#but the improvement is definitely there and its sort of funny to be noticing it
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v funny to me to compare my dm prep now to my prep from even a year ago. like it's so much vaguer and more bare bones bc i am so so so busy. but like the sessions themselves are totally fine. sort of wild to discover that i no longer need to outline entire conversations
#i was so bad at improv when i started#i wont say im fantastic at it now and def rely on a few stock character types#but the improvement is definitely there and its sort of funny to be noticing it#literally just bc i dont have the time to prep the way i used to#I SHOULD POST MY DICE PALETTE#candles speaks#dusk campaign#ig
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Daylight - Ben Chilwell
A/N: phewwwww this one's a big one!!!!! this is definitely going to be a series and i can't wait to get the next one written
Wordcount: 3.1k (she a big gorl)
If there was one thing in life that you could be certain of, it would be that you loved your routine. Doing shift work probably wasn’t what most people would associate with a routine, but your shifts were regular enough that you had your own little routine that you went through every week.
You woke up. You went to work. You worked out. You went home. You made dinner. You lounged in bed watching Below Deck or Selling Sunset or some other variation of trashy yet entertaining TV. You showered. You scrolled on TikTok (and sent a few funny videos to your friends). You went to bed. Repeat the next day.
You would insert a little day trip somewhere or a meet up with friends when applicable, but for the most part, you had your routine and you stuck with it.
All of that changed, however, when a certain footballer made his way into your life.
It was a Thursday. You remember it was a Thursday, because your favourite regular wasn’t in - she didn’t come in on Thursdays as she volunteered at a food bank every week. So you mooched around, made small talk with colleagues and made your little coffees, trying to improve your latte art. So far, you’d managed a heart, a flower, and some sort of questionable circular formation of foam that you swore looked like a dog if you looked at it the right way while squinting. Your colleague, Kendall, who was probably your closest friend at the coffee shop, was laughing when the aforementioned footballer strode his way into the coffee shop.
You noticed straightaway that he was new. Your coffee shop was small, boutique and tucked away in a corner of Cobham you really had to look for it. The majority of customers came from word of mouth, having been recommended a panini or muffin by a friend. It was no Starbucks or Costa, but all your colleagues swore that it was the best coffee in town (you couldn’t really tell, as you didn’t drink coffee). The second thing you noticed was that he was cute. Oh, god was he cute. He had a bit of scruff around his chin that made its way down a bit of his neck, rosy cheeks that suggested he’d been out for a run, and when he made eye contact with you, you saw the most piercing blue eyes you’d ever seen. You tried to ignore the way your heart thudded when you saw him.
‘Uh, hi,’ the young man started. ‘What’s the best thing on the menu here? A mate recommended this shop to me, said the paninis were the best he’s ever had.’ You opened and closed your mouth like a goldfish, struggling for words. Kendall had mysteriously disappeared to the back room, leaving you on the till by yourself.
‘Um, probably the mozzarella and tomato panini. I have it most days on my break, so it’s probably lost a bit of the novelty for me. It’s good, though.’ He sauntered over to the display cabinet to have a look at the goods on offer. You tried not to stare at him, but you couldn’t help but feel like you recognised him from somewhere.
‘I will try one of those, please. Oh, and an Americano with hot milk, please.’ You nodded and rang his order up on the till. He tapped his card on the card reader, which beeped to signify that the payment had gone through.
Your eyes travelled down to his clothes, and you noticed a familiar logo. Now, you didn’t necessarily follow football, but most of the guys you worked with supported Chelsea Football Club (kind of a necessity, given the training grounds were just a mile or so away from the small town), and you’d seen the logo dozens of times on the water bottles or coffee flasks they brought in.
‘No worries, I’ll get those started for you.’ And so, your routine of getting the food started. The coffee machine whirred in the background, while the steam wand sputtered into life to heat up the milk.
‘It’s a nice place, how long have you worked here?’ The man’s question took you by surprise. You tried not to let it show as you answered.
‘About three years now. This job was initially to get me through uni, but I enjoy it and it’s easy, so I guess I just haven’t left.’ You put his panini into a takeaway box and passed him the cardboard coffee cup. ‘Oh, here’s a cup holder as it’s hot, don’t want you burning yourself.’ You nestled the coffee cup into the holder, before passing him a couple of napkins to take away with him.
‘Thanks. What did you study at uni?’
‘I studied English literature with communications, ideally wanted to go into journalism or something but the job market is awful right now. I barely make enough to live on my own but I like the independence. Are you local?’ If his question took you by surprise, yours to him definitely did. His eyebrows raised, before he seemed to check himself and recovered.
‘Oh, I grew up in Milton Keynes and worked up in Leicester for a bit. Moved down here a few years ago and love it.’ Your head nodded towards his jacket with the Chelsea logo.
‘Working for the football club, I take it?’ He smiled bashfully.
‘Actually I’m a player for the first team. Got a game this weekend, but I’m likely on the bench so I don’t need to take the diet too seriously.’ Your jaw dropped. You knew you’d seen him somewhere. ‘My name’s Ben, by the way, Ben Chilwell. What’s yours?’
‘Y/N. Great to meet you, Ben, be sure to come back soon, and good luck for the game.’ He paused in the middle of putting his backpack on, and looked you straight in the eye.
‘Oh believe me, Y/N, I’ll definitely be coming back.’ And with that, he smiled at you before strolling out of the coffee shop. You were momentarily frozen; did he mean coming back to have another coffee? Or to try another panini? What on earth just happened?
‘Girl, you have to tell me what just happened between you and that cute footballer.’ Kendall’s voice made you jump, as she reappeared from the back room.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ you responded, pretending to wipe the coffee machine steam wand. You didn’t want to believe it, but you secretly hoped that he meant he was coming back to see you.
‘It’s supposed to mean that the chemistry between you two was comparable to the chemistry between Glen Powell and Zoey Deutch in Set It Up. He didn’t take a single bite of his panini so he had no idea how good it was, and he ordered the most basic coffee on the menu. And, he didn’t take his eyes off you for more than a second while you were making the coffee. Furthermore, he made small talk with you. He is mega into you, trust me.’
‘I make small talk with baristas and waitresses all the time! I bet he was just being friendly.’ You and Kendall went back and forth a bit more, and then the lunch rush hit, so you couldn’t really talk again. As you closed up the shop and drove home, though, you couldn’t help but think… maybe Kendall was right?
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The next couple of weeks came and went. Ben came in every now and then, and the two of you made further small talk and got to know each other more and more. You’d taken the time the day you met him to stalk his Instagram profile. He was Chelsea’s vice-captain, loved dogs, family seemed important to him and he seemed to be incredibly valued by his teammates.
September turned to October. The leaves fell, the temperature dropped and the nights were rapidly drawing in. Pumpkin spice was back on the menu, which prompted a daily rush from the students in the area in the morning and mid-afternoon.
You didn’t want to admit it, but you always looked at the door when the bell dinged to notify you that someone had entered the shop. You’d finally admitted to yourself that in between you and Ben’s getting to know each other, you had developed a little bit of a crush on him. His coffee was more often than not ‘on the house’, and you took a bit more time than needed to prep and make his panini. He’d now gone through most of the options of the paninis, but he regularly returned to the mozzarella and tomato panini that you’d recommended - ‘it really is as good as you said’, he’d said on one occasion.
You opened up to each other about life, your stories, what brought him to Cobham, what countries you wanted to visit, his dream dog (‘I love Oscar, but I would love a Bernese mountain dog’), and all manner of other things. Kendall was sure that he liked you, but it had been nearly two months since he first came in, and he hadn’t made the move to ask you out or even ask for your number.
You stuck to your routine. Work, gym, dinner, shower, bed. It hadn’t wronged you once, and you were definitely starting to see the results of your gym sessions.
One morning, a particularly cold and windy November morning, you locked your car in the car park and walked briskly towards the coffee shop. Before you could reach it, however, a voice calling your name made you stop.
‘Y/N! Y/N!’ You turned around, and nearly crashed straight into…
‘Ben! Hi, how are you? How did the last game go?’ Ben looked - ugh - particularly gorgeous this morning. His hair had grown, he’d trimmed his stubble, his cheeks were as rosy as ever and his dimples were on full show as he smiled warmly at you.
‘I’m good, thanks, yeah the game was alright. We’re getting there.’ You nodded; you couldn’t say you watched games, but you’d watched a couple of highlight videos on YouTube and could potentially be persuaded to watch a game. Your personal favourite video was Chelsea’s Champions League win. Ben had clearly played magnificently, having stopped several goals from materialising. ‘How, um, how are you?’ You nodded and returned his smile.
‘I’m good, just on my way to open up.’ You were struck with a sudden idea. ‘If you’re not in a rush to get anywhere, you could wait for me to open and get the first coffee of the day?’ He smiled.
‘I don’t have anywhere to be today. Lead the way.’
The two of you started to make your way to the coffee shop, making friendly conversation on the way. He told you that he was being rested for the weekend, so he was training but wasn’t on the team for the weekend.
‘It’s frustrating, but I know I’m still not quite full fitness just yet,’ he’d admitted.
‘Full fitness? Why, what happened?’ You asked, curious. He ran a hand through his windswept hair.
‘I was tackled by a Juventus player back in November of 2021. It was a bad tackle, and it tore my ACL, and I’ve struggled with injuries since then. Hamstring, calf, knee… it’s been never ending. I try to tell myself that I’m still a good footballer, it’s just a shame that I’ve been plagued by injury, but still… I’m vice captain and I’ve had barely any minutes this season.’
You were quiet as he basically vented to you.
‘Oh Ben, I’m sorry to hear that. That sounds awful. How is your knee now?’ He sighed.
‘It’s okay. I get regular physio and scans, to keep track of progress. I’m just scared it will happen again, I guess. It’s a miracle I’ve come back to playing at all, a lot of players suffer so much damage they can never play again. It was scary for a while, I didn’t know whether I’d be playing again.’ You let him vent. You were never one of many words, but all your friends and colleagues said that you were one of the best listeners they knew, and this was something that Ben noticed straightaway. The way you just let him talk, even though you barely knew him, and showed genuine empathy and concern in his injury… it made him even more sure that he wanted to get to know you more, wanted to get to the bottom of who you were.
The two of you chatted more, and before long, you’d reached the coffee shop.
‘Take a seat, I’ll get things set up and bring you out a coffee. Did you want a panini?’ Your offer was simply too much for him to ignore, and he took a gentle hold of your arm as you made to walk away. ‘Why don’t you make two and have breakfast with me?’ Your breath hitched in your throat. Was he really asking what you thought he was asking?
You had to replay what he said to you a couple times in your head to assure yourself that you weren’t hallucinating. ‘Uh, yeah, sure that sounds great. I do need to get things done, like checks and things…’
‘I won’t keep you long, I promise. I just want to get to know you better.’ Despite the cold temperature (the heating hadn’t come on yet), your heart melted and your cheeks flushed. After making sure that everything in the shop was ready (in record time, you took heart in noticing), you prepared Ben’s usual panini and rang through a muffin for yourself. You had about an hour before the shop opened, and you were determined to make the most of it.
Ben sat down at a table close to the window, with you following shortly after.
‘I’ve been meaning to ask - how did you find this place? We’re hardly a major chain or on the main street.’ Ben took a sip of his coffee and smiled fondly.
‘Do you know Mason Mount?’ You shook your head, feeling slightly guilty for your football ignorance showing itself once again. ‘Well, he used to play for Chelsea, he’s up in Manchester now, but he used to come here regularly. Here’s a picture.’ He opened up Instagram and showed you a picture of Mason, and your jaw dropped immediately.
