#But I DID find a bunch new coloring pens so that's FUN

[emile-hides]

Having a very strong moment of Everything I Draw Sucks, so I downloaded a bunch of brushes and scribbled with them to see if I should switch it up

[pathologicalreid]

clue | S.R.

in which penelope hosts a new year's eve party. with a murder mystery theme.

who? spencer reid x fem!journalist!reader

category: fluff, slice of life

content warnings: all of the characters are dressed as detectives. marriage, murder, mentions of blood, fireworks, slight descriptions of fake violence, reader wears a dress, this is very haphazardly proofread. very slightly suggestive in the beginning if you squint.

word count: 2.95k

a/n: happy new year's eve friends! this idea has been rotting in my brain since i read the prompt. i started with the idea that i wanted reader and kristy to win and a dream, and now here i am. it was genuinely so much fun to write. (and now i have spencer x journalist!reader brain rot) i always see people writing for these challenges but this is my first time participating!

i wrote this for @imagining-in-the-margins' office party challenge based on the prompt "Penelope planned a Murder Mystery party... with a bunch of criminal profilers. Great. (Bonus if a non-profiler wins)" thank you so much for this challenge!

“I have no idea why Penelope felt the need to rent an AirBnB for a New Year’s Eve party,” you whispered, getting out of the car along with Spencer. “Or why we had to dress in costume,” you said, pulling your shawl over your shoulders.

Gently reaching over, Spencer tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ears, “It’s a Penelope Garcia party, that means it’s a production. Additionally, this is the first New Year's Eve we’ve been in town in four years, which means there’s no need for an MHM.”

Grinning up at your fiancé, you responded, “There does seem to be a moratorium on violent crime this holiday season.” The best Christmas gift you received this year was finding Spencer sleeping in bed next to you when you woke up.

You watched him reach into the back of the car for his jacket. The costume description Garcia had given him was similar to what he wore on a normal day. You helped him pick out the brown sweater vest and matching tie, but he selected the rest of the ensemble. “Did I tell you that you look incredible?” He asked, pulling his jacket on.

“I believe those were the words that caused us to be fifteen minutes late, Dr. Reid,” you chided but smiled nonetheless when Spencer pulled you close and embraced you.

You felt him smile against your neck, “Worth it,” he whispered.

Dragging him by the arm, you stood on the porch and knocked on the door. Almost instantly, a familiar voice rang out, “You have to use the knocker!” Penelope called out.

Sighing, you rolled your eyes and took the bronze adornment in your hand and knocked it against the red-painted door. The heavy door swung open and you were greeted by Penelope Garcia, “Welcome Dr. Reid and Someday Mrs. Reid, to the New Year’s party that will, likely, be the New Year’s party to end all New Year’s parties.”

“I have no doubt, Pen,” you stepped forward and hugged her. “You look great, I love this color,” you told her, settling your hands on your shoulders. She wore a lime green button-down dress with an old-timey collar, and her blonde locks were pulled up into a French twist.

Spencer and Penelope greeted each other, and Garcia led the two of you to a sitting room, “Where did you find this house?” Spencer asked, walking in behind you.

She waved him off, “I am the master of all things Internet, I found it online and thought it was perfect.”

Your heels clicked as you followed the two of them. They were quicker, Penelope knew where she was going and Spencer naturally had a long stride, not to mention the restriction of your gown. “Perfect for what, exactly?” You inquired.

“A BAU Murder Mystery party!” She answered as if it was obvious.

A wolf whistle from the other side of the room caught your attention, you turned around to see Tara grinning at you, “Well how about you.”

Blushing, you spread the skirt of the red silk dress out and gave a fake curtsy, “Oh this? Just something I had lying around.” In reality, you borrowed the dress from a coworker. Its only fault was being just barely too long for you.

Once you observed Tara’s costume, an off-white button-up with brown suspenders and matching pants, the gears in your head clicked into place. “We’re dressed as characters from Clue?” You asked, looking at everyone’s costumes. It all suddenly made so much sense, you were Miss Scarlet, and Tara was meant to be Colonel Mustard.

“Well, there are only so many characters to choose from, so I needed some other detectives to choose from. I picked Nancy Drew, Spencer is Sherlock Holmes with Matt as his Watson, and Krystall is Jessica Fletcher from the renowned television show Murder She Wrote.” Penelope pointed at guests as she explained their outfits, “Kristy is Daphne of the differently renowned television show Scooby Doo, and Luke refused to dress up at Hercule Poirot.”

Your eyebrows raised up, “I didn’t know not dressing up was an option,” you admitted. Despite the weather being unseasonably warm, you were still cold in your dress.

Sending a pointed look in Luke’s direction, Penelope cleared her throat before responding, “It wasn’t.”

Putting a hand to his chest in mock hurt, Luke feigned shock, “I did dress up as a very famous detective. Matt Simmons of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit.”

“But does that really count as famous?” The man himself, Matt asked teasingly.

In response, Luke gestured around the room, “Everyone here has heard of him.”

You tuned the two of them out. When provided the time, the two of them could bicker for hours. You looked at everyone else’s costumes, the rest of the group was from the board game. Emily was Mrs. White, Rossi was Professor Plum, JJ was Mrs. Peacock, and Will was Mr. Green.

The BAU spent so much time sequestered solving crimes that it was a wonder to have the entire group here at the same time.

After effectively shushing Luke, Penelope made her way to the center of the room, “Okay, I know what you’re all thinking ‘Penelope, we spend all of our days solving murders, why would you plan a murder mystery party?’” She stood up straight, pushing her shoulders back, “Well, I’ll tell you, the idea for this party came to me when I had the flu last month.”

“Are you telling us this party was conceived from a fever dream?” Emily asked, she leaned forward in her all-white outfit, resting her elbows on her knees.

Pointing at Emily, Penelope grinned, “That is exactly what I am telling you, my dear. Now, let me set the stage for you.” She clapped and the lights went out, bringing everyone’s attention to a projector screen that had just lit up against the only bare wall in this room. “Our victim was a resident of this house. What’s her name? You might ask. Patricia Gomez, heiress to a large fortune and a company that makes socks.”

A quiet chuckle came from the other side of the room, “This is quite the fever dream.” You had to agree with Rossi, Patricia Gomez was an almost painfully uncreative name. Still, everyone went along with it.

“Save all questions until the end, please!” Penelope scolded, “I have folders made up for each of you, with information on where your characters all were at the time of the murder. Before attending this party, the killer was already notified of their status, they may try to fool you.”

You skimmed through the folder that the technical analyst had handed you, it looked like a real FBI folder, but you didn’t doubt that Garcia had resources to make realistic fake files. The body had been found, stabbed in the kitchen, the time of death set at noon.

Matt stood up first, reaching out his hand for Kristy to take, but they didn’t get far. “Oh no, no partnering with your partners,” Penelope said, laying down another rule for her party.

“What are you saying?” Spencer asked, looking between you and her. It was sweet knowing that he had wanted to team up with you, it reminded you of how you first met. The FBI profiler and the investigative journalist.

Garcia sighed, “If you are canoodling with someone, you may not investigate with them.”

You shrugged at Spencer and walked toward Kristy instead, “What do you say, Daphne? Shall we?”

“Oh, I think we shall,” Kristy responded, hooking her arm through yours.

“Hey,” Luke interrupted, “It’s not fair for the investigative journalist and the lawyer to be teamed up to solve a murder.”

Stopping in your tracks, you stared at him for a moment, “Luke, you work for the FBI. If anything, I think we’re at a disadvantage.”

Together, you and Kristy made your way to the kitchen, as you walked away you heard Luke ask Garcia to be his partner, the two of you laughed as she told him she wasn’t playing because, “Somebody has to keep things organized, Newbie!”

Looking around the kitchen, you found a chalk outline, but not much else. Of course, this wasn’t a real crime scene, there would be no blood, and for all you knew, Kristy was the killer.

“What are you thinking, Dave?” You asked Rossi, who had teamed up with JJ. Maybe a seasoned profiler would push you in the right direction.

He cocked his head like he was weighing his options, “Well, the folder says there were only four people in the building at the time of the murder, and only one of them was close enough to the kitchen to pull it off. Logically, the best option is Mrs. White.”

So, he thought Emily was responsible. You scrawled some notes down about the kitchen before you and Kristy decided to move to the bedroom, “It says Watson – Matt - was in the main bedroom at the time of the murder, Mrs. White – Emily - was in the pantry, Jessica Fletcher – Krystall – was in the basement, and Professor Plum – Rossi – was in the library,” you read from the file.

“Then Dave is right, Emily is the only one who was close enough to get to Patricia,” Kristy reasoned. There wouldn’t have been time for anyone else to commit the crime in between the time the body was found and the time of death. The timeline of events was very short.

You shrugged, “Then I guess we could probably go to the library until the timer runs out.” Picking up the skirt of your dress, the two of you left the bathroom and walked into the library. Leaning up against the shelves, you intertwined your fingers in front of you, “Do you have plans for the new year?” You asked Kristy, tilting your head.

She hummed, “A lot of our plans tend to change. You know, with Matt’s job and the kids, but we’d like to take some kind of vacation, even if it’s just a day trip.” She answered, brushing her long hair over her shoulder, “What about you?”

“Oh,” you said, “You know, getting married.” You answered, “Then we’re just planning on seeing where life takes us, I think. You’re right, it’s hard to plan around the job. I can’t imagine adding kids into the mix.” The thought gave you a whole new respect for Kristy – and Will, for that matter.

Kristy smiled, “Totally worth it, though.”

Laughing it off, you pushed yourself off of the shelving, “I think I’ll take your word for it,” you responded. “For now,” you added, looking around the library.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, following your gaze around the library.

Realizing this must be how the BAU feels all the time, you answered, “Something is bothering me about this case.” Kristy beckoned for you to go on, “They all solve crimes like this every day, so in order to make it fun for them, Penny would have to make it at least a little bit of a challenge, right?” You asked.

“You think it was too easy?” Kristy asked.

You started pacing around the library, along the front of the desk. “The answer being Emily is too easy. There has to be something more to it.”

“Well, the file says she had experienced a blow to the head shortly before her death. So, is it possible she was incapacitated somewhere else and then moved to the kitchen to be killed?” Kristy asked, flipping through the file, she was sat on top of the wooden desk.

Nodding, you looked at the generated picture of your fake victim. She wore a large ruby necklace, her hair was pinned up, but in the list of effects and evidence, a necklace was never mentioned. “Did you see a necklace in the kitchen?” You asked, flicking your eyes over in her direction.

Immediately, she shook her head you spun around to go back to the kitchen. Mid-spin the heel of your shoe hooked into the too-long fabric of your dress, causing you to tumble ungracefully to the floor. “Are you alright?” Kristy asked. Not for the first time tonight, you found yourself jealous of her shorter dress. Damned board game characters.

Groaning in response, you blinked in an attempt to reorient yourself. In your peripheral vision, something caught your eye: a necklace. “Kristy,” you whispered urgently, hoisting yourself up into a sitting position before reaching over to grab the gold chain. It was crusted with something red that you could only hope was ketchup. Unless Penelope was taking this game way too seriously.

You lifted the chain curiously. “That’s the necklace that Patricia was wearing when she died!” Kristy exclaimed, “But that means…”

“Rossi did it,” you said from the floor. “And he tried to fool us with his poker face.”

Setting the necklace on the desk, you reached down to take your heels off. Kristy spoke, “Do you think the necklace is enough evidence for us to make our case?”

Raising your eyebrows, you looked up at her, “I don’t know. You’re the lawyer, do you think it’s enough evidence?”

She nodded, “I think the evidence pointing to Emily is circumstantial, but this necklace has substance to it. And no one else has gone through the library, so at the very least we’ll have a unique answer.”

You grinned, “I like the way you think, Mrs. Simmons.” You reached out your hand and she helped you up, “Let’s go show these FBI agents how it’s done.” The two of you headed back to the sitting room.

The room was full when you got there, “Ah, I thought we were going to have to send out a search party for the two of you!” Penelope said, “Sit, sit, I’m sure we have some excellent conclusions to go through.” She handed the both of you glasses of wine before you sat down next to each other on the velvet chaise lounge.

Honestly, it reminded you of grade school. When your teacher would go through the answers on the homework, only for you to find that, somewhere, you had done something terribly wrong. By the time it got to you and Kristy, half of the people said it was Emily, almost half had said it was Matt, and one person said it was Kristy.

Nonetheless, the two of you stood up and announced your conclusion, “it was Rossi,” you said in unison.

“First, we met with David in the kitchen, and we asked him what he thought,” you said. “He could’ve said no, he could’ve said something else, but he told us how he thought Emily Prentiss was the killer.” You explained, “Now, as extremely professional detectives, we know that frequently, killers can’t help but insert themselves into the investigations.”

Lifting her hand in a waiting gesture, Kristy continued, “But we heard him out, and we trusted his conclusion. Until we didn’t, that is.” She said, “After some more expert investigation, we went to the library, where Rossi had claimed to have been at the time of the murder. It was there that my partner discovered the victim's necklace. It was broken as if it had been torn off of her neck, and there was blood on the chain.”

“This is combined with the report that the victim had experienced a blow to the head before she died, which could’ve easily been inflicted by the corner of the very desk I discovered the necklace beneath,” you resumed. “We propose that David Rossi, otherwise known as Professor Plum, incapacitated the victim in the library, before moving her to the kitchen so he could claim he had no part in her death.”

Rossi looked up at Penelope, who grinned and nodded, “I didn’t even realize I had done that in the kitchen earlier. Are you by chance looking for a new line of work?” He asked, getting a chorus of laughter in response.  

“For my two winners,” Garcia said, her smile still bright as she draped two medals around your and Kristy’s necks. “Thank you, everyone, so much for playing this game. I know it’s hard to see it as a game when it all feels so real, but I appreciate you for separating fact and fiction for tonight.”

It was Luke who responded first, “Of course.”

“But maybe,” Rossi said, raising his wine glass in his hand, “Maybe next year we’ll just do a normal party.”

Tara raised her glass in response, “If you’re hosting, I’m attending.”

You nodded, concurring, “Far be it from me to miss a BAU party.”

Behind you, Spencer loosely wrapped his arm around your waist, “It’s almost the new year.”

“Aha!” Penelope said, “I have one last surprise for all of my favorite people! If you’ll just follow me out to the deck, we’ll be able to see the fireworks from here!”

Outside, the cool air bit at your bare skin. Ever the gentleman, Spencer draped his jacket over your shoulders. Grateful for the warmth, you pushed your arms through the sleeves and turned to face him, “You know, we’ve been together for years, but this will be our first New Year’s kiss.” You said, studying his face, every detail that you’ve come to know over the past few years.

Distantly, you heard the rest of the group counting down, but you were too focused on Spencer. “It won’t be our last, though,” he promised.

You grinned up at him, “As long as we get to go to the BAU party, Sherlock.”

“Of course,” he whispered, leaning down to press his lips to yours. “Happy New Year, Miss Scarlett.”

[victorluvsalice]

Welcome to another episode of "I have decided to upgrade the Valicer farmhouse!" It's been a while since Victor, Alice, and Smiler's home got a refresh, and this particular one was prompted mainly by the following two facts:

A) Thanks to all their various side hustles (Victor selling the produce from his greenhouse and occasionally licensing songs, Alice writing books and selling paintings, and Smiler making SimsTube videos), plus the profits from their grocery store and Alice's brief career as an official Artist, the gang had LOADS of money to spend on new furniture and the like

B) My parents agreed as a birthday present to buy me 100 bucks worth of Sims 4 packs, and I spent a good chunk of that on them purchasing Horse Ranch and Home Chef Hustle, so I had some new Build/Buy items to play with!

