#quick sketch that actually took like an hour but i didn't realize

[kings-comic]

I finally fully* sketched the new lineup!!

*It gets modified on the ref post when I add new characters

quick note: Malon's dress is changed, you'll see it better in the next update ^^ Also- to be clear, Albi and Ravio are the same height. Albi's just wearing high hills- Some characters may have been excluded from the lineup for either plot reasons, because they aren't important enough or, in Sidon's case, because he'll too tall lmao

I don't know if I will colour it. If I do, be assured that I will share it on here ^^ I most probably won't line it though cause that alone took me 16+ hours 💀

Also- none of them have official heights- I'm working on that. That means that you can put your own grain of salt on that if you decide to draw any of them with characters that aren't mine ^^ At least until I define one for them

Another note- Nutcracker isn't going to be in this comic for a very long time. I added him here cause I felt like it and I love ma boi, but I gotta write his story before any of him appears in the comic asside from references. I have only the prologue and beginning of Chapter one written so you'll just have to wait a bit more for his actual arrival 😞

adding close ups cause I didn't realize the image quality was so bad on big files ;-;

[keefiswhoiam]

May 09 - 2024 Thursday

10:16pm

5/10

Im questioning if it's really a good idea to sit here every night and write for about 30 minutes, thats a lot of time. But I do like being able to go back and see what I was up to years ago. Also if I do this right, it should be a good way to process the things I choose to do.

Last night I had a dream that a european girl met me at a diner and she was WAY into me which was weird but I was enjoying it while it lasted. When I woke up, I wiped down my mirror, sink, and microwave area. I made leftover stew for breakfast.

For work I warmed up with some more torso sketches since the last time didn't go so well. I feel like I made a small breakthrough using circles/ovals to represent every plane of the box I usually use to represent the pelvis and parts of the ribcage. It was a very swift and clear way to show angles and left it loose enough for the box to not show through in the final product. Then I worked on GB's commission for 2 hours. TK offered to call me while she cooked and I agreed, no one was even in chat aside from the lurking commissioner. She was high and made butter noodles with shrimp and garlic. We talked a bit about human connection and how language can actually get in the way of it. We also talked about me travelling because she thinks I'd get along well with people from other cultures but I had to explain my travel trauma. After she left to finish eating, I talked to myself until I was done working. The guy actually did speak up a little bit though.

After work I did my dishes like usual and hopped on to play Minecraft with TK and NJ for about 45 minutes. We just gathered some resources and picked our house locations. I left to go make lunch and I saw that they played for a good while afterwards. Their goal was to beat Minecraft and I imagine they will be way ahead of me if I join next time.

For lunch I made a tuna quesadilla with some mixed vegetables. Halfway through cooking though, my hotplate gave out. Now it won't heat anymore. I was able to finish my quesadilla in the oven but going forward I need to get creative with how I cook since now all I have is a toaster oven and microwave. I think it'll be kinda fun though. I called my dad while cooking since I've forgotten to call him in awhile. I didn't have much to say though, I didn't really want to talk but I didn't want to keep putting this off. I at least had to thank him for getting me my birth certificate and give my condolences for uncle Darrel.

In the afternoon I did today's request and tried to be a little looser with it. I had a lot of trouble with the sketch and coloring took a little bit longer than I wanted. I'm trying to come up with a method that is quick and looks at least kinda good. That means figuring out the nuances that make sketches good which I think takes a lot of skill to be proficient at. I also worked on an idea request of a sonic character. At first I was questioning the feasibility of these requests, it seems I can barely get any done. Then I realized I could favor quantity over quality and use them to experiment too. I think my goal is to finish 1 per week with the 90 minutes I schedule just for this. It'll be practice for drawing fast again.

When I was done for the day I didn't know what to do with myself. I started feeling stressed at how much there was to think about and how I didn't know what to do. I had to go lay down with some noise and stop thinking for just a little bit. After I calmed my brain down, I remembered I can do stuff even with very little energy or mental bandwidth. I went back to my computer and started pondering my social organization a bit. I figured out I can't think of a better system of friend time management than what I have now and I also haven't given the current system a respectable try. I popped into a call with AE and others to play on their Minecraft server, but none of them were playing. I was trying to design a house style out of logs and snow so I can make a bunch to form a snowman village. I came up with something but I might try again another time. Then DS was ready to chill while she sewed her fursuit neck upstairs. I was still playing Minecraft and then switched to KSP to try and design a medium altitude plane without air intake engines. We watched volume 3 of the Monster High webisodes on the side.

While she went to bed, I popped dinner in the oven. We did our puzzles together and I attempted to beat KH2. I got pretty far, up to the very last boss fight I think. But I didn't have time to beat it tonight so I made a save state for it for later.

Today's topic was "presence" and my Costar said to play into my urges. I definitely did that at least once which actually felt nice considering I was following a recommendation to do so. As for the presence part, I forgot to set a real goal for it so I didn't do much other than keep it in mind. I regret not figuring something out. Tomorrow is Values and I've been meaning to do values writing so my goal tomorrow will be that. I should be able to remember.

[deryuj]

Follow the curves

You wish you could focus on your case but truth be told, Connor is far too distracting.

(Or Connor is helping you with your case while you sketch him in your notebook instead)

Rating: General audience

Ship: Connor x gn!reader

I started my summer job and realized I have a lot of free time so I actually wrote a fanfic because I was bored. Enjoy!

p.s. Last time i wrote a fanfic was in 2017 and english isn't my first language, lol.

It's been three hours since you stepped your foot into the squeaky clean department. Also, it's been two hours and fifty-five minutes (minus ten minutes you spent making yourself a coffee and five minutes you took for a bathroom break, which was an excuse to just get up from your workspace and do something different) since you made yourself comfortable by your desk and started working again with the weird writings and drawings you found last night at the apartment, left by what you suspected was a deviant. Looking at the same set of lines for hours turned them into uncomprehensive scribbles and doodles at this point so you couldn't make anything out of them anyway. You needed to do something else rather than stare absent-mindedly at the same page for the next five hours until your shift is done.

You wish you could say you were going in circles with this investigation but honestly, there was no circle you could even walk in in the first place.

How frustrating.

With a soft sigh, you turned your gaze to your right where Connor sat way before you even arrived, his blue LED shining and flickering as his brown eyes stayed glued to the screen. It was funny that for an android he insisted to use computers to scroll through information like the rest of the DPD did. He didn't have to, it was probably more time-consuming and less efficient to do so, but somehow it was so endearing that he makes sure to act as human as possible and blend with the rest of his coworkers.

You haven't really spoken to him today though, he was assigned to you strictly because of the notes you discovered, it was the longest you have been in his presence, which is a bummer. Usually, you would see him casually follow Hank like a puppy, hand folded behind him, long legs easily matching his anger, quick steps, and a soft smile that was always plastered on his face. You weren't sure if he was designed to always smile or chose to do so, but you decided to believe that he wants it that way. Now though you could see that soft smile and adorable chocolate cowlick up close with him working mere centimeters away from you and you couldn't help but smile yourself.

Cyberlife sure did a great job designing him.

Connor was the newest addition to the team, assigned to help the lieutenant in his cases, which definitely did not make him happy since he oh so loved his broody and lone wolf reputation. You were pleased though, you never had a chance to work with an android (and you kinda never exactly did until now). You liked Connor, maybe more than you'd like to admit, and you found yourself doubting the whole 'friendship' if you could even call it that. Yes, he was an android and he definitely wasn't programmed to like everyone (based on his previous interactions with Gavin) but somehow you found yourself hoping that after all the small conversations you shared he, at least, considered you a friend because he liked you, not because his program told him so. Were you even making sense at this point?

