#it's been really tough trying to enjoy things haha

[wizardnuke]

i love dnd..i love playing heavy utility/support/backfield and i love having three to six attacks in a turn and an insane ac. at heart im a support player ill get my hands on whatever we're missing in a group

[backwardsbread]

Hazbin Hotel Characters:

~Marriage proposals~

Warnings‼️: genderneutral!reader, established relationship, characterxreader, lots of fluff, Valentino existing, mentions of cannibals/cannibalism, possessive behavior, pet names used, mentions of divorce, some swearing.

A/N: How would the Hazbin hotel characters propose! I might do a vise versa, where reader proposes. But this one is the characters proposing to YOU. Enjoy~!

This is pretty long- I don’t know how to find word count, but if anyone wants more, drop a request :))

?Semi proofread?

Lucifer:

This man is a NERVOUS WRECK.

When he realizes he wants to marry you, he lowkey panics. Starts acting like you guys just now started dating.

He’s super anxious, trying to impress you, and prove that he’s good enough for you.

(Whether he’s trying to prove that to you, or himself, is up for debate.)

The two of you met on a whim. You didn’t really know it was the king of hell you were talking to when you first met.

How could this be the king?? He was so goofy. His playful demeanor immediately drew you in.

With even learning about how Lucifer was, it didn’t stop those fuzzy feelings towards him that bubbled in your chest.

It took him a long time to even get into a relationship with you, due to him being caught up in his past with Lillith.

But overtime, your affection is what gets him through the tough days.

He gets all flustered and embarrassed at your sweet gestures, trying to hide the fact that he’s realizing he wants you to always only be his.

As we know, he had a previous marriage and that commitment failed him before. He had a right to feel nervous of the subject that once bruised his soul.

But in his heart, he truly knows this is what he wants. He wants to spend his eternity with you if you allowed him to.

When the thought has finally settled, and he knows he’s ready to try marriage again, it doesn’t settle his nerves.

This has to be PERFECT-

He needs the perfect ring, the perfect setting, the perfect outfit. All of which he had easy access to, he is the king afterall.

Yet, nothing seems to be perfect enough. Nothing is enough, nothing he can think of matches how strong his feelings are for you.

Once he thinks he’s decided on what will be perfect, he ditches the idea to try and come up with something better.

He consults Charlie on this issue a lot. Including her in this is very important to him. He makes sure she’s comfortable with the idea of him being married to someone who wasn’t her mother.

Charlie is a bit put off by the idea, it’s strange to think about. She never thought of her father getting remarried, but the thought doesn’t necessary upset her. She’s more worried about history repeating itself.

Overall, she wants her father to be happy, and helps him prepare for the proposal in any way she can.

(Mostly moral support because this guy is in emotional turmoil over this.)

He’s in a constant inbetween of if this was the right thing to do. Was it too soon in your guys relationship? Was it too soon after his divorce? Would you even want to spend the rest of your damnation with the one who started it all?

With heavy encouragement and reassurance from Charlie, he finally has the guts to ask you the big question.

But….. when he takes you out on the date where he meant to propose…

He chickens out. (Or ducks out haha)

“It is quite beautiful tonight.. you know I love you, right?……. Good! Yeah-! U-Uh-.. oh my golly! Look at the time! How that darn old thing does fly-Haha! W-We should head home!- boy am I tired-!”

Rinse and repeat this process a handful of times.

You do start to get a bit skeptical of your partners behavior. You guys had been going on extremely fancy dates at least once a week.

And while you had no complaints on spending time with Lucifer, you did notice his strange behavior.

The way his mood would incline before your guys’ date, and then suddenly decline when it was over. Then having to take the rest of the week to heal his pride.

It was just a big rollercoaster of emotions. You were starting to worry you were the cause of his stress.

(I mean. Technically you were)

During one of his many attempts in asking you, he had already internally given up when he stumbled over his words in the middle of dinner.

Your date was coming to a close, and like clockwork, Lucifer’s chipper mood deteriorated.

His shoulders slumped, he was pouty, and dragging his feet on the way back to the castle.

Before the two of you can enter, you grab Lucifer’s hand, stopping him. He gives you a confused look, posture straightening to look at you.

You give him small pecks all over his face, in hopes to cheer him up from whatever was troubling him.

Your actions have the affect you were hoping for, as he laughs and steals your lips into his own, a wide smile on his face as he rests his hands on your waist.

His nerves seemed to dissipate as he felt an overwhelming sense of security and love for you.

His body was moving before his mind could keep up. The moment just felt right.

He pulls away from your shared embrace, reaching into his pocket, and getting down on one knee. He opens the ring box, revealing the glimmering jewelry within it.

You look at him in shock and he returns the same look, surprised at his own actions. Well there was no backing out of it now- (saY SOMETHING LUCIFER-)

It takes him a few seconds to recover from the shock and he’s tempted to just pretend to tie his shoe. But you knew his intentions and watched the nerves wrack their way up his body once again.

Before he can even speak, give a speech he had rehearsed probably a hundred times in front of his mirror, you say yes.

And the relief that washes over this man— the weight that lifted off his shoulders in that moment— felt amazing.

You bend down with him, smiling ear to ear and chuckling as you realized this is why he was so worked up the past couple months.

Tears fill Lucifer’s eyes as he slides the piece of jewelry onto your ring finger.

You kiss away the tears that slip down his face and he wraps his arms around you, pulling you into a hug.

His tattered heart feeling stitched back together that day.

Alastor:

We all know Alastor isn’t the biggest on romance.

He’s a true gentleman, of course, but public displays of affection and intimate relationships weren’t his cup of tea.

The two of you had know each other for years in the afterlife, yet it was only recently you had put a label on your relationship.

Falling for you was never part of his plan.

He first saw you as an prey, only a possible soul he could claim for his ongoing collection.

But your sickening sweetness unfortunately grew on him over time. He once wanted to take advantage of it, but he became too fond of you to corrupt it.

You moved from his prey to his acquaintance.

You lived in cannibal town where he would frequently visit.

You join the gossip sessions with him and Rosie, indulging in their banter. It starts by you just walking by and throwing a comment towards their conversation you were listening in to. Eventually you had your own designated seat at their table.

Rosie definitely saw the potential the connection you and Alastor had, so she subtly pushes the two of you to hang out more.

This leads to your relationship advancing from mere acquaintances to good friends. The transition quick due to Rosie’s persistence.

Anytime Alastor would visit cannibal town, he would make effort to pay you a visit. He just felt so drawn to your company.

His smile felt less strained, his body would relax, and he could do what he wanted while you served up some fresh pinkie fingers.

There would be occasions of Alastor realizing he’s dropped his guard around you, and he would be snippy and aggressive those days. In fear of going soft and losing his mojo.

The first time he did this scared you,

(I mean obviously, the mans body grows two-ten times in his demon form)

But after a talk with Rosie about it, you tried to be understanding. Instead of falling away or distant with Alastor after his little tantrums, you simply waited it out. When he was back to normal asking softly if he wanted to talk about it or move on.

It wasn’t clear to you when you guys really started being affectionate towards one another. It just kind of happened.

You knew Alastor to be a gentleman before formally meeting him. So him linking arms with you, kissing your knuckles, holding open doors was nothing new.

It seemed like everyone besides the two of you knew the true feelings you two had for each other before you guys did.

You were holding hands, seeing each other everyday, Alastor would give you his coat to borrow on colder days, etc. Just small sweet gestures the two of you would share.

It took an incredible amount of time for Alastor to come to terms with his feelings. He hadn’t done this before and had no control of what his heart wanted. It was scary.

Putting a label on what you guys had didn’t seem necessary. The two of you knew what you meant to each other in an unspoken agreement.

(Rosie did eventually pressure him to actually ask you out however. It was the gentleman’s thing to do)

(But enough backstory)

More often than not, Alastor found himself spending his nights with you. Not to leave until the morning or midday after.

The two of you practically lived together when the overlord wasn’t too busy with other matters.

We already went over how the two of you weren’t big on labels. It wasn’t until Rosie asked that Alastor had even thought about marriage.

“Sooo… when are you going to put a rock on your pretty thang’s finger?”

“Hm? I don’t think it’s necessary.”

“What?? You’re kidding right? That darling and you have been together ages! You wouldn’t want someone else swiping them away from you, right?”

“Hah! Never going to happen. Who in their right mind would try that?”

“…”

“You do know where we are, right?”

It had never occurred to the Radio demon before. You guys had made your relationship official of course. Anyone else who would try and court you and take you away from him would be simply insane.

But the thought wormed itself into his brain and flourished.

The thought of not knowing what you were doing 24/7. The thought of someone possibly stealing you away without his knowledge.

The thought of some undeserving sinner having their hands on what belonged to him.

It irked him.

After that conversation with Rosie, say goodbye to your privacy. You’re not going anywhere alone. He can’t risk someone even attempting to steal you away.

It was irritating how he was always tracking you, keeping a shadow with you at all times.

If someone even dared to hold open a door for you that wasn’t him or his shadow, he’d show up at your side in an instant.

It made you anxious and overall, you felt your partner didn’t trust you.

You did express these feelings to Alastor, but your words seemed to phase right through him. You had no idea what had gotten into him to make him (even more) protective.

You joined him in bed one night, as he was stilling up, enjoying a book with jazz music emitting from his aura.

You cuddle close to him, the feeling of fuzzy static that enveloped you a comforter for your slumber.

Before you can let yourself drift off to sleep, your partner closes his book with one hand, the loud thump making you jolt.

“Say darling, what do you think of marriage?”

The sudden ask has you dumbfounded, giving him a deer in headlights stare. (Hah-)

He had never even mentioned marriage before yet here he was now, smiling at you as he waited for your response.

You give honesty, telling him you never really thought of it yourself and you were surprised to hear the idea from him.

You did mention how the subject didn’t draw you away. You knew you loved Alastor with your entire soul. Your heart and soul were his without one of his binding contracts.

Once he hears your approval he snaps his fingers making one of his shadows appear, holding out his signature red coat to him. He reaches into the pocket of his jacket, fishing out what he desired.

He pulled out a small box and handed it to you, his shadow dismissing itself from the scene.

You give him a confused look, before gently opening the box. Your eyes meeting the small band inside.

Oh- he was serious?????

You give him a puzzled look, while he just tilts his head at you, silently asking ‘too soon?’

Your eyes continue to track from the ring, to him, back to the ring, then back to him.

Your hesitation comes off as denial to Alastor, so he reaches out to take the box back. Before he can even lay a finger on it, you pull it to your chest protectively.

You give him a glare for even having the audacity to try and take this away from you. Your actions make him chuckle and hold his hands up defensively.

You slip the band onto your ring finger. Once it’s perfectly snug onto your digit, you pull your partner close to you, peppering his lips with small pecks. Scolding him in between your kisses for being so nonchalant.

He simply chuckles against your affections, telling you the ring will be a reminder you are always his.

And you wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Vox:

Vox is not one for settling down. No shot in hell.

Have you seen this man?? Holy hell take a chill pill.

A lot of Vox’s priorities lie with his work. He’s always pushing the boundaries of tech, eager to create something new and be on the face of it.

He never thought of dating. Being tied down to one person made him cringe. So the thought of marriage never even entered his system.

Then there was you of course. Messing up his plans.

How could he not fall for you? You were charming, beautiful, and down right too good for him.

(According to him.)

Your presence and the feelings you gave him made him feel threatened. He tried to put him a wall between the two of you, avoiding you at all costs.

But when he would look at his phone, seeing your icon pop up with messages to him. His fans would kick into gear, his cold heart ticking rapidly in his chest.

Yeah he had it BAD.

When you became a priority to him as well, it kind of threw a wrench in the balance of his schedule.

Yes he loves you but that fact scares him. He wasn’t exactly the safest demon to be around.

So he found it better that the two of you keep your relationship secret. Mostly spending early mornings and late nights with you.

It was difficult to manage. You wanted nothing more than to try hang out with your partner all day but he was always busy.

You would visit him at work, but on very rare occasion. You still owned your soul, which meant Valentino saw it as up for grabs, despite Vox’s warnings (threats) to not lay a finger on you.

As much as you enjoyed visiting your partner at work, you understood his reasonings for being uncomfortable with it.

Besides that, the chance of others seeing the two of you in public was way too high. You guys didn’t usually go on dates.

Your partner was more comfortable having you stay at home, having a double life without him. You lived with Vox, but outside of the time you two spent together, you had your own things going on.

Vox knew about it of course, he cares about you more than anything. He needs to know what’s going on at all times. And what you had going on outside of him was important to him.

He always has a screen pulled up in his monitor room while working. Just to see what you were up to.

The screen usually tracked a camera on you whenever you went out, it displayed your phone screen whenever it was in use, and showed your vitals on the bottom corner of the screen.

He didn’t trust the sinners that roamed these streets, rightfully so. Being able to track you gave him a source of comfort when he couldn’t always be around.

As mentioned before, going out on dates wasn’t really a thing. But Vox would usually clear up one day a month in his schedule. Just to spend the entire day with you.

(Of course he occasionally shuts down, checking how everything is going at V headquarters while he’s not around. Cant take this man entirely away from his work)

You’d spend those days cuddling, ordering in some takeout, and just catching up with each other. Getting in as much affection as you could.

The nights were soft and intimate. It was what you always looked forward to.

Vox had some things to do early morning on the day designated for the two of you. You did pout and complain to him, but he promised to be back as soon as he could.

