not like them. Then, they saw Tina, Gene, and Louise performing that song, and all of their worries melted away. They somehow immediately realized that Gene was the one who wrote the song and was blown away. I headcanon that they couldn't stop gushing about it on the drive home with their parents and even beyond that.

Their parents are quite nice and have done a decent job raising Alexis, but they aren't exactly supportive of people in the LGBTQ+ community, which Alexis is definitely a part of. Alexis figured out around a year or so before the events of the comic that they're Nonbinary (and go by They/He pronouns), and also Androsexual. However, they generally just call themselves Gay because that's easier for people to understand. But, around their parents, they (sort of) pretend to be completely Cishet for fear of judgment or worse. Oh, and they were also born without a right foot (which they have a super realistic prosthetic for) and they have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. They generally only use a crutch for it, and sometimes, not even that. There are a few occasions when they have to use a wheelchair, but they hate using it because they like being more independent. They later confide this all to Gene, who actually thinks it's super cool, which is something they've never had anyone say about their disabilities before. I suppose this sort of parallels my Linda is deaf AU by having a person with a disability's partner be super sweet and supportive.

Anyway, Alexis is so captivated and moved by Gene's performance that they very quickly fall in love with Gene. They freak out for a bit but don't say anything, because they don't know who to ask for advice. Then they decide that the best course of action is to get their feelings for Gene outward anonymously. This poor soul mistakenly thought that by sending sweet anonymous notes to Gene their feelings would somehow disappear. Of course, that doesn't happen.

But, fortunately for them, Gene eventually begins gaining feelings for Alexis too. This is because once they start hanging out and becoming friends, Gene discovers that they have a lot in common, such as loving the same movies, foods, and fashion. Thrifting and making clothes is actually one of Alexis' hobbies, and Gene adores it. He can't get enough of seeing Alexis' clothes that they made themselves. Then they begin talking about how stupid they think masculine gender roles are, and Gene begins confiding in Alexis on how sometimes he wonders if he's being a boy wrong because he usually doesn't enjoy traditionally masculine things.

The two continue bonding and eventually go on a small ice cream date, a la Tina and Jimmy Jr.'s date to Fro-Yo Mama in What A (April) Fool Believes. I didn't realize the parallel at first when I decided this would happen, but now I'm completely obsessed with it.

I'm not sure yet, but it might be on this little ice cream date that these two finally confess their feelings for each other and start dating officially. However, Alexis is kind of terrified of dating Gene, just because of how their parents would react. So, they keep it a secret from their parents. Gene doesn't have to worry, though, because Bob and Linda are nothing except enthusiastic about it.

Surprisingly, Bob is actually super invested in their relationship, and gets kind of emotional, knowing that his little boy is growing up and falling in love 🥲 And is like "Soooooo, who is Alexis? 👀😏" just like when Gene started dating Courtney, and he was like "Soooooo, who is Courtney? 👀😏"

Oh yes, and this entire comic is supposed to take place during Valentine's Day, too, and Tina has a little thing throughout where she's really hoping for a Valentine from Jimmy Jr. I kind of want to resolve that later by having him give her something other than a Valentine, like a goofy little dance, as per Zeke's suggestion, which I thought would be pretty cute and would feed @drawthethingdoppelganger's Tinimmy loving soul accordingly 😌

Louise's thing throughout the comic isn't too deep, but I kind of like it too. She's just angry that Mr. Frond gave the three of them detention for their song at the talent show and wants to lace his coffee to get out of it, pffffft. She isn't thinking that much about Valentine's Day and is convinced that Rudy is just going to ignore her again in favor of Chloe Barbash, so she's kind of given up on the holiday. But then he maybe gives her a sweet note or something 🥺 She pretends not to care, but she really, really does. That gesture means a lot to her.

I actually haven't thought about a Boblin subplot that could happen, because I'm not sure if they'll be too prominent in the comic? But I'm sure they'll be adorable as always for Valentine's Day. I already had them mention that Bob's taking Linda out for a fancy dinner, so I might have them talk about how much fun they had, like the cute lil' ancient married muppets they are.

But I'm getting sidetracked from Gene and Alexis. Anyway, they fall in love with each other and slowly become the most wholesome couple in the universe, second to Bob and Linda. They do all the cliché couple things like hold hands, give each other lil' cheek/forehead kisses, and share milkshakes. Gene definitely becomes one of those stereotypical straight guys who are always like: My wife 🥰 except he's always like: My partner 🥰 and takes every moment possible to gush about Alexis. And vice versa.

@dianadeadwing also made a glorious essay about why she thinks Gene and Peter Pescadero would work so well, and I think all the points she brought up apply to Gene and Alexis--two people who seem really different but have the same values at their core. Gene is loud and energetic just like Linda on the outside, but is really sweet and insecure on the inside, caring so much about the things he's passionate about, like music and his family. He actually gets offended when people try to fight battles for him because he really wants to be seen as more capable, as seen in Drumforgiven.

Alexis seems pretty quiet and unassuming on the outside, because of how awkward and shy they can be at first, especially when moving to a new town, but when one gets to know them, they get really passionate about the things they love too, like fashion and glass blowing (yes, they like glass blowing, which is such a random hobby, but it somehow seems really fitting). They and Gene really bond over their love of obscure movies, fashion, and not being traditionally masculine. And just like Gene, they're insecure on the inside and want to be seen as more capable, not wanting other people to fight battles for them. They also have a secret sarcastic streak a mile wide, and their silver tongue reminds Gene of Louise a ton. They don't exactly have a penchant for getting into trouble, but definitely for getting into mischief on occasion. They also definitely have a secret hopeless romantic side, like Tina, but really try to hide it because they're afraid of being judged for it. Gene doesn't judge them, though, of course.