‘Oh! Him! He was always so lovely, he was here all the time. I had no idea he was a footballer! He never came across as one.’ You realised immediately what you’d said, and internally face-palmed, hoping that Ben hadn’t caught on. Unfortunately, he had.
‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’ His face was lit up with a bright smile as he teased you. You were sure that your cheeks were a vibrant red.
‘Well - I - um… that didn’t come out well at all… if it’s any consolation you didn’t come across as a footballer at all… it’s just… when I think of footballers I don’t necessarily think of lovely polite young men who always say please and thank you.’
Ben wiggled his eyebrows.
‘So I’m a lovely young man then?’ He teased further, gently knocking your foot with his. You both dissolved into giggles; you couldn’t help it. Ben was sweet, curious and just downright funny.
‘Yes, you are a very lovely young man.’ Your eyes met his, and you knew then and there that this was the man for you.
Although you’d had your routine in life, it had always felt dull. Grey. Cloudy. Being around Ben, it felt like the clouds had parted and you were seeing in colour for the first time. It was comparable to that first fine sunny day after a long winter. You and Ben chatted back and forth for the next hour, finding out things about each other; favourite songs (his was Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen), favourite artists (yours was Niall Horan), biggest fears (his: not being good enough for Chelsea, yours: bridges, which prompted a teasingly heated discussion which ended in you showing the videos of the Baltimore bridge collapsing and how it had given you nightmares).
The clock showed 9:55, which meant you had five minutes to open the coffee shop.
‘I should get my apron on and get this party started,’ you sighed, getting up from your chair. Ben jumped up to stand next to you.
‘Thank you for sitting with me, I had a lot of fun.’ He smiled that beautiful dimpled smile of his.
‘I did too.’ He took a big breath. ‘And I would love to take you out for dinner sometime.’ The world stopped turning for the briefest of moments, during which you made a mental note to send Kendall a message saying that she was right all along.
‘I would like that a lot, Ben.’ He fished his phone out of his pocket and handed it to you.
‘If I have your number I’ll message you the day and time. Dress nicely.’ God, this man was just a walking green flag - planning the date, funny, in touch with his emotions?
You added yourself to his phone as a new contact, before giving his phone back to him. As you did so, your fingers brushed slightly. Electricity coursed through you; it was almost like being given an electric shock, but this felt much more pleasant. In a wild instant, your body craved more physical contact with him. What did hugging him feel like? What did kissing him feel like? If just one small touch felt like this, what would more feel like? You were desperate to feel more, but you knew you had to wait.
‘I’ll see you soon, Ben.’ He swooped in and brushed the lightest of kisses on your cheek.
‘You too, Y/N.’ And with that, he was gone. You watched him walk down the road towards his car, which you presumed was parked in the multi-storey car park down the road. Your phone buzzed with a message:
From: Unknown number Hey it’s Ben, I’ll message you details of our date later today :) just need to plan it ;)
You screenshotted it and sent the photo to Kendall.
To: Kenny❤️ You were right all along…
From: Kenny❤️ WTF DETAILS NOW!!!!
You shut your phone off, grinning. For the time being, you were going to keep the details to yourself. Kendall would know in time, of course, but you had a coffee shop to open and a routine to keep to.
For now, at least. You had a funny feeling that your routine was going to change very soon, and instead of feeling scared, you opened up the shop feeling at peace with the changes that would be happening in your life.
#ben chilwell#ben chilwell imagine#ben chilwell fanfic#chelsea fc#ben chilwell blurb#ben chilwell x reader#ben chilwell imagines#ben chilwell x you#ben chilwell fic#ben chilwell writing#football#football imagines#ben chilwell fluff#ben chilwell smut#ben chilwell angst#ben chilwell oneshot#ben chilwell oneshots#ben chilwell x y/n
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Hey there trainers! I’m Luxio! Yes, I know I’m named after the Pokémon, don’t even say it.
I was a big Pokémon trainer as a kid—although you can probably guess since I have an Eternatus on my team. I wouldn’t say I’m old now, I mean, I’m 22—but the whole “gotta catch ‘em all” thing has kinda slowed down for me.
Now I own a Pokémon Café! Maybe stop by sometime? And if you see a Pokémon you like there, you can adopt it! Aside from the Café, though, I do art as a sort of side-gig. What can I say, it’s fun!
Now, you might’ve noticed Spook doesn’t look like most gengar would. That’s because he’s an albino gengar! They’re very rare in the wild, but there’s always a chance you’ll find one! Albino gengar are notorious for their unique fur patterns, which are invisible on regular and shiny gengar. Spook is also a mini Pokémon! So he’s fun sized!
Oh, and don’t mind Creampuff, they’re a sweetheart! In fact, they wouldn’t hurt a Pidgey! They actually have the more timid personality, so they’re usually a lot more scared of you than you are of it. Creampuff definitely has separation anxiety as well, which I’ve been trying to work on.
(Under the cut is some OOC stuff)
Here’s Luxio’s and Spook’s reference sheets!
And also Luxio’s motorcycle
And I’ll give some information about the other Pokémon (that aren’t Creampuff and Spook): Momma was found mourning the loss of her deceased baby, which had apparently been killed by either a careless trainer or… well, not a nice person. Luxio soothed her and brought her home, introducing her to Nico.
Nico had previously been found in the café’s dumpster, trying to find anything edible. That’s when one of the employees caught him and brought him to Luxio, who took him in.
Momma, after being introduced to Nico, immediately decided to adopt him and take him as her own. Nico was, quite frankly, ecstatic to have an adopted mother. This improved both of their mental healths significantly.
Spaghetti-o’s was found in a dark cave, and Luxio promptly caught it. It’s very fond of alphabet soup and anything that’s shaped like its own kind. It’s very sensitive to light and usually prefers to stay within its Pokéball unless the environment is nice and dark, damp, and cool.
Grilled Cheese The Third (or Cheese, for short) has been with Luxio since she started out. Luxio had thought the name was funny when Cheese was just a little Houndour. Cheese, despite being older now, is still just as energetic as she was when she was a puppy. She also really likes instigating and bothering the less-social Pokémon. Cheese has also tried to eat a few Joltik, but that didn’t end well in her favor (she got zapped, lmfao).
Now, here’s some info about the owner of this account!
My main blog is @autistic-gay-men-kissing and my art blog is @gothys-art-n-stuff. I’m also on ArtFight 👀
I go by he/him, I’m genderfluid, pansexual, and polyamorous (basically the same as Luxio LMFAO). I’m also a Hellenic Pagan, so there’s a fun fact for you <3 hope you guys like this blog and my OC’s story!!
tagging @realpokemon
Also, EVERYTHING IS ON!! Yippee!!
and for those on ArtFight, here’s Luxio!! Spook is on there too
hey I also do comms
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It’s like they knew I was complaining…
I GOT BLOCKED. AGAIN. 🤯
And this time it was from someone I was following for a while and I know this because 1. I didn’t follow anyone recently and 2. I only follow like 70 people so I’ll notice when someone blocked me.
I honestly have no idea what it is for. I really dont repost a lot and if I do it isn’t minor characters or age ups.
Maybe because I haven’t posted since like September?? When I did post last it didn’t really get a lot of attention so it was super demotivating posting again, I mean I have soooo much lil unfinished things in my draft but AUGHHHHHHHH I just wanna fall into the void and crawl up into a little ball sometimes 😭
Anyways sorry for ranting so much..oh and I want your opinion do you think I should write head-canons or a SMAU? I only did head-canons once and it was my biggest work (900-ish) but they take more work to do but if I do SMAUs they are quicker to make but I don’t really get a lot of attention on them. (btw if you don’t know what SMAU is it’s kinda like a made up text story replying to the character of your choice.)
-🪼
🪼nonny im sorry boo! who knows why? i know sometimes things can be by mistake so maybe if you have another account message them to find out why? ive seen some people say "if you think i blocked you on accident lmk", and they may or may not be receptive to it, but if you approach it as "im not trying to argue with you, only trying to find out if i am leaving a bad impression in someway as I have noticed a pattern of people blocking me lately." it's more likely they will be open to sharing with you why and even if its something you dont agree with don't get defensive about it as at the end of the day it was their choice. but thats only if you care enough to do so. ive never done so in this context, but ive done so irl with friends of friends who i thought didnt like me for whatever reason and regardless of what they said, its their choice. but do remember at the end of the day, other people opinion of you is not necessarily an accurate reflection so while it is good to evaluate if theres any room for improvement. dont let it drive you crazy/take it too much to heart. theres tons and tons of great writers out there to follow who wouldnt block you.
hey! id say do whatever you feel like doing tbh, notes be damned. i never consider notes when i write something. if i did then i would only write short 500-1k drabbles or multi-fic character drabbles as those seem to get the most attention. i dont have anything against them (i actually have a ton of funny concepts for them) its just very hard for me to write smut without some sort of build up to it. but that wont be true for everyone so write what you are inspired by and what makes you happy.
notes will come! but if you aren't feeling good about what you write it will definitely show. which is why i write so slow fkhdfkhjdf.
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I uh. It's December. You may or may not have noticed.
I did Nanowrimo, spent my "creative projects half hour" slot on that, and completely forgot about posting my fourth year of daily drawings for October. Nevertheless, into my my art tag it goes.
In a fit of petty first world anarchism, I did Inktober's prompts, but digitally.
This year's been busy, so I tried to stick to my half an hour per day drawing time slot. (I say, gritting my teeth, forehead vein bulging as I look at the parts I don't like.)
I am forcing myself to acknowledge that the past year—with its approximately 130 hours of drawing practice—has resulted in some improvements to line control, anatomy, and perspective, but I'm definitely also reaching the point where several of these feel too embarrassing to post.
In fact I only picked nine, instead of the ten I did the last few years.
Please read some of the captions because at least I do think I'm funny.
Dreams was an auspicious start. I like this Bakugirl.
Fortune... exists. I should've been a little bolder with the fairy actually like, interacting with the dragon woman's palm, really being present there, instead of just sort of posed on top. I also should've made the table smaller, dragoness is supposed to be huge.
I immediately decided I was doing some kind of pair for Angel and Demon. Please ignore that the actual prompt was not Devil. It's close enough right? If I had more time and ambition the devil girl's net was going to be made of serpents. I did not really capture her "shouting" expression the way I wanted, but now that I'm looking it's not execrable. Angel's dreads are definitely more half hearted than I wanted. This one did at least convince me that my next batches of studies need to be of clothed figures.
Rise got my favorite concept for the whole month. Cause it's bread. Get it? eh? Please enjoy our little alchemist workshopping her lines for introducing her magnum opus. Tried to lean into cartoonish with her face.
I spent a solid 10 minutes trying to decide what to do for Dagger, and then all of a sudden it was like a voice spoke to me: "Do fan art of one of your favorite games of all time." I wish the Final Fantasy series hadn't abandoned that more stylized, cartoonish vibe. You know, one of the most interesting things about drawing is realizing that I am 100% looking at things that I have previously—apparently!—only kind of glanced at. Like I would not, before drawing this, have described Garnet as having, to be frank, a prodigious bosom, significant badonkerage, or ginormous dobonhonkeros. To be frank. And a really low cut top to boot. But here we are. I like this face. Wish I'd chosen a more dynamic pose.