Hours passed and you started to get a little bit peeved that your partner had yet to return home. Checking the time, you decide to take matters into your own hands.

You get dolled up, pack up a small container of snacks, and head to V’s headquarters.

Making your way through the crowd of demons and sinners. You head up the elevator, but it stops on Valentinos floor.

And with just your luck, the lustful demon is standing there, waiting to get on. When he sees your face, he grins wide and enters the elevator. Standing uncomfortably close.

He blows out his pink slut smoke into the small space, making you cringe and try to waft the stench away from you.

Valentino is touchy and that’s an understatement.

So when he bends down at your level, once again offering a job to you, your heart rate spikes.

Meanwhile, Vox is having a one sided argument with Velvette, the young overlord scolding him as she changed his outfit several times.

It wasn’t often Vox was used as a model for Velvette, but he had actually asked her ahead of time to design something special for you and him.

By ahead of time, he asked yesterday, not giving Velvette nearly enough time.

While he tuned out of his teammate reprimanding him, his watch buzzed, alerting him of your abnormal heart rate.

He gives a confused look, his screen going black for a second as he brought up his home security camera on his screen. When seeing you weren’t at the house, his eye twitched.

Where the hell did you go??

He was brought back, his face glitching in and out as he pulled out his phone, bringing up your location.

He saw how close you were and immediately thought the worst.

He zaps himself into the nearest camera, zipping through the electronics to find where you are.

Within a minute, he’s found you in the elevator, practically cornered by Valentino who was literally drooling on you.

The lights flicker in the elevator as it comes to a screeching halt. Cue your partner showing up with a crack of blue electricity, yanking Valentino away from you by the moth’s wing.

He puts himself in front of you, acting as a shield so you don’t have to be near Valentino’s poison.

“W̵̰̻͍̉̔̅̀̐͐͒͆̒̚ḥ̸̨̧̗̮̖̽̂̓̀̍̋͋́̅̃͘͜͝ǎ̴̯̀͠t̸̫̫̤͕̳̻̰̣̭́̌̉͝ͅ t̸̫̫̤͕̳̻̰̣̭́̌̉͝ͅḥ̸̨̧̗̮̖̽̂̓̀̍̋͋́̅̃͘͜͝ë̸͓̮͉͈͇͍̖͎̩̞͈́́́̋̇̾͋̈́̾͆͑͘͘͜͠͝ f̵̢̻͈̫̬̻͔̘̞͈̆̇̍̈̌͊ͅu̷̬̩̰̫͕̘͎̔́̃̄̍͋̓c̵̛̥͊k̵̘̺̦͉͖̪̪͖͉͊̆̔́̈́̍̃̈́͒̂̑̀̚͜͝ d̶̡̲̗̼̮̤̤̳̲͖͓͍͔͓̓̎̽́̽̏̐͂̆͆͘͘͘ŏ̸̡̼̺̫̥̻͈̞̍͆̏̓́͜͝ͅ y̶͔͗ŏ̸̡̼̺̫̥̻͈̞̍͆̏̓́͜͝ͅu̷̬̩̰̫͕̘͎̔́̃̄̍͋̓ t̸̫̫̤͕̳̻̰̣̭́̌̉͝ͅḥ̸̨̧̗̮̖̽̂̓̀̍̋͋́̅̃͘͜͝i̶̡̹͈͎̳̞͙͖̾̂̀͑̀͆̑̓̽̉͐͘͘ͅǹ̷̨͍̮̥̹̘͙̗̻̬̬̜̥̮̃̒̈́̽͗̿̍̄̂̏͆͠͝k̵̘̺̦͉͖̪̪͖͉͊̆̔́̈́̍̃̈́͒̂̑̀̚͜͝ y̶͔͗ŏ̸̡̼̺̫̥̻͈̞̍͆̏̓́͜͝ͅu̷̬̩̰̫͕̘͎̔́̃̄̍͋̓’r̵̡͕͈͚͍͍̼͕̍̀̈́̽̎̍͗̍́̏̚͜͠ë̸͓̮͉͈͇͍̖͎̩̞͈́́́̋̇̾͋̈́̾͆͑͘͘͜͠͝ d̶̡̲̗̼̮̤̤̳̲͖͓͍͔͓̓̎̽́̽̏̐͂̆͆͘͘͘ŏ̸̡̼̺̫̥̻͈̞̍͆̏̓́͜͝ͅi̶̡̹͈͎̳̞͙͖̾̂̀͑̀͆̑̓̽̉͐͘͘ͅǹ̷̨͍̮̥̹̘͙̗̻̬̬̜̥̮̃̒̈́̽͗̿̍̄̂̏͆͠͝ǧ̷̡̟̲̹̩̱͉̮̭͇͚̮̖̟̽̓͊̔̓̕??”

(What the fuck do you think you’re doing??)

Vox’s voice glitched out, muted TV static layering his voice as the fans whirled in the back of his head. In a desperate attempt to cool him down.

Valentino doesn’t give much of a reaction, putting his hands up in feigned innocence.

“𝒟𝑜𝓃’𝓉 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝒱𝑜𝓍𝓍𝒾𝑒! 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝑜𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻-“

“You better watch your mouth.”

“𝒪𝒽𝒽, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒𝓃’𝓉 𝒶𝓈𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝓎𝑒𝓉. 𝒲𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓂𝓎 𝒷𝒶𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓈𝓅𝑜𝒾𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒾𝑔 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓈𝑒.”

Valentino speaks with sickening sarcasm. You look between the two, incredibly confused. Vox looks like he’s about to explode.

The lights flicker back on, and the door opens, Vox demanding his business partner leave.

The moth scowls at the both of you, before putting one set of hands on his hips, the other set of arms crossing across his chest. In the most sassy way possibly leave the two of you behind.

Vox waits for the elevator door to close before he can breath again. He’s muttering angrily to himself, one hand on either side of his screen as he tries not to blue screen.

You put your hand over his, his cold hand giving you a subtle shock of electricity as you touched him. You give him a concerned gaze, silently asking if he was okay.

Vox looks at you, shoulders relaxing just looking into your comforting eyes. Little bolts of electricity shoot out from the side of his screen as he tries to calm himself, his fans working overtime.

You set down the bag of treats you were bringing for him to hold his hands in your own. You give him a bright smile, concern not leaving your eyes.

You reassure him that whatever he had planned isn’t ruined. You could just pretend you didn’t know! You didn’t want this little run in to ruin your guys’ day.

You ramble on as he just stares at you, almost blankly, his screen fading from blue to a baby pink as he listened to you.

As you’re apologizing for causing trouble, he puts a hand up to stop your little speech.

He reaches into his pant pocket, pulling out a small halo shaped piece of jewelry. He holds your left hand in his own as he gets down on one knee in front of you.

I mean.. you knew he had a surprise planned, but seeing his actions didn’t fail to shock you.

He gives a little speech to you, stuttering and glitching over his words as he tries to explain himself.

For being a perfectionist overlord, this was one hell of a show.

He’s a blushing glitching mess, cursing to himself when he couldn’t find the exact words he wanted to say.

You grab the sides of his screen, looking him in the eyes and forcing him to meet your gaze. You’re saying yes before he can embarrass himself anymore.

He looks a bit shocked by your response, he can’t believe you said yes after that display he just put on. Before he can get the ring on your finger, he blue screens from shock and embarrassment.

You kind of chuckle and sit down beside your partner while you wait for him to reboot. Not like you could go anywhere with the elevator being stuck with the two of you inside. You do gently take the piece of jewlry, sliding it onto your finger and admiring its design.

Cuddling into Vox’s arm, you can’t help but smile brightly at the decorative piece snug on your ring finger.

It was perfect.

[inkedbybarnes]

anything

bucky barnes x fem!reader

summary: bucky is determined to take care of you while you're sick.

word count: 1.6k+

warnings: mentions of insecurities, mentions of illnesses (but vaguely described), fluffy ahh shit bc why not, usage of pet names such as baby and doll. bucky being stubbornly sweet (it is indeed, a warning), lowercase writing.

i've been sick the past few days hence the creation of this fic. idk why my mood drops when i'm sick... once again, this is too fluffy even for my own good but i warned you and you're reading it still anyway. 🤨 haha jk, i hope you enjoy this one! 🩷

dividers by @cafekitsune!

reblogs, comments, and likes are highly appreciated! thank you. ♡

“can you please let me in, baby?"

that was the fifth time bucky had asked the same question, never giving up on his mission to take care of you after learning from jarvis – out of all people... or robots? – that you were sick.

“bucky, i promise, i'm fine. stop trying to break the door,” you answered, your clogged nose not helping as you sounded horrible even with a concrete wall separating you from him. “go and tell steve that you're joining the mission. you can't withdraw yourself just because i'm—achoo!”

your nose began to leak, and you were now distracted with the need to find the tissue box that used to be on your bed. you didn't hear the door clicking open as well as the heavy footsteps of a certain soldier walking towards you.

“just because you're what? sick?”

you jumped, feeling the edge of the bed sink with his weight. you quickly grabbed the tissue box that was mysteriously thrown under the bed before facing bucky with the duvet covering most of your body.

“how did you open the door?”

bucky shrugged. “i broke the doorknob. you didn't say anything about breaking doorknobs.”

you sighed, not winning this argument with bucky. “you shouldn't be here, bucky. you're supposed to be preparing for a mission tomorrow, not babysitting me!”

“and let you go through this on your own? tough chance, doll. i'm your boyfriend for fuck's sake, and don't tell me that you're worried about getting me sick because we both know i'm immune," he argued, reaching out and pulling the blanket down enough to reveal your face. “are you really upset that i want to take care of you? you should be demanding things from me, baby. instead you've been hiding from me.”

“because i don't need anything, bucky. i can handle myself just fine." you huffed, knowing you wanted his attention and care so badly. remembering your face was exposed, you felt insecure again. you dragged the cover back up and turned away. “i also don't want you to see me like this.”

“like what?"

“like a mess," you muttered underneath the sheets. “you've never seen me like this before, and i swear i am the worst when i'm sick. you don't have to see me like this, okay? i don't want you to.”

you felt silly. it was completely normal to get sick, but you hated how extreme your body would act out whenever an illness would attack you. you'd always sound and look like you were fighting a battle in hell alone. the way your mind would take an entire flip and drag you to your lowest point didn't help either. so, not only were you feeling physically horrible, you were also struggling mentally.

“a mess? what mess?” he asked, lifting the cover to join you underneath it which caught you off guard. you were entirely exposed to his eyes now. “there's my girl. where's the mess that you're talking about, huh?”

with the little amount of energy left in you, you brought your hands up to cover your face. he could see how much of a mess you were now, far from the dream you've painted since the day you dated him. now, you were nothing but a nightmare of your reality.

“don't you dare hide from me. i haven't seen you all day and it's driving me insane," he complained, pulling your hands away from yourself. he brought his thumb to your teary eyes, wiping the tears away before they could fall. “i can't believe you're hiding from me just because you think i can't handle seeing you sick. what did you think i'd do once i saw you like this?”

you sniffed, hesitation holding you back from telling him the truth. it's only been three months since you've started dating bucky, and you were still in that stage where you'd constantly try impress him.

you weren't faking yourself, no. however, you still did your best to only show your good side and tuck away your insecurities. unfortunately, you had to get sick too soon and have to risk bucky seeing you this way.

“you thought i'd leave you? won't like you anymore? get turned off or something?”

you nodded, knowing that was exactly what went through your head and a bit pissed that he was able to read your mind without actually having the power to do so.

bucky's eyes softened at your confession, letting out a soft sigh as he saw how badly you were beating yourself up.

“if it's because of how you look right now, then it's true. you do look different," he answered, your chest tightening. “your eyes lost their glow, you're frowning more often, your eyes are all puffy, you are definitely grumpier than usual, your lips are dry and chapped from—”

“okay, i get it, bucky! you don't have to rub it in my fa—”

“but i won't be doing whatever is on your mind. you're sick, doll. it'll affect you. it's normal. hell, i look even worse when i used to get sick, but you? you still look so fucking lovely." he held your face gently, leaning forward to kiss your forehead. “even then, i don't give a fuck on how messy you can get. i'm your boyfriend. i should be taking care of you, helping you feel better, and bringing back the glow in your eyes. please, baby. let me take care of you.”

this time, you were looking back at him. "you mean it?"

"of course I mean it," he replied softly, his voice filled with sincerity. "i love you, doll. i don't care how you look like right now. you could look like a swamp monster and be sick as a dog, and i would still think that you are the most beautiful woman for me."

you giggled softly, his words filling you with warmth and reassurance. you felt so lucky to have a man who truly loved you and handled your insecurities with such understanding and care, and even sillier for thinking he'd leave you for such reasons.

“thank you. that really made me feel better," you told him, your arms slowly creeping forward to hold him. “i'm sorry for hiding. i was just scared to turn you off or anything.”

“are you kidding? i'm trying my best not to hold you down and kiss you all over. i haven't even hugged you for a day,” bucky said, a pout on the verge of forming on his face.

“it hasn't even been a day, bucky. now, who's dramatic?" you said, rolling your eyes playfully. “and you're supposed to be on a mission tomorrow! are you really not going?”

“when i could be here taking care of you?” he asked, as if the answer was already obvious. “the others can handle it. my main priority is to do anything you want and make you feel better.”

“anything?”

he smiled, leaning down to let your lips meet softly. "anything."