You let out a soft sigh, reaching out to grab a half-empty cup of stale coffee before your eyes glided back to working Connor. He hasn't moved from his stiff position since morning, his warm eyes fixated on the computer screen, subtle nose twitches, jaw tightened, smooth hand gripping the notes you wrote down yesterday as he silently analyzed the same set of information written in your handwriting over and over again before looking up at the computer screen, trying to find some kind of clue on what exactly the deviant was trying to write down or show.

As if it was that easy to understand the maniacal scribbles they left behind before running away.

He looked so focused, so eager to prove himself and his skills to everyone that he completely shut himself off from the whole department and new information from his surroundings for now so nothing will take him out of the process of decoding the messages. You were almost curious if by any chance he knows you're watching him so shamelessly or if he even realized that you joined him by your desk to help almost three hours ago.

He was cute, really cute, and in some way you felt a little weird with choosing this word to describe a grown man, or more specifically someone designed to hunt down deviants and do it without any hesitation.

You'd rather keep your observations to yourself rather than get embarrassed though that's what you told yourself with your inner voice.

You comfortably leaned against your palm, letting your gaze dance across all the soft and sharp edges of his profile. His small, pretty nose, freckled artificial skin, pursed, plush lips, and extremely long lashes. Someone put all these details down into this single design just to make fun of you and your silly little crush on an android, that you were almost sure has no algorithm that could by any chance make him like you back. It was stupid, really, but God was he too pretty to not like.

Never mind your earlier praises, you hated Cyberlife for this design.

You felt your cheeks heat up just from thinking about this, definitely not your smartest thought of the day.

You tilted your head to the side, your hair moving with your move as you glanced at him from a slightly different angle. Still pretty. Dang.

One line, second line, join these two with another line.

Without thinking much your hand danced across your handy notebook, your pen leaving gentle lines and curves as you tried to memorize his pretty features. You weren't an amazing artist but you could at least make it resemble him. That's all you needed to do. You needed to convey his pretty profile somewhere where it won't disappear, somewhere you'll be able to look at whenever you'd feel like it, and not when Hank would get up from his desk to go to your communal kitchen with his partner in hand.

You poked the thin paper with the tip of your pen, spreading small, inked dots across his sketched cheek, dragged curled lines from his eye down to his cheek to mimic his long curtain of eyelashes, and made sure that the curve of his lips was the curviest, kissable line you ever drew on paper.

Your silly attempts caused you to let out a quiet snort. I mean the sketch wasn't bad… it's just that you finally caught up with what you were doing that caused you to realize that you were acting like a lovestruck teen if not worse than that.

Stupid- said your more sober side.

You still proudly looked down at the small sketch of Connor that popped up in the corner of your notebook, it was no longer accurate though since the model decided to finally rise his honey-filled eyes away from the screen and face you instead, clearly curious about what made you laugh during a long, boring investigation.

"What's wrong detective?" Your eyes snapped back up at his seeking expression, right in the middle of him tilting his head to the side as he would usually do whenever asking a question and being actually curious about it.

Now what?

"Ah" passed your lips before you could catch yourself. What exactly are you going to tell him and make it sound not weird?

"You draw a lot?" He took your silence as an answer and leaned in to trail his eyes along all the sketched lines, his lips curling into a soft smile to your dismay, a soft whir erupting from his chest.

You silently flipped your notebook to the next page, lips pursed as you turned your face away from him to hopefully regain your ability to say something smart rather than babble while looking at his handsome face. And yet he still watched you, or more like observed you, analyzing your mouth twitch, gaze shift, and muscle tense. Clearly, he was getting what we would call 'nervous' at his seemingly failed attempt at making a small talk and you couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

"Sometimes, helps me think or get myself to reboot" He could somehow understand the concept, maybe because you used a techy word he had some experience with.

He hummed in response, shifting comfortably in his seat, almost like he could feel his muscles sore from staying in one position, and looked down at the blank page, as if the drawing was still there and he was still taking in every single stroke of your pen.

"You are quite talented" He seemed honest, maybe there was a hint of something else, and you couldn't help but chuckle. There was something so innocent behind his words, he almost sounded excited to face a new quirk humans had.

He always liked those. The quirks. Things that made people unique and so interesting.

"I guess once I retire I'll move out somewhere quiet and spend the rest of my life painting landscapes" You mumbled sarcastically, your eyes rolling as you tried to get Connor off his path to compliment you more. He would always be painfully nice to get people to like him and accept him in the department. It worked, sure but you don't need him to get you flustered at work where people can see. Especially where that asshole Gavin can see and use it to make you annoyed.

He let out another soft, vibrating hum at your small joke, leaning down to comfortably lean against his smooth hand. He was thinking, processing and rinsing your words to find a suitable answer to your lighthearted response and hopefully match your tone.

"That sounds nice, I'm glad that for now, I can enjoy your work here at the department." He replied and you let your lips form a smile at his response. I mean you could interpret it as if he wanted to work with you more. You wouldn't complain, your work quality would suffer though. Or maybe you're looking too hard into it.

"Have you tried drawing Hank before?" You let out a sharp exhale from your mouth, your laugh stuck somewhere in your throat, safe from being let out to the world. You weren't sure if it was a joke or not, if it was it was funny, if it wasn't then it was cute but still, you don't want him to feel bad for laughing at him.

Connor didn't mind, in return, his plushy lips quirked up into a bigger smile, doe eyes narrowing as the smile finally reached them while he happily watched you light up after working with papers.

"Don't know, I guess I'll ask him if he wants to model, sounds like a cute date" You wanted to continue the banter, it was somehow of an anomaly to see Connor try to joke like this, hopefully, you weren't expecting too much of him. On the other hand, hopefully, Hank didn't hear that because even though you two are friends he'll scold you for joking around at his expense and giving 'the android weird ideas'.

In return he let out a quick, soft chuckle before clearing his throat to get back to his professional self, his pale cheeks dusted with a soft, blueish color. Seems like he doesn't want to make you feel bad for laughing at you as well.

"Sounds like a lovely evening" He admitted before falling silent once again, his brown, gooey eyes now staring deep into yours, analyzing you. In moments like this, you were always envious of how he can pretty much see through you and see what you think while you're left with his pretty face and zero ideas on what might be going on through his head.

"Let's… check the notes again and work through it together" You finally suggested, trying to put the awkward conversation (on your part) behind the door and focus back again on your actual job. You let Connor shift closer to you, his shoulder bumping against yours as you flipped pages back onto the one with your infamous little drawing.

Seeing the real deal up this close made you realize how much longer his lashes actually are, how his lips are far more softer than what you left on the paper and how many freckles you haven't even put down on your drawing.

You should probably try again, maybe at home.

Maybe with him in your apartment.

[eremiie]

study session, sex songs

❥ armin x reader | nsfw | 2.3k words

❥ content: semi public sex, vaginal fingering, a sex tape

❥ a/n; an ask i got that i took an ss of and then tumblr deleted my asks, but i HAD to do this🙄!!!

you were bored.

you were so bored that the sound of the rain drops hitting the window next to you was almost a form of entertainment, or maybe the shuffling of people trading books on the shelf.

at this point anything was better than the piece of paper and book in front of you. you had been staring at the words so long that they were all the same. you were rereading the same sentence over and over again, and aimlessly sketching small drawings on the paper in front of you.

studying wasn't your strong pursuit, especially with your boyfriend next to you, who seemed to love it. at the thought of him, your eyes glanced over— a sight for sore eyes when you had been staring at chemistry notes for the past half hour.

a pencil was dancing on paper in between his slender fingers, jumping with every lift of his hand and coming back down to the white sheet like a figure skater on ice. he wore glasses to study, large frames sitting on the bridge of his nose, his hair so close to touching them. those same blonde locks almost hid the earphones that were snug in both ears, and you wondered if whatever he was listening to is what helped him study so diligently. his tongue stuck out just a little bit in concentration, while his eyes flit back and forth between the paper in front of him and the book above it.

he must've been watching you watch him, his attention turning towards you and the mechanical pencil coming to a quick halt mid sentence. he set it down to the table gently, and you lifted yourself off of the surface to balance your head on the palm of your hand. "armin." a whine of his name, clear discontent laced in your voice.

