#Aside from watercolor since I do like it

[thewirewitch]

Today I fished some old art supplies out of my basement. I now have an easel, a few canvases, a wooden paint pallet, some cheap brushes, two of the smallest pallet knives I've ever seen, and some questionably old paint. When I say that, I mean...around 20 years old. Oil, acrylic, and watercolor. The tubs still are squishy, so, it's...possible some of it survived? My dad bought it for my mom possibly before I was even born (or not long after I was born) so...there's a good chance some of it's gone bad. Oil paint is apparently only supposed to be good for around 15 years (or less). Just looked it up and the internet says watercolors (in the tube-form) can last 5 years, and acrylic can last 10+

I really hope the oil paint survived at least. I've never used it before and would rather not have to go out and buy some to see if I like it or not. I did get some watercolors recently, so I don't really care if that's expired or not, and I couldn't care less about the acrylics since I don't like using acrylic paint.

#my stuff #rambling #I do hope I enjoy oil painting #I do want to like some form of painting #Aside from watercolor since I do like it #But I want something with a different look to it as well #And it sure as heck wouldn't be acrylic lol #I have a goal in mind for a painting if I ever do get into oil painting and get really good at it #I just hope that interest won't die beforehand #I also have a small painting idea I'd like to do #It won't be as crazy as the other one #So I could possibly try it when I'm still a beginner #It doesn't need to be realistic either so I could have some fun stylizing it if I wanted

[hazellight11]

I got watercolors!! They got delivered a full seven hours earlier than it said they would!!!!

#havent done actual color mixing since high school art class last year #but i'm really happy with how much i remember #this took like. three hours i think? i dont remember what time i started lol #boba fett #star wars #watercolor #art #traditional art #cannot wait to do more stuff and i finished my last assignment for the semester so i have all weekend and like all of next week #aside from two exams

[soapybutt17]

Night Showers

Summary: A shower, a missing condom, and Soap doing his best to get on his Captain's nerves (the 20 laps around the entire base was worth it). Character: John Price x F!Wife!Reader. Simon "Ghost" Riley. Kyle "Gaz" Garrick. John "Soap" MacTavish. Word Count: 2,168 Chapter Warnings: Smut. Unprotected Penetration. Creampies. P in V. Oral Sex (F receiving). Alternate Universe. Soap just being a little shit for the giggles and all. Unedited as usual. A/N: To the anon that sent me the request, this is for you. I just can't get this idea out of my head and it shows.

Masterlist | Series Masterlist || Request are Open

One of the few perks of being part of the upper ranks were the privilege of having your own time to bathe. But unlike other assholes that prefer being in first, you preferred to be the last one to step foot in the communal showers. You prefer taking your time, lathering yourself up to the perfect suds and savoring every single minute of the cold water against your skin.

You preferred your privacy as much as the next person and practically living in the base, you don’t get that privilege as often as you want unless you were here. It was ironic seeing it was a communal space and there was an off chance another female member of the base would slip back in but it was rare especially at this time of the night where you were certain almost everyone aside from the people on watch duty were fast asleep.

The frigid cold water would have woken you up but the longer you stood in the water, the more did you feel the weight of the day get to you and you were close to falling asleep from where you stood. You were close to ready to finally get to bed and sleep before the following day of drills.

You felt a hand before you realize it and instincts had equipped you to act fast and hit whoever was ballsy enough to touch you. But it seems your husband was faster than you as he held onto your fisted hand. A smirk playing on his lips for catching you off guard.

“You’re not supposed to be here.” You whispered screamed at him at this point. The panic of someone possibly entering immediately crossed your mind and the possibility of either of you (mostly him) getting in trouble for being in the same shower together.

“Locked the door on my way in if that’s what you’re worried about, Love.” He smirked and only now did you come to realize that he was butt naked just as much as you.

You felt the heat on your cheeks at the realization. It’s been far too long since you’ve had even a semblance of intimacy with your husband. With mission and reports constantly pulling the both of you apart, having him so close to you now only brought the much deprived need in you to come back full force for him to see.

“Fucking hell, cold as ice.” He muttered as the water has finally hit his skin.

Your eyes gazed at the bear of a man you had the privilege of calling your husband. The way the water slither against his hairy chest and down to his happy trail all the pent up desire has come and you did not know if you had the mental fortitude to resist him at this point.

“Seein’ something you like, Love?” He teased, his watercolor eyes gazing down at you as he caught you staring.

“Very.” You quipped turning back to the waters to wash away the last of the suds that was still covering your skin. “But I think you already know that by now.” You muttered looking over your shoulder to look down at his manhood alive and awake you to see.

“Most definitely.” He chuckled, his arms found their way around your waist, pulling you further into his torso, his manhood pressing against your back in the process. “And you could feel it right now.”

“John…” You warned. You’ve had far too many close calls with the man in the past, had it not been for everyone’s lack of idea about what was going on between the both of you, you both would have been caught in one too many compromising situation.

“I’m doing nothing, Love.” He chuckled, his hand slowly creeping from your stomach up towards the swells of your breast giving a gentle squeeze before one hand rested against the columns of your neck and the other holding onto your jaws to keep you in place. “Nothing at all.” He purred, lips finding their place against where your neck and shoulders met.

“John not here.” You warned him again, the fact that the doors to the showers were locked did not reassure you at all. You still fear the possibility that someone had seen you then seen your husband walk inside in the middle of the night.

“Where then? Name a time and place.” He propositioned.

“Your room, after you shower.” You finally relent knowing that when your husband was in the mood just as much as you were, nothing would stop him from having you.

“Deal.” He turned your head until your lips met his own in a searing kiss that drowned you more than the water that showered above you both.

Your hand found their way against his wet beard, trying and failing to control his kiss, savoring the first of many kisses he was more than willing to give you for the rest of the night.

Fuck Protocol. Fuck Reputation. You will be fucked and you will make the most out of it.

“I’ll meet you naked on your bed.” He practically commanded you now as he pulled away. Any other time you would have made the protest of him giving him orders the way that he did but you truly didn’t care at this point.

Nodding, you pulled away from his hold. The coldness of his absent touch did more damage than the water ever could. Without even looking back, you had toweled dried yourself and put on your clothes—ignoring the fact that it was your dirtied ones. You’re going to be naked once you’re back in bed anyways and made your way out of the showers and making sure to lock the door behind you in the process.

~

“God fucking damnit.”

With shaking legs, you peered down at your husband post-orgasm from between your legs as he began searching through his discarded pants. A few choice words escaped his lips as he continued on with his search. It was so unlike the Captain to be this antsy but it was given in the situation at hand.

“What?” You asked, dazed still from your release with just his mouth. You felt the ache on your lips from biting too hard and trying and somewhat failing to keep your moans and whimpers to a minimum.

“Condom.” He practically growled as he began to look around his room.

You blinked as his frustration was now in full force as he began to look around his room for another spare but no luck whatsoever.

“Just fuck me, John.” You whimpered, hand somehow finding their way towards your still too sensitive bud. Keeping yourself sated while you waited.

“But…”

“I’m on my pills, just fuck me already.” You were now practically demanding him at this point. “Please.”

You didn’t have to tell him twice as he dove right on top of you. Slotting himself in between your legs. He pulled you in for another searing kiss. Your arms and legs had immediately wrapped around him, urging him to finally fuck you but he was taking his sweet time—a time neither of you truly had with the night slowly fading into daylight.

“A fucking little menace you are, aren’t you?” He teased, grinding his pelvic bone against your nub. “Just so desperate for me are you?” He questioned, voice growling louder and instincts kicked in as you slapped your hand towards his mouth to quiet him down.

He did not like it one bit as he held both of your hands above your head.

“Did I fucking tell you to touch me, Pet?” He growled against your ears.

“John—you need to be quiet.” You whispered struggling to free from his hold.

“You don’t get to make orders here, Lieutenant.” He whispered against your ears, nipping at your lobe before his lips lingered against your cheeks and finding their way towards your lips but not truly kissing you. “Is that clear?”

“Yes.” You whimpered as his hips dug further into your core.

“Yes what, Lieutenant?”

“Yes, Captain.” You squealed as he finally slipped right into you.

The aching sting even with him preparing you lingered through your entire body. It was always a task in on itself as he held onto you. One hand held onto your own up above your head and the other held onto your leg and pulling it up as high as you physically could.

“Bloody fucking hell.” He groaned. “Fucking tight.” He muttered.

Without another word, his moved his hips, a gruelingly slow but deep pace that had you gasping at each piston. Your legs held onto his waist for dear life and your teeth bit against your lips stopping from any noise from escaping.

You watched all the control leave from your husband’s body as his thrust had gotten sloppy.

“Please…” You pleaded, even when you truly didn’t know what you were even begging for right now. “Please. Please. Please.”

You felt it before you realize what was going on, the spurts painted your insides and the mind numbing shiver that wrecked from your toes up to your head. You moaned, louder than you would have wanted it to be but your husband was quick to silence you with his lips. Pulling you into him, swallowing every moans and every whimper as he continued on with thrusting inside of you.

Finally, your husband had let go of your hands, you winced as blood began flowing right back and the familiar tingling sensation seeped through. He pulled away, looking down at you in the all too familiar adoration that you felt the same for him. You were sated, blissed and thoroughly satisfied from the longing you felt for your husband.

“Are you broken?” John inquired.

A playful smile rested on your face, the context that it was a question he often asked after any of his team were put in a bad spot. It was his own little way of asking anyone and everyone if they were alright.

“Split open, but I’ll survive.” You respond,

He smiled, chuckling at your antics. Before a flip has switch and his hand held onto you pulling you up and turning you until you were on your hands and knees. Without even missing a beat or even allowing you to say anything, he plunged himself right back into you.

“Good.” He chuckled leaning close to your ears. “There’s still more where that came from.”

~

Breakfast in the mess hall was boring and you preferred it that way. Enjoying your tea and toast and jam in the peace of the table you shared with John, Gaz, and Simon was all you could ask for after the grueling night you had with your husband.

Even from the frequent sips of his coffee, you know he was just trying his best to hide the smirk playing on his face. Last night had been a blur after the third round for you. When your husband was on a mission, nothing could truly stop him from taking what he wants and what he needed from you, you were all the more willing to give it to him if he needed it.

But with that being said, you also knew the consequences of your actions. The ache between your legs and the sore throat you were nursing with your ginger tea. There was also the array of hickeys and bruises that painted your entire body and you did your best to hide as much as possible even in the sweltering heat.

The next time you would even think about sleeping with your husband is when you’re both done with your deployment. Nothing more, nothing less.

“Aye Price!”

You winced, the peace of your own filthy thoughts of last night was ruined by Soap’s booming voice taking most of everyone’s attention (some already used to his morning antics, decided to just ignore him). You looked up towards the Scot and paled at the all too familiar foil packet in his grasp.

“Saw this in front of your room last night. Hope the lucky lady you had in your room was fine being raw dogged for the night.”

You could feel the fury boil from where you sat. You had noticed both Simon and Gaz strategically move a little farther away from where the Captain sat but they had an all good view of the man as he stood and ordered Soap to run the entire base twenty times.

It pissed John even more was the fact that Soap wasn’t all that afraid with his punishment, cackling as he skipped out of the mess hall, the condom still in his hand for everyone to see. Soap would truly not let him live this down.

His eyes slowly turned to you and this time it was you who was trying your best to hide the smile as you took another generous sip of your tea.

The consequence of his own actions it seems.

#John Price Smut #John Price One Shots #John Price Oneshot #John Price Oneshots #john price headcanon #John Price x reader #john price x female reader #John price x wife! reader #captain price x reader #john price x reader #cod fanfic #cod x reader #cod mw x reader #smut #john price smut #cross posted on ao3 #captain price #call of duty #fanfic #x reader #female reader #captain john price x reader #captain john price #captain price x you #john price #john price x you #captain price x female reader

[mizusnose]

Love, Poisoned by Betrayal

heavy heavy TW for emotional abuse, implied physical abuse, and toxic relationships. Mikio is also a TW because I hate this man so much. be safe reading.

“How did this terrible creature come to be? Hate alone wasn’t enough. It took one more ingredient:”

———

Getting away was supposed to be helpful. Leaving her small town, her abusive father and absent mother, Mizu thought she’d be able to make her own way in the world. Yet, as she sat near the edge of their shared bed, Mizu gripped the hot spill of blood leaking from her knee, and thought: This isn’t what I thought I wanted.

It was an accident. Mikio had bumped into her. Sent her to the ground and she felt silly thinking about it: the story she would tell to her friends. A lie to calm them, one she’s gotten used to keeping like a prayer.

Her homework was still unfinished. Had been for the past few days now since Mikio’s been angry. Her thoughts felt scattered and unfettered, a birds molting wings in birth, the rot of it in death. There had been more arguments, more yelling, more crying. No time to finish her essays, even lectures felt like too much work these days.

So today was supposed to be a peace offering. Her, outside to visit her friends. Mikio, home, without her or her whining or crying or distractions. Something she thought he’d wanted.

“You..you upset me.”

Mizu shuddered. Held the clean sweep of blood in her palms. Her breath taut like a string of the guitar she’d been learning how to play—the same one Mikio had been teaching her on. His own.

“You made me do this.”

Mikio was there again, his face still faint with the lines of anger. A frown indented between his brows, the scruff of his beard, his canines peaking out wild and hurt.

“I’m sorry..”

Mikio’s hands were larger than Mizu’s. It had been the thing that turned Mizu on so much the first time they met. Mutual friends. A bit older. The age difference didn’t matter—but now, as Mizu watches him push her hands aside and start cleaning up her knee she wonders: This was a bad idea huh?