But really, this moment is what truly started it all for Alexis falling for Gene:

Also, I'm resharing this adorable Commission I got of them from @carnivaldemon because it's actually my everything now:

I could probably go on for even longer, but I'll stop here~

Also, I swear this wasn't intentional, but I realized that Alexis' design looks just like my boyfriend Michael--

[creatureshrieks]

oh yeah. i wrote up laurie's brief bio on her carrd though I do have a lot of ideas in regards to her future and what not.

due to the... constant different timelines and the fact i have......... zero interest...... in incorporating her family (considering she has like two different kids in two different timelines and what not idc) into my future takes on Laurie considering it's not as if anyone roleplays a Halloween muse that's not Michael or Laurie there's no point LOL.

In my takes on Laurie since I'm basing only on the first film (Because they even remade and retconned the second! did you know that! because the original director didnt like it!)

She does still get taken to the hospital after Michael attacks her on Halloween, but she doesn't shoot Michael's eyes out nor does she start a relationship with Jimmy as the second film implies. She's way too freaked out to even consider dating or romance at the moment!

Canonically - and I mean this! Canonically - Laurie was only given two days to grieve before she was sent back to school. She never received therapy for her issues due to the fact her parents, though they loved her, believed she'd be completely okay and promised her the Boogeyman wouldn't hurt her anymore. He was shot six times? He's dead, Laurie. You're okay.

Laurie swears Michael is out there, however, and in the nights following his attacks she swears she can hear him breathing all around her. She doesn't sleep and when she does, she's plagued with nightmares of his face. Of her friends. She despises the lack of care everyone around her gives her, but she is also partially grateful for the return to routine - she clings to her school in a basic attempt to reclaim some sense of being normal again. It helps her get through her days, burying herself in school. She hates school too, however, because who wouldn't want to ask about that night? We're so sorry, Laurie. Is there anything we can do, Laurie? Does it hurt, Laurie? Was it scary, Laurie? What did he look like, Laurie? Tell us, Laurie. She wears long sleeves to hide the scar on her arm, though she finds herself mindlessly rubbing it with her thumb far too often for her own comfort. She tries to cover it up, keep it out of sight and out of view.

Laurie turns 18 in February. She doesn't have a party. Her parents get her cake. She smiles even though she doesn't feel like it. Her parents get her a car.

Laurie doesn't go to her senior prom. She gets asked, but she figures it's just out of sympathy. She doesn't feel like partying. She doesn't want to stay out that late.

Laurie goes to college hours away, just in an attempt to get out of Haddonfield before the next Halloween and to put some distance between herself and the last place Michael Myers was, if he even cared to look for her again. She doesn't know if he will, she just knows that he's out there. Laurie doesn't go to parties, she doesn't stay out late. She lives in a dorm where the door is always locked. She covers her arm with long sleeves. She tries make up, but even leaving it exposed makes it feel too real. Someone asked her about it once and she made up a lie. She never left it uncovered again.

It gets a little better as time goes on. Michael is less a physical threat to watch for and more just some shape in her dreams, a shadow trailing behind her. She could move on.

That first Halloween after is rough, though. Not just out of fear, but grief, too. She never got a chance to ever really come to terms with everything that happened. Her friends didn't just die. It wasn't a freak accident, some slow illness. They weren't even just taken from her - they were posed like toys, all in some sick effort to scare her. Her. She stays in her dorm room that night. Door locked.

Part of her expects him to come, but unlike last year she vows to be ready. She won't let him torment her forever.

[anachronistic-cat]

So you know how a necklace with a feather from an avian hybrid is often, in worldbuilding, like a sign of affection or something. What if no. What if Jimmy's feathers haunt the one who kills him "instead of the cross, the albatros, about my neck was hung"

And his killer not necessarily winning doesn't not fit? DEATH and LIFE-IN-DEATH play dice for the mariner and his crew, maybe she wins a different person this time.

Albatross!jimmy would also imply that the way out is not through further violence, but to find the beauty in the world, and make peace with the spirits angered. It implies that the winner is not necessarily free yet, because they haven't learnt their lesson yet.

It also kinda fits in a meta way? The mariner is cursed to, every so often, tell his tale to a passerby. The life series is quite literally every so often the participants telling us their tales, leaving us forever changed.

It's also interesting, if we're looking at rime, to think about how the other lifers, specifically those who who have teamed one-on-one with jimmy (Scott, Tango, now Martyn) fit into this.

[putting the rest under a read more because i freaking love lifesmp, and I'm chronically obsessed with The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, so this got LONG, but tl;dr is that if Jimmy is the albatross, then Scott is not the Mariner, but is taking the mariner's punishment, & is most likely to escape the Life Series if it follows Rime of the Ancient Mariner rules, Tango is a crewmate because the albatross dying causes his death, but could possibly escape, and Martyn, fits really well as the Mariner so far, but will never actually be free. However, due to the inevitability of death in Life Series and Jimmy being more important before & as he dies than he is after, i'm more convinced that he's a canary than an albatross (except in the past tense).]