"yeah?" his reply was so simple, so innocent. as if he didn't drag you to the library with him, practically pleading for you to just sit down and study with you knowing you hated studying, especially in the atmosphere of a library. there were too many distractions and you weren't comfortable. not to mention the fact that you were clad in a skirt.

"i can't study, can we just go?" his expression didn't change at the sound of your complaints, eyes still calm and lips still together in a line. you didn't want to come in the first place, he should at least give you the liberty of leaving when you asked— especially considering how long you had been in the quiet library.

"do you think listening to something will help?" armin's eyebrows came together as his hand came to point at the earphones in his ear. you really didn't want to stay, but when you thought about the focus your boyfriend was in that you broke you did feel a little bad.

your legs shifted from under the table and you sat back in your seat, crossing your arms in your lap and letting out a sigh, eyes traveling around the vast library. when they landed back on armin the earbud was already sitting pretty between his fingertips. it was glaring at you and you were glaring at it, but nevertheless you leaned forward and plucked it from armin's fingers, his lips upturning when you did.

he slipped his hands in his pockets to fumble with his phone and you picked up the pencil in front of you to try and get back to studying, checking to see what page armin was on while you waited for the music to play in your ears. what music was armin into anyways? the last thing you could remember him listening to being a spotify playlist full of lo-fi beats.

only... it wasn't lo-fi beats that began to play.

or music.

your body went rigid, pencil in your hand beginning to feel heavy, leaving you to wonder how it hasn't clattered to the table yet. a chill ran down your spine because what you were listening to was all too familiar— from the wet sounds that happily made its way into your ear, to a moan of armin's name that sounded much too like your own voice.

it was your voice, because when you heard another moan it was armin's cry of your name.

it took you a minute to turn your head towards armin, his eyebrows raising over his eyes in question of what you could possibly want now. he hummed a small "hm?" to figure it out, as if it wasn't obvious. that look of innocence was played by him again, blue eyes twirling with curiosity as if there was anything to be curious about. as if your sex tape wasn't a reason for you to look at him funny��� eyes blown and mouth agape.

when you didn't respond— only still staring at him dumbfounded, he shrugged his shoulders and continued to scribble on his stupidly neat paper.

were you hearing things right?

your eyes flashed, brows knit as you shoved armin's shoulder, his pencil flying off the paper and messing up the "e" he was in the midst of writing. "you messed up my paper." he grumbled, and oh, was he a little too good at this game he was playing with you.

"what is this?" you questioned, disregarding the flimsy sheet of paper he was writing on because that was clearly the least of his issues.

armin used his pencil to point to your book, confusion taking over the once curious look he had just moments ago. "...a study session i would assume." he wasn't letting up, and your lip twitched at his response.

"no— i mean what am i listening to?"

"well, out of everybody you should know." your body stiffened again, a slow blink at his response that came out almost too smoothly, words sliding off his tongue like silk. you had to pull your gaze away from him as he only did just what he did earlier, going right back to studying like there wasn't anything off about the moment you were sharing.

if he wanted to play with you, you'd just have to join in his game.

so with a huff of breath, and the lewd noises that were still playing in your ear you turned your body back towards your notes in front of you and tried to read them over again. your name was the only thing comprehendible on the sheet, every word below it a jumbled mess.

"light wave... light waves, diffraction pattern..." you spoke slowly, reading as if you were back in the first grade.

your hands moved down from the textbook and to the paper in front of you, nimble fingers forming words on the paper that you could only hope would make sense when you'd read them back.

diffraction pattern - occurs only

"only who?"

"only you fuck me like this, armin, please!"

the tail of your y went a little too low, and your legs turned to jello, squeezing together when you heard your voice swim through your ears. blood was rushing to your cheeks, and you leaned closer to your book, burying your nose in it despite not actually reading what was on the pages— at least well. with a suck of breath you continued to write,

diffraction pattern - occurs only you fu

your eyes shot open mid sentence, and you scrambled to spin the pencil around until the eraser met the paper, erasing what you had written furiously, and you swore you heard a small chuckle leave armin's lips, you biting your own and scrunching your nose up at your pitiful mistake.

your hands came up to rub at your temple, the sound of a moan armin drawled from you a couple nights ago was what you heard next, and it might’ve sounded nice those nights ago, but now it was embarrassing.

you squeezed your eyes shut, much like your legs and as flustered as you were you couldn’t help but feel... aroused.

it was something about hearing armin fuck into you so nice. the way that even though there was no visual for you to look at, you could visualize the moment so clearly— so vividly, because the more you listened the more you could remember making the tape, remembering what happened during the tape.

armin’s hands had slid up your back, a handful of your hair being grasped by his hand, a sinful arch being created by your back, and you let out a choked whimper, that you didn’t even realize you reciprocated in real life.

armin’s head slowly turned to you and his lips were forming a sick grin, and you would’ve been mad if you didn’t want him so bad, if you didn’t want every moment you could hear to stop being the past and become the present, the very moment that was playing in your ear to play out in front of you.

a whine, a pleading look on your face; eyebrows turned upwards and your hips grinding down into the chair below you.

armin could’ve almost laughed if he wanted to, and he almost did when your hand slid into his lap to grab his and pull it to the hem of your skirt, the fabric brushing lightly against his fingertips, but he didn’t push forward.

“armin,” his name never sounded so nice on your tongue, never sounded so desperate. your grip on his wrist tightened and urged him forward, and so he let them slip under the soft fabric of your skirt, and even past the band of your underwear, and the closer he inched towards your aching cunt the wider your legs spread for him.

his finger felt cold against your clit when he touched it, rubbing small circles right away, and your face looked like it was melting at his touch, your body was melting at his touch.

and he was being kinder than expected— letting his fingers dip down further until your slick allowed for him to enter into you, your body shivering at his touch, at the stretch.

your head fell forward onto the table with a louder than expected bang, and it caused both you and armin to jolt, the people around you stirring a bit.

you didn’t care too much, but armin did, his fingers stilling and his eyes going back to his textbook, eyes darting back and forth between the words as if he was really reading them, and you wanted to give him a prize for best actor right then and there.

“shh.” he said without looking your way, but his fingers began to move again, and you tried your best to not let out a moan. “gotta be quiet if you want me to fuck you with my fingers... this is what you want right?”

the sound in your ears were practically drowned out by your thoughts, by the squelches of your juices being moved around by armin’s middle finger, by the sounds that only you could hear— and maybe armin if he listened enough.

“yeah... i want it.” the small pants that were leaving your parted lips, and they only increased when armin inserted a second finger, his hand making itself comfortable in your underwear, fabric harshly rubbing against his pale hand with every thrust of his digits into your pussy. “want it so bad.”

you looked like a dog, a puppy in its heat, pushing your hips forward to get him deeper into you, but it just wasn’t enough.

you were needy and needed more, so your own hand smoothed down to your clit and you began to rub circles, whimpering at the sensation, the pleasure flooding through your lower half, almost making you dizzy.

hell, you were dizzy— drunk even; drunk on the lust that was twirling in your pretty head, and drunk on armin’s fingers— it was like the way his hand moved when he wrote notes, moving precisely and ease.

his fingers fucked up into you, curling when they were deep enough, and making your body lurch forward. “again.” you needed to feel that again. the fingers on your clit went a little faster, because you knew you were close. “again.”

and he did it again, hitting that spot that made you clench around him, and he kept doing it, and your fingers kept moving, you were progressively getting louder, but it didn’t matter as you were getting closer to coming as well.

and you did, body tensing up and every nerve in your body pinching, mouth dropped open and eyes rolling to the back of your head as your hand came to hover just over your mouth just in case any sound left you.

you slumped over onto the table, pulsing around armin’s fingers but your own slipping out of your skirt and onto the space of the chair your legs made.

armin finally let out a stupid small laugh, his soaked fingers finally leaving your sloppy cunt and entering his mouth, tongue twirling around your release. it was a shame you weren’t looking.

you could hear it though, the obnoxiously loud slurping sounds he made and the hum of content he made before popping his fingers out his mouth. what you couldn’t hear was the tape. it must’ve stopped in the middle of armin fingering you.

and you also heard the slide of armin’s chair against the floor of the library, the sound of a book cover meeting it’s back, and the shoving of books into a bag.

armin looked over his shoulder with a bored expression, one that was eerily similar to the look you had given him just earlier when you were bored of studying.

your eyes met his; eyes still calm and lips in a line once more... “i can’t study anymore. let’s just go.”