“Shh. It’s okay. I just—you shouldn’t go.”

Mizu felt caught. A thread through the thin bones of a bird, caged to the ground, forever held from flight like an interrupted tide of breath in sleep. A swift sudden thing, yet one that was there all along, waiting for the perfect time to catch—to devour.

Maybe I’d just been too blind to see it before now..Mizu thought.

It wasn’t unlikely. She’d been so vulnerable a year ago. Caught up in escaping her past life, the pain that came with it. She’d push past the insistent Lets stay friends from Mikio, let him turn away when she’d be naked, teach him how to say I Love You when she had said it first.

There were signs, a scarlet thing in the sea of darkness and yet—she hadn’t listened, didn’t want to.

“This is okay. It’ll be okay.” Mikio pushes too deeply on the cut and Mizu whimpers, pulls away. Doesn’t get far before she’s being pulled back. Mikio’s always been stronger than her, even if she pretended.

Mizu meets his eyes across the small space between them. In their shitty small apartment, the angle of sunlight from outside the windows. A car honks in the distance. Mizu is terrified.

It looks ugly, the cut. It’s held open now by Mikio, a clean slash that aches. The fight starts up again then. It’s Mikio, washed in watercolor blue, red, black. The screaming is simple and Mizu barks and bites: a dogfight that lasts only a couple seconds yet Mizu is wrung out and exhausted at the end of it.

The way he sees her is this: stained sheets against Mizu’s bruised chin, her gasping throat, the working of her jaw as she pants.

And the tide of his guilt brings him back once more. A cry, a whimper, and Mizu is pulled into his embrace again. His words are sweet, soft, bitter like cherry wine.

Mizu texts her friends she can’t make it—traffic is bad despite it being the middle of the afternoon on a weekday. Explains that they’ll meet up later, maybe next week. She knows she’s lying when she types it out and sends it.

Knows because it’s the same way she comforts herself when Mikio gets like this. I’ll leave tomorrow, the day after, the day after that, the day after—

It’s rare, the blood that spills. Takes longer for it to heal, a bump of flesh that was once puckered and leaking. And still, Mizu will ask again over and over: are you hungry for me baby? are you hungry? are you?

And she will give every time.

———

She escapes the awful relationship and finds true love after all this FYI, please don’t hate me :,)

inspired by cherry wine by hozier and the giver by sarah kinsley

#blue eye samurai #mizu blue eye samurai #fanfiction

[flan-tasma]

The painter and the paint [Albedo x Fem!Reader]

💖~ The idea of him being obsessed with you is cute. But being created simply to be adored, because somehow that's okay? It's great.

I've been trying different spell checkers for the english translation! If you notice any mistakes, I will be delighted to review them.

Warning: Nope now💖 | English is not my native language, so if I have made any mistakes in the translation, I am open to corrections | Content in spanish and english!

Spanish:

Albedo, que tiene un atractivo bien conocido para quienes lo vean, siempre se ha sentido reacio a empezar una relación amorosa. Las damas y caballeros que lo han intentado apartar para ellos mismos siempre han fracasado, pues el alquimista siempre ha estado muy enfocado en sus estudios y el trabajo.

Oh, pobres personas, que intentan entregar sus corazones a un hombre tan gentil y tranquilo solo para terminar con una herida sentimental. Quienes lloran luego de que el alquimista los deja para que lidien con sus emociones, quienes se emborrachan por el rechazo de quienes amaban.

Pero claro, Albedo considera que las relaciones son difíciles de llevar. Si bien es cierto que no está en contra de hacer nuevas amistades, aún sigue trabajando en sus propios medios de socialización. Una pareja sería mucho trabajo para él, más del que le gustaría llevar ahora que ha estado ocupado en su más reciente creación, su obra maestra.

Pues es así como la creó: del carboncillo que trazó un rostro experimental, cuya extrema belleza lo dejaron atontados durante una hora, que pasó a ser pintada con acuarelas cuando ya no pudo soportar verla tan apagada en matices blanco y negro. Pintó e iluminó sus ojos coquetos, brillantes como joyas lujosas, que lo mirarían solo a él mientras sonreía. Buscó el color perfecto para sus labios delicados, ¿debería usar un tono naranja cuyos besos pudieran saber como las solsettias, o debía inclinarse por el común rojo que haría que sus besos picaran con sabor a chile? Pues terminó pintando de rosado, poniéndole delicadamente un labial de bayas dulces que le secó la garganta al sentir la frialdad de su campamento.

Pues ella estaba allí, con él, sentada y feliz. Recatada y gentil, mirándolo con ojos preciosos, como si la obra maestra fuera él, y su piel se erizó al casi poder distinguir un perfume frutal que le llenó los pulmones. Parpadeó una, dos veces, buscando algún error en su pintura, solo para sonreír con ternura al ver que no era el lienzo quien se había equivocado.

¿Dónde había visto a esta señorita antes? ¿Su cerebro y sus manos la crearon en ese instante que garabateaba frente al fuego? No lo sabía, pero pensó que no sería un gran problema en ese momento, mientras se sentaba frente al lienzo de su amada, quien lo miraba de igual modo. Sintió que algo en su corazón le apretaba el pecho y su respiración.

¿Es posible que solo sus manos hayan podido crear a su único amor?

English:

Albedo, who has a well-known attractiveness to those who see him, has always felt reluctant to start a romantic relationship. The ladies and gentlemen who have tried to set him aside for themselves have always failed, since the alchemist has always been very focused on his studies and work.

 

Oh, poor people who try to give their hearts to such a gentle and calm man only to end up with a sentimental wound. Who cries after the alchemist leaves them to deal with their emotions, who become drunk from the rejection of that they loved.

 

But, of course, Albedo considers that relationships are difficult to manage. While it is true that he is not against making new friends, he is still working on his own means of socialization. A partner would be a lot of work for him—more than he would like to handle now that he's been busy with his latest creation, his masterpiece.

 

Well, that's how he created it: from charcoal he drew an experimental face, whose extreme beauty left him stunned for an hour, which became painted with watercolors when he could no longer bear to see it so dull in black and white hues. He painted and illuminated her flirtatious eyes, sparkling like luxurious jewels, that would look only at him while she smiled. He searched for the perfect color for his delicate lips: should he use an orange shade whose kisses could taste like sunsettias, or should he lean towards the common red that would make his kisses sting with jueyun chili flavor? Well, he ended up painting it pink, delicately putting on a sweet berry lipstick that dried his throat as he felt the coldness of his camp.

 

Well, she was there with him, sitting and happy. She was demure and gentle, looking at him with beautiful eyes, as if he were the masterpiece, and his skin crawled as he could almost distinguish a fruity perfume that filled his lungs. He blinked once, twice, searching for some mistake in his painting, only to smile tenderly when he saw that it wasn't the canvas he had any.

 

Where had he seen this lady before? Did his brain and his hands create her at that moment when he was scribbling in front of the fire? He didn't know it, but he thought it wouldn't be a big problem at that moment as he sat in front of the canvas of his beloved, who looked at him the same way. He felt something in his heart squeeze his chest and breathing.

 

Is it possible that only his hands could have created his only love?

#genshin impact #genshin x reader #writing #genshin imagines #x reader #genshin x y/n #genshin x you #x you #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact x y/n #albedo x reader #albedo #albedo genshin impact #albedo genshin x reader #genshin albedo #genshin impact albedo #albedo x you #albedo x y/n #x fem!reader #x female y/n #genshin x f!reader #genshin x female reader #x female reader

[their-dearest]

This tag has been rlly dry recent, so I'd like to contribute to our beloved sparkly man.

Super random Headcanons (sfw & nsfw) below (warning: might be OOC):

SFW:

His love language? Definitely quality time (giving & receiving) & physical touch

Just imagine reading a book with him, or his teaching you some spells <33 (can't u tell I'm a whore for quality time?).

Braiding & doing his hairstyle <33 Aaravos loves it when his S/O touches him, it makes him feel relax and forget his problems, even if it's just a short while

(I just wanna run my hands to his hair )

I feel like he's pretty good at drawing, to specific, water coloring. Like, have u seen the way he moves his hands? He has the precision for it!

Nickames he'd give to his partner/s: star, starlight, love, my dear (i feel like I'm missing a few more)

He also has the biggest bisexual energy in the show (asides from Harrow lmaoo)

NSFW Oness:

He's def a switch, although he leans on the dom side of things

I have no idea how elves genitalia works/look like, but he does have big 🍆 energy

His tongue isn't just for telling half truths 😏 (I'll let you fill in the gaps)

Grab his horns or hair while he's doing it and he would let out the prettiest moan ever

If he's subby, i feel like he's a brat sub (like he's such a tease fr fr. Weirdly enough, it reminds me of that time where the viewers & Viren 1st see him)

Anyways that's all, thank you for reading my (partially down bad) headcanons of him! I hope you stay hydrated & drink your meds (if u have 1)!

(EDIT: OMG TYSM FOR THE 50+ LIKES, I ADDED EXTRA HCS FOR PURPLE GLITTER MAN <33)

NSFW:

It may not be obvious at first, but he enjoys a little bit of pain (if yk yk~)

Just not too much or it'll ruin his mood

Also on the topic of kinks, i feel like he doesn't like being restrained or blindfolded

Although it would be a pretty sight

Like he's probably left in that same spot in the mirror for centuries,

It makes him feel helpless, and he hates it.

A weirdly specific one is that If you're someone who's fem, or AFAB, I feel like he has a fantasy of being pegged. (Although he has yet to bring this up since he knows that pegging isn't for everyone.)

SFW:

Remember the watercolor hc before?

Yea let's elaborate that.

So imagine him teaching u how to paint with watercolor!

Or or!

Even better, if you know different medium, you could paint each other's portraits<33

(kicking & twirling my hair rnn)

I feel like Aaravos also wear a little bit of make up, to be more specific, eye makeup

He'd definitely ace a perfect wing.

This isn't rlly a headcannon, but what shade of lipstick do u think will fit him? (If not lipstick, other lip makeup)

Extra head cannons!

Study dates! Study dates with him!! (*Shakes you like a bag of fries*)

He has a lot of good study tips for uuu

Like he's been studying spells and learning the 6 primal sources for most of his life (probably)

But also he would be observant of your limits

Like homeboy would know your about to have a breakdown before you will.

A wee bit on the angst side of things:

On the topic of arguments

I feel like he would be stubborn on his side of the fight

Like he would be sooo eager to prove that his right

That he might blatantly ignore your side

Although after the argument peaked and both of you decided to give each other space

That's the time where the argument plays in his mind

And where the pieces internally click

Regarding apologizing, of he's the one who's in the wrong, I feel like he'd apologize first.

But if he's the one on the right, he'll probably wait for you to heal up and apologize 1st.

Okai, back to normal hcs!!

Imagine doing each others make-up!

Him doing your eyeliner

You doing his lips make up

(Try not to kiss Aaravos challenge: Impossible)

Random topic about kids (idk, angsty ig?)

I feel like he'd be on the fence about having kids

While yes, he loves you with all of his dark heart

I think he'd have second thoughts about having them, since, yk

He's THE archmage Aaravos

He def has a lot of enemies up his arse

And this is just a specific hc

But I feel like he's afraid that he'll be betrayed by his own kin

Glitter man definitely has some trust issues

It took him a while to warm up to you as a person, and even a longer time as a lover

So perhaps give him some time about the matter,

He might change his mind...

... But only time will tell.

#aaravos x reader #aaravos #tdp aaravos #the dragon prince #tdp fandom #tdp x reader #tdp headcanons #aaravos headcanon #hes so silly #fr fr #atlasarchive #AtlasChats

[eleanor-bradstreet]

New Crowns

Characters: Benedict Bridgerton, Violet Bridgerton Rated: G Word count: 1.6k

Summary: Violet’s first birthday party after the events of Queen Charlotte. Benedict ends the evening with his mother.

Author’s Note: This story contains spoilers and context from the Queen Charlotte prequel series, so I strongly recommend watching the series before reading. Dedicated to @broooookiecrisp Together we will build the Violet and Benedict ficverse 💙

The guest of honor had gone missing. Benedict was growing mildly concerned when he could not find his mother in any of the rooms opened for her party. Not in the drawing room, the dining room, the billiards room. He was beginning to wonder if she had left with one of the guests to continue the celebration elsewhere without her children, but then he opened the door to the study and found her lounging on the sofa, champagne in hand as she gazed into the fire.

“There you are!” He exclaimed.

She matched his smile as she turned to face him.

“This simply won’t do, the birthday girl left on her own.”

Violet scoffed. “Oh please, dear. I have been celebrated within an inch of my life. I am hiding from our remaining guests in the hopes they will go away.” She sank a little further into the cushions and sipped her glass.

Benedict smirked. His mother always discouraged parties in her honor and he and his siblings always ignored her. He could tell that she secretly enjoyed the excuse for them all to gather under one roof, but an evening of small talk with the customary attendees of the ton did tend to wear her out. He moved to sit beside her, hands behind his back. “Kate and Anthony are seeing to that, don’t worry. Are you alright?”

“Yes, very well, thank you.” She smiled, eyes tired but cheeks rosy.

“I have something for you. One last gift.”

Violet knew that mischievous glint in his eyes too well. “No, dear,” she protested, setting her drink aside. “You already gave me a splendid gift! Such perfect miniatures of the grandchildren. Benedict, you paint so beautifully…”

Her words died on her lips as he produced a paper crown from behind his back. It was a birthday hat, a tradition her father had started that had carried on through every birthday they shared together. Then she had made them for Edmund, and the children when they were small. She hadn’t made one since she had lost him. No one in the family had.