For Shallow I decided to do a little snippet of something from one of my stories (coincidentally one related to what I was working on in November). The anatomy is a bit iffy. And even though she's literally supposed to have been buried in a shallow hole in the woods, I had to add a gravestone because I wasn't confident how well that showed.
Rush is another one where I was not at all sure what I was going to do until the brain noise intruded, "Firetrucks are red because red's the color of communism and they're always Russian[Rushin'] around." What was I thinking with that background?
Hilariously, I didn't notice the final prompt of Inktober and how well Fire went with my spontaneous choice for the previous day. It's only now that I'm posting that I realized during export I must have turned off the "background" layer that shows a(n attempt at a) continuation of the previous background. I recall being really frustrated trying to get the foreshortening right on this mischievous fire-ninja jill-o-lantern's arms, but it doesn't look so awful now.
It's fascinating feeling myself more fully move into the phase of learning where I can tell that I'm on the cusp of drawing this or that noticeably better, I just have to push, put a bit more time into individual pieces. And of course, practice.
Next I think I'll aim for at least four and up to twelve studies of clothed figures. Might stop to try and find some good hints on drawing a good fire, or something that suggests dirt.
But I also have some writing to do. I got engaged in my Nanowrimo project. I'm finishing something else up that a friend and I have worked on in bits for years. Of course, what I'd really like is to do some writing and drawing practice every day. It hasn't happened yet, but then again, between picking up drawing supplies and actually starting to practice daily, "It hasn't happened yet" was the case for years.
Until it wasn't.
#just watch I'll start writing and drawing every day... right before I finally pick up regular music practice#I have also reached the point where constructive criticism might actually be useful#so go ahead if you like; though I feel like I've got a rough grasp of my main weaknesses#I realize I'm probably not good enough to tell how well I've grasped them :P#my art
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Some of my favourite art - a timeline
Part 3: 2013
Final Fantasy X/X-2 and FFVII fanart. June or July 2013. The first pic shows remnants of my previous style, while the latter is fully anime. Late 2012-early 2013 was a transitional period in this sense. I really like the concept of the first pic, which is Yuna's past and future self looking at each other. The second pic shows an attempt at perspective and composition.
First row: July. Second row: late 2013. Not only was I growing more and more into my style, but I was trying my hand at original character design. (1st pic: Cherille and the others from the dragon story. 2nd pic: Ivy from the vampire story. 3rd pic: Thea, alien princess. 4th pic: Chleo, wanted criminal).
It's funny to me how clear it is that this is the first time I learned to do a gradient, then proceeded to use it everywhere.
And now for some of my most iconic 2013 pieces:
September (can't make the date out but it's somewhere between the 6th and 9th). I still love this picture. I like the colours even though I ended up changing the character designs to something more cohesive eventually. The concept of this drawing was combining my two stories taking place in Japan, the one on the left being a samurai one, and the one on the right being a modern time one (fun fact! These are the characters from what eventually became my first novel, The Image through the Thick Glass, but the very original ideas as illustrated here was a sort of whodunit/ revenge story, wherein Kaito's brother had been killed etc. It's crazy how different it ended up being from the initial concept!). I also have very pleasant memories of the drawing process, as I was in vacation with my family and we were chilling on a bench in the salt mines and having a snack (and I took my notebook with me everywhere).
In terms of art progress, the most noticeable improvements compared to just months prior are: 1. Side profiles have actual chins 2. Attempts to draw clothing folds 3. Attempts to do shading 4. Still anime influenced but slowly growing into my own style 5. Growing into my character design style
September 2nd. think this is single-handedly my favourite picture of all 2013. This is one of the first very serious attempts to combine composition, perspective, colour and mood. What I like the most is how the wind blows thriugh Onix' hair and clothes, and how the city lights reflect into the river, and how the cars are a mash of random colours to suggest the speed they travel at. This is definitely the highest effort and highest execution drawing I did in that year. And I still love the character designs (and concepts) today.
October or November. I like this because it is very experimental, and if there's a year that has been characterised by its sheer leaps and bounds in art, it's been 2013.
I had to check because I thought this was 2014, but it's actually dated as November 28, 2013. This is also one of my favourites, and perhaps objectively the best of that year. Compared to the Xavier and Onix pic, this had the added benefit of better contrast with the background and a more readable composition. I really like the mood of the drawing, too, it's very emotional. Also re: my gradient comments above, this is one of my first successful sunsets.
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The main characteristics of this year are: 1. Trying to adopt an anime artstyle 2. Experimenting with character design, as well as scene composition, perspective, gradients, shading, poses and so on. I didn't realise just how much I've improved over the course of just one year, it really seems like every new month brought a new skill with it, and the style at the beginning of 2013 and that at the end of 2013 can almost not be recognised as being from the same year.
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[movie review] the thing (1982)
“you don’t wanna hurt anybody!”[1]
i love scifi/horror, especially from around this period. actually, fuck, i might just be thinking of this and alien. that being said, please please please feel free to recommend me movies with similar vibes and quality if there are such things!![2]
the isolated, desolate setting is a big part of the appeal here. it’s funny that i like snowy settings so much in movies, but i just love how much it can contribute to the mood of a setting? it can make cozy movies cozier, creepy movies creepier. you can do so many interesting things with it visually, which this movie takes ample advantage of. but i actually hate snow in real life?[3]
kurt russell is also a big part of the appeal. i’ve said this before, but i think any movie that has an all-male cast should be required to have kurt russell. it’s like basically the least you can do. i don’t have a crush on him or anything–he’s super not my type. he just makes every movie he’s in better. he exudes a kind of effortless, rugged masculinity, the kind you also get from a harrison ford or a michael douglas, those types of guys. it’s kind of perfect for a scifi/horror if you can’t get sigourney weaver.
okay, yeah, we’re back to the alien comparisons. this certainly has a lot in common with it. whereas a lot of scifi tries to astonish, both try to keep their non-monster stuff grounded and relatable to enhance the horror of their monster stuff. their settings are inherently dangerous–antarctica and space–and both are made even more dangerous by the monsters.
i also noticed a lot more this time what pains the actors (and director, and editor) went through to make the characters feel a lot more human and grounded. everybody does things a bit more awkwardly and realistically than you often get in movies. there’s a scene where macready is going to check on the helicopter that blair has smashed, and he kind of stumbles on his way to it and struggles with the tarp a few times before actually getting a peek beneath it. the camera doesn’t track either of these things the way you would expect it to if it were intentional. there’s a few times i noticed him making choices like these, and he’s not the only one. it just adds a little texture of realism and verisimilitude to his performance.
the monster effects are pretty outlandish, and they totally hold up on the big screen. i’d even go so far as to say they’re more effective on the big screen. i sometimes struggle to enjoy the gross out brand of horror, but carpenter deploys it here in ways that work for me quite a bit more than a raimi or cronenberg does.
i know faithfulness to who goes there? is hardly a metric most people are concerned about with the thing, given that it has without a doubt surpassed the novella it’s based on as the ur-text of this story. still, unlike the thing from another world before it, this is definitely a “based on” not a “suggested by.”
a few things are moved around–macready’s name is spelled differently and he’s the helicopter pilot instead of second in command, the expedition’s complement is a more manageable 12 instead of 37. plenty of details are also expanded upon or altered completely. a lot of the discoveries being related to the team in the infodumps by macready and blair in the text are instead moved to a separate, norwegian (or is it swedish, mac?) expedition. this allows us to see through the characters’ eyes as they investigate the other doomed expedition’s base at a slow and methodical pace, making everything feel even more grounded and creepy.
but compared to the thing from another world which has differently-named characters fighting some sort of super carrot man (and even changes its setting from the south pole to the north pole, seemingly out of spite), this is actually a pretty faithful adaptation. again, not that it matters.
what really astonishes me is that when approached about the project, carpenter was reluctant because he didn’t think he could improve upon the thing from another world. the man is either seeing something i’m not in that movie, or is in possession of an overabundance of humility that’s directly proportional to his skill as a director.
or maybe he was just trying to be merciful, because he absolutely blew the earlier adaptation out of the water in every category.
s-rank
notes
1. yeah, i know most people would probably go with the extremely obvious/iconic “nobody trusts anybody now and we’re all very tired” if they were gonna open with a quote. and it’s for sure one of my favorite lines in the movie, too. but there’s a couple times macready is deescalating and says “you don’t want to hurt anybody,” and it’s just weirdly meaningful to me. i believe the kids would say i vibe with it.
2. just to preempt literally everyone suggesting it: yes, i’ve seen the fly. i wasn’t a fan at the time, but i should probably give it another shot at some point.
3. or, at least, i used to? i’ve been living in california for a few years now, so it’s easy to forget how awful chicago and new england winters were.
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I get that!! On the one hand, I'm not 100% sure how exactly how Victor would react if he found out what was really going on, but literally everything else is totally true!
Oversimplifying for sake of yk Getting To The Point does have the unfortunate side effect if Someone's Just Not Covering It.
Basically what I meant here is that Joyce is now in a place emotionally where she CAN do what's necessary, but even her physical means are improved as well, though I didn't elaborate on those since I was simply comparing Joyce with other arcs that funny focus on the latter.
As I said, Joyce's physical means have drastically improved as well! I've seen it pointed out that the Byers now use the same maple syrup as the Wheelers/Sinclairs (don't think about the communication style implications), and Joyce is supporting three teenagers and herself as the only working person in the house (though I think some of Hopper's money was going towards El's physical needs/wellbeing)
I definitely think we SHOULD (will?) Get some sort of Joyce/Lonnie interaction/altercation next szn, and my original ask is just a notice of some fore-shadow-y moments PLUS the Implications of the MF parallel (though I think that the latter stands on its own and I won't harp on it)
Rewatching The Flea and the Acrobat and.
Joyce (kicking Lonnie out) "Get Out!"
(Next shot starts with) *gunshots* (Jonathan's)
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*Hop knocking on the door incessantly*
Joyce: "Go away Lonnie" *getting up to go to the door* "I am going to murder-" (gets cut off by Hopper)
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And I have. Mixed feelings.
Will is like Bob. The harshest he gets is shouting Go Away! But not Joyce. She punches back, acc. to Bob. (Like. Mayor Kline)
It's funny actually, because you're absolutely right. Joyce hits back (see: Kline and the doctors at HNL), and so does Jonathan (see: Steve and the Flayed), but none of them are anywhere near as violent as Lonnie (see: killing animals and abusing children), even when provoked. They can kill, but they exhaust all other options first and only act that way when cornered.
You're absolutely right! The most Will does are range attacks. He shouts, he lights fireworks and launches a couple (but most are thrown by Lucas), and he runs/freezes. Will's not the type to kill, even when cornered. It's just not who he is.
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Hear Me Out
They try hint at their crush on you
Ft. Arlecchino, Capitano, Childe, Dottore, Pantalone
Arlecchino:
She does it from the moment she confirms that her feelings for you are genuine and not just some passing fancy
Which means she's very serious about it and does take slight offence that you're not responding accordingly
Do you not like her back? Are you ignoring her hints to avoid hurting her feelings?
The definition of "please reject me so I can move on"
Is it because you heard the orphans calling her "mum" and got the wrong idea?
Please she's dying to know, she's been bringing you flowers like every other day
Lends you her jacket and hopes you forget to return it so she has an excuse to see you again
Columbina awkwardly patting her back when she stares into empty space in agony when you brush off yet another of her flirting attempts as being friendly
At some point she does ask you to just outright reject her so she can move on
Lowkey wants to go apeshit when she finds out you actually like her too and were just too nervous to flirt back
Capitano:
He has a good rep, so he hopes that improves his dateability in your eyes
He'll bring you cute trinkets he comes across from wherever he goes!!