[saidrolav]

Calcu-lust.

Highschool!Sam Wilson x gn!reader

Summary: You think you're done with relationships since your last ex but you fall harder than ever for a guy in your math class.

Warnings: none! pure fluff! 🧡

a/n: Hiii! Just felt like writing some Highschool AU for no reason, this has been inspired by the song stupid with love from the musical Mean Girls, hope you'll like it!

not my gif!

You were near your locker when Wanda talked to you for the first time of your day. Wanda was the first one that had introduced herself to you, she was the first friend you had made at your school and you were happy she did, she was the most wonderful bestfriend anyone could ask for. She was here for you at any time, the two of you were spending nights listening to music, dancing like crazy and watching movies together, she was the nicest. Not too long ago, she had decided that her mission was to find you a lover. Since you knew her, you have never been in a relationship because of your last ex that hurted you. Wanda loved talking about boys and girls at your school even if you, not so much, you weren't really attracted to anybody. This morning at 8am, at the start of the day, when you were already tired, she obviously had to talk to you about her mission of finding you a partner.

"Wanda!" You had cutted her in the middle of the list of people she found attractive and she looked at you with wide eyes. You checked quickly around you and found some of the students looks on you, you almost just shouted on the corridor and you lowered your voice quickly. "As i said, i'm over it. I used to crush easily in the past, but i'm done with that." She nodded furiously as you talked, drinking every word you were saying. "No more falling for people at the drop of a hat, i'm focusing on school and my future." She rolled her eyes while sighing. You putted your backpack on your shoulder and closed your locker while smiling at her disappointed face.

As you were about yo go for your first class, you heard a couple of whispers in the corridor. Wanda looked around, she seemed to have heard those too because she was investigating the crowd with her eyes to see what was happening, she loved gossiping. Even if you two were searching what was arriving, you both knew what was coming, or rather, who were coming.

It took no time before Sam Wilson, Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes were walking through the corridor, meeting you and Wanda's gazes, sending chills down your spine. The three guys were pretty popular at your school, each one for a different reason. Steve was popular for being pretty good in sports and good looking, tall, blonde, blue eyes, girls and boys were falling for him all around the school. He was a huge victim of gossips, there was always at least once a week a new gossip about him dating someone but the truth is, Steve was super sweet, caring and gentle with everyone but not a lot into dating.

Sam was just as known by everyone, he was also good in sports and extremely funny, the man always had to crack a joke when he could, making people laugh would bright up his day. He was less victim of gossip because he was talking to the whole school and was making sure everyone was feeling at ease around him.

Bucky was the less popular of the three of them, mostly because he was the most introverted of the three. He was really shy but harsh when he talked and he truly wasn't afraid of telling what he tought. The brunette was a truly different person when you were seeing him at lunch with Sam and Steve, letting out laughs from the heart. You only shared one class with James and he was always at the back of the class, drawing sketches furiously in his copybooks in silence.

The three of them passed by you and Wanda. Sam gave you a huge smile and a wave without stopping his tracks. You could only hear his voice echoing in your ears: "Sup, Wanda, Y/N,". Your blood was rushing to your cheeks, these blushing furiously. This man had so much confidence, it was intimidating. Your hands held tighter the strap of your backpack as you watched him walk away, biting your lower lip. You didn't even saw Steve giving you a polite smile and Buck giving a quick glance on your direction, they didn't stopped and followed Sam quickly as your mind was still racing of this insignificant gesture.

"So turned out, you were lying. You still fall for people with a drop of a hat." Your head snapped in Wanda's direction. She was already looking at you with a knowing look, a smirk and wiggling eyebrows. You chuckled before rolling your eyes and going to your first class of the day without waiting for her. "You won't get away with that so easily Y/N ! It's my mission!" You laughed once again and went in your science class.

Your day passed slowly and it made you even more tired as the hours were advancing. You slowly made your way to your last class, exhausted as ever. As you were about to enter the classroom you stood in the doorway, all of your tiredness going away as you saw Sam Wilson sitting at your desk. You stood there for a couple of milliseconds that felt like hours while staring at him, then you realized you might look like a creep so you went to sit just behind him without saying anything. He didn't realized you were staring at him, to your biggest satisfaction.

You knew Sam was in your class, it wasn't the surprise. The surprise was that he sat somewhere else than his usual seat, and at your own usual place. Actually, you never saw him much in your math class, mostly because he was always in the back. You only knew he had good grades because teachers would always congratulate him, but he always seemed like he wasn't listening in class. He was a nice and funny guy who could talk with anyone easily but in class he wasn't that much of a trouble maker. What were you thinking about ? He probably didn't even noticed he sitted at your desk.

You were wrong. Sam knew exactly where you sitted because he already saw you a couple of times in this class or at lunch and he thought you were mesmerizing, because, he was, in fact, mesmerized by you. Your laugh, your smile, the way your were talking. At first, he thought you didn't wanted of a guy like him. Loud, noisy, attracting everyone's attention, but when Steve told him this morning the way you were looking at him, boy, his heart beat faster, a huge smile took over his features and he felt like the happiest man on Earth. You were looking at him, the way he did. As soon as he heard what the blonde said to him, he thought about you all day and for him, the day passed really quickly. He was going to ask you out on a date at the end of this class, and he would do everything he could, starting as you walked by the door.

You putted on your desk your pencil case and everything you needed for your math class, he did the same. You were watching his every moves closely, a bit lost in your toughts. The class started and you tried to focus, you really did, but with such a beautiful man in front of you, you soon met your toughts again. That's why you were so surprised when he made eye contact with you.

"Do you have an eraser ?" He smiled angelically and you knew you were screwed.

"I would love to.." You answered mindlessly as you were putting, in his hand, your own eraser. He chuckled at your answer, that's when you realized how dumb sounded your response. As your hands touched you felt an electric shock running through your veins and your cheeks became crimson at the contact. He used your eraser briefly before putting it back on your table with a quick "thanks".

You didn't even liked your math class that much, but who were you to complain when such an astonishing man was sitting in front of you, math class was becoming slowly your favourite. Thanks maths for giving you the right to put your eyes on Sam Wilson.

You were studying the back of his head curiously, watching his dark hair, his skin, what he was wearing closely, you wouldn't miss a sight of him, you were so close his cologne was tickling your nose and, it smelt amazing.

You were listening as his soothing voice was talking with confidence answering the questions of the teacher, filling the room that was usually in the silence. The man was really smart, and it only made your heart swell even more. He looked like he was straight out of a romance TV show and you just couldn't keep your eyes off of him. Your eyes went lower and you saw his hands playing easily with his pen, his arms showing that work out had been done and before you could continue to observe him, the bell rang and he was leaving in seconds making you sigh as you packed up your things. You've been studying him instead of your maths the whole hour and now you were completely lost in the lesson. You putted your backpack on your shoulders and exited the classroom and your whole body stopped in the middle of the corridor because he didn't left.

He was here. Waiting for someone. When his eyes found yours a giant smile took over his lips and you bit yours. He was walking over someone else behind you right ? Not you right now, he was coming no time to think!