( a lil bonus < 3 )

“what is that smell?”

sam, steve, and natasha entered the compound after a quick briefing for their mission tomorrow. they joined tony and clint who were having a casual conversation in the living room about the best burrito in town.

the kitchen was an open space, the aroma of whatever bucky was cooking spreading all around the nearby rooms.

sam didn't hesitate to come closer and inspect the kitchen, finding the entire counter lined up with various spices and plates that bucky filled with his dishes.

“what's the occasion? did i miss something?" sam asked, grabbing a fork to take a little taste until bucky slapped his hand away. "ow! what was that for?"

"hands off." bucky warned, frowning at sam. “that's not for you, wilson."

“not even a nibble? come on, man. it smells amazing!”

their usual bickering caught the attention of the other avengers, immediately joining them in the kitchen which annoyed bucky even more when he saw them eyeing the food he made.

"before any of you try to ask, no. this is not for any of you."

"who's it even for?" natasha asked, the least interested to have a taste, but was curious either way.

bucky answered with your name. "she's sick."

"what? since when?" clint asked, worry flashing across his face. "can we do anything?"

bucky glanced up before hesitantly answering. "well.. she did say she wanted to watch a movie after eating."

clint snapped his fingers and smiled. "i'm on it."

"i'll get jarvis to check on her vitals every hour and create a diagnosis," tony said, already tapping on his smart watch. "assuming she wouldn't be too comfortable letting the entire team know what's going on with her body, i'll just let you receive the updates. just update me with what you can, yeah?"

"i'll talk to fury and let you both have a week free from work," steve offered. "she needs the rest and she needs you."

"oh, i'll handle fury. he can't say no to his favourite," natasha said with a smug smile. "tell her i'll bring her all her favourite snacks once we're back from our mission, and that she better be back to full health so we can go out together."

bucky nodded, chest warming with the genuine concern they shared. he was excited to let you know how loved and deserving of all this you were.

if you have any requests for bucky, send them my way! 💌

[lowkeyrobin]

Hi sorry if im annoying u but can u do a james hook x reader story . I kenda want the reder to be the dugther of peter pan and hook fell in love whit her.

no need to worry! you're totally fine haha ; but yeah of course I could! ; I decided to make the reader a kind of relative to Peter (sibling/cousin at least) cause age differences and whatnot, even though Peter stays a kid forever, I still didn't wanna do smthn weird lolll but dw I got you ; thanks for requesting, hope you enjoy! ; also I only write they/them / gn readers but I tried to keep readers gender identity pretty in the middle and stuff so

JAMES HOOK ; star crossed lovers

summary ; you and hook fall for each other, your love forbidden as he was a vk, and you were an ak

warnings ; language

disclaimers ; reader can fly & uses pixie dust like peter pan

word count ; 1.1k

masterlist

Hook's eyes land on you from afar, watching as you sprinkle pixie dust upon Bridget and Ella. They had been begging you to let them try out flying, and you'd finally given in halfway through today.

He peers past the concrete wall into the courtyard, watching you three fly about, or really, watch you try to help your friends learn how to fly how you do. You giggle, bouncing back as you practically swim in air, watching them struggle to control themselves. It wasn't as easy as it looked.

"Whoever can fly to class faster wins!" Bridget laughs, looking over at Ella.

"Oh, you're on!" She smiles, dashing toward the nearest doors as fast as she could, attempting to beat Bridget.

Bridget was definitely better at the flight thing, but Ella had speed. You'd have to check in with them later, considering your class was in the opposite direction.

Hook, seeing you were now alone, casually walks toward you, having popped out of nowhere as you watch Ella and Bridget soar past the windows and eventually disappear. He tilts his head as he looks up at you, trying to read you somehow, from behind. You turn around, jumping back in slight fear and surprise.

"Uhm, hello!-" You awkwardly smile, floating a above the ground, making yourself a foot taller than him. You recognize him, knowing he's a VK.

"What's with the eh-" He looks you up and down, "Floaty thing?"

You glance around and shrug. "I dunno. Just kinda... born like that"

He nods, posing no threat. "Cool"

You subtly raise an eyebrow. "You think?"

"Yeah," He chuckles. "Got any more of that fairy dust?" He asks, referring to the magical golden dust that enchanted its victims with flight.

"Pixie dust," you correct. "But, yeah. Why?"

"You do flying classes?" He asks, a soft expression on his face, one of curiosity, craving adventure.

Your cautious expression quickly fades to one of happiness, a smile curling the corners of your lips up. "For you, I guess"

He smiles, watching as you dig into your pocket and sprinkle him in the glittering gold powder. His feet slowly depart from the floor, his arms quickly reaching out to you in fear.

You jump back to avoid his hooked hand, but realized that this was more like teaching a kid how to ride a bike rather than he wanted to hurt you. You reach for his in-tact hand, pulling him closer to you, laughter escaping your lips as he front flips a few times.

"This isn't funny!"

"Yeah, it is!"

He clings onto you, not liking gravity not pulling him down to the ground.

"What're you so scared for?" You chuckle as you question him. "You a pussy?"

"No!" He quickly pushes away from you, needing to keep his tough guy VK coat on in front of you, reminding himself that you weren't one of his friends. "It's very hard to keep balance!" He exclaims as he falls backward to hang upside down. He flails his arms, returning right side up.

"What's your name?" You ask, stifling a laugh as you watch.

"Hook. James Hook"

"Cause the hook, I'm guessing?"

It'd been a few days since you'd last seen James Hook, your mind constantly trying to find an answer to why he wanted to try the pixie dust and why he spent nearly an hour hanging out with you to try and learn to fly. Maybe he was forming some sort of plan. Maybe you shouldn't speak to him again, maybe he was bad just like the other VKs. Maybe you should stop trusting everyone-

"Hey Y/n," James smiles, appearing from behind you, hand quickly jumping to your shoulder.

You jump, looking back at him as you sit under a tree in the front yard of Merlin's Academy.

"Hey, Hook" You answer, looking back down at your textbook.

He raises an eyebrow, looking down at your spell casting book. "You can call me James"

"Hey, James," you repeat, correcting yourself. "What's up?"

He shrugs. "I was going to ask you that"

He slides down the tree, sitting next to you. "I saw your little stunt earlier in the library." he smiles. "You're a trickster, hm?"

You lightly smile. "Yeah."

"Little sprinkle of that dust and watching people try to fly is amusing, isn't it?"

"Yeah, kinda. Especially when it's assholes" You reply, referring to his VK friends.

He chuckles. "It was funny, really. I like you, you have a sense of humor."

"Y'know," You speak, looking up at him. "My shadow is it's own being, it spies"

He raises an eyebrow. You glance back at the tree you rest your back upon, showing him your shadow standing above you, hands on their hips. He jumps for a moment, looking back at you.

"I don't lie, James" You shrug, watching as the shadow attempts to push you two together. You roll your eyes. "They want us to kiss"

James glances between you and the shadow, face growing red. "I mean, a lot of people call me James-"

"It's not about that." You sigh. "Little mischievous bitch thought you falling into my arms the other day was 'adorable'. You have a crush on me or something, apparently, according to them"

He blinks and shrugs. "I mean, they're not totally wrong." He smiles awkwardly wide, looking for validation. He breaks, disturbed by your silence. "I'd love to be friends with you, at least. You're very intriguing and humorous, and-"

You quickly cut him off. "What? We can't, we can't be friends. You're a VK"

His expression quickly falters as he realizes the predicament.

"But... I shouldn't deny that I feel the same way about you"

He blinks, confused and slightly caught off gaurd. "What are you getting at here?"

"We're star-crossed lovers." You speak dramatically. "We can't be together, yet there's something pulling us together. Even if it's just a silly little crush or infatuation"

He nods. "Can we at least be friends? I promise you, love, I'm not as evil as it seems."

Yeah, friends was an awful word to use when describing you and the infamous James Hook.

Someone call up Anne Marie...

Over the course of the next few months, you and Hook had become true star-crossed lovers like Romeo and Juliet, bound by love, separated by fate. The constellations aligned but the stars between you and James never did.

You wondered why you had to be separated by social norms, why you couldn't be with him because he was a villain. If James was a villain, then you were too for your pranks, there was nothing fair about it.

Even though you'd sucked yourself into a little world of your own, he was there by your side, loving your lips behind closed doors and confined spaces so you wouldn't be caught. God, no one would ever forget it if they found out. A VK and an AK together? The world might as well have ended.

You fly through the forest with James, his fingers tangled in yours as you swiftly pull him along.

"Y/n, slow down!"

"I'm not even going fast, you're going slow!"

[deerlino]

Hey!

I don't know if you write things like that,but could you maybe write a member x fem reader oneshot/drabble inspired by the song afraid by the neighbourhood? Like make it angstyyyy,jst like the song.Been feeling like this song lately.I know you write incredibly good,and i trust you with thatttt.

Ofc it's totally okay if you don't want to write this <33

I hope you have a great day and never forget to drink water and take care of yourself!❤️❤️

i’m still afraid ( lmh. )

lee minho | fem!reader

“i wake up, i’m afraid somebody else might take my place.”

synopsis. you and minho confront his deep-seated doubts and fears, grappling with the complexities of love and acceptance in your relationship. (857 words)

content. angst, based on the song “afraid” by the neighborhood, established relationship, anxiety, self-worth issues, relationship struggles, communication issues, insecurities, hurt/comfort, ambiguous ending (?)

warnings. physical violence (minho slams his fist into a wall once), emotional distress (self-doubt, anxiety, and feelings of worthlessness), verbal conflict (heated arguments and shouting between characters), depression, anxiety and fear

authors notes. long time no chat! sorry for disappearing—i've been on vacation in italy, so writing took a backseat. >_< but i managed to squeeze in this request on the bus. hope you enjoy it, anon! <3 i tried to stick to the song as much as possible, but i did go off track a bit while writing—hope that's okay. T_T love serving up some delicious angst for you guys, haha. enjoy! (ps: thanks for the sweet words, anon. really appreciate it, my love!) <3 <3

The room feels suffocatingly small as you and Minho stand on opposite sides, the silence between you filled with the echoes of your harsh words. It’s another night where his self-doubt and anxiety have spiraled into a fight that neither of you can control.

“Why do you always have to push me away?” you shout, frustration boiling over. “Why can’t you see that I’m here because I love you?!”

Minho’s eyes are wild with emotion, his voice trembling as he retorts, “You don’t get it! You never will! I’m nothing but a burden to you.”

“Stop saying that!” you scream, tears streaming down your face. “You’re not a burden. You’re everything to me, but you keep trying to convince me otherwise.”

He turns away, his shoulders shaking. “Maybe you should listen to me for once. Maybe you’d be better off without me.”

The words hit you like a punch to the gut, and you struggle to breathe. “Do you really want me to leave? Is that what you want?”

He slams his fist into the wall, leaving a dent. “No! But I can’t stand the thought of you wasting your time on someone like me.”

You step closer, your voice softer now but no less intense. “Minho, look at me. Please.”

He reluctantly turns, his eyes red-rimmed and filled with despair. “Why can’t you see it? I’m broken. I’m scared all the time that you’ll see what a mess I am and leave.”

You reach out, your hand trembling, and cup his face. “I’m not going anywhere. I love you, even when you’re a mess. Especially when you’re a mess.”

He pulls away, his voice breaking. “But why? Why would you stay? Everyone else left when they saw the real me.”

Your heart breaks at his words, the raw pain in his voice cutting deep. “Because I’m not them. I’m not going to leave you just because things get tough. I want to be here for you, Minho. I want to help you.”

He laughs bitterly, wiping at his tears with the back of his hand. “You can’t fix me. No one can.”

“I’m not trying to fix you,” you whisper, stepping closer again. “I just want to love you. Is that so hard to accept?”

He looks at you, his expression a mixture of anger and sorrow. “Yes, it is. Because I don’t feel worthy of your love.”

You take a deep breath, trying to steady your voice. “But you are. You’re worth everything to me.”

He collapses onto the bed, burying his face in his hands. “I wish I could believe that.”

You sit beside him, placing a hand on his back. “We can work through this together. We can find a way.”

He looks up at you, his eyes filled with hopelessness. “What if we can’t? What if I drag you down with me?”

“Then we’ll figure it out,” you say firmly. “But I’m not giving up on you, Minho. Not now, not ever.”

- - -

One night, you find him sitting on the balcony, staring out into the darkness. You join him, the cool night air doing little to soothe the tension between you.

“What are you thinking about?” you ask softly.

He doesn’t look at you, his voice barely above a whisper. “How easy it would be for you to leave.”

You feel a pang of hurt but try to keep your voice calm. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ve told you that.”

He finally turns to you, his eyes filled with unshed tears. “But what if one day you wake up and realize I’m not worth it? That all this pain and struggle isn’t worth it?”

You take his hand, squeezing it tightly. “Minho, I won’t lie to you. It’s hard sometimes. But I love you, and that makes it worth it. We’ll get through this.”

He shakes his head, pulling his hand away. “I don’t deserve you.”

“You do,” you insist, your voice breaking. “You deserve to be loved and cared for. You deserve happiness.”

He stands up abruptly, pacing back and forth. “No, I don’t. I’m a mess. I’m scared all the time. I push you away because I can’t stand the thought of you realizing I’m not worth it and leaving.”

You stand up too, blocking his path. “Minho, stop. Just stop. You’re not alone in this. I’m here, and I want to be here. Please, let me help you.”