Scott, who saw the albatross he loved killed in one season (3L), and refused the boogeyman and won in the next (LL), doesn't so much fit as the mariner, but could be looked at as either a crewmate that didn't really need the lesson, but is now forced to follow through it in a version where DEATH won the mariner and LIFE-IN-DEATH won a random other crewmate, or as "The spirit who bideth by himself/In the land of mist and snow,/He loved the bird that loved the man/Who shot him with his bow."

DL!Tango fits a bit less, although you could argue he's a crewmate, not the mariner, as he dies with the albatross, we do see the ranchers consistently find happiness in hardship, which kinda reflects the mariner's realization about loving all the slimy things.

But most interesting to me, and who I think fits best, is Martyn. In 3L, although not the one to kill Jimmy directly, he was part of the crew that did so. In LL jimmy was part of his group before they sent him to exile, which while not a death, is a removal of the albatross, and Martyn was present at Jimmy's final death in LL. DL is the only series so far in which Martyn is not in some way involved with Jimmy's final death, and therefore doesn't have much for Mariner!Martyn, save for how much he suffers with cleo, but 24L is where it really gets interesting.

In 24L Martyn has an explicit oceanic/mariner theme already, and Jim permadies by falling from the sky after the bad boys bomb Martyn. Martyn would go on to win 24L, desperate, betraying everyone, and going mad. He goes against the established order by attacking early instead of the agreed upon "fair fight". One theory for why the mariner shoots the albatross, is that he felt it was a distraction, or a waste of rations. If we take this interpretation, the pragmatism Martyn shows at the end of 24L really seems to fit, eh?

And then we get to the current season, SL. Martyn, as we all know, starts out the season Going Through It™. Taking damage left right and centre, the first yellow name, etc.

There passed a weary time. Each throat Was parched, and glazed each eye. A weary time! a weary time! How glazed each weary eye... ...Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide wide sea! And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony.... ...a thousand thousand slimy things Lived on; and so did I.

and then he teams with Jimmy, which we can parallel with the mariner learning to love and appreciate the living things of earth,

O happy living things! no tongue Their beauty might declare: A spring of love gushed from my heart, And I blessed them unaware: Sure my kind saint took pity on me, And I blessed them unaware.

and beginning to be freed from his punishment:

The self-same moment I could pray; And from my neck so free The Albatross fell off, and sank Like lead into the sea. [+ like. ALL of part V]

now, we're still in the early days of SL, so for the rime to hold here's what'll have to happen: after joining jimmy/learning to love all creatures, things will get easier for Martyn, but remain somewhat difficult, before he is released from his torment altogether. considering, however, how much CC!Martyn enjoys the Life Series, I sincerely doubt we will see C!Martyn released from his torment.

("The man hath penance done,/ And penance more will do.")

now, we're still in the early days of SL, so for the rime to hold here's what'll have to happen: after joining jimmy/learning to love all creatures, things will get easier for Martyn, but remain somewhat difficult, before he is released from his torment altogether. considering, however, how much CC!Martyn enjoys the Life Series, I sincerely doubt we will see C!Martyn released from his torment. anyway. Martyn fits particularly well as the mariner, at least for now.

But here's the thing: i don't know that Jimmy actually fits as the albatross. its an interesting metaphor, and there's so much to play with, don't get me wrong, (like i said, i freaking LOVE Rime), but the trouble is that Jimmy is an active participant in events in his own right. the albatross... isn't that. it is there, and it is killed for seemingly no reason, and it haunts the narrative, yes, but it is not involved in events. the canary, in the metaphor, is active, it sings, it cheers up and bonds with the miners, eventually it stops singing, and warns them by doing so, but up until then it is present, the miners care about it.

the canary is present while alive, and is conspicuous in its absence once dead. the albatross is only significant in its death, and influences more when it is dead than it did while alive. Jimmy, i would say, is more of a force in the world while he's alive than when he's dead, and his absence rather than continued presence is what's significant about him when he's dead.

and then there's the inevitability: the life series carries with it a sense of inevitability, much like the dangerous work of the coal miner, it's not a matter of if you'll die, but when, and the canary serves as a warning sign that that when is fast approaching. Part of the tragedy of Rime is that it, technically, was avoidable (there's a whole branch on analysis that takes the poem to be about how you can't actually know the outcome of your actions in advance, and how seemingly innocuous things can have inordinate consequences, but we don't need to get into that here); if he had not shot the albatross, things would have been fine. whether or not jimmy dies first, everyone in the life series is doomed.

HOWEVER! there is a way for jimmy to fit as the albatross, and I think its got even more interesting potential: in both Scott and Martyn's cases, we see that they primarily go on to fill the Mariner role in the season after they're associated with Jimmy's death. Scott won the season after he teamed with Jimmy, Martyn is punished and beginning to make amends this (SL) season after three seasons of involvement with Jimmy's death, and directly after a season that ended in his doing Random Acts Of Violence.