Benedict placed the crown in her hands, speaking softly. “It’s not much, but I thought you might enjoy this.”

Violet was speechless, fingers trembling as they traced over the details. All of her favorite colors. Pink paper with blue crepe trim and blue ribbons to tie it. Dotted along as embellishments were paintings of flowers, watercolors that he had clearly done himself. Sprays of violets and lilacs bunched together. She covered her mouth as tears built in her eyes.

Benedict leaned closer. “I saw you put the old ones out for a while at the start of spring. I wasn’t sure why, but thought perhaps you missed the tradition.”

Violet took a moment to steady her breath. She had unearthed her collection of hats months prior and had decorated the drawing room with them for a brief time. All of the crowns she had worn as a girl and all of the ones she had made for her family, creating a rainbow display of cheerful memories. Memories that she needed in the bleak winter when her heart had been in turmoil.

“I did.” She nodded, finding her voice. “I was missing it. I was missing many things.”

“Grandfather?”

“Yes. My father. And yours.” She met his eyes and could not help how they forced the tears from her own. He looked so much like Edmund, more than any of his brothers. Before, it had driven her from him when she was feeling raw. It seemed a cruel mockery to live with a vision of her husband from the past when she could not have him in her present. But over time, as Benedict became a grown man and continued to love her relentlessly, she learned that he was precisely who she could turn to for comfort. 

He seemed able to intuit her emotions without the need for words. He knew when she needed space and when she needed distraction. He never failed to offer her an encouraging smile or to take her hand when she needed it most. Each of her children were blessed with unique gifts of spirit and this was his. A thoughtful nature and expansive heart that cheered everyone around him. Whatever she and Edmund had done to rear him into such a man, she was glad of it. His resemblance now felt like a parting message from her husband, encouraging her to turn to Benedict when he could no longer be there.

Dabbing at her cheeks, she looked up at Edmund’s portrait over the mantle. “I cannot believe it’s been ten years,” she rasped. “That I am growing so old without him.”

Benedict bumped his knee into hers, trying to elicit a smile. “Come now, you’re not that old.”

It helped. His mother rolled her eyes and managed to stem her tears, giving him a warning look. “A lady never shares her true age, but you know next year will be a milestone. I do not want any increased fanfare. Be sure to tell your brothers and sisters that.”

Benedict grinned, that lopsided grin that could not be trusted. “Of course, Mother.”

Violet looked down at her lap, imagining what that day would look like, what she wanted it to look like when she rounded half a century. The hat in her hands had struck something and she was inclined to be honest. “Who knows?” She mused to herself. “Next year my life may be very different.”

Benedict arched a brow. “Have you finally had enough of us and are moving to the Continent?”

Violet smiled but her eyes remained serious. “No. But I am…eager to seek…new beginnings.”

She stared at him hard, willing him to take her meaning before she had to venture into embarrassing detail. She had dreaded this moment, expressing her intentions to her children. But if she were going to start with any of them, it would always have been Benedict. His brow furrowed but only briefly. Then realization lit his eyes and his lips parted.

She rushed to justify herself, feeling the tears hot in her eyes again. “It may be hard to understand but I am so lonely, Benedict. I…I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be saying these things, I’ve had too much champagne…”

“I understand,” came his soft reply. “Not in the same way, but I understand loneliness. How it can gnaw at you.”

Something fractured in her chest when she heard the pained tone of his voice, saw him chewing nervously on his lip as his light dimmed.

He continued, looking down and searching for his words. “If you need someone to…combat that loneliness…then that is what I wish for you.”

She sighed with relief and gratitude, feeling as if she could float into the air. She grasped his hand and squeezed it tightly. “Thank you, Benedict. I know it is difficult, but thank you.”

He looked up at her, the boundless gentleness returned to his eyes, but it was tinged with something wistful. “I would rather feel odd than see you in pain, Mother. We cannot control what the heart wants.”

She smiled. “No we cannot.” Her own was fluttering, overwhelmed by the love and understanding of her second born, and concerned for his own happiness. “Dearest, you have time.” She ran her thumb along the back of his hand. “You will find a lady that captures your eye soon, I am sure of it. Look at your siblings…”

Benedict smirked sarcastically, “Oh yes, they made it look so easy.”

Violet huffed. He was right. Both Daphne and Anthony’s courtships had been whirlwinds of heartache and scandal until they finally found themselves happily married. If each of her children’s paths to the altar were going to follow their example, she didn’t know if she would survive it. But Benedict was different. He was a romantic at heart, charming, relaxed and fawned over by ladies. Surely it would be easier for him to find a wife and for them to smoothly begin their life together. 

“I know you disdain the marriage mart and I know you are enjoying your…bohemian life.” He snickered at that. “But if you are lonely as you say, keep your heart and your eyes open. You never know where you might find the woman who is right for you. Probably somewhere unexpected if experience has taught me anything.”

Benedict gripped her fingers back, smiling with genuine appreciation. Then he turned devilish. “Yes. And I shall do my best to keep from falling in love with her sister.”

“Stop it.” Violet swatted him on the arm, the two of them laughing as the tension melted out of their postures. She turned back to the beautiful hat in her lap. “Dearest, this is a wonderful birthday gift, thank you.”

“I will remind you that there are new Bridgertons who have not yet been crowned. At the rate Daphne is creating them and with another Viscount surely on the way, we will need all the hands we can get to craft them.” He grinned broadly. “Let’s hope your gentleman is good with a pair of scissors.”

The rest of the evening was filled with laughter and warm reminiscing, recalling the highlights of birthdays past. Benedict helped Violet tie the crown upon her head, poured himself a brandy and they toasted, several times, to the family they had lost and all the family they had yet to meet. It was one of the best birthdays Violet could remember. Late into the night they chatted by the fire, glancing up at Edmund or out to the city lights, two lonely hearts filling each other with hope.

Tagging: @angels17324 @bridgertontess @broooookiecrisp @secretagentbucky

#bridgerton #bridgerton fanfiction #queen charlotte #queen charlotte: a bridgerton story #queen charlotte fanfiction #violet bridgerton #benedict bridgerton #benedict bridgerton fanfiction #bridgerton family #fluff and feels

[ikimaru]

Hi! I just wanted to ask, I think I've seen you do watercolor styled drawings before, how do you get that effect digitally?

If this wasn't you, please ignore me, or feel free to add your own tips! Thank you!!

hii, if you mean sorta like this it's just the marker tool on SAI, I can't think of anything watercolor-y of mine aside from some sketches maybee?

I rarely do full pics with that effect since the color doesn't have full opacity, it's hard to go more in depth with the shading, but yeah I don't know if u were thinking of someone else 😅

#Sunnyasks

[virtie333]

Day 24 - Life Day Damerey Celebration

Prompt: Decorations

Summary: Poe shows Rey how to decorate a Christmas tree

Warnings: Depends. This one kind of made me cry. We haven't had a tree up since 2021, my mom's last Christmas, and she didn't see much of it as she was sick and then in the hospital during the actual holiday. So, writing this one was bittersweet.

AO3

Poe set the box of decorations down on the floor with a smile, watching as Rey continued to mess with the string of lights. They weren’t too tangled, but she was still having trouble with them. Lack of experience, he supposed. He looked up at the currently bare tree, excitement filling him as he realized he and Rey were about to start a new tradition. Granted, they weren’t in their own place, yet, but to have Rey enjoy her first time decorating a Christmas tree in the house he grew up in was pretty special.

Poe’s father had decided to go on vacation for Christmas this year. He and a couple of friends that he had worked with for the last decade, all either divorced or widowed men in their 50s, had decided to spend the holiday in the Caribbean. He had asked Poe to housesit for him and told him that Rey was welcome to stay, too, if she desired. Since they were both living in tiny apartments of their own but had been talking about getting a larger one together, Poe thought it would be a great time get used to living together. Not that he was unsure of his feelings on the subject; he was ready to start sharing his life with her. But Rey was still nervous about the idea.

Today, Christmas Eve, Poe decided it was time to put up his father’s old fake tree and decorate it.

“It’s a little late, isn’t it?” Rey asked when Poe told her the plan.

He shrugged. “Traditional Catholics tend to wait until now,” he told her. “Christmas doesn’t start until tonight in the Church, and it lasts until Epiphany.” Poe had been raised Catholic, and while he didn’t consider himself devout, he did still love practicing the traditions he grew up with. They reminded him of his mother.

Rey finally got the lights untangled enough to satisfy her, and Poe directed her on how to wrap them around the tree. Having grown up an orphan, Rey had mixed memories about Christmas, some good, some bad, but she had never actually been able to decorate a tree.

Once the lights were in place, Poe plugged them in. “It’s more fun doing the rest of the decorating with them on," he told her. The garland came next, both blue and gold in color. It was old, Poe thought as he unwound it from the cardboard holder. It was still shiny and pretty, but it was starting to fall apart. He made a mental note to get some new stuff for his father for next year.

Next came the decorations. Poe moved aside the newspaper that had separated the garland from the individual ornaments and felt his breath catch.

“What’s wrong?” Rey asked, always attuned to his emotions.

“So many memories in this box,” Poe told her softly. He reached in and pulled out a small ceramic dog, painted in fading watercolors. “I made this in 3rd grade,” he told her. “I was so proud of it. Mom was, too.”

Rey was smiling softly at the ornament. “It looks like Bee,” she said. The owner of that name lifted his head from where he had been laying next to the fireplace and swished his tail.

Poe chuckled. “I guess I’ve always had a thing for yellow Labs.” He reached into the box and pulled out a package of shiny glass balls in red and gold. “Why don’t you put these on the tree,” he told her. “I’ll do the ‘special’ ornaments and tell you about them if I remember anything.”

She took the package and smiled her brilliant smile. “I’d like that.”

And so, they took their time decorating the tree, Poe telling her about each individual ornament as he pulled them out. If he couldn’t remember anything about one in particular, he still had a cute or funny or touching story about past Christmases to tell. “Mom bought this at the Angel Bizarre at church,” about the pretty beaded star. “I asked dad for this one the year after mom died because she always collected the annual ornament from this store,” he said about the snowman. Sometimes, he worried that he was boring Rey, but whenever he got quiet, she would start to question him, encouraging more stories out of him. Her eyes were bright and her laugh free.

God, he loved this woman.

Finally, the tree was covered with a combination of store-bought and homemade decorations, shiny balls and cute little Santas. Poe pulled out the tree topper last. It was a beautiful silver snowflake design, a more recent addition as the star from his childhood had long since stopped lighting up, though he did notice that it still sat at the bottom of the box, as if his dad refused to throw it out. Poe grabbed the footstool and pulled it over to the tree.

He handed the snowflake to Rey. “I’ll let you do the honors,” he told her.

“Oh, so I can be the one to fall and break something, huh?” she teased as she stepped onto the footstool.

Poe moved up behind her, wrapping his arms around her. “I’ll make sure you don’t fall.” He rested his head on the small of her back.

She smiled down at him, then reached out and placed the snowflake on the top of the tree. She plugged it into the already glowing light string and it lit up with brilliant white light.

Rey turned to face Poe without getting down from the stool. His face now even with her abdomen, he looked up at her as she started playing with his curls.

“Next year, when we have our own place and our own tree, we’ll have to buy all our own ornaments,” he told her.

“But it won’t have the history or memories this one does,” Rey said, frowning.

“No, it won’t,” Poe agreed. “But we get to start our own history. Our own memories.”

Rey nodded, smiling again. “I like the sound of that.”

“Merry Christmas, Rey,” Poe whispered, then he nuzzled his face into her belly.

She giggled. “Merry Christmas, my love.”

#fanfiction #damerey #jedipilot #poe x rey #christmas #christmas tree #fluff #modern au

[1st-recon-lylith-blog]

Cards I made as fanart for a space-themed mobile game

The game, Seedship, doesn't have any cards or visuals (aside from the loading screen). I just made cards for fun based on what I think they'd look like. If you want to see the full cards and some of my thoughts about them, I have them attached below.

Since the point of the game is to find a new planet to settle on, I wanted the animal card to show a creature that looked like an animal but also alien. My main photo resources for this render were cows (for their face shape and fur texture) and geckos (for their pupils). Then I doubled the eyes and pupils to make it look even more alien. This was one of my fave cards to make.

If memory serves me this was the first card I made. I wanted these circular shapes to give the card an airy feel. I would continue to use the half circles to visually tie the cards together.

I am not used to doing landscapes much less ones done in a birds eye view. Tackling the concept of "Resources" felt a bit nebulous. The main resource images used were photos of abandoned quarries. I don't know if I could do this any better now or if I'd struggle even more lol. But hey! Semi-circle clouds!

In Seedship, planets can be goldilocks, super cold, or super hot. I decided that focusing on the extremes would make for the best visual. I think my main inspiration for the sand visual was actually the new(ish) Dune cover illustrated by Jim Tierney. In this illustration you can also see the diamond shape I'd use in other cards to visually tie them together.

Similar to the Animals Card, I wanted to portray alien plant life. I wanted to do a close up similar like the Animals card. Surprisingly choosing to do a close up of an alien plant made it difficult to read as a plant. I didn't want to do green on the plant originally, but it just didn't look very plant like to me otherwise.

I am 99% sure if you look up "watercolor ocean tutorial" on youtube the tutorial I followed to make this will pop up lol. Solid tutorial

Believe it or not but this was a LOT harder to get right than you'd think. Blur is both my enemy and my friend. I had a LOT of fun painting the planet and its clouds

I consider this to be the sort of visual linchpin for the series. It has both the diamonds and semi-cirle clouds in one image. By far one of my faves for the series.