He took a big breath before talking, "Please don't interrupt me because i've been searching what i'm about to say the whole class," you both chuckled before he continued, "So, Hi? Okay so," he cleared his throat, "I think you're very cool and i wanted to know if we could go on a date sometime, maybe grab something to eat or watch a movie togerher, no pressure don't feel obligated to say yes, just... tell me what you think you know." He let out a shaky laugh as he fidgeted akwardly with his fingers before looking back at you. Damn, Sam Wilson was asking you on a date, that was a big deal because he was nervous and never he was, but how could you say no ? You've been admiring him from afar for way too long and he just admitted he was also doing so.

"Yeah, i'd love to go on a date with you sometime Sam." You smiled sweetly at him and you searched fastly in your backpack before taking out your marker. He was super excited and had a giant smile on his face, his heart was beating so fast he thought he might get out of his cage. "I don't have a paper it's okay if i write on the back of your hand ?" You cocked an eyebrow at him and he nodded eagerly. You wrote your number on the back of his hand as you said and as soon as your skin touched again, that electric wave going trough your body came back faster than ever, your smile growing even bigger. You definitly thought it was love at first sight, and that it was what soulmates were experiencing.

You looked at him when you finished writing, he looked more happy than ever and it made your cheeks blush. You putted your marker back in your bag and a couple of seconds passed just where Sam and you were staring at each other with a huge smile. Then he finally talked.

"I should probably go.. I'll tell you when we'll plan our date ?" He looked at you as you nodded in silence, you approached him and gave him a kiss on the cheek before doing a quick wave of the hand "See ya, Wilson." and disappearing in the corridor. Otherwise Sam stood there a couple of minutes caressing with his cheek where you kissed him with the tip of his fingers. He came back to him, realizing what happened and he jumped in the air like a kid, even doing a little dance of joy, running towards Steve and Bucky, ready to tell them everything.

You however you joined Wanda that gave you a knowing look. "I know, i said i'm over it but-" She cutted you with an excited squeak and took you in her arms. "I'm so happy for you! You don't even need me to find a boyfriend!" You laughed and she did so too.

You couldn't wait for your date, and you couldn't wait for your next math class.

[smellycinnamonthundahfudge]

5 gifts peter got for mj and 1 she gave him

im still alive bishes haha. am i really just choosing to participate in a different prompt that i barely have anything planned out for instead of finishing the one i was late in following up on? yes i am. prep urselves for some gift giving spideychelle to develop their relationship pre-ffh hehe

after hoco and peter starts to gain a work spidey life balance, he finally starts to notice that mj apparently... cares... about... him???

it wasn't obvious at first, hidden under a layer of deadpan sarcasm and witty comebacks, but the interest seemed to be there

which was why every time peter would miss a meeting, he'd actually feel bad this time because he really did want to be there this time

he'd feel terrible every time mj would ask him where he was, why he didn't show up. she was hoping he'd show and he let her down.

the first couple of times it happens, mj's understanding enough.

but it happens a couple of times too often and back to back and something snaps

you see, peter and mj have developed a bit of a rapport over the couple of months after hoco.

peter finds out mj likes coffee and tea, she read a stephen king book one time, he noticed, and they talked basically all week about king (and some of the issues surrounding him, his work, and their adaptations ofc)

soon enough their talks extend beyond school and they start meeting up in the library, at their places, at coffee shops, pizza places, an arcade one time where mj managed to beat peter at air hockey. her lil energetic whoop and almost doing a victory dance (before realizing she was in public) was worth losing for.

but admittedly, peter was just a tinge bit stressed and overextended and he unfortunately let his time with mj fall by the wayside.

he'd accidentally left her at seen for days after he completely forgot she sent him a message. she called, he answered, a robber was currently running away from some cops, he hung up on her...

suffice it to say, peter became a bit of a bad friend and he completely understood why mj reverted back to their previous relationship, he did it first

which was why peter decided enough was enough

mj has been a great friend to him, a true one, and an underappreciated one at that

which was why he decided he'd spend as much time, effort, and thoughtful gestures necessary trying to make it up to her

problem was, they were currently on clipped one word reply speaking terms right now. mj barely looked at him, she went back to sitting all the way to the other side of the farthest table during lunch again...

he needed a way in

so he went back to basics, the next day, he knew mj had a 7 am class so peter went to school at 7 am too, just to give mj some much needed caffeine

trouble was, was that mj was running late and when he gave the coffee, she left just as quick as she came

she said a quick "thanks, parker" and swoosh she sprinted to class

and peter was left there with 3 hours to spare til his next class. oh well, at least the effort made her do that quick lil toothy smirk

his efforts would work eventually won't it?

but if an omniscient narrator were watching him for the following days, they probably would have said no, no they wouldn't

one of those days, peter brought a thermos of tea only to find that mj had brought her own

"great, i thought the point of these gifts were to make things less awkward between us" peter thought to himself as he winds up walking away in slight shame from the awkward interaction

he winds up sharing the thermos with ned instead, who promptly responded "wow i get your secondhand gifts, you sure know how to make a guy feel special, peter"

"shut up, ned, do you want some or not?"

"no, come on, give it to me. free drinks are free drinks even if it's essentially just warm leaf juice. besides, i heard this helps with a sore throat."

"well, at least someone's happy with my gift"

they clink their cups together and peter begins brainstorming his next probably bound to fail gift idea

as he was walking home from school that day, and saw mj heading to the library, said idea lights up in his head in the form of bookmarks

those were cute right? and mj would probably use em all the time cus she reads so much and she reads multiple books at a time, so she'd probably use multiple bookmarks as well, right?

bookmarks it was, peter decided

he thought he'd print a bunch of personalized ones. ones that were photos of them, had quotes from significant historical female figures, and of course science puns

he knew mj didn't appreciate them as much as he did, but a part of him thought she'd like them nevertheless and would think of him when she'd use them

peter knew this gift giving crusade would be... heavy on his wallet, but as he stared at the price for laminating a couple of personalized bookmarks. he concluded lamination was a scam and believed mj would be careful enough with her books, and consequently, her bookmarks, to not need some flimsy piece of plastic to protect it

so peter opted for some folders and cardboard to make said bookmarks instead

it's only later after he got tossed into a sewer by a dude in a mechanized rhinoceros suit that he learned a valuable lesson: always laminate bookmarks

ok he was kidding (lamination was still a scam and bad for the environment and you couldnt write on the things after you laminate em)

but really tho, he did learn something. he realized he hasn't had the best of luck keeping his gifts intact in time to give said gifts to mj

so he decided to employ reinforcements

once peter's saved enough money to buy his next gift (a sketch notebook that he saw at a cutesy old crafts store), he decides that he should take ned with him when he buys it and that ned should just give it to mj instead

(better safe than sorry)

but peter still wanted mj to know the gift was from him tho, so he decided to write a letter and insert it within the notebook.

so he writes, or more like incoherently rambles and apologizes really

but peter thinks he got to the crux of the importance their relationship had to him and really, he just wanted to make things up to mj

that's what mattered

here's the thing tho, halfway thru writing said letter, he realized that having ned give it to her was kind of a cop out.

not to mention, not giving it personally but writing this long ass sort of confessional letter?

pfftt peter liked to think he was better than that

talk about sending mixed messages

so peter decided that he would still have ned keep the notebook and the letter, right up until the point that he was going to give the gifts to her.

and finally, peter parker, in this whole gift giving crusade, is finally given a fucking break.

at lunch time, the three of them are now all sitting at the same table

(peter and mj's relationship have mostly improved in the time it took him trying to give all those gifts, but he still felt guilty and he still wanted to show his appreciation for her)

ned "slyly" (mj saw it, how sly could he have been?) passes peter the notebook under the table

and peter braces himself

"i can do this" he repeatedly quietly mutters to himself until he finally approaches

"hey, mj"

"greetings, parker" casually replies mj without so much as looking up from her book

"i uh... got you something"

"is it something ned gave you?"

"what?"