So I propose that Jimmy is the Canary, but when he dies in each season he becomes the next season's albatross. so during 3L, 3L!jimmy is a canary, but during LL, 3L!jimmy was an albatross.

ho boy. so i'm having more timmy thoughts and you guys have to deal with them. kind of long, rambling post ahead, but bare with me. (i don't know how to include a cut on mobile so sorry)

a couple nights ago i was rambling to my poor family about the traffic smps bc hyperfixation, and i mentioned jimmy always dying first and how he's the canary. my sister, who is not into traffic but is into hermitcraft and sees a lot of traffic stuff, said that the metaphor doesn't work and he would fit better as an albatross.

i argued with her, and while i do still love canary jimmy and think the metaphor fits, i've fallen completely in love with albatross jimmy. yes, i know, another jimmy hybrid i'm going to be pushing on you, but cmon. think about it.

jimmy is not the cursed one, everyone else is. he was killed, now everyone else has to deal with the consequences. he isn't cursed to die first, people are just more likely to die after he's gone.

whoever kills him has horrible nightmares. storms and shipwrecks. dead bodies and slimy, oozing things. they wake up each morning feeling like they're being strangled. they swear they can hear albatrosses flying above them, but when they look there's nothing there.

his teammates, while he's alive, benefit. albatrosses are symbols of good luck, after all. small things, like perfectly cooked food and restful sleep. and it was one of his allies that won third life, wasn't it? and his husband won last life, even if they weren't together. (i haven't watched dl yet, but it was pearl who helped with the horns, right?)

it would have been fitting if the one who killed him in each game ended up winning, but alas, this series is unscripted and therefore (most) narrative parallels and metaphors are coincidental. perhaps an au where whoever kills the albatross is cursed to be the only one who remembers? still thinking on it.

i'm just obsessed with the idea that jimmy's deaths are not warnings of the chaos to come, but the cause of it. that maybe things wouldn't be so bad if they just didn't kill him. they shot the albatross, now they have to deal with the aftermath.

[witsserviceablesubstitute]

I'm rewatching Shameless (US) from the start and all my good and bad feelings about the show keep resurfacing. It's somehow so real and yet ridiculous and insultingly messy.

Some early observations:

The reason I can never get invested in Jimmy/Steve is because he doesn't become a real boy. His backstory and storylines are a incomprehensible mess and he's essentially a cardboard cut-out next to Fiona— one of the most complicated characters in the show (all her love interests end up having this problem). However, he has his moments and the good actor is good.

Karen starts as a true character, and I freaking love her relationship with Sheila (Sheila 💜), but she quickly disintegrates into this misogynistic cautionary tale obviously written by someone wanting to punish promiscuous teenage girls.

Oh man, Ian and Mickey. These guys. They have such a roller-coaster yet to go, and idk, I'm both looking forward to the tragedy and eventual happy ending and not (😭). They're such kids at the start and I want them to be well, you know? They'll come to shoulder too much of the shows drama (when it was a drama). In the meantime they're getting carried away with being infatuated and so I get why Mickey risks his safety and Ian pushes, but it doesn't make it easier to watch knowing what will happen. It's so— like there is such a marked difference between the moment before, when Mickey is being a giddy 17-year-old slowly opening up, and then him being totally and completely traumatized. Also, I want to fight anyone who calls Mickey Ian's bully. In what world do they live in?

Ahh, Lip, he's frustrating but also damn believable. The intelligence that goes nowhere. The cocky teen arrogance, casual sexism and racism, the rise and fall... 😔

Something that keeps striking me this time around, actually, is how shameless the racism and sexism is. Often it showcases the reality of how these characters think and the disconnect between that and the truth, like saying "here is what everyday racism looks like", but it also feels like a reason for the writers to say something racist and sexist. It is the first hint at how careless this show will be with its subjects, themes, and comedy.

[pacificwaternymph]

Having a bit of a rough day,mind rambling about any au of yours?/nf

Aww I'm sorry :(

You're in luck, I was actually just thinking about the Superhero AU and about Pacifica in particular.

I realized that a big part of Pacifica's backstory is how she got her scar, however, in this AU, I never gave her a scar, nor did I make any mention of it in the one time she was mentioned in Coffee Shop Crush.

I started thinking of ways to rework the story of her scar into the story without disrupting the story and the best way I could think of that was if a supervillain kidnapped her in order to get to Scott.

Of course, for this to work, this would require for a supervillain to know about Scott's secret identity, and the only three that do know are Sausage, Joey, and Xornoth.

Scott doesn't really need any more reasons to hate Xornoth and I feel like using her scar as another way to fuel his vendetta wasn't very original or creative, and I just wasn't vibing with the idea in general. So I figured, hey, how about she gets her scar after the events of the main story?

Joey is out for blood after Xornoth's death, and in particular, Scott's blood. He wants to hurt Scott, to rip away everything he loves slowly until he's left with nothing, just like Scott did to him (or at least, that's how he views it in his mind).

So who does he go after first? Scott's best friend. Pacifica.

Scott and Jimmy are on a date when Scott gets a call from Ember, Pacifica's partner, who's in a panicked frenzy. They tell him they got a call from Pacifica, saying that she was being attacked. There were sounds of something breaking in the background and a scream and then the phone cut off, and all of their attempts to call her back are going straight to voicemail.

And of course, Scott freaks out. Jimmy attempts to console him that they can go look for her, the Alliance has a lot of resources after all, but it's not working. And it especially doesn't help that Scott soon after receives a picture of Pacifica, badly beaten, from an unknown number, with an ominous text message addressed to Smajor.