He looks at you, his eyes filled with anguish. “How? How can you help me when I can’t even help myself?”

“We can get through this together,” you say desperately. “We can find help, talk to someone. We can do whatever it takes, but you have to let me in.”

He collapses back onto the chair, his head in his hands. “I’m so scared,” he whispers.

You kneel beside him, wrapping your arms around him. “I know. But you don’t have to be scared alone. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

It won’t be easy, but with love and patience, you know you can help Minho heal. And maybe, just maybe, one day he’ll believe that he’s worth it too.

© deerlino (est. 130724) ༯ heyo, did you enjoy this piece? if you did, maybe you could reblog, drop a comment, or shoot me an ask to let me know your thoughts. also, feel free to check out my other stuff! thanks a bunch for the support! <3

[colourstreakgryffin]

Heyyy! May I request headcanons for Carmila CarminexReader who has similar mannerisms to Obanai? (Both live rent free in my head) Have a good day/night!!!

Haha. Awww, that’s cute and I can absolutely see it! I am not sure how it’d go personally but let’s try it out for fun. Shall we! God, I struggled with this so much so I’m sorry if it blows

Carmilla Carmine- Bandy-Bandy

You’re a unique one, that’s for sure. Thats what Carmilla tells herself when her beloved daughters, Clara and Odette, brought you as a brand new potential employee for them. A lonely quiet determined sinner with a connection to all kinds of snakes

Carmilla watches you, at first, to test how good you are at the job her precious daughters gave you and she is pleased with the results. You’re quite good but you’re also kinda isolated and don’t talk to anybody besides your hyper-intelligent ‘scarf-snake’ friend

But then Carmilla’s watching becomes one of interest… you’re interesting, your behaviour is a lot less than what she suspected from a Sinner worker and how antisocial and distance you are is intriguing for anybody, even her

Carmilla does end up approaching you and she gives you a luck h… despite the fact you already have one and whilst you’re kinda blunt and quiet and uninterested, you’re polite and respectful since you know her position and let her accompany you

So, this became routine. Everyday, Carmilla comes over to you during lunch and presents you with a fancy lunch she has made for you and enjoys a lunch break with you. She is more of the talker whilst you listen to her quietly, surprisingly

Carmilla took a while but she’s been relatively open, talking about her beloved daughters, about other Overlords annoying her during meetings, about a number of things about herself. It’s shocking for a strong mature woman like her to even speak on these things with her new employee

It took quite some time but throughout all the sessions Carmilla has befriended and talking to you and having a meal with you privately, you ended up developing quite the fat crush on her to the point you get jealous and agitative towards others being close to her… except Zestial, to a degree

Carmilla doesn’t really notice how protective and aggressive you’ve become to others. She just believes you and her are good friends but you don’t feel that way at all; you love her dearly, so much that she is now basically your everything… even after you feared women heavily due to your awfully tragic past including your primarily female cult of a family

You don’t really eat unless Carmilla is nearby and since Carmilla is a kind graceful yet powerful woman, even as a mighty Overlord, she’ll eat with you since she notices how dependent you are… on her? She suspects it’s something to do with comfort so doesn’t question it too much

Carmilla is your starlight, the sugary yet tough mochi that has truly changed your life from a bland hell of self-deprecation and loathing to something much worth it. Now, you can actually express emotions better and you want to give yourself fully to Carmilla as to express how much you adore her

Carmilla is seemingly oblivious to your intense love for her as she has grown to view you, as she acts, like a surrogate child of hers. She doesn’t notice your affections and favouritism and much more, she just believes you’re a enthusiastic employee of the business that wishes to please it

Carmilla does, in general, appreciate and like you. It’s why she still approaches and tries to bond with you to this day. You’re a mysterious, quiet but fearless and strong and willing to rip people a new one. She respects that and it’s a reason she likes you

“Hello once more, dear friend. It’s been quite the rough day. My girls have had the hardest hours for quite a few years recently. Would you like to hear it?”

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for ignoring my partners text messages after they told me they want to go on break over text?

(🦞⏱️ so I can find this later)

About three months ago, at the end of December to be exact, a friend of my asked if I would like to be in a qpr relationship. They’re aromantic and have been wanting to try it out.

I figured fuck it - why not? We’ll just be silly ol’ partners, nothing to it… but then I started really enjoying it. The whole “being loved” thing got to me I guess.

The next couple of months were going great, at least from my point of view - I went over to their house a couple of times, we cuddled, we cooked, I thought everything was alright.

However, on our last qpr date they brought up how they have issues with relationships and commitment, saying how there might come a time they leave me because they have lower energy than me. I felt hurt of course but I played it cool, “no worries bro, thank you for being honest, know that I love you lots no matter what haha”

And I thought things got better again. Until yesterday.

They texted me that they don’t want to be in a qpr anymore. That they want to take a break because, from what they’ve gathered, we’re not compatible (I have more energy than them, talk more, text more) and they’re not used to this…

They promised they wouldn’t do a break up over text. Which is a promise they didn’t technically break since it’s not a breakup. Technically. But the way they phrased the texts and the fact that it happened Quite Literally 30 minutes before midnight… I tried to play it cool, “sure man, you need distance, I get it” but then they asked me if I feel hurt to which I admittedly answered passive aggressively with a “My feelings don’t matter rn” (edgy much? Maybe, but again - 30 minutes before midnight. Not the best time to have a well-rounded conversation on a tough subject in person, let alone over text)

So now it’s the next day. They texted me that they still love me, which I do believe them but at the same time I still feel hurt, betrayed, kinda fucked up. I can’t imagine how they feel and I really want to just sweep all of this under the rug with a “don’t even worry about it man we’re still cool no matter what” but I don’t think ignoring how what they did made me feel is a good idea.

(I guess what makes the situation worse is that we’re both part of a very tightly knit group of friends, 4 of us in total, and I don’t wanna bring all this emotional garbage on any of the other 2 of us)

So, would I be an ass for ignoring my partners texts for the following week? And if so… what do I even do?

What are these acronyms?

[ultimate-shipper-trash-blog]

Pt.3

"You're here!"

Steve looks around for the emergency but all he sees is Eddie's smiling face. More specifically, Eddie tangled in lights.

"Help me hang these Christmas lights."

"You know its a crime to report something false."

"What! I need help!" He jiggles the Christmas lights in his hand. "And how else was i supposed to see you it's not like I've been threatened recently," he pouts. Steve's caught in his puppy dog eyes.

"You don't need excuses to see me Munson."

Eddie's smirks his way, eyelashes fluttering. "I don't?" His grin is wicked.

"No, we could act like normal people, you didn't have to tell Max it was life or death."

"Sounds like you wanna be my friend Stevie."

"Uhuh and you just wanted to see me because...?"

"Oh officer, friend doesn't even begin to cover what I want to be with you."

Steve's face is bright pink.

"Like best friends?"

Nice. Good cover.

Eddie cackles at his stupidity.

"You're so cute Stevie," His eyes are glistening when they meet. "Now chop chop!" He claps his hands together. "There are lights to be hung!"

They spend the next couple of hours decorating. Eddie even shows Steve some bartender tricks with the whipped cream can he uses to top the hot chocolate he made.

Steve has never had so much fun in his life. Eddie is a force and he wonders how he went so long without him in his life.

No! Bad! Be civil! Be friends!

Eddie's flirting is friendly. Friends can flirt!

He's enjoying himself too much and he doesn't want to lose this. Doesn't want to lose this newfound thing he has.

"You ok over there?" Eddie looks at him concerned.

"Yeah! I was just thinking about...presents!"

Another genius save.

"Oh yeah? You a master gift giver?" There's a teasing tone in the line.

"I mean I try my best. I can definitely wrap a present without using multiple rolls of tape now."

"Wow that's tough to beat."

"Haha...what about you?"

"What about me? Am I master giver~"

"Psh What! NO! I meant what do you do for the holidays."

"Ok ok," Eddie chuckles. "I spend the holidays by working the bar of course. I spend the morning with my Uncle, he normally comes into town the night before. We trade very manly presents and then I go to work and tend to sad drunk people."

"Do you enjoy that? I mean I don't even talk to my family but I have this giant pseudo family that makes sure I'm on task for holidays."

"I kind of do, like the drunks and I both try to give a good Christmas you know?"

The phone rang in the back and Eddie ran to get it. Since it was so early the phone had to be for emergencies.

Steve waited for him to come back while snooping around behind the bar. There was tons of photos of Eddie with the rest of his employees and most of them look like they were taken when they were kids. Steve had known they were all friends but he didn't realize to what extent. It made his heart warm.

He was glad he had Robin and El and all of her other little friends. He didn't really see them all until he moved into the Hoppers and they stuck to him like weeds.

He heard muffled shouting and a slight bang and then Eddie was storming back in.

"That stupid stubborn bastard-"

"What's up Eds?"

Eddie turns around like he forgot Steve was there.

"Shit, sorry. That was Wayne. He won't be coming into town till New Years. They asked him to work and he said YES! Even though I could pay him for the work days he was missing he still wants to be seen as reliable as if he hasn't worked for them for twenty years already."

"Shit."

"Exactly," Eddie runs a hand through his hair in grief and it gives Steve an idea.

"You know, if you have to work on Christmas you're welcome to join me for Christmas morning?"

Eddie gives him a blank expression.

"You want me to spend Christmas with you?" His cheeks are pink.

"Well...if you want to, it'd be me, Robin, and the rest of the crew. About twenty of us in total."

"I'll have to think on it, I wouldn't want to impose."

"You wouldn't though! I offered."

"Ok Stevie," Eddie gives him a fond look. "I'll let you know."

---

I literally have the rest of this story written 😅 let me know if I should post it all at once.

Please leave comments! And thank you for reading!

[maximoffcarter]

Ice Queen 2.0.

Pairings: Casey Novak x Alex Cabot

Summary: Alexandra Cabot is known as the Ice Queen, and after a while, she learned to embrace it. Casey Novak, was known for her tough attitude and showed no fear. What happened when the squad gets on Novak's nerves?

A/n: I bring you another Calex one shot🫡This was requested by @saurgaeee so this is specially dedicated for them hehe. Yes, in my mind, this is set between S11 and S13 and Elliot is still there, Amanda and Amaro had joined, and that's that haha. I hope you guys enjoy this aaand if you have any more requests, please don't hesitate on sending an ask or message. I'm a nice person, I promise haha you don't have to be shy or afraid to talk to me. Enjoy and leave your comments, reblogs, hearts, whatever you'd like, will be very much appreciated🫶🏻

*not my gif*

Alexandra Cabot was known for being ‘The Ice Queen’, she couldn’t deny that for a while it annoyed to even hear that nickname, but after a while, she learn to grow into it because she figured out that people feared her, which made her powerful in some way, knowing people wouldn’t want to mess with her. She knew how to get what she wanted, and if she didn’t, she would go out of her way to do so. In court, she wasn’t playing, she was also not doing it to be in the headline of the newspaper, she wanted justice and if she had to be The Ice Queen to get it, then bring it on. Everyone already knew that if they got under her skin, they were done for sure, the whole squad had seen it, hell, the whole precinct had seen it. Casey had seen it. Of course it hadn’t been against her, never her. She was probably the only person that had been safe from the Ice Queen, even when she did something that could upset Alex, she could never stay upset, she was her girlfriend, she was her weakness, and people knew this, but even trying to have Casey there to protect themselves, it never worked. And honestly? Casey enjoyed it, she just laughed and was the person to say, I told you so.

And here they were once again. Another case that had been handed to Alex and once again, they were trying to have Alex as their servant, getting them warrants for everything when they didn’t even have any proof nor reason to get them. They felt entitled to demand Alex to get them, knowing perfectly that Petrovsky would never actually agree, and she’d get scolded again, and if that’s what they expected her to go through? They were completely in the wrong, and she was done listening to them yelling around, specially Elliot that always thought that because his gut told him so, things had to go his way.

“I will not tell you again. Do you want the warrant? Then find me something that actually works, find me evidence, a witness, anything that is not your stupid gut. If you think Petrovsky is going to give me the warrant just because your goddamn gut told you so, then you talk to her yourself. And let me tell you…if I get scolded for it, it’ll be ten times worst for you.” Alex grabbed her briefcase and looked at Elliot again. “Until you get me something good, don’t even think about calling me or making me waste my time again.”

Alex walked out of the room without looking at anyone else anymore, the whole room had gone quiet and there was no one who could say or stop her. She had said what she had said, and that was the end of it. They all looked at each other, almost speechless for what had just happened. It was even funny how they were so surprised knowing this was definitely not the first time that Alex had gone off on them like this, and certainly it wouldn’t be the last either. Casey just stood there staring at them, not a surprise in her face as she looked at everyone. Elliot then stared at her for a moment, his eyebrows raised as if questioning if she could do something. Almost begging her for anything.

Casey chuckled. “What? You really think I can convince her? After that? You’re out of your mind.” She grabbed her briefcase and shrugged. “You know she’s right. Petrovsky has her eyes on us as it is. Another stunt like this, and both of us will be sleeping in a cell.” She walked to the door and then looked back at Elliot. “Don’t test her, Stabler. You already know the Ice Queen.” She grinned before she left the office.