Probably one of the prettiest cards of the series (though I am proud that there are so many pretty cards to choose from). The illustration is based on recent(ish) portrayals of black holes.

Its funny to look at this with eyes open to one of my childhood Artist inspirations, David Christiana. He has this beautiful motif of swirls in his work. I didn't make the connection back then, but having recently painted my Siren painting and looking at his art for reference, that I have been strongly influenced by his work for a long long time.

#illustration #digital art #digital illustration #card art #cards #card illustration #space #space illustration #alien animals #alien planet #alien plants

[xpeachesncream]

Hi Nikki!

How are the Bands couple doing? Just re-read it, it’s one of my favorite stories ever, and I’ve been thinking about them ever since. I hope they’re doing well, and that Kai is happy too!

💜💜💜

hi there! hehe love the question!! they're doing well, very, very well! 😬💕 even kai! though he's experiencing a bit of a crisis—

drabble 6.5: kai opens up about his crush to jungkook.

word count: 911

warnings: none - just a cute ‘lil bonding moment 🥹

Jungkook gets home from the studio, tossing his eyes onto the counter before catching wind of Kai's bedroom door slightly ajar. Kai came home for the weekend last night, though he's been too quiet— according to Jungkook.

To you, he's fine.

He's probably tired.

He's got exams and stuff.

But Jungkook has an inkling that it could be way more than that, and he's going to find out today o’clock. Man to man.

"Kai?" Jungkook calls out before softly knocking on his door.

"Hey hyung." Kai says as he continues to play on his switch.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure." Jungkook pokes his head in and Kai greets him with a small smile before setting his switch aside. "Is my sister still out?"

"Yeah, she's getting her nails done right now." Jungkook chuckles a bit as he digs his hands into his pockets and sits next to him on the bed. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah, why?" Kai chuckles.

"Your sister said you're stressing over exams and stuff."

"Ah, kinda? You can say that."

"Exams, huh?" Jungkook gives him a look and Kai laughs a bit.

"Seriously, hyung."

"Who is she?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've been there before." The rosy tint grows on Kai's cheeks and suddenly, the room feels 10x hotter than before. His palms are sweaty, his heart is racing. He’s doing that weird thing where he thinks wiping his hands on his sweats will make the nervousness go away.

Yeah, Jungkook knows.

"Her name is Gabriella. Or, Gabby for short. She’s in my watercolor class.”

“How long has it been?”

“We just started getting close over the month. We had to work on a few class exercises together.”

“Cute.” Jungkook laughs a bit. “Why don’t you just ask her out?”

“Because I’m not like you, hyung. I just can’t go for it. I don’t even know if she likes me back, it’s hard to tell.”

“Well you never know if you don’t try, right?”

“Yeah, but to be honest, I’m scared. I like her a lot. She’s pretty, she’s sweet, and she gets along with everyone. I’ve been stressing over how I should tell her and ask her out, but I come up with nothing. Then, I think about how she’ll probably reject me and it’ll suck.”

“It’s scary and a big step. I know. But, the best way to go about it is to just be honest about your feelings. If it doesn’t work out, then fine. You guys can still be friends and move past it. One door closes, another opens. You can at least say you tried. I’d hate to see you regretting not telling her when it’s too late to change things.” Kai slowly nods his head before letting out a big, hefty sigh and laying back on his bed.

“This is stressful. God, I hate it.” Jungkook laughs.

“Yeah, but like I said. Be honest. Easiest way to handle things.”

“So, should I just show up at her door and be like ‘hey, I like you?’”

“I was thinking more along the lines of just taking her out for a casual lunch or dinner together. Hell, grab some snacks and milk tea or something and just spend some time hanging out near the river. It really doesn’t have to be that extravagant. What matters is you communicating your feelings and being able to talk about it comfortably. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it and things will flow how they should. No pressure, nothing forced.”

“You’re so good at this.” Jungkook shrugs and does a slight head tilt.

“Nah. Trust me, I’m probably learning the most now with your sister. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Good thing I just went for it, right?” Jungkook smirks, remembering how he flat out told you he wanted to take you out over Facetime while he was in Japan. Kai remembers it too, and how he endlessly teased you about the date. Now, you two have been the only real image and pure example of genuine love for Kai. Things aren’t always perfect, but Kai sees it as perfect— because you and Jungkook are always willing to be honest, communicate and meet in the middle. Never letting things pass for longer than they should, never going to bed mad at each other because of what the next day could bring.

Jungkook is right.

“You’re right. I should just tell her and stop overthinking.” Kai sits up and looks at him. “I should just go for it.”

“Before it’s too late and you can’t.”

“Thanks, hyung. Seriously. This really helped.”

“You’ll be good. You’re still young, you’ve got time and lots of experiences ahead of you. Besides, you’re handsome as hell, smart and selfless. Who would turn that down?” Kai laughs and nods.

“Got me there.” Jungkook stands, ready to leave Kai to his peace. “Thank you again.”

“I’ll always have your back.” Jungkook gives him a small smile. Just as he turns on his heel, Kai calls for him again—

“Oh, hyung?”

“Yo?” Jungkook turns over his shoulder.

“Can you.. not tell my sister right now? She’s gonna flip and I’ll never hear the end of it.” Jungkook chuckles.

“Yeah, sure. I won’t tell her. This should come from you anyway. But, do it whenever you feel comfortable and ready to, alright?”

“Alright.”

“Want me to make you a good bowl of Loco Moco to help ease your nerves?” Kai smiles.

“I’ll never turn that down.”

#xpeachesncream #anon 💌 #nikki writes: bands the series #bands series #jeon jungkook #jungkook #bands couple #bands drabbles

[quartzelaii]

Perfectly Aligned

CHAPTER II

— L/N Y/N, best friend to Kageyama Tobio since age 6. L/N Y/N, the object of all Tsukishima Kei's desires since age 15.

Masterlist

CHAPTER I ➛ CHAPTER II ➛ CHAPTER III

word count: 11k

"How's that poster design coming along? Good, I'm hoping?" Nakano Miyaka, the Arts Club president, hovers over the table like a bespectacled hawk. Her thick glasses almost make her eyes look comically huge with the way she surveys the club room like some sort of cliché cranky supervisor from an office sitcom.

The Arts Club room is small and dingy, probably the smallest and dingiest room in prestigious Shiratorizawa. The four walls perpetually smell of acrylic paint and marker ink from paintings and other artwork that take too long to dry. The desks and chairs are stained with various pigments, courtesy of those hard-headed club members who always forget to put down newspaper before working on their projects.

Upon enrolling in high school, you had trouble finding a new club to pledge yourself to since you've said good bye to volleyball. When you were a kid, one of your favorite way to pass the time aside from playing volleyball is messing around with whatever coloring materials you could find in your pencil case— crayons, watercolors, those small pots of poster color that smell like expired medicine. You'd take your time creating your own masterpiece. More often than not, it would actually turn out good and your Dad would display it by the fridge or frame it to hang in the living room. You enjoyed making art for him, that was until he and your mother divorced. Suddenly, it didn't make sense to continue doing art anymore.

However, on your first day of school at Shiratorizawa, you were handed a flyer for the Arts Club by Miyaka herself who was scouting new recruits at the time. Perhaps it was her overly-enthusiastic persona, or maybe it was because the prospect of making art again made you feel nostalgic— either way, it only took three minutes of convincing before you were signing up.

Miyaka instantly took a liking to you. You're an efficient and productive member of the club, adamant on creating a good first impression on your clubmates. Not long after that, Miyaka has appointed you as the club's Secretary even though you're still a first year. You accepted the honor with much eagerness.

"Just tweaking a few things and then it's ready to be printed." Came the monotonous reply of the club's vice president, currently hunched back over his laptop.

"A few things, huh?" Miyaka gives a pointed look at him then at the laptop's screen. "Seems to me like you still have a lot to tweak considering the page is still freakin' blank."

Aoki Raiden groans and leans back against his chair, pulling the strings on his hoodie so the fabric engulfs his face. 

"Please get off my back, Miyaka-san. I literally can't work with you watching me all the damn time."

Miyaka yanks the hood off his head. "I gave you a week to finish the poster design, Rai. We're already behind schedule as it is."

"You do know the festival isn't until October, right? It's still the middle of August, not to mention it's summer break. Stop being such a worrywart. We have plenty of time." Raiden drawls as his fingers clack on his laptop's keyboard. From where you're sitting, you can see the interface of Twitter on the screen, the poster design's editing page has been minimized and is now completely abandoned.

"I dedicated the whole summer break to work on our booth so we don't have to worry about it once school starts." Miyaka puts her hand on her hips in an attempt to assert authority. "Us third years are gonna be super busy by September and I won't have time to supervise this club by then. You really have to be more considerate, you know."

"Ugh, fine. Give me three days and I'll send you the final design."

"No, are you kidding me? You have until tomorrow to finish that."

Raiden glares at the club president but doesn't complain any more. Reluctantly, he pulls out the editing software again and begins working, but not without complaining all the way.

Miyaka then turns to you who are currently writing on your notepad at the corner of the room, a calculator sitting on your lap. "How about our budget plan, Y/N-chan? Has it been taken care of yet?"

"Yep, I've added both what we've spent so far and the estimation of how much we'll be spending once we build the booth itself." You say, tapping your pen on the notepad. "I made a table for it, too, Miyaka-san, so there won't be any confusion. I'll give the printed copy to you tomorrow."

You rummage through your notepad, checking your various notes from the days before. "I've also checked in with Ryo-san and the other second-years earlier. They're about 50% done with the mural but they ran out of paint so they had to order more. Their expenses are already accounted for, by the way."

"See? That's what a responsible club member looks like. You should really learn a thing or two from your kouhai. Seriously, I should have fired you as vice president and appointed her instead." 

Raiden can only sneer in response, both at you and Miyaka. His typing becomes more aggravated by the second.

"And what about the piece you'll be showcasing at the silent auction?" The bespectacled third-year asks you again.

"Also done but it's still drying. I used oil paint."

"Great! I'm thinking of making that our centerpiece."

"What?" Raiden almost jumps from his seat. "How about my clay sculpture of Bourgeois' Spider? You told me it's gonna be the centerpiece!"

"Well, we can't actually showcase something you haven't even started on yet, can we? Tell you what, show me the finished product and I might actually change my mind."

"I'm getting on it! Just stop pestering me about it! God!"

Miyaka says something snarky in retaliation but you don't hear it. You're busy looking at the clock mounted on the wall to hear about the bickering of your two upperclassmen. The clock reads 2:28 PM. Tobio texted you an hour ago saying that they've defeated their first opponent and were currently waiting for their next match. You're almost buzzing in your seat in worry that you won't be able to catch it.

"Miyaka-san, I was wondering if I could leave early today? I'm supposed to watch the boys volleyball at the Sendai City Gymnasium."

"Eh? But I was told Shiratorizawa isn't playing today. Something about them being too good?"

"Oh, yeah, they won the Inter High so they're already seeded in the Qualifiers." You nod. "I'm actually gonna watch Karasuno."

"Why? Is your boyfriend in there?" Miyaka wiggles her eyebrows. You know it's just a playful teasing but you can't help getting flustered. Your cheeks heat up almost immediately. You hate how you always have this reaction.

"No, just my best friend."

"Yeah, right." Miyaka rolls her eyes with a sly smirk on her lips. "Everybody knows best friend is, like, code for boyfriend"

You reiterate rather defensively that Tobio is just a friend despite Miyaka clearly not believing you. It always entertains you whenever she teases and badgers Raiden but when you're on the receiving end of it, you don't think it's amusing anymore. Only when your face is about the shade of a ripe tomato did Miyaka stop her teasing, but not without giggling about how agitated you look about the whole thing.

Eventually, she grows tired of joking around and agrees to your request.

"No fair! How come she gets to go?" Raiden whines. The way he pouts and crosses his arms like that reminds you of one of those spoiled kids who throw temper tantrums in malls. He's a few months older than you but you forget that with how childish he acts sometimes.

"For one, she's actually been very productive today and she deserves an early out."

"What, just because she's the Darling Setter of Miyagi, she's free to watch volleyball anytime?"

Miyaka cocks her head to the side. "Darling what of Miyagi?"

"Setter. It's just a nickname I got when I used to play volleyball back in middle school." You wave it off as if it's no big deal— though you'd be lying if you said you didn't feel the warm swell of pride in your chest upon hearing that nickname again after so long.

"Which is cringe and tacky, by the way." Raiden rolls his eyes, something you're now accustomed to seeing. You stick your tongue to him which he responds by sticking his tongue back to you. You don't take offense whenever Raiden eggs on you like that because you know he doesn't really mean it— it's just the way he is. To be honest, you have grown quite fond of his salty remarks, and sometimes, you even participate whenever he initiates a lighthearted squabble.

"I knew you used to play volleyball but I didn't know you were famous. Should I ask for your autograph?" Miyaka leans against your desk with an impressed look on her face.

"As much as I want to sign stuff for you, Miyaka-san, I don't think my autograph is worth anything anymore." You hope your response is buoyant enough to hide the fact this is a sore topic for you. You still haven't fully come into terms that you're not a volleyball player anymore.

"You really sure it's okay that I leave early?" You hastily add as an attempt to steer the conversation.

The bespectacled third-year taps her chin in thought as she looks at Raiden who is brooding in the corner. "You know what? I'm actually in the mood to watch some volleyball, too. Can I go with you, Y/N?"

"Of course, you can. I never pegged you as a volleyball fan, though."

"Oh, I'm not." She chuckles as she tidies up her desk. "But my boyfriend is such a nerd for it so I figured I should try to appreciate it more."