So yeah -- figured it was time to upgrade some furniture and add some new fun stuff for the trio to use in their daily lives! Let's take it room by room:

Smiler’s Party Barn – This space was pretty much all about the furniture upgrades -- I updated the couch by the stairs to the most expensive and comfortable one (in of course the most wild swatch I could find – purplish-pink with zebra print details on the frame); changed out the chairs around the games table to more expensive and comfortable ones from that actually matched the puzzle table and were still just as colorful; and updated Smiler’s bar to a bigger one (it’s now a three-tiler, black with glowing yellow lights along the bottom -- aesthetic!) and got the most expensive and comfortable barstools to go along the front. Gotta make sure the guests are comfy! :D Even more importantly, though, I ended up changing around a bunch of the pictures and posters – the two sky prints the trio’s picked up from observatory visits are now behind the bar with a couple of space-themed posters; the DJ posters previously behind the bar are now above the ottomans on either side of the karaoke machine; a cute purple painting of a woman previously above the bar is now over the stairwell; and the big portraits of the Valicer wedding (Victor and Alice kissing and Victor and Smiler kissing) are now by the ping-pong table, in a collage with the two biggest pictures of the trio posing in their swimsuits on their honeymoon. :) But where did the other pictures of the wedding and honeymoon go? I’ll tell you shortly...

Cow Paddock – But first, let’s go outside and around to the back of the barn to Moory’s pen! Where, with the power of Horse Ranch, I added some patches of prairie grass and a proper water trough for our cow (moving the CC bucket fountain from "Cottage Garden Stuff" by @plumbobteasociety I was using to represent a source of water for Moory over to the corner of the pen for decoration purposes...though it occurs to me it might be nice to put in the chicken pen to pretend it’s now a drinking fountain and bath for the chickens). The water trough is probably just going to be for decoration (it’s intended for the horses that came with Horse Ranch and I’m not sure other animals can drink out of them), but the prairie grass actually serves a purpose – I know from seeing the option grayed out on the shed previously that you can refill a cow or llama’s feed with the stuff! So that’s cool. :) (And yes, I saw that option BEFORE I owned Horse Ranch, so, uh, great job Sims team.)

Living Room – I changed out the rug under the couch, coffee table, and TV stand for one of the new colorful Horse Ranch ones (doesn't it look cool?), and upgraded the couch and the two chairs in front of the fireplace into more expensive and comfortable models (though I made sure to keep the bright and wacky colors -- the Get Famous and Growing Together furniture have really good swatches in this regard, I'm pleased to report). Again, though, the big change was updating all the stuff on the walls -- mostly because I absolutely had to clean up all the photos around the house so I actually had room for NEW snaps. Plus I'd started looking at some of the photo collections and going “Do we really need this many pictures of you guys in front of your house at the family reunion?” XD I mean, I like them, but maybe some variety would be a good thing. And look a little less self-important. XD So what I did was remove the four-picture collage of the gang doing various poses in front of the house at the family reunion from one side of the TV, grabbed one medium-sized photo out of the set to keep, sold the rest (and the frame), and moved into its place the picture of everyone posing in front of the store that was upstairs by Smiler’s room previously. And THEN I moved the collage of photos of them on their honeymoon that was previously in the little notch next to the kitchen (which no longer exists as I made the kitchen bigger -- more on that later) over to the corner by the phonograph! So it’s right near the other big wedding collection. :) So THAT’S a little better!

Study – Mostly more picture rearranging in this room, though I did upgrade the chess set and chairs on the left wall to fancier versions – and discovered that the black and red chessboard also has black and red pieces, so I decided to go with that as a color theme. *shrug* If I can’t have white and red, I’ll go with black and red! Anyway, over the chess table, I stuck four of Victor and Alice's original Selvadoradan honeymoon snaps into one of the four-photo collage frame sets I unlocked, then arranged the remaining two photos on top of them in a way that made them look like part of the set (you can tell they're not because the frames aren't as thick, but still works). Then, over by Smiler's guitar, I got two more three-frame collage sets, put the photos from the trip to Granite Falls in those, and arranged them appropriately behind the rug, next to the window. The picture Alice painted of Smiler playing their guitar and the the one she painted of the Granite Falls ranger station sign then went up on the side wall next to the rug (because Victor has the picture Alice painted of him playing piano next to his piano, so I wanted Smiler's portrait to be next to THEIR instrument). After that, I moved the picture of Alice scratching herself that Victor did on the Valicer Honeymoon out of there and upstairs to the attic rec room (I couldn't bring myself to delete it, it amuses me too much XD), then moved the sketches and fancy light Alice unlocked from the Artist career over a little, into that space. Making room for a little photo collage of sorts next to her fancy easel -- the photo of her painting at their old house that Victor took on the top, one of the photos she took of Rory to become friends and get her to turn her into a werewolf on the bottom –

And one of those Moschino Stuff slideshow photo frames in the middle! Because I've been meaning to start using those for AGES now. This is where a bunch of the smaller photos went – I put all the little photos of the wedding from the party barn, one of my favorite little photos from the family reunion, a snap of them posing in front of the store, and a snap from their New Year’s Eve trio date into there and turned on the frame to display them as a slideshow, changing once per hour. :D So now I have a spot to keep tiny photos that I may like, but don’t have room for on the wall! Yay! :)

First Floor Hallway – Bunch of little changes here -- first up, I made the washer and dryer brighter colors (because why wouldn't I?) and put the MySim trophy of Yuki Alice found recently on top of them – turns out that WASN’T a duplicate after all! Nice! Then I got one of the three-photo-frame collage sets I unlocked with the family reunion, put the best three photos of the scenery around their honeymoon island in it (and sold the fourth, which was of a rainy miserable day anyway), and slapped the set up next to one of the windows beside the study. Wasn’t sure where else to put them, and they looked good there! And finally, I grabbed myself the egg-shaped decorative egg display shelf I downloaded from @somecreativecc (seriously, if you need displays, they are the place to go) and slapped it up where the previous hanging shelf with all the eggs had been (right by the entrance to the kitchen and the cats’ downstairs scratching post), moving all the eggs (with the help of “moveobjects on” to access all the slots) onto there! So now all ten eggs fit properly on those shelves, and there’s a dedicated space for the remaining two that need to be found, yay.

Downstairs Back Entrance/Mudroom – I had to move one of Alice’s paintings out of here into the kitchen, and rearrange the boots so they were along the wall next to the coat rack – reason being, the room is now smaller! And why is it smaller?

[ryo-maybe]

if i wanted to get into kamen rider but haven't really seen any tokusatsu before are there any shows in particular you'd recommend?

I've been waiting for this.

Now, because there is a colorful truckton of Rider series (and that's if we stick to Kamen Rider alone), each one with its own particular set of gimmicks, themes and overall atmospheres, it would be easier to answer this knowing what your tastes tend to veer to, but I'll try to pick some that I think are good to start off with among my personal favorites and provide a brief description of their pros and cons, so that if nothing else you can see if one or the other sounds like it might be up your alley.

Kuuga

+Probably the one that best weaves its elements - script, plot, camera work, characters, aesthetics and themes - into an incredibly tight and cohesive work. Every single second of Kuuga drips with a crystal clear depiction of the vision and thought behind it, to what I would dare deem a downright artistic degree. The story is presented in equal parts as a police procedural and a hero's journey: each Monster of the Week follows a specific pattern to their murders that must be figured out, all while the protagonist, Godai Yusuke, is intent on figuring out his newfound powers. I particularly love how organic the latter is done in this series: more often than not, Riders either figure out how to use their abilities within the span of a single battle or come with said knowledge in a pre-packaged form, so to speak. Not Kuuga! He has to learn and understand like you and I would if suddenly we became possessed of superhuman strength or senses, with all the caveats that involves, and this is all woven perfectly together and is in service of the story depicted in each episode. I cannot overstate enough how every single second of Kuuga never feels wasted. If you want a serious, heartfelt story about what it means to fight monsters at the risk of becoming one yourself, you will Love Kuuga.

Be warned though: it's a tokusatsu show made in the 2000's. This means the CG effects look like they were made in the 80's. You should be prepared to stomach some incredibly outdated special effects when approaching tokusatsu by default anyway, but if you can get past the hurdle, you may even come to appreciate the inherent cheesiness of it all.

Ryuuki

It might seem weird to recommend what was, for its time, one of the boldest takes on the franchise. It was Ryuuki, after all, that introduced the Rider Battle Royale concept as the main focus of its story. But the good news is that not only did it work, it made for an incredibly engaging story filled with drama, mystery, betrayals, friendship and morally bankrupt lawyers. The main cast of Riders are a fun bunch, which is a must for this kind of story, and whether fighting for supremacy of engaging in begrudging alliances, it's always interesting to see the sparks that fly from their interaction. This was the first series to introduce the Powers Via Cards gimmick and talking belts, the former of which was used time and again for several of the series that followed it, whereas the latter has become one of the franchise's staples. Overall, you will like Ryuuki if you appreciate gritty shonen with a focus on battles between a stable of main characters where nobody is quite the hero or villain of the story (except, of course, for the main protagonist).

Fun fact: when Madoka Magica first came out, people saw so many parallels between it and Ryuuki that people thought Gen Urobuchi, PMMM's writer, had ripped it off when penning the script. You will find quite the number of fan arts where the two works crossover with each other. Funnily enough, it wouldn't be until years later that Urobuchi would be hired to write a Rider show, Gaim.

Fourze

Take the stereotypical American school setup from every teen comedy/drama ever. You know, the ones with the clearly defined cliques of jocks, preps, goths etc. Now transpose it wholesale in Japan and toss in monsters in elaborate rubber suits and a spandex suit that looks like a space rocket gijinka to fight them all. Wrap it up in some of the most damn fun and endearing writing you'll ever find in a tokusatsu show, or really any shows in general, and you'll end up with the winning formula that earned Fourze a beloved spot in the hearts of both long-time toku fans and newcomers to the genre.

Fourze is probably the easiest show to recommend in this list. It brims with youthful enthusiasm and vitality, wears its heart on its shiny sleeve, and is so earnest in everything it does you can't help but love it. I cannot overstate it enough when I say that Fourze is the quintessential fun show. Perfect to watch alone when you're in dire need of a smile, and even better to watch along with friends to make some very, very fun memories together.

[moki-dokie]

I wish I had the same tools and resources as other artists my age did in their formative years. I wish I had some of the tools I have now back then. I wish my brain worked like most people's and that I could visualize light sources and how it interacts with a subject. I wish I had the time and money to go take some real university art classes. I wish a severe years long battle with depression didn't rob me of creativity so badly that I lost what little skill I had. I wish I hadn't developed a bad tremor and twitch thanks to medication meant to fight that depression. I wish I had enough time in the day to actually do art how I want.

There's a ton of things I wish I could change, have, or do in regards to art. I'll never not be extremely envious of artists decades younger than me that are already so insanely skilled that they can pitch a portfolio to studios. I'll never not be jealous of peers my age that continue to grow and get even better at something they're already so good at.

But, at the same time, I've learned to be gentler on myself. I've forgiven myself for the things out of my control. And instead of staying stuck in an endless negative spiral and lamenting all the what-ifs and could-bes, I choose to go forward and make art anyway. I choose to have fun with it again, to doodle and experiment. I allow myself the freedom to start over and learn. I still don't have all the resources available to me that I wish I did but I won't let that stop me. It can still be extremely frustrating when I want to draw something and simply can't figure out how or when nothing turns out how it looks in my head, but it isn't the end of the world. I'll make something else, learn something new, and continue.

It's hard to start over in your mid 30s, but I'd rather do this than bang my head against a wall forever and hate everything I do to the point of not doing it at all. Finding the joy in creating again has been key. And sometimes that means sketching studies of cats for weeks on end because their anatomy is pleasing to work with and I can find myself learning while I'm at it, to the point that soon I won't need endless refs and I'll be able to draw them mostly from memory. Sometimes that means turning a funny meme into a full comic page just to challenge myself with expressions and panel layouts or to play around with color or grayscale. Sometimes it means leaving something I was working on for weeks or months and then coming back to it with a fresh perspective, new knowledge, and rekindled joy that made me start it in the first place. And, sometimes it's merely finding a bunch of tutorials and trying them out to see what happens.

It's crazy how much this ipad has really boosted my creativity. Not being tied to my PC is a huge bonus, as is the feeling of drawing on paper (bless paper like screen protectors!) And drawing directly on the surface. A stylus that behaves like an actual pencil (or pen, or brush, or whatever) has been tremendously rewarding and fun. I think a lot of my frustrations before were purely because I just didn't have the right tools. My Wacom was a piece of shit that only worked with sai which wasn't ideal. This is miles better, I really can't even describe it.

Anyway all this to say that if you're struggling with your art, it's ok. Be kinder to yourself, cut yourself some slack, and maybe just doodle pages and pages of silly looking cats for the hell of it. Whatever brings some measure of joy.

[fullsunstrawberry]

hey girlllll

okay first- the chap was SO GOODDDDD and i’m so excited for your nct reactions and texts!

also your tattoo with your mom is so cute 🥰🥰 and the designs for your seventeen ones are adorable so i’m sure your nct dream ones will be super cute as well <333

i want to get a tattoo but let’s be so fr i’m so scared of needles 💀 kao (bf) has a bunch of tattoos and they’re so cute but i personally would never - your so brave for thiss

also mother in law apologized thankfully so so more problems there :)

my life has been pretty boring tbhhh i’m living with kao rn but he’s pretty busy with his med school things rn so i barely see him 😢

i really need friends 😭

BUT ITS NOT LIKE I DONT HAVE FRIENDS my two ride or dies (yes we are a trio but we’ve known eachother since 2nd grade and there has been 1 argument that lasted 30 mins 💀) are literally so far away 🥲 missing them 24/7 but we have our weekly group facetime soon so 😋🤞

ugh life has been so boring recently fr i need a hobby asap

i feel like i’ve lost all my interests because i’m high school i would lterally do math for fun and that’s the last thing i need to do rn 😭 like sure i did. volleyball but where in nyc am i going to okay volleyball like be so fr rnnn

WNYWAY HOW ARE YOUUUU????? TELL ME EVERYTHING 😜😜😜😜😜

i have an obsession with these emojis i find them so funny

also my niece/cousin idk but she’s so like… IDKKK- she’s middle school high school age but i feel like i’m just on a whole different planet bc she’s so into everything like i need to keep up frrr

ANYWAY

make sure to drink lots of water and eat lots of good foodss- i love youuu 😜💓💓💓💓❤️❤️❤️‼️‼️‼️

also congrats on your blog growth! you deserve it fr

I got a bunch of nct random texts that I'm gonna post soon 🤪 but I gotta make some enhypen ones too cause my master list is lookin a little biased 😅

ahh thank you! i gotta hurry and get more kpop tattoos because my mom has more than me (she has two bts tattoos and wants a txt one)

i was terrified of needles but i had to get a bunch of blood work done when i was younger, so i’m a pro now 😤😤

if my partner had and tattoos i would color them in with markers if they had black and white ones

life’s been pretty boring for me too that’s actually why i made this account cause i used to have a tumblr way back and post on it but it became too hectic with my schedule…so i deleted it. but now i’m not really doing anything i love how hectic i post!! it gives me something to do and look forward to

i’m also in a friend group of 3 💀 but mine is kinda rocky because the other two always fight and im in the middle sometimes… but i love both of them and one of them might read this 🤪🤪

i still have lunch with them every other day in school but one of them is going to a different school and im gonna make sure we don’t drift apart 😤😤

most of my hobbies involve technology lol…

i like to make random webpages and of course video games, mostly sims or acnh.