This only makes Scott feel worse, because that's confirmation that she wasn't taken by coincidence, someone targeted her specifically to get to him. He dragged her into this, and she's dealing with the consequences of his actions. He's wracked with guilt and on the verge of a panic attack, and Jimmy has to calm him down.

They put together pretty quickly that Joey was most likely the person to take her and get to tracking him down. It takes days, and the whole time Scott can't stop worrying. But they do eventually find her, and confront Joey, getting into a fight with him while he declares that he's going to ruin Scott for what he did.

Joey retreats, and they search the facility, finding Pacifica barely conscious and with an enormous slash running across her eye. They rush her to the hospital.

Later, Scott goes to see her as a civilian, and finds her awake and sitting up. Her first instinct is to ask if he's okay, which completely breaks him. He hugs her, sobbing into her shoulder and whispering "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" over and over and over.

I hope your day gets better Neo ^-^

[mediocre-writerr]

history has it eyes on you [jennifer jareau]

jennifer jareau x fem reader

requested by anon: Love your JJ fics ❤️❤️ I was hoping could you do another one where the reader is somewhat new to the BAU and is either dating or has a thing with JJ. But the reader is known for doing these heroic and kinda reckless acts that ends up saving the victims. And while everyone in the bureau thinks that she's an absolute badass and incredible at her job JJ can't help but love and hate it. She loves it as she's amazing at her job and always ends up saving them but she hates how she always seems to be in the line of fire and in danger. After one too many close calls JJ kinda loses it on the reader.

*not my gif*

You were nineteen when you joined the academy. However, once you got the job you were longing for you were still a bright young prospect at twenty two. The youngest on the team, even younger than boy genius. 

You always had dreams of dying like a martyr. The bravest thing you thought that anyone could do was sacrifice themself for the ones they love the most. Sure, that’s not the healthiest thing in the entire world, but it was everything to you. 

“Have you guys heard that we’re getting a new member?” Garcia asked as her, Prentiss, and JJ walked into the bureau with their coffees in hand.

Prentiss nodded, “Heard they were a part of the Navy Seals for awhile. They were known as the youngest on that squad and they’re even younger than Reid,” 

“Really?” JJ asked, slightly shocked that someone is younger than Reid. 

Hotch walked out of his office as the rest of the team gathered by their desks, you walked right behind him, his taller figuring covering you from the view of the rest of the team.

Hotch cleared his throat before looking at all of them, “I’d like to formally introduce you guys to the newest member of the team, Agent Y/N Y/L/N,” 

You emerged from behind Hotch and you gave all of them an awkward wave. Until your eyes fell onto a pair of familiar blue ones. Her face was calm and collected, but you could tell by her eyes that she was internally freaking out.

You tried to fight off a smile that was forming on your face at the sight of your old flame back in the days of Afghanistan. But by the look on her face, you knew no one else really knew of her Afghanistan days.

Afghanistan wasn’t all bad. Sure you were put there to try and take down Bin Laden, but the city that was surrounded by war was absolutely beautiful. All of the architecture and the culture, even the people. 

This was one of the days where you completely forgot that you were in the middle of a war. JJ was standing on the balcony in the city of Kabul, the capitol of Afghanistan. The sun was setting behind her as you handed her a glass of wine.

It’s illegal to drink there, but as long as no one saw you called it a win. You stood behind her and wrapped her arms around her waist. You hooked your chin onto her shoulder as you kissed her rosy cheeks. 

“This is nice,” she mumbled and you hummed in response.

“I agree. You make this whole mission so much more bearable,” you whispered.

Penelope ran over to you and gave you a big hug, “Hi! I’m Penelope Garcia, the best tech out there!” 

You laughed softly, hugging her back, “Hi!” 

Once you pulled away, you were introduced one by one to each of the team members. Until you eventually were stopped at the beautiful blonde you’ve known worlds ago. 

You extended your hand out to her, meeting her bright blue eyes. You raised your eyebrows up at her, “Y/N Y/L/N,” you formally introduced.

She hesitated before grabbing your hand, the familiar spark electrocuting your body and you could tell that she felt it too, “Jennifer Jareau,”

“I like your eyes, they’re very blue, did you know that?” you told her, recalling your first ever conversation.

JJ just gave a tight lipped smile before nodding, “Yeah, well, I kind of had them my whole life so I think I know that they’re blue,” 

“Right,” 

You were suited up in your gear as your commander walked you over to the representative from the state department. You climbed high in the rankings with all of your hard work and selflessness, you became a lieutenant commander. 

“Lieutenant commander Y/L/N, this is our state department liaison Jennifer Jareau. She will be helping assist us in communication with some of the hostages,” your commander introduced the two of you and you nodded.

You stuck out your hand and smiled at her softly, “Y/N Y/L/N,” 

She grabbed your hand, smiling back, “Jennifer Jareau, but you can call me JJ for short,” 

“Well JJ, I like your eyes. They’re very blue, did you know that?” you asked, awkwardly. You mentally face palmed yourself, realizing that you were getting nervous around the beautiful blonde.

JJ laughed at your awkwardness before nodding, “Yeah, well, I kind of had them my whole life so I think I know that they’re blue,” 

“Right,” you drew out, mentally face palming yourself harder than before. 

You let out a soft chuckle before finally dropping her hand. You knew in a room full of profilers that they would notice if a friendly handshake lasted too long, no matter how hard you didn’t want to lose her touch. 