Would also keep a matching piece for himself so he can imagine that y'all are dating
Also has someone help him take pictures of him should he ever go anywhere scenic and have it made into a sort of postcard for you
He wonders if you ever end up looking at him instead of the view (he hopes you do)
He subtly sneaks glances at you, but not so subtle so that there's a chance you'll catch him and possibly tell him that you're into him too
Ok in all honesty his flirting game probably sucks ass and he'd probably tell you your eyes are like his dog's as a compliment
Please just give him a chance his colleagues are getting sick of his silent brooding when you don't notice how he polished his helmet extra shiny just for you
Childe:
The most obvious of them all please he's clinging to you like he's obsessed
So many terrible jokes that aren't even jokes
"Wouldn't it be funny if we kissed- no? Not even once? Ok haha, no I'm not upset I was kidding."
Unlike Arlecchino, he knows rejection isn't going to make him move on
So he hovers like a dog off the streets that just picked you as its new master
Makes a point to tell you everything he succeeds at, even if it's mundane
Stuff like "hey I made really good waffles, I could cook for you y'know?" Or "Yeah I fixed that door all on my own I'm really handy around the house."
Like Capitano, he brings you trinkets
Unlike Capitano, they aren't always wholesome and may come from the people and monsters he beat up/killed
Brings them to you like a cat presenting their hunt
Dottore:
Makes synthetic human parts that are as identical to yours as possible and compliment them in front of you without telling you they're based on you
"What do you think about these eyes?"
"...yes, they're very...eye-like?"
"They're a lovely pair of eyes, wouldn't you agree? Look at how they-"
Yes, he absolutely will point out how they function to you. Yes, he thinks he's being romantic
So he doesn't get why you don't seem to catch on that he's into you
Did you not realise those were your organs he complimented?
In a way it gives him some weird satisfaction that he knows you more intimately than even you
But he does want you to realise eventually
So he'll walk up behind you under the guise of "monitoring your work" and inhale your scent like the lunatic he is (another trait of yours he'll make sure to remember)
Pantalone:
Isn't it obvious? He spoils you
He lets you use his wallet like a subscription trial
Enjoy it? Consider dating him to extend the privilege duration
He makes it very clear cut to you: he's into you, and he'll take care of you for as long as you're his beloved
He also makes his interest in you very clear to everyone else, so chances are, there's no one else who's dare approach you unless it's another harbinger
And be very clear on this: once you say yes to him, there's no backing out
Even before you start dating, he acts as though you already are
He wouldn't pressure you into anything you're uncomfortable with, but expect an arm around your waist to hold you close to him
Like I said, very clear cut, there's no way you could mistake his affection
Taglist[send an ask to be added/removed]: @myluvkeiji @pluvioseprince @aqui-soba @favonius-captain @tiredsleep @raincxtter @loverofthe-stars @gensimping-for-all @irethepotato @almond-adeptus @mx-kamisato @yuzuricebun @chaosinanutshell @heizours @codename-hiraeth @andreiling01 @callmemeelah @sadlonelybagel @plinkuro @thevictoriousmoon @mastering-procrastinating @ineshapanda
#genshin#genshin impact#genshin x reader#genshin impact x reader#arlecchino#capitano#childe#tartaglia#dottore#pantalone#regrator#capitano x reader#childe x reader#tartaglia x reader#dottore x reader#pantalone x reader#regrator x reader#genshin arlecchino#arlecchino x reader#genshin capitano#genshin dottore#genshin childe#genshin tartaglia#genshin pantalone#genshin regrator#winery specials
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[Arthur Week, Day 3] Midnight Snacks
a/n: in which MC (ft. accomplice Dazai) wants to make the resident flirt, Arthur Conan Doyle, jealous. Why? Who knows! But what I do know is that it ends up working in his favor rather than MC’s... wait, what?
a/n 2: changed the title cuz it was bothering me xD nothing else changed.
My entry for @scummy-writes‘s Arthur Week!
Day 3: Coffee and Fudge || Writer’s Block
[Pairing]: Arthur x You/gn!MC, (pre-relationship)
[Characters]: You, Arthur, Dazai, Sebastian
[Word count]: ~2300 words
[Rating]: T
[POV]: 2nd Person
“...and all of a sudden, I hear Mozart yell ‘stop releasing chickens in my music room!’ but Dazai didn’t even flinch!” You brought a foam-covered hand up to your mouth to cover your laughter.
You and Sebastian were cleaning the dishes together after lunch time. You’ve made it a habit to catch up on your day and share observations with Sebas, as pretty much no one steps into the kitchen around this time.
Well, that is except—
“_____~!”
Except Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, naturally. He must’ve finished his writing session and been wandering around the mansion, as is his trademark since your arrival.
You closed your eyes, hoping the man would walk past the kitchen without checking. You weren’t exactly in the mood for flirty games with the mystery writer, especially not after dealing with a haughty music teacher in Mozart. Sadly, luck was not on your side, today.
“I’ll tell you the rest later,” you wipe your hands with a towel. Picking up the tray of plates and cups to put them in their rightful places, you didn’t pay the writer any mind.
“After this I gotta find Dazai,” you said as you opened a cupboard. Your turned around to find Arthur leaning on the door frame, and your tone shifted dramatically, “Oh! Arthur, funny to see you here.”
Sebastian knew that tone very well. It was your sickeningly sweet voice that you dedicated to either (a) dodging conversation, or (b) planning something against that person.
“I’d say the same to you, ___, but you’re always in the kitchen. I couldn’t help dropping in to check on my favorite bird,” Arthur leaned against the door frame, flashing you a grin and a wink.
“Oh please, don’t talk about birds after what happened this morning,” You caught sight of your target at the end of the hallway, “aaaand I have to go, see ya!”
You duck under Arthur’s arm while his guard was down. He twirled around to follow you, but you evaded him, calling out to Dazai. Arthur stood in his tracks, as he watched the japanese author stop for you, and you beamed up at him.
“Dazai-san, I’ve been wanting to ask you for something, if you’re… free,” you noticed mid-sentence that the chicken that was still nestled in his arms.
“Hm?” His piercing yellow eyes brightened, “I’ll always have time for you, Toshiko-san.”
“Bawk!” The chicken… agreed, supposedly.
You laughed sheepishly, “That’s very sweet of you, I was actually interested in learning about your writing style and get some advice. I’ve been going through some terrible writer’s block.”
“I was working on a short story earlier, it’s in my room. Want to come with me?” He began to lead her towards his room.
“I’m honored! I’d love to, Dazai-san.”
Oh yes, you were definitely planning something, Sebastian noted.
As the two of them walked away, Arthur stood glued watching the scene. Sebastian had been poking his arm the whole time, but he didn’t budge. Even shaking his entire arm didn’t spur any sudden movement from him.
“Sir Arthur. Earth to Sir Arthur,” Sebas continued tapping his shoulder and pinching his arm.
“Huh? Oh…” His gaze held an odd expression, one that Sebastian hadn’t seen from him before—a hint of sadness, maybe even frustration. But it was quickly replaced by his signature grin as he finally took notice of me, “Sorry, Sebas, I must’ve been blocking your path, got to go!”
And just like that, he scurried off.
After a moment’s pause, and after making sure the hallway was clear of esteemed residents, Sebastian did much the same, but in the opposite direction. He has notes to take, pronto.
~*~
You and Dazai sat in the lounge room, having passed by his room, and Dazai collected his writing material.
“You have really pretty hands, Toshiko-san. I’ve heard you playing in Mo-kun’s piano room, you’re a wonderful pianist,” Dazai held your hand delicately in his, as he ran his thumb over your knuckles.
“Thank you, it’s something I take a lot of pride in,” your heart swelled from the warmth of his compliment, “but I’ve been much more interested with writing as of late. Actually, I’ve always wanted to write a novel.”
“Oh? I admire your ambition. How can I help?”
“Well well well, what do we have here?” A third voice chimed in.
Right on time, as you expected.
“Have I interrupted your little rendezvous?” Arthur walked slowly and purposefully, as if he had caught them red-handed doing something they shouldn’t.
Internally, he was trying his best not to jump to conclusions. That would be uncharacteristic of him, after all. You weren’t tied to him in anyway, so there was no reason to feel so jealous that you went to Dazai for writing help instead of him. He didn’t even know about it!
So why was his heart pounding so loudly in his head while his eyes were fixated on their linked hands?
Dazai withdrew his hand, occupying it with his writing pen instead. He shot Arthur a smile with closed eyes.
“Of course not, we were just talking, Arty.”
“…Don’t call me that,” Arthur narrowed his eyes, “and second, I’d like to steal ____ now.”
“I’m sorry, Arthur, but I want to talk with Dazai a bit to improve my writing.”
Being shot down so directly caught Arthur off-guard; his insecurities getting a hold of him. For the first time, he found himself at a loss for ways to turn the conversation in his favor. At the moment, if he persisted, and you kept turning him down, he wouldn’t be able to let it down for the rest of the day.
Instead, Arthur straightened himself, fixing his tie, “Well then, I’m heading to the pub soon enough to find me a pretty skirt for the evening. Have fun, you two, I know I will.”
He huffed childishly, going out with a wave. Dazai turned to you with a polite smile.
“Do you think it worked?”
“Oh, he is definitely salty, thanks for agreeing to this, Dazai-san.”
“Any time, Yoshie-san, what are housemates for?” He smiled fondly at you.
“You’re a great actor, didn’t even flinch!”
“Ah, but who said I was acting?”
He got up with his writing tools and stepped out of the lounge before you registered what he said.
“Wait… what?!”
~*~
Later that evening…
…Well, more like around midnight, you just happened to catch the insomnia bug and were heading to the kitchen, as all people naturally do when they’re insomniac. You switched on the lights, thankful for the dimness of the lanterns in the kitchen. Scanning your options, your eyes settled on the coffee pot that sat quietly in the corner. Thoughts of a certain mystery writer gnawed at you, but you darted them away and walked past the coffee pot to get a glass of water instead. You leaned forward, filling her glass with bleary eyes that refused to slumber but also refused to open properly.
Suddenly, you felt a touch to your backside. Eyes cracking wide open, you spun around and swung your makeshift weapon of glass at your offender. The offending mop of ash blue hair felt the full force of the blow, and the glass shattered across the floor.
Well crap.
“Ow… If I’m not mistaken, I’d say you were trying to kill me there, ____.”
For the love—.
“Arthur what the hell were you trying to pull?! Bloody hell! You made my heart drop.”
In a flash, his body was pressed against yours, caging you between his arms and the kitchen counter. The crunch of the glass under his shoes was the only sound in the room. You saw a small stream of blood start to fall by his ear.
“I was going to prepare myself a midnight snack with my coffee, but it seems I already found one ready for a taste test,” he licked the back of his fangs.
“At this hour??” It was well past midnight by now, and caffeine was the last thing you’d recommend anyone at this time.
You felt his breath on your ear before he inhaled your scent. It was comforting to him as much as it was intoxicating to his senses.
He sighed, “____… I can’t get you out of my mind, no matter what I do.”
His arms circled around your waist, pulling you away from the countertop and flush against him, instead. All sorts of alarms were going off in your mind despite the drowsiness, with your instincts telling you to push him off.
“But then, you started avoiding me. And then… Sebastian and Mozart and even Dazai took you away from me,” he sniffled.