"Oh? You have a boyfriend?." Your brows shot up in surprise at this fact.

"You don't have to look so surprised about it, but yes. We made it official two weeks ago. We're keeping it lowkey. Not many people know yet."

"Oh my god," You hear Raiden's trademark exasperated sigh before he closes his laptop with a muddled thud. "A lot of people know you're dating Tendou-san. You can't say it's lowkey if it's all over your Twitter. Also, that whole will-you-be-my-girlfriend shenaniganhe did by the congregating area? Yeah, thatwasn't as cute as you think it was. He littered so much confetti that day, it looked like a unicorn threw up all over the place. Our class had to clean that up while you and your boyfriend made out behind the gym. You thought we didn't see that, huh? Well, we did!"

"Jesus, Raiden, that's not your story to tell!" shrieks Miyaka. The sound of it has you flinching.

Miyaka and Raiden commence yet another wrangle with the former chastising the latter for exposing her love life like that. Whenever something like this happens, you always give the two of them a couple of minutes before both of them cool down and continue on normally as if nothing happened. On your first few weeks with this club, you did think that this constant spat between the president and vice president was a bit too much for your liking— but then you learned soon enough that Miyaka and Raiden have been friends since middle school, and them fighting is a common occurrence, almost always not personal. They are actually really solid friends when both of them are in a good mood.

Your two upperclassmen finally reach an impasse. You haven't been listening to their argument so you don't exactly know how they went from Miyaka getting mad at Raiden for disclosing info about her love life, to Miyaka inviting Raiden to watch volleyball with you. You were busy putting away the papers and stationaries into their respective drawers when you heard Miyaka ask if Raiden wanted to come to the Sendai Gymnasium instead of being a whiny little bitch (the exact phrase she used). The way she worded the invite was a bit unorthodox but you know well enough that she just invited him so Raiden wouldn't feel left out when the two of you leave. She really cares for him in that way.

Their friendship is weird, you think to yourself as Raiden sassily agrees to go. You didn't plan on having company at Tobio's game, but your two senpai are alright companions— there are worse people to be stuck with.

"Maybe after the game, the three of us could go for some yakiniku." Miyaka has locked the club room and is now bouncing on the balls of her feet at her suggestion.

"As long as you're paying, then it's fine by me." Raiden lags behind you and Miyaka as the three of you set off.

"If you had given me the poster design today, maybe I'd have considered treating you— but you didn't, so no yakiniku for you."

"I have money. I can pay for my own yakiniku, thank you very much."

Your phone buzzes in your pocket. Tobio's name pops up on the screen with a text that has you widening your eyes.

"Guys, the game is starting in fifteen minutes! We have to hurry!"

You clutch your bag tight as you begin to sprint towards the gates. Miyaka and Raiden follow suit staggeringly. The former is shouting for you to slow down while the latter grumbled annoyedly to himself about regretting his decision to come.

The bus ride from Shiratorizawa to the Sendai City Gymnasium was fortunately quick. Though the game has probably already started, you still drag Miyaka and Raiden into a convenience store so you can get some snacks to give to Tobio after the game. Miyaka doesn't miss this opportunity to tease you further about being head-over-heels in love with your best friend, which you tried to ignore but couldn't help getting defensive over. 

After paying for your stuff, you practically yank the two of them by their shirts into the stadium.

By the time you've arrived at the stands, the whole place is already buzzing with cheers from the crowd. There aren't many supporters because it's only the preliminaries but the air is still thick with excitement and anticipation.

It takes you three seconds to locate Karasuno's black and orange uniform in the court. The first set of their game against Kakugawa has already started. The scoreboard tells you that Kakugawa is leading at 2-0, though years of playing volleyball has taught you that it's still too early to gauge the trajectory of the game.

"That's Karasuno." You tell your companions, pointing at the court in front of you.

"Uh-huh, and which one's your boyfriend?" Miyaka cranes her neck and squints her near-sighted eyes to see the players better.

"Not a boyfriend." You remind her. "He's. No. 9."

"So tall!" You hear Miyaka emit a yelp. You follow her gaze and realize she's not looking at Tobio— she's looking at the opposing team's No. 9, who is probably the tallest high schooler you've ever laid your eyes on. He could be about two-meters tall, maybe even more. For a moment, you wonder what this would mean for Karasuno— a two-meter giant like that is surely a pain to play against. You'd hate to see Tobio's team lose just because of the overwhelming advantage Kakugawa has.

"I meant the black team's No. 9." You nudge her by the shoulder and point at Tobio in the other side of the court who is currently conversing with his teammates about what to do during the next rally. During his years at Kitagawa Daichi, he used to despise communicating with his team, but now you can see that he has changed so drastically. He looks more confident now, more open. You smile at this realization.

Miyaka nods approvingly upon seeing Tobio, commenting that he's tall and cute. She even goes as far as to say that he suits you perfectly and that you look good together, which elicits a flustered squeak from you.

You remain silent after that. You follow Tobio's form as he expertly maneuvers the ball across the court. You cheer whenever Karasuno scores and gasps in dejection whenever the other team does. You don't think Tobio knows you're here yet— not once has he looked at your direction since you arrived, not that you're expecting him to look for you. You understand completely well that the only thing that has his undistracted attention during the game is the ball itself.

Raiden grumbles about you being too loud, but you beg to differ— you're just getting fired up. Little does he know that your loudest cheer is yet to come.

The first time you see Tobio and Hinata's new quick attack is when you lose your mind, screaming and applauding until both your throat and palms felt sore. It's just so thrilling to see it firsthand, especially as a former setter yourself. Normal people may see it and think it's just a flashy move, but you know how much precision and concentration a setter has to master before executing such a technique. 

Your best friend really is a genius.

"Nice toss, Tobio!" You shout. You doubt he heard you among the collective astonishment of the crowd. You're so fired up that Raiden has to poke you on your ribs to bring you to reality.

After that first quick attack, your focus is now entirely on the game, occasionally turning to Miyaka whenever she has some technical questions about what's going on in the court. Even though you learned that she's dating Tendou Satori, she doesn't seem to be all that informed about volleyball yet. Raiden remains quiet as he leans against the hand rail, observing the game with a bored countenance— though there's this one instance when he groans disappointedly when Karasuno's ace botched his jump serve. You find it amusing that this Shiratorizawa student has started rooting for Karasuno as well.

You're here to support Karasuno as a whole but you still can't help being biased. You can't seem to tear your gaze away from Tobio— so much so that the other members of the team seem like faceless characters in the background. You see them all moving and you're aware of each member's efforts but you're bewitched by Tobio. You can't not look at him.

All that changed, however, when he steals the crowd's attention with a monster kill block.

For the first time that day, your focus settles on Tsukishima. 

Honestly speaking, you kind of forgot he was even in the team. If it weren't for that superb kill block he did, you would have went along the entire game not acknowledging his existence. All of a sudden, though, the attention you're giving Tobio isn't undivided anymore— Tsukishima has half of it now.

"Whoa, he stopped that ball all by himself like what Satori does." You hear Miyaka observe beside you in awe.

Tsukishima doesn't seem unfazed nor thrilled after winning that mid-air battle. He maintains his cool mien even as his team surround him joyously. He goes back to position, adjusts his glasses, and prepares for the next rally as if he didn't just effectively shut down the opponent's spiker all on his own. If you were playing against him, you'd be extremely annoyed at how calm he is.

Still, despite alternating your focus on Tobio and Tsukishima, the former still has your unrelenting support. When he and Hinata ended the first set with yet another freak quick, you didn't know your scream was the loudest. Only when Miyaka laughed at you about it did you mellow down and opted for clapping your hands instead.

The second set is just as gripping as the first, maybe even more. You got to see for the first time Karasuno do a synchronous attack and whenever they do, your eyes unknowingly follow Tsukishima run up to the net and jump with the intent of spiking. The blonde is a great blocker but he's also an effective spiker with his height and ball control. You find yourself cheering and clapping whenever he scores.

Miyaka notices by the second set that your loudest applause are reserved for Tobio and Tsukishima, and sometimes the occasional gasp of astonishment for Hinata's amazing reflexes. The other Karasuno members are amazing players in their own right but you seem more ardently supporting the aforementioned two.

After Tsukishima scores with a block-out, you bring your hands to your mouth and shout a rather impressed "nice kill". By this, Miyaka taps your shoulder to get your attention, and she wastes no time asking forthrightly if you know the blonde. You respond by saying that you have met him before but choose not to elaborate further. Fortunately for you, Miyaka doesn't press any more. You can only imagine how excruciating her teasing would be if she knew the nature of how you met Tsukishima.

After Hinata scores the final point in favor of Karasuno, you and Miyaka find yourselves hugging each other in glee. You have probably rubbed off your enthusiasm on her because she asks if you'd accompany her to watch Shiratorizawa's game at the qualifiers to which you happily agree. Even Raiden who looked disinterested throughout the whole game is joining in on the applause, evidently enjoying the match more than what he expected.

"We still on for barbecue?" 

"I am kinda hungry so I guess I'll go with you." Raiden shrugs. The three of you make your way down the stairs as the crowd starts dispersing.

"I'm coming, too. I'll just congratulate Tobio and give him the snacks I bought. I won't be long." 

"You're hopeless." You see Raiden shake his head mockingly.

"I think it's cute." Miyaka simpers. "You don't understand these things yet because you're single since birth, Rai."

You almost remind her that you are also single since birth and Tobio is not your boyfriend, but you feel like you've reiterated that fact enough that it's getting annoyingly redundant.

"You go on ahead, Y/N. We're gonna go to the rest rooms because I'm gonna freshen up and Rai has to splash cold water to his face to wipe off that hideous scowl. Just meet us there?"

"Okay! Be back in a jiffy!" With this, you're off speed walking to the direction of the corridor where you remember players keep their baggage in. You've been in this stadium a lot when you were in middle school that you still have the whole place memorized.

It takes you two minutes to see Tobio. He's still in his uniform so you locate him right away among the other players that are coming and going. He has his back turned on you, head downcast as he adjusts his bag that is slung over his shoulder.

You tiptoe to where he is. The surrounding chatter of other boys in the vicinity makes your arrival all the more unnoticeable.

"So, that's your new quick attack, huh?"

Tobio wheels around upon hearing your voice. His default scowl is replaced by a smirk once he sees that it's you who has spoken.

"Impressed?" You can see his ego radiating off of him like an aura.

"It's alright." You shrug in faux nonchalance.

"Liar. I heard you screaming louder than everyone earlier."

You blush profusely at that. You knew you were loud (Raiden wasted no opportunity calling you out on it), but you didn't know Tobio heard you all the way down the court. His other teammates must have heard you too and thought you were crazy. The mere thought of it is enough to make you cringe in embarrassment. 

"Okay, fine. It was pretty neat." You finally admit, rolling your eyes. "Congrats on getting through the preliminaries. You guys deserved it."

Tobio grins, the kind that is laced with a dangerous amount of smugness. If you didn't know him at all, you would be offended rather than pleased when he says his thanks. 

"Here, I got you this." You rummage through your bag and give him a paper bag from the convenience store you went into earlier. Inside are a bottle of sports drink and three protein bars— all his favorite brand and flavor, you made sure of that.

Tobio thanks you as he rips open a protein bar with his teeth before biting into it. He demolishes the bar in two enormous bites which prompts you to berate him for eating too quickly lest he wants to choke to death. You threaten to take back the remaining two protein bars if he doesn't slow down. He argues with you with his mouth full, spewing unintelligible protests and half-chewed oats alike as he raises the paper bag out of your reach.

That scene may have been a little too loud because from behind Tobio, a mop of orange hair pops out to investigate the small commotion.

"What's happening here— Kageyama! You went to buy snacks without me?" Hinata seems to be more offended upon seeing Kageyama's stuffed face. 

Tobio shakes his head and juts his thumb at your direction, trying to say without words that it's you who gave the snacks to him. Hinata blinks as he registers your presence for the first time.

"Shiratorizawa?" His gaze lingers for a second on the shirt you're wearing which is purple with the academy's emblem printed on the front— the same shirt Miyaka and Raiden are wearing today. Since it's summer break, you don't have to wear your school uniform while doing club work inside campus but every once in a while, Miyaka still orders the club to wear the purple shirt, probably only for aesthetic reasons.

"Hey, is she your girlfriend?" Hinata tiptoes so he can whisper to Tobio's ear. It's not really a whisper because you can still hear it, and probably other people in the vicinity heard it too. 

"She's just a friend, dumbass." Tobio barks at the small middle blocker.

"Hi. I'm Y/N." You take it upon you to introduce yourself with a bow.

The middle blocker visibly stiffens when you speak, his entire face erupting into a shade of scarlet that has you worrying if he's okay.

"Hinata Shoyo! N-n-nice to meet you, too!" He squeaks.

"What's that I hear? Kageyama has a girlfriend?" Tobio's other teammate with the No. 2 jersey enters the scene from the benches you didn't realize he was sitting on, almost hopping to where you are to take a closer look at you. Either Hinata's voice was too loud or No. 2 just has superhuman hearing.

"She's not my girlfriend, Sugawara-san." Tobio says a-matter-of-factly.

It kind of annoys you how Tobio never shows emotion whenever he denies being your girlfriend— something he does more often than you would have realized. It's always robotic, as if he's reciting from a user manual for a build-your-own furniture. It's annoying to you because you're the exact opposite— when someone insinuates that you and Tobio are a couple, you're always reduced to a blushing mess. It's just so unfair, you think. How come he's not bothered by it at all?

"Y/N, is it? I'm Sugawara, Kageyama's senpai." He grins proudly as he puts his arm over Tobio's shoulder, making the latter stiffen uncomfortably.