That was the only interaction the two of you had the entire case. Most of the time you were partnered up with Prentiss. She had more experience than JJ as a profiler since JJ was a liaison first. 

For your first case, you impressed them all with how selfless you were. You would push yourself in front of the rest of the team when confronting an unsub. You would always be the one talking them down as their gun was pointed right at you. 

“Jimmy Barnes, put the gun down,” you ordered, as he held the girl by gun point, “I said, put it down!” 

He shook his head, “No! She needs to die! I need to finish what I started!” he yelled.

Jimmy Barnes, your first ever unsub was ironically going after girls who matched your description. He became so obsessed with a video game that he altered it with reality. The villain in the game looking surprisingly like you.

“Then kill me instead, you’ll win the game if you let her go and kill me,” you offered.

You could feel JJ’s eyes on you and the rest of the team gave you a quick glance before going to look back at Jimmy. For a split second you weren’t sure, what he was gonna do until he eventually threw the hostage towards Rossi, before grabbing you in the process.

He thought he had a good grip on you, but you were a Navy Seal, you know how to get out of a hold or two. Before he could pull the trigger, you elbowed his groin and threw him onto the floor. 

Jimmy landed on his stomach with a hard thump, you straddled his back before  putting him in handcuffs, “Jimmy Barnes, you are under arrest for the murders of Nicole Watkins, Macy Martin, and Leah Butler,” you told him, listing all of his rights. 

Once you got back on the jet, your eyes drifted over to JJ who was staring out of the window. You just kept staring, trying to profile her from afar. You noticed that there was no ring on her finger yet, so that was a plus. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t dating anyone.

Morgan snapped you out of your trance, “That was a brave thing you did out there. He could’ve easily just shot you dead before you could even make a move,” 

“Yeah, but it saved the girl didn’t it?” you fired back and from the corner of your eye you could see JJ let out a sigh, shaking her head. 

“It did, you’re gonna be a great part of this team!” Morgan patted your shoulder before taking a seat next to Reid. 

You took this as an opportunity to get some shut eye on the flight back to Quantico. And your slumber seemed to drift back to you and JJ. 

The two of you were tangled in the sheets of the hard mattress. The hot air of Afghanistan causing your already sweating bodies to become more sticky. JJ was playing with your hair as her head rested on your chest. 

“This is very unprofessional,” she whispered.

You chuckled softly before nodding, “Well no one has to know what we do,” you whispered back, “But if anyone were to walk into my tent they’d see your clothes all over the floor,” 

She lifted her head slightly before seeing your clothes scattered all over it. She let out a content sight before putting her head back down.

“If I'm being honest, I don’t think I’d care,” she said, kissing your jawline. 

You exaggerated a gasp, “Did the Jennifer Jareau just say she wouldn’t care if someone caught us breaking the rules?!” 

“I wouldn’t care because I’m in love with you,” 

Your ears perked up at those five words, “I’m in love with you too,” you whispered, leaning down to attach your lips together.

The more you went on cases with the team, the more reckless (well you’d like to call it heroic) you’ve become. You would run into a hostage situation with an aggressive unsub without a bulletproof vest or weapon. 

You thought that you would get a talking to from Hotch about being so reckless, but he never did. The others rarely thought anything of it and just thought you were an absolute badass. Well, everyone but JJ, you could tell your need to constantly be the hero was getting under her skin a little. 

You just didn’t think she’d care anymore. She barely interacted with you and when you did they were short professional conversations. Even when you went out with the team, she wouldn’t interact with you.

“So, what’s going on with JJ?” Morgan asked you as you and the team were flying out to Tacoma, Washington. 

You furrowed your eyebrows, “Nothing,” 

He hummed, “Well you’re staring at JJ like you’re in a romcom and just lost the love of your life. So what’s going on? You know you can talk to me,” 

Morgan had become like an older brother figure to you. He was the closest person to you on the team and you knew he could trust him with anything.

“Well, JJ and I knew each other awhile ago. We had a thing and it was really good, but you know, nothing lasts forever,” you confined in him and he nodded.

“That’s why she’s avoiding you like the plague?” he asked.

You shrugged, “I don’t know. It was a long time ago and she broke things off with me. So, I don’t understand why she’s avoiding me. If anything it should be the other way around,” 

“I would just try to talk to her. Obviously, something’s still bugging her if she’s avoiding you this much. Just talk to her,” he suggested and you nodded. 

You wanted to talk to JJ the entire case, but the unsub shortened his kill time and struck back to back. So, you were working twice as hard and twice as fast to stop them. 

And when you did find them let’s just say, you had to act quick. The unsub set his own house on fire with him and the hostage family inside of it. Hotch had called the fire department, but they wouldn’t get there for another ten minutes.

There was no way that the family would survive that. The smoke inhalation. The fire spreading quickly. Before any of the team could even react, you were off and running in to a burning building. 

“Y/N!” you heard JJ shout, but it was too late you were already in the building. 

The unsub was standing there with a sinister smirk on your face and just as he was about to attack you, you sent a bullet through his shoulder. He fell onto the floor in pain. 

The family of three were coughing up a storm. You could feel the smoke already start to fill your lungs. You gestured for the family to start running out of the house. 

“My daughter is stuck under there! You need to get her out of here!” the father yelled and you nodded.

“I’ll save her, you guys need to leave now!” you screamed. 

“I’m not leaving-” the mom begins to protest, but you cut her off.