You pushed him off gently but still within his arms, as you stared at his face. There was a pink dust across his cheeks and a redness in the corners of his eyes.
“Arthur, are you… drunk?”
His frown flipped into a grin as he nuzzled his nose into your disheveled hair.
“Oh, don’t be silly, dear. I may have been out drinking, but I can bloody well hold my liquor. Theo can vouch for me on that.”
(a/n: no, he can’t lmao)
The sight of him in a somewhat vulnerable state, as well as the smell of his cologne, made it hard for you to properly fight him. Plus, you felt bad for crushing a glass cup on his head. Speaking of which…
“Is your head okay?”
“Hm…” He brought a gloved hand to his forehead, feeling a dull pounding in its wake, “I must say, you got me good, even the most daring fools never landed a hit on me yet.”
Just how thick is his skull to endure that?! You were both dazzled and frightened by their realization.
With one of his arms off of you, you took this chance to escape, but you slid on a shard of glass and would have fallen face first onto the floor had Arthur not pulled you against him and taken the impact of the floor to his own shoulder. He laid on his back, clutching you protectively against his chest. He groaned with pain, but he pushed it aside to check on you first.
“Clumsy tonight, are we, or are you seriously trying to kill me?” He chuckled wryly.
Before you could even blink, you felt your vision do a 180-flip, and you were suddenly beneath him, away from the glass shards that littered the floor. The scent of his cologne flooded your senses again, as he smirked down on you with a drunken lopsided grin.
“I was absolutely livid when I saw Dazai hold your hand. Was that part of your plan, darling? Well, I’ve taken the bait.”
You flinched, your body wide awake to every touch and caress of this man. You bit your lip to avoid playing into his hands. You were still in control of the situation, you thought. His lips descended to your jaw, barely brushing your skin, like he’s testing your limits. Instinctively, you sighed, unaware of the breath you’d been holding.
Ok, maybe you weren’t entirely in control, either.
“Arthur…” You commanded, trying to regain some semblance of control back.
This was not part of your plan, however, and you were quickly losing grip of all reason and logic. You needed to get him off and away from you before you acquiesced to his ministrations.
“But don’t worry, ____. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to.”
He drew back from you, staring down at you with an uncharacteristic tender look. He continued.
“The effect you have on me is not one I’ve felt with any woman I’ve ever encountered before. It’s confusing—maddening, even— and I can’t escape it… because I don’t want to,” he sighed in surrender, “I want you, ___.”
It was a look of pure love and affection that shone in his eyes. His half-opened shirt invited your gaze to roam his body, and his thick-rimmed glasses framed his features in such an alluring glow that outshone the dimness of the kitchen. His hair looked softer than usual, too. Your hand twitched at the thought of running your fingers through those ash blue locks. Your mind was thrown into a whirlwind with the influx of new information, one that dented your rationality. Your desire to get closer to him wrestled against your impartial stoicism, threatening to crack the armor around the stone gates to your heart.
“Hey Arthur,” you started, twirling a lock of his hair with your hand. It was ever-so-slightly damp; he must’ve bathed in le thermae earlier.
“Yes, ____?”
Damn that seductive voice of his, you shooed away that thought as soon as it entered. You chose to focus on something much more pressing at the moment.
“We need to get you bandaged up. You’re bleeding terribly from your head.”
~*~
It took a lot of convincing, but Arthur finally acquiesced to your persistent request.
“There, all done,” you stepped back from Arthur, who was sitting hunched over on his bed.
You were both settled in his room with his medical bag open on the desk and his equipment strewn all around. You didn’t exactly know what to do to treat Arthur’s wound, but you insisted on doing it for him… with copious amounts of instructions from him.
“I brought you some fresh coffee and fudge, as an apology.”
“At this hour?” He mimicked your tone from earlier. You rolled your eyes at his childishness.
“And here I am trying to make it up to you, and this is how you show gratitude?”
You huffed indignantly, ready to head out and leave the unappreciative writer to his own devices.
“Hold on, now,” he gripped your wrist before you could fully turn away, “you’re the one who smashed glass on my head, so you owe me a favor.”
“…a favor on top of tending to your wounds and bringing you coffee?”
“Oh, indulge me, won’t you? You did those of your own volition.”
You sigh, “Depends on the request, then.”
“Feed me,” he perked up with no hesitation or embarrassment in his tone.
You wanted to turn him down, to tease him about his child-like excitement, but you couldn’t resist his puppy dog eyes. Those eyes held a very powerful hold over you though you blame it on your own tiredness outweighing your better judgment.
“Alright…” You moved aside his things to sit next to him, leaning towards the table to drag the tray closer to yourself.
“Open wide, you incorrigible baby.”
#where does that put their relationship?#no idea!#what I do know is that Arthur is a happy baby#congratulations MC you played yourself#MC's plan backfires#accomplice dazai did his job#note: MC promised to help him build his chicken army in return#ikevamp arthur x mc#ikemen vampire arthur#arthur week#arthur week day 3#ikevamp arthur#ikevamp dazai#ikevamp mc#alby one-shots#ikevamp fanfic
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Psychonauts 2 review (non-spoilery)
I finished it! It was a wonderful game, definitely worth waiting for. The creators really took advantage of the medium of video games to tell a story about exploring the mental worlds of others so you develop an empathetic understanding of the issues they're dealing with, while having an incredible amount of fun in richly-imaginative and detailed environments.
Between the cleverness of the design, the physics-defying spaces and transitions between them (so many TARDIS moments, some so subtle you don't even notice them), and how all the elements of each level tie into its themes, I would say it's the best-looking game ever made. This sort of wondrous design is what gets lost when the industry obsesses with photorealism.
I would say there's less wackiness and belly-laughs compared to the first game, while still being funnier and more mind-bending than most things. They clearly opted for a more subtle approach to characterisation and the exploration of psychological issues, which gives you a lot more to marvel at and think about moment to moment, while having a bit less of that 'LMFAO I can't believe this is happening' that the first game did so well. That said, all the side characters in the real world were so good, interesting and fun I definitely felt I would have liked to spend more time getting to know them, but the game's plot keeps you away from them, as you spend most of your time uncovering it through the mental worlds.
One of the worlds you explore belongs to a character played by Jack Black, and he's of course delightful. I knew his level would be fun from the trailers, but the joyous and touching finale got me verklempt as well.
I think the best way to enjoy the game is to go in completely blind, so you can only guess at what you will find when you enter a character's mind, it's guaranteed to always suprise you that way. You don't even need to have played the first game, since there's a cute opening animation that catches you up on previous events. But as someone who played and adored the first game years ago, it was great to see Psy2 pick up its loose threads and provide answers and closure to the things I wanted it to.
Raz is a fantastic protagonist. Invader Zim's Richard Horvitz infuses him with a great mix of sincerity, empathy, snark and silliness. His facial animations are great too, so much that his reactions are sometimes enough for a laugh-out-loud punchline, or for a heart-breaking revelation to hit home.
The platforming and combat is much improved from the first game, and really fun moment-to-moment. Not to mention all the options they give you to make it easier, if you want them. I normally use assist options in combat games, but I found I didn't have to in this one, since I was already doing a lot of extra exploration that helped me level up and upgrade my abilities quickly.
I like how you make good use of all of your psychic powers not just for combat, but also to solve environmental puzzles to facilitate platforming, and for fun gags. For example, I made it a habit to use Clairvoyance on everyone, and the results were often funny, and interesting to see how several characters' perception of Raz changed throughout. I would definitely recommend thoroughly exploring the post-game for extra bits like this.
All in all, a well-written, creative, unique and fun game. You'll be left wondering why doesn't the rest of the industry attempt to do things like this more often.
You can play it on PC, consoles or cloud. On PC: via Steam, GOG, Humble Bundle or Xbox for PC, and it's available on Xbox Game Pass, which means you can sign up for a month or three of Game Pass Ultimate for one buck with their current promotion, and play it on PC via Xbox for PC, or XCloud (PC or mobile) if you don't have a gaming computer. So basically, you can play this game even if you have no money and no gaming equipment. It is also available on actual Xbox consoles, the PS4, and PS5 via backwards compatibility.
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the human world, it’s a mess // remus lupin
Summary: reader is part-mermaid and their boyfriend, Remus’, friends are all-stupid
Request: yooo what about a remus lupin imagine with a hufflepuff reader and maybe she’s half mermaid and they prank her by throwing water at her because she always avoids contact with rain and such and she just gets angry at them and avoids them for a week and as fluffy as it can be please, hope you have a wonderful day!
A/N: this is so far from what I would usually write but I actually enjoyed it so much so I hope it’s okay :))
Reader: unspecified, half-mermaid
Warnings: bullying (sort of?), swearing
Remus was not unobservant by any means; he had definitely noticed that you never went out in the rain. He had also noticed your aversion to the Black Lake and even your absolute hatred for snow, even though he’d often see you looking out of one of the large bay windows of Hogwarts, gushing about its beauty.
“Why don’t you ever go out there?” he asked one day, settling his hands either side of you on the window frame, his chest against your back as you looked over at the snowy landscape. You smiled at the feeling of his lips against your neck, pressing sweet kisses to the skin above your collar.
“I can’t,” you said simply, turning around and wrapping your arms around his neck, playing with the longer strands of hair at his nape.
“And why’s that?”
You pursed your lips, admiring his quizzical expression as you pushed some of the hair from the front of his face.
“Because I’m half-mermaid,” you said before a frown hunched your brow. “Merperson.”
Remus stared at you for a moment, not fully convinced that you weren’t having him on. You noticed his confused head tilt and laughed, cupping your hands around his neck and ghosting your thumbs over his cheekbones.
“Dad was a wizard. Mum was a mermaid; typical star-crossed lovers… I don’t ask about the specifics, mind.”
He snorted quietly at your words before pressing a light peck to your lips.
“That would explain why you’re so radiant, wouldn’t it, love?”
You only smiled, which, in his mind, only further solidified his firm belief that you were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
Many people knew about your parentage, it was hardly a secret. You never hesitated to tell them about your parents falling in love despite the rocky history between mermaids and wizards, finding the whole ordeal quite romantic. People were always confused, at first, because some had seen or seen pictures of the mermaids in the Black Lake, and, perhaps fairly, couldn’t understand the appeal of a demonic fish. You thought it was a shame, though, that nobody ever learnt about freshwater mermaids in Care of Magical Creatures; if they did, you were sure you’d have much fewer questions to answer about your Father’s mental state. Despite the weird looks you sometimes received, and the occasional joke thrown your way from Slytherins trying to rile up a Hufflepuff, you never kept it a secret: it was part of who you are and you’d never doubted that decision until the incident by the lake.
Really, you were only there because Remus had begged you to come. You’d been busy all week with prefect business and he’d missed you terribly, eager to see you whenever he could. He and his friends were hanging around by the edge of the lake, basking in the rays and splashing around in the water. You made sure to stay as far away from the water as possible as you lay on the grass, a couple feet from Remus and Lily. Being in a different house, you didn’t see too much of his friends. Peter, you liked because he was always keen to help you in Herbology, a subject you sometimes struggled with thanks to Remus’ little whispers and kisses and fleeting touches distracting you. You didn’t know James or Sirius that well, a little wary of their reputations, but Lily was actually a close friend, or so she’d become since you and Remus started dating. She was always kind to you, and extremely funny, especially when it came down to turning down James’ many advances.
The day was lovely at first and you found yourself feeling foolish for avoiding the lake so stringently; it was going perfectly fine. The sun was shining, there was laughter in the air and you were with your favourite person in the world. It seemed perfect.