"Nice to meet you." You bow to the silver-haired boy.

"Oh? You're from Shiratorizawa." He parrots the observation Hinata had earlier.

"Yes, I'm a first year student there."

"I bet you guys are bummed out that your volleyball team didn't get Kageyama-kun here." Sugawara looks smug in a way that is lighthearted.

"I don't think they're bummed out, Sugawara-san. They're the ones who rejected me." Tobio's reply has you snorting. How did he manage to say that as seriously as he did?

"And they're definitely regretting that now, no?" Sugawara gave Tobio's back a rather loud smack which is supposed to be an encouraging pat.

"Where are the rest of your team?" You ask out of curiosity. It seems like Tobio, Hinata, and Sugawara are the only Karasuno players around. The absence of a certain blonde doesn't go unnoticed by you.

"Rest room, probably, or watching the remaining games.", came Tobio's curt reply.

"I think Asahi and Daichi are getting drinks from the vending machines." Sugawara quips in, looking at his wristwatch. "Now that I think of it, I've been waiting for my soda for twenty minutes now. Where the hell are those guys?"

Suddenly, as if on cue, a boisterous and rather obnoxious laughter rings from the other side of the hallway. Karasuno's No. 5 and No. 4 are loudly joshing around with the rest of Karasuno in tow. 

It's hard not to spot him among his teammates. He stands out with his towering height and striking blonde hair. Tsukishima currently has his headphones on, scrolling on his phone with his hand tucked inside his pants pocket. He has already changed out of his uniform and into a plain white shirt and black trousers.

You're having a hard time registering the fact that the two of you are gonna see each other again— not that you're entirely opposed to it. The boy has definitely earned a considerable percentage of your trust after he had walked you home last night. Maybe you could thank him again for that. You just don't know how you're gonna open up that conversation. Even thinking about how awkward it would be already has you cringing already.

You debate with yourself whether or not you should get away now. You are not necessarily avoiding Tsukishima. It's just that after the events of last night, you feel like meeting him again would be a painful kind of awkward. You'd hoped that the interaction you two had wouldn't have a sequel. You're grateful for what he did for you but you were already so embarrassed about it, and having to interact with him again would just relive that in your memory.

By the time you've made your decision to scram, the incoming group is already a few feet away. Tsukishima peels his gaze away from his phone once the group has stopped in front of Sugawara who is giddy to get his soda he's been waiting on for twenty minutes. You instinctively let Tobio's body cover your own, not wanting to let your presence known just yet. Meeting new people, especially a lot of them, is particularly overwhelming for you.

At first, Tsukishima doesn't see you as he takes his headphones off and let it hang on his neck. A tall freckled boy is currently talking to him, stealing his attention. You don't realize you've been staring at Tsukishima. It is only when he felt the ghost prickle of a pair of eyes trained on him did he look at your direction. When he meets your gaze, it is you who is the more shocked. Hazel eyes fix on yours. If he is the least bit surprised to see you, he doesn't let it show. His expression doesn't change as his gaze lingers on you for a second before turning back to the boy whom we was conversing with.

Immediately, you cower even further behind Tobio.

"I should probably go now." You say, careful not to let your presence more known than it already is. 

Your voice is soft, barely above whisper. By the looks of things, it is only Kageyama, Sugawara, Hinata, and Tsukishima who know that you're there. You're hiding behind Tobio (Sugawara and Hinata are stood beside him so their figures unknowingly conceal you too). The rest of the boys are oblivious of you— you're thankful for the loud No. 4 and No. 5 duo for diverting the team's attention with a most likely exaggerated story about a heated altercation with a rival team they bumped into at the rest rooms.

"Where are you going?" It's Kageyama's voice that catches the attention of the group. You could have slipped quietly without anyone noticing if he hasn't spoken. Curse him and his megaphone voice.

You're suddenly aware of a dozen or so pairs of eyes trained on you.

"Who's this?" It is No. 4, the libero, who pops the question. He's elbowing No. 5 whose eyes look like they've seen stars once they lay on you. 

"Uh, sorry... I'm L/N Y/N. It's nice to meet you all." You really should have gotten away while you had the chance

"L/N? As in L/N Hotaru's daughter?" No. 5 has his eyes widened, his finger pointing at you. "You're the Darling Setter! I knew you looked familiar!"

"Right! L/N Y/N, I remember now. You were on Volleyball Monthly!", points out Sugawara. "Your hair was so much shorter back then. I almost didn't recognize you."

A part of you wished that they didn't. You're not at all accustomed anymore to people recognizing you as the Darling Setter. All you can do is smile awkwardly as the boys seem to renew their interest on you. You can see Tobio silently laughing, amused at how you looked uncomfortable at the spotlight.

Hinata is probably the most impressed. He's practically jumping up and down in front of you, his eyes twinkling as if he is star struck. 

"You're the L/N Y/N? My sister saw you on the television last year. She thought you were very pretty and wanted to be like you!"

"R-really?" You stammer out, both flattered and disbelieving.

"Yeah! Her name's Natsu. She's only 9 years old but she's already interested in volleyball, and she wants to—"

"Oi, can't you see she's uncomfortable?" Tobio butts in, glaring at Hinata's enthusiasm.

You're not really uncomfortable, per se. You're just not used to the attention anymore. Back when you were in middle school, you absolutely adored being in the center of it, not so much now that you're in high school.

"It's fine." You assure your best friend.

"I appreciate that, Hinata. Please tell Natsu I say hi." Hinata beams at your response.

No. 4 and No. 5 are nudging each other on the ribs, wordlessly working out which of them gets to talk to you first. You watch, amused, how they try to muster the courage to step forward and talk to you. They must really have no experience talking with girls, judging by how they're struggling right now.

"Don't you two try anything funny. She's Kageyama's girlfriend." Sugawara wags a finger at the two of them and they exclaim both their surprise and what could only be disappointment. 

"She's not." Tobio denies as nonchalantly as ever before tipping his head back to drink from the sports drink you gave him.

"Kageyama, you lucky bastard!" 

"Way to go, Kageyama!"

The two have apparently ignored his denial.

Your eyes are casted down to your shoes so you don't see the way Tsukishima raises his eyebrow a millimeter upon hearing what Sugawara said. Not only that— he narrows his eyes ever so slightly when he sees your dejected reaction at Tobio's response.

"Wait, so are you or are you not his girlfriend?" It's No. 4 who speaks this time.

Before you could open your mouth to speak, two fists smack on top of No. 4 and No.5's heads. The fists belong to whom you recognize is the team's captain.

"Nishinoya, Tanaka," He growls warningly. "Stop harassing her or else I'll have the two of you run laps on our next training."

Nishinoya and Tanaka mutter their apology with a bow and you wave them off, saying that it's really no problem. For some reason, they also turn to apologize to Tobio who just stared at them in utter confusion, biting on his protein bar without saying a word.

Some of Tobio's teammates start conversing with you, too— nothing much, just questions that are more for the sake of either being polite or genuine curiosity than anything else. 

"H-hello. You've mastered the jump floater serve, right? What's the technique so it doesn't end up doing a topspin, if you don't mind me asking?" The tall boy Tsukishima was talking to earlier approaches you. You'll soon learn that his name is Yamaguchi. He still seems shy. You can very clearly see his cheeks dusted in pink and he stutters out the majority of words in his sentences, but he makes an effort to talk to you nevertheless. Ironically enough, seeing that he's more nervous than you melts away your own uneasiness.

By this time, all your nerves and apprehension about meeting Tobio's team has dissipated. It's easy to talk with them because they're nice people, treating you with respect and friendliness. You're thankful for them for not asking too many questions about your ex-Olympian father— you're proud of him but talking about him is taxing and quite repetitive sometimes.

Yamaguchi and Hinata are specifically the two who kept the conversation going. You've built a rapport with them maybe because they're first-years such as yourself. Yamaguchi is now asking you if the entrance exam to Shiratorizawa was really as hard as everyone said it was. He visibly blanched when you said that the exam gave you a  headache that lasted for days. Hinata, however, is more curious about your volleyball career. When you told the orange-haired middle blocker that you're not part of any volleyball club right now, his eyes widened to the size of saucers. He voices out that it's such a waste of talent. He has a way with wording out his compliments that you feel yourself blushing pathetically. Tobio just stands beside you through it all, munching on his protein bar as he listens to you talk with his teammates and occasionally adding to the conversation if his input is needed.

It doesn't take long before you're laughing quite freely with them.

Through the whole ordeal, Tsukishima has backed away from the group unnoticed. He is currently leaning against the wall a few feet away, his headphones fit snuggly on his ears but the music is turned off. Scrolling aimlessly on his phone has lost its appeal by now and he wishes he'd brought his PSP with him to pass time.

Every couple of minutes or so, you steal a glance at Tsukishima. He's the only one from the team who hasn't said a word to you, not even a polite greeting. You were a bit anxious at the prospect of talking to him again, but now that he clearly has no plan to even spare you a minute of his time, you feel quite annoyed. The two of you are not friends, probably not even acquaintances— but still, after the events of last night, you expect him to at least not treat you like a stranger.

It's not like you want him to approach you and be all chummy. You just want him to acknowledge you, maybe with a nod of recognition or even a small wave of his hand wouldn't hurt. Heck, you even cheered for him at their game earlier. You weren't being subtle with it, too. You were screaming until your throat was raw— he definitely heard you supporting him. The only explanation is he just doesn't care and he just doesn't know how to behave like a decent human being.

Maybe you were wrong when you thought he wasn't half as bad last night. Maybe you were too lenient on your judgment when he is utterly and very clearly just a jerk. 

You look away from him with a huff. If he doesn't want to be your friend (or at the very least, an acquaintance), then it's most definitely his loss and not yours.

From the corner of your eyes, you see two purple figures standing at the hall's entrance. The Shiratorizawa shirt that Miyaka and Raiden are wearing are hard to miss. Miyaka waves at you once you make eye contact with her. They must have been waiting by the rest rooms for quite some time for them to come looking for you. This is as good a cue as any to say leave.

"I really have to go, Tobio. Some club officers and I made plans to get barbecue."

"You won't come over for dinner?" He asks, his head tilted to the side. You're vaguely aware of Hinata and Sugawara suddenly whispering among themselves upon hearing that.

"No, sorry. They're already waiting for me. It'd be rude if I cancelled now." You nod at the direction of your two senpai standing a few feet away, emphasizing your point.

"Mom is expecting you for tonight. " He shrugs but you don't miss the small pout he makes. "But whatever, it's your call."

"I suppose I could swing by later if we finish at the yakiniku place early?" It came off more like a bargain than a suggestion.

"But you'd be full by then."

"I'll save room, don't worry." You cheekily respond with a light chuckle. "I guess I'll see you later?"

Tobio ends the conversation with a nod and a short "okay".

With this, you turn to the rest of the group. They're not looking at either you or Tobio but you know that they heard your conversation. They must feel like they've being privy to something intimate, which you can assure them that they're not. Hinata is biting his bottom lip, clearly stopping himself from commenting anything. Sugawara is whistling as his eyes flit to the toe cap of his shoes. Nishinoya and Tanaka are having a hard time closing their mouths as they continue to gape at Tobio. All of them a clearly still under the impression that you are his girlfriend.

"It's nice meeting you all." You say to the group and you're met with a chorus of pleasantries.

"Bye, Hinata, Yamaguchi!" You wave specifically at the two freshmen whom you've bonded with the most.

You bow at the rest before turning on your heels and walking away. You don't see the way Tsukishima's eyes follow your retreating figure.

You're at least twenty feet away when Sugawara's hand finds the crown of Tobio's head, ruffling his hair roughly. "You dog! She's definitely your girlfriend. You're inviting her over for dinner!"

"I really envy you right now, Kageyama!"

"I wish I had a girlfriend too."

"Teach us your ways!"

The pandemonium that ensues after you left could be something out of a comedy skit. They're simply refusing to believe Tobio when he says over and over, almost pleadingly, that you are just his best friend. Tobio isn't the type to raise his voice at his upperclassmen so Hinata took the brunt of his fury when the setter reached his breaking point. 

You would have found it hilarious how your best friend chased Hinata around, kicking the poor boy on the shin when he finally caught up to him. 

You would also definitely appreciate the way Tobio blushed uncontrollably as his teammates continued to jeer and tease, if only you had seen it.

You apologize profusely to your two upperclassmen when you finally reach them, saying that you lost track of time talking to the Karasuno players. However, they don't seem at all angry about your tardiness. In contrary, they have a glint in their eyes that tell you they're amused about something.

"For a non-girlfriend, you sure looked a lot like a girlfriend back there." Raiden says with a roll of his eyes . You didn't realize they've been watching the whole ordeal all this time.

"Huh?"

"He's right, Y/N. I mean, think about it— not only did you watch his game, you also bought him after-game snacks. Not to mention he introduced you to his teammates." Miyaka links her arm to yours as the three of you start making your way to the stadium's exit. "It's like this unspoken rule among athletes' girlfriends, and you should trust me on this because I'm an athlete's girlfriend."

You manage to let out an incredulous scoff. "You guys are being ridiculous. It's no big deal, really. I've been doing it for him since we were in middle school."

"Woof, that's rough." Raiden whistles. "So, you've been doing girlfriend duties since middle school but he hasn't asked you to be his girlfriend yet?"

"It's not that simple." You groan, both exasperatedly and bashfully.

"How is that not simple? You like him and by the looks of things, he likes you, too." It's Miyaka who speaks this time.

"He likes me?" It's really cringe and embarrassing that that's what you took away from her statement.