But i love scrapbooking and i know a lot of people do it online now but nothing beats cutting up pictures and gluing it to a cute notebook or having a pen pal and decorating my letters

also photocard trading is fun and helps keep me busy

i’m glad the mil apologized because no one wants bad blood in a new marriage!!

i love using emoji’s because i don’t wanna sound boring when i’m writing and i can only use “T^T” so much

SAME! my cousin is younger than me and she makes me feel so old even tho i’m young! but she talks about tiktokers and celebrities i have no clue who they are nd half of the words she says, i’m like what?

tysm!! i’m surprised on how well my blog is doing, I love how many people have reach out to talk to me! It means a lot 😩❣️

don’t skip a meal!! 🥰🫶

[plagueislost]

Hii, for the artist ask game: number 4 and 10 is something I'd love to know :3

i wrote A LOT for this ask, sorry! i wanted to do the questions justice, yknow how it is.

4. piece you wish got more love?

Ive found from experience that original art tends to not do very well on social media, which kind of makes me sad. It's not much of a problem for me (because most of the stuff i post is fanart anyways) but i can't help but think that part of the reason i rarely ever draw original pieces or make OCs is because of the lack of feedback i get on social media. I know tumblr is supposed to be the fandom website, and maybe id have a different experience on another site, but it is disappointing when i post something original that I'm very proud of and it barely manages to get more than 20 notes, whereas something i like less easily surpasses 100 just because of the tags i put on it. i think the most recent example of this is this piece, which admittedly did get quite a few notes for an original piece, but definitely would have gotten more had it been fanart of the same caliber. this is also not to blame anyone or make anyone feel bad about not reblogging original art (god knows im guilty of that too, and art piggybacking off the popularity of other works of art are of course gonna get more notes), its just something ive noticed from my time on social media.

10. how do you deal with artblock?

i dont get art block very often, but when i do, its ANNOYING. it mostly manifests in me having a bunch of motivation for a part of my process that i cant get to without doing the stuff i have no desire to do (does that make any sense?). like, ill have a strong urge to render an artwork, but no ongoing WIPs that are at that stage, meaning i would have to sketch and color and shade a whole new piece before i could satiate that urge, or do the steps out of order which could mess up the flow and end look of a project. when i get like this, i find its best to try and translate those desires into different activities and take a step away from art. for example:

if i want to sketch, but nothing comes out right digitally, ill find a scrap piece of paper and a crappy pen and make thumbnails until i cant think of any other iterations of the ideas in my head. if one of them turns out good, ill take a picture and transfer it into my software, but only go over it a day or so later so i can have fresh eyes.

if i want to color, but i have no sketches currently ready for coloring, ill go into my photo editing program, find some random old photos that i never edited, and post-process them until i get something im happy with.

if i want to shade, but have no colored artworks ready for that, ill usually do a study of a photo ive taken, because most of the time me shading is really me wanting to see how light and shadow interact in certain scenarios. i actually did a whole AP portfolio on that because i liked shading and lighting so much!

if i want to render, but ive got no pieces ready for rendering, i find its easiest just to find a tedious activity where i can be a perfectionist but also feel like im the smartest person in the world. this generally turns into me cooking some big meal because its constantly engaging but also not that difficult. i know its probably weird for it to not have anything to do with art but this is just what works best for me, and i get the bonus of a nice meal at the end of it!

if i get the more classic kind of art block where everything sucks and nothing i make is good, i find its best to go back to the media that inspires me to make art, and not worry too much about having made something by the end of it. generally the media that inspires me ends up, well, inspiring me, and i can remind myself that art is a voluntary practice that i do because its fun, not because i want something out of it. if it doesnt manage to inspire me, thats okay, i can just tell myself im taking a break and live life for a bit.

i hope that was helpful, and i really enjoyed answering these questions! if anyone else wants to ask a question, the artist ask game is here.

[strawberry-jammers]

I underestimated you

this is for @helliontherapscallion  ‘s 2k followers event ! (which congrates on that btw, well deserved. your fics are amazing!) and i found it kinda fun to do!

an x reader where tommy and the reader need to get something from the blade, so they ask wilbur to help out

The other fic I did for this event what did you three do

masterlist

-----

(y/n) walked down the prime path, examining the area around them. They turned to Tommy, who was walking with them, constantly writing in his book. “Tommy, hun, what are you doing? I thought you were illiterate.” he nodded his head. ��uh uh.” (y/n) stopped walking, staring at the much taller male. “Your gay.” Tommy turned to them. “Thank you.'' Tommy says, turning right back to his book.

“Oh good, you were listening, anyway whatcha doing?'' Tommy furiously wrote, once finished, he put the pen in the middle of the book and slammed it shut. He looks over at (y/n), smiling widely. “You know how we’ve been trying to get that axe back from techno??” (y/n) nodded, remembering the axe they had left at technos and could never get back. “Well,” tommy shoved the book in their face, “i have a plan!” (y/n) looked up at the tall man, slowly. “Oh, god help us all...okay, what's the plan.” They look down, reading tommys horrible handwritten plan. “You can't write to save your life. Anyways, tommy this plans shit.” 

Tommy takes back his plan book, angrily. “What do you mean! It's a great plan!” they shook their head. “Tommy, it literally only says ‘go into his house, distract the blade, steal his shit’ yeah yeah, great plan toms.” they say, continuing their way threw the prime path. Tommy chased after them, “hey hey wait! It worked really well when i lived under his house-” “tommy i couldve came up with it myself. Besides, he keeps the axe on his person cause he knows i want it back, and i cant get it when he hibernates cause philza watches over it. This is why i need a plan, a good plan.”

-

The next day, Tommy came over to (y/n)’s house early in the morning to show them his plan.

“Tommy, what the fuck are you doing here this early in the morning!?” Tommy was basically buzzing in excitement. “Ugh, come in come in.” they say, gesturing for Tommy to get into their house. Tommy basically runs into their house, (y/n) closing the door behind them. They walk into the kitchen as Tommy sits down in the living room, still buzzing. 

“What are you doing in there!? Come on, come on!!” (y/n) just sighs, grabbing a cup and pouring themself a cup of water. “You woke me up at an ungodly hour of the day, you're gonna have to wait a second bitch.” they say, taking their cup and sipping it as they walk into the living room. They sat across from Tommy in an armchair as Tommy sat on the couch.

“What is it you needed tommy tom?” they say, putting their cup down. “Ew don't call me that. Anyways, I wanted to show you the new plan I've made!” he says, walking over to (y/n)’s arm chair and showing them the book. They take it, reading threw the plan. 

“Huh. this could work… do you know if he’s hibernating now?” (y/n) asked, turning to the blonde. He nodded. “Haven't seen him in chat for weeks. Even jumped from a tall height to test it, didn't say a word.” they nodded, smiling. “Well then, call wilbur up. Lets get started!”

-

Later that day, they called up Wilbur to see if he would help them out, fortunately, he agreed.

“So, what am i doing again?'' Wilbur asks, sitting down in (y/n)’s living room. “If philza shows up, you're gonna be there to distract him. Just say you're there to see him and techno to catch up since you've been dead for a while.” (y/n) said, standing next to tommy. Wilbur nodded, thinking. “Should be easy enough on my part. Anything else you need of me?” 

Tommy spoke up. “You’re gonna need to fight them if things get rough. (y/n) and I need to get the axe out of the house as fast as possible.” Wilbur stood up. “I did not agree to fight the blade, okay? You're gonna have to pay me if you want me to fight the blood god.” (y/n) sighed at this.

“Fine, you can have a stake of diamonds and 9 netherite, deal?” Tommy gasped. “How do you have that much!?” (y/n) just chuckles. “I go mining constantly ‘cause you're so expensive. Anyways Wilbur, got a deal?” 

Wilbur sat back down, thinking about it. “Yeah, we’ve got a deal! Now what  are you two gonna do?” (y/n) sat down in their arm chair. “Oh, easy. So what we’re planning is-”

They talked about the plan for a bit, wilbur interjecting to improve upon it. Once done, they set out, gathering what they needed and heading to the tundra to get their axe back.

It took awhile to get there, seeing as though the three of them kept arguing. 

“Omg we’re finally here!” tommy says, immediately getting shushed by wilbur and (y/n). (y/n) snakes Tommy's arm lightly. “We’re right outside their houses! Be quite!” they whisper yell, heading towards the front door. “Right right..” tommy whispers, following behind, along with wilbur.

They sneaked inside, heading in from the main and basement doors. Tommy and (y/n) snuck up the ladders, going as quietly as possible. “You see the axe?” (y/n) asks, whispering as low as possible. Tommy shook his head, heading further into technos room to try and find it.

The pigman was sleeping soundly in his big ass bed. The two teens assumed that he wouldn't wake up for a long time.

(y/n) followed after Tommy, slowly walking around the room to try and find the axe. They searched all around the room, searching in his chests and even closet.

Tommy looked at the far end of the room, near the ceiling. He notices the wall being two different colors, as if there's a giant hole in the wall. He climbs up to the ceiling, seeing what was in the whole. He gasps, realizing it's a barrel filled with a ton of valuable stuff, including the axe that they were looking for. He takes it (along with a bunch of the other things inside) and slowly gets down from where he was at. He turned back to (y/n), who was already looking at him.

“Find anything?” Tommy nodded at the younger teen.

“I know i found two rats in my room.'' They quickly turned to see the piglin awake, and fully geared to fight the two of them. Even when he's sleeping he's ready to fight. 

“Shit shit shit shit, tommy RUN!!” they booked it to the ladder, making sure to hold onto the axe they had finally gotten back. Techno quickly followed after them, not wanting to let them leave with the axe. 

Wilbur notices the commotion, grabbing his sword, putting on his armor, and getting ready to fight the blade. 

The teens basically slide down the ladder, heading to the basement to get away as fast as possible. Techno came down after, but Wilbur was there to stop techno from going down further. He had to think fast however, so Wilbur did the first thing he thought of.

Stabbing techno in the ass.

“HEH!? WILBUR WHY??”

“WHAT!? I WAS IN A HURRY!”

“SO YOU STABBED MY ASS???”

“YEAH!?”

Techno jumped off the ladder, standing in front of wilbur. “How much are they paying you?”

“A stack of diamonds and more.” techno nodded, going over to his ender chest. “I'll give you a stack of netherite blocks and stacks of sand if you turn against them.” Wilbur immediately nodded. “Yes yes,fuck those guys! Gimme gimme!” Wilbur takes the sand form techno and starts monching on it.

“Now, where are they heading?” techno asks, giving Wilbur the rest of the stuff that he promised.

“Oh, they're heading to snow chester. Closer than either of their homes.” techno nodded, running out the door with wilbur to go and get technos stuff back.

-

Back with Tommy and (y/n), they had reached where they agreed to go, breathing heavily. (y/n) immediately collapsed to the ground once they reached their hideout. “Oh god i'm tasting but...still got the axe?” Tommy nodded, collapsing next to them. 

“I am so glad we agreed to change our hiding spot. I would be so dead if techno decided to chase us.” (y/n) says, grabbing the axe and examining it, happily. “Yeah, I knew not to trust wilbur. The guys insane!” (y/n) gets up, putting the axe with the rest of their treasures. “Well Tommy, I underestimated you. Your plan actually worked out for us.” they said, laying back down next to tommy. 

Tommy smiled, basically clinging onto the young teen. “Never underestimate big man tommy danger kraken innit.” (y/n) giggled, clinging onto Tommy as well.

“Wanna just sleep?” they ask. Tommy nodded. Too tired to say anything else. “Alright, goodnight tommy.”

“Goodnight pussy.”

[thewritetofreespeech]

I LOVE ur blog SO MUCH!!!

Thanku fr Writing amazing hcs!! Keep it up!!!

If you don't mind...

(Kuroko no baske)

Thanku so much!! Lots of love xoxo

(reader insert may not be necessary!😉)

Awwww!! Thank you!! I’m glad you enjoy and appreciate them ( ´ω` ). Went a little off the rails with this as I was feeling inspired and did full scenarios. I hope that’s ok!

GOM Boys + Sending their kids to school (prompt)

Akashi

“Why don’t you want to go to school?” Akashi asked, holding his son’s hand, as they arrived at the building.

His son, looking positively adorable in his little blazer & tie, looked up at him with big, bright, golden eyes before looking back down. “I don’t want to go.” He repeated quietly. “It’s scary.”

“Scary? How is it scary?” Akashi asked. “You were fine when we did the tour the other day. It’s just like that.”

“But you won’t be with me Papa.” He replied in a soft voice. Worrying his bottom lip and eyes starting to get very wet. “I’ll be all alone.”

Akashi sighed as his son began to sniffle and knelt down in front of him. “Stop crying. Akashi men don’t cry over things like this.” He pulled out his handkerchief to clean the few tears that had fallen. His son giving a small hiccup as he stopped crying. Then Akashi smiled at him. “You won’t be alone. You’ll have a whole room of classmates to keep you company. I was like you when I was little. I was scared I wouldn’t make any friends, or that the other students would hate me. But that didn’t happen. I made friends. I got to spend time with people outside of the house. Uncle Kuroko and Mama were all people I met at school. Don’t you want to make friends like that?”

His son beamed and nodded once before looping his arms around Akashi’s neck to hug him. They then finish walking into school and dropping him off at class. He then walked back to his car alone. Sliding into the back seat when the driver opened the door for him.

“Shall we head to the office now sir?”

“In a minute,” Akashi replied. Leaning back in his seat to rest his head back against the rich leather. A hand over his eyes. “Circle the block a few times. I don’t want to leave them alone just yet.”

Aomine

“Hn? You don’t want to go to school now?” Aomine asked as son stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. Digging his heels in about not wanting to take one step further. “But you have to go to school.”

“No I don’t! And you can’t make me!” The mini-Aomine yelled back. His father sighed.

“Yes, you do. It’s the law and, I would know, I’m a cop.” He pointed his thumb to himself, wearing his uniform, as this was supposed to be a quick drop off before he went in for his shift. “Do you want me to arrest you on your first day of school?”

“You wouldn’t do that!” The little boy replied. All bravado like his father, before his shoulders sank and his bottom lip stuck out. “I don’t want to go. School is boring. And what if the kids are mean to me. I’d rather stay home with Daddy….”

Aomine sighed and rubbed the back of his head. He couldn’t really argue with the school being boring part. He hated school when he was a kid, but he had to go. “Listen, Daddy can’t stay home with you today because he has to go to work. And you can’t come to work with me because, if you do, we’ll catch all the bad guys and then what will I do for work the next day.” The mini-Aomine snickered.

Aomine then leaned down to get eye level with his son. “I’m sure the kids will be nice. There’s bound to be one good egg in the bunch. Maybe you can even find someone to play basketball with.” His son’s eyes sparkled at that. “But, if any kids are mean to you, you tell me and I’ll come back and arrest them.” He held out his handcuffs to make a point. “Sound good?”