Too wrapped up in your book on World War One (an assignment from Muggle Studies), you barely noticed Sirius and James’ splashing grow quiet. Remus was reading his own book, lying on his stomach with his elbows denting the grass by your knees. He looked lovely in the sunshine, the light warming up his hair and skin. You wondered absentmindedly whether he’d ever want to cut his hair short, hoping he wouldn’t. You had somewhat of a personal attachment given the number of times you’d run your hands through it. You only tore your eyes away from him when you saw Sirius and James running towards you with a large bucket. A very large bucket. A frown creased between your brows as you sat up.
“Where did you get that-“ you began, before icy cold water lapped at your skin, clinging to your hair and drowning the book in your hands. You froze, too in shock to do much but blink up at the laughing boys.
“Excellent stuff,” James snickered, pushing Sirius playfully. Your cheeks heated up in embarassment.
A shiver flooded though you before you felt a pulling at the skin under your ear and your right hand slapped against your neck, dropping your book as you tried to process what was happening. Remus was staring at you, as was Peter. It felt like the whole school was watching you, though, as you rushed to your feet. You could barely hear Lily shouting at James and Sirius, too focused on the way your left arm, drenched with water, began to shine iridescently in the light, perfectly shaped scales appearing. You moved your hand to cover it, stumbling backwards slightly at an attempt to hide. Your neck stung for a second as the air hit the newly formed gills and you found yourself swallowing hard, not quite believing this was actually happening. Remus stood up, only looking at you, his mouth wide open and hand outstretched and for the first time ever, you felt ashamed of who you were. Embarrassed. As tears began to fill your eyes, you looked at him one last time before turning on your heel and sprinting into the castle, desperate to be anywhere but there.
You were sad, actually, and more than disappointed that Remus hadn’t come to find you. Albeit, you’d been avoiding him for days, but you couldn’t shake the feeling that he was disgusted by you, by what had happened, and all of your friends noticed the toll it took on you. Even the sunny atmosphere of the Hufflepuff common room did little to improve your mood; you spent most of the time between lessons hiding under your bedsheets and avoiding not only Remus, but the world.
When you heard the knock at your door, you sighed, not in the mood for conversation or food that the kitchens were serving for dinner.
“Go without me,” you insisted to your friend, sighing loudly. “I’m not hungry.”
You turned over, throwing the sheets over your head and snuggling into your pillow, hoping the world would leave you alone for a little bit.
The door opened quietly and you frowned, turning over, about to speak when you saw Remus, standing there bashfully with flowers and a basket full to the brim with chocolates and other delightful things you couldn’t quite make out. Your mouth dropped open as he stared at you, shutting the door with his foot. You swallowed, hands bunching nervously in the sheets under your arms.
“What’s that?” you asked quietly, nodding towards the basket.
“An apology from Sirius and James,” he said, dropping it next to him before fishing out your book, now dry, from his robes and placing it on top. You were pleasantly surprised that they cared enough to apologise, and rather touched. He stepped closer and your eyes trailed to the bright yellow sunflowers in his other hand.
“And those?”
“An apology from me,” he said, huffing as he sat on your bed, right next to your feet. His close proximity hit you hard as you suddenly realised how much you’d missed him.
He looked down, frowning, before turning to you and placing the flowers on your bedside table. You followed his hands, not yet ready to deal with whatever emotion would be lurking in his golden eyes.
“Sweetheart, please look at me.”
His voice was soft and all your resolve melted away at his tone, your eyes meeting his immediately. Something stirred within you at his desperate expression and, as if seeing your face was all he really needed to draw him out, without a moment’s hesitation, he erupted into a flurry of words.
“I’m so sorry they did that, love, they’re such gits sometimes and I promise you I had a go at them for it – and so I should have! They never should’ve done that to you and I promise they wouldn’t have if they’d known how much it would’ve hurt you; they’re arseholes sometimes, but they’d never really want to hurt anyone, especially you. And I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner to see you, I thought I was doing the right thing by giving you space, but then Lily said I was being a moron which, well, I didn’t realise, obviously, and she said that even James would’ve known that that was a shit idea and-“
He stopped speaking when you giggled, a cheerful sound that made his chest ached with how much he’d longed to hear it. You couldn’t help but laugh again at his surprise and slowly, you reached over to him and placed your hand over his on the bed, squeezing it lightly.
“It’s okay,” you whispered, leaning forward onto your knees so you were closer to him. Ever so gently, you leant over him, pressing a soft kiss to his lips, relishing in the way his eyes fluttered shut at the contact.
“I’m sorry too,” you said, tucking your hair behind your ear and biting your lip as his hand grasped yours and his thumb began to rub circles on the back of it. “I shouldn’t have run off, it just scared me so much and I thought you would hate me or think I was gross or weird-“
“What?”
You were caught off guard by the harshness of his voice. He must’ve noticed the surprise in your eyes and he shook his head, his other hand reaching up to pull the back of your neck towards him so he could rest his forehead on yours.
“You, you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met.”
A lump formed in your throat at his earnest words and you blinked as he let go of your hand so he could use both to cup your face.
“And I love every single thing about you. And I’m sorry I saw you when you didn’t want me to, but even drenched in water, I loved everything about you.”
You smiled widely and he felt his heart stop for a second. Without another word, he sighed and pulled away, kicking his shoes off and crawling over the bed. You followed him, leaning back so that he could move under the covers, watching him almost tentatively.
“How could I not?” he whispered, throwing his arm around your waist as you lay down next to him, pulling you into his chest and pressing a feather-light kiss to your neck.
“Even the gills?” you said, only half-joking as he chuckled into the skin of your neck where his head was burrowed.
“Even the gills.”
His nipped at your neck lightly with his teeth, enjoying the sound of your laughter at the sensation, cherishing the feeling of his arms wrapped around you, holding you close to him.
harry potter tag list:
@creator-appreciator
@loveisblindness
@decadentwastelandtrash
@xinyourdreamsx
@brainlesspasta
@hariosborn
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@staringmoony
#remus lupin#Remus Lupin x reader#Remus Lupin imagine#marauders imagine#Harry Potter imagine#harry potter#writing#imagine
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The Arrangement Chapter 8
Series Summary: Desperately in need of money, you answered the questionable ad. AKA-Arranged marriage AU featuring Y/N and Yoongi.
Chapter Summary: First day on the job.
Previous chapter here
------------------------ You received a text message at around 8 am telling you the car had arrived to take you to BigHit. Your aunt had already left for work and took your sister and niece along with her. Your brother had left hours ago so there was no big “goodbye” or anything. You took a look around the small apartment and sighed. It had been really nice of your aunt to take the three of you in. You hoped that you had made the right decision. You put on your backpack, grabbed your suitcases, and headed out the door.
The car was easy to spot. Your apartment complex was not fancy so there weren’t usually vehicles with chauffeurs waiting out front. The tall man waved at you, “ Ms. [Y/L/N]?’ he asked.
You nodded and he walked over to take your bags. “You don’t have to do that,” you politely declined.
“I insist ma’am.” He responded and put the suitcases in the trunk. He moved over and opened the door for you. Fancy.
“Thank you,” you said as you sat your backpack down on the seat and slid in. This was a definite improvement over the bus or walking, you thought as the car began to head towards the middle of the city. After a short drive the car pulled into what you assumed was the back entrance of the building and down a ramp into an underground garage. The driver scanned a badge at an outer gate and then had to show an id card at a second guard station a few meters further. Wow, security around here was tight, you thought. Good.
The driver pulled up next to an elevator and got your bags out. “Alright miss, I assume you’ll have messages about where to go next. Take care.”
“Thank you!” You awkwardly waved as you rolled your bags next to the elevator and took out your phone.
NJ: When you get here, head to the 18th floor and someone will assist you.
Ok. You stepped onto the elevator and pushed the button. Your breathing had started to increase. You found yourself suddenly nervous, remembering that you were starting a new job today, and moving in somewhere new, and you were supposed to marry some basically random dude. Deep breaths. You should have refilled your prescription, you found yourself thinking as you started to become dizzy. Fortunately for you, the doors to the elevator opened and a person got on, pulling you out of your panic attack.
“Hey! Moving in?” The voice was clear and cute. You looked up. It belonged to a girl either younger than you or with a better skin care routine.
“Oh, yeah. It’s my first day.” You added shyly.
“Nice to meet you!” She bowed politely. “My name is Alice. I moved in last year around this time.” She smiled.
“[Y/N], it’s nice to meet you as well,” you returned.
“I’m a make-up artist.” She added.
“Oh, how fun. I suck at make-up.” You said before you could stop yourself.
She laughed. “I don’t know, I think you did a pretty good job for a more natural look,” She said while assessing your face. The elevator dinged at the 14th floor. “This is me. I hope I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah, thanks!” You said, grateful for the distraction. A few seconds later, you arrived at your floor. You stepped off and found yourself in a very fancy hallway. It looked like it belonged in a luxury hotel.It was very different from the floors you had seen so far. You scanned the hallway and saw a man in a checkered suit sitting on a chair, leaned over and looking at his phone. You checked your phone again, no new messages. You cleared your throat slightly, unsure if maybe Namjoon had mis-typed the floor or something.
The man in the chair looked up, “Oh. Hello there,” he smiled and stood up. “Jung Hoseok at your service.” He quickly walked over and put out his hand. His suit was quite loud, but it worked on him.
“Hi. [Y/N]. Nice to meet you.”
“Oh. This will be fantastic. Come with me.” He turned before you could ask him what he was talking about. You grabbed your bags and followed. He walked quickly as though he was on a mission. You didn’t see any other doors as you followed him.
“Alright, you are in unit 1802. Here is your key card.” He stopped in front of a door and handed you a key fob. “Get settled in. Get cleaned up. The rest of your schedule should be in the App. Security is expecting you in 45 minutes to get your badge. Good luck!” He smiled and turned away quickly, chuckling to himself.
You stood there confused for a minute. What the hell kind of dorms were these? You shook your head and swiped the card. You were expecting a small foyer that would be covered in other people’s shoes. Instead you immediately noticed how quiet the space was and were greeted by a large sunken room with benches lining the perimeter. You stepped down into it, pulling your suitcases behind you. There were a few pairs of shoes neatly stored under the seats. You slipped yours off as well and left your two large bags in the foyer. As you walked further into the apartment, it quickly became clear to you this was no ordinary dorm.
The place was massive with gleaming marble floors and glass windows running along the entire length of the large living room. On the left side of the living room was a fireplace, situated next to a large staircase heading up to a loft area. A kitchen was to your right. A few bowls and cups sat in a drying rack. A rice cooker was on. Other than that, there were no indications that people actually lived here.
"Hello?" you called into the space. The living room was sparsely furnished with a couch, coffee table, and TV. You walked through the living room and down a hallway. You found a bathroom, an empty room, and a bedroom. The bedroom had nothing other than a bed, night stand, and wardrobe. You furrowed your brow. Was this your room? Was the empty one yours? Ugh. You imagined Namjoon smirking at you as you walked back into the living room.
You were looking down at your phone as you entered and paused only because you heard a slight dragging sound. You looked up and saw Mr. Min wearing only grey boxer shorts and shuffling towards the kitchen. His body was lean and pale and he had the tiniest bit of a tummy and wow you felt like a pervert all of a sudden.
Your face grew red and you didn't know if you should say something or slowly back down the hallway or run for the exit to never return. Unfortunately you didn't get a chance to decide. Yoongi looked over at you. He slowly blinked his eyes as though trying to assess if you were really there or not. "Why the hell are you here?" he asked, his voice deep and gravelly like he had just woken up.