"cause if it is, he can give it to me himself, you know" says mj in a semi shout to ned as well (ned looks at peter with a facial expression that said dude wtff?? how did i get in the middle of this???)

"what? no no no this isn't from ned. i bought you this."

"so why did ned have it?" says mj in her cool suave investigator mj interrogatory tone

"well..."

peter had officially maybe five? six? seconds to decide whether to share his embarrassing tales of failed gift giving woes to mj or to make up something on the spot

screw it, embarrassing failed gifts it was instead. truth shall set you free and all that, right? plus maybe it'd help him practice for when he tells her his biggest secret

peter sighs in defeat and tells mj in an almost quiet mumble "all my other gifts were destroyed when i kept them so i decided to have ned keep them instead"

"i'm sorry what?"

"it's just that the last time i tried to get you a gift, it just wound up getting ruined so i thought i'd just have ned hold onto it until it was time to give it to you."

peter can barely look mj in the eyes, the cafeteria just seems so interesting all of a sudden.

"oh"

that made peter look back at mj cus she seemed... shocked?

mj is.... shocked????

"soo... you bought that... for me?"

and god forsake peter parker because mj just gave him the cutest shyest little happy smile that he never knew she was capable of having.

"yeah yeah i did" and peter finally gets to give mj his gift/s (im counting the letter as the 5th gift cus im lazy af hahaha) and all the other trials and errors and failed gift attempts completely made the end result worth it

until ofc mj opens the damn thing and finds said letter that peter had completely forgotten at the moment was there

"what's this??" mj asks in an overly sarcastic teasing tone that kinda makes peter want to die

as mj opens the letter right there during lunch in the school cafeteria, peter suddenly lunges to block said letter's contents from mj's sight

"petet what the hell are you doing?" asks mj with the sweetest laughter that peter would totally googoo eyes about at any other moment had he not been focused on trying (and obviously failing) to keep his dignity intact

"uhhh can i ask that you just read that some other time, mj? and uh not right here, right now, in the cafeteria? it's just really embarrassing" peter shyly requests of mj, scratching his neck and looking at everything in the cafeteria but her

to that, mj simply has a sympathetic look on her face in reply

"sure, peter" says mj with a reassuring smile

and with that, peter breathes a big sigh of relief and finally lets go of his feelings letter for mj

mj closes the notebook up, keeping the letter safe inside it in the process, and secures the notebook safe inside her bag inmediately

suffice it to say, for mj, that notebook is precious cargo and she shall treasure it as much as she is capable of treasuring something

because peter parker felt guilty over not getting to spend time with her as much as they did and kind of pushing her to the sidelines and so it was just a genuine thoughtful gesture that showed peter valued their friendship/relationship as much as she valued it

PRECIOUS. CARGO.

but speaking of said cargo...

"hey peter"

"yeah?"

peter had gone back to his seat right next to ned

"sooo what was the other gift you tried to give me?" asks mj, getting back to their playful teasing banter ways

mj's question sends peter facepalming himself with the table

"don't think i've forgotten about that, i'm probably not going to stop investigating til i find out so might as well just spill the truth, parker"

peter stops his repetitive headbanging onto the table and sighs

"fine, mj"

and peter goes on to explain his bookmarks idea beginning all the way from the thermos incident

the three of them spend the rest of their lunch looking at the photos peter was going to use for the bookmarks, fondly recalling memories upon looking back at the some of the photos and laughing at all the corny science puns peter had planned on using as well

things were finally back to normal, if not better than ever.

time for some cliche corny af happy end quote ending about how their friendship and the memories they shared together was the real gifts they had buuuttt i did mention mj would be giving peter a gift didnt i? soooo mj pov epiloooggguuueeeee

here's the thing, mj had an inkling peter parker was trying to attempt something

he was at school at the same time as her crack of dawn class and gave her some much needed caffeine

he tried to share his thermos of tea with her

it seemed like peter was trying to make amends and it really was sweet and thoughtful so ofc lil by lil she began to soften back

but as mj was printing the bookmarks peter had planned to give her

mj requisitioned the idea for herself since they actually were good ideas if she's being honest

tho she would never tell peter that, ESPECIALLY the science puns one

she'd reserve those for only when she's at home, the least likely place peter could ever see her use that

ok so back to- as mj was printing said bookmarks, she began to appreciate peter's thoughtfulness

and it is totally not because of any feelings said gifts and gift attempts gave her

but right now, as she had finished printing bookmarks and got nostalgic and reread the letter of peter confessing to her how much their relationship meant to him again, she suddenly had the unscratchable itch of needing to sketch peter

and a balancing of the scales gift idea was born

because you see, rn, peter had the upper hand in terms of the morality of their friendship and mj couldnt have that nooo

mj was sketching a screen cap of a video she took of the class while they were waiting for a professor and peter gave her that impossibly adorkable smile

because she HAD TO

she couldnt let peter hog all the gift giving glory

she didnt do it because of feelings or whatever ppfftt

this was just to balance the scales, mkayyyy???

or at least that's what mj told herself once she's finished her sketch and proceeded to look for all her old ones of peter

just to even things out

and that's exactly what mj told him as she shoved said sketches that were currently inside a plastic envelope onto peter's hands

(1. less likely for them to be ruined that way. 2. she was not going to have those sketches out in the open for everyone to plainly see wtf)

"this is just to make things even between us, no need to make a big deal about it"

peter was in awe for a while, his jaw slightly dropped, but he smiles in adoration of the girl of his dreams and gives a genuine "thank you, mj"

"you're welcome, peter."

mj even smiles a little before the bell rings and she hightails out of there

mj lightly sprints away, still slightly in shock and unsure of what she just did and what just happened

while peter is left looking at mj's direction fondly and looking back at her gift for him

and as he peeked inside the envelope to see its contents and saw all those sketches of him

peter felt like he truly didn't deserve someone like mj

and he felt like all the gifts in the world he could think of and muster up wouldn't be able to make up for that fact

holy fucking shit i cant believe i actually finished one of these things again. it's like pulling fucking fingernails and teeth at the same time, i tell you

but honestly i'm just really really happy i finished it and it's so pure and fluffy imo and nothing im just. i love these two sm.

this fic was supposed to be for 5+1 things day but since they're also a bunch of headcanons i like to think i'm just posting these in advance for headcanons day tomorrow hahahaha

IM BACK ON THE SPIDEYCHELLE MONTH TRAIN BABY TOOT TOOT TOOOTTTT

and i have a couple of fics left in me so whew keep a lookout for those if they decide to come hahaha

all hail spideychelle everybody. i'll be back i dunno haha

[robertdowneyhiddlesbatch]

Daddy’s Little Hel: Kiera Rogers

Chapter 2: 17 Years [edited]

Steve Rogers was in Brooklyn, but the city was a stranger to him. No longer was it the place where he'd lived with his mother. Actually, that home was a historical landmark now. No longer was it the place where he'd befriended James Barnes. Now, that friendship was memorialized: in his mind, his art books, and in museums. It was Brooklyn, but it wasn't 1940's anymore. Here he was, a living fossil walking about in the year 2011.

That crash in the Arctic had been like a time machine for him. He left in 1942, leaving behind his entire life, and came up in a new world. Every time he took a bus or a train up to Brooklyn, he hoped it would take him back to where he belonged. But maybe it was better this way somehow; what would a 1950's Brooklyn have been without Bucky. At least here, his best friend was a 4 hour train ride away.

Usually, Steve would grab a bite at one of the old diners in his old neighborhood, but today all the nostalgia had made him loose his appetite. So, he forewent the food and got a train back to D.C. It was a 4 hour long train ride one way, but it wasn't like he had anything better to do.

Since being unfrozen SHIELD had given him a crash course in history, set him up with a place, and even got him a bank out. The 3 million dollars owed to him by the Army had to go somewhere! Of course, they couldn't give it to him lump sum, so they set up a monthly payment plan.