His son giggled again and told him, “deal!” before they both walk into the school for drop off. Thankfully, no one at the school was arrested that day. School was his son’s new favorite place. At least for now anyway.

Kise

“Are you sure they have to go now? Maybe we could keep them home for another year??”

“Ryo….” His significant other warned as they got their daughter up to the school, each holding one of her hands, for drop off.

“Don’t worry Daddy! I’ll be fine!” The little girl chirped. Practically skipping the whole way there she was so excited.

“Really? Are you sure princess? Because, if you want to start school tomorrow, Daddy would be totally fine with that.”

“Ryouta!”

“No, that’s ok Daddy.” She replied with a big grin. “I want to go and make new friends! I’m excited to show everyone my new dress you got me.” His princess did a little modeling twirl they had practiced, and Kise’s heart broke into a thousand pieces only to be reformed instantly again with love. “I’m gonna go inside now. See you after school!”

“Do you want Daddy to walk you to your classroom?!”

“No!” His daughter called back. Unaware she had just stomped on her father’s newly reformed heart.

“They grow up so fast….”

“Honestly Ryouta.” His s/o said, shaking their head, as they offered him a tissue. “It’s the kids that are usually crying on the first day. Not the parents.”

Kuroko

“Sweetheart….you have to go to school.” Kuroko tried to reason with his daughter, who was holding her backpack and her breath until Kuroko ‘gave up’.

Of course, she couldn’t hold it that long in the end. Her lungs were very small.

She let out a gasp of air, quickly inhaling new breath into her lungs as fast as she could fill them, but still pouted. “Why can’t you be my teacher Papa?!”

“Because,” Kuroko reasoned, as if they haven’t been over this a hundred times, “you need to have someone else be your teacher. It’s not fair to have Papa be your teacher.”

“But it’s not fair that other kids have Papa for their teacher!” She argued back. “I don’t want to go if I can’t see Papa and have to share him….”

Kuroko sighed before offering them a smile. “We’ll still be at the same school. So I’ll see you at lunch time or on the playground. Ms. Himora is really nice too. You’ll like being in her class. I’ve told her all about you and she’s excited to see your drawings.”

His daughter perked up at that. Art and drawing being one of her passions.

She agreed to go, but only on the condition that she wanted to see this other teacher’s art supplies. Ms. Himora of course showed them to her, and let her color the whole afternoon. Kuroko tried not to seem irritated that by the end of the day his little girl was calling her her favorite teacher.

Midorima

“Do you have your notebook?” Midorima asked as he walked his son to school. “Pens? Paper? Pencil?”

“Yes Dad…” His son replied sullenly, walking beside the taller green haired man as they come up to the school. When he saw the brick building, however, he tightened the hold on his hand.

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“Dad I….I don’t want to go to school.” Midorima gave a surprised ‘hn?’ in response, but his son just looked down. Fidgeting with his glasses. “What if….what if the teacher is scary? What if the other kids don’t like me? What if no one wants to play with me?” The young boy began to spiral and sniffling, thinking about all the things that could go wrong.

His father sighed and knelt down in front of him. “What do we always say?”

“Man proposes, God disposes.”

“Right.” Midorima replied. Not seeming phased by how his life’s motto sound so much less intimidating coming from such a cute, small voice. “We have to do our best to make sure things work out. We can’t worry about what could go wrong. That’s God’s job. We focus on the now.” He pulled a key chain out of his pocket and handed it to his son. “Take today’s lucky item with you. It’ll keep you safe.”

“But Dad! What about you?!”

“I’ll be alright. You just make sure you get to class on time and have a good day.”

His son came home later that afternoon to tell him all about the amazing day he had at his new school. His teacher was nice. His classmates really liked him. They even served his favorite in the cafeteria!

Midorima was happy for his son, and choose not to tell him that he had had the day from hell without his lucky item. From that day forward they each got their own.

Murasakibara

“Eh…? You don’t want to go to school?” Murasakibara looked at his daughter as she shook her head. Scuffing her new shoes on the sidewalk. “How come? You have to give me a good reason to skip your first day.”

“I…I don’t want to go…” She replied softly. His little girl incredibly shy. “What if the other kids make fun of me?” Murasakibara hummed a little. He supposed that was a good reason.

For better or worse, his children had inherited his height. It wasn’t so bad for her older brothers. Being tall was an admirable attribute for boys. For girls though…..well….it just made his angel that much bigger of a target.

“If the kids make fun of you, tell them your dad is even taller and he’ll stick them in a tree and leave them there if they make fun of you.” The little girl giggled, clearly picturing the image, but still didn’t seem convinced to go. Murasakibara knelt down so he wasn’t towering so much over her and patted her head. “School is important. You need to go so you can be smart like you Mom. Not a dumb dumb like your Dad.” He smoothed out her hair from ruffling it. It had taken them a while to get it right, and he didn’t want to ruin it. “But, I’ll be here when you get out today and we’ll go get ice cream as a reward. Our secret.”

His daughter beamed at the promise of ice cream and nodded eagerly. She then went off to school without any complaints. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree. You could get him to do anything for ice cream too.

[neonacity]

HYACINTHE | CHAPTER 3: JAEMIN X READER

SUMMARY:

Na Jaemin is far from being your typical 20 year old. Instead of slaving through college, he wastes away his hours cracking safes. Weekends that should be spent partying with friends consist of illegal races on good days and small scale bombings on bad ones. Na Jaemin is far from being average, unless you consider being a member of Seoul’s top organized crime family normal.

There is no such thing as a sense of normality and peace in his trainwreck of a life, so when he met a barista who was brave enough to call out his dangerous taste in coffee, he was like a moth to the flame. Everything about her is normal, which means she is forbidden to him, in all sense of the word. So why, then, does he always find himself at the front steps of her shop, breaking all his personal rules even if he wishes he could stay away?

A/N + Disclaimer: this is a side story to Black Daisies, my main mafia fic feat. 0T23. While the plot is based on the main story, this can also be read as a standalone fic. As usual, this is purely a work of fiction and in no way am I implying any member of NCT to behave the way I write them here. tw: crimes, heists, potential death, mentions of drugs and other illegal activities.

PAIRING: Jaemin x Reader

TW: illegal activities, gunshot wound, mentions of blood

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

FIC TRAILER

MASTERLIST

"Another bank was looted last night around 11PM, this time in the Geumchon district. This is the second bank that was broken into in the past week and the fourth that is rumored to be the doing of one of Seoul's organized criminal…."

I sighed and put down the pen that I have been using to scribble on a piece of napkin. A frown creased my forehead before I grabbed the offending piece of flimsy paper and crumpled it with my hand. Jeno, who was silently watching the news, looked up and shot me a curious look. He was leaning over the counter lazily, his cup of half finished hot cocoa beside him. 

"You okay?"

I winced. "Yeah... Actually. Actually, no. I am not okay," I said finally as I threw the used napkin to the closest thrash. I have been scribbling all the things I have to pay for the coming month there and couldn't bear to take another look at it. Jeno grabbed his drink and silently took a sip of it, obviously waiting for me to elaborate.

After my initial 'unplanned' meeting with Jaemin's friends, it has become more or less of their routine to drop by the cafe to hangout. Jaemin was initially against it at first, always scowling whenever he would see one of them already in the shop, though it seems like he has gotten used to it lately—or rather, he didn't have any other choice but to simply accept it. They would often sometimes come in groups—Jisung and Chenle are big fans of the pastries—but other times it's just one of them who would drop by to visit like Jeno now. My favorite is when all of them drops by to visit, not only because I've started getting closer to them too, but because customers would automatically flock into the shop whenever the "handsome gang" is there. Honestly, I couldn't blame them.

"I'm a little bit short on money this month. I was supposed to get my monthly allowance from my scholarship but something happened so it will be delayed. I have lab things to buy and well—everything sucks." 

Jeno nodded slowly, though I have a feeling he doesn't really understand my plight with money. Spending time with the seven of them has given me a better understanding of each boys' personalities. Jeno, for example, is definitely the calmer one of the bunch. While the others would cause chaos every now and then—Jaemin included, he would be on the side watching them usually with that adorable eye smile of his. He is different from Mark who would mostly jump in to join the fun before calming everyone once things get overboard, though both seem to share the same responsibility over the group. He also seems to be the closest to Jaemin, so by extension, I am also most comfortable around him. 

"How much money do you need?" 

I gave him a look as I reached out for a paper cup to make myself my own hot cocoa. 

"I heard the same question from your best friend before. Are you also going to offer to be my sugar daddy?" 

Jeno choked on his drink and hid his laughter behind his raised cup. 

"Do you want Jaemin to kill me?" 

That made me inappropriately blush.

"Sometimes I just want to bust out a bank like that group everyone is talking about." 

Jeno didn't say anything and continued watching me from the brim of his drink. 

"You think you can do it?" 

"Do what?" I asked as I poured hot cocoa on my cup. I said that off-handedly, I almost forgot my words the moment they left my lips. 

"Rob a bank. You know, do something illegal." 

I leaned back against the counter and craned my head a little sideways as I thought the question over. I didn't actually think of that before so I had to listen to my moral compass a little bit before answering. 

"It depends on the reason." 

Jeno looked surprised by my reply. He was probably expecting a goody two shoes answer from me, which I don’t blame him for, to be honest. Even I am mildly shocked by what I said. 

"The reason?" 

"Yes. I mean, if the only reason I would steal is because I don't have money to support my studies, then no, I wouldn't do it. I have other options. I can work extra jobs or I can just drop out from uni. But if I didn't really have any other choice, if I had to do it for someone really close to me, for example, then I would do it." 

"That is very…"

"Cliche, right? I know. But that's how it works, at least for me," I said with a laugh. "I do know what's good and bad, but I'm willing to jump the gun if I have to." 

I didn't know if it was my imagination, but I thought I heard Jeno murmur something under his breath as I turned to get back to work. 

"I bet Jaemin wouldn't like that." 

-----

PRESENT DAY, a little over one month after the happenings in the first chapter. 

They disappeared like bubbles. No, he disappeared in thin air, like smoke that was blown over by a strong gust of wind. After that night when Jaemin bust through my cafe door, hiding god knows what and asking for temporary shelter, he hasn't shown himself again, apparently leaving while I slipped into a light sleep. Even his friends stopped visiting the cafe which, for a few days, made me genuinely feel scared. Are they okay? What happened to him? Who was he running away from?

That worry slowly and gradually morphed into anger as the days lengthened. I know it was my way of coping with my emotions, but I couldn't help myself. I tried calling him, but the line was cut. It even came to the point that I had to call each of his friends, but it seems like the numbers they gave me were all temporary ones, too. I felt frustrated. I felt...abandoned. 

Was it really easy for him to just cut off all contact with me? 

Was it foolish of me to think that there is...something deeper here than just friendship?

It was the start of winter when the loud ringing of my phone woke me up from my nap. Eyes still heavy with sleep, my first instinct was to look at the clock by my table which registered 1:19AM. I frowned. I was in the middle of finishing a paper before I decided to take a nap but who could be calling me at such an ungodly hour? 

I blearily reached out for my phone and barely looked at the unregistered number before hitting the answer button. 

"Hello?" 

"Noona?"

I froze. Just like that, I felt the sleepiness slowly melt away from my consciousness. I know that voice. 

"Jisung?" 

"Noona, we need your help." 

I sat up on my seat after registering the panic in his voice. I heard another tone suddenly hiss at him from the background before a rustling sound overtook the speakers. It sounded like someone grabbed the phone from his grasp before he could even react.

"Jisung. What's happening—"

"Hello?" The new voice that spoke on the other line made my heart stop. I stared at my wall, wide-eyed.

"Jaemin." 

"I'm sorry. We didn't mean to—"

"Jaemin, we don’t really have any other choice but her, give me the phone," another one jumped in. It was Mark. 

"No. Hyung—"

"We're losing him," my lips parted in shock at what I heard. His voice sounded clearer now and I could very much pick up the iciness on it. Mark has always been so friendly and warm that it threw me off guard. 

"Give me the phone." 

The authority he held made me assume that Jaemin did as he was told. Next thing I know, he was calling out my name from the speaker.

"Mark, yes, I'm listening." 

"Hey. I'm really sorry about this, but we need your help. We really have no other choice, Haechan is in such a bad state—"

That made me stand up and push away from my desk.

"What the hell is going on? What do you mean about Haechan?"

"I'll explain later. We're on our way to you now."

"Wait, what? You don't know my address."

"We'll be there in seven minutes."

That was all he said before he cut off the call, leaving me standing shell-shocked in the middle of my room.

---

They banged on my door not even five minutes after. I had barely pulled on a cardigan when loud knocks rang through my small one bedroom unit causing me to quickly run and grab my knob open. 

I stood frozen at the sight of the seven boys crowding my doorway. Everyone was covered in some sort of soot, leaving them almost unrecognizable in their black outfits. Mark and Jeno were in the middle of the group, carrying a half-conscious Haechan between them. Jisung, Chenle, and Renjun brought the rear, their eyes moving wildly as if checking for eavesdroppers. Jaemin stood closest to me, his jaw tense and his eyes apologetic. My gaze snapped back to the center of the group when Mark called out my name. 

That's when I saw it for the first time. I didn't notice it at first because of its dark color, but Jeno was holding a towel against Haechan's stomach. Except it isn't black, it was a deep dark red.

Blood. 

"Oh my god." 

"Please help us." 

Maybe it was the shock, but I quickly stepped aside to let everyone in. I had barely slammed the door shut when I heard a crashing sound from my small dining area. Jeno pushed everything on top of my table to the ground as Mark and Jaemin gently guided Haechan on it. 

"What—what is going on—"

"He's been shot. Thrice. We're not sure but I think two of the bullets are still there," Renjun answered me as he grabbed the soaked towel from Mark's hand and replaced it with a new one. Jisung and Chenle worked on closing all the shutters of my windows while Jaemin tore off a lamp from my living room to move it close to Haechan. He closed all other lights other than the ones on the dining area and the small lamp.

It was then when my training finally kicked in. I ran towards the table to peer at the wound, my shaking hands gently moving the new towel that is quickly getting soaked by blood again. Haechan gave a soft grunt of pain before slipping to unconsciousness again. 

"I think there are still foreign objects there. It's what causing the severe bleeding."

"Can you take it out?"

My eyes shot to Jeno. The harsh lights from the lamp threw strong shadows on his stressed features. 

"I'm not a licensed doctor."

"We don't need a licensed doctor right now, we need someone who can patch the hole in his stomach. Please." 

I gritted my teeth. I have a ton of questions running through my head right now, but he's right. We need to act fast or else we will lose him. I rolled up my sleeves then and called out to whoever can act fast to my orders. 

"Somebody get the black box under my bed. I have all my surgery practice tools there. I need hot water and lots of towels. Everyone move. Now."

As soon as I said my orders, each of the boys were moving in a flurry to get everything that I asked for. I was adjusting the small lamp directly over the wound to peer at it better when I felt a gentle hand circle around my arm. I looked up to see Jaemin staring at me. 

"Thank you." 

I didn't say anything at first. I don't know if it was the shadows playing over his features, but he looked different from the Jaemin I knew in that brief moment.

"Don't thank me yet. Say that once we're sure he survives."