Your mouth gaped open as though speaking was a new skill. "Umm… I am. I am so sorry. Mr Jung gave me a key and told me I would be staying here." You averted your eyes from his half-naked body, slightly surprised that he didn't seem to be bothered by that at all.
Yoongi scratched his head, fluffing his hair and let out something like a growling sound. He picked up a remote from the kitchen counter and hit a button, causing the curtains to close halfway and darken the living room.
"I'm sorry if there's been some sort or mix-up." You tried not to stare. "I'm supposed to get down to security for my badge. I'll talk to Namjoon and get this straightened out, ok?" You heard a noncommittal grunt and the refrigerator open and a drink tab being popped. You looked over to see Yoongi pounding an iced coffee. He sat it down on the counter and looked at you. You did your best to maintain eye contact.
"Want one? " He asked.
'Uh yeah sure." you walked closer still trying to not check him out.
He pulled another drink out of the fridge and handed it to you. It had a picture of V on it, causing you to laugh. These fucking models were everywhere.
"Don't worry. I'll kill Namjoon and Hobi myself. You can leave your bags here for now." He said, grabbing his can of coffee he headed out of the kitchen and up the staircase. You stared at him the entire time while sipping the coffee. There's no harm in looking at your future husband you laughed at yourself at how weird this fucking thing was.
---
You refreshed your make-up in the bathroom before leaving the apartment and then opened the BigHit App to see where the security office was. The building was massive and had its own gym and grocery store. Jesus.
You exited the elevator and saw Namjoon waiting in a chair. "Oh, so you're still alive?" you asked.
"Funny. I was going to say the same thing to you." He countered, standing up. "Are your new living quarters acceptable?"
Your jaw dropped. "It seems like you dropped me into Mr. Mins house" you whispered, looking around. "I don't see how that's very discreet at all. And it seemed like he was surprised by it as well."
Namjoon shrugged. "Eh it can't be helped. You two will eventually live together anyways right? Why make you move twice? And besides, only Jin lives on that floor and he thinks it's hilarious. He doesn't know about the dating thing but he does think having Yoongi live with his assistant is some kdrama level shit."
You rolled your eyes. *Yeah well Yoongi hates it. You should have told him first."
"Yoongi hates everything I do so I don't really care. Let's get your badge ready and then you have to start posting. First day on the job selfie, tweet, whatever it is you kids do these days."
You rolled your eyes at him, "I'm older than you."
"To the security office Noona! Jesus why didn't you do your make-up? This badge has to be worn at all times."
"I did do my make-up today, asshole," you responded as the two of you walked around the corner to the security office. He opened the door and ushered you in.
"Gentleman, here is Ms. [Y/L/N] ready for her badge and photo." Namjoon plastered on his smile, causing you to scowl.
The men walked you through another set of paperwork, fingerprints, and a photo. Twenty minutes later you had a fancy security badge clipped to your skirt.
"Stay out of trouble. Stay on top of the App. If you need anything text Jimin. And start posting" Namjoon said, exiting the security office. He headed in front of you and around the corner,suddenly stopping.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" You heard Yoongi's voice. It sounded like his voice but you hadn't heard him get angry yet.
"Not now Yoongi, I have a meeting in 15 minutes." Namjoon sighed.
"You just dropped a girl into my house without telling me and think I'm not going to have something to say about it?"
"You knew she was starting today. You agreed that the two of you were going through with all of this. What did you think that meant? Huh?" Namjoon said, almost bored.
"Why don't I get a say in any of this?" Yoongi raised his voice, exasperated.
"You did. You picked her." Namjoon said calmly as he pushed the up button on the elevator.
"This is such bullshit!" he yelled. You walked around the corner, surprising him.
The elevator for Namjoon arrived and he got on it, not bothering to look back.
You walked closer to Yoongi. "Hey. I'm sorry this was a surprise for you. It was to me too. I thought I would be in a dorm with a bunch of other girls." You gave him a sympathetic look.
He took off his hat and ran his hands through his hair. "I'm sorry it's not you. It's just...ughhh…" He put the hat back on.
"Really. It's fine. It seems like Namjoon isn't interested in our opinions though, huh? I'm a good roommate. I'm quiet and I clean up after myself. And I can cook."
Yoongi wasn’t angry at you, so his feelings had morphed into pouting at this point. "It's fine I put your bags in the guest bedroom." He pushed a button on the elevator. He sighed
"Thanks Yoongi." you said, standing next to him.
“And I can cook too. So don’t think that’s part of your job or anything.”
“Now what kind of wife would I be if I didn’t cook for you,” You teased as the doors opened up. You were surprised to see him blushing. He hit the button for the 12th floor, keeping his head down the entire way. NEXT CHAPTER
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#bts yoongi#bts fic#bts writing#bts fanfction#bts fanfic#BTS suga#yoongi x reader#suga x you#yoongi x you#bts yoongi x reader#bts suga x you
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Visitation - November 2020
A full year since your first visitation, you find yourself getting ready to meet Yancy in a different place in the prison. One hour. One ‘date’. How would it go?
Word Count: 1,949
-
Even if visiting Happy Trails Penitentiary once a month was a regular event at this point for you, it didn’t dismiss the butterflies that were fluttering in the pit of your stomach as you arrived with a rucksack. This, in a way, was the first ‘date’ with Yancy since you started your romantic relationship. Finding love as part of a volunteer project was not part of the plan, but now you couldn’t see this any other way. The letters that were sent back and forth were kept together in a folder in your room where they would be safe. A year let you see the little things that happened through Yancy’s writing: how it became easier to write letters that spanned several pages, how Yancy’s handwriting grew a little neater as the months passed, how he continued using the notebook paper and stationery you gave him. You were sure he could see the same in you. Maybe he’d notice the way you spoke more about your life (the good and the bad), or how you put care into your letters, even going as far as adding some doodles in the hope it’d make him smile.
You were in love, and there was no denying that.
The receptionist gave a knowing smile as she explained how conjugal visits went while a guard checked the contents of your bag. How obvious were the nerves, despite the fact it was the same thing as usual? There was a small apartment-like setup in a quiet wing of the prison. It consisted of an open space living room-kitchen combo, a bathroom, and a bedroom that would be locked (it was reserved for families that had to travel long distances for conjugal visits). The rules were rattled off: you and your possessions would be searched to ensure nothing suspicious was inside, cleanliness would be crucial, you would receive a half-hour warning, among other things.
“An’ above all, I don’t wanna hear y’all were up to any funny business.” The Warden’s sudden appearance made you jump. “I know you two’re fine, upstanding youths, but if I catch a peep of trouble, there’ll be a firm warnin’ given. I know that’s not gonna be th’ case!” He slapped your shoulder with an amused chuckle, and it took all your might to bottle up a wince. “I wanna wish ya luck. We’ve been running this here volunteer project for over ten years now, and this is only th’ second time a volunteer and prisoner started datin’. I’m happy for the both of ya. You’ve done more good for Yancy than anyone else. C’mon, I’ll bring ya down.”
-
As you were led to the conjugal room, Warden Murder-Slaughter began telling you how he noticed Yancy’s improved mood over recent weeks. The greaser had been working on bettering himself and engaging with classes. He had a reason to do these things thanks to you, the Warden surmised. He looked like he was going to say something else, but decided against it. You were suspicious at first, but you quickly realised you were approaching an open door. A voice could be heard from inside giving a warning of some sort, before an aggravated “Youse don’t need to remind me of this for the fifth time!” was snapped in return.
“Sounds like Yancy made it here first,” the Warden laughed as he pushed the door open. “An’ I’m sure he’s gonna be on his best behaviour. It’s a special day, right?” He smirked at Yancy, who was standing beside a coffee table. The prisoner’s response was a grumble and a hand rubbing the back of his neck. “We’ll leave ya alone. C’mon Smith.” The guard nodded and followed after the Warden, closing the door and leaving you two alone.
Even if Yancy was in his normal prisoner outfit, it looked brighter than before. Was it specially cleaned, or was it a new one just for the occasion? Then again, you had dressed up beyond your normal visitation clothes. Before anything could be said, you put your bag down and charged into his arms for a hug. It was immediately reciprocated as he pulled you close to his chest. It was better than any of the brief hugs you shared in greeting during previous visitation sessions. It was almost like you were home. A strange sentiment to feel, but it was the best comparison you could think of. He smelled like soap, with a faint lingering of smoke; and his embrace was warm.
“It’s good to see youse too.” Yancy eventually broke the silence, reluctantly pulling back just far enough to see your face. “Youse look perfect today. Can’t believe this is actually happening…” A thought that had crossed your mind many times today. It was likely why neither of you wanted to break the hug, but Yancy was the one who made the brave decision to end it so he could lift a small package wrapped haphazardly in toilet paper.
“I, uh, didn’t have no wrapping paper.” You insisted it was fine, and ripped it apart to reveal a grey prison cap. “I’ve been savin’ up money I’ve earned while working the cleaning shifts, and I know it ain’t much but I wanted to show that I do care an’ -” As he rambled, you unfolded the cap and put it on before kissing him on the cheek to cut him off. “O-oh. Looks good on youse. Thought it was better than something like a shirt. Huh? Oh, yeah. We can buy all sorts of little things like this in commissary. But youse gotta save up if youse don’t have a trust fund.” It did explain why he previously resorted to chocolate bars. You made a note to ask about that at reception afterward. For now, you plucked your bag off the ground and offered him a large bottle of soda.
“Fuck yeah, you remembered! Did youse get the chips too?” Your answer was to pull the snack out and playfully shake it. “Hold on, I seen bowls and glasses!”
-
Snacks and drinks were shared as you two curled up on the couch and chatted. It was definitely a better setting than the visitation room. Without anyone watching you, both of you could relax and be completely at ease. The only distraction was the half-hour warning, and that’s when you noticed Yancy seemed to close up a little. You playfully poked his side and pointed out that another conjugal visit could be arranged once the staff see today went well, but Yancy gave a quick shake of his head. He bit the inside of his cheek and glanced aside like he was trying to build confidence. Instead of encouraging him to talk, you took one of his hands in yours and squeezed it softly.
“Sorry. I ain���t trying to ruin the day. I just… Thought this would be easier than it is.” You were quick to assure him that it was okay, and he should take his time. It was appreciated. Yancy forced himself to take a slow breath before looking at you.
“I love youse. I have for months. I know that’s a bit stupid since we’ve been sorta dating most of the year, but I means it. And I wanna do what I can to show I’m serious ‘bout this. This ain’t no little fling, or me being nice to not hurt youse’s feelings. I love you, really. So I, well…” Another slow breath was taken to motivate himself. “I wanna apply for parole. You don’t deserve a boyfriend locked up in prison. I wanna be a better person for youse, the man youse should be with. It ain’t gonna be easy, an’ it’s gonna take a year or so to get things going but… If youse is okay with waiting, then I’ll do everything I can to prove I can try - try and be a good guy.” You felt your heart stumble over itself in surprise. You had been told a year ago how Yancy was a prisoner that would be happy to rot behind bars. Looking at him now, you couldn’t help but smile and promise you’d help in any way you could. “I just need to knows that you’ll be there. I had nothing worth living for out there before I met you and - and while life is pretty great in here, I wanna see your world.”