Casey had stopped to buy lunch for both of them, knowing that after that scene, Alex had completely forgotten that they were going to go for lunch after visiting the precinct. She went to her office to drop off her briefcase and coat and then headed to Alex’s office, who was at her desk reading through the files. Casey closed the door behind her and smiled once Alex looked up at her, an annoyed look on her face. Casey raised the bag of food in her hands and walked to the small table beside Alex’s desk, putting the bag on the table.

“That was quiet a scene.” Casey chuckled softly as she looked at Alex.

“I’m pretty sure the gray hairs I have are not because of my age but because of them.” Alex sighed as she dropped her pen and stood up, walking to Casey. “You know, the other day, Elliot asked me how it was possible that you dealt with me at home.” She grinned.

Casey shook her head. “Did he really say that?”

Alex shrugged. “I know he didn’t mean it. It was the heat of the moment.” She smiled as she looked at Casey, her hand going to Casey’s cheek and stroking it softly. “How do you deal with the Ice Queen back home, Ms. Novak?”

Casey chuckled softly as she placed her hands on Alex’s waist and pulled her close to her body. “I simply start the teasing and she’s over it in an instant.” She smirked.

Alex raised her brows playfully. “Sounds like a good way to get her out of her trance.” She giggled as she kissed Casey’s lips.

Casey smiled against her lips and raised her brow. “See? She’s now gone.” She pecked her lips. “So now, sit down and eat. I’ll help you out a bit before I have to go to my arraignment.”

“You’re an angel.” Alex smiled and sat down, opening the bag to get their food.

********************

After the stunt that Elliot had put, he had come to an agreement with Alex once they found more evidence that Alex took to get the warrants they needed, which also helped her at the end to win the case. It was comical to see how after the case was over, either they won or lost, they completely forgot about the arguments or fights they had, sometimes it was taken personally, but they knew that after the stress and pressure, they could all say things they didn’t mean. And so, they all moved on. This is why they all got along so well, and they were a good team, they understood each other, and they’d always have each other’s back no matter what.

A few days after, they got another case, and this one was handed over to Casey, Alex had joked with them that if they didn’t want to get scolded again, maybe they should hand it to Casey, who seemed to deal with them better than Alex ever did. Yes, Casey got frustrated, she got into arguments with them, she had a tough attitude and always put everyone in their places, but they had not actually seen Casey going off like Alex had done so many times -that’s why the nickname-. As they went over the case, Casey already knew this would be a tough one; a group of teenage boys who raped three students plus the sister of a little girl, and two of those girls…were dead. Of course, the three teenagers had money, which made the case even harder because of missing evidence, missing witnesses, and a ton of bullshit from the attorneys. Casey had been in this situation before, and she didn’t want to make the same mistake again, she didn’t want to put the only victims and witnesses she had in the Grand Jury. She couldn’t risk it, she couldn’t possibly go through that ordeal again of convincing them to testify before the Grand Jury and then having them put in danger because they were brave enough to speak. She had gone over it with the whole squad, making it very clear that she’d only be presenting the statements and that was it, so they had to find more evidence to convict the three teenagers. But there was always the DA’s office that screwed up their plan and Casey always had to listen, more so after her suspension, she was afraid it would happen again.

Casey walked into her office and threw her briefcase to the floor, slamming the door closed and going to the very end of her office. Not only was the DA on her neck, but also Olivia and Amanda were eating her alive when she told them that the girls would testify, and she was still waiting on Elliot and Amaro to find out. Did they really think that it was in her hands? She wasn’t her own boss, she didn’t run the DA’s office. She had to go by the book, so they didn’t have her neck again, she was not about to lose her license. She really didn’t want to do this, she was willing to do everything in her power to not put those girls in that position, but now, she was in a position that if she didn’t do as she was told, they’d either pass the case to someone else, or she’d be punished. She groaned loudly as she slammed her hands on the table, and just in that moment, Alex walked into her office and closed the door behind her. She had gotten a call from Olivia, and she should go check on Casey, and here she was; her girlfriend leaning over the table without saying a word, but she could see her body was trembling.

“Case?”

“Not right now, Alex.”

Alex sighed softly as she looked at Casey again. “What happened?”

“Fucking Cutter happened.” Casey snapped as she breathed heavily, walking to the window, and looking out.

“Casey, the squad will make sure they are safe. Those bastards have hidden every possible evidence that can help you.”

“I know but…this is my case. He doesn’t believe that I have a case without the girls. I can actually do this.” Casey looked at Alex.

Alex walked to her and kissed the side of her head softly. “I know. We all know this. Cutter is just being an ass.” She whispered softly as she put a strand of hair behind her ear, kissing the side of her head again. “I know my girlfriend.” She grinned.

Casey smiled softly as she nodded. “Only you do.” She chuckled.

Before Alex could say anything else, Casey’s phone went off, making her sigh heavily and went to get her phone, picking up her briefcase and putting it on her desk. Alex walked to her and leaned over the desk, looking up at her girlfriend as she answered the call. She took her time to study her face for a moment, noticing that she had never seen Casey looking this upset, let alone trembling because she was upset, but she knew this case was important for her and she regretted a bit that she had denied to have this case because then, Casey wouldn’t be in this position. Just as she thought that Casey had calmed down, she could see that her cheeks gone red and before she knew it, Casey hung up the phone, grabbed her briefcase and out the door she was. Alex furrowed her brows for a moment but followed her rapidly. Something was definitely about to go down.

Normally, Alex wouldn’t be surprised on how fast Casey walked, after all, she played softball, but she was surprised right at this moment as she followed because she could barely get on her pace, and Casey was definitely in a trance because she didn’t hear Alex calling her name. She couldn’t even figure out what was going on before they were in front of the whole squad, Olivia turned to look at both women and she could already tell that they had done something and that was the reason Casey literally flew here. Alex just stood behind Casey, not sure what to do, but slightly jumped as Casey slammed her briefcase in one of their desks, staring at everyone.

“What the hell were you thinking?”

Amanda turned to look at her and sighed softly. “We didn’t have another choice, Novak.”

“You didn’t have-“ Casey scoffed. “You should’ve called me. That was your other choice. You. Call. Me. You do know this will be mentioned in court, right? The defense will argue that you showed up without reason, threatened them and Petrovsky is gonna come for my head when she finds out what you all did.” She shook her head. “I’ll be the one in trouble, not you. And honestly? It’s all of your heads they should be after. This case can go to the trash for your stunt.”

“Call you?” Amaro furrowed his brows. “You wanted us to call you so you can tell us that you can’t get a warrant because we have nothing? Oh, no, we’ve heard that before. You think we’re not doing anything here, but we are.” He stood up from his chair and walked to Casey. “You are the one who is listening to whatever the DA’s office tells you and you don’t change a damn thing.”

Casey stared at him as if she could throw daggers with her eyes. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“We know the girls are going to testify.” Olivia simply said as she looked at Casey.

“You cannot put those girls in the stand, Casey.” Amanda shook her head. “We know the power they have, they could be in danger.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Casey looked at her with a defying stare.

“It’s your case. It’s your choice. You’re the one putting them there! You said we had time to get evidence.” Amaro shrugged. “We’ll say that he attacked us, so we defended ourselves.”

“And you think they’re gonna buy that? You went to their house and beat up not only the father, but one of the boys. They’ll find out and then, they’re coming for our jobs. I am not risking that. I am not gonna risk my job.”

“Oh so, that’s what this is about. You care more about your job than the girls.”

“Drop it, Amaro.” Elliot said as he looked at him.

“No. She cares more about losing her job than putting the girls in danger. Rollins said it. They have money, they have power. Tomorrow the girls testify, and the next day, they’re dead somewhere in the city.”

“I do not want to put them there! Don’t you get it?! I talked to Cutter, I told him I can build a case and he said no. I cannot go above my boss.”

“You did it once! Do it again! It’s like you’re giving them the free pass to get these girls killed!”

“I don’t see you bringing me any evidence.” Casey snapped. “You stand here, ready to yell at me for something I do not have control over. You don’t want me putting them in there? Then get me fucking evidence. I cannot do your goddamn job, I have enough with mine already.” Her voice had changed, this was not Casey, this was ADA Novak. “And no. It is not my choice. I am not my own boss, if I was, trust me, I’d have your ass right now for being here and not looking for evidence. Don’t you think that I know what could happen if they testify? I fucking know, and you know that I know!”

“Do you, though?” Amaro snapped.

Casey was about to walk to him before Elliot stopped her, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Don’t pretend like I’m some cold hearted bitch who doesn’t give a shit about those girls! If I could, I wouldn’t be doing this, but I have no other choice. I want those assholes behind bars as much as you want!” Casey groaned as she looked at Elliot, pushing him so he could let go of her. She then looked back at Amaro. “I remind you we are in this together, I’m not on their side. So, if you want me to avoid this, get me some fucking evidence and don’t come for me again thinking you’re entitled to yell at me for something I don’t have control over. Go do your goddamn job instead of telling me how to do mine!”

Both Alex and Elliot stared at each other for a moment, not sure what had just happened. Amaro finally was left speechless and only nodded and walking away followed by Amanda, Fin, and Munch. The whole time that Casey had been yelling speaking, Alex had stared at the redhead with her mouth almost wide open and completely frozen as she listened. Casey was yelling at Amaro but for a moment she thought Casey was yelling at her. She knew the level of anger that Casey could get into, she had seen her in court many times, she had seen her angry, but she had never seen her lash out like this. She didn’t even know if she was scared, surprised, or even aroused by this. When Elliot stared at her, the only thing she could do was shrug, she then returned her stare at Casey who was shaking at this point, and Alex knew it was nothing but anger radiating through her body.

“Casey?” Elliot asked softly, looking between Olivia and Alex. “Are you okay?”

Casey looked at Elliot with furrowed brows. “Don’t you dare treat me like I’m fucking insane. I meant what I said.”

Elliot nodded. “I know.”

Casey slammed her hands on the desk and groaned. “Does he really think I’m that cold hearted? I know I’m not the ray of sunshine that they want me to be, but why does he think that I don’t care? I fucking care.”

Alex didn’t know what to do, she could see that Casey was still in a trance and it seemed like talking to Elliot was not working at all. Alex took a deep breath as she placed her hands on Casey’s shoulders and turned her so she could face Alex. “Casey. I need you to take a deep breath.”

Casey finally looked at Alex. “What?”

“I need you to calm down, baby. Can you take a deep breath?” Alex placed a hand on Casey’s chest feeling her heart beating fast.

“I don’t need to calm down. You heard what he said to me, and I-“

“My love…” Alex grabbed Casey’s hand and placed it on her chest so she could feel Alex’s heartbeat. “I need you to breath. Your heartbeat keeps racing. Can you do that for me?” Casey nodded as she took a deep breath. “Just like that. That’s it. Take another.” Alex took a deep breath along Casey, her eyes staring into green ones as they breathed out. “One more time, baby.” They took a deep breath and then breathed out together. “Do you need to take another?”

Casey shook her head. “No.” She looked down at her hands and furrowed her brows. “Why do you have my hand on your boobs?”

Alex chuckled. “My chest, actually. But close.” She smiled. She let go of her hand and placed both on Casey’s cheeks. “I lost you there for a second, you were in a trance.”

Casey sighed, letting her hand fall to Alex’s waist. “Amaro pissed me off.”

“He did.” Alex chuckled. “I think we’re gonna send the poor guy to therapy if he has both of us going off on him.”

Casey laughed with Alex, sighing softly. “I’m sorry. I…I guess I’m too stressed.”

“Just a bit.” Elliot grinned.

Casey looked back at Elliot and sighed again. “If you didn’t stop me, I think I would’ve slapped him or punch his in the face.”

Elliot nodded as he chuckled. “Yeah, I could tell. I preferred to stop you before you gave him a purple eye.” He rubbed her back and offered a smile. “Get out of here. We got this, okay? We know you’re doing the best you can.”

Olivia offered a smile as she nodded. “Amaro had no right to say those things to you. We know why you’re doing what you’re doing. And trust me, Casey, if there is no other option, we will definitely keep an eye on the girls until this is all over.”

Casey nodded softly. “Thanks guys.”

Elliot smiled. “We got your back.” He looked at Alex and nodded, walking away with Olivia.

Alex smiled softly as Casey returned her eyes to Alex. “I’ve never seen you like that before. Are you gonna turn into Ice Queen 2?”

“I’m probably heading there.” Casey grinned.

Alex smiled. “Then we’ll both be Ice Queens.” She giggled as she pulled Casey for a kiss. “Are you feeling better?”

Casey nodded. “I think so. I do need a break.”

“What do you say we go out for lunch? If they have something important, I’m sure they’ll call you.”

Casey nodded again and smiled. “I’d like that.”

Alex pecked her lips and then smirked. “Maybe if we have time, we can have some dessert. Just to relax a bit more.”

“Oh?” Casey raised her brow as she grinned. “Could we have dessert first?”

Alex chuckled. “I need you to have energy, so let’s go now so we have some time.” She winked at her as she grabbed her hand.

Maybe Casey and Alex weren’t that different after all, and Alex would definitely not admit that she got all hot watching Casey going off like that, cause she knew the teasing would never end.

[deedeeznoots]

We're Not Idols!

➺ Part of the “We’re Not Heroes!” Collection. 

➺ Characters: Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro, Nobara Kugisaki, Aoi Todo, Takada, Gojo Satoru

➺ Word Count: 2.7k

➺ Genre: Fluff! 