---

I was stirred from my sleep by the light snoring of someone to my right. Turning my head, I was greeted by the sight of Jisung who was currently sprawled on my sofa, his legs so long that they were dangling on one end. Chenle was on the floor below him, his face covered by one of the pillows he probably fished from one of my love seats cradling Renjun's curled up form. Mark and Jeno were both sitting upright, the former close to Haechan and the other by the door like a sentinel. They seemed to be in deep sleep too, they're heads hanging low. Jaemin was on the floor next to my seat, his breathing slow and relaxed. 

I blinked slowly as my gaze moved from boy to boy. It took me a painful two hours to do the impromptu surgery, first working on taking the bullets out before sewing everything back together. Haechan was lucky enough that the bullets didn't hit any vital organs or important vessels, and that the extreme bleeding was only caused by the wrong muscle being hit by the impact. He slipped from being conscious to unconscious throughout, and everyone had to work together to help me while I did my thing. 

I couldn’t really blame any of them from crashing the moment we made sure that Haechan’s safe—for now. 

After rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I tried to silently move from where I was curled on, careful not to stir anyone. I still have a ton of questions, but those can be taken care of later. I padded as carefully as I could towards the table where Haechan was still resting and peered at the IV that I had hooked on his arm to make sure everything was moving well. 

They even have spare blood bags with them for emergency transfusions. 

...As if this kind of thing normally happens.

"He's going to be okay, right?" 

I hastily turned to see Jaemin staring at me. His voice was low and was only loud enough for me to hear. 

I stared at him for a bit before looking away. 

"Yes. He'll survive."

"Thank you so much." 

I didn't answer. He also didn't say anything else, though I could still feel his gaze heavily on me. I braced myself before speaking again.

"We need to talk." 

I didn't wait for him to reply. I simply walked towards my room, leaving my door open for him to follow. I only turned back to look at him when I finally heard it close softly behind him.

"Who are you?" I asked, before he could even say anything else. I watched as his jaw tightened and released, his eyes full of indecisiveness. I didn't waver. Not this time. 

"You said…"

"That I will never ask questions? I did. But I can't do it anymore, Jaemin. You disappeared for a month without even saying goodbye then showed up on my door with your friends, one of them with a hole in their stomach. You have blood bags—freaking blood bags. What the hell is going on?" 

I tried my hardest to control my voice, not wanting any part of this conversation to be heard outside. My legs felt weak at the moment but I tried my best to continue standing so I could hold his gaze. 

The look in Jaemin's eyes, however, almost made me want to give up. I knew from the pain and hesitation there that I wouldn't like whatever it is he is about to say.

"I'm a criminal."

My stomach dropped. 

I was expecting it, but hearing it straight from him didn't soften the impact and the shock. 

"A…" 

"We steal. We do illegal things. There is absolutely no good way for me to describe this, but yes, I am a runaway who was stupid enough to bring you into this mess," Jaemin said through gritted teeth as he tore his eyes away from me. He ran a hand through his hair and tried to take a deep breath to steady himself.

"I was stupid and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone back and tried to befriend you after that order of coffee. I'm sorry I ran to you that night a month ago. I seriously thought I was going to die and I wanted you to be the one that I see for the last time. I'm sorry for today, or that I couldn't answer any of your questions back then. It was selfish of me to keep you in my life without giving you anything back," he stopped and forced himself to look at me again. My heart squeezed painfully in my chest when our gazes met. 

"I'm sorry." 

I didn't… couldn't say anything. One part of me had already expected this because it is the only reason that makes sense. Those vague answers, his detachment from normal society, the money, every clue seems to point to one direction, but that didn't spare me from my moral dilemma now. Because while I knew, I didn't exactly consider how it relates to me.

I was afraid to.

Because the truth is, I like Na Jaemin to the extent that I'm afraid of what I can do for him.

"Do you kill…" I asked in a whisper, my voice shaky. A frown passed his already stressed features before he answered.

"No. None of us do," he answered, and I knew then that he was telling the truth. Regardless of what he is or what he didn't tell me, I trust him to not lie to me.

"Am I—am I in danger?" I asked next. He firmly shook his head.

"No. I made sure of that. No one would dare—" he stopped, as if gauging what words he can use to not scare me even more. "You have always been under protection." 

That’s when it clicked. The cafe visits from his friends. The random strangers who seem to spring out from nowhere every time I was out and about and needed sudden help. 

My legs finally gave way and I collapsed on my bed behind me. My mind was trying its best to wrap around the situation, leaving my thoughts in a jumble. There are a million things I wanted to say, but I couldn’t get a single one out at the moment. 

Jaemin seemed to know what I was feeling at the very least because he simply stood there, silently watching me. I'm not sure how long the two of us stayed in that bubble of silence, but it was also him who brought me back to reality when I felt warmth cover my hands.

I looked up to see him kneeling in front of me, both his hands gently enveloping my clasped ones. The look in his eyes made my heart lurch, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything still. 

"I'm sorry if I was selfish… I promise, after this, you won't have to worry about anything else."

No. 

"When I met you, I saw something that's so different from the life that I have. Believe me, I tried my best to leave you alone, but I wanted more of it—more of —you, so I kept coming back." 

Are you going to leave me again?

"But you'll be safe now. I promise. You can go back to how it used to be before I… almost ruined it." 

Please don't leave me. 

Jaemin gave my hands one last squeeze and I felt him move to straighten himself. Before he let them go, however, another gentle warmth pressed against my forehead as he grazed it with his lips. 

"Thank you."

My tears dropped the same time the doors closed behind him. 

---

Chapter 4

[doublerainebow]

Artist Resources (Part 1?)

This is basically just going to be a bunch of resources I have found to be useful. I can’t say that I’ve used all of them, but I’m sure they’re all worth checking out.

I’m also gonna try to put a detailed description for most of the links so you have a better idea of what you’re getting. I apologize in advance if some of them are redundant lol

(I put “Part 1″ if in the case I make another one)

~Links to Tutorials, Tips, Resources, etc~

Another Resource List -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Apparently, the post isn’t mobile-friendly, so it’s suggested to view this on Tumblr browser. Has a bunch of other links. I’ve checked out a few of them (mainly the copyright stuff lol), and it seems that some of the links may be a bit outdated. Still, it doesn’t hurt to check out the links.

Arms and Legs -- Leads to another Tumblr post. A handy tutorial on elbow and knee placement.

Art & Game Dev -- This leads to my personal playlist of a bunch of YouTube videos. Has a bunch of tutorials and interesting videos that I’ve collected over the course of a few years lol.

Blamblot -- A website that contains resources and tutorials on comic lettering. This is primarily in reference to western comics, but it doesn’t help to take a looksie.

Commission Calculator -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Helps artists to stop selling themselves short.

Comparing Heights (hikaku-sitatter) -- A height comparer for centimeters.

Comparing Heights -- A height comparer for feet and inches.

Mouth Shapes and Lip-Syncing -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Useful for... drawing mouth shapes.

Reference Angle -- Useful for when you’re trying to map out a face from an odd angle.

Soft Proofing for Printing -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Helps when you’re trying to make prints of your artwork.

Textures -- A website full of different and mostly free textures. While this website is made for 3D texturing, it can also be useful for 2D drawings. Signing up gives you 15 free credits everyday, and you can use those credits to download some textures for free.

The Models Resource -- A website of models ripped from a wide array of games.

The Spriters Resource -- A website of sprites ripped from a wide array of games.

The Textures Resource -- A websites of textures ripped from a wide array of games. 

~Links to Stock Images~

Please check out whatever policies they may have for their images before using them!

(not sure if any of them are active anymore as I followed some of these accounts a long time ago when I used to be more active on Deviant Art lol)

adorkastock (formerly senshistock)

anatoref -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Has a bunch of hand photo references

charligal-stock

HumanAnatomy4Artist -- Does contain nudity

null-entity

PhelanDavion

RobynRose

~Links to Other Artists~

Akihito Yoshitomi -- Yoshitomi is a mangaka who has tutorials on manga making. He also has an insightful series in which he drafts and draws a 30-page manga in 18 days. Remember that every artist works differently and his process may be different from another’s.

Drawfee -- Drawfee is an improv drawing show of four artists: Nathan Yaffe, Jacob Andrews, Julia Lepetit, and Karina Farek. While they don’t have tutorials in a sense, their videos explain the different processes they go through as they draw. They also occasionally provide tips, tricks, and resources in their videos. They do have another channel and a Twitch channel where they host drawing classes in addition to other fun shenanigans.

EtheringtonBrothers -- Has a bunch of useful and eye-catching tutorials called “How to Think When You Draw”.

Mark Crilley -- Mark is a comic artist, specializing in manga, who has a bunch of tutorials about anatomy, perspective, comic making, and other things.

Miyuli -- Miyuli is an artist who posts tutorials on their Twitter. Their tutorials range from anatomy to clothing to other things. They even have a few books of art tips. Currently (as of the time of posting this), their 2018 version is free for download, so I highly recommend you download that. Some tips may be outdated, but they should still be helpful.

Whyt Manga (Twitter/YouTube) -- Odunze is a comic artist, specializing in manga, that has a bunch of tutorials on manga making and drawing characters of color.

~Links to Free Programs~

Blender -- A free 3D program if you’re into 3D modeling and such. I also personally haven’t used Blender (I use Maya lol), but I know it’s a respectable program.

Krita -- A free painting program if you can’t afford Photoshop or Clip Studio Paint. I personally haven’t used Krita, but I have recommended it to a few friends and they have positive reviews about it.

Paint Tool SAI -- Okay, this one isn’t free, but it’s a significantly cheaper painting program where you don’t have to pay a subscription. It’s 5,500JPY (~50 USD). I’m not sure how well it still works on modern computers (the last update was 2016), but I still use it here and there because I love the pen tool feature it has, and it still works like a charm for me.

~General Tips From Raine~

Raine admits that she’s guilty of not following her own advice, but Raine hopes that the tips that she does know will be beneficial to someone who will follow them. She’s also going to keep all her tips under the cut so as to not make this post a huge wall of text (even though it technically already is lol)

Also, if you have some resources, tutorials, tips yourself, please feel free to send them to me and maybe I’ll make a part 2 to this post!

ALWAYS LOOK FOR REFERENCE. This should really go without saying. You can’t draw from life if you refuse to observe life itself.

If you can’t find the exact thing you need, MAKE YOUR OWN REFERENCE. Time and time again, I can’t find something exactly that I need. So instead, what I do is that I take pictures of my own reference. Sometimes I even grab a friend and take pictures of them doing whatever it is I need.

Have a mirror handy when you’re drawing. Sometimes what you need is actually right there in front of you.

Having trouble drawing something? Do some studies. Take the time to understand what it is you’re drawing. I can’t remember the exact story, but I heard that the people who were working on Tarzan were having a hard time drawing his hands. So, what they did was spend a few hours looking at hands to try and understand how they work.

IT’S OKAY TO STUDY THE ART OF OTHER ARTISTS. Just as we look to the old masters as a reference, it’s definitely okay to look at modern-day artists for reference. Just don’t go copying exactly everything that they do, or worse, trace what they do. Just don’t do it... at all.

Not every line needs to be realized. The viewer of your work will automatically connect the dots.

DO NOT TRASH YOUR OLD DRAWINGS. Please, never ever do this. Your old drawings have value to them, even if they look terrible to you. Old drawings may hold ideas for things you could do for the future. They also serve as a way to see how far you’ve come as an artist.

GETTING BETTER AT DRAWING TAKES TIME AND EFFORT. You’re not gonna get better overnight. It’ll take months, or even years, to feel like you’re a competent artist, and even then, you’ll still have room for improvement.

DON’T LOOK DOWN ON YOURSELF IF YOU’RE TAKING A LONG TIME TO GET BETTER. It’ll be better for your mental health in the long run.

Alternatively, DON'T LOOK DOWN ON OTHER ARTISTS EITHER, ESPECIALLY TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL BETTER. You know the struggles it took for you to get where you are, so don’t go putting down other people when you’ve been in their shoes once.

KEEP DRAWING. If you’re not making an effort to get better, then you’re not going to be better. I get that it’s hard to find the inspiration to draw (I’m very guilty of this), but just keep trying. It doesn’t have to be big or spectacular. You don’t even have to post it if you’re the type who likes to post their art stuff.

Try to find references from real-life. It’ll help you better understand form, lighting, shadows, etc., especially if you’re going for a more realistic kind of art style. Otherwise, finding reference from things like cartoons, anime, comics, etc. are just as good.

Try new things. Try new art mediums. Try a different art style. Switch up the way you do things. Maybe you’ll hate it, maybe you’ll like it. Who knows if you don’t try.

Watch time-lapses (or speed draws/speed paints) of other artists!

Pinterest and Google are your friends if you need tutorials or references or whatever.

If you’re offering commissions, DO NOT WORK UNDER YOUR LOCAL MINIMUM WAGE. You are literally devaluing the work you actually put into a piece.

I like to think I’m an aficionado of Photoshop, so feel free to ask me questions on how to achieve something! I’ve used Photoshop for about 11 years now and know my way around the program. On another note, I do recommend setting custom keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop because the default shortcuts are terrible (in my opinion), and because having custom shortcuts increases the speed of your workflow.

Because I’ve been seeing this a lot lately in Twitter, you’re never too old to start in art. Art is just one of those things that anyone can pick up at any age because the only thing you really need to get good in art is time, diligence, and patience.

Try not to post hi-res images of your artwork to prevent art stealers from selling your artwork in high resolution.

Always, always, always add your signature and watermark on your artwork. I like to add my signatures and watermarks in places that’ll be hard to erase or crop out. I’ve also seen people add their signatures and watermarks in creative ways (ex. on a character’s shirt). You need to protect your work in an era where people will just blatantly steal it and make profit off your work.

Tag List

@reality-is-often-disappointing

[kayzume]

Pairing: Iwaizumi (not yet 27, still a student)xClumsy!Reader

Genre: Fluff, Iwa’s hidden irritation

WC: <1k

Artwork by @da-yanaa🤍

Note: I’m not sure what this is🥲, all I know is that half of this is based on a true event(caused by me ofc). This piece is part of the former HQHQ, now Anilysium SFW server collab => HERE!! please check everyone else’s work!!!

PS. Have a wonderful day/night:>

Beta: @vanille--kiss , also another server fwiend except I can’t find them🤍

The exhaustion from running places all day has finally caught with you, and you finally feel like your legs are so numb as they barely want to move.

Your head shot up as you hear the singing of bells signaling a new customer entering the shop, the man stood in all his glory wearing a white and teal tracksuit, only he looked as weary as you are.

He stopped to look around for an empty seat, he walked ever so slowly that the rambunctious bunch behind him shoved him off racing to the empty table.

“Iwa, you’re so slow we’ll go ahead” an overly jolly man said as he tugged on his bag a bit harder while running off.

‘Iwa’ sighed in obvious annoyance,

“Oikawa, shut up” he said in a hard tone

A tap on the counter broke you off your trance,

“Ah, I’m so sorry sir, what will you have today?”

you asked the tall man with broccoli hair, smiling with all you’ve got left. Looking close enough he seems to be with the same crowd as those with the teal tracksuits considering he’s wearing one himself. The continuous snapping of fingers waved you back to reality.

“Oh! I’m sorry, what was that again?” you asked him sheepishly, before he can say another word a man with an almost peach or salmon colored hair slung his arm around him,

“Uhhh I’ll have Thai” the taller man looked at him.

“I was talking.”