“I promise I’ll get her out of here, but if you don’t leave she’s not going to have anyone there to take care of her!” you exclaimed. Without another word they run out of the building. You looked at the little girl who was stuck behind a piece of broken ceiling. 

You smiled at the girl who just seemed numb and you grabbed her arm, “Hi kiddo,” you finally got out between coughs, “My name’s Y/N and I’m here to save you okay? You’re safe now. No one can hurt you. Do you mind if I touch you and help you out?” 

She nodded without another word. You started coughing uncontrollably before you finally held her in your arms. 

JJ was pacing back and forth from outside. Her thoughts spinning as she just watched you run into a burning building. Two figures started rushing out of the building. JJ and Morgan ran towards the couple, leading them towards the ambulance.

“Where’s the agent who went in to help you?” JJ asked, frantically. 

“She’s still in there. She’s helping our daughter, she was stuck. She promised that she’d save her,” the mother told JJ.

Right as she finished her sentence, there was huge crash. Everyone’s head turned back to the house to see the roof caved in and the building was falling apart. 

“Y/N,” JJ whispered before raising her voice, screaming out your name uncontrollably, “Y/N!”

Her mind flashed back to Afghanistan, when the good thing the two of you had going turned sour. 

It was dark out and you, JJ, and some of trying to search an abandoned compound that you assumed the Talibans were using to help create bombs. You sensed a slight tension against your shin. 

It felt like what would happen if you rubbed your shin against a bush. But there was no shrubbery around the group, only grass and dirt. At the same time there was a pinning noise and that was the only thing you could hear. 

You had walked into a tripwire, looking down you saw the primed grenade, “Grenade! Take cover!” you yelled to the rest of your team.

You don’t know why you did what you did. Maybe it was because you felt responsible for what was about to happen. You pushed JJ towards the rest of the group as one of your fellow soldiers pulled her behind the concrete building.

You threw off your backpack and jammed it into the grenade, before lying next to it in fetal position to block the explosion from expanding towards them. You were just counting down, waiting for the consequences. 

5, 4, 3, 2,1, you counted and your whole body relaxed as the thought that maybe the bomb was a dud crossed your mind. But just as you relaxed it blew up in front of you. 

“Y/N!” JJ screamed. 

The orange sparks and the smoke cleared, but you knew you were still alive. You were so disoriented, so disoriented to the point where you didn’t even notice that you were blasted so much further away from where you originally laid. 

JJ and the patrol medic ran over to you. She put her hands on my face and noticed how disoriented you were. JJ noticed the blood pouring down your nose and ears. 

“Y/N, I need you to stay with me,” JJ told you, drawing figures on your bloody cheeks, “The doctor’s checking you out, I need you to stay awake, okay? Please, for me,” her voice cracked. 

No matter how hard you tried, your eyes just seemed to shut and you couldn’t open them again.

“No!” JJ screamed as she continued to watch the house burn down in flames. 

Tears were flowing down her cheeks. The trauma of Afghanistan and the thought of losing you flooded her mind. She always wondered why her relationships with people after you never worked. 

She made excuses for herself. The idea that her job as a profiler took up too much of her time. Or the guys or girls she dated were just bad seeds. But that wasn’t the idea. It was the idea that she was still so in love with you, maybe even waiting for the day she’ll get you back. 

JJ looked around the rest of your team. Reid was trying his best to fight off tears, but you could hear him sniffling. He always thought of you as one of his best friends. You related to him more than anyone because of how young you were. 

Morgan and Prentiss stood up tall and were staying strong. But JJ could tell from a mile away that it was getting harder every second that was going by. Prentiss thought of you as a little prodigy, you reminded her of a young Prentiss, and all she wanted to do was protect you even though she knew you didn’t need it. 

Then there was Hotch who stood there emotionless, but he was just trying to actually stay strong for the team. Hotch knew that you were the reckless type, it didn’t take a profiler to notice that. 

The last thing he said to you before he introduced you to the team was, “I see that you want to fight, you’ve got this hunger. I was just like you when I was younger, head full of fantasies of dying like a martyr. Just remember, dying is easy, living is harder.” 

But then they saw a figure emerge from the smoke. The little girl you were carrying was unconscious in your arms. You were coughing up a storm as you crashed onto the lawn. 

The team and paramedics ran towards you. JJ cupped your cheeks as your eyes fluttered open and closed. The smoke that was filling your lungs, making it hard to breathe. The paramedics through an oxygen mask on your face as they tried to help you breathe.

You pulled it off really quick, “Y/N! Put the oxygen mask back on!” JJ scolded you.

You were coughing up a storm as you finally got out what you said between your coughs, “I’m still in love with you,” you told her.

She was about to respond when you started seizing on the ground. Hotch pushed the team out of the way so the paramedics could do their job.

JJ’s mine still drifted back to Afghanistan as she watched them drag you to the hospital. It reminded her of when they brought you back to the med camp after the explosion. The fear settling into her bones that she might not ever see you again.

When you were finally more stable to understand what was going on around you, you were in the med tent of the camp. JJ was sitting next to you with her hands intertwined with yours.

You moved slightly and her head shot up to look at you, “How bad is it?” 

“Your eardrums are perforated, but there’s suspected to be no lasting damage.Your backpack and body armor absorbed most of the damage. You know the doctors say you’re lucky, but I just say you’re stupid,” she told you and you looked at her with furrow brows. 