On par with the world around him, Steve too had turned bitter compared to his old self. This wasn't his world! He made no friends, no girlfriends. It had been almost two years now, and he still hoped for a way back. Maybe he'd visit Howard's son to get help with that. Tony, they called him. A chip off the ole block. A world class genius, just like his father. A partier like his old man too, if not worse. These days he went by Ironman, flying around New York in a fancy tin suit. Steve had always thought that one trip up to NY he would knock on Stark's door, introduce himself, but never came around to do it. He was too stuck in the past to reach for the future.

Steve spent the 4 hour ride drawing in his sketchbook. He'd draw people from his past staring in awe at modern day Brooklyn. Or, he'd sketch a stranger from now freaking out being stuck in the past. It was his way of fun. Steve had little enjoyments in his life. He lived in a closed down gym, a place he chose so he could vent out his feelings. He had a t.v. and a dvd player; sometimes he'd watch the news, or rent out some movie or tv show DVD from the video store in his block. There was a park near by too, where Steve would go every early morning for a run. He'd built a quiet and invisible life for himself, just the way he liked it.

It was almost 8 by the time he came back home. Feeling a bit hungry now, he decided to go down to the local diner for a quick meal. It wasn't a very busy place, a fact he liked. What he didn't appreciate was that the price for his meal of choice had gone up since he'd gone down. But, that was how the world worked.

Steve stared out the window, eating alone at the table by the exit. The diner had been quiet for the last twenty minutes, but was now broken by the angry voice of a man calling for a girl to stop. He turned to the noise and the girl slid into the seat across him, breathing heavily.

"You didn't pay for the food!" said the cashier in a heavy accent.

"Chill! I just came to get my brother to pay, didn't realize I took the bag with me," the girl tilted her head out at Steve, and the cashier stared between the two.

The super solder put down the last piece of his sandwich on the paper, and swallowing the food in his mouth, took out his wallet.

"She's adopted. How much?" Steve asked as the girl looked at him, enjoying her play.

"$6.85," the cashier said and Steve smacked down a five and two dollar bills, letting him keep the change.

The girl leaned back and finally opened her take out bag, digging into her food.

"Back in my day, that used to be around two dollars."

"Back in your day, dude! You're probably younger than my mom!"

"I was born in 1918. Steve Rogers, at your service, apparently."

"Wow! Ya know," the girl spoke as she ate, her fork pointed across, "I thought you looked like Captain America, but damn! You're the real deal!" she went back to her food and Steve ate the last of his sandwich.

"Do I know you?"

"No, but I know you! My last school once took us to the museum in D.C for history class. I checked out your section. These past few weeks I spent my time stalking you." She stuffed a fork full in her mouth, then wagged the utensil accusingly at him. "You have a very routine life, big brother." She winked.

"And what's your name, little sister?"

"Kiera."

"Kiera-?" Steve asked, gulping down his drink.

"Kiera, Kiera. Don't got a last name."

"Oh. So what was your plan to get away?"

"Eh, I was just gonna run out, or bump into someone and blame them and cause a scene. But I decided to play the old vet."

"Haha. Very funny. So you were going to steal?"

"Hey, when you live on the street-" Kiera shrugged and finished her food, letting him figure out the rest.

"Well then, good luck out there," Steve picked up his tray and threw it out before walking out the door, and Kiera raced to finish her food and ran after him, leaving her empty bag on the table.

"Hey wait! That was rude," she told him as she walked next to him.

"Sorry." Steve rolled his eyes. "Don't you have a place to be?"

"Okay," she pretended to search, "Oh here's a street, here's a me."

Steve sighed and walked ahead, leaving her to jog to catch up again.

"Hey so, do you like ever dream about or think about the past? Do you have any recurring dreams or nightmares?"

"What, are you the street psychiatrist now?"

"What? No, we're friends, I just wanted to ask."

"We are not friends," Steve corrected her.

"Fine, we're adopted siblings. So, do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Have dreams, or nightmares?" She rolled her eyes this time.

"Yeah, I think about the past. I missed like 70 years, so that's all that's stored up here."

"Do you have dreams about other things?"

"Weird question to ask."

"Cause the only dreams I've always had have something to do with my past."

"And you are how old?"

"I'm 17. But every night I go to sleep, I dream about, my mom and dad I guess. My dad, he had hair as black as mine, and my mom, she had golden white hair and man was she pretty! But she was always sad."

"That part's the nightmare?"

"No, the nightmare is when people break into our house, and I'm shoved into a closet and that's when I wake up. But there's always this jolly blonde giant, who's the comedic relief in all that drama."

"You dream movies?" He asked sarcastically and stopped in front of a building.

"I live for movies, and story books."

"No school?" Steve asked as he fished his pocket for keys.

"No parents," she reminded him, "Looking for these?" Kiera dangled his keys on her finger and he swiftly grabbed them, unlocking the abandoned building.

Soon as the door opened, Kiera ran through, and Steve sighed for the tenth time before walking in behind her.

"You live in a gym?" she asked as she took in the place.

"Well, a resurrected man doesn't really have a place to own so," he threw the keys on the front desk and walked in to the gym. Kiera skipped a rope she'd found, then quickly dropped it and ran to the punching bag.

"Oh man! Look at this bag? You get a lot of break-ins here?" she asked as she rotated the bag on its hinges, commenting on its beat up shape.

"Nope, that's just big brother."

"You did that?" She pointed to it, then answered her own question, "of course you did, you're Super Soldier."

"Don't call me that."

"Sorry, mind if I go at it?"

"Sure, let me grab you some-" Steve had gone over to the desk to get her some gloves, but the loud smack drew him sprinting back to the gym. He stared at Kiera, who was standing next to the wide swinging punching bag.

"Yeah, forgot to mention, I'm an anomaly too."

"Great, the anomaly family," Steve said as he walked over, scratching his head.

"You're not a company person, are you?" Kiera said, walking around as she checked out the other instruments.

"Why, you know a group of resurrected people from the '30s?"

"Aren't you a butterfly?" she poked at him, following him to the back. "This the bedroom?"

"Yeah. That's where I sleep," he pointed to the stack of wrestling mats, "We'll have to figure out where you sleep," he darted a look at the clock. Figured he'd have to let her stay the one night.

Kiera looked at the time and jumped, apparently remembering something and she grabbed his arm, pulling him to the door.

"Figure that out later," she told him, without even turning back.

"After what?" Steve asked, pacing behind her.

She grabbed the keys off the table and dragged him outside, handing him the keys to lock up.

"They're playing Maleficent at the park down the blocks," she managed to give him a short answer before sprinting towards the park.

When the two got there, Steve complained about the crowd but Kiera dragged him to a big tree, asking for lift up the trunk. Steve followed after her and they sat on different branches with their backs against the trunk.

"Better, scrooge?" she teased him and he mumbled back a reply.

The movie started with trailers and Kiera introduced the actors, also filling him on the 4-1-1 of Hollywood. She told him about her admiration for Angelina Jolie, liking her independence and power in the media. Steve was impressed that actors were ambassadors for the U.N.

The movie ended, and Steve was helping her off the branch when a girl ran up under the tree, being chased by a group of men. The girl stopped and let them reach her before she took out a can from her purse and sprayed at them, making them fall back a little. Kiera jumped down from the tree and fought them off, breaking a nose here and an arm there, sending them running home. Steve then finally had a chance to jump down and asked the girls' safety.

"Wow, thank you. That was awesome. My parents make me carry pepper spray with me, but you were just, wow! Where did you learn that?" the brunette girl exclaimed.

Both Kiera and Steve scratched their heads and looked at each other, before Kiera suddenly replied;

"Well, it's all thanks to my brother Steve! He taught me self-defense. We just got the gym downtown and he was thinking of starting classes to get some money going,"

"Kiera!" Steve grabbed her but she shook him off.

"Classes! That's cool. Have you opened yet? Cause I would love to learn what you just did there. My brothers would too, if self-defense didn't sound too girly to them."