“You were just about to, but not really” he replied back to him nonchalantly before leaving,

“Strawberry with fruit jellies, Taro, and that green one” he said pointing at the menu board

“One Matcha, got it. I’ll have your orders served in a few minutes” you smiled at him as he started to walk back to his friends.

You blinked for a few seconds before it hits you that you forgot to ask them about snacks, to be fair they didn’t say anything hence you didn’t ask anything either. Making their drinks was a breeze, you were confident that even though you’re tired to the brim nothing will go wrong.

Only if you weren’t so sure about it.

It was two trips in total, only if it weren’t for the mess in front of you that you instigated yourself,

You were walking to their table when you felt a bit lightheaded as if you’re ready to fall back and sleep, you were a few inches to their table when ‘slip’ you did,

You fell forward without warning as you watched in horror the drink you were just holding flew into the air and onto the lap of one of the customers. The green tea flowed aimlessly from his pants onto the floor.

You scampered on with your feet frantically grabbing a fresh towel from below the counter and wiping away all the while blabbering words of apology that almost seemed like gibberish prayers.

“ImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsor—” you rambled, embarrassment creeping up all the way to the tips of your hair

A gentle yet rough calloused hand tried to help you as you were standing up, saving what would be less than half of the drink you were supposed to serve.

The help didn’t do much though as he was about to hold you back you slipped back from the messy puddle of green on the floor, and you hitting something with your perched up elbows

“Ow,” a wince of pain from behind you made you stumble and stiffly craned your neck behind you, You gasped as you hear roars of laughter and snickers from the other side of the table,

“Oh my Lord, Sir I’m so so so sorry, I-I-I didn’t mean to spill on you and hit you, I’m so sorry” you rambled continuously to the man as a black eye starts to visibly form on his face

“Iwa, I didn’t know you’ll get beaten that easily” a man with fluffed brown hair said while wiping off an imaginary tear

“Iwaizumi, you’re starting to look dumber than before” a second man said, he was that broccoli head that ordered, the man beside him snickering,

Iwaizumi glared at the three of them in an attempt to shut them up but to no avail.

He looked at you next and you flinched from the intense brewing in his chocolate eyes only for them to soften the second he noticed your reaction, he gave you a warm smile and said,

“It’s fine” Iwaizumi’s smile looks genuine despite the fact that he was wincing in pain.

It made you feel guilty as you walk back through the back door to get an ice pack,

“I need to make it up to him,” you thought to yourself determined,

You walked to the table and handing iwaizumi the ice pack and once he had it, you bowed in all 90 degrees glory ultimately hitting your forehead on their table

*BAM*

“Ow” you muttered quietly still bowing, until you felt a warm hand helping you up

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it” Iwaizumi said as he gets a band aid out of his bag pocket, placing it on your reddened forehead,

“But I—” you start,

“It’s fine, but if you really want to make it up to me, how about another cup of this” he said gesturing to his drink,

You nodded your head at him, the little crinkles on his eyes distracted you until his hands were once again placed above your,

“...and a date” he continued, his words slowly made sense to you and you realize that you’re still halted midway,

“Huh” you’re not in protest however, you, the two of you were in fact in the middle of a crowd in a cafe, whistles and applauds snap you both back to reality as iwaizumi also realize that you two were not alone but instead of loosening his hold you he tightened his grip and give you a one eyed sweet smile, he got up along with his teasing friends and left.

You held your hands tightly to your chest, for a second there you were caught by his mesmerizing bravery, despite all that egging he’s getting from his friends

“I knew you liked that cute barista” one even poked fun at him, before they disappeared to the other side of the door,

“Such a man,” you thought, clearing up your throat you cleaned up the table taking cup by cup until you noticed one scribbled with a pen,

‘This is iwa’s contact, I’m sure he’ll forget to give it to you,No need to thank me

—Oikawa;>’

A smile slowly creeped on your face, you mused ‘I guess that date can possibly happen.’

So...yeah,, I’m kinda back??🤡

[singswan-springswan]

Mama mia, here I go again!

It was a woeful day for the New York Bell Company. Not for any particularly disastrous reason, really, but Peggy was on sick leave. Which meant no one was taking lunch orders. Jack knew Peggy wasn’t really sick—he knew she was actually out shopping—but he wasn’t a snitch, so he said nothing when the wave of complaints washed through the office at eleven-thirty sharp. SSR agents were a punctual bunch, if not the most organized. They probably could have assigned the classic Marge-Duty to some green recruit, but no one thought to do it until the desks had been wholly vacated.

Everyone went off in their own way, hunting down whatever lunch option they fancied most. A good majority of the agents filtered out to delis, cafés, or other quick orders they could carry back to work, but Jack had a lengthy break, since he’d be working a late shift. So he had time to decide.

After a brisk lap around the block, and a leisurely taxi ride, Jack eventually plopped himself in a foamy-green booth at the local automat. Looking around, he found he remembered the place. Peggy slugged him unconscious in the back alley here. Quaint. 

In any case, this joint had an offensive color scheme—which meant the service was bound to be sub-par, and the food either divine or poor at best. It was worth a try. Jack had time to kill, anyway. He didn’t look forward to returning to his cases yet. They’d reached a dreadfully boresome stage. 

Tossing his jacket on the booth beside him, Jack settled in and propped a menu between his hands. This was a very basic automat, it seemed. Nothing here had surprised him yet. He’d been made uncomfortable, yes (these booths were not decent lounge material), and disenchanted (he could count the water marks on the ceiling with both hands), but nothing had yet caught his eye in an especially positive way.

“By gosh! Agent Seal Man!”

Jack jumped in surprise. He may or may not have banged his knee against the bottom of the table. But men don’t feel pain, so he pretended nothing happened haha. “Ah!” The menu fell flat with a crisp slap.

A young woman had materialized at the end of the booth. Her simple uniform matched the horrid colors of the furniture around the diner, and her honeyed hair was pulled into smart curls away from her fair face. She had a bright sparkle in her skylight eyes.

Jack was tempted to groan. “Angie?” He ground out instead. Of course it was just luck that she worked here, of all the possible places in New York for a girl like her to work.

She flashed him a winning smile, clearly pleased. “That’s my name, sugar! What brings you to this part of town?”

Was she serious? Why was she being so amiable? So chipper? They weren’t old friends. Sure, they’d come to a very personal and mutual agreement that one time on the beach, but it didn’t mean they had a special bond. Jack would like to avoid her if he could, despite maybe possibly finding her to be fun company. Would it be rude to get up and walk out now? He still had plenty of time to find a new place to eat.

But the thought of Angie’s crestfallen expression made him hesitate. For whatever reason, she did express genuine warmth towards him, and he sensed that she’d take it to heart if he behaved boorishly. Then she would no doubt act callous in any future encounters, and though her promise ensured her physical incapacity to spill his secret, there were certainly other ways for her to spite him. She’d probably tattle to Peggy. Then Jack would be in for a long-haul of suffering.

So his arse stayed planted in the booth. But he wasn’t happy about it. With a resigned wince, he scooped up the menu again and tapped it against the tabletop. “Lunch break.” He sighed, closing his eyes to gather what meager patience he had.

“Well fancy that!” She whipped out a pad and pen. “Can I get’cha started with something to drink?”

“A tall glass of peace and quiet.” He grumbled.

She scribbled a quick note. “Large black coffee, sure thing. Ready to order yet?”

At least she was to-the-point. Jack wasn’t sure he had the energy to handle a lengthy conversation with her. By the time he’d finished his delicious reuben sandwich, she’d wasted no time mincing her words with him, giving his booth the space he’d requested. It was a gesture he hadn’t expected, but immensely appreciated nonetheless. Maybe this place wasn’t so bad after all—even if Angie was here.

“All finished, darling?” She swooped out of the blue to collect his empty plate.

“Sure.” He frowned. “Don’t call me that.”

Pausing for once, Angie gave him a curious look, raising one brow in a high arch. “Well, I’ve gotta call you something. Would you prefer ‘sir’? Or ‘mister’?”

Jack couldn’t help making a face. She was patronizing him on purpose, he was certain. “Please don’t.”

Her lips quickly twitched into an easy smile. “How about ‘sailor’? You served in the navy, isn’t that right?”

“I’d really rather you didn’t.”

“I think it suits you.”

“Angie…”

“Say, this is quite a lengthy lunch break you’re on. Got time for dessert?”

Jack was very tempted to say no. He didn’t really want to spend longer in this automat than what could be considered strictly polite. But he didn’t have to be back at the office for another half hour. And he was craving something sweet. If this place’s pastries were half as good as the rest of their food, he wouldn’t mind suffering Angie’s presence for a little while longer.

“...I guess it couldn’t hurt.”

She brightened. “Right on!” Without warning, she looped her free arm through his and pulled him to his feet. “Choose from the wall over here. We’ve got the best pies.”

Jack made a mild noise of protest at being towed around. He really shouldn’t be surprised by it, at this point. Angie was one spontaneous soul.

“Do seals like pie?”

Jack made a point of scowling at the glass instead of Angie, though he doubted the attention would deter her. “I’m not a seal.” He gruffed.

“Right, right.” She cleared her throat and shuffled his dishes off to a nearby busser. 

The key-lime slice looked decent, but Jack wasn’t in the mood for merengue. Maybe an apple? Did they have apple pie? Yes, there. The top right. A nickel for the apple pie. Angie snuck a coin in the slot before Jack could even think to dig through his pockets.

“But you are a fair swimmer.” She popped the drawer open and pulled the dessert out. “My treat.” Was her simple explanation when he looked at her confused. “You must go swimming often, right?”

“Thanks.” Jack curtly accepted the plate. “No.”

“Oh no?”

“I’m busy.” He said shortly.

“Oh.” Was that pity on her pretty face? Disgusting. “What a shame. I figured… you enjoy it.”

“Yes.” He swiveled on his heels and wandered back towards his booth.

“Aw gee!” That was definitely pity. “Come on over, sailor.” She took his arm again and pulled him to the counter. Jack had resigned himself to her attentiveness.

Under her dotage, he plopped onto a bar stool and set his pie down. Angie procured a hefty tub of whipped cream. She proceeded to generously dollop his plate with the heavenly white fluff, disregarding the frowns from her coworkers. “You tell me when to quit.” Was her mandate.

Just to spite her, Jack stayed silent until his pie was buried. She soon stopped and gave him a questioning look.

“Dear me, sailor. Lighten up! Don’t you like pie?”

“Sure, when I’m not being pampered.” To be honest, he enjoyed the attention. He just didn’t like why he was getting it. Angie was only acting this way because of her fascination with his selkie nature—there could be no other explanation. And even though she couldn’t tell anyone about it, the scrutiny was still a little unnerving.

She frowned. For a moment, she said nothing, then, “You need more friends.”

Jack lurched back with a sputter. “Excuse me?”

“I’m only trying to be nice, and you’ve got no idea how to handle it.” 

“Now hang on—”

An unimpressed look was all he got.

“If you’re just going to insult me, I’ll take this back to my booth.” Why did she have to say that? Jack had plenty of friends, though most were fair-weather and shallow at best. Besides, even if he didn’t, her criticism wasn’t the least bit convincing him to change that. He scooped up his plate of whipped cream and spun on his heel.

And his gut bottomed out.

For a lengthened period of time, he stood there frozen, frowning at the booth he’d previously occupied, trying to recall with a furious alarm whether he’d actually been sitting somewhere else…

“Forgot where you were?” Angie drawled helpfully.

Jack stepped back, elbow bumping the counter, slowly setting his plate down with the steadiest hands he could manage. Surely he was mistaken. Surely he wasn’t looking hard enough. But his memory was crystal clear, and he knew that that was his spot, but it was empty and his deep, slow breaths were losing more of their effect the longer he blinked and clenched his jaw.

“My jacket’s gone.”

“Hmm?”

Jack turned to her perhaps a little too urgently. He noted her perplexion, then whipped back around in hopes of freshening his view. It didn’t work. There was no jacket at the table where he’d been sitting. It wasn’t on the ground, it wasn’t in any of the adjacent booths, it wasn’t in the arms of another customer lingering about the room. It was gone. Along with the man who’d been eating behind Jack. He’d had a shifty air about him.

“My jacket—” Jack crossed the distance with long strides, placing a fast grip on the seatback for emphasis. “Wasn’t I sitting here?”

When he looked, Angie was then sporting concern upon her pretty brow. She drifted around the bar to pace closer. “Yes, that’s right. Did you leave it in the booth?”

He had, only leaving it alone to get up for the pie… “I didn’t move it.” He insisted.

Angie propped her hands on her hips. “Huh.”

Jack tried to even out his breathing. How could he be so inattentive? How could he not have noticed suspicious personnel in the diner? Why did he have to turn his back for even a moment? Why did he indulge Angie? He should have known better than that! Now his jacket could be on its way miles from him, with a person he didn’t know, and he might never see it again! This was horrible!

“Someone must have taken it.” Angie said regretfully. 

The unmistakable pinching pressure in Jack’s chest affirmed her statement. Already, his whole body itched with a compelling desire to comply, and submit, and relegate himself to freaking servitude—and he was very much not a fan.

“I hope you didn’t have any valuables in there.”

Jack scrambled to pull his wallet out. He tossed a ten on the table. “I have to find it. That jacket is priceless.”

“Family heirloom?”

He had his keys, his hat, yes. Everything was in order. The pie would have to be left behind. “No. It’s a little more important than that.”

Angie jolted out to grab his arm before he could run for the door. “Hang on, sailor. Just wait a minute. You’re about to have a heart attack.” She squinted at his pallor. “Try breathing.”

Jack scowled at her. Forget manners; he’d much rather risk the wrath of Peggy than lose his skin for good. “Let go!” He hissed. “This is serious!”

“It’s only a coat.”

“It’s my coat.” He managed to jerk free. She tailed him straight out the door.

“I know that! But surely panicking won’t solve the issue.”

“I’m not panicking.” He huffed through gritted teeth. It was halfway a lie. 

“You’re not likely to find it. Anyone could have it now.”

“Too bad. I’m trying anyway.”

“Why?”

Jack shot a glare over his shoulder. She was still following him, right down the street in her turquoise uniform and low black heels. Concern and confusion shone clear on her dollish face.

“It’s my skin.” He snapped. “My seal skin. The only one I have.”

His answer didn’t change her expression much, but she didn’t hesitate. “I’ll help you look.”

The immediacy of her reply caught Jack off guard. Arguably, he didn’t need her help. Whoever had his jacket must be close—close enough for him to sense a pull from the bottom of his sternum—and if he was quick, he should be able to track them down. Besides, wasn’t Angie in the middle of a shift? She’d walked out of work like it was nothing.

“I don’t need your help.”

“But you could use it.” She insisted. “Listen, I don’t know much about selkies, so just fill me in. It’ll be more efficient if there are two of us.”

There were many holes in her claim, starting primarily with the fact that she was a woman and therefore not intimidating to a gutsy thief. She was also a civilian and had no formal training when it came to street sweeps. She had no idea how important this coat was. She had no idea what sort of effect it had on Jack. How could she possibly help him?

But she wasn’t going to leave him. Some small, shriveled, and pathetically neglected shadowy recess of his mind took comfort in that thought.

With a reluctant swallow, he pushed the bitter comments on his tongue further down and acknowledged Angie with a small nod.

“It changes shape.” He muttered. “It might not be a jacket anymore.”

Angie took it in stride. Once again, she looped their arms together and marched along the sidewalk. “Alright, will any part of it look the same?”