"It's really obvious," She says without hesitation. "I have a good eye on this kind of stuff. Trust me, he likes you."

You stay silent for a few seconds to ponder on her words. You'd be lying if you said that you haven't been fantasizing about Tobio liking you back. The idea just seems farfetched, especially since it's Tobio of all people. He has the emotional capacity of a grain of rice.

You try your best to think nothing of it. You will just end up getting hurt if you believe what they're saying. You don't want to feed yourself blind hope, especially if there's nothing to back up their claim.

"He doesn't." You mumble, feeling your heart sink. It is with a painful acceptance do you realize that you believe that sentence wholeheartedly.

Miyaka and Raiden look at each other, communicating silently. They're one of the closest friends you have in school. All those times you spent in the club room slaving away projects upon projects really strengthened your bond with them. They are probably the next people who know you best after Tobio.

"Why do you seem so sure? You haven't even confessed yet." Raiden says with a scoff.

"I'm not gonna confess because I know he'll just reject me. It'll ruin everything and I don't want that to happen. It's too risky."  You're now past denying that you do like Tobio. It's actually quite refreshing for you to talk about your feelings for him this openly. You feel as if a weight has been lifted off your shoulders after years of hopeless pining.

"Wow. You really are stupid."

"Rai-san!" You cry out, clearly offended.

"You have a mirror, don't you? You're fully aware that you're pretty and if you disagree with that, either you have brain damage or just really dense. You're smart, you're hella good at volleyball— you're also, like, his number one fan. Tell me, what more could he want?" Raiden taps his finger on your temple. "Think, Y/N. If he had any ideal girl, it would be you."

You're always so surprised whenever Raiden shows his supportive side, albeit the way he delivered it could have been nicer and less abrasive. He always seems so negative and snarky, but when he does say something nice, you know it's genuine. Miyaka can only nod her head vigorously in agreement.

"Aw, Rai-san!" You throw yourself at him and engulf him in an embrace. You hear him grumble in protest but he allows you to hug him nevertheless.

"Rai has never said anything nice like that to me. I'm actually really jealous" Miyaka says with a soft pout. "What he said is true, though. You're the perfect girl for Tobio and I'm sure he already knows that. You should confess and see how it goes."

"I-I don't know." You bite your bottom lip. "I need time to think about it."

"You'll have plenty of time to think about it while we eat barbecue. I'm absolutely starving. How about you two slowpokes hurry up before all the good tables are taken, yeah?" With this, Miyaka tugs you by the arm as she speed walks. You don't protest because the grumbling in your stomach tells you that you're getting quite hungry too.

Your trio reach the exit of the stadium and you're fortunate enough to catch a bus immediately. The topic of Tobio is momentarily set aside as Raiden shows you a video he took of Miyaka napping in the club room, a steady stream of drool coming out of her open mouth. Raiden even threatens that he'd send the video to Tendou, which obviously rattles Miyaka. Her face turns into a bright shade of red, demanding Raiden to delete that video or she would make sure he regretted it.

You and Raiden laugh hysterically, so much so that the other passengers on the bus give you the side-eye. Miyaka looks like she's gonna exolode with embarrassment as she tries to pry Raiden's phone from his hands. 

It's moments like these that allow you to breathe without anxiety. You don't even realize that today, you have completely forgotten about the fact that you're gonna move to Tokyo soon. You're glad that you have Miyaka and Raiden to distract you from that.

Dinner with your two upperclassmen was great. You talked about various stuff, though you notice that they didn't bring up Tobio anymore— they must have sensed that you weren't comfortable talking about him so they let it be. However, Miyaka did say that if ever you need help confessing to your best friend, she'd be glad to help. You thank her for her offer but you're not quite sure if you're even gonna go about doing it. You still have to be sure about what to do next before making a move.

You didn't fill up on yakiniku despite your stomach protesting because you promised Tobio you'd still come over for dinner at his house. Miyaka and Raiden didn't hold back, though. They ordered so many meat and side dishes that you had to try your best not to look so envious.

Once the three of you are done, you take a bus home. You plan on showering first before going to Tobio's house so you don't look so haggard, at least.

You see your Mom's car in the driveway once you arrive home. She's home early, you think to yourself. She usually goes home at 8 PM or later.

Your Mom pops out of the kitchen once she hears you're back home. She's bobbing a tea bag up and down her steaming cup while her face is covered in a seaweed mask that's part of her weekly skincare routine.

"How's that yakiniku place? Is it any good?"

You texted her a few hours ago that you'd get yakiniku with your club mates so she doesn't have to wait for you at dinner.

"A bit pricey but worth it, I guess. We should go there sometime, Mom."

"How about lunch on Sunday? We could go shopping at the mall after. What do you think?"

"Sounds good." You smile. There's a voice in your head that says she's only trying to compensate for the whole moving to Tokyo thing. Quite frankly, you're still mad at her about that, but you also know she only has your best interest at heart. You try to understand her position.

"I'm gonna go shower and go to Tobio's. He invited me for dinner." You say as you make your way to your room.

"Do you really have to go? You've already eaten and you were just at his house last night." She follows you until she's leaning against your room's doorframe.

"I could still eat. Besides, I think it's a special dinner since Tobio's team got through the preliminaries. He told me his mother was expecting me. I couldn't say no, could I?"

Your mother takes a sip from her tea. "Well, as long as he invited you and you're not imposing."

You don't respond after that. You're rummaging through your closet in search for specific articles of clothing you want to be wearing tonight.

"Hey, Mom? Have you seen my beige shirt? The long-sleeved one? Oh, no, wait— I forgot I haven't washed it yet."

You hear your Mom click her tongue. "It's in the laundry room. I added everything in your hamper to the load when I washed my coats last night. If I didn't, you wouldn't have anything to wear for this week. Sometimes I wonder what you would do without me."

The relief that courses through you is overwhelming. "Thanks, Mom! You're the best!"

You practically sprint to the laundry room to retrieve your shirt. Your Mom yells after you to take all your folded laundry to your room so you wouldn't have to return for them later. You come back to your room with a basket of your now clean laundry, the smell of vanilla fabric conditioner wafting through the room.

"Who's Kei?"

You cock your head to the side in confusion. "Kei?"

"There was a handkerchief in your hamper with the name Kei embroidered on it. It should be in there somewhere." She motions to the laundry basket. "Why do you have it in the first place?"

It takes you a couple of seconds to find said handkerchief. When Tsukishima gave it to you last night, you didn't know it was embroidered with his name— you can only assume that Kei is his first name from context. You're just realizing that you didn't ask him for his first name. You just knew him as Tsukishima.

"So, who's Kei and why do you have his handkerchief?" Your Mom repeats the question.

You tell her with a shrug that it's the boy who walked you home last night. You also tell her what happened in the café but deliberately omit the part about him giving you the handkerchief because you'd been crying, replacing it with a lie that you'd spilled water on yourself instead. 

You examine the handkerchief for the first time since it was given to you. You didn't get to take a good look at it last night. The word Kei is embroidered in forest green thread at the bottom right corner. You wonder how you managed to miss it.

"I thought it was Tobio-kun who walked you home?"

"No, Mom. It was this other boy. He's Tobio's teammate, actually."

"I see. It was very dark. I just thought Tobio-kun grew a lot taller since I last saw him." She muses. "So, is this Kei boy a suitor?"

You bite back an incredulous laugh. "No way."

"A special friend, then?" You don't even know what she means by that.

"Definitely not."

You see your mother shrug from where she is leaning on your doorway. "Still, seems like he likes you enough to let you keep something that expensive."

You frown, confused. "Huh?"

"That's CLASSICS the Small Luxury." She points at the square fabric you're holding. "That's, what, ¥2000 a piece, give or take? The embroidery definitely cost extra, too. He probably paid around ¥3000 for that one."

"Who would pay ¥3000 for one friggin' handkerchief?" You almost shriek in disbelief.

"It's really good quality, you know. It's probably 100% cotton, too. Back when I was in med school, these handkerchiefs were all the hype. All my girl friends had one. I didn't. I was broke and could only afford those 6-in-1 packs you could buy at convenience stores." She laughed at the memory, her hand covering her mouth ever so daintily.

Tsukishima's voice rings inside your head.

"A single slice of cake is nowhere near the value of that handkerchief." 

You just thought he was either lying or exaggerating.

Your phone buzzes on your bedside table, taking your attention away from the conversation. You catch a glimpse of Tobio's consecutive texts on the notification bar.

tobio: you still coming?

tobio: mom made tiramisu for dessert

You fold the handkerchief neatly and set it inside your drawer. The brand name CLASSICS The Small Luxury is printed right below the embroidery, another detail you've missed. You're definitely gonna be returning it to Tsukishima. As much as you appreciate him letting you keep it, you can't, not when it's worth ¥3000 with his own name embroidered on it.

How you're gonna return it to him, you still have no idea. You'll have to think of ways to get in contact with him again. You could very easily ask Tobio to give Tsukishima the handkerchief the  next time they see each other, but it would be quite rude and offending to the owner if you didn't return the handkerchief personally. It's the least you can do after he let you use it when you needed it last night.

You make a mental note to ask Tobio for Tsukishima's number or home address. You'll worry about it later. For now, you really must hurry up if you still want to catch dinner at the Kageyama's.

You shower and get changed. Before leaving the house, you inform your mother that you'd be home before 9 PM— you're feeling quite guilty for storming out last night and getting home late so you give yourself an early curfew tonight as compensation. Your mother is still a little worried that you're taking advantage of the Kageyamas' hospitality, but you reassure her that it's fine and Tobio's family won't call child services on her.

You leave the house after Tobio sends you another text saying that his mother asks what time you'll be arriving.  There's extra spring in your steps as you take the familiar route to his house— probably because you're excited to eat Mrs. Kageyama's cooking, or perhaps it's because you're giddy at the prospect of having dinner again with the boy you have a hopeless crush on. It's probably one or the other. It also could be both.

Tobio's Mom is preparing a feast, judging by the mingling scents of various dishes wafting throughout the whole house. She went overboard this time that you kind of regret having yakiniku earlier.

You offer to help Tobio's Mom and Miwa in the kitchen but the two women just wave you off, telling you to go relax and have some refreshments that they've prepared in the living room. Tobio's Dad is sitting on the couch, watching a baseball game on the television. He's so captivated by the game, shouting at the screen whenever his favorite team scores, that you feel like it would be rude if you sat down beside him and ruined the moment.

Tobio opens and closes his mouth, thinking of how to tell his father to scoot on the sofa. Even Tobio himself is scared of his father, it seems, because he remains quiet and accepts defeat instead.

"Let's go to my room?" He says beside you once he sees that his father won't be making room in the sofa for the two of you any time soon.

You follow him up the stairs and into his room which you've been in countless times before. Unlike those other times, however, you're now feeling a bit queasy as you enter. You hate the fact that going into your best friend's room is putting non-innocent thoughts inside your head now, something that you didn't worry about a year ago.

 Tobio plops down on his swivel chair as you make your way to his bed. The door is left wide open— you don't have to be told to do that, it's just courtesy and muscle memory from all the times Tobio has invited you to his room.

You unceremoniously collapse onto his bed, taking last month's issue of Shonen Jump from his bedside table with you. You don't particularly enjoy the way your stomach does a back flip when you smell a faint trace of his cologne on his bed sheets. You try to ignore it by flipping through the Jump's pages, trying to find any new manga to distract yourself with.

Tobio must have seen you so engrossed in reading that he felt like reading too. You hear the rustling of paper as he takes out an issue of Volleyball Monthly from his bookshelf. You immediately recognize it as the issue where you were featured in.

A sly smirk appears on your lips. "Turn to page 17. You'll see a very pretty girl there."

Kageyama already knows what you're talking about before he even turned to said page. "What girl? I only see a hobgoblin holding a volleyball."

"Jerk." You chuck a throw pillow at him which would have landed square on his face had he not ducked to avoid it.

There was a couple of minutes of silence disturbed only by you turning pages and Tobio playing on his Nintendo DSi— he quickly grew bored of looking at Volleyball Monthly and fished the console from his drawer. His attention span is comparable to that of a chicken, you think to yourself as you watch him play with the handheld device. Compared to when he was reading the magazine, Tobio looks a lot more entertained playing Bomberman Blitz.

"We've improved, haven't we? My team, I mean." Tobio suddenly says while his brows are furrowed in concentration at his game.

You look up from what you're reading. "Yep, it's scary how much you guys evolved. I should probably warn our volleyball team about you. I'm sure Ushijima-san would want to know what kind of techniques you have under your sleeves."

He gives you a glare that could have killed a weak-willed soul.

"I'm kidding! They'll just have to find out how much stronger you've gotten when they face you in the finals."

Tobio snorts. "We'll beat them for sure."

"You always say that but what's your plan, though? Do you have any tactics to beat Ushijima-san?" You inquire curiously.

Tobio presses pause on his Nintendo, cradling his chin in thought. "Well, none of us can beat him one-on-one so we'll have to work on our three-man block more, but aside from that, our floor defense is pretty solid. Nishinoya-san and Daichi-san could definitely receive some of his spikes, so I'm not too worried about that."

"You really don't think anyone on your team could block him?" You ask and he just shakes his head. "Don't you have faith in your middle blockers?"

He stares at you as if you've just asked a very stupid question. "Have you seen our middle blockers?"

"Hinata does good when it comes to offense but he's absolutely worthless when it comes to blocking and receiving. He's fast and jumps high but that's about all he can do.

And then there's Tsukishima"

Your attention is snatched when you hear the blonde's name. "What about him?"

"He just... doesn't try." Tobio simply says. "He has the height for it, he has good game sense too, but he gives up way too easily. If only he's pushing himself a little harder, we could strengthen our defense a lot more."