"We're gonna do martial arts too! We're starting at $10 a class, and I can help you figure out a schedule, too. We start in two weeks after we finish fixing up the place," Kiera promoted her imaginary school and the girl bought it.

"That's great, Kiera. How rude of me, I'm Lindsay. Here let me give you my number," Lindsay searched in her purse for pen and paper, and Steve and Kiera bickered mutely, and then quickly smiled at Lindsay when she looked back up again.

"Here you go. Do you have a phone?"

"Not yet, we just moved. But I'll hit you up when I get one?"

"Great. So, how old are you? I'm 14," Lindsay told about herself.

"I just turned 17," Kiera exchanged.

"17. That's nice, so does that mean you're going to enroll at the local high school?"

For the first time Kiera was at a loss for words, but Steve put a hand on her shoulder and answered for her.

"Kiera graduated early, she doesn't like to boast," he smiled down at her and Kiera mouthed a thanks.

"So then would it be possible for you to tutor me?" the girl asked hopeful.

"Sure you know, but I-I haven't studied the whole year so, you're going to help me help you!"

"That's a deal," Lindsay excitedly shook hands with her when her phone pinged.

"That's my mom, I gotta go back. But I'll wait for your call and see you around the park?"

"You bet, have a good night," the fake brother sister turned to leave but Lindsay stopped them.

"Hey, can I take a picture of you guys?" she asked, holding up her phone.

Steve slumped but Kiera pulled him up, answering positive for the both of them.

*Click!*

"There! The girl who saved me, and her big brother. My brothers will be so stoked." She showed them the picture but her phone rang again, and Lindsay bid them goodbye as she ran off home.

"M.A. classes?" Steve annoyed-ly asked on their way back to the gym.

"What? Kiera whined, "we need an income don't we?"

"There is no we!" Steve reminded her.

"Alright! But relax; you got two whole weeks to get ready."

"Gee, thanks." Steve retorted.

"You're welcome Mr. Scrooge. Ooh, we're gonna have to come up with a name for the gym!"

"How bout I'm not doing this?"

"Nah. I like I'm gonna make you do it!"

"I really like I can kick you out."

"How about winner gets the vote?" Kiera made a running pose.

"You're on!" Steve said behind his back, already running off.

"Hey no fair!" She called after him and didn't waste a second more before running after, their cackles and dialogue bouncing off the walls in the dark night.

Pronunciation: Key-era

ch1 ch3 

[hyperchaotix]

This pic has a bit of a story to it. It comes from a time when I saw myself as an utter failure of an artist and human being. Long story under the break.

In 2014, I tried to get commissions in hopes of making money off my art to help pay for rent while living with my mom still. I didn't get enough bites and depression made my work ethic practically non-existent. Later that year I ended up having to get a job at a sort of phone center.

It was for a service that did live captioning for phone calls, but the software wasn't good enough to actually understand most people, so it was our job to basically translate slurred normal speech into something the program could more easily recognize, and we had to be at least 95% word-for-word accurate according to FCC regulations. So, in essence, I wasn't even talking to anyone, I was genuinely just a cog in the machine, literally taking what I hear and saying it out loud like a robot.

Most of the clients were much older and lonelier people, with very little to talk about other than what they had for dinner yesterday. At a time when I was starved for genuine human contact and felt like I would never amount to anything as a person. I wanted to create.

Now, on calls, we weren't allowed to do anything but listen and repeat, (and these calls could sometimes last hours) but I craved some kind of stimulation. I always did well on my random tests, improving over time even when I wasn't paying attention (in fact I did better when I let my mind wander). So I would occasionally sneak in a quick doodle when no one was looking. Despite scoring well even while doodling, I was told I "shouldn't do that".

I stopped, but the job was draining. After work I didn't have enough energy to create and during work I wasn't allowed to. Out of pure spite and fear of losing my waning artistic ability, I did a full sketch, the drawing you see above. Not just a quick doodle, but something with anatomy, detail, and clothing design. Something that came from me wanting to be free again. My feelings of wanting to rebel in a single picture.

Afterward, I was caught and got an official warning, risking the job. So I finally stopped for good. My ability to draw slowly got worse over time, it became harder and harder to make what I wanted to make. I figured it was over. This is my life. A robot trapped in a small cubicle devoid of human contact, losing my ability to make what I cared about. As my ability to draw and depression got worse I kept coming back to this picture and thinking about it. Even though it was my own picture it continued to speak to me. It told me to take a risk. That seemed insane at the time. I couldn't even get close to recreating that very picture. But in 2016, my depression got dangerous, and I realized if it's all going to come to an end, I might as well give this another shot. I quit my job and restarted my art career.

It has been a bumpy road, with lots of sadness, lots of coming to terms with some realities, lots of empty bank accounts, and lots of continuing to feel like a failure, but now I regularly get work doing what I love both drawing and animating. I'm currently animating for video games. It's not the most stable job, but I'm glad I took the risk.

Throwback pic of Hyper from 2015. It's the only pic from the mid-2010s I still like to a degree.

[keefiswhoiam]

January 02 - 2024 Tuesday

10:59pm

5.5/10

This morning I took the garbage out, vacuumed the floor, tidied up some boxes, and scrubbed Sporticus's water bowl. I showered without my phone today because I've been intentional about not watching/listening to something unless I have an actual desire to because most often I just try to fill the silence. For breakfast I made corned beef hash with onions and bell peppers with 2 pieces of toast. I chopped all the peppers I bought into strips and froze them for sandwich use. I watched Bojack while eating breakfast.

I got to stream on time and warmed up trying to draw my otter in the spongebob maid outfit. I also sketched and priced another guy's commission. I had trouble sketching and was also worried I'd have nothing good to draw because my heart has not been in it lately to the point where I think it might be best to not try and force myself to draw something unless it's for work obviously. I finished both of Shiro's commissions today which put me just over my daily quota since they were both small. I remember getting irritated at not being able to draw her hands well and figure in general. I just wasn't good at it today and I feel bad that some people's commissions suffer because of it.

After stream I heard my new speakers come in so I tried to set them up but realized I had no way to plug them into my PC and headphones at the same time. Unfortunately I have to send them back which reminds me I also need to send back this other thing I've been putting off. I have no excuse since I just give them to my dad to take to UPS whenever he ends up going to town. I also wrapped Daisy's last present that just came in. Afterwards XQC started streaming so I tuned in while I tried to make Hoover stew. I got bored of him and switch to Bojack again while I cooked and ate. It turned out okay, healthy and filling at the very least. I'll probably try making it again. Then I opened a Dr.Thunder and got to work.

I finished a request for Tag which I think turned out well. Then I worked on a late Venus new year's pic for 1 hour. I was struggling with the colors and decided to sort them out later. Right after that I did day 1 of the yoga challenge which wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, she started off with some physically testing poses I struggled to hold. It felt good to stretch though. I did it in the barbie-like flower world in VRchat. This weird guy requested off me but I denied. After that I buckled down and started my new secret project for 1 hour which went well. I enjoyed doing it and it was relaxing since I had TOTK on my TV just resting with it's ambient music and weather.

When I was done with that I wanted to relax so I put on an episode of Bojack. Towards the end, Daisy became free so we called and chilled. I tried playing a little KSP but didn't do much before quitting. She shared her screen looking at Twitter and then we checked Zillow for outrageously expensive houses. We saw a plantation and also a well designed house for once. We also peaked at Disney houses, dog races, and cartoons out of context. She got to bed pretty quick and I played Neopets for her. I thought we were at the end but there's still at least another chapter to go so I was happy about that.

Today was okay, I was very productive and stuck to my schedule well which I always feel good about. In the evening I didn't know what I wanted and felt very boring while hanging out. I was afraid I was dull to be around and was feeling very self conscious about my hair. I think in general it's because I didn't have much to contribute today, like I had no substance.