“That was a little harsh,” you muttered.

She rolled her eyes, “What you did was stupid! It was stupid and reckless! I almost lost you today because of how stupid you were being!” 

“It was heroic!” you screamed. It didn't matter to you that your head was still pounding and your ears were ringing from the explosion, but you were being attacked after you just woke up.

“You don’t see the point! I almost lost you! There are people who care about you! I care about you and if I lost you today I don’t know what I would’ve done!” she screamed, “So I need you to promise me that this isn’t going to happen again. That you’ll start being more careful and thinking more without doing,” 

You sat there in silence unsure of what to say, “I can’t promise that,” you whispered after so many minutes. 

She bit her lip, removing her hand from yours. JJ stood up and started packing up the things that she had in the tent, “Then I can’t do this. If you’re not going to even respect a simple decision as to being less reckless for your own safety, then I can’t do this. I don’t think that what I’m asking is too hard, but I guess it is,” 

“JJ,” you whispered, but it was too late she was already gone.

She didn't come to visit you after that. As you sat there in your own silence, you realized that you made a mistake. You wanted to talk to her, but every time you asked someone to grab her she would always be busy or she’d just never come. 

Once you were finally well enough to be discharged from med tent and back to your own, it was too late. There was a little note left on the hard mattress the two of you once shared.

“Y/N, I’ve decided to leave. Another state department liaison is coming to replace me. I just can’t stay and watch you throw your life on the line anymore. Maybe in another world, but just not this one- JJ,” the note read and you let out a groan of frustration before falling onto the mattress.

You woke up from your seizure to see JJ sitting the corner of the room. She was curled up in the faux leather seat as she was sleeping peacefully. Your mouth felt dry as you reached over to grab the water that sat on the bedside table. 

All your stirring around caused JJ to wake up, her head shooting over to you to make sure you were okay. You looked at her softly and smiled, “How’s the little girl?”

“Safe and recovering,” she answered shortly.

“Where’s everyone else?” you asked.

“They’re in the waiting room. I tried to get them to go home, but they insisted on staying,” she mentioned and you smiled softly.

You could tell she was holding back from what she was going to say, so you let out a sigh, “Whatever you’re holding back, just get it out,” 

“That was stupid of you,” she said sternly, reminding you of your very last conversation before you met her again, “You almost died again! And I had to be there to witness it again!”

“I saved a family’s life today,” you told her, your voice dry, but just as stern. 

“But at what cost? Risking your own?!” she exclaimed and you pinched the bridge of your nose, putting your head down, “It was stupid!”

“Can you stop saying that?! It was brave and heroic! Why can’t you just be accepting about it like everyone else?!” you yelled back.

“There it is again! With your heroic bullshit!” she threw her hands up in frustration, walking closer to your bed, “What’s the big deal about it?” 

“I need to be remembered! I need to have my name in books and you know sacrificing yourself and saving as many people as possible gets you there! My family’s legacy is shot, I need to make a legacy of mine and if this is the way to do it then so be it! I need to be a hero, so I can be loved since my parents never did!” you finally exploded, telling her all the reasons why you are the way you are.

“You don’t need to sacrifice yourself to be loved!” she argued.

You scoffed, “Well, apparently I do since the only time you’ve seemed to want to talk to me since I’ve joined the team is when I’m recovering from almost dying. I don’t understand why you’re so angry at me right now, you broke up with me. You left me to recover from the bomb on my own! So tell me, why do you even care?!” 

“Because I’m still in love with you!” she finally screamed and your eyes softened.

“You don’t need to sacrifice yourself to be a hero or loved because in my eyes you’re already a hero. I care because the thought of living the rest of my life without you kills me. Living my life without you the last few years was the time I felt numb. Then you came back and I wanted to give us a shot again, but I was scared,” she whispered.

“Scared about what?” you asked.

“You were still as reckless as ever. You are still so obsessed with getting your name in the history books that you don’t care who you hurt in the process. I was scared that if I got too attached that one day you’d just die,” she told you, “At least with breaking up with you, I knew you were still alive and I didn’t lose you forever,”

There was a moment of silence before she spoke up again, “You don’t understand that you risking your life out like that hurts the people who love and care about. You don’t need to have millions of people know your name, all you need are the ones who matter most to you and you don’t understand that. I love how protective and heroic you are, but I hate it more. The hate overcomes the love,” 

You reached your hand out for her to come closer. You intertwined your fingers together before placing a kiss to the top of her hand. She had tears threatening to pour down her face.

You brushed a strand of her blonde hair from behind her ear before you cupped her cheeks softly, “I’m sorry,” you whispered, “I didn’t know how badly my acts affected you. I wish that we talked about this when I was still stationed, maybe I could’ve knocked some sense into myself and we’d still be together,”

“But I’d really like a second chance JJ,” you whispered shyly, the fear of rejection overtaking your promise, “I’ll make that promise I should’ve made ages ago. Be less reckless, be a hero in smaller less dramatic ways. But I also understand if you don’t, I know I’m fucked in the head,” 

JJ leaned her forehead on top of yours before kissing you softly, “One more chance,” she whispered, “No more bombs, or gunmen, or fires,”

You kissed her once more, “I just hope I can be the hero that you deserve, the right kind of hero,” 

“There’s no doubt in my mind that you won’t be,”