"I see."

"Don't even get me started on his rotten attitude. He's a sarcastic dick, thinking he's smarter than everyone. You would hate him too if you'd met him."

You almost tell Tobio that you have indeed met him, but judging by the way his face contorts in disgust when talking about the blonde, it won't be such a good idea.

You've seen Tsukishima play today. You're not saying that Tobio is wrong, but you definitely do not see the blonde 'giving up way too easily'. On their match against Kakugawa, Tsukishima looked focused and motivated— granted, he didn't look as enthusiastic as Tobio or Hinata, but he still seemed like he was enjoying the game. Though, you can't disagree about what Tobio said about Tsukishima being a sarcastic dick— that one was definitely correct.

But maybe, Tobio is not entirely wrong. He obviously knows Tsukishima better than you. The only instance you ever see him play is during official matches. You have no idea how he is like during practice.

"Hey, Tobio? When's your training gonna start again?"

"We have one on Saturday. Why do you ask?"

"Can I come and watch?" You try to make your shrug look as casually as it can when in reality, you're starting to get nervous about your bold request.

Tobio thinks about it for a second before nodding. "Sure."

You have no idea what your end game is when you asked to come to their practice. 

You do know one thing, though— you're gonna see Tsukishima again and it's gonna be the best opportunity to give him back his handkerchief.

The Nintendo DSi narrowly misses your thigh as Tobio chucks it on the bed. A second later, the impact of his body weight hitting the mattress causes you to almost fall off. He's spread-eagled on the bed with his face turned up to the ceiling. He's so close that you can feel the warmth of his body on your own skin.

"Wanna have a go?" He jabs the Nintendo blindingly at you, his eyes still fixated upward. 

You take the console out of his hand and starts a new game. It's harder than you remember it being, or maybe you just haven't played it in a while. This old Nintendo model's buttons are difficult to press, you tell yourself as the character dies yet again— not your fault but the console's. You restart only to die at the same spot.

"You're horrible at this." Tobio snickers. You've been glued to the game for the past minute that you didn't notice that he has wiggled closer to you so he could watch you play. 

You turn your head to look at him with the most hateful glare you could muster. You hope that he doesn't detect the look of yearning in your eyes because God knows there is. His dark blue eyes are just so beautiful, you could drown in them. The shape of his nose, the curve of his lips, the soft dusting of color on his cheeks— they all make him unbelievably gorgeous that it's a miracle you haven't melted on the spot considering his face is only a few inches away from yours.

 You feel like you've mastered by now the look of indifference whenever he's around, and yet you wonder if Tobio would have guessed by now that you have a crush on him if only he has the perception of an average teenage boy. Surely, you're not hiding it that well. Miyaka and Raiden did say it was very obvious.

"You died again." He points out as the DSi emits the telltale sound that signals the gruesome death of the pixelated bomber. 

You all but shove the device to his chest in frustration. You feel the vibration of his laughter as your hand makes contact with him as you feel your heart quicken instantaneously.

"Why do you want to watch our practice?" He asks after he has turned off the Nintendo and tossed it haphazardly somewhere on the mattress.

You shrug. "I wanna see you train."

Not exactly a lie but not the full truth either. The real reason you're going to their training is to give Tsukishima the handkerchief. Watching your crush practice volleyball is just a bonus.

"Why? Do you miss me that much when I'm not around?"

It's meant to be a joke. You're not meant to take it seriously. He's smirking in a way that tells you he's just having a laugh... but you're only human, and humans can only hide their feelings so much before some of it leaks.

"Yes, I do."

Tobio laughs.

You frown at this reaction.

"Stop it. That's gross." His shoulders shake as he tries to suppress his laughter. You blink back stupidly, both in surprise and mind-numbing hurt. No way he just said 'that's gross'.

He turns on the Nintendo again, unaware of your ragged breathing and how clammy your hands have gotten. You force out a laugh that you hope mirrors his.

For the rest of the night, none of your smiles or laughter seem to be genuine. Not even during dinner which is exquisite with all of Tobio's favorite food crammed in the too-small dining table. Not even as you say your good night to them by the front door as you prepare for your leave. Not even as you refuse Tobio when he offered to walk you home, right after his mother has chastised him into being a 'proper gentleman'.

This must be what a heartbreak feels like, you muse as you lay awake on your bed.

It hurts, and what's worse — it's because of Tobio.

I haven't updated in so long and felt guilty that's why this chapter has 11k words omg sorry not sorry

tag list: @sktvienna @thechaosoflonging @kenryug

#tsukishima x reader #kageyama x reader #tsukishima angst #kageyama angst #mutual pining #friends to lovers #tsukishima fanfic #kageyama fanfic #haikyuu x reader

[post-itpenny]

How would you say everybody is doing? Whoever you can think of of course ^^

Ok, I feel like I’ve covered Maggie, Atlas, the elders, and Magpie in other asks. So I’ll try to get at least most of the rest here.

Cecelia- the past few years have been a somewhat awkward transition. It never fully occurred to her that Blair didn’t really care that much for her wellbeing. So being give actual respect threw her off at first. But she’s happy. More importantly Rigsby is happy which is what is most important to her. She also loves teasing Juno whenever she visits. The girl is cool, but easy to mess with. Gets so bashful for some reason.

Rigsby- Still does not talk, they can but for multiple reasons choose not to. But Rigsby is doing good. They have expanded their bug collection quite a bit, particularly beetles. They also enjoy helping their sister with whatever job Magpie has her doing. On that note, Rigsby totally knows about Juno’s crush. But it’s way funnier to watch the struggle.

Vespers- Is just happy with life. He has his family (and extended family) and is just straight up content with things (will be even happier with baby space moth #4 arrives). His fashion line is also doing very well! Aside from a physical location, everything else is online. While some of his designs have to be machine produced in order to meet demand (his aunt helped with this) he still makes most of the pieces himself. He’s had quite a few celebrities as reoccurring customers.

Juno- Lives in the townhouse and is quite happy there. Though she does also spend quite a bit of time with her parents as well. She thought the creativity quirk had skipped her. But out of boredom one day she came up with the idea of a murder mystery and ended up writing it down. To Juno’s immense surprise she is good at writing and has a small series going. This all being said, there is still the problem of Cecelia- whom Juno is completely helpless with. Simp. She didn’t want to admit she had feelings. But talking to Cecelia is hard. So is thinking clearly and saying no to things. Which makes it very easy for Cecelia to mess with her.

Lyra- Has been doing a mix of things. She loves coming to visit her grandchildren and, as a result, have come to really like the D’Vitt family. She’s also been visiting Adeline. It started as a “saying hello” visit and ended up with her competing by twice a week to help manage all the patients. She really enjoys it and just likes feeling helpful.

Vega- Has her hands full with Annie who is very precocious. But she loves her little girl. She also misses Atlas terribly and has put herself to work in the bakery as a way to distract herself. It’s given her an opportunity to experiment with low-sugar pastries.

Peregrine- Is actually doing ok. He’s a relatively solitary guy and doesn’t mind the alone time when Lyra is with Adeline. He has surprised himself by learning he’s good at both watercolor and oil painting. I think being a grandfather has mellowed him a bit and put things in perspective. He really does love Phoebe and the twins. He just has a hard time expressing how he feels.

Zilla- who yes is still alive believe it or not. After Faline died she more or less went into a state of hibernation. She was terrified of when she realized they had become and this is more or less a purging stage. Who knows what will happen to the lights still floating around in her. But eventually she will have to wake up. Maggie did actually find her, and has left her alone since.

#gosh there are still at least three or four others #need to really find the list I just know I have somewhere

[littlecarnet]

Birthday gift art haul!!

Well it's not officially my birthday yet...that's tomorrow, but my shipment arrived early and I got to see all the goods I ordered...

Some of these I've been eyeing for awhile in various stores, but since shipping was free, I thought why not order everything from one spot? Starting from the top left: Faber Castell petite soft pastels, Conté a Paris pastel pencils, Faber Castell Landscape selection soft pastels, Rembrandt Primary Collection, Rembrandt Earth Collection, Rembrandt Sea Collection, Winsor and Newton Gouache, Art Creation Square Sketch Book, faux leather journal with cream colored 100% cotton paper, and Winsor and Newton Designer Gouache.

Rembrandt pastels are my favorite. I have a well loved 48 color set already, but I decided get some more colors that I go through quickly. I've never used Conté a Paris before, so I hope they have good pigments, because I love that they're pencils! They'll be great for details! And I love Winsor and Newton, especially their watercolors, and their gouache is very pigment rich. I had a small set before, so these will round that off quite nicely.

Next are the Copics. I originally was going to buy the beginner illustration set, but I read some reviews about how it's not very good for beginners, aside from the book, so I went ahead and got a variety of sets to cover most of my needs. I've never worked with Copics before, so I'm a bit excited to try these out.

Okay, these have been lingering on my wishlist for awhile, so I thought...aw just get em! I absolutely love Kiki's Delivery Service, so I got the Art Book, a Jiji plush, a Jiij pin, and a collectable figure. I haven't opened it yet, but I like all the possible choices so I'll be happy with anything I get.

These came from a site called Ichigo, I've always loved Cardcaptors, so when I saw the hardback Vol 1 cover, I had to it. It's such a beautiful book, the back of it has the card design. Then I went ahead and bought some blind boxes and bags that were on sale. $3 each! I haven't opened any of them yet, but I'm really hopeful I'll get a bunny baby from the Calico Critters bag, and a jellyfish keychain from the Jinbei-san box. And I love Kirby, so it's doesn't even matter what I get.

This wasn't in the main shipment but purchased from the Five Below site. Look at how cute this all is! I didn't know they had Sanrio stuff! Or Pusheen! So I went a bit crazy and bought a bunch of things from their back to school section. I'm not in school anymore, but these would make my studies fun.

Annnnnd that's it! I'm very happy with my gifts, really excited to try a new medium, and I can't wait to swatch and play around with my new pastels and gouache. I believe I'll be taking those with me on vacation to do some art on location.

My mom and I are currently in town, she wants to get me a gift or two for tomorrow, so I'll maybe do a haul on that too. Likely it'll be clothing, perfume, or jewelry.

#birthday gifts #art haul #cute things

[azures-grace]

Abc headcannon asks: deserter edition

Image for my terrible memory.

Ok, so, for Iriae

A) I headcanon that she's someone who is very worried about using her watercolors and inks. Inks less so, because she's always had a steady supply of inks (for transcribing translations). She's especially stingy about blue, since it's generally the hardest color fo get. She does her best not to buy colors imported from Summerset because she... Generally hates her homeland. But anytime she's in a port city, especially Solitude, she's looking for more colors and inks. She makes her own brushes once she gets a horse (she cuts the hair, she isn't going to be needlessly cruel to an animal)

B) I think she's asthmatic. This is because she's a half-self-insert. She's got a lot of my personality, but I do NOT share her general childhood at ALL (aside from a ton of siblings, we do share that, but I'm not the baby like she is). There isn't an inhaler in Tamriel, so part of me thinks she takes a ton of restoration potions, dumps them all in a pot together, boils it, and huffs the steam. Or, easier to explain, she misuses a skooma pipe to try and treat her asthma.

C) she forgets voices easier than handwriting. If one of her friends dies, but she finds a note from them, she'll know who wrote it, but she won't be able to hear their voice reading it in her head.

#ldb oc: Iriae

[xinasvoice]

State Of the WIPs

I am finally feeling better and figuring out how to fit creative things back into my life. Also, I think my shortness of breath is better enough that I can now record. Will be trying today and tomorrow! In the meantime, I have made major progress on a few things...my new years resolution involves writing and it's already paying off!

Art/Post-Production

- Ineffable Design - Recorded, needs cover art. I've started the watercolors. I don't like it so far, but I am practicing accepting my imperfection and just having fun. Will I finish this weekend? Maybe. Probably not though...

(Ineffable Design is a 4k mature first time with Crowley and Aziraphale from Good Omens.)

Recording

- Of Aquariums and Humans - Recording is about 40% done. This will be what I test my health/skills/setup on this weekend, as it will be my first time attempting it since my illness.

(Of Aquariums and Humans is the 36k sequel to Of Barnacles and Mermen. The text was published on AO3 in May, but I was too sick to podfic it until now.)

- Quiet Rebellions - I FINISHED EDITING THIS. PLEASE BE IMPRESSED. It's taken me about a year and a half to edit. Podficcing this one will be a challenge as the size is daunting, so I plan to release it in a serialized fashion on a regular schedule, like a podcast. I will finish the above podfic first and build up a huge backlog before I start posting, so it will be some time. I'm excited, though!

(Quiet Rebellions is a 180k dark/slavery AU fighting its way into happiness and found family.)

Writing

- Return - I felt so stressed about all the projects I have going relative to the spoons I had for my life in general, so I let this one step aside and focused solely on finishing the editing for Quiet Rebellions instead. Now that this is done, Return is my only writing priority! I'm excited to roll back into it. It's around 80% done so hopefully I can get some good energy for the climax and ending!

(Return is the sequel to Go East, a Howl's Moving Castle/Wolfstar AU.)

Plotting

Be Gay, Do Crime (Do Me) - Once I finish Return, I will be writing this. It will likely be around 60k as it's a HEIST which involves a complex storyline. (Remus and a team of awesome HP characters plot to steal from Black Crystal hotel and casino in Las Vegas. Remus is the face, aka the pretty one that distracts the powers that be from what is going on. Sirius is the powers that be.)

I'm so grateful to be healthy again. Thank you all for being patient and supportive!

#state of the wips #xinasvoice