➺ Content Warnings: Swearing, Mild violence, Creepy man

➺ Synopsis: The first-years are on a mission! This time, they're in Kyoto! The job? To eradicate low-grade cursed spirits all throughout the Japanese Idol Takada's concert. Unfortunately, things take a turn for the worse when a curse user with an ominous technique comes to disrupt the event.

“STUDENTS!” Gojo extends out his hands to greet his class of…three. “I have great news for all of you!”. 

“That can’t be good,” Kugisaki sighs in response. “Yeah no offense Gojo-Sensei but the 2nd years told us the last time you told them you had good news you let in a guy who had a curse inside of him…” Itadori mindlessly comments before realizing, “Hey wait a minute, that guy is kind of like me–”.

“Well it’s actually good news this time!” Gojo plays drums on the table before announcing “Students…for your next mission, you are going to KYOTO!”. 

Crickets. 

“...Where’s the good news?” Fushiguro gives Gojo a blank stare, causing the special-grade sorcerer to be taken-aback. “Okay, YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO AN IDOL CONCERT!” He waves around his hands to try to get the students more excited, but they just stare at him with blank expressions. Man… what a tough crowd. Though, every crowd was tough when you were Gojo Satoru. 

“...Again, where’s the good news?” Fushiguro looks at him upset. 

“Wha– I tried really hard to get a mission you guys would enjoy” Gojo sulks in a corner. “It’s okay Gojo-Sensei! It’s just… I don’t think any of us are really the concert type haha. Except…maybe Kugisaki?” Itadori looks at his brown haired friend. 

“Nah, too loud for me. I prefer to just listen to music on my phone. Plus, why would we need to go to an idol concert for a mission anyways?”. 

“Oh… right!” Gojo perks up. “Question students! Where do cursed spirits arise the most!” 

“Oh! Oh!” Itadori raises his hand, hoping for Gojo to pick him. “Megumi! You answer!”. “Aw…” Itadori pouts, he wasn’t even raising his hand Itadori thinks to himself. 

“Hm? In places with high population density” Fushiguro answers. “Ding! Ding! Ding!” Gojo responds. “You are correct!” 

“Now, since cursed spirits arise the most in places with high population density, there are certain places where cursed spirits appear most often. One of these places is concerts. If cursed spirits stay in these crowds unchecked, it can lead to an increase of negative energy from the crowd, causing things to escalate further and further”. 

The trio nods, showing their understanding, so Gojo continues. 

“To counter this, Jujutsu Sorcerers are often put out on posts to watch over these concerts. One of these concerts is by the Japanese Idol Takada, who you guys will be seeing in Kyoto!” 

“Oh I see… that makes sense I guess” Itadori adds. “Of course it makes sense, concerts are always sweaty and gross” Kugisaki shivers, causing Itadori to chuckle. 

“Anyways, good luck you guys! Make sure to pack a bag for a few days,” Gojo adds, “Oh, by the way. One of the Kyoto students is going to join you. I didn’t plan it but when I brought it up he insisted”.

“Oh! Who?” Yuji asks. 

“BROTHER!” Todo greets the trio (well…one of the trio) at the train station. “Oh God” Yuji cries out as Todo traps him in a giant hug, an act that is photographed by a laughing Kugisaki. 

“Man… I actually haven’t been to Kyoto before” Kugisaki comments. “Really? Now that you say it, I actually haven’t been here in a while either” Fushiguro responds. The two continue making small talk while their friend continues to struggle in the background “P-p-please…Todo…let…go…or I’ll…die”. 

“I can’t believe it brother, you’ll be able to experience all of the glory of Takada in person with me! It’ll be a beautiful experience!” Todo exclaims. The group made it to the concert area. Though, it was still a few hours before the event, so the concert hall was more or less empty, with only a few people setting up. This was okay though, because it gave them time to plan. 

“Todo will probably want to watch the concert with Itadori, so they should stay toward the front and we can stay at the back of the crowds” Fushiguro tells Kugisaki. “Should we really be encouraging him to do… whatever that is?” Kugisaki responds, looking at Todo as he continues sharing his praises about Takada to Itadori, who was desperately trying to keep up with his words. “If we don’t let him, he’ll do it anyway, so I’d rather control it” Fushiguro sighs, “If it were up to me, he wouldn’t be here at all”. 

“Hey…Fushiguro” Kugisaki taps on her friend’s shoulder. “Look at that guy”. There, they see one lone man attempting to sneak through backstage, definitely looking suspicious. He seems to catch on to their staring, but in response simply gives them a deathly glare. “Rude…” Kugisaki thinks, “Should we stop him just in case?” she asks. “Nah,” Fushiguro adds, “It’s probably nothing, but if we see him at the concert we should keep an extra eye on him”. 

Finally, the concert begins, the loud music is heard seemingly all throughout Kyoto as the crowd sings along to Takada. Many of the curses that spring up appear to be flyheads, so the group has no problems with exorcising them. The biggest problem seems to be the quantity due to the amount of them that constantly spring up. With this, Itadori struggles a bit more at the front as Todo is more interested in the concert compared to doing any sort of exorcising. 

Seriously, Itadori thinks to himself. Did he come here just so he could get paid to watch Takada? 

Meanwhile, Kugisaki and Fushiguro remain in a spot near the back and continue exorcising the low-grade spirits. Thanks to Kugisaki’s straw doll technique, exorcising them became even more efficient than it normally would have been.

Thanks to this, the duo was able to catch onto certain things they wouldn’t have otherwise.

“Fushiguro,” Kugisaki calls the dark haired sorcerer. “It’s that guy again,” she points to where backstage is, the man appears to be struggling to open the door, but was eventually able to do it. Fushiguro pauses for a moment, before saying “Things seem alright here, let’s go see what’s up with him”. With that, the two sorcerers follow the man backstage. 

Walking slowly backstage, they don’t seem to see the man. With Kugisaki at the front, hammer in hand, she calls out for him. “Excuse me, sir?” she questions, when she gets no response, she goes “Look…we work for Takada and we were just wondering what you’re doing backstage”. That apparently earns her a kick from the man who decides to show himself “Kugisaki!” Fushiguro yells out, running towards her. “You– You’re Jujutsu Sorcerers right?” the man asks, holding Kugisaki down.

“How do you–” Kugisaki tries to speak when she seems to knock out, and the man that was once holding her down is now avoiding her. They can deal with that later, “Kugisaki…?” Fushiguro inches closer to her, trying not to get too close. Something is wrong, he thought, very wrong. After a few seconds, Kugisaki seems to stand up, facing Fushiguro. “...Is everything alrig–” 

Within seconds, Kugisaki hits him with her hammer, causing the boy to fall backward. “Kugisaki what’s wro–” he begins to say when he feels a touch behind his back. It’s the man. “Tell me… if you two fought, would it end in five minutes?” 

Outside, the concert resumes, Todo continues enjoying himself at the front, Idatori joins in as well, having eradicated the bulk of the cursed spirits. 

Yet… something felt off. Itadori couldn’t put his finger on it, but he felt the need to check in on Fushiguro and Kugisaki. When texting them yielded no results, he considered trying to meet them in person. 

“Hey Todo” Itadori yells out as loud as he can. When Todo doesn’t register his voice, he yells louder “TODO!”. Finally getting the man to turn around, Itadori tells him about his plan to meet his friends, to which Todo gives him a thumbs up and says “Leave it all to me, brother!”. 

Yeah, right. You did no work on this mission! Itadori thought, hoping things would be okay while he left Todo. 

Going to where their post is, Itadori is met with nothing but what looks like hundreds of cursed spirits. What the heck? he thought. These should have been eradicated by Fushiguro and Kugisaki. The pink-haired boy’s worry grows. What could have happened? 

Turning around, Itadori finds a door to backstage slightly ajar. Aha. If they went somewhere, it was probably there. Walking backstage, Itadori calls out to his friends, where he finds them on the ground, very injured. 

“Fushiguro! Kugisaki!” He runs to them and shakes them awake. In response, he’s met with groans from his friends. “Ugh… what the heck?” Kugisaki rubs her head. “What happened?”. Her vision focuses on Itadori. “Oh…you’re here” she stares at him. Fushiguro rubs a bruise on his cheek “I think that curse user did something to us…but I can’t remember what it was… weird” he comments. “Wait… curse user?” Itadori questions. “Oh… yeah, there’s a curse user here. I’m not sure what he wants, but it doesn’t seem good based on context clues” Kugisaki comments. “I see…” Itadori thinks for a moment before he decides, “I’ll call Todo, we can see what he wants to d–”. 

“Another one, huh?” Itadori hears a man across from him, the curse user? “I see how it is…” the man leaps toward the group, bracing to fight back, Itadori is shocked when the man merely gives a light touch to Kugisaki and Fushiguro before jumping back. He’s fast. “Huh…?” Itadori is confused, but he feels a punch from Kugisaki, then another one from Fushiguro. 

“Guys…what the heck?” He tries to dodge their hits, but with both of them it becomes a struggle. 

“My cursed technique involves the ability to mind control anyone I touch for five minutes”, the man explains to Itadori as he continues to dodge his friends. “Though… now that I’ve revealed it, they’ll likely stay this way for a bit longer” the man adds. 

Itadori isn’t paying much attention though, and simply continues to dodge, trying his best to fight back without actually injuring his friends. “Guys… I need you to snap out of it!” he yells to his friends, to no response. “It’s no use…they won’t stop until the time is up. Hell, I couldn’t even release it if I wanted to” the man tells Itadori. “Dude, shut up!”, Itadori grows frustrated and tries to fight the man, but the mind-controlled Fushiguro pushes him away from the curse user. 

“You see, at first I was annoyed that you Jujutsu Sorcerers got in between me and my Takada but… I can use this…” the man continues to slowly walk toward Itadori as he’s backed into a corner by his friends. “You see… since my power is temporary I can’t make anyone fall in love with me. But…” the man begins to reach his hand out to touch Itadori “If I defeat the evil doers that dare destroy my love’s concert, she’ll have no choice but to fall for me!” the curse user laughs maniacally. 

Crap crap crap. Itadori thinks. He has to think fast, but there’s nothing he can do. He tries to go back to convincing his friends. “Come on guys… you have to snap out of this or else we’re all screwed. Guys… Guys!”. Yet, just when the man finally makes it to Itadori, he hears a soft clap before switching places with the man. 

Itadori exhales a sigh of relief, “Todo!”. He has never in his life been so happy to see that man, but Todo didn’t look happy at all. He looked pissed. His anger directed toward the curse user among them. 

Slowly walking toward the man, Todo states “When my brother told me he had to leave to check on his friends, I told him sure” he adds, “But when I noticed he was gone for a while, I decided to find him to see what happened, which leads me here”. 

“Now tell me…” Todo stops in front of the man. He’s terrified. He doesn’t know why, but he has the slightest feeling that he’s made a big mistake. “What was it you were going to do to Takada?”. 

“I–” The man isn’t able to say much before getting punched into a wall. “Brother…” Todo walks by Itadori. “Take care of your friends, let me deal with this scum,” he explains, “From the looks of it, it seems like he doesn’t actively control them, but instead gives them set commands that they follow until the technique is broken”. The younger sorcerer nods and he goes to fight his friends. “I’m sorry about this you guys…” Itadori says before lunging toward the two mind-controlled sorcerers. 

Turns out, a genuine 2 v. 1 against Kugisaki and Fushiguro is really hard, and Itadori has been punched today a little more than he usually is when he’s hanging out with them. “Come on you guys… I really need you to stop now…” he begs of them. Backing Itadori into a corner once again, both of them are about to punch at the same time. Aw shit. This is gonna hurt. Itadori thinks, bracing for impact. 

Yet… it never comes. 

Slowly opening his eyes, they meet his friends, looking at him with looks of confusion. Yet, his friends have the slightest feeling that it’s somehow their fault. They’re about to apologize when Itadori goes “Oh thank goodness!”. 

“Man, I was really worried there guys,” Itadori laughs. “Hm…you’re not mad?” Fushiguro comments. “Huh? Why would I be mad? It wasn’t your fault…” feeling brave, Itadori decides to add “Plus, your guys’ punches are super weak!” he laughs. 

“Ow! Ow!” 

…That comment earned Itadori two genuine punches from the sorcerers. 

“Good job Tokyo first-years!” Todo walks toward the sorcerers, dragging the now unconscious curse user behind him. As he’s walking towards them, security makes their way backstage toward the commotion. “Ah, hello men!” Todo greets the men in the least intimidating way he could, though, you can’t really look not intimidating when you’re dragging an unconscious bloody man behind you “Please take this… thing out of the concert area, and make sure he doesn’t bother anyone again” Todo smiles. The men comply, they weren’t sure what happened, but it seems like they were in no place to ask.

“Alright first-years!” Todo claps. “There’s still some time left, let’s enjoy the rest of the concert!” Todo hums as he goes to leave backstage back to his spot out at the front. 

“Uh… he does know we still have to work, right?” Kugisaki comments. 

“Of course not,” Itadori adds, “He hasn’t exorcised any cursed spirits since we started”. He sighs, causing his friends to chuckle. 

Turns out, the concert was actually pretty fun. When they weren’t eradicating any cursed spirits, the sorcerers were actually able to enjoy themselves a little bit, even singing along to some of the songs. “You know this song, Fushiguro?” Kugisaki laughs, “Everyone knows this song, idiot!” he retorts, causing her to give out an even bigger laugh. 

When the concert ended, the group followed the head of security backstage where they see Takada. “Great work everyone! This concert was truly unforgettable!” She thanks the entire crew. “Ms. Takada,” the security man clears his throat, catching her attention. “This group before me helped in the apprehension of that man during the concert”. 

She looks confused for a moment, before going “Oh! That guy? Thank God,” she looks at the group “He’s been walking into my wardrobe and leaving me weird letters, something about being cursed? It was so weird, but no one was able to catch him until today”. She bows “Thank you guys”. 

“It was nothing really…” Itadori laughs, scratching the back of his head “Plus… Todo did most of the work, the rest of us were just there”. Todo stands taller as a response, (still nervous, he’s never been so close to Takada before!), “Well I wouldn’t say that hahaha…Nah, I would…” he states smugly, causing Kugisaki and Fushiguro to groan. 

In response, Takada looks at Todo and steps forward, before giving him a peck on the cheek. “Thank you, really…” she smiles, before walking away from the group. “Enjoy the rest of your day everyone! Thank you all again!”. 

“Well I’m glad we helped her out, that guy was creepy. I can’t believe I let that dude in my mind. Eugh” Kugisaki says. “Yeah… I agree” Fushiguro adds. 

“Yeah… it’s great that we were able to help her! Right, Todo?” Itadori looks at his friend. 

“Uh…Todo?” 

“Shit! When did he faint?!” 

[xpau-official]

Little update…

Hey guys! I have a few things I wanna talk about. Please read, this has a few rules/guidelines!

First thing is a huge thank you to everyone supporting this AU so far. I’m honestly surprised at how much it’s grown over such a short time! I can’t thank you all enough for joining in on this silly party. We’ve almost reached 300 attendees (followers) as of right now, can you believe it?! That’s crazy. So seriously, thank you.

Second thing is about the ask box. It makes me really happy to see that so many of you are enjoying sending in these questions! I have a lot of fun coming up with responses to them. Though, I’ve actually been sick for the past bit so I can’t answer them as fast as I want to haha. Because of that and other things that I’m working on, I apologize in advance if the responses are delayed. Delayed as in, idk, 1-3 days?? Either way, I’ll be taking a bit longer to respond because I also have to draw the comic.

Third is also about asks. Please try to keep your asks simple! It can be a bit tough to address multiple questions in one post. Also, please try to keep them centered around XPAU and not branch off into other AUs. I only know the funny little things that happen at the party, and nothing more.

I know I already touched on this before, but please try not to ask for elaborations about CPAU-focused scenarios. The different POVs of different scenes are not my place to say. This includes questions like “What did you think of () during ()” and “Remember when () happened”, etc… It’s a new party, let’s have new things!

Want to know what someone’s favourite activity is? Sure! Hugs? Go for it. A gift? Of course! Did Blue really kidnapp Edge and use Stockholm syndrome to turn him against Sci? Uh…I can’t answer that.

I hope this makes the overall picture for asks a bit easier to understand. Of course, if you’re not sure about anything, feel free to ask for confirmation! I’m open to hearing all questions.

Thank you for reading!

[sadistic-kiss]

it's lore anon again! 🙆🏻‍♀️ Long time since I barged in the chef's kitchen ehehe

I've been wondering about the initial gentle treatment from Raven's first alpha encounter (Toji and Sukuna) after escaping. I recall you wrote the bards to be Megs (Toji's son, duh) and Yuji (as Sukuna's brother) and they were the first to comment that Raven's like, a different person (mostly Yuji from what I remember). I kinda wonder if one of em ever mentioned Raven was lil off to their dad/bro.

Also now that I think about it, how awkward would that be, being bosses around by a complete bitch the whole time and going "damn I hope pa doesn't bang that one". Like you're work involves you knowing your relative is gonna lay one of your clients 💀 love your writing!!

How can you barge into my kitchen when the door was already open for you 😏

So I’ll give you some background to the situation but it will be explained in more details later.

The ball that is following Raven used to watch all of the omegas for a couple of months. The alphas couldn’t decide together in which omega they wanted so they agreed to just go with dove as a last ditch effort. They didn’t really see an omega they truly wanted. That’s where the game comes in. When we play as dove we are trying to get the alphas to love us but dove in a sense is just a blank slate.

Raven was much too bitchy for their liking, only Sukuna liked her but in a way to be challenged if that makes sense. So she had like the lowest votes.

So the ball ended up following dove around until one interaction occurs between reader and Dove- within this one interaction they were able to see something was suspicious because we didn’t follow ravens mean mo. So they got curious of us and had the ball follow us and watched us do completely DIFFERENT things than they had first witnessed. Of course we as the reader/character don’t know the ball even existed but when we figure it out we are like that kind of makes sense because how would you lose and gain love points in the game when your alphas weren’t even around for it?

Needless to say within the span of us being there they watched and found us truly fascinating. Especially since we knew certain things we most certainly should not have known. Nanami was the only one against us because he felt like we were too good to be true and very suspicious of us since our attitude changed out of the blue. So he was for sure expecting us to give it out all when they arrived that is until… WE FUCKING RAN AWAY!

So then they are like wtf????!

So they watch us more. Becoming increasingly more interested in us and falling in love with our choices without us even realizing it. We were kind to people, we were strong, and we were independent and gave zero fucks, but we were also cute and shy about certain things.

And that’s how we got to where we are now ~

We just continue to blow their minds lol.

So…hmmm did I answer your question lol XD

Oh yes Megumi and Yuuji kind of do their own thing, they aren’t as close to Toji and Sukuna like you think. So it wasn’t that weird for them lol. Toji is still kind of a deadbeat in this and Sukuna isn’t the nicest to his brother but he considers it tough love 😂. But Megumi’s and Yuuji just play and enjoy music while traveling together like the cute couple they are ✨

If there’s something I didn’t answer please ask me haha I try my best to answer without spoiling too much 👌

[journey-to-the-attic]

Hi Kin. I wanted to ask, how did you manage things like writer's block or creative burnout while writing JTTA? I'm midway through a longfic now and it's kind of exhausting. I feel like I'm whining but I barely get any comments or asks or anything.

hi anon! honestly i'm not sure if i was the right person to ask this, because i... kind of didn't? as in, i didn't really have these problems - boring answer, i know!

i got lucky because i hit a sweet spot where the base story and characters were strong, but with just enough gaps in plot, worldbuilding, development, etc. such that the momentum of filling everything in carried me through the whole process. but there were definitely a lot of occasions where i sat there thinking "okay i have no idea what to do now"

in those cases, often i had to just step back and ruminate on it for a little while - i've pretty much constantly got little ideas bouncing around my head, and sometimes they hit each other like snowballs and form into more fully-fledged plot points, scenes, dialogue, so on. i try to keep track of these in notes apps, personal discord channels, etc, and dip into them if i'm stuck on something!

not sure if your fic is for obey me, but this could still apply even if not - with all the pop quizzes and devilgrams that put the characters in a bunch of new contexts, it's helpful seeing how that character's static vs dynamic traits persist/change depending on them, and often that'll give you inspiration as well. depending on what you've got available, you could browse through source material, or brainstorm aus, whichever you enjoy most

i'm really not sure HOW i've stuck with obey me for so long, but somehow it's just stuck with me. i don't remember being so invested in it before jtta, so that's probably why, but i just really love these guys, and i suppose that's why i never burnt out of it? i think it was also because i knew what story i wanted to tell, and i really wanted to make sure ik got her happy ending, and that carried me through as well

seriously, though - do take breaks. every writer's mileage varies, so take a step back whenever you need to. writing fics should be fun! sometimes it does feel like a chore, and it becomes more like 'the only thing i hate more than writing is not writing', but it happens to all of us. sometimes you've just got to rest until your second wind comes along

in terms of comments and such... yeah, it's a tough one! the unfortunate thing is that a vast majority of readers - even if they really enjoyed your writing! - won't leave a comment. don't take this as a direct reflection on your writing! often the reader can't think of what to say, is too shy, or quite simply forgot

again though... i'm not sure if i'm the best person to ask for advice here! i started publishing jtta without much expectation for an audience, given the genre of game it's written for, so any attention was more a nice surprise than anything. i suppose that, later on, when the fic was more well-established, i did start holding some expectation of response - and it really is tough when you don't get as much of one as you were hoping for

i've seen people talking about how the ask culture on tumblr has died down a lot in recent times, so i'm sure you're not the only one feeling like this! all i can suggest is trying to find more friends (mutuals?) and... networking, i guess? i've seen advice saying to share your fic within communities of writers, too

i can't honestly say if these things'll work, because i'm very bad about interacting with a wider fandom in anything - i usually keep to myself, so often i don't have much of an expectation for how and when people come chat. as in real life, i'm only a chatterbox when approached first haha

i'm not sure how helpful this has been, but i'm rooting for you! if you'd like to share your fic here, please do - though i understand if that's something you'd rather keep to yourself as well.

creating things is a joy - it might take some searching to find a circle, but the beauty of the internet is that you will, somewhere out there! wishing you the best ^^

[lurksunderthebed]

Hi, I saw that you had a discussion about the queerness of our beloved characters. I really hope you’re not tired of that topic, because I wanted to add another point.

First of all I don’t really care. I really like the dynamic between most of the characters, especially Ghost and Soap, but I don’t care if it’s interpreted as besties or lovers. I think both is fun.

I just wanted to add that maybe all of the MW story feels so fucking gay, because we lack cool women? We have Farah and Laswell, but let’s be real Farah is basically married to Alex (I thought they were a couple at first) and Laswell is married to a woman. Now people go great lengths to ship the male characters with female villains, who only appear in a small fraction of the story and have no real chemistry. I mean they can do whatever floats their boat, but I don’t really see the point here.

Which leaves us with a bunch of man ‘flirting’ with each other vor comedic value. I think given this and the points you already said on your account, I think it’s even a bit intended that most of our characters might not be the straightest.

Sure, a bunch of straight men can exist without women and still be straight and the military still might not be the most women friendly institution, but I think having more girlpower would have been an easy way to make everyone appear more straight and the devs didn’t go that route sooooo… (I still would love to have more cool women, but that’s another topic)

Anyways, I hope you have a good day and I wanted to add that I really enjoyed your character analysis posts <3

Ahh thanks for enjoying my analysis posts. 💞🥹 Honestly, I'm still surprised people are reading them lol. (And asking me about it haha)

But yes, I don't think I'll ever be tired of the ol' queerness discussion. It's a fun topic to debate especially with these characters in this particular game.

Controversial take, but I actually don't think adding any extra female characters would've been helpful in making the 'gay' go away.

(gonna be a long discussion here, settle in if you want to read it haha 😅)

What we have to put in mind, is that this game wasn't made for the female audience. The vast majority of the people buying and playing it are going to be male. That's the facts. It's going to cater to men.

A game made for men is going to have a majority of those characters be male. Adding new female characters in a REBOOT series is a delicate task when a good chunk of the population playing have played the OG and want to see legacy characters back (which are all male—the OG was all men).

That means that when we look at why certain things are framed and why there aren't many female characters, and especially why there isn't much of any confirmed (het) canon romantic ships between any characters, it's because the game itself isn't focused on it.

That same vast majority of men don't actually care about ships in general and with people trying to be more progressive, any female characters introduced are painstakingly written to omit any overt possibility of romance. In one sense, it's a welcome change from the action movie style plot line where man + woman = relationship with the women being just side characters/window dressing to the MC.

Women here are shown to be tough, that they don't need a man at all. They have their own agency. It's pretty nice actually that they did that. None of the female characters are infantilised nor is there a sense of them being there to "check boxes" in the minority bag. They make sense in the framing the game has placed them in.

But we do have this interesting dynamic whereby removing the romance factor, but having female characters in a setting that most are conditioned to read as man + woman = relationship, it de-emphasizes heteronormality and actually emphasises the relationships between the core characters.

And with a game full of men, that means the relationships between men are going to be the focal point.

Adding extra female characters, wouldn't have changed any of this, because the writers have gone out of their way to not make romance a plot of any sort. (There's a whole other discussion on the flaws of trying to give women agency/proving strength of character, but by doing so, taking away their sexualities by removing any sort of romance, but that's beside the point)

I think there's also an argument to be had that meaningful relationships with others don't have to necessarily imply romance between characters. It's totally fair to be sick of always having romance injected in to these sorts of relationships. That's an extremely valid take.

But there most definitely is a double standard that everyone is operating on. And we see that when we compare Alex/Farah's relationship with Ghost/Soap's.

Alex's most meaningful relationship is with Farah. He sacrifices himself for her cause and loses a leg for it. He comes back and stays by her side. Most people assume to take it as Alex is in love with Farah. We never see any type of flirting between the two. In fact it's mostly Farah testing Alex and looking at their dialogue you can tell there's respect between the two, but anything more is undefined/up for interpretation.

Yet it's just assumed by virtue of Alex and Farah being man + woman, that they must be together because of how much Alex had sacrificed. Completely ignoring the possibility of Alex doing so because he believes in Farah's cause and was sick of being jerked around with no choice by higher ups who largely didn't care about the suffering of Farah's people. Suffering that the man had personally witnessed. But no, he must be in love with her. (If Farah was a man, their whole relationship would be read as platonic with Alex's beliefs as a focus, not him being potentially in love)

Ghost's most meaningful relationship is with Soap. Soap has changed Ghost's whole MO as a lone wolf, and has challenged his very notion of trust. Ghost tests Soap and is proven wrong when Soap survives despite the odds. We even see them have plausible deniability flirting/snark. They are framed as a unit and on the off times (off of missions in cutscenes), they are always physically together. There's definitely respect between the two, but anything more is undefined/up for interpretation.