“The color. And the texture. It’ll still be glossy, like a skin.”

“Is it really seal skin?”

“Yes. I can’t shift without it.”

That earned him a cynical side-eye. “You’re stuck as a human without it?”

“Unfortunately.” 

She cringed in sympathy, which surprised Jack a little bit. “How long can you go without it?”

“Technically forever, but it’s not pleasant. Especially if it’s in someone else’s possession.”

“Why does that make a difference?”

He hesitated to tell her. A good deal of people who knew anything about selkies knew this key tidbit of information, and finding someone ignorant was a little bit refreshing. At the same time, Angie seemed like the stubborn type. If he didn’t tell her, she’d find out. Besides. She’d treated him well. There was a good chance she wouldn’t use the knowledge against him in any truly harmful manner—and even if she did, Jack liked to think Peggy’s vengeance worked both ways. (Neither of his assertions were solid in the least bit. But that was nothing new).

“I have a compelling urge to obey whoever has it.”

“What do you mean?” She fired back quickly, not missing a beat. “Don’t you have a choice?”

“It’s kinda hard to resist.”

“Then we’d better find it quickly.”

Her cool temperament impressed him, though he’d never admit as much out loud. Jack sincerely appreciated the readiness she exuded.

“Do you have any sort of connection to it?” She thought to wonder.

“A little. I have a sense of when it’s close.”

“And?”

“I think it’s still close.”

“I’m sorry I waltzed you around the automat. That man probably wouldn’t have taken it if I didn’t keep you for so long.”

In truth, Angie was nowhere near at fault. Jack had allowed himself to be distracted by her. He’d let his guard down, he’d turned his back, and now he was dealing with the consequences. “Don’t worry about it.” He muttered. 

“How close are we talking here? Three blocks? Two?”

“Probably five. If he was smart, he’ll hail a cab and book it. Let’s hope he left his brains at home today.”

They ended up parting halfway down the street. Jack had doubts about Angie’s ability to identify his skin—and even more about the contingent scenario in which she acquired it but refused to give it up—but he knew he was in a tight spot, and he had to cut his losses. She could still potentially be useful. He couldn’t afford to become further distracted by his loyal anxieties. If he didn’t find his skin soon—well, he’d rather not think about it. The minimal fear of losing his real form forever was enough motivation to hone his focus.

It seemed close to hours passing as he combed the streets, scanning every alley, every window, every open door. He felt like a looney and looked like one too, but he didn’t care. He knew his skin was close. The steady pressure in his chest confirmed it. But he had very little sense of direction, and every second that passed only added to his growing panic, until he was skipping every other step, almost at a broken run.

By some miracle, the pounding of his heart didn’t ruin his hearing. It was Angie’s voice, down an adjacent alleyway, loud and agitated. Jack scrambled towards the sound. The twinge in his chest tweaked.

“I’m not messing around! Hand it over!”

A thickly accented voice gruffed back. “What the heck is wrong with you, lady?”

“That doesn’t belong to you.”

“It don’t belong to you either!”

“Give it!”

“You’re out of your mind!”

Jack turned the corner just in time to appreciate the scene. The man from the booth behind him at lunch was enclosed there, pink in the face and scowling (Angie had that effect on people, it seemed). And there, draped over one arm, Jack’s skin hung limp and lifeless—still a jacket by some wonder. 

Angie had boxed the man in with unapologetic authority. Jack skidded to a halt behind her.

Without warning, she swooped down and snatched an empty Smirnoff bottle off the ground. She smashed it on the wall, not hesitating a second to jab her new weapon at the thief with fire in her eyes.

“Listen here, mister! I’m not playing games! Either you give me the jacket now or I—”

“Woah woah, easy!” Jack decided to make his presence known with a firm hand to Angie’s shoulder. Not the smartest move, since she almost cut him in the face before she saw it was him. But Jack wasn’t notorious for restraint. “I’m sure there’s no need for violence.”

“You!” The man spat angrily.

“Yes, me.” Hopefully projecting a laid-back, collected ease on top of his volatile anxiety would give Jack the upper hand in this situation. In any case, he wasn’t trusting Angie to remain calm. She still looked like she’d commit battery at the drop of a hat. Jack kept a solid grip on her. “Sorry for the trouble, but I believe you have something of mine.”

The man jabbed a finger at Jack. “You back off!” He ordered.

A profound urge to cease speaking to the perp and walk away washed through Jack’s bloodstream, much to his annoyance. He held his ground with clenched teeth.

“Don’t tell him what to do!” Angie barked right back, brandishing her glass. She strained against Jack’s hold. “You dirty piece of scum! Just give him his coat!”

Boldly (stupidly), the man raised his chin. “And what if I don’t?”

“I’ll mess you up!”

Jack squeezed hard. “Alright, angel, let’s take it easy.”

She made a cute, indignant noise.

“This poor chap doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into.”

“What are you talking about?” The thief demanded.

But Jack still found himself unable to speak in his direction, so he continued with Angie. “Jail time for grand larceny is five years.” He explained. “And we’ve got two witnesses to a redhanded culprit—”

“What!” The man broke out. “Ain’t no way this jacket’s worth that much!”

Angie caught on quickly. “Oh really? Well then I guess you'll have no problem giving it up. Or should he just arrest you and settle this in court?”

“Him? Arrest—” A nervous scoff. “You can’t arrest me.You’re not an officer.”

“No,” Angie reached around Jack’s hips and unclipped his badge with her free hand. She shoved it forward with a sneer. “He’s a federal agent!”

The evidence, at least, was enough to make him balk. Between a shiny badge, and Angie’s unhinged malice, the thief finally swallowed his pride and conceded.

“Alright! Alright!” He stuttered. “For pete’s sake, just tone it down.” Hands shaking, he flung the jacket away towards them, taking off without a second to spare.

Relief was immediate. Jack snagged his coat from the air and tangibly relaxed, almost slumping forward when the tension of the bond dissolved. He felt like he could breathe again. The familiar silky soothe of his skin in his hands was an unparalleled comfort.

“Hey!” He yelled down the street when he came to his senses. “I see you again, you won’t be so lucky!” Hopefully the weasel’s face would stay fresh in Jack’s mind so he could uphold that threat. He meant it.

Angie tossed her bottle aside with a frown. “Not going to arrest him?” She sounded disappointed.

Jack snorted out the front half of a laugh. After the whole ordeal, he was exhausted, and his lunch break was ten minutes expired. “No. He ain’t worth the time. I have better things to do.”

“Like what?” She clipped his badge back in place. Wow. Brazen woman.

Some twisted, tired kind of smile made its way to his lips. “If I recall, there’s still a pie I need to eat.”

Dooley would be annoyed, but he wouldn’t be surprised. Jack would make it up to him with an extra hour tonight. In the meantime, he felt in dire need of some decompression—so it was back to the automat with Angie on his arm.

After a near scare with her boss—yelling at her for ditching in the middle of a shift—Jack intervened with another flash of his badge and got her off the hook. The plate of whipped cream was only a little melted in the tepid springtime warmth, and he sincerely enjoyed his soggy slice of apple pie beneath it. 

Jack was just finishing at the bar when the door chimed and a familiar dame strode in. She looked the picture of health, as he’d suspected. Three paper bags hung on each arm, a red pair of glasses perched high on her upheld nose, and each coiffe of her shiny brunette hair was positively immaculate despite the middle-aged day. Jack was not surprised. He waved with his fork.

She gave him a stern look and flicked her shades down an inch. “Thompson.” Was the curt acknowledgement.

“Hiya Marge.”

“Your lunch break is long over.”

“Well I couldn’t find a place to eat. We had no one to take the orders.”

She paused a second, just to emphasize how hard she was judging him, then decided: “That is pathetic.” And took the seat beside him.

No doubt her current visit had been carefully timed with the end of the allotted lunch shift, on the off chance that anyone from the office might go out to dine and see her here. Most likely Jack had ruined her planning. Oh well. He wasn’t crying about it—not after all the recent stress he’d been under.

“Oh hey, English!” Angie strolled by to take Jack’s empty dish, waving cheerfully. She set an easy hand on Jack’s shoulder, which he—surprisingly—didn’t shrug off. “Don’t worry about the ‘ole sailor boy. We had an adventure just now.”

Peggy wasn’t impressed very often, but when she was, she was subtle about it. Jack had learned to recognize the look (as a basic survival skill). It caught him off guard every time.

“Is that so?”

Angie recounted the story. Somehow, she kept Jack’s secret safe through it all. Just like she promised.

[nostalgiahan]

Still Into You

genre: songfic, fluff, smut

pairing: graffiti artist!changbin x afab!reader (gender-neutral language)

word count: 2k

warnings: drug use (cannabis,) trespassing, oral sex (f,) car sex, little dialogue, changbin and reader run from the cops lol

a/n: i was listening to still into you by paramore and this just kinda. came into existence. it’s also very song focused so if you’ve never listened to 2000s alt rock... i’m sorry lmao. the sugarmill in the story is also a real place that my friends and i used to visit and smoke take pictures at, although the cops never found us there haha. anyways enjoy folks.

Your nails had been tapping on the windowsill enough to wear them down to nubs by the time Changbin pulled up in front of your house. When his beat up Subaru pulled up next to the curb, you just about jumped out of your skin from excitement. Today was your fourth anniversary, as well as Valentine’s Day, and the adrenaline rushing through your blood was a sign that you were more than looking forward to whatever fun plans he had up his sleeve.

Compared to most couples on Valentine’s day, your outfit was pretty plain and not at all glamorous. Practical boots, jeans, an old band hoodie and Changbin’s dark green parka were your clothes of choice, but you knew that your boyfriend wasn’t going to take you to some fancy restaurant. No, you two were going adventuring.

As soon as you hop in the passenger seat of the car, shoving a couple of receipts into the foot well, Changbin reaches into his hoodie pocket and gives you a card. It’s crude, made of a folded sheet of printer paper and hastily scribbled on in pen but it’s very fitting for him.

“You better enjoy the card,” he says with a smirk, “because it came to me in a dream. This is pure, undiluted Changbin, packaged for your enjoyment and convenience.”

Giggling, you open the card. Inside is a barely legible “i love you so much y/n” surrounded by hearts, and in the corner is a drawing of a cow dressed in a lab coat and holding a beaker labeled “Moorie Curie.” It’s perfect, but what else did you expect from him?

“Happy anniversary, my love.” When you look up at Changbin, he has the widest smile on his face, cheeks dotted with flecks of paint and eyes crinkled up into little crescents. He’s dressed similarly to you, hair sitting in a pile on top of his head, clearly not having been paid attention to before leaving the house. It doesn’t matter, though, since the both of you will be wearing hoods over your heads anyways. You lean over the center console to give him a quick kiss, although it takes a couple of tries to get his lips since you’re both smiling so hard.

Changbin kicks his old car into gear as he sets off towards his destination. He’s explaining where you’re going, but you can barely hear him over the car speakers blasting Simple Plan and Green Day.

“So yeah, it’s this sugarmill that caught on fire in, like, 1910, and they never renovated it. There’s a bunch of cool abandoned shit around there, too. I think there’s, like, three fucked up couches.”

As you listen to him talk, you stick your fingers through the gap at the top of the side window. It’s permanently cracked open like that, and you have vivid memories of trying to throw cigarette butts through the gap when the two of you were bored.

After a while of listening to pop punk and playing with Changbin’s fingers over the gear shift, you arrive at your destination. Several charred brick buildings sit in the middle of a field, dead trees framing an open area in the center where someone has set up some logs and rocks to form a makeshift circle. Your boyfriend’s eyes scan the landscape, looking for his next canvas. Eventually, he tugs your arm and leads you towards one of the buildings, smiling back at you. “C’mon, let’s go explore this place.”

The two of you wander for a while, over rickety walkways and up staircases, taking pictures with your Polaroid and holding hands the whole time. Eventually, Changbin finds a stretch of wall big enough to start his work. Setting his duffel bag on the ground, he beckons you over and crouches down, inviting you to hop onto his back.

He pulls out a can of white spray paint, shaking it and popping the cap with his thumb. As he starts to paint, making large, sweeping motions with his arms, you really wished he had worn something sleeveless, however impractical. After lighting a slightly crushed joint you’d fished out of your pocket, you nestled your nose into his shoulder, holding the joint up to Changbin’s lips. He takes a few pulls as he works, the previously bland wall turning into a beautiful blend of blues, purples, and whites. It’s always fascinating to see how he works, seemingly not thinking before laying down a line of paint, yet each stroke seems to perfectly fit in with the others.

As he’s switching colors, Changbin lets you off his back, settling his hands on your sides. He stares at you for a bit, trying to study every bit of your face that isn’t covered by the oversized hood of his jacket. After a while, he smiles, pulling you close and kissing your forehead. Changbin always called you his muse, but you never expected him to take it as literally as he did, often staring at you or asking unrelated questions when he was stuck with a piece. He sways gently back and forth, pressing little kisses to your head, as Good Charlotte emanates from the tiny phone speaker in his back pocket. Occasionally, he’ll pull back just a tiny bit to really study your face, kissing you softly and muttering something along the lines of “i really can’t believe how fucking incredible you are” or “i love you so much it’s unreal.”

It’s not until a few more songs have ended that he pulls away, inviting you back onto his back as you light another joint. The piece is almost done, the tag “SPEARB” painted in blobby letters, shining artificially. All he has left is the outline, but his work is cut short when you hear the faint sound of sirens approaching and the light creeping in from the broken windows flashes a faint red and blue.

What happens next is like clockwork. You hop off of Changbin’s back, putting out the joint on the wall and throwing it into his duffel bag along with the other cans of paint he’s left out. What you’re supposed to do next is grab the bag and run, but Changbin is trying his best to finish a really specific detail and the more time he has that can in his hand, the less time you guys have to get the fuck out. After what seems like an eternity of whisper-yelling and (gently) stomping your foot at him, he caps the can and throws it into the bag. Finally, the two of you are off. As he’s picking up the bag, however, you notice what he was taking so long to finish. In tiny lettering, in the bottom corner of the piece, 4 words. “fuck cops” on one line, and “for y/n” on another.

As the two of you clamber over wooden planks and piping, pulling your hoods over your heads and your masks over your faces to hide your identities, Changbin grabs your hand and squeezes. He lets go almost as quickly as he grabbed it but the sentiment is still there; i’m here, i’m gonna keep us safe. It’s a welcome sentiment when shouts of “police,” and “show yourselves” echo through the abandoned hall.

Fifteen minutes of running and one chain link fence climb later, you’re back at the car, cops nowhere in sight. You’re panting heavily as you throw off the parka and throw it into the backseat, and Changbin doesn’t look any better as he’s gulping water and fanning his face. Right as you’re about to climb in, he grabs your arm and spins you so you’re pressed between him and the car, holding your cheeks in his hands and grinning at you.

“God. Fuck. Wow. You’re unreal. I love you so much.”

You’re unable to do anything but nod. The two of you are still breathless and in that moment you realize that’s what your love was like. In the four years of you dating, your love never went stale, you never settled into a routine. You were always doing new things, like going on spur of the moment road trips or fucking around at playgrounds in the early hours of the morning. You never thought about the future, just did your best to enjoy your time in the present and bask in the glow of each other’s affection. You expected that after such a long time together you’d at least feel a little duller, but everything still feels as fresh and new as when you were teenagers and sneaking out to make out on park benches when no one was looking.