You hugged him tight. It was all you could do. His arms were around you in a flash as his breathing turned slightly shaky. No matter what, you’d be there every step of the way. He wouldn’t be alone when parole was granted. You’d be there, and you’d introduce him to your own friends and family. He’d have people who wanted to help him by his side.
“Even if I’ve killed people?” You countered whether he had the urge to kill anyone now. “No! ‘Course not! I’m not some creep who loves that kinda thing!” That was enough for you to support him, a fact that had Yancy pause in realisation.
“I ain’t a nice guy. I get angry pretty easily. I don’t know a lotta stuff, an’ I ain’t good at learning things.” Points, you argued, that weren’t important enough to end a relationship. Yancy was human. No one was perfect.
“Youse is gonna get some weird looks, dating a guy like me.” You could hear resignation in his voice at that. He was trying to talk himself out of this, not try and scare you off. Reinforcing the hug was your immediate response. No matter what, you’d be there. No one can truly look down on a man who is trying to do better.
“Y’know youse ain’t gonna be able to move out of the state, yeah? Not without a lotta paperwork.” At last, you broke into a giggle and insisted moving out of state was less important than living somewhere with Yancy there too. That was enough to help the doubts lift as Yancy laughed. “Yeah… I’d like that. You an’ me… It’d be nice, I bet.”
The last minutes were spent close together, talking about what the parole process was (you had to look it up online) and what would need to be done. It was a promising start to have Yancy feeling more confident. As he joked about how he’d challenge the parole board to a fist fight to prove his worth, you realised that it was something he did want to do. In a way, it was like you gave him the strength to look beyond the prison walls and wonder about the world that had turned its back on him years ago.
But before you could climb off the couch to get ready to leave, Yancy took your hand to keep you sitting. He looked you in the eye with a soft smile spreading on his lips. “Before we go, I, uh… I wanna do something first.” You trusted him, so you nodded to give permission. His free hand rested on your cheek as he leaned close and kissed you. It was gentle and brief, yet there was a trace of ‘thank you’ in the action. “We never properly kissed before now. Got a little carried away with all that chit-chat.” You grinned and returned the gesture. The love you had was mixed with excitement. A step had been made in the relationship, making it more official than before.
“Love you.”
A year can bring so many things, good and bad. Even when one year ends, the next can bring about its own excitement. It might be a long road ahead, but you were ready to take it on every step of the way.
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And that’s a wrap! One full year of visitations! I did have fun working on this, but I’m glad to be finished. It’s entirely your decision how things go from here, but I’m sure it will be a happy ending.
Should you ever feel like reading the entire series in one go, head on over to my AO3, where I have it all ready and waiting!
#writersofmark#yancy x reader#ahwm yancy#yancy#Visitation day#final part hype!#it's cheesy; it's fluffy; but it's the final chapter and I can do what I like! >:D#(read-more is for tidiness! :D )#personal fave
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audio drama natterings
- i love hearing this voice-acted jin guangyao because there is often NO correlation between his tone of voice, actions, and intentions. he can be saying one thing and doing another and you just need to do the math, with the benefit of hindsight, to figure out what third thing he was actually thinking at the time
there are also many times he is just being genuine, but picking those up probably needs, again, the benefit of hindsight
- su minshan has an amazing voice. whiny nasal baby, i love him
- no comment on the audio drama actor, but there were some clips with interviews with the voice actors from the animation included in the files, and holy shit, lan xichen. a voice to make love to
- yi city is an interesting self-contained tragedy, but it’s slim enough that i doubt that there is any alternate reality where that’s the part of the story that caught my particular attention. but still, if that had happened, most likely i would have hatched into a xiao xingchen fan
- nie deputy meng yao singing a distressed abandoned baby to sleep before continuing to sort out a battlefield, is there anything this man can’t do
i’m losing my mind over this a little to be perfectly honest, there was never any doubt in my mind that “gentle dad” is one of jin guangyao’s most dominant personality traits, but to have it validated so
- meng yao finally, after years and years of abuse and dead ends, decides to take matters into his own hands, hard work isn’t getting him anywhere, and nie fucking mingjue, who lives several realms away, just happens to walk in on him the one time he kills a man for personal gain
what were the ODDS
i’m also trying to figure out the logistics of this:
like. how. i guess no one had quite as much faith in jin guangyao’s abilities as nie mingjue
(also love how in the audio drama meng yao just keeps getting shit from every direction, so it’s absolutely not a question of whether he’s just exaggerating how bad it is for him 24/7)
this is the drop in the relationship. up to this point nie mingjue has been one of the only people who don’t (seem to) care about his background, but this is where his own version of meng yao starts overwriting reality. the moment there’s a crack in the presentation, it’s over for good.
he still appears very considerate (and in his own mind he is definitely being extremely reasonable! for nie mingjue he IS being extremely reasonable!) about meng yao’s incoming punishment and will leave it to the jin, but meng yao’s own estimation of his situation is that he will be executed.
dude relax, he didn’t even hurt you.
it’s an interesting pattern though, jin guangyao’s primary motivation is almost never harming others, and he often goes out of his way to avoid it, too. this is the first time he could have killed nie mingjue easily, made it look like an attack from the wen like he was doing with the jin guy.
fun contrast with the temple, where things are looking dire until you start unpacking what’s actually going on
- one of nie mingjue’s most dominant personality traits is concerning himself with the quality of character of people who are not him
- it is very commendable of nie mingjue to not let corrupt people in charge keep getting away with this shit, and to continue hounding the jin about xue yang. the eternal question, though: why is he taking this up with jin guangyao instead of someone who, you know, is in charge
- lan xichen really, really, really wanting to be sworn brothers, c’mon mingjue-xiong aren’t you ready to be nicer to a-yao, please please please, and now that we’ve all agreed to it and don’t need an auspicious date, we can do it the first thing tomorrow (almost literally what he says)
- lan xichen fucks on the first date and gets married on the second
then stays married to that person for fifty years, perfectly monogamous
(- one of lan xichen’s most dominant personality traits is being the teacher you can actually talk to)
- i like how nie mingjue’s attitude toward jin guangyao varies even when their relationship is at its tensest point, he can be civil and almost light-hearted with him and then soon enough take a swing at him, it’s... uncomfortably realistic, honestly.
- corrupted cleansing, very good here also. rip nie mingjue before your time but it’s just a nice tune. though here the quality is partially improved by the fact that it actually sounds like the original cleansing, just a little off sideways
- the paperman extra, i’m in awe. jin guangyao has noticed lan xichen isn’t feeling too good, distracts nie huaisang (who is getting a lecture) from bothering er-ge and gets him to lavish er-ge’s paintings with praise instead. wow.
- there’s something sadly poetic about lan xichen being stressed mostly because of jin guangyao, who is also the one who notices and immediately starts working on alleviating that discomfort
- things jin guangyao feeds lan xichen: only the best perfectly selected tea for the lan, let’s try it wangji. his favorite fruits, already waiting for him inside. that peppy tone of voice when they meet in the present day for the first time. imagine being the man someone of jin guangyao’s caliber of caregiving gives his full devotion to. zewu-jun luckiest motherfucker in the world. (he deserves it)
- lan xichen getting that laser-focused intimate care his family is completely unable to provide
- the cl- the clothes washing extra. i genuinely think lan xichen is just inexperienced, if it was just lol lan muscle he couldn’t interact with the world without destroying everything around himself. he shows signs of being interested to learn. let him hone his house spouse skills. he deserves it
- i thought i was desensitized to this backstory, but the brothel flashback actually made me cry, what the hell
- scenarios where meng shi who has any choice chooses the same profession make me uncomfortable. this is a woman suffering in sex slavery who was destroyed and killed by it, and she always wanted out. for positive representation, how about sisi instead. or literally anyone else
- it’s almost funny looking at the temple scenes in hindsight, because. the sound direction, the sense of threat. and what is implied to be the source of that threat? the question of what jin guangyao is going to do, how dangerous is that thing he is digging for, what will he use it for
and the answers are: he was running away, it was his mom’s corpse he wanted to take with him because he adored her even when the rest of the world thought she was garbage. also, no one was ever in any danger besides jin guangyao himself and his sect and allies.
i will fight people about this btw, everyone comes out of the temple as unharmed as they were always intended to be. he has ample opportunities to kill every single one of them and he never acts in a way that shows he has the slightest inclination to actually do so. he threatens people into behaving and then tries to leave. and in every adaptation so far when he is leaving he's going to leave the captives behind, untouched.
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ok i have SO many thoughts about the game. consider this a messy ramble review about the game (spoilers ahead)
ok so gameplay wise. i really enjoy the game- lots of improvements but also! very very similar formula to the last game. when i realized that i was afraid it would feel too similar and boring, like the collection of the psychic 6 felt thorny towers-esque BUT it all came together in a very different way with much different dynamics at play. all the minds were so interesting and while really big, they weren’t so hard to move through and the changes of scenery in many definitely kept it all interesting.
concept wise- with minds and things. all the minds were real interesting- i like some more than others of course. but they all displayed some kinda metaphor that was pretty easy to grasp and i think thats important! as always i appreciate how the game tackles symptoms and ideas and not specifically named disorders. for one it means it wont be dated, but it also means anyone can find ways to relate regardless of labels. i think metaphor wise, bob’s was my favorite... that was a rough one. look wise? probably nona’s mind. just so colorful!
on dated terms, retcons. i cant be the only one seeing retcons right? which is fine and good really. i think this game was a chance for them to backtrack and alter some old ideas. its been 16 years.... theres no way in hell whatever was in mind back then is true or good now. Ford’s mind situation was handle VERY well. as someone with DID i like ford, but it seemed clear to be they needed to tackle this as a psychonaut lore thing and not “multiple personality disorder with a twist” ya know? and it totally worked out. it made sense in his context and my god, so much more painful to see how it happened. it makes sense that a story would be told “wrong” in order to cover things up- it confused me at first as i noticed the retcons but as the theme of the story unravelled into that of distrust, it made sense. additionally of course the use of the g slur and raz’s curse. well, the twist-retcon really got me!! i didnt expect it and i think with the other elements of ford’s story it was a good way to handle it! post game, frazie mentions the galochios (which up to then hadnt been mentioned) where they call them “fortune tellers”. so yeah, they definitely changed that. and making a twist that took focus off the “galochios” as a whole was a good move.
on the story...... stated above a bit but man, so many twists i didnt see coming. lots of theories we had were very wrong probably because it was not based around the assumption that some things would be kinda.. retconned. and it was written in such a way it was a fun surprise. i can imagine some being upset but the writing in this game was just great. i feel they expanded on the lore and characters so well! in the start of the game i was quite shocked by the event of raz changing Hollis’ mind tbh, and we werent even that far into the game for me to be surprised by that. this game feels like it had much high stakes, which makes sense with such a large threat and now being more settled in this world with these characters. to go from raz doing something impulsive and distrusting to then having his own hero torn down in front of him because ford basically manipulated his family into living lies..... yeah, thats harsh. i do wish some more focus was on raz’s anger, i dont feel like he got a chance to be that angry at ford before they helped nona but, the connection raz makes with her was so heartfelt, it did help support that development. additionally this game carries the same sort T rated humor as the first, and i love that. it allows for a more serious angle and harder topics to flourish which still being quite funny. all in all i really liked the story, and while it feels quite conclusive, i dont really mind. i know id love to have a third game but its hard to imagine that happening.
and man. the little details! so much dialogue i need to hear on replays! i will be 100%ing the game too of course. and i love how they handled the curse post game, having raz be caught and supported by the water... was wondering how you’d play post game after that.
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