By itself, their relationship seems innocuous, but looking at the context we see a very different picture. Context matters heavily in seeing how this relationship has changed Ghost/the importance of it to him. It's assumed that Soap is the first person in god knows how long, that Ghost is emotionally attached to. What constitutes a normal, albeit flirty and snarky, friendly relationship for most, is amplified for Ghost in the glaring fact that he really doesn't do this for anyone else ever. As far as we can tell for a man that appears to live his job, Soap is Ghost's most important person.

We can even arguably say that Ghost and Soap had a flirtier, friendlier, more emotional relationship than Alex and Farah ever had, yet it's assumed (by the male audience) to be completely platonic by virtue of them both being men.

For all those people who argue to stop shipping characters, those same people turn around and are completely implicit in the notion of Alex and Farah being a thing.

It's a really annoying take, because you and I know that it's not the romance they're bothered by. It's the idea of having a character that exemplifies the silent male loner badass archetype as anything but the pinnacle of masculinity. IE, totally and utterly straight.

I feel I could go on about all the ways Ghost surprisingly subverts his archetype, but I'll leave it there. This is prob already too long 😅

But yes, having new cool female characters is always good, but it still wouldn't settle any sexuality debate since they would most likely be written without any hint of romance between the core 141 group and that potential new character. Just like how Farah and Laswell, as you said, have been both removed completely from the romance/sexuality debate, any new female character would also be put under similar framework.

I suppose it would just make them appear more straight (and get rid of all the speculation) if they had a new female character added into 141, but I don't see the point of adding a new character for that sole purpose. And tbh, it would come across as insulting to women if they did for that one reason.

Given how little character development we had in the latest game, I heavily doubt they would introduce new characters at all when they barely showed anything of the current ones we have already. We need more development of the characters we have, adding someone new would arguably take away from building proper relationships/dynamics between the characters we do have currently.

But yeah, heh. I'll stop for real now. If you got this far in my latest Ted Talk™, kudos to you good sir 🫡, you have all my love ☺️

Hope you have a great day too nonny, and I hope this helps with the discussion. Feels like I went off on too many side tangents. 🤔🤔🤔

[13eyond13]

ooooooooo maybe also #20 for misa

MISA + Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

Hahaha. I had to think about this a lot! It's a bit of a tough question to me, because I feel like Misa needs a bestie who both appreciates her good qualities and would genuinely like spending time with her, yet also wouldn't be a total pushover whenever she's being scary or ridiculous or overly impulsive as well?

Here are some of the possibilities I entertained and then rejected:

Rem: extremely caring about and supportive of Misa, but to the point of being way too indulgent of her and way too much of a pushover who always lets her get her way. Plus Misa kinda treats her like garbage much of the time, imo...

Matsuda: I love how enthusiastic he is about Misa and her career. BUT it bugged me when he was cheering on Light's cheating on her in the successor arc! A true bestie would never double-cross you like that...

Beyond: it is always funny to imagine them together because they could be shinigami eye bros, and are sort of similar kinds of unhinged toward the people whose attention they most want all to themselves. BUT I simply feel in my heart of hearts that Misa actually would find B really creepy and gross, and that B might find it really hard to sympathize with Misa willingly halving her lifespan twice to get the shinigami eyes that have been torturing him against his will his whole life.

Light: Here's the thing, I feel like they're kind of weirdly good together as pals in canon half the time? And I don't think their relationship was actually as dark as it sometimes gets portrayed in the fandom either. I think they're basically polar opposite people, and certainly not romantic relationship goals, but they also manage to work together oddly well as a team and as roommates nonetheless for years on end. The biggest nope for me about them is that Misa would likely constantly be trying to escape the friend zone and turn it into something more, and Light probably wouldn't actually be enjoying spending time with her that much.

Mogi: I found them cute together in canon whenever Mogi would be assigned to act as her manager and cook for her at her house and keep her busy at the hotel and whatever else! Only problem is I think she would probably be driving him a bit crazy with stress with all her shenanigans and demands, and he would probably wear himself out trying to please her and protect her and let her walk all over him a bit too much.

Sayu: I feel like she really genuinely liked Misa and looked up to her a bit, and like they'd maybe have quite a bit of fun hanging out with each other as well. Misa might be a bit of a bad influence on Sayu at times or just ditch her for a guy completely whenever she had a boyfriend, though....

In the end, I decided upon:

Ryuk: they were cute together in some of their canon interactions, haha. I feel like Ryuk might be laid back enough to have fun with Misa and not get too fazed by her more boisterous and scary behaviours, or better yet even just find them entertaining. Yet he would also not be afraid to say no to her or roast her back when she gets mean, and I don't think he would let her walk all over him, either...

[character ask meme]

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Tuesday evening! Finally getting chance to get away from work and do something I want to do. This review ha Not a ton of Chenford but what they have is really good and its an excellent Lucy ep. We meet her mother who I like even less than her dad...

2x05 Tough Love

Ep starts off with Lucy complaining to Jackson about her dating life. She says its like Goldilocks. This one is too hot or too cold. Too frat bro or screen writer. How she’ll never find someone. Oh sweets just wait few more years you can do it haha it’ll be so worth it. Jackson’s reply is primo. ‘What you need is a grown man.’ Ain't that the truth....She does have one it's just they’re both just not ready yet LOL

They’re scrambling out the door when she opens it and there is Lucy’s mom…..As you remember I wasn’t fond of her dad. Now we get to meet her mom and get the other part of the puzzle piece. She tells Lucy how she and her father are getting a divorce. Lucy doesn’t look worried almost like this happens all the time. Her parents sound dysfunctional af. No wonder Lucy has the issues she does honestly.

She refuses to tell Lucy what happened or what’s going on. Completely dismissing Lucy and her questions. (Just like her father..) Off to a great start. Her mom stares at their couch and says how great it'll be for her back. Jackson gives up his room when Lucy offers a hotel room instead. She Looks like she wants to murder him for doing this baha I can not blame her. Nothing worse than a parent staying with you as an adult. Least that's always been the case for me. They make you feel well at least hers does as do mine like you're a child all over again they can berate and tear down.

The amount of issues I have with my own mother are not unlike what Lucy has. I feel her on this. Her mom takes a pot shot at her on the way to Jackson’s room. Her face says it all. I’ve always loved Lucy’s sense of style BTW. She always looks great to me. But I’ve been there my mom also likes to take little shots like that at me too. I relate so hard it pains me. Can't just show up and be kind...no no has to tear you down a bit before 5 minutes have elapsed. It looks like she gets it from both barrels with her parents. Another thing I can relate to as well. No reprieve.

Grey brings up CI’s in roll call and how they need to cultivate their own. Tim instantly is mouthy about them. Grey tells them they’re good tools. Tim pipes in ‘They’re definitely tools…’ Of course he has a POV that is diametrically opposed to Angela's. He thinks they need to be dominated and never in control. Where she believes they need to feel like they're apart of the team. Why am I not surprised at both of their POV’s? Ha Tis the theme of this ep for them least from a work standpoint. Harper pipes in says they're both wrong they all need to be handled differently.

Lucy already has her CI all picked out. Are we shocked our girl did her homework long before this came up? She’s chosen a pawn shop owner named Opal as her first CI. Lucy has picked this specific one cause they’re never called in help from the cops about illegal merch. Meaning either they're a saint or keeping illegal stuff without reporting it. Tim seems impressed with her strategy. (won’t tell her that of course) but lets her know it’s not easy to bag a CI.

What I love about this first scene is Lucy’s complete control. Her calm demeanor during this whole thing. Not one thing rocks her boat. Tim just sits back (Looking fine as hell btw) and lets her do her thing. He is as proud as can be while he does. I don’t know what’s cuter her little spin around being all proud of herself or Tim’s cute smile behind her. He is beaming but trying to keep it in check. He's enjoying watching her do her thing that's for sure.

Lucy commands this situation entirely. Opal clearly doesn’t want to bite so Lucy forces her hand. Tim just stands back and lets her work her magic. You can see how proud he is of her taking control. Owning this situation and ultimately getting what she wants. I mean he’s seen that in action a million times with her. Usually it’s her battling him haha So I’m sure he’s more than happy to let the shop owner be the recipient of her driven energy for once haha

Opal cracks and Lucy asks for something that has come through recently. No petty misdemeanor crap haha Tim is just sitting pretty literally and figuratively while she does this. Look at him in that second gif. The way he is watching her. He is impressed with her and its showing. Opal presents Lucy with a designer bag worth at least 6k. She starts digging into the bag and Tim is confused as to what she’s doing. He decides to speaks up for the first time and ask.

Lucy tells him these high end bags usually have serial numbers sewn in. It’ll link them to the original buyer. She finds this and proudly shows off her good work to Tim. She is beyond adorable with how proud she is of herself right now. Tim’s little smile is his stamp of approval. First time we get to see Lucy confidently command a situation with no help from Tim and even get his approval during it. Major growth for Lucy and I’m here for it. ❤️

The serial number leads them to an address where they speak with the woman who it belongs to. Lucy tells her that her bag was at a pawn shop as stolen property. The lady is awful and assumes it was her housekeeper and fires her. The step daughter Olivia walks in and fesses up to selling them. Says she wouldn’t have even noticed.

The step-mom (we soon find out she is to this girl) wants her arrested. Says it'll be only way she'll learn. Lucy is appalled by this woman’s behavior. Asks her if that’s really what her father would want? She continues to be terrible and says he wants whatever she says. Tim and Lucy have no choice but to arrest her.

They bring the step daughter back to the station for processing. Lucy asks where her mother is? She lets her know she passed away last year from cervical cancer. Her dad was cheating on her mom while she was in hospice. You see Lucy’s empathy kick right in. The need to help and need to fix things. Something she doesn’t know how to turn off. I’m with her on that. I too am a very empathetic person it’s hard to turn that off when you see someone hurting.

Goes from processing this girl to trying to guide her a bit. Letting her know she shouldn’t go home tonight. Olivia tells Lucy she doesn’t much of a choice. She has no access to the money her mom left her till she graduates college. That her father is withholding it. Lucy says that can't be legal? Olivia lets her know she's too broke to hire a lawyer to know if it is. Lucy sighs tells her stealing isn’t going to make her situation any better. Olivia looks so lost then asks what will? Poor girl that sucks. I can not imagine being in her living situation.

Nolan’s son shows up with his fiancé at the food truck all in love and happy. Lucy already in a funk about dating says how happy they look and she wants that. All in good time my dear all in good time. You most definitely are not ready yet for Tim and vice versa. But breaks my heart to see her longing for that so much. It really is foreshadowing for what happens to her this season with Caleb. *Heart clutch*.

Lucy is on the phone with her mom and she is belittling her about her grocery list (eye roll) when her convo gets interrupted by Opal. I love her calling for Tim and him instantly replying. Said before it’s the little things I love and this is one of them. She goes on to tell him Olivia returned to the shop. Was selling more of her step moms stuff. This time she didn’t want money she wanted a gun.....

Tim and Lucy go back to Olivia’s house and hear gun shots. She’s shooting up all her step mom's hand bags. Saying how she turned her dad against her, that she ruined everything. Sadly they have to arrest her again. Lucy is telling Olivia she made everything so much worse. The step mom starts to go off saying how she’s going to pay for those. The sweet house keeper walks in asking what’s going on? Step mom asks why she is there? That she fired her. She says she was grabbing last of her things when she heard the commotion.

You can see how annoyed they all are with this nasty woman. The house keeper then asks Tim and Lucy if they’d like to see where she hides all her drugs? Amazing. Epic really. Way to return the favor for firing her for no damn reason. Look at them all tall and small looking like a power couple. How can two people who are just standing there exude so much chemistry?

Lucy wakes up next morning to her apt out of order. It’s such a violation to have what should be your safe space messed with. Her mother just did this without asking. Something my mom would do. So this irritates me to no end...Just another comment on what she thinks Lucy is doing wrong. Drives me insane.

Poor girl she looks so betrayed by Jackson agreeing with the new set up. Thankfully when they arrive back home they see her mom's suitcase by the door. Says they made up and her father is coming to get her. As her mom is leaving she levies one last pot shot. Telling her to come by the office to see why she isn’t dating anymore? After she is gone, Lucy makes a comment about being 28 and still single cause of her parents. Jackson challenges her and says you sure that’s why?

I love Jackson so much for bringing this up. It’s why Lucy isn’t ready for something ‘Tim level’ yet. She still is a commitment-phobe. Also she goes for things that are safe right now. Almost like a placeholder for her till she is ready for the real thing with Tim. Goes after men that’ll never really last for her. Or that she doesn’t take seriously enough for it to. Like with Emmett we'll see later on.

Her face in that gif is too funny. She knows Jackson has her pegged. She still has a ways to go but all part of her journey and the process really. Just like Tim it is fun to watch her grow personally and professionally ❤️

That’s all she wrote for this ep. Not a ton of Chenford content but good stuff none the less for our girl and our couple.

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Side Notes-Non Chenford

Fun to watch everyone get their CI’s and Jackson get out of the hole but that’s a bout it nothing major this ep.

Thank you to all reading and commenting/liking/reblogging. Especially during Chenford week when we have an onslaught of goodies to read and look at appreciate those who read these reviews appreciate you all :)