As you’re lost in thought, Changbin pulls you impossibly closer and presses his lips to yours, hard. Music is still playing from his phone as the kiss becomes more heated, and you make sure to add 1985 by Bowling for Soup to your “running from the cops” playlist later. Almost every memory you have with Changbin is attached to a song, and this one is no exception.

Changbin pulls away to wrench open the back seat door, guiding you to sit and kneeling on the dirty floor. He heaves the duffel bag on the seat next to you and you dig through it, searching for the joint you threw into it earlier. Once you’ve gotten to My Own Worst Enemy, you’ve lit it and Changbin has gotten your jeans halfway down your legs and your thighs over his shoulders.

Your boyfriend wastes no time in burying his face in your heat, licking hot stripes up and down and moaning loudly into your core. He pulls away to rest his head on your thigh and take a few puffs of the joint, and in that moment you remember your Polaroid exists and manage to snap a picture of him blowing out smoke, with your hand in his hair and his face squished between your legs.

Changbin pays it no mind and gets straight back to work, sucking on your clit and easing his tongue into your hole. Your grip on his hair tightens and you arch into his mouth, fucking yourself back on his tongue. Picking up on this, he hooks his arms under your thighs and pulls your towards him, close enough that you’re afraid he’s going to suffocate himself trying to pleasure you.

It’s hot and sticky and perfect, and the atmosphere combined with the weed and the fact that Seo fucking Changbin is eating you out is too much for you and you cum all over his tongue, which eagerly laps up your release, taking long, languid strokes to make sure he gets every drop. As you come down, Changbin is stroking your thighs and sucking hickeys into the soft flesh, and you register that Misery Business needs to be added to your “dirty car sex” playlist.

After basking in the yellow glow of the car’s overhead light and the thrilling afterglow of just having done something you shouldn’t have for a while, lazily finishing off the rest of your joint, the two of you get your things in order and begin the journey to Changbin’s apartment, speeding down the highway with the windows cracked the whole way. He carries you into the building like he always does, setting you down gently on the couch before heading off to the kitchen so you can make some blueberry muffins together. You do, and they’re terrible, so you heat up leftovers instead and watch reruns of old James Bond movies, cuddling on the couch. The night ends with Chasing Cars and you laying on Changbin’s chest, naked and sweaty and anticipating lots of aches in the morning, whispering tiny i love yous into each others’ skin and it’s perfect. But everything is always perfect with him. What else could you possibly expect?

please let me know if you guys enjoyed this!! feel free to send an ask, i always love receiving them🤌🏻🤌🏻

[lo-55]

Playing With Fire

While playing a perfectly innocent video game you get thrown into a dangerous world on the brink of incineration! At least you’re surrounded by a bunch of hot people. If nothing else you can shower them with copious, well earned affection. 

You come awake with a start. 

Everything is just a little off kilter. Like your eyes aren’t focused or you're wearing someone else's glasses. It takes you a few long minutes to realize that you’re staring down at a piece of paper. 

It’s listed one through eight, with a check box next to each number. 

At the top you see ‘Company Preference List’, and beneath that is your name scrawled in your own handwriting. But, when did you write it? And what was the list? You look up to find yourself in a library, surrounded by a bunch of other people all dressed in orange uniforms. You look down and find yourself in the same one. You recognize it as the Fire Force boiler suits. 

You touch your cheek slowly. Then poke the corner of your eyes. You’re not wearing your VR visor. And you’re not holding handles either. Are you hallucinating? You were playing the game, in the middle of some side quest. Did the game reset? This looked like a scene from the start of the game. It followed the beginning of the series, but through the eyes of a random side character researching Haijima on their own. There was some kind of revenge plot and a lot of stuff about their big sister, but you hadn’t gotten to the full reveal of the tragic back story yet. They interacted with the main characters plenty, but mostly they spent their time in their own squad, the fourth. 

You were halfway through the game, and now you were back at the start?

You look around for something to tell you what’s going on. You try to poke the menu button, but you’re not holding controllers. So all you really end up doing is poking the air between your hands with your thumbs. You’re starting to panic, when something shiny catches your attention. 

When did you get that ring? 

Plain silver on your forefinger. You poke it and gasp when the world shifts minutely. 

A flicker of fire, a figure dark against the light. It warps in and out of your vision in a split second. 

Right. Tragic back story. 

The ring was from their (your?) older sister. Now disappeared a-la-infernal fire. You were like the reverse Shinra. 

Wait. 

Shinra. 

Your head snapped around quickly from one person to the other. Most of them were boring background characters. No, no, no. Boring. Lame. Basically grey blobs. 

Were you going crazy and you couldn’t even enjoy it?! 

“Uh, hey? Are you okay?” 

Your head snaps sideways to find bright red eyes peering at you in concern. 

Red eyes. Black hair. 

You stare hard at him until the corners of his mouth start to twitch and curl upwards. 

“H-hey. Why are you staring at me?” 

Abruptly you reach over and cup his cheeks. His face is hot beneath your hands. You can touch him. You can feel the heat of his skin. He’s blushing something fierce. 

“You are… adorable,” you declare. 

He turns bright red and squeaks at you until you finally let him go. 

“What?!” 

“Did I stutter?” you prop your chin in your hand and look him over. Yep. Definitely cute. You just wanna squeeze him. But, you should probably do other things first. Like figure out what exactly is going on. 

Not that you can come outta the gate with ‘hey I was playing a video game and now I’m stuck in it, also I thought you weren’t real? What gives yo?’ 

Even you aren’t that impulsive. 

Actually, in real live you’re not very impulsive at all. That was what made games so fun, especially open world ones where you could do basically whatever you wanted. IRL you were more withdrawn than anything, even when you wanted to be social. 

Now… You could be whoever you wanted, right? 

Did you even have to follow the plot? Could you put a preference for another company and go there? Or would you still end up in the forth? And what about your abilities? In the game you’d had a choice at the beginning between a second gen ability and two third gen powers. You’d ended up picking at random, since they all seemed cool and you hadn’t been very far into the anime yet at the time. 

How would you even use those powers here, assuming that you could? 

“Sorry, I was spacing out,” you finally said, “What were you saying?” 

“Oh uh,” Shinra looked away, his grin still pulling at his face. “I was just asking if you were okay. You were looking at the form for so long, but whenever you talked about joining a company before you always said you would go to the fourth. Not that we talk a lot, so I wouldn’t know if you wanted to go to the fifth or the sixth or the seventh or-” 

“Babe, you’re rambling,” you cut in, starting to smile yourself. Even though you’re beyond confused something about Shinra puts you at ease. Everything about him seems so… warm. And yeah, the smile could be off putting. If it wasn’t so damn adorable. 

“O-oh!” aaaand he was blushing again. 

You look down at the paper, your brows furrowing. What are you even supposed to say to this? 

“I dunno,” you said at last, “I guess I was reconsidering. There’s a lot of companies, and a lot of options out there. I might end up going a totally different path if it’s not too late… What about you?” 

“Me? Well I didn’t really have a particular preference, but I heard that they’re trying to send more people to the eighth this year. Since its such a new company, and so small.” 

“Mmmm. That’s true. Maybe I’ll go there,” you muse. It would put you smack in the middle of all the action, and you could see the sweet Iris, and the too-hot-to-be-fair Maki. You could stay with adorable Shinra and the well meaning dumbass that was Arthur. Not to mention the two guys in charge. If you could get Obi to bench press you- 

Nope! Bad! Focus on the task at hand. No thirsting over captains right now! 

“I was thinking the same thing,” Shinra admitted, looking down at his own paper. 

“Yeah? I guess such a small company would make it easy for you to stand out and come a hero, right?” 

Shinra looked startled. You offered him a sweet smile and turned back to your paper and picked up your pen. 

You marked your preferences. 

Eighth, seventh, fourth, second, fifth, sixth, third, first. 

“The eighth and the seventh?” Shinra asked, peaking over at your sheet. 

You shot him a grin. “They both sound like fun to me. Hey, Shinra?” 

“Yeah?” 

Your grin grows wider. “Let’s both do our best, and save lots of people okay?” 

Shinra’s smile is small, but true. 

“Okay.” 

You bump your fist to his to seal the deal. 

~ 

It had taken you a couple of tries to find your dorm room. 

Your body seemed like it knew what it was doing, even if your mind didn’t. You had to explain away your frazzled state to the woman in charge of your wing, a nun who’s name you couldn’t recall to save your life, as nerves. She had looked dubious, but hadn’t questioned you when she pointed you to your room. 

Probably thinks I’m hung over, you thought as you stepped inside. If I didn’t know better I’d think I was drunk enough to hallucinate. But it’s all way too real. Just what happened? One second I was playing the game, and then my phone went off, and then it was all dark. After that I was in the library. 

 It was making your head hurt thinking about it. 

You poked around the room. If you remembered right you’d had a roommate, but she’d already been assigned her company a week early. Her dad was some top brass in the military, so off to the second company she went, 

You made sure the door was locked before you started riffling through your things. 

Books, papers, clothes. Personal items. 

You had a collection of antique keys for some reason, and a blanket shaped like a tortilla that was warmer than most space heaters. There was an old lighter with a hawk engraved on it in one drawer. When you touched it you got the sudden smell of pipe tobacco and a man laughing far in the back of your mind before it was gone. Just like when you touched the ring earlier. 

Memories that weren’t yours. You had stepped into someone else's life. 

When you looked in the mirror you found the face that your had designed for your character staring back at you. There was a thin ring of white in your eyes, cutting through their color and marking you as a pyrokinetic. 

Shit. Each of those abilities had a different eye. Which one was the circle? There was a circle, a pointy cross, and teardrop because the designer was some edgelord. Which power does this mean I have? Wings? Magnet sand? Or the spear torch thingy? 

You wished this could have been more like Fate/Grand Order. Then you would just have to keep track of your teams abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Not your own. 

Fuck. 

You spend a long time in your room, packing up all of your belongings. None of them really belong to you. They belong to your character, and they’re only familiar in the sense that you’ve thrown them over your shoulder when you were looking for something specific before. Only now if you throw them they won’t puff back to where they were before eventually. You’ll actually have to put this stuff away. 

Damn it, you’ve never liked packing. 

Still, you carefully rolled your new found clothes into baggage burritos. They were pretty plain, all in all. Oh well. You could make adjustments later if you really wanted to. Was it a game mechanic you haven't unlocked? Full customization? You could pick gender and hair, and the eyes depended on your pyrokinesis. Maybe at some point you got to change clothes too. 

You’d figure it out. 

You hoped. 

Your head was still reeling the with the idea of what was going on, but for now, with nothing else you really could do, you decided to go with it. 

Once you had everything all packed up you left your room to do some exploring. You tried to keep track of where you were going in the big fire station/training academy, but before long you were hopelessly lost. 

You stumbled upon a training room, where a familiar boy with a dorky pony tail was slashing a glowing blue sword through a training dummy. The poor dummy fell to the floor in pieces. 

You watched him for a few minutes before he noticed you. 

“Oh,” he said, “It’s you.” 

Which was… pretty lame, if you’re being honest. 

What, did you one pop his delusional bubble? 

“Yep,” you popped your ‘p’, “It’s a-me.” Mario. “What did that guy ever do to you? Try to challenge the great Knight King Arthur on a troll bridge?” you meant it to be a joke, but Arthur actually lit up. 

“Hardly! This was merely training. A Knight King must always be ready to defend his people!” 

“Of course,” you nodded along, playing with him. “And soon you’ll be embarking on a great quest to your new company, right? Do you know which one?” 

“I didn’t bother with those silly preference sheets. Let whichever company requires a knight most vie for my presence.” 

You were honestly impressed Arthur even knew the word ‘vie’. Wasn’t he kind of a loon? 

“Mhmm, mhmm, I see,” you nodded seriously. “Then in case, I might see you in my own company.” 

You wanted to ask him to spar, if only to see Excalibur in action more, but you still weren’t sure what your power was or how to use it. So you ended up bowing out. 

It took you another hour to find your way  back to your room. 

Whoops. 

You don’t really sleep. You lay down and try to wake up, and hope that come morning you’ll be back in your living room with a vr stapped to your head and this whole thing will have been a (not so terrible) dream. 

Keep Dreaming. 

~    ~

[soloplaying]

Jurassic World Evolution DLC

There are four basic DLCS for JWE. Or, rather, three gameplay DLCs and a bunch of cosmetic and element DLCs that added a few dinos or dino color patterns each that I consider collectively as a single DLC, because they all do essentially the same thing. Add more dinosaurs.

All of the DLCs build on the basic game, though only one actually integrates with it.

My thoughts on each one:

Cosmetic/Dino DLCs: (This includes the raptor squad, herbivore, cretaceous, carnivore, and Deluxe DLCs) I thought I’d regret buying more dinosaurs, I really did, but then they all went on sale and I decided to go for it and...I was happy I did. Some of the new dinosaurs are now my absolute favorites. I never would have bought them at full price, but they were on sale for 50-85% off (each) during the winter sale. The new critters aren’t necessary at all, but...*shrug*. I had fun.

Claire’s Sanctuary DLC: This gameplay DLC was the least impressive. It was okay. I’m glad I played it. But I won’t play it again. Essentially, the plot is that you’re trying to save the dinosaurs on an island separate from the archipelago in the main game from a whole host of things. Only, after you’ve ‘saved’ all of the dinosaurs and prepped them to be transferred to ‘Sanctuary’, you find out you can only take a certain number with you. If you choose highly social herbivores at this point, you’re pretty much screwed once you reach Sanctuary. I didn’t; I’d played enough of the main game to know the basic natures of each animal so I picked the most...hm...sustainable choices. Carnivores and the least picky herbivores. Then there was this whole thing with paleobotany, population management, and limited funding...I honestly don’t remember how it ended, just that the ending was pretty weak.

Secrets of Dr. Wu DLC: My favorite DLC! It’s the only one that actually integrates with the core game and ramps up the difficulty. The fake dinosaurs it introduces are also pretty cool (ankylodocus, stegocerotops (I think?), spinoraptor). The the unmodified spinorapter is a ridiculously expensive and picky critter. If you can’t manage its social needs, you pretty much fail. I enjoyed how you unlock bits and peices of the DLC as you play through the main game and how the difficulty seems to scale with what you’re doing on the other islands. This is the only gameplay DLC that I played through more than once.

Return to Jurassic Park DLC: This one was fine. I enjoyed it more than Claire’s Sanctuary and it hit me right in the nostalgia which kept me pretty happy. Most of the time, this game felt like a mid-range difficulty island in the core game rather than its own thing. It was nice to see the old cast, though. The aviary and raptor pen were nice additions, too. I don’t remember the plot very well beyond ‘it’s the original cast trying to do Jurassic Park right’, but that was enough. Also, I think it’s kind of hilarious how the game keeps using random screenshots from the  movies instead of character images at times because they clearly don’t have the rights to display the actors in every part of the game. It’s not so noticeable when you’re mostly interacting with new characters created for the game, but when they lean towards using the actors...yeah, it’s obvoius. Especially when you scroll through the character list they provide.

In conclusion: I’m glad I bought the DLC. Yes, all of them. I probably wouldn’t have if they weren’t on sale, but for 50-85% off...? Even if I never play them individually again, I still enjoyed the experience and the various additions each DLC made to the main game.

For my own reference, I paid $43.41 for everything added together. That’s the core game, three gameplay DLCs, and five cosmetic DLCs. When not on sale, the same bundle would have been